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

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As far as Waver can tell by the time he is done covering his portion of the mansion, there is no way for anyone to die here unless they put a terrible amount of effort into it. The rooms are all plain, and there is little to make of them. Only that for the number of people present, there are probably not enough bedrooms and no sign of bunk beds.

He returns to the library with the contents of one of the crates though - an armful of fruit and two pairs of trousers. An eclectic selection, but that was a point that Waver wanted to drive home. This entire place seemed to run on that principle, and perhaps that was something useful.

No matter what though, he hadn't found where all of those cameras led to. The viewing area must be remote, if it isn't in the basement.

He settles down on one of the sofas, eyes on the door.

"It's mostly alcohol." It's the very unimpressed report that comes as Dirk shoves open the door. He isn't a fan of alcohol. It's unhelpful and not funny.

That is when he notices the fruit and trousers. "Holy shit. Is that fruit?"

Okay, pants, whatever. But Dirk has never encountered fresh fruit in his life, he has never encountered real fruit in his life. This is a new, amazing experience.

"Mostly?" Waver repeats, tilting his head slightly to the left. "What else is down there then?"

He'd be happy to just find an item with this belongs to ____ and know who used to be in this house.

"And yes. The crates in the front hall have a mix of food and clothing, but they aren't packaged separate."

"That seems potentially bad for the clothing." Hm. "And maybe the food."

So far, there are no 'this belongs' to be found.

"Given the state of the place, it might have been left out for us."

"Between this and the bag trail, I'd agree."

Waver sighs, and takes the little orange that he picked out. He examines it, regarding it with deep suspicion.

"No sign of where the camera central command might be?"

"Nothing I could identify."

He glances at the camera in the room.

"I doubt the wires would be possible to track."

"And I'm not going to tear apart a wall."

Never mind that they likely don't have the equipment for it either. Waver shifted uncomfortably in his seat, then put the orange back down.

"Whoever lives here would probably come back, see that, and have a fit."

"That has its own appeal."

He is half annoyed at being abducted.

He's right. It absolutely does.

"Well. Did you find any tools in the basement for that kind of home destruction, or would we have to rely on our bare hands?"

"I could probably throw one of the wine casks into the wall. Maybe some furniture."

He shouldn't be brainstorming how to destroy this place, but Waver is not protesting and therefore he will.

"I could do a fire but it would be too difficult to contain."

"A fire is right out," Waver agreed. He then stopped, realizing he was agreeing to whole sale destruction that could, in theory, earn the ire of some rich pompous ass capable of making his life a living hell.

Been there, done that. Bad idea.

"The casks and furniture are also an issue. They are large, but imprecise. Or--"

Waver's eyes went back over to where the camera was.

"Maybe pulling one out would be the better way to start?"

This wasn't avoiding destruction either. But it was being more careful about it.

"Might as well."

He walks over to check the cameras out. He gives a tug.

And it sure is battery powered according to a thread with Brie which is annoying.

"Okay, so I guess we're going with 'no wires to follow.' They must have some kind of Wi-Fi to transmit the data."

"Wi-Fi?" Waver asked, once Dirk finishes tugging the camera out. The problem with being from the 90s meant he was behind on technology.

"Wireless Internet. Is that not a thing for you?" He would buy that. But also all the aliens he knows have Wifi, so the world is mysterious.

Waver tilted his head slightly.

"We have the internet, but it mostly just make noises."

The horror of dial-up is Waver's reality.

"Holy shit, you have dial-up."

He has heard of it. He has never experienced it himself but he has known of its terrors.

Waver paused, coming to accept that he really, really hated this part of the proceedings. He understood the five magics in theory, but seeing them in play was something short of unnerving.

"May I ask when does wifi become common place?

"Approximately mid-2000s."

Dirk has never had a problem with annoying time bullshit, having spent his whole life four hundred years ahead of two of his best friends, so explaining the history of something to someone in the past comes naturally to him.

Waver let out a very soft little ah which seemingly explained everything. He realized though that it was rude not to share this kind of revelation, so he added simply, "It is the 1990s for me."

That does explain everything. "Time's sort of a crapshoot, but I'm from approximately 2425 by that calendar."

"Wait," Waver said, his eyes now narrowing at Dirk. "How does that work for you?"

"How does what work for me? You sound like you'd give me a pass if I was from 2005, but somehow 2425 is off the table."

Which seems unfair, because all time travel is equally stupid.

Well, put like that, Waver just feels stupid. His cheeks tinge with red, but he fights an outburst.

"I would have thought the mere existence of dial-up would be very niche information by then, that's all!"

Sorry, Waver. Dirk ignores the flushing, and explains with a shrug. "I was really big into studying the past. The 1990s-2020s were my preferred range for research, and pop culture was one of my major focuses."

Waver simply shrinks at that. He's gone and made an ass of himself, like he always does. For a moment, he wonders if the floor below will just do him the favor of being a trap door, opening, and letting him fall through.

"Oh," he manages, wanting to die even more. "Sorry."

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splinten - 2017-06-28 01:01 (UTC) - Expand

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