dagung | TDM: January

Test Drive: January

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 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!

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ you bet he did.

while he also makes a mental note to never tell allura he dreamt about her (for the uptenth time), he sees the spear poke allura's side. lance almost acts with the intent to pull her away, thinking that the villager's about to stab her; luckily that isn't what's going on, and he stops himself before he can do anything unnecessarily.

but before he can say anything, he's being motioned to come over. and then they start asking about her ears. well then. ]

Uhhh.

[ he's nailing it. ] I mean, does it really matter? You guys let me through with these [ he holds up his hands and shows them his webbed fingers again. ] so I don't see the harm in letting someone in whose ears are different. Y'know?

[There's a tense moment that Lance's webbed fingers causes a stir among the villagers (reconsidering if they should trust him) and Allura's eyebrows arc up high on her head. She almost opens her mouth to ask about it but they're in the middle of a very tense situation and she just holds her breath.

Finally the group grumbles some agreement - coming to some decision that she's more monster than Fae (which she'll take) and finally they lower the rest of their spears, leaving them with a final warning to stay in line.

Allura releases the breath she'd been holding, and Lance will be treated to one small hug - relief, and glad to see him, even if it was just a dream.]

Thank you, Lance. They weren't listening to me at all.

[ he doesn't like it when they refer to allura as a monster, because she's anything but that; but in this world, this odd dream they've wound up in, "monster" has a different meaning. he doesn't think he'll get used to it anytime soon, but it is what it is. mostly he's just glad that they're finally off of her back.

and that he gets a hug from her as an added bonus. nice. he hugs her back, and when they pull away, he smiles at her. ]

Hey, it's no problem! I'm just glad you're out of that mess. [ he laughs a little. ] They sure don't mess around here, huh?

No, I was beginning to fear they were planning on throwing me on a pyre.

[Like the Arusians, but less interested in hugs. Speaking of. The hug is nice, but short lived, and as she pulls back, she catches Lance's wrists, holding both up for inspection.]

What has happened to your hands? [She looks at one, the the other. Spreading his fingers apart and peering at the webbing in between,] Why does my dream version of you have webbing?

[Maybe it was all of those stories about Queen Luxia he told her.]

Uhh, as far as I know, this is my dream!

[ stop talking to him like that, dream allura! gosh! ]

And I don't know, okay? I woke up here with my hands like these, scales on my arm [ that are covered by his armor ] and webbed toes. Walking around hasn't exactly been a piece of cake.

[ if this were a few weeks (months?) ago, lance probably would've tried to brush off the webbed feet like it was nothing. they've gotten closer since then, though, and he doesn't see why he shouldn't be honest with her. ]

[She dismisses the assertion about whose dream they're in - she's positive it's her own, or else she wouldn't be experiencing it. Besides, there's no use arguing with dream-Lance.]

How odd. [She releases his wrist. Then, with a glance around to make sure there's no native eavesdroppers, she whispers.]

It's the same for me. [Well.] Not the webbed fingers but, I have magic now. Different from anything I've had before.

Yeah?

[ he's whispering, too. can't afford to get caught after all of that, after all. ]

What kind of magic?

[The whispering gets a few suspicious looks and she starts to walk, trying to look casual while they head into the village. Maybe they can find a more private place to talk.]

It is like... I can create fire from my hands.

[Certainly nothing she's been able to do before.]

[ good idea, allura. lance follows her, walking alongside her. and yeah, he's definitely never seen her do that before. why in the world is he dreaming about any of this... ]

Yeah, that's definitely not anything I've seen you do before. I'd ask for a demonstration, buuuut....

[ just. GESTURES. ]

I dunno, I've been meeting other people around here and it sounds like we've all got something a little different going on.

[She shakes her head – not that Lance needed any argument for why a demonstration would be a bad idea. There was other magic too, but she didn't trust herself to keep it small and unobtrusive. Not after they just slipped in by the skin of their teeth.

Nearby, another native points at them – at Allura's ears and she huffs a sigh before yanking her hair down from it's bun, using it to keep her ears masked.]

We'll just have to put up with it until this dream is over. I'll wake up and be in my bed... I wonder what the real Lance would think when I tell him about this.

[Because just talking about it like this seems normal for a dream.]

Pretty sure the real Lance would just be flattered you dreamed about him in the first place.

[ plain and simple. he manages a little smile at her and grins as she takes her hair down. he likes that look on her a lot.

but aside from that, he's just glad they're safe and out of danger. for the time being, at least. ]

So, maybe we should find somewhere to chill out for a little while? It's been a long day. ... Dream. Whatever.

[She just makes a halfhearted hum of agreement. Still tense from everything that's happened so far. But he's right, and they make their way over towards one of the open-air canopies where others that aren't natives from the camp seem to be gathering.]

We should keep a watch out for the others, too. Just in case we decided to dream them up as well.

[Even if they're only figments of her imagination, she'd want them to be together.]

It feels strange, doesn't it? Like it's more than just a dream.

TDM: January

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