( TDM #9 | FAUX 4TH WALL LOG )

[spellbindmods]

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. For this app round, you can utilize both a linked sample OR a written sample!

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 game-given 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.

IMPORTANT: This world is low-frequency. No canon powers or abilities are allowed! Also check out the setting information for more info about Shehui.

IMPORTANT: This TDM should be treated like a 4th wall of sorts. While the threads can be considered canon, it can be a character free for all -- you're allowed to toss in any character, duplicate or AU that you'd like for a surreal experience.

IMPORTANT AGAIN AND NEW: This is post, while an OOC TDM, does count as a log! Any threads on this post can be used as activity outside of AC bonus and considered game canon if you do so wish.

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. There's a lot to take in here -- you feel weird, your surroundings are weird. Everything is just weird. For starters, there's that new piece of jewelry inserted in the space above your chest. That certainly wasn't there before you opened your eyes. For some of you, the shock is a bit more sudden. You've packed up your belongings and you've been escorted through the city into a building similar to the one utilized during the jailbreak -- down a pothole-like door that's extremely similar to the other one you might have been familiar with during that same incident. There's a long tunnel with no windows that you travel through, slowly but surely. It's dimly lit, and you can see others in front of you -- don't worry about any repercussions for cutting in line. You eventually get to a closed door and your monitor escort opens the large turnstile for you, gesturing for you to continue onward. The walk won't be much longer, they reassure you, but they won't be traveling with you from here. After a fifteen minute walk, you'll reach another door, though this one is much more manageable when it comes to opening it on your own. Once you step through, things are certainly...different. A ▢ As soon as you step outside, a sort of blackness hits you. It's hard to describe -- it feels more like everything around you, even the people, become a void. The blackness is a concept, not a color. Then something comes into focus...it's something you recognize? Or maybe something that you're unfamiliar with altogether. There's a person there, or maybe you're alone for now. For a few minutes you're in a classroom, but then it's a clearing. This entire experience, no matter what it looks like, leaves a strange taste in your mouth...it's like the one you may have found in your mouth once you discovered that magic you were told about for the first time. That isn't to say these voids are endless. In reality, the space around you is tainted, but you still exist on this plane -- the outside of Shehui. Things feel very real, but once you force yourself to move outside of these spaces, you mind your shoes are firmly planted in grass that is inches long, potentially surrounded by other people with no idea what's going on; they too have just escaped their own little void. From here you can feel it near to you -- you can sense the magic that's seeping out of somewhere, and you can even see it if you squint. The air around it shimmers with a certain sparkle. It's, again, hard to accurately put into words. But you can see these voids once you really focus on them. However, you can't see the people who happen to be trapped inside. B ▢ Once you reach these safe havens of non-magic, raw and in its purest form, you'll find yourself in a reality that is somewhat...overgrown. There aren't any buildings outside of the giant dome structure of Shehui in the background, as far as you can see. There are trees and plains, grassy fields and the occasional oddly-colored deer. If you look hard enough, you can find a small pond here or there. Just watch out. Magic can leak into that water, and that means... C ▢ ...ingesting that contaminated substance carries that magic with you. Absorbing this magic directly into your body creates that void, except it's contained within you. Once you do, you carry around whatever you might see or hear with you. This might create a comical scenario, like you're ordering from an invisible pizza man. It may also trap you in something more sinister. This magic can use your mind against itself. Whatever is in that void, which can last for hours, is up to you...whether you can control it or not.

[ OOC: For this TDM, characters testing in can create their own scenarios and interact with characters in very bizarre and imaginative ways. Want your character to be the judge in a murder trial, roping in other characters as defendant and accuser? Or maybe you'd like to do something different with your character -- age them up, give them different powers? Anything can happen in these voids of concentrated magic, and that also means anyone can appear. Your creativity can create any situation you'd like to put your character in, and these situations can also pull in other characters. Everyone is there, after all! Characters can also take a break and do some minor exploration -- though more info will come out about the setting and potential in a later post, don't worry. For ingested magic, the character will be in a scenario like the one mentioned above, except it won't be a potentially public experience. For instance, your character can project a horrible experience into the void in Prompt A, but in Prompt C? That horrible experience would be stuck in their own mind...speaking on the negative end of the spectrum, anyway!

GAME NAVIGATION

Comments

[courtpainter]

Without context, how could you know I was not some credulous fool seeing magic where there was none? I can't imagine there are no charlatans wherever you come from, people who claim grand powers and peddle illusions. [Surely, surely people don't change that much from place to place.

But that's not really the important thing here, anyway.] What sort of magic is this, then? And more importantly, how do you know of it?

[teratias]

There's a pretty heft difference between people who do magic tricks and actual fact mages, thank you very much.

[Really, he has approximately no place being this snooty or being this big of a dick to the new guy. But Waver is...tired. And frustrated. And there is nothing like a good argument.]

