( TDM | #1 )

[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.

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? A ▢ Your character's first experience here will be waking up in a forest. Specifically, located here. It's up to them to traverse and try to figure out where they are, whether they make it to the beach or the main house area. There's also a mysterious trail of soft, felt bags, tied off with thin rope, leading your character to what appears to be a specific destination. These items can be as useful as a granola bar to as seemingly useless as a stapler. Let's just say that some of these mysterious objects are pretty out there. They're free to travel off the beaten path, but that comes with its own perils. Maybe your character has a power that could fend these creatures off...? They aren't exactly happy about sharing their territory.

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? B ▢ Feel free to have your character explore the mansion (the won't find much but you can take some liberties with the TDM), and they're free to open these mysterious crates. In them they'll find edible fruit and bread, modern clothing in a variety of sizes and portable medical kits. Characters who apply using the TDM are free to carry these objects into the game opening. If you want some specifics, there are a few rooms of note: the game room (containing a working pool table, non-electric pinball machines and a card table with supplied chips and multiple decks), the cellar (filled with a variety of liquor and wines, all aged quite well) and a large room upstairs that contains a glass ceiling and a variety of books in a foreign language. One more thing -- if you happen to go rummaging around, you may find tiny pin cameras. They're minuscule...you may not even notice them unless you look hard enough. 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. E ▢ Time to explore the beach huts! Most of them are abandoned, but your characters will notice they seem to be more livable than the mansion somehow. This is in part due to a little note tacked to the door of each beach hut that reports in scrawling script "Claim your hut, please!" Will your character listen or reject the sinking feeling that they may not be leaving anytime soon? Some huts are also bigger than others, and a few even contain small sinks and softer beds. Grab these while they're available! 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

Comments

[enflame]

( Sorry his first thought might not have been a scratching tantrum??

Emil definitely tried to pull his own out -- still in the forest and with more of a futile plucking motion, though. Not something so severe. )

Don't go clawing at yourself. ( Lalli's kinda metal though, what with pulling glass shards out of himself like nbd. ) It's kind of strange that they're all the same, but everything is weird here.

( He strips his jacket off to check unnecessarily, feeling so much better with it off despite still being, quite literally, a hot mess. It's hard to peek under the protective layer of skintight clothing but yeah, it's the same. )

[lalliho]

[Just goes to know he really doesn't know Lalli at all!!! And yeah, take off the coat, dude, it's steaming in here. Lalli's almost impressed that this idiot hasn't passed out from the panic and the humidity yet.]

It wasn't coming out.

[Just be glad he didn't try to catch the edge with his knife and pry it.]

...I think it's something like that really stupid one's drawings. Making rules and making us follow them as long as we have them. I can't do anything with it in.

[enflame]

( Don't worry, he's extremely red, and if he could see his sweat-sticky hair right now he'd probably have that last good panic surge needed for a stroke.

'Really stupid one' obviously means: )

Reynir's doodle things? ( Runes, doodles, mage shit, whatever. ) Pieces of paper are easy to move, at least. I still don't know how this got put in my body!

( That's so skeevy. He certainly didn't consent to any body modifying...the rest of this weird magic nonsense feels like it's clogging up his mind, but the physical alteration is particularly invasive. Especially considering their uniforms; how the hell did that get there?? )

[lalliho]

[Good thing Lalli doesn't care enough to mention it.]

Mrh. Easier for them to stay in control.

[Whoever "they" were... He's suspicious and hates everyone, though, so of course someone who knows more than nothing at all is going to get villainized. Which is fair, tbh. He was kidnapped???]

I can't figure out when, which is stupid. I should remember...

[enflame]

( Emil has no concept of evil overlords trying to control his thoughts or body or whatever...it's kind of hard to wrap his head around, despite there obviously being some outside tampering. Lalli's comment sounds less like a conspiracy theory and instead a reality he may need to face. )

I can't either, and that's what bothers me. ( Well, among other things. A lot of other things. He tries to run a hand through his hair but discovers that's somewhat difficult with all the moisture in the room...oh no that must look horrible. ) It'd be impossible to forget something like this wouldn't it? Actually I...can't remember a lot.

