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!

GAME NAVIGATION

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Once he's close Yuri takes a noticeable step back, at least an arms length away. ]

But that small?

[ Seems fishy. ]

[Waver proceeds to all but shove his face into the bookcase, managing to see the camera in question. He responds, face still against the wood, likely fogging up the camera.]

Sure, that small. If you don't want it to be noticed, why not have it that small?

But what would be the point of hiding it at all? Or even putting cameras here?

[ She finds it unlikely that it's part of some show. ]

Do you think it's possible that there were some in the forest?

Security? No, that makes no sense. If you're rich enough to have place like this, you're rich enough to have better security than just cameras.

[Waver finally pulls his head out, and takes a moment to wipe at his face to ensure there is nothing clinging there. Satisfied, he lets out an unhappy huff. It is damn weird to have cameras here.]

I guess there could be some in the forest. But I don't know if I want to go check either if we're already being watched. Someone could just be sitting behind the cameras laughing at us running back and forth.

The place was wide open for us. [ Not a counterargument, more like something to add proof to his own guess.

She notices that there's a piece of hair sticking out after he's finished his own investigation, but instead of reaching out and tucking it for him she lifts a hand and gently smooths out her own hair. Hopefully he takes the hint. ]

It could explain why everything is so strategically placed. [ But then again it leads to more questions: Why these items specifically? Who set them here? Is this an experiment? ] Do you think we can find some information in these books?

It might. And I don't know what is in those crates either. [Those are probably safer to investigate, but Waver doesn't say so. Instead, his eyes go back to the bookshelves, completely missing the hint that there's something in his hair.]

Maybe, but I can't figure out what the organization system here is to begin with. If we don't know what we're looking for, we can't possibly find id.

[ Some scenes just weren't meant to be perfect. ]

Maybe we're not meant to find anything. [ But that, too, doesn't make sense. ] Or it could be that they're leaving us hints to find something.

But then the question is what, and moreover, why make us do so much work?

[It could be a thing to whine about, but for once, Waver has turned off that tendency to ask the question more genuinely.]

Nothing here makes sense. These cameras just throw everything into a weirder, harder to understand shape.

Maybe—...

[ Maybe. She's said that too many times and realized now that repeating it won't help either of them; pointless and unhelpful, she decides to shift the topic from brainstorming to something else. ] I don't know. [ Smooth transition. ]

What was the book you were reading earlier?

Some kind of architecture book. It was image heavy, and I can't say I recognize any of the styles in it.

[He refuses to admit that one of the reasons it was picked was due to a total inability to read most of the languages present in the library. Waver's eyes go back to the camera, and he regards it with a deep frown.]

Now I wonder how many other cameras are in this room alone.

There wouldn't really be any point in locating them all, I don't think we'll be here long.

[ Just a wild guess, but she doesn't believe that the traveling for today will stop here in this mansion. Even if the crates state otherwise and it could make do for a safe haven, if anything. ]

... Sorry, I didn't mean to make you worry.

[ She should have just kept her mouth shut, really, but knowing that they were possibly being watched had her on edge.

Not that much has changed since the reveal and confirmation from someone else. But there was a sense of calm that her body appreciated having someone near, a quick reminder that this wasn't an odd phenomenon she was experiencing along, even as her brain continued to twist and turn with negativity.

Past conversations remind her of how it's like to socialize with another individual, and with the help of Hisoka over the time spent with her in the shop she doesn't feel completely awkward while introducing herself: ] My name is Yuri, by the way, Yuri Kozukata.

[Waver is all set to ask how on Earth she can be so certain about how long they may or may not be wherever here is, but that moment passes by. He sighs, wishing he could have clung to that conversation thread for a second longer.

But it is too late, and time for introductions. Waver gives a nod in acknowledgement when Yuri offers his name.]

Waver Velvet. Thanks for letting me know about the cameras.

[ She's remaining hopeful. Or, honestly, she wants to stay determined so that the weight of her responsibilities at home don't push hard enough against that her shoulders that she completely crumbles. ]

No problem...

[ She's prepared for them to part, but there's one other thing she wants to add: ] Your hair.

Huh? What about it?

[Automatically, Waver's hand goes up to pat at it, and it is then and only then does he discover the piece of paper stuck in it. He tugs it out immediately and flushes a deep, brilliant red.]

There aren't any more pieces, are there?

No. [ Yuri waves a hand very nonchalantly, shaking her head.

While it's probably not reassuring there's a small smile to her lips, a mix of reassurance and humor. ] I'm just surprised that you didn't notice it at all.

It wasn't a big piece.

[Waver does bristle a little at the smile, but that comes from an assumption of being laughed at. But everything else has gone so smoothly that he controls the urge to snap and be rude.]

But thanks for letting me know.

No problem. [ Answering quickly, which is unsurprisingly followed by an awkward pause. If someone were to drop a pen in the room right now it would be heard clearly. ] Are you gonna stay here?

Definitely not. If there's cameras then--

[Waver trails off, managing to only shake his head.]

I don't want anyone watching me sleep. And what if the cameras are the first step to something else?

To something else? [ She quirks a brow of interest. ] What are you trying to assume with that?

[ Yuri could make a list, but that doesn't mean any of it could be what Waver is thinking of. ]

I'm not! It's just-- [He shakes his head, as if trying to dislodge a thought.]

If there's cameras, then they're for a reason. And if there are cameras then there's probably other stuff going on too.

[ She thinks back to it being like a security system, which is something they had at the shop back home, but she highly doubts that if they're concealed. ]

If you want to sleep then I'll stay here with you... and make sure nothing happens. [ A pause. ] But I'd appreciate if you did the same for me.

I wasn't going to nap but-- [Is she going to? Is that a request?]

I can stick around for a few hours if you were thinking about doing so.

I'm a little tired from the trip here.

[ So much happened between waking up and making it to the mansion, not to mention what everything happened back home; she's tired. ]

An hour should be enough.

[Waver nods understandingly. He isn't about to sleep, but an excuse to sit around for an hour is indeed welcome.]

I'll stick around then.

Thanks. [ Silently, she nods her head once more. ] If you wanna leave a little earlier just... wake me up, I guess. Are you going back over there?

[ She gestures to where he was seated earlier. ]

( TDM | #1 )

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