dagung | TDM: January

Entry tags:

* tdm

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

[ The hand at her back ushers her forward and is not unwelcome, admittedly. All the same, she worries in a fearful haze: Does she not think Zelda is capable? Is something wrong? Perhaps this hand is more of a reminder to get faster than anything. ]

I can handle myself!

[ She hopes the adrenaline of the moment hides her own anxieties. ] It might follow us up either way, unless we split. You are the one with the sword, perhaps you can dislodge the stone up quickly than I could. [ Zelda casts a glance behind her; the dragon's still there, still hungry, and they're still not going as fast as they probably should because of her. ] Unless... you have a different idea... A distraction would be best.

[ Saber glances at her. They don't have much time and so she makes her decision. ]

Very well. [ There's a beat, a half a moment where she considers. ]

Be careful.

[ And then she bounds past Zelda and up the hill, moving as fast as her legs will carry her - which is pretty fast, all things considered. ]

[ There's a winding road before her, a little rocky and uneven. As the woman takes off, Zelda feels a pang of guilt for assuming that she didn't trust her. Old habits die hard, and now she's going to go it alone. It's fine, she thinks— it might not go well, but if she can hold out until just beyond the edge of that hill...

So Zelda runs as hard and fast as she can. She's out of breath before she reaches where she's supposed to stop— she uses that time to fall and roll, pushing herself across the slide of mud. It's awful, but she hears and feels the wind of the dragon's wings and fury.

It happens very quickly, and Zelda can only hope that Saber's made her way up to the hill. Looking skyward, she realizes where she is, and heaves. ]

Now! Hurry!

[ This is a lot of trust to put in a stranger; she supposes that they both are relying on the other for their lives in some way. ]

[ Saber follows a different path, scrambling straight up, over rocks and around bushes and branches. She can't quite catch her breath and she feels like she's exerting more effort than she should be, but she can't stop. To stop, to give up, means another will die and she won't let that happen. Not here, not again. Not after everything. She comes to a stop alongside the boulder and glances down the slope. She doesn't have long.

So she throws herself into it, using the blade of her sword to dig away earth and other rocks, leveraging her weight against it. It shifts, a fraction of an inch. Then another.

Zelda's cry reaches her ears and she feels her whole body strain, muscles taut, and finally, finally, it all begins to go, as the weight reaches a tipping point. First there's a shower of smaller pebbles and then the boulder finally falls away from her, bouncing and rolling down the slope, picking up speed as it goes.

Saber hopes that she put it in the right place. ]

Look out-!

[ The boulder falls and Zeld thinks she watches it in slow motion for a moment. Her brain shouts "Move!" before her body does, and in the split second before she shuts her eyes, she murmurs a prayer to the Goddess for protection.

She rolls, and then a puff of air... She feels like she soars for a moment. Maybe it's caught her in it's mouth, the angry thing. She's done for, but... There's a crunch immediately after, and she still feels the rock bed she's laid down on. Zelda opens one eye.

The trees of the jungle are before her, but she isn't much further than where she'd been, she thinks. Rolling over, she sees it— the boulder has landed upon the dragon and though she swears it's twitching... It doesn't move. ]

I'm alright...

[ Breathless. Shocked. A scale has dislodged itself, rests near her foot, waiting. ]

I'm alright!

[ And just like that, the rush of life comes back to her as she listens to the babbling river they'd fled moments before, the rustle of life in the jungle, the cawing of monsters in the distance. They probably can't stay long, but surely a little ransacking was worth the risk...?

It's all too natural for her to climb the boulder and hop over it, sliding down until she's upon the late beast's back. Her mission? Dragon scales. Think of the weapon upgrades! ]

It's safe, hurry down! Quickly!

[ Saber is already coming down the hill, heedless of danger, half-stumbling, but keeping her footing with a superb sense of grace and balance. She finally skids to a stop next to Zelda, adrenaline still pounding through her veins and her heart racing. Despite all of that, she manages to maintain an outward demeanor of calm. ]

You're unhurt. Good.