( It's hard for him to be angry when his brain is putting so much effort into being scared and confused. )

[lalliho]

[Gods, he can just sense Emil's worry over his dumb hair. With a growl he gets to his feet and stalks off, barely thinking to offer over his shoulder,] Wait here. Getting dressed.

[Not that he wants to put on all this crap when he was just soaking in scalding water, but what can you do... This was a mystery that needed to be worked on, and sitting around in some echoey place naked wasn't the most comfortable way to go about it. So...most of the uniform being put back on... Ugh...]

Okay.

[Now that he's back...he's going to flick Emil in the forehead.]

[enflame]

Alright...? ( More so a question because it seems sudden compared to his previous insistence on boiling himself. Emil watches him go before turning to look at the steam continuously rising from the bath. He's thankful that maybe they can leave this hell pit of heat. Saunas are fine and all, but he's certainly not in the mood for sweating through his uniform.

He waits for Lalli to come back, occasionally kicking a stray crab into the water before it can come to pinch him, claws up and snapping. Oh, someone's coming...hello Lal--

Ow. )

What was that for?

[lalliho]

[He may believe leaving to be pointless, but maybe with another brain -- well, half a brain -- they can figure out these smaller problems. Get a grasp on just how and when they were taken. If anyone could help him pinpoint that, it would be Emil, right? He was always around, despite the discouraging Lalli had tried to do.]

Seeing if you're solid.

[Or just being a dick, whatever.]

Okay. I believe you're real. Even if you're not using your stupid language.

[enflame]

Of course I'm solid. ( Oh well, he's not irritated. Being flicked is better than being screamed at, and he's come to accept physical interactions with Lalli usually aren't typical.

Rude OOC comments aside, Emil stands and brushes off the water hanging to his pants. It's pretty futile considering his entire uniform is now moist, but what can ya do. )

I'm telling you, you're using my language. That's what it sounds like, anyway, though I'm dubious that you mastered Swedish that quickly. ( He gives Lalli a questioning look...nah, impossible. One day one of them will realize something is hinky about this. )

[lalliho]

I am not.

[This is stupid. He's walking back out.]

Maybe it's a soul thing. I had to understand the stupid one when I saw him in my space... But I can't tell. I can't tell anything anymore.

[enflame]

( Okay, okay, you're not. That last bit makes little to no sense to Emil as he trails after Lalli, careful not to slip on any puddles or crabs underfoot. )

Reynir? You understand him...somewhere? ( Soul thing, 'my space,' elaborate please friendo. )

[lalliho]

Mrrrh... In...mage space. You wouldn't understand if I explained it.

[Zero faith, sorry buddy... He has entered the No Fun Zone.]

[enflame]

( Let's see if that lack of faith is well misplaced. )

Mage space...like a space for mages? Bizarre magic keeps happening here; isn't that similar?

( You're the magic expert, explain this to him!! )

[lalliho]

["A space for mages" is, like, duh, so no points on that one.]

I don't know this magic. I can't tell if this is a spirit place more than a...place place. [Mentally facepalms, this is the worst, between trying to dumb it down and find words he already knows.] But I understand you like a spirit place would let me. I can't feel magic or see souls here, though. Like I'm...walled off.

[enflame]

( This scans with him in bits and pieces. It was already kind of obvious that Lalli didn't have any sort of authority here...not that Emil had ever seen what that really looked like outside of troll identification and weird magic comas.

This is all troubling, simply because it's so nonsensical to him. The weird head fullness he keeps having to try to push away also contributes to his frustration with just how atypical everything suddenly is. )

Lalli...what does magic feel like? ( Since it's apparently something he can describe as a sensation. Maybe that feeling is similar to suddenly hearing tons of voices rattling around in his brain. )

[lalliho]

...I don't know how to answer that.

[Up until today, he'd always had magic. It was part of him -- literally, even. It was given to him through his bloodline. His hands clench and unclench a few times while he tries to think about how to communicate that, but... How is he supposed to?]

Now it's...more alone, I guess? [How can he still be struggling to find words when he's speaking his own language? This isn't fair at all.] Mrrrh... Lots of people, lots of noisy people, but... It's not the same. It's not safe, because I can't do anything to... I just can't do anything.

[He's weak.]