( TDM | #2 )

[spellbindmods]

IMPORTANT: This TDM takes place on the current world the coven is part of. Please read the linked Google Doc about the world AND be aware that the world is high-frequency, meaning canon magic and powers can be used.

TDMs can be used for anyone interested in the game and/or testing out a new muse.

Test Drive samples are encouraged to be used for your application sample, though they are NOT a requirement.

Feel free to use one prompt, multiple prompts or make up your own!

These threads can be considered game canon upon game opening if you so choose.

Telepathy and magic can be used at any point in time on the TDM, from Prompt A to your wildcard prompt. A specific prompt exists, however, that makes sure all characters have an equal chance to use this mechanic within the TDM. You're encouraged to have characters use telepathy and their magic accidentally or even purposefully on any TDM prompt.

If you aren't set on your character's power yet or want to try out a few, you're still able to use the test drive. Maybe your character is a late bloomer and hasn't fully unlocked their intuitive drive yet. In the case of multiple powers, only prompts that contain the power you choose for your application will count as potential game canon threads.

While only one character can be apped or reserved during a cycle, feel free to post with more than one character if you like! This is for those who are uncertain of their first choice or who would like to try out different characters within the setting.

WORLD ONE: AIMINTAS

You blink and that's all it takes. At first the picture doesn't come in clear, like you're waiting for a screen to fully load -- more aptly, it's like you're waiting for a camera to focus so you can find image clarity. Before you happened to rapidly close your eyes and open them, your life was normal...well, normal for you, anyway. Fighting an alien, making a quesadilla, dying. And then that blurry picture suddenly takes over... Some of you might open your eyes to find yourself wandering around a sandy area, outside of a large stone house. There's a large glimmering caravan floating around outside, which might intrigue you. There's also a lot of supplies, food, clothing...all just laying around outside. It's worth investigating, right? A ▢ Your character has found themselves arriving right outside the coven's new digs in Aimintas, and there's a lot of confusing stuff to look at. Th ocean in the sky, that floating caravan...your character probably can't get to that ocean, so they may want to examine the caravan. If they touch it, they'll immediately regret that decision -- the caravan has its own defense mechanism, and you can pick one or the other: - A1: Once your character touches the caravan, they can't remove their appendage from it. Kick it? Their foot is stuck. Touch it? Their hand is stuck. Lick it? Their tongue is stuck. They'll remain like this for 15 minutes without magical intervention. - A2: Your character's hand doesn't stay for long, but the caravan holds onto that hand for five seconds while giving your character a pretty excruciating burn. Medic! B ▢ Maybe they're smart and they don't touch the caravan. Let's go through all of this cool stuff on the ground! It might be sort of obvious that it belongs to someone -- a lot of someone's -- but your character is thirsty, confused...maybe there's some water or answers in this pile. And maybe there's also someone who catches your character going through their shit.

Other new potential coven members will find themselves in a completely different part of town. These lucky individuals will have suddenly appeared in the marketplace area of Aimintas, surrounded by walking lizard beings that suddenly turn and take an immediate interest in this stranger. C ▢ The Palai are very interested in the new coven members, and a new humanoid person -- or anyone that doesn't look like them -- will immediately catch their attention. They'll immediately find your character worth of their undivided attention, talking to them about coven-related things...pretty confusing right? If you need help with the short lizard folk, maybe someone will eventually arrive to help you out. On the other hand, you might learn something interesting talking to them. A friend might join in either way! D ▢ Once you break free of the Palai, you'll find that this marketplace is pretty interesting. It's a mixture of primitive and semi-modern technology...or is it totally unfamiliar to you? Never seen a cellphone before? Unfamiliar with the concept of women wearing pants? There's certainly something to see that'll interest your character here. E ▢ Finally, you might be hungry and thirsty after suddenly appearing. The Palai are masters of making food, including a new concoction of theirs that they're trying out in honor of all the new people. It's a sort of bottled fruit juice that has been energized by the Eltos. It's essentially the first Aimintas Red Bull, except on acid. The drink immediately makes anyone who drinks it extremely giddy, hyper and they may potentially hallucinate. It doesn't seem to bother the Palai's biology, but everyone else...oops!

The setting found in Aimintas is pretty expansive, so you have a lot of room to wander around. Here are a few things that might catch your eye if you're really committed to wandering around. F ▢ A house near the marketplace is incredibly special to the Palai people. Characters who wander near here will find a group of Palai who are even more excited about their new visitors: baby Palai. Some are still in eggs and kept inside, but the juvenile Palai are about two feet tall, rowdy and want to play with these new, bipedal creatures. Some of them still crawl around on all fours and are more lizard-like than others. Hope you're good with kids! G ▢ The Palai have constructed a large library in the middle of town. If you wander in here, you'll find a myriad of books in a strange language. The Palai are a rather visual people, though, so many include pictures and illustrations. They also have a collection of computers here that connect to the Aimintas internet, as well as visual media stations that can play videos -- though they're really just powered tablets that play video files. Time to get a little taste of the Palai culture. H ▢ Wildcard prompt. Go nuts and utilize your own creativity within the setting. This can mean striking out on your own or utilizing a certain location in a different way. The world is your oyster!

GAME NAVIGATION

Comments

the ceiling

[bulletbiter]

[ Angelo is certainly not his name, but it also is a ticket out of this sticky situation. So he'll take it. ]

Oh, goodness. My apologies, I shall return immediately.

