dagung | TDM: April

Test Drive: April

All threads can be considered game canon,

the prompts and test drive itself will be

• 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.
• 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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

OOC: small note before diving in. For the purposes of the TDM the only monster changes Nobunaga has undergone so far are pointed ears, slightly sharper teeth, the beginning of horns from her forehead beginning to poke out from under her hair, with a bit of scaling at the bases, and a touch of fire breath. She isn't taking notice of them much to start but as things go on that can and probably will change.

1) Feast Fit for a (Demon) King

[Why would she, of all people, turn down a lavish feast laid out before her? Any skepticism was tossed aside the moment she recognized any of this as a dream, so there's no hesitation between her stepping into the dining hall, and her rushing to claim a seat at a massive spread on the even more massive table. The food's good enough, too, that she loses track of the time long before she finally sinks back into her chair with a heavy sigh.]

Man, they really know how to treat a lady...!

[She proclaims, utterly giddy, with a fist raised victoriously into the air. She doesn't seem to notice that the limb starts to wobble within seconds, nor that she can't stop giggling to herself.]

Oi! You! Yes, you!

[Nobunaga's arm drops to point at a passerby, a lopsided grin plastered across her face.]

Bring me more! The arms on these guys are too little... but you... you can carry a feast fit for the Demon King!

[Cue haughty laughter to match her self-proclaimed title, oblivious to what anyone observing might have to say about it, let alone her, ah, request.]

2) A Nobu of Another Color

Will you--ahaha--stop it already!?

[Oh dear, she's yelling at one of the Fae, again, between barely contained fits of laughter. It began with the creature talking way too much, even for her, to the both of them laughing mirthfully, even if it's obvious one of the pair has no choice in the matter.]

S-seriously! I-hah--can't breathe--hahahaha!!

[She's holding her stomach now, bent over as another fit of laughter takes her. The Fae nearby almost seems to pity her, for a moment, and makes a gesture as though lifting the curse.]

Ah...? Ah... whew, finally I ca--

[Wait. She freezes when one of her hands moves into her line of sight. Oh no. She... isn't usually purple, right? Definitely not--hold on. Is she getting redder now instead? Her relieved expression quickly falls, and eyes are narrowed on the offending Fae.]

That's not what I meant and you know it! Now change me back--

An attack from another, unknown source, means her gaze is caught by a back walking away. Who's? She has no idea, except that she has to chase after it, even as she's cycling through a rainbow of inhuman skin colors. Why is it that suddenly it feels like she'll never be able to move quickly enough?

W-wait up! At least pretend I'm a damsel in distress for a minute!?

3) Wildcard!

Please please please feel free to throw anything at her! Be it from A Treacherous Adventure or anything else going on! If you have any ideas you want to discuss feel free to pm me!

[Being ordered to bring food to a complete stranger? Yeah. Cloud just gives this what looks like a little girl a rather flat expression.

Dammit. He's no good at saying no to a kid, but this one is calling herself a demon king...]

Don't feel like it.

[Close enough to a 'no'.]

[What's that? Being refused when all she can think of is the empty feeling in her stomach? Hmph. Her face sluggishly falls into an unimpressed frown.]

Then what're you doing here in the first place!?

[It's not until she starts to push herself up from the chair that she seems to realize how wobbly she's become. What did she eat, anyway? Who knows, it's too late to take it back and make standing straight work again. Ok, she's gonna just prop herself up with the table.]

I get it... you want it all to yourself first, don'tcha?

Same thing you're doing here. I was forced to attend.

[Should he go steady her? She seems to be standing on her own well enough with support, but just in case he shuffles a little forward.

The accusation just makes him roll his eyes.]

I'm not eating anything these things made.

[Wow, this guy is a real wet blanket about all of this, isn't he? Not that he's necessarily wrong, but Nobunaga isn't exactly in her right mind to think about that at this point.

Instead, she just looks annoyed while reaching for a nearby sandwich--the first thing within reach really.]

Good thing I didn't ask you to eat it, then.

[She's clearly giving that statement more thought than it should warrant while chewing on the first mouthful. By the end, she's managed to remember her earlier grin.]

Heck, that's even better! More for me!

Edited 2019-04-19 22:05 (UTC)

[Definitely acting like a kid. Cloud just shrugs at that and watches her eat. Was something weird going to happen to her?

Wait...

Should he have warned her?

Cloud sighs softly as he debates this.]

Be careful about what you eat. Some of it's enchanted.

A damsel? What damsel?

[ Killua turns around at the shouting, putting one clawed hand up above his brow as if he's searching the horizon, looking for said damsel he might save from her distress. His white-and-blacked striped feline tail twitches mirthfully around his calves as he suppresses a grin, making his eyes wider for effect. ]

Nope. All I see is a weird... grape-girl?

[ She's purple now, but maybe not for long. Already, the colors seem to be shifting again. It's fascinating, and also rather hilarious. ]

Did you piss off those teeny tiny people?

Eh? That's the problem--but what do you mean 'weird'!?

[She half-yells, half-whines while effectively trying to wrap herself around her, ah, would-be savior's arm. If he doesn't stop her, she might even nuzzle it a little without even thinking. Just what had that second Fae done to her, anyway?]

Oi, they wanted to be pissed off all on their own. All I did was ask the guy to stop talking over me so much!

[Is that really so much to ask? People are supposed to /listen/ when the Demon King speaks!]

Now make him turn off the color wheel already!

[ japan jumps and then freezes as he's addressed so abruptly, then carefully turns to regard the.. ah. demon king, is it? well, she certainly resembles an oni, with those small horns. and while it's been quite some time since japan's seen an oni, he hasn't forgotten how to behave around them.

he dips into a polite bow, looking just a bit nervous around the edges. ]

I beg your pardon, but if I recall correctly, beings such as these tend to be tricksters. Perhaps it would be a good idea to wait for a bit to see if they will request payment first..? [ plus he really doesn't want to get stuck serving a demon king. sometimes oni are respectful of what he is and sometimes it's better to just avoid them. ]

Payment...?

[Somehow, that hadn't occurred to her, even before being faced with the haze of intoxication, not to mention a burning hunger from somewhere in her stomach. Still, a thoughtful look crosses her face, followed by red eyes turning to the nearest winged figure flying by.]

Tell me something... what do you guys want for all this?

[The Fae in question almost looked downright offended at the question before leaving again, leaving Nobunaga looking puzzled, but also distracted when her eyes meet the table full of food again.

Oh, right. She was talking to this guy, wasn't she? He seems smart, maybe he'll have better luck.]

Well? They're not exactly spoutin' answers. Think you can do any better?

TDM: April

Oda Nobunaga | Fate/Grand Order | Dragon OTA

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