spellgrinders | ( TDM

Entry tags:

!tdm,
npc: brie

( TDM | #1 )

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.

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.

Depending on your situation and ability to acclimate, you may not fully understand what's happening. A dream, a hallucination. But when you feel the trunk of the trees surrounding you, it's oddly...real. The smell is real. The moisture on the ground is real. The small grass snake you find slithering close to your feet seems very real as well.

There are a few other sensations that also begin to feel a little more like reality with every passing second. Like the fact that your intuition is trying to tell you something that doesn't seem plausible. One is more obvious -- you now have a new piece of jewelry inserted snuggly between your collarbones.

Maybe that's when you realize it is real. When you realize that there's no delusion here -- you aren't where you once were. But if that's the case...where are you?

here

its own perils.

After an hour or so of trekking through the forest, you finally come upon a break in the tree line that reveals to you an area that appears to be inhabitable. Your first stop is the large mansion that sits in the valley of the opening...if anyone is here or there's a way to get out of here, the house makes the most sense, right?

There are a variety of rooms in this mansion, and you're free to explore them. You also spy a lot of crates sitting in the middle of the floor in one of the main rooms...are you curious enough to open them?

At this point you notice that you aren't alone -- there are other people in the same boat as you! When they're around you, that signet you feel in your chest tingles slightly. The sensation isn't unpleasant, but instead like a warm tingle is spreading from their neck outward. You instinctively attempt to talk to your fellow kidnapping victims, and that works just fine...but what are all these voices you hear in your head now? Are you crazier than you thought you were?

C ▢ Here's where you can play around with the telepathy mechanic. It's likely your character won't be used to it which can lead to accidental broadcasting. If they happen to tap the signet purposefully or try to pull it out, everyone within a radius of 100 feet will feel a throbbing pain in their head. But your character won't know that, will they?

For those more inclined to adventure, there's also another building to investigate. From the outside, it looks very circular and unidentifiable, but upon entering you'll discover that it's a fully-functioning bath house.

D ▢ Despite containing steamy water and luxury bathing accommodations, the bathhouse is currently being overrun with crabs. The not-so-smart members of this species have fallen into the extremely hot water, flash boiling themselves after being unable to get back out. Others are a little more intelligent but equally aggressive. Characters: watch your toes and be cautious if you really want to take a much-needed bath! They may also want to check twice before using the restroom, otherwise the experience might be more painful than they're used to.

Exploring the mansion and the bathhouse was fun and all, but aside from the crates they didn't prove to be very useful. When you came into the clearing, you also saw a row of very colorful buildings down near the beach. It makes sense that this area may be more beneficial to any escape plans you have, and taking a dip in the ocean might be nice!

It's not until you reach the beach huts that you realize that murky blue color you spied wasn't the ocean. It's outter space. There goes any hopes you had of swimming to safety.

Claim your hut, please!

Even though it turns out the ocean was a lie and you're precariously close to falling off the edge of the world, the area around the huts is decidedly beachy. Sitting on the beach is a lobster trap, though about 10 times the size of any you might have seen before. Inside are more felt sacks, though larger. The weirdest part is that peering through the bars, you notice each has a nametag attached. The reason you know this to be true is because you just spied your own name written on one of the labels.

There's also something else underneath it. The descriptor may not mean much to you yet, but it will soon: it's the title of their newfound magic.

In each felt sack is a sort of starter kit: a set of dated and drapey plainclothes, a bag of dried boar jerky, a leather flask filled with water and a small tube of sunblock (the writing is in a bizarre pictograph language, but the giant picture of the sun on the tube should explain the purpose). There's also a rolled up paper tied with a string that reads as follows: "Welcome. Things will be explained in due time. For now, understand that you have been blessed with a gift of magic. Look into your brain and feel the instinct for both. Practice makes perfect."

F ▢ Here's the official prompt for playing with newfound magic (and telepathy if you want more practice). It's likely characters have already accidentally broadcast their thoughts, utilized the C prompt or used their magic inadvertently, but maybe this new information and small explanation has motivated them to try and see what they're truly capable of. Don't worry. If they're lucky enough to stick around, all will be explained.

