TDM: January

[moustre]

Test Drive: January

Welcome to 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.
• Applications Open The 24th! These will last until the end of the month, the 31st, with the intro log going up on February 1st. The application page can be found here. As a reminder, this will be our last uncapped application round!
• 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!



With that taken care of...

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 Prehistoric Wilde

Thick summer heat hangs heavy over the uninfected landscape like a damp blanket, smothering. The jungle around you is thick and wet, full of the sounds of chittering animals and the high-pitched drone of insects. The flora and fauna are like nothing you've ever seen before, large and alien in colors and shapes, though they bear no signs of the Cwyld. Flowers the size of a man's head and brightly colored in rainbow hues curl their tendrils invitingly, and giant mosquitoes buzz through the air seeking a meal. You can barely see the glow of the twin moons through the thick canopy above. There are no signs of civilization - at least, not the civilization most will be used to; only the distant sound of the river, compelling you to follow its winding path. But will you go forward, or will you go back?

Rumble in the Jungle Making headway through the jungle at night is a chore. The foliage grows thick and the humid heat is oppressive for even those who enjoy the warmth. There are no clear paths here, no easy way through. The canopy of the ancient trees far, far over your head is just as dense, but the faintest moonlight filters through the holes left by the huge leaves in stippling patterns across the musty forest floor. 'Large' seems to be the theme - lining whatever path you pick your way through, there are pitcher plants massive enough to swallow a grown man, with small animals and giant insects being digested down inside the sticky liquid that fills them. The flowers are as big as a man's head, and come in a rainbow of colors, their venomous tendrils curling toward signs of life. The trunks of some of the trees are as thick as houses, and shade the ground beneath them with leaves like umbrellas. The hand-sized mosquitoes thrive in the sticky heat and if not killed first, can make off with a full pint of blood from an unsuspecting person. At some point in your journey, the ground begins to rumble beneath your feet. The farther you go, the longer you walk, the more signs of life become visible: thick, winding trails of crushed foliage, huge, animalistic footprints in the mud. Luckily, to this world, you are small and insignificant, and may escape the notice of the local Monsters - the massive, prehistoric ancestors of today's Monsters. They seem like giants, colossal Titanoboa Nagas with hollow fangs like swords, towering Fauns with the lower halves of mammoths, sabertooth Turnskins, pterodactyl Harpies with leathery wings. Even the parts of them that resemble humans (and they have far fewer human-like parts than their modern counterparts) are larger than any actual human being. They operate primarily on instinct, made even stronger by the full moons above, and perceive the strange new creatures as threats - or food. Sticking to the river seems safest - at least until you run into megalodon Merrow, singing an alien, but alluring, song to draw in prey, or the apex predator of this prehistoric world - Dragons, bigger and scalier than the ones Mirrorbound may know, stopped to drink at the river. All other Monsters flee from the huge reptiles, lest they become food themselves. Luckily you can defend yourself with your new abilities, or your neat changes - you're small, but not totally helpless. Interesting to note... while all other Monster types are represented, there are no Fae or Chimeras in the Wilde here, and the Vampires are more like huge bat-monsters that traverse the jungle on all fours than humanoid bloodsuckers.

The Natives Going backward, away from the distant sounds of the sea and against the current of the river, leads you through dense jungle. How long have you traversed the landscape? Hours? Days? Time passes funny in dreams. Eventually the trees thin out, grow taller and less leafy, and the air becomes drier. Instead of loamy soil beneath your feet, you start to feel rocky, harder earth, and spot outcroppings of stone. The sun begins to rise, which makes it easier to spot people on the horizon, a little settlement coming to life in the morning, nestled where the river forks into two. They're much hardier than the familiar people of Aefenglom, sunburned and dressed in natural, rough fabrics. Their homes, if one can call them that, are shoddy little structures made of sticks and leaves and mud, pressed up against the sturdiness of the stone formations. And, when they spot strangers approaching their village, they scramble for their weapons - crude clubs, stone axes, even just large rocks snatched up off the ground. The translation magic works on them, thankfully. Their speech is halted and simple, but they get their point across. Tell them who you are, or they'll beat your brains in. Monsters might get their brains beat in anyway if they aren't careful, even though they're much smaller than the Monsters these humans are used to. And Witches? May the gods help you if you use magic in front of these terrified, unevolved people, lest they mistake you for a Fae (the word is whispered with fear and revulsion in their voices) and swarm you with simple iron tools. If you're an actual Fae, an obvious Fae? They'll whisk their children into their huts protectively and then run you right out of the village. Violently. The truly observant, or those who can see through illusions, among you may notice something strange, though. Some Fae actually seem to live among them, heavily cloaked in natural illusions, with the primitive humans none the wiser. There are just a few, but all of them look young, twelve or thirteen at the oldest, and they are all scared of their secret coming to light. Fae who get caught tend to be burned at the stake around here.

