spellgrinders | ( TDM

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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The tone issued at him, happened to be something Lloyd was very familiar with, and he waited, hoping more would come.

Instead came a question, and he chuckled. "I'm here. My friends would never leave me without a fight." Though as true as that might have been...Everyone did have obligations they were attending to since the immediate threat had passed. Did anyone know he was missing? Well, his Dad would, definitely. At least he had that going for him, but he shook off the question and his own self doubt.

"What kind of friend would I be if I wasn't ready for them?" He turned to look at Waver again, humming for a moment. "You could do with a purple, I think."

"I see."

Waver found the idea of friends to be a novelty. He didn't have any, and whatever Rider was was a lot more complex than just friendship. The notion that people might traverse to whatever this place was definitely the kind of thing that happened to other people.

Discussing huts was less depressing.

"What makes you say purple?"

Well, that seemed to have laid an egg, and Lloyd thought about what he might do to recover the conversation. Thankfully Waver wasn't completely done with him and asked another question.

Staring at the huts, he thought carefully for a moment. Actually; Waver's standoffish nature so far reminded Lloyd of Mithos, with less homicide. Clearing his throat as he recalled that he might want to choose his words carefully, as he had no idea what anyone was capable of here.

Then again, there was also Dwarven Vows #9 and #16 to remember, so it didn't particularly matter what Waver was capable of. Having a friend though here would help. "It's an intense color." He replied finally, remembering he was letting his mind wander. "It's also relaxing." So far despite his attitude, Waver was relaxing to be around, possibly because of that attitude.

"Intense and relaxing seem contradictory," he commented, this time with less heat and grump in his voice. Waver was curious about the logic here, and sometimes that curiosity won out over being well, Waver.

"Especially the relaxing part."

There wasn't an explain further in Waver's words, but it lingered somewhat in how he tilted his head and how his eyes remained on Lloyd. This guy was hard to make something of, that was for sure, but it was that exact reason that Waver wasn't stomping off to try and reclaim some level of privacy.

Lloyd shrugged at first, it made sense to him. However, given they had something of a rapport going; he did want it to continue until the other lost interest.

"Well. It's..." He held up a hand, trying to pull the words from the air. "It's like--" He began again before cutting himself off and humming. Explaining things was difficult, which was probably why he didn't try hard to do it on a regular basis. He got his points across but when it didn't translate, well most of the people he knew were smarter than him, so he didn't have to.

"You remind me of someone. Purple is relaxing because it makes me think of the night sky." He gestured to the edge of the beach for emphasis. "Laying out under the stars, just letting your thoughts drift without a care...That is relaxing." Which hopefully was a satisfactory reply for Waver.

The purple thing makes sense, as far as Waver is concerned. Night skies could be relaxing to the right sort of person, and Lloyd absolutely came off as that type. With that settled, Waver had to backtrack to the first part.

"I actually remind you of someone?"

He was skeptical to say the least, and it showed in his tone and the side-eye that he offered.

Not noticing Waver's body language now, Lloyd had a smile on his face as he was reminiscent.

"Yeah, Genis Sage. He's my best friend!" Which Lloyd replied animatedly finally to Waver's question, throwing up a hand as if the best friend part was obvious. Which it was to Lloyd, perhaps to anyone that might actually see the two in action, as well.

"He's super smart, but that might be because he's a Half-Elf. All them seem smart, especially the Professor." His tone took on a slightly darker inflection at that mention, as if she might appear out of thin air. Which Lloyd could do without easily.

"Anyway..." He realized he had gotten off-topic. "You remind me of Genis."

He reminded this far, far too upbeat person of someone smart. Waver had to stop and hold back the surprise and delight at that, and that alone was a wonderful feeling. People just saw him as someone that was easy to bully or deride or ignore, not someone smart.

Which he was, of course, but being smart and having people know it from a single glance were two vastly different things in Waver's experience. There was a reason he had such a chip on his shoulder.

"Well, uh," he said, flushing red for a moment. "Thanks. That's really, well," Waver searched for a word that could express all of his emotions on this. He failed and settled on, "Nice. Have you known him for a long time?"

Waiting for Waver's answer left Lloyd to go through his things again. There might have been couple of items he could have done without. Which of course meant the internal struggle the other person was going through went unnoticed.

He would be glad to have helped at all though, had he known. As he did not, he looked up at Waver, noticing the blush and tilting his head curiously. When he continued on, Lloyd nodded. "Oh man. I've known Genis as long as I can remember! We went to school together, went adventuring together. It's hard to think of what we haven't done together, actually."

"Ah."

That, among so many other things, was a novelty. Waver had grown up without many friends, and as he had tried to become a mage, he had none at all. The notion of having someone that close for that long, that was unthinkable. Sure, it was something he had heard about before, but it always seemed a fantasy.

"How lucky for you both."

Which was to say this was very, very awkward for him to hear about, and he desperately wanted a change of subject.

Platitudes. That had to be it.

"I am sure he'll arrive."

( TDM | #1 )

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