...What if you're a wildcard, though? Someone who doesn't play by the rules and follows a different path, no matter what direction the world may be guiding you in? This island is large and contains many areas of interest, from crystal streams to hidden locations. Maybe you want to do something different...so break the mold and explore!

G ▢ 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!

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You can ask them if you want.

[ Whether or not he can answer adequately remains to be seen, but for the moment, Minato looks over at his sword. It's been through a lot, but it's also stood strong against more vicious foes than a bucket full of scalding water. Since he's still holding onto the bucket, he scoots a little backwards to lengthen the distance between it and himself, and looks to John to do the honors. ]

Give it a try.

[Before he asks, John's going to size up the bucket and then the sword before realizing the implications.]

If you're sure? Bladekind is Dave's specialty, I don't use swords. [But at the same time how hard can it be? He also doesn't seem to think much of what he's said and he's carefully but solidly poking a small hole in the bottom of the bucket. He's stopping enough that he won't have to worry about, you know, stabbing all the way through and stabbing Minato, but there's progress.]

But since this looks pretty beat up I guess you are? Used to using them I mean. [Let's keep going with this.]

Bladekind...?

[ Swords are inherently not kind at all, but. That aside, anybody can use a sword. Minato was handed his first one and got thrown into battle within ten minutes of it, but fighting is different than just stabbing things full of holes, and John looks like he's got this under control. ]

I guess, yeah, I'm used to them. Bows are too weak, axes are too heavy. Swords are easier to use.

[He just nods.] I guess it's because he was used to swords. When I allocated my strife specibus I didn't think it'd matter much. [Poke poke stab. The bucket starts gaining enough holes to serve as a net at least.]

And it's so bloody because you were fighting something before we got here? Or should I be more concerned? [The tone is still light but. Please don't snap and try to fight him later. He just needs to be Sure.]

Allocate- a strife what?

[ Minato temperament looks more confused than volatile. He knows those words separately, but not strung together like that with any semblance of understanding. Trying to put that together from context... he can't. Homestuck terminology is too difficult at the moment. ]

...Hm. Yeah, I was fighting something. There's no reason to be concerned. Until midnight, I guess.

[And John being John doesn't think it's important to explain, so he's just waving it off. They can come back to the whole thing later because the bucket-net is important and also that sure does sound weirdly foreboding.]

Okay. But what happens at midnight...? [Fighting isn't unusual to him, but specific hours are always worth asking about.]

World gets covered in Shadows.

[ Only capital S's don't translate in speech, so... okay. ]

...Maybe. I don't know about this world.

[ His own experience with midnights aside, he doesn't know whether this world has a sun that follows the same rules as his own; maybe they're in the part of the world where there are never nights, like one of the poles back on Earth. It's a mystery, until they stick around long enough to see nightfall. ]

[The capital S sure doesn't translate and he knows how science works, knows how shadows are cast thanks to the sun and he looks skyward for a moment. Which. Probably isn't great when he's holding a sword but at least he isn't stabbing forward while doing so.]

I can't tell much about this world either, but the sun looks like it is in one piece. I think that is probably an important factor when it comes to if shadows can exist. [He looks at the bucket then.] I think that's good. We can test it to see how it siphons now.

[Like. He wants to keep asking but he's not sure how Minato's world works or what questions to ask, so. Crabs it is.]

[ As long as there's sun, he feels safer. The same as when he's asleep, or when there's food in his stomach, so he turns his attention back to the bucket. It's easier now, with the water being able to flow through it as he dips it below the surface to scoop up dead crabs. There are so many. ]

Should we fish them all out?

[ How long have they been sitting down there, if everybody he's spoken to seems to have arrived today, and they could have been dead forever?? Maybe they should just drop a fresh one inside and flash boil it?

He was so blinded by crabs and there are all these important questions. ]

[He looks pretty happy that this new method seems to be working, though he can't help but watch Minato's hands to make sure he doesn't burn himself all the same. No more thinking about shadows just yet, or Shadows as it were. There are several other important questions to answer.]

I think if anyone stands a chance at bathing ever again it is probably not a bad idea. But what about the crabs that are still alive? Where should they go?