The Invaders Perhaps you chose to go forward, with the current and toward the distant sound of ocean waves, where the river pours into the sea. More long-time residents of Aefenglom may notice that the shoreline is familiarly-shaped, but wider, bigger, not yet worn down by thousands of years of erosion. There is no bustling Harbor, only the waves crashing on the rocks, small islands dotting the water near the shore. There is no Bright Wall - there is no city, even, only an expanse of beach transitioning gently into an idyllic grove dotted with gauzy, pointed tents, and a beautiful, gilded ship half sunk into the sandy earth. It seems safer than the jungle, at first - until you notice all the Fae. They're more insectoid than the ones many are familiar with, with big, glittering eyes and either bright, jewel-toned wings like dragonflies or butterflies, or delicate, leafy wings in greens and browns. They're also taller than modern, lesser Fae, though not by much, and they're thin and angular, standing on spindly limbs that barely seem able to hold them. Characters receive a warmer welcome here, by the band of true Fae that have made their camp in the grove, though the alien-looking beings have a tendency to treat them like toys, children, or both, cooing over their sizes and their magic. "Look at the little Monsters! Aren't they cute!" "We should make some of our own! And oh, the little humans have magic! Delightful!" It's hard to have a conversation with one - they're condescending at best, and at worst, flit off to another entertainment out of boredom while you're mid-sentence. And entertainments abound in their camp. They're served and tended to like emperors by collared humans - adults and young adults do the heavy labor, including pulling grand little chariots for transportation, though there are some highly-supervised human children running about fetching drinks and fanning their Fae masters with palm leaves. Farther out, a large, deep pit has been dug out of the earth, ringed by a waist-high barrier of logs, a few Fae gathering at the barrier and leaning over, talking in conversational, happy voices. Down below, Chimera gladiators fight for their amusement, while the Fae keep up running commentary, discussing each warrior's chances, new breeding prospects, interesting crossbreeds their fellows have come up with ("She's trying an Arachne and a Turnskin together, how delightful!"). Trying to disrupt the proceedings will only result in the Fae turning their magic on you - illusions and curses, nasty little tricks. Sit down, silly little ones! The fight is just getting good! Or maybe... Maybe they'll toss you into the pit to see what your chances are in battle.

Comments

QUESTIONS

[moustre]

GENERAL

[moustre]

[mensrea]

Stiles canonically experiences specific effects while lucid dreaming, such as extra fingers and the alexia disorder (he can't read). Can he experience those on-and-off here, just to help hammer home that he’s dreaming? Granted, I understand there won't be much (if any) material for him to read in this setting haha

[moustre]

He sure can, have fun! It's funny what can happen in a dream.

regarding the plant life!

[recklessbelief]

the prompt mentions that the plants are venomous. what sort of effects might one experience if they were to come into contact with them? additionally, would the plants actually attempt harm or would it be a case of someone would have to accidentally touch them (or just be too dumb curious to stay away)?

[moustre]

It's up to you! Different plants have different effects. Some are more passive and need to be touched first, and some are more aggressive.

[lucubrates]

A couple questions about the pit!

1) Is there a way to cause destruction to it in order to escape?
2) If a character wins their fight, are they just removed from it?
3) On the other hand, what about a draw? How is that handled?

[beautyisthebeast]

Hey so for the characters that are still captives is this dream taking place while that's going on? Or is it sometime before or after? (Mostly asking so I can suss out what her mental state is before I poke people.)

