( 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

[grimdeity]

Ah yes the boonbucks, that's the economy I meant. It's been so many years.

[ and also dave did torrent grist so whatever. call rose a gamebreaker but dave was a CHEATER ]

[windeity]

Which you also made me wire to you? Dude. [He rolls his eyes.] Money doesn't even do anything here, I bet. Everything has been free so far.

[parodeity]

Fun fact, that's how the trolls found us.

[ THEY WERE ALL FUCKING COMPLICIT IN THEIR OWN TROLLING STARTING. GOD. ]

[grimdeity]

So far. I won't be surprised if our mysterious felt-bag magic-power giving benefactors expect something in return for their hospitality.

[ nothing in life is free, no one is ever nice just cause, etc, ]

[windeity]

What do you mean that's how the trolls found us? How could they even track that? [For fucks sake.]

They probably will expect something in return, which is also stupid since I do not think any of us asked to be here. Or lose our godtier powers? Or get these stupid powers? So we would basically be paying them for fucking with us.

[parodeity]

The money we made got sent to them. In the past?

[ AND THEN THEY TRACKED THE TRANSFER... ]

I miss knowin' the time. This feels weird as shit and tbqh I don't approve.

[grimdeity]

Pure shenaniganry.

[ shocking ]

I miss knowing the most fortuitous path. And knowing where the hell we are. I suppose paying for them fucking with us would, technically, count is a form of prostitution, linguistically speaking. But also, accurate.

[windeity]

What the fuck. [OKAY WHATEVER, NO MORE ABOUT THE TROLLS. He's also just shaking his head.] I miss being the wind. And not being someone's prostitute. Or having invisible prostitutes? Or whatever this analogy is, I think I may have lost it. But all of this really does feel weird like a huge part of us is missing. Maybe we can trade these new powers for our old ones.

[parodeity]

I can't tell if you're suggestin' we're your invisible prostitutes or not, but I gotta say we're way out of your price range.

[ YOU LOST THAT ANALOGY, JOHN, and dave will help lose it more. ]

[grimdeity]

Vastly so, John.

[ just lets the analogy be lost ]

Hmm, perhaps, but it would have to be a trade that wholly benefits us and isn't somehow to our detriment. We'll know more once we find out who is in charge here.

[windeity]

If you didn't steal all of my money I could maybe afford both of you? Don't let other people buy you either. [This is how friendship works.]

You think once we know it'll be easier to bargain with them or whatever we may have to do?

[parodeity]

It's not stealin' when you literally gave it to me, dude. Also, I regret to inform you even that much money - which was chump change, really? - would not be enough to afford our services.

[ he slings an arm around rose's shoulders again, leaning against her. he's careful not to put any actual weight on her though? it's mostly just affection mixed with comfort, because yeah, the whole death + kanaya dying thing earlier. ]

I believe we're gonna get an infodump in a little while. At least, that's what was sort of implied to me earlier?

[grimdeity]

That's so bisexual of you, John. Also vaguely possessive? [ i'm sorry ] But Dave is correct. I will not sell myself for anything less than a price that no one can afford.

[ she would say "mortal man" but that would imply immortal men could afford her and they also cannot. ]

An infodump, hm? Where was this implied to you?

[windeity]

[He doesn't even bother verbally defending himself and settles for throwing a small amount of sand at both of his friends? Rude???] That is not at all what I meant? I am just saying that I should get first dibs even if it's a price no one can afford. [Great. The Strilonde possessiveness is rubbing off on him. That probably happens when your friends are super dead.

But anyway. He blinks in surprise because this is the first time he's heard of an info dump, too.] Think we're really ready for another one? Sburb was already a lot.

[parodeity]

[ dave idly pulls rose down against his side moreso to shield her from the sand for a second, quick reflexes still in place even if they are Not So Bullshit (he's still faster than u egbert) though he doesn't dodge himself. ]

Nope. I have first dibs on Rose? [ ...........................

look ]

Also yeah we'll be fine. I'm used to infodumps, life feels empty without one every so often thrown my way to halfway ignore. But Brie, who is apparently semi in charge and has been here longer, said her counterpart would infodump after shutting down the telepathic network later on, probably.

[grimdeity]

[ rose is so offended about the sand but thanks dave?

but also. wow that dibs comment EXTRACTING HERSELF FROM DAVE'S SIDE ] I'm not even sure I can add to that impressive comment.

I prefer to be on the giving end of infodumps, myself. But that's interesting-- so there are two people in charge, a "Brie" and someone else?

[windeity]

[It's the combination of what Dave says and Rose's reaction that gets John to laugh and he's done throwing sand, more amused by the slip.]

There really is no topping that one. [But okay, serious. Beeee serious.] Have you actually met this Brie person or did she only talk to you in your head? And if they're turning off the telepathic network does that mean we'll stop hearing everyone?

[parodeity]

She talked to me in my head, and I'm not sure - I think mostly it'll be, like, an infodump we can't not listen to?

[ IGNORING THE SHADE BEING THROWN AT HIM ]