[ If anybody wants to bathe, they'll have to find a way to moderate the temperature too. That's not something he knows how to help with, so... crabs. He looks to the ones that are still around, scuttling too close to the edge and not leaning from the fates of those below. ]

There's sand outside, but they probably live in water... [ Which is here, or in the forest, neither of them ideal places for crabs. ] They must have gotten in here from somewhere. We could find that, and find their original home.

[That's apparently not in John's frame of reference either. Crabs are an immediate problem.]

Did you get a chance to look around inside the mansion? There were a ton of crates in one of the main rooms. Maybe that's where the crabs came from in the first place.

A little. I emptied out a first aid kit.

[ Things like a roll of bandages, alcohol pads for sterilization, all stuffed into his decidedly bloody and unsanitary pockets because it's easier than carrying around a box. He wasn't in need of anything more, back then, so he'd skipped searching through the others; now's a good a time as any to be more thorough, so he stands now and shakes the stiffness out of his legs. ]

But it could be. We can check them out.

[He'll follow suit and he's even holding out Minato's sword for him to take while his other hand is grabbing for his hammer.]

I found some oranges and some pants. [#priorities.] A second sweep won't hurt since we are here for a while. And it looks like the crabs can't be saved right now anyway. [He's just watching another inch closer and closer and--oh there he goes. Bye buddy.] Want to lead the way?

[ Minato takes his sword back and turns the bucket over at least three little crabs. Safe. Unless they combine their efforts in pushing against the sides of the bucket towards their boiling watery doom.

There's no helping that, so Minato turns to the door and treks down the hall to the open room where he remembers the crates were spread out, pretty much ransacked for the most part for how many people have passed through the mansion throughout the day, each intent on taking all they can carry or finds fit to use.

Contents already spilled onto the ground, Minato crouches down next to one of the open crate, looking inside. ]

If we can't find their home, we could rehouse them somewhere safer.

[Satisfied with this, he follows Minato right back into the mansion and to the main room, hovering over that first crate to see what's in it. It won't last long, however, seeing how shortly after he'll be moving on to one of the few remaining crates as well.]

Like what, starting a crab farm? Do crabs really need water to survive?

Probably, yeah...

[ Living things do tend to need water to survive, and crabs- though he only sees them scuttling across the sand- probably live in the water where they can hunt and not dry out. ]

There's sand outside, water from the baths.

[ He empties his pockets of the most useful TDM item there is: the stapler. They can totally make a crab farm, using this to hammer off and put together the sides of several crates into one large space. ]

[A crate is soon emptied, a few dinner rolls scattering before John tips it on its side to test it out for stability.]

If we used another bucket we could scoop out some of the water and let it cool before putting the crabs back in it. It's not going to boil forever. And there is plenty of space outside on the beach for them. It's better this way.

[ Before anything else, Minato grabs one of the dinner rolls before they all roll away; he was getting hungry, and the crabs aren't getting prepared into a meal, so. He nods. ]

Let's get the water first, since it'll take time to cool.

[ Also to find another bucket that they haven't stabbed full of holes, whoops. ]

[Oh my god Minato. But John doesn't comment on it and he nods again.]

Sure. I can take care of that if you want to start building their habitat and take care of the bread. [Okay, so he will comment about it. Sue him.]

[ thumbs up and a very solemn ]

Leave the bread to me.

[ He'll also start working on the habitat, but bread first. The rolls get gathered up and placed on of a clean blanket or whatever cloth he can scavenge up from the crates.

By the time John comes back, it's to a bread roll pyramid, neatly stacked because whatever's left over that can't balanced, the evidence is already destroyed by the grace of Minato's stomach. The crate enclosure is coming along less successfully though. ]

...Is your hammer any good for construction work?

Sweet. [And there he goes. Thanks, Minato. Not long after John does come back with a bucket of water, carefully crossing the room so it doesn't slosh everywhere and burn him. The steam doesn't help though since it's fogging up his glasses a little but he manages to return and set the bucket down on a different crate. He's eyeing the pyramid and debating swiping the roll from the top but there are bigger things at stake here.

A glance to the hammer follows the question.]

I have never tried it for construction? Usually it's just to fight and it can deliver some huge hits, but it is still just a hammer. [Just. A huge magical one.] It couldn't hurt? I'm the only one who can lift it though.

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( TDM | #1 )

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