[ He acts his part convincingly, if anything. A calm youth ready to make up for his mistakes. He gives the palai an apologetic nod before turning to follow Caesar out and away.

Only when they're out of earshot: ]

Thank you.

[girasole]

You're very welcome. They mean well, but they're very...persistent. I learned that the hard way: one of my abilities- hamon. We were trapped on an island for a while and I couldn't use it. Once I got here, I could; I did; they saw.

The good news is that it's apparently very useful in powering their devices. The bad, as you know, is that they're very persistent. [And then he pats 'Angelo's shoulder, or at least tries to. They're in this together.] I'm Caesar Zeppeli. I'm assuming you're not an Angelo.

[bulletbiter]

[ And Julius is a loner. It's not a good combination, being chased by frogs when even he's not sure of who he is. ]

My name is Julius Visconti. [ And together they make Julius Caesar. ] Are you with the coven as well?

[girasole]

[This clearly was Meant To Be.]

Don't be an idiot. [Except it's more reflexive than anything else.] Of course I am. Anyone who isn't a pala- a lizard is part of the...coven. [And it was so weird to identify himself as part of something.

...wait.] Wait, what am I saying? You're new! Aren't you? Of course you wouldn't know. Well. If they're a palai they're not. Anyone else probably is. [...] Probably.

[bulletbiter]

[ A lizard... ]

Yes, I arrived only a short while ago.

[ Thanks, Caesar. ]

Is there a task that we need to do here?

[girasole]

[Well, let's be serious, there's a sentient suit of armor on this test drive meme. Who may or may not exist in this game, but point being: the unexpected could happen and there might be a giant space whale that's also a local that pops up eventually. Open mind, my guy. Open mind.

...anyway.

...for the record, if his power was the power to produce salt then they'd be covered with a fine dusting of it right then and there because-]

Ha! I wish! I'm sure there is one. Somewhere. [Maybe.] Maybe they'll get clearer the more time passes, but for now? Your guess is as good as mine.

[bulletbiter]

[ Oh, if only Caesar knew what Julius really was. But he doesn't, and the forename part of their two-man team certainly has no desire to reveal it now; so it'll be a story for another day. ]

... I see. [ That is not helpful. At all. ] I intended to look around first.

[girasole]

[No, it is not. He's so salty.

But that's fine.] Would you like company, then?

[And just in case Julius doesn't get why-] Our hosts look down upon loners and swarm every chance they get. One person I knew got an hour lecture about relationships, and they mistook me for a homewrecker and you can imagine how that went. I was going to look around, anyway. I'm as happy as you are about...

[Knowing nothing.]

[bulletbiter]

[ He has been accosted for trying to stay alone, which is not only inconvenient but also dangerous. Every minute ticks by with the risk of his grip on reality slipping, and he would not think of exposing another to the danger that it would pose. Thus keeping away from absolutely everyone else, until he could be sure that it had passed.

Caesar doesn't seem like the type to encroach too much into his personal space, though. It should be okay. ]

If you don't mind. [ And it'll make the process much easier, too. ]

I GOT THE INFO.

[girasole]

No, please, the pleasure is mine. There's a market that I've passed by a few times. We could start there, maybe.

[The market is basically a tourist trap. He doesn't realize this yet.]

YAHOO

[bulletbiter]

Yes. It would be good to see how they trade.

[ Two dudes walk into a tourist trap.... of which one of them is allergic to. Oh no. ]

[girasole]

[COMPLETELY AND TOTALLY IGNORANT OF WHAT THEY'RE WALKING INTO, Caesar leads the way. It's nice having distractions like this, after all. And they turn a corner and-]

Oh no.

[Apparently members of their coven have made more than enough of an impact that enterprising Palai have decided to take advantage of this by selling unauthorized merchandise of the coven. So they're staring right at-...]

I know them. [With a little bit of horror because, wow. Look at that merch. Dirk looks so...so happy. Lenka actually looks comp- no, not just competent. Skilled.] I'm not sure what's more offensive: the fact I don't see me, or the fact that this is so out of character for them.

[bulletbiter]

[ Those are pictures of people?

He glances at Caesar, taking the man's expression as confirmation. It strikes him as something horribly wrong, striking being almost literal as a stab of nausea surges through his body. For a moment the world flickers around him, lights dimming dark and red -

- replicas. Toys, twisted from their original form, corrupted, almost - ]

... why would you do this?

[ Good thing he was already practiced in the art of keeping the pain in check. He merely stumbles a little, forcing his eyes to focus on the objects once more. ]

[girasole]

[Caesar quite sensibly thinks that Julius is as appalled as he is at the fact that apparently they've been around long enough they act as merchandising opportunities, and takes the opportunity to attempt to - key word being attempt - steer Julius away from it. Takes the side closest to the dakis over yonder, inclines his head away from that mess-]

Signore, I imagine it's to commemorate our arrival by...

[...] I'm really not sure. It's better we leave.

[bulletbiter]

[ If he had come from just a week prior, it might not have affected him that much. But alas his transport to this world occurred after the reveal, an episode that had given him little breathing room to process its implications. ]

We should.

[ He'll just keep his eyes to the ground. ]

Is this even legal?

[girasole]

They're a strange culture of lizard-people who seem convinced that I'm secretly an...eltos and no matter how many times I explain I don't think they understand what I'm trying to say. Who knows what passes for legal or not with them?

[bulletbiter]

... at least, do it with their permission.

[ That's all he'll say on the matter, forcing his countenance back to its usual stoicness. ]