First off, I'm a mage, so I actually know how to clock magic. Secondly, and this is the part that's important to you: you're a part of a large group of people, myself included, who have gotten picked up to be a part of a larger group of magic users. I don't know if the term coven exists in your world, but you're now a part of it.

[courtpainter]

[There really is nothing like a good argument, and Narsus would actually be quite happy to continue with this one, if not for that last revelation...

which skips him right past proving that I know the difference between magic tricks and actual mages was sort of my point, actually

and I said 'dark sorcerers' and 'terrible price' and this young man then admitted to being a mage, so he's either foolish, very confident, or not a very good listener

to wait, what?]

...There must be some mistake. I don't have any such abilities.

[teratias]

Yeah, this whole coven thing's also the great equalizer in that department. Everyone gets a grand total of one ability. If you've had anything before, it's an addition, if you've had nothing, great, you've got one now.

[He very quickly adds, just to be clear:] They don't come with any instructions though. The whole thing's trial and error, since the head of the coven, Qri, is kind of a pain in the ass.

[courtpainter]

[Narsus stares at Waver piercingly for a long moment. Gone is the pleasant smile, gone is the easygoing fop - he's deeply confused and taking a moment to just think things through, put pieces together.

He isn't dreaming. He's as sure of that as he can be - the one hallmark of dreams is that when strange, inexplicable things happen, they go unquestioned. The very fact that he's having trouble believing all of this, that he's seeking an explanation to fit the facts into a reality he can understand, means that he can't be dreaming.

Then this can only be reality. But the world around him right now is a reality he's already lived. His gaze turns away from Waver, and now other details are coming to light: he's sure that merchant across the way has offered the same fruit to the same passerby several times now. No matter how many boxes are carried off the ship, the number on deck never seems to change. He's awake, but what he's seeing isn't the truth.

When he moves his gaze too quickly, the shadows flicker and seem to open up too wide. He focuses on that, and on the sense of wrongness, the holes and details of this unreality, bends his sharp mind and all the force of his will toward wanting to know the truth, and takes a step forward onto the planks of the dock.

For a moment, he's sure his foot sank into tall grass. He takes another step, remembering that feeling, and there's grass growing between the planks of the dock, shadows of leaves across them. Another, and the blue sky is now partly obscured by branches, the warm sea breeze is cool and smells more of forest than ocean, the hubbub of voices in the marketplace are growing hushed and distant. Slowly, the city around them fades to a forest clearing.

Narsus turns back to Waver, a few steps away now, calm for the moment but still serious.] Tell me more. About this 'coven', and what they want from us.

[teratias]

[Waver's pretty okay with the silence. It's one of the pretty normal reactions to the whole coven thing, and that's not even getting into more of the particulars.

For him, it was easy. There's enough theories of magic to justify Qri and the host of things the coven meant. Alternate timelines and the ability to hop from one to the other is just one of them.

The thing that does surprise him is the change in scenery. It's...it's like a fade, with elements gently morphing and changing until city has given way to a forest in a way that feels alarmingly natural.

He matches serious tone to serious tone, the bratiness of earlier now totally gone.]

It's essentially a group of individuals from various points in time and space, gathered together in one location. The witch who's nominally in charge, and I say this because she's aloof and rarely shows her face, needs to gather energy. Everyone's got doubts about this, which probably isn't too surprising.

[courtpainter]

Not at all. [Still stern-faced, still processing, but the intensity he summoned up to wipe away the illusion seems to be slowly fading.] Has she said what she needs it for?

[teratias]

Something about needing to regain her own powers in order to get everyone home and put things to rights. To say details are forthcoming would be a total understatement. It's pulling teeth.

[Waver's eyes remain on the setting around them, watching it shift again.]

What is this place, exactly?

[courtpainter]

[Narsus stares at the city as it fills itself back in, melancholy settling into his eyes. Now that he knows what's beneath it, there are occasional branches and patches of grass where they shouldn't be, but the essence of Gilan is still all around.]

...This is the city of Gilan. I recently left it, likely for the last time in quite a while.

[teratias]

[The blend is fascinating. Waver's careful as he walks through it all, his eyes trying to figure out where the magic is coming from and how it all functions together. Carefully, he bends down in order to check some of the grass, fascinated.]

Interesting place. You uh...got a name there?

[courtpainter]

[Waver's curiosity is charming, and that plus the question seems to settle Narsus immensely. He smiles again, demeanor melting back to pleasant and easygoing.]

My apologies: in the confusion, I neglected to introduce myself. [He gives a slight bow.] My name is Narsus; and you are?

[teratias]

Waver Velvet.

[Waver misses the smile, misses the change in atmosphere. He is too busy rubbing his hand against the grass and feeling the transition from the real ground to the stuff of magic. He hmphs, like that's been satisfied, and then straightens up.]

I wonder how much control can be exuded over the scenery changes here, and if that knowledge means reality will always poke through. It's an interesting bit of magic.