Re: GENERAL

[spaghettimonster]

As a followup/extension of the above question about how this dream works for the kidnappees:

Do I remember right that, with the test drive memes, only characters not currently in the game can post top levels - those of us in game tag to the prospective characters to welcome them and help them test it out?

Should we assume that the kidnapped characters are a little bit fuzzy on the details of what's going on for them in captivity, so that they can't pressure potential characters to pass on messages for them?

[crestfallenfor]

Quick question re: magic, and I'm sorry if I've missed it somewhere already!

For newcomers, I know their own magics don't work here, but for new-witch characters who don't know that, what would happen if they tried? Obviously the coven hasn't had a chance to teach them anything new prior to the tdm, but would an attempt at (for example) a fire spell work but be strange/prone to backfiring, or not work at all?

Thanks!

Magic for the kidnap victims

[beautyisthebeast]

Sorry to keep bugging you with questions, but would the kidnapees magic work in this dream? Or is whatever they're using to dampen it too strong?

SETTING

[moustre]

[evanescent]

I wasn't sure if this was a general question or not, so!

Aerith is an overseer of what's called the Lifestream in her world, which is basically the flow of souls that keeps her Planet going. She is able to hear the Planet as well (it's not fully explained but seems to be empathetic in nature) and makes habitual appearances in dreams for this reason, so while she wouldn't be surprised to be in one this time, I have a question: would she be at all able to pick up any voice from this particular planet? Or is there anything weird about this dream-state she might notice?

[extirpator]

Hi! What would happen if you were to jump into the river in pursuit of the Merrow?

age of prehistoric geardagas; faun direction sense; faun animal communion with ancient monsters

[faithlikeaseed]

1. With respect to the coastline: Am I reading correctly that, were my character particularly versed in surveying or geology or anything that might let him correlate modern Aefenglom's coastline with its prehistoric coastline--which he is not, but I need to satisfy my own curiosity on this--he'd be able to determine it's really only centuries in the past and not millennia (or more)?

2. Would a Faun's direction sense allow him to line up (gross) geographical features in the dream and the real world?

3. Do the prehistoric Monsters count as animalistic enough for a Faun to commune with them even if they can't chat in human language?

NPCs

[moustre]

[foundfamilies]

In The Invaders, are there any collared humans who look like they’re on a break or at least not quite as occupied? If one attempts to talk to one of the collared humans, either a less busy one if available or one who is busy if that’s all you’ve got, what sort of response might a character get, from both the humans and the fae? Thank you!

Edit: In The Natives, would it be reasonable for some children in the village to react to a strange child wandering through in either a positive (looping her into some game like throwing stones to knock rocks off other rocks, or maybe a chunk of wood if we’re being creative) or negative fashion (get off our turf, outsider)? Or would their parents be too wary to let their children get near a stranger, even a young one?

[stopfen]

How would the NPC fae(both village kiddo fae and the jungle ones) react to player character fae?

[glitzandglamour]

I doubt this is any different from normal, but are the Fae still weak to iron? How do they react if it's present in their territory, such as bringing in a blade or being made of metal?

[usurpers]

what do the true fae taste like if eaten

[mirshikar]

1) Is the beached ship from the invaders prompt able to be explored? Does the vessel have a name on the hull, or any hints as to where it might originate from?

2) Does the translation magic work on the Chimera gladiators? If a player character got thrown into a pit with one, could they find out the Chimera's opinion on the Fae themselves through a sporting back-and-forth during the fight? Does this opinion differ from the Fae's human pets?

3) And to confirm for Asura's sanity: Does the word 'Arcadia' mean anything to either the Fae (if asked) or to the Chimera?

[redeemed]

If Arthur asks the native population how they survive the Huge Monsters running around in the jungle, will he get an answer?

[mensrea]

Is there a leader of the True Fae? What do they look like?

[fabrications]

If asked what the Chimera gladiators are and where they came from, would the Fae respond or just brush off the question?

[glitzandglamour]

Say hypothetically that two characters got their bad selves up to kidnapping one of the human children away from the true Fae by incapacitating them. And now they're trying to return the human child to the other humans. I know how the NPC humans respond to Monsters and the like, but how will they take the return of this kid? How would the kid who was taken from the Fae respond to this? (NOT WELL, I BET!)