![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Entry tags:
TDM: April
- Welcome to
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
aefenglom's test drive! All threads can be considered game canon, should you choose to do so; regardless of if you pick specific threads to remain canon to the game, the prompts and test drive itself will be. This will be touched on later in-game, so it's fairly important to note! Aside from that, here are some quick reminders:• Reserves Open Today! If you're interested in securing a spot, put one in! We accept applications without reserves too, of course. Reserves will expire three days before the end of the application period, on the 28th.With that taken care of...
• Applications Open The 24th! These will last until the end of the month, the 30th, with the game formally beginning on May 1st. The application page can be found here.
• If you have any questions about the game or the world, please refer to the FAQ page; if you still have questions, feel free to ask them! For questions specific to the test drive, please ask them on the appropriate thread.
• For the purposes of the test drive, your character will have access to all magics taught by the Coven if they're a Witch, and as much of their shifted form as you'd like if they're a Monster. Feel free to play around and experiment with each!
• Test drive threads can be used as samples for your applications!
You feel like you're floating. Around you, colors and sounds and smells swirl as if trapped in a whirlpool, vibrancy and hue ever shifting. The more you watch them, the less solid they are; they only become clear out of the corner of your eye. The area around you begins to feel more solid as well, until your feet are on the ground, the wind brushes playfully against your face -
and you know one thing, and one thing alone: this is a dream, and an incredibly realistic one at that.
The Tea Party
The air turns a sweeter smell, almost like a bakery; the gentle laughter and chatter of living creatures filters in through leaves that brush against you, hanging from winding vines that hang from above. Flowers in shades of orange and red glow faintly among the greenery, their petals curling in shyly once they're paid attention to. As the area comes more into focus, the shadows of insect-winged forms become clearer, flitting about - talking about some kind of party, about a Queen, about the Courts meeting on neutral ground for the first time in a thousand years.
You're not entirely sure what's going on, and it doesn't seem as if anyone's noticed you've arrived - but three different paths unfurl in your mind's eye, vague in shape and meaning.
 A Taste of Faeryland... Following the voices, you find them: smaller-than-average humanoids with thin limbs, a variety of wings (prismatic butterfly, fuzzy moth, delicate bee - all of it), large, glittering compound eyes, antennas fitting their winged insect-type... Those familiar with the tales of the fae might recognize these Monsters as something similar. They greet you as if you were an old friend regardless of your appearance, inviting you to sit down at the table - which seems to go on forever in the large dining hall-esque canopy of nature they have set up, lined with elegant porcelain tableware and shimmering orbs of magic. The food is similarly endless, ranging from the familiar to the unusual, and careful observation (or just plain digging in) shows the following effects: breakfast foods make you glow and emit colorful sparks, brunch foods get you floating as if filled with bubbles, lunch foods will make you feel as if you've taken part in happy hour, dinner foods will make you insatiably hungry, and dessert will make you feel as if you should simply stay in Faeryland forever... It's possible to mix and match these with effects, but do be careful. The creatures present speak in high, lilting voices about nothing in particular at all - if asked anything serious, they merely give the character a curious if disproving look and say it's impolite to speak of politics over a meal. Ask something a little more lighthearted though, and they laugh and still... don't quite answer, patting your hand and asking if you'd like an extra slice of buttered bread and jam. The tables aren't exactly the best place for eavesdropping and learning what's going on, it seems - but there are plenty of exits out of the dining hall. Large, beetle-like Fae stand guard at the entrances of various hallways outside of the hall in the castle though, preventing anyone from entering them. When asked, they simply reply these are to private quarters that ordinary guests aren't allowed into and refuse to budge on the matter. |
 A Coalition of Interests... The Seelie and the Unseelie Courts of the Fae - whether you know them or not, evidently it's a big deal that they're meeting tonight. Or over several days and nights; the Fae themselves seem to be in a bit of an argument over how long they actually want to stay in the same company as their counterparts, neutral ground of the Dewaint Forest. Regardless, there are no marked differences between the two physically, and they all speak of a singular Queen heading them; behaviorally, though, that's another thing entirely. Those of the Seelie Court are quicker to engage in conversation and prefer it one-on-one, hardly allowing a word in edgewise and getting irritated when interrupted; their pranks are usually mildly malicious, with spells causing uncontrollable laughter, color changes, and charms to make the charmee fall in love at first sight with whomever they see first peppering their repertoire. Returning to their good graces is fairly easy - the gift of something pretty as an apology tends to work, but each Fae has their own very particular gift they like. If it's messed up even a little bit, they won't accept it, and will merely play another trick upon the giftee. Those of the Unseelie Court, meanwhile, are a little harder to talk to; they prefer to prank and trick first to test those they might be interested in as a group, not unlike children trying to get the attention of someone they like by pulling their hair. Their pranks usually range from genuine hurt (such as pulling hair, stinging nettles, or simply beating them with bound vines) to curses (losing one's voice, the head of an ass, or full-scale animal transformations). Withstanding these, or standing up to these Fae, earns as much of their ire as it does their respect - the truly respectful human will be subjected to headpats and collars, like a pet. |
 A Treacherous Adventure... As beautiful as it is outside of the main dining hall and newly-grown castle (just for the momentous occasion itself, going by the rumors!), Faeryland as a whole is mired in danger. The wrong step sends one tumbling down a rabbit hole full of interesting sights, landing in a wide field of drooping flowers that snore softly and scream bloodcurdling loud when awoken. No matter how long one walks, discovering both familiar and unfamiliar sights, never ends in finding the castle again. In fact, it's much easier to find yourself accidentally going deeper into the woods. The exceptionally tall trees of the Dewaint Forest show hints of decay and rot, the smell of the dead barely covered by the flowers desperately growing across the blackened bodies of Fae and other animals that wandered too close to the growing infection in the area. What look like corpses will tremble and rise when they sense someone is close by - their eyes and mouth are pure white, contrasting with the darkness around them, and throughout the shell are cracks of a similarly pulsing whiteness; it smells magical, it feels incredibly heavy and overpowering, and it might just be too powerful for those most sensitive to the corruption and to magic. The shadowy creatures' wings are larger than normal and monstrous, with their bodies held up by the dew-crying flowers that simultaneously hold them back yet sneak their roots closer to grab those who awakened them and drag them closer. Where the monster begins and ends with the corrupted nature it's made its bed in isn't completely clear, but one thing is: it's very, very hungry. Thankfully, it's a good thing some of you have new abilities at hand, and some of you have a few neat changes to help. Teaming up makes things go quicker, and once defeated, these creatures bleed white magic and disappear in ashy smoke, shell breaking off in bits to reveal a dried-up corpse of a Fae. Nothing else remains, not even a hint to their identity, and the more of these monstrously-turned Monsters characters meet, the bigger and more terrifying they get. |
QUESTIONS
no subject
no subject
(no subject)
no subject
no subject
(no subject)
no subject
no subject
(no subject)
no subject
no subject
The punishment is you don't get headpats anymore.It is... and there isn't a punishment for it, either.