[courtpainter]

I honestly don't know enough about it to say, although of course I'll be fascinated to learn. [He shakes his head, now following along a little bit behind Waver.] And speaking of learning magic, since that seems to be something I'll be doing, where would you recommend someone start if they have no reliable basic information on it?

[teratias]

Well, this is your world, isn't it? Picture another part of it, and let's see what happens.

[He's much too interested in this than determining newbie magic stuff. But he can't be a dick either.]

Usually you get some kind of weird letter of introduction that'll tell you what new ability you've got, so best wait for that. Systems of magic and magecraft differ too widely, so basic information is better built off of knowing what you yourself are working with.

[courtpainter]

That makes sense. Hmm...

[He closes his eyes and pictures turning Gilan to Ecbatana. The tall stone buildings and arches, fountains and artworks, the bustling capital and all its splendor...

...but it's been a long time since he's seen it intact, and when he opens his eyes again a moment later, he can see that he was only partly successful. The city is like a mosaic, walls flickering between intact or torn to rubble. Soldiers march down the street in armor that shifts from Parsian to Lusitanian styles as they go. A nearby square is full of market stands, cheerful washer women, and a pile of burning books.

He shakes his head and scowls, banishing the images from his mind and forcing Gilan to reappear instead.]

...It seems like I can't control it entirely.

[teratias]

[Waver observes the entire effect, his eyes growing wide at what appears. It...it's Persia. Or at least something like it, something like the empire that Iskandar conquered and took such delight in.

At least, when it is in tact, that's what it looks like. Waver's satisfied in his way though, as it suggests something else:]

Has it been a while since you've been there? That could explain it...

[courtpainter]

You're right. I've been to Ecbatana recently, but I hadn't for years before... [He shakes his head. The images the scenery showed them are probably enough explanation.] Well, it's not relevant right now.

[He doesn't need to be told to try something else, his own interest caught. It comes as easily as years of familiarity: the city melts away into forest again, but this time it's a clearing with a simple wooden house in it, his home while he was in exile.]

This looks correct, at least.

[teratias]

So it all runs on memory, the more recent the better.

[Waver's pretty fine with glossing over anything that sounds too close to getting into personal details. Narsus is...an interesting guy, to say the least, especially as the scene goes from a grand city full of art to...

...to a goddamn cabin in the woods?]

Your place, I'm guessing.

[courtpainter]

[He nods.]

For the last few years. I left it to begin traveling with the prince, but I don't imagine I'd be able to recall many of the places we've stopped with greater clarity than the capital.

[He seems content to admire it from the outside, though.] Any suggestions for abandoning the illusion entirely? I'd rather explore the present than the past, given current circumstances.

[teratias]

That follows. As for getting out...

[Waver stops, casting his eyes around again. He has a theory, then gestures for Narsus to follow after him.]

If this is localized, then getting out of range of this magic's source is the right way. I believe this is the direction I came in from, so that ought to spit us back out...

[courtpainter]

[Narsus nods, and follows behind Waver silently, watching the forest around them. The trees are a little wrong when he examines them closely, or at least they don't seem to be any one particular species. He never did pay that much attention to what kind of trees made up the forest around his home; he never thought it would feel like a lapse or failing to not know.

The most noticeable transition as they emerge from the illusion is the dirt path suddenly turning to grassy meadow. The trees have finally settled on a species, and when Narsus turns to look behind them, he can just barely see the patch of rippling void they've just stepped out of.]

Well. That's certainly interesting.

[teratias]

Localized magic. Like I said.

[Waver's face is that of someone who's damned pleased about having a hunch being proven true. He looks at the rippling void, grinning to himself. It's an amazing little bit of magic, something that he'd love to get a few more readings on. Mostly because now that he knows how it works?

He wants to know what the hell it's doing here.]

Why's it here though? And to what end? This is definitely unnatural.

[At least Waver's point about knowing a thing or two about magic seems to be bearing out.]

[courtpainter]

You've a great deal more knowledge in this than I do.

[He's staring at the void, carefully pacing to and fro, unsure of what would mark a safe boundary, but ultimately shakes his head and turns to Waver instead.]

I can't even tell what I'm looking at. I don't even know how magic works in my own...world. [There's just a trace of frustration in that: he hates not knowing things. And more to the point, he's never really thought on a grander scale than nations and alliances, so the difference of considering worlds and universes is throwing him a bit.]

[teratias]

[Even a few months ago, Waver might have given some smartass remark about that knowledge. Being born to it, studying it, something along those lines.

Instead, Waver explains.]

It's...energy, in the end. Energy that some people can tap into and have direct control of. Everything else is nuance and systems unique to particular worlds.

[courtpainter]

Hm. That's...abstract. More to do with philosophy than anything that has an immediate effect on the world...

[But philosophy is something he's studied, if only in the relatively rudimentary form available to his time period.] ...It's a start, at least.

Thank you for your help. Is there anything else you think I should know?