Characters sneaking past guards will find that they won't even really notice - they just repeat again about private quarters and such. Upon getting past the guards, characters will find themselves wandering down hallways that seem to have no end, with a number of doors that open up to blank, white space regardless of which one they pick. It's the Winchester Mystery House, but more depressing.
If at any point a character turns around in their exploration, they'll find the guard still standing behind them, as if they hadn't moved anywhere at all. Trying this with other areas in the Castle results in more of the same, though there is at least one hallway where no matter how long you walk, you end up in front of the exact same guard every time. You know, just for fun.
Fae Monsters will be able to tell this whole, incredibly tiring situation is a product of illusion magic, but regardless of how far along they are in transformation, they won't be able to see through it clearly... They'll just know it isn't Right.
no subject
no subject
no subject
1) Do the Seelie and Unseelie fae find people becoming Fae Monsters at all notable or are they just grouped in with everyone else?
2) Will the monsters in the third prompt fall for illusion magic at all, or do they see through that because they are corrupted fae/whatever other reason?
no subject
2. It's a mix; they can be fooled for a moment, but they'll realize it's just an illusion soon enough. Due to their corruption, they're a little less Fae than normal, but they still retain those illusion-seeing/sensing abilities.
no subject
Sorry for all the dumb character specific questions, I have to ask because Zestiria is dumb like that. LMAO
no subject
They wouldn't care, no; you're all the same to them. As a whole though, deep beneath their Aef changes, characters will still ping some radars of those particularly sensitive if they were nonhuman. This will mostly apply to those who used to be made of magic, i.e. Servants, spirits, etc. (I just brought up this specific wording with Snow and we agreed that it's hidden beneath all of the Aef, but it still registers. In theory, this means characters still register as what they were initially, but as they spend more time in Aefenglom that becomes much harder to discern.)
(no subject)
no subject
no subject
no subject
If it's the latter, does that affect which threads we could take as game canon? (like should we pick only threads that are from the same stage of transformation)
no subject
no subject
no subject
Upon finding the area, it'll look like a normal glen - green grass, pretty flowers, all that - which, given the rest of the forest, is a bit of an oddity... And walking into the glen will revealed the castle's gates once more, and the Fae will greet them as if they hadn't left at all.
Fruits Basket spoilers in here
This is prob more Fruits Basket specific with the zodiacs in canon. Given the nerfs with bringing characters here, I am assuming that the zodiac Curse is no longer in effect for the Sohma and that they would definitely be able to tell that it is gone/broken, even temporarily while here, even if they are apped at a time in the series prior to this happening in canon? I assume if they can tell and are aware, it is more like it was forcefully severed rather than naturally breaking the bond as happens in later canon. In which case the zodiac would know that they won't transform ala canon with hugs/being sick and weak in the same way?
no subject
As this is a magical affliction, it is indeed nerfed like other magical traits and maladies. However, it won't necessarily feel like it was forcefully severed or naturally broken. Should they notice its absence and realize that the risk is now gone, it's exactly that: an absence.
(no subject)
no subject
1) Solas and Nel have made it their mission to delve as deeply into the corruption as they can-- Solas to bear witness, Nel to see whether she'll wake up or die and THEN wake up, both of them to try to find + study the corruption's heart; aside from bigger and more terrifying Monsters, what should they see and at what point will they be unable to proceed? (gonna guess that a couple of witches alone will have a very rough time of it, even battle-hardened ones)
2) Should one of them die in this dream, are they just ejected from it entirely?
3) Could one or both of them find a place where the corruption stems from in the forest, or is just at its worst?
I apologize profusely for these specific scenario questions and thank you so much for all the incredible worldbuilding!
no subject
1) Indeed bigger and more terrifying monsters; the landscape grows similarly nightmarish, oozing black and grey and white. The trees and flora seem to be melting, and the ground is similarly sluggish to move through - like trying to walk through thick mud. They'll eventually come to a high, sheer cliff with dozens and dozens of beautiful gemstones... but watch out, because this cliff is actually a massive dragon, and it isn't shy about, say, just stepping on them or something like that.
2) That's correct. See you,
space cowboydream witch.3) There doesn't seem to be one exact place; it's all equally bad, at least in this dream. If they ever get the chance to investigate and poke around the real thing, they might be able to - but that's something that'll come around in-game at some point, so sit tight!
(no subject)