[ She's about to suggest they move on, but then Zelda is going further down the hill, toward the dragon. Saber stares after her, confused, and then follows - what else is she to do? ]

What are you doing? We should leave before scavengers or other predators arrive...

[ Strange girl. ]

[ Zelda dips to her knees, pulling at a scale from the dragon's back. She then adjusts her weight and ends up putting the soles of her boots firmly firmly on the corpse, and tugs with all her might. There's a sound like meat being pulled apart before she drops the scale she has pulled from the beast's body to the floor and begins to work on another. ]

Dragon's scales! The material is hard and can be used on your weapons— hah! [ One more tug, and another comes lose. ] Perhaps those properties can be applied to other things, such as armor...

[ Arturia is only slightly confused and that vanishes when she sees what Zelda is up to. Harvesting parts of a beast is only natural, isn't it? She joins Zelda next to the dragon. And since her new companion is determined... she sheathes her blade and bends to assist her, working her fingers under a scale and starting to work it loose. ]

I would imagine so. Especially given how large it is-

[ She grunts and tugs her first scale free. ]

We should be quick, though.

[ She pulls another scale from the hide and holds it above her head. It glimmers as if made of stardust, she thinks, tilting her head and smiling up at it. What use is killing a mythical beast if you don't enjoy jy? ]

Of course. [ Her reply is an afterthought and she turns to Arturia, smiling still. As she watches the woman pull scale from meat, considers the strength she had to exert to pull off their crazy plan. As she does, she looks back to the scale and calculates... ]

Such properties could be useful ingested as well, of course. Though there are not as many notes on such things, research is possible, yes? [ Zelda holds the scale out in front of Arturia's face. ]

A bite?

[ Arturia starts on a second scale with a bit of a grunt and then pauses and looks up as Zelda continues. She blinks, very slowly. Ingested? That makes a certain amount of sense - in theory, there's draconic heritage in her own veins - but she's never really thought about actually doing it. She glances from Zelda, to the offered scale, and then back again. ]

Ah. Perhaps later? Now is not a good time for experimenting.

[ She blinks. Once, then twice. ]

Yes, you're right.

[ The fact was not a no is intriguing to her; maybe she should have paid a little more attention to Link's recipes.

Zelda hooks her fingers deep into the bed of scales and pulls one more out with a groan— her bounty is three glimmering scales. ]

I don't suppose we should scavenge for meat, as well while we see an opportunity for it? [ If she knew of a town nearby, she'd suggest taking their time and trying to harvest as much as possible from the corpse, but for the time being, it seems like they're going to rough it. ]

If we can take some of it, so much the better. It will be bloody work...

[ And all she has is her sword, which isn't exactly the best tool for butchering a carcass. ]

And may take some time.

[ She glances at Zelda and starts to strip her gauntlets off. She has no desire to get blood all over her clothing while she works. ]

So we'd better hurry.

[ Zelda, thankfully, is dressed for travel. Rolling up her sleeves, she moves to help Arturia. ]

Two pairs of hands might make it easier to carve through, though we've removed a square enough for us to go through to the meat easily, I believe.

[ The sword can be sharpened later. She supposes the least she could do is help this woman set up camp and cook for her, even if her cooking is not quite as good as Link's. ]

Yes - a sword just isn't built for this sort of thing.

[ A bit too long, but she'll do her best. She begins to carve and cut, grunting as she drags the blade through sinew and muscle. There's blood - lots of it - and even with Excalibur being a beautifully sharp sword, it still takes time. Arturia works quietly and without complaint, accepting whatever help that Zelda offers. ]

I do not think I know your name yet. You may call me Saber.

[ Zelda shows no signs of backing down, using her hands to rend meat from fat and sinew. The blade cuts, Zelda pulls. Each tear seems to bring chunks of meat that seem to grow in size, but it's probably just the fact that the pile she's nestled atop it's back is growing. She, too, is content in silence, grunting here and there as she exerts herself. A life in court had not prepared her for this sort of work, but she was eager to learn and adapt. It was something new and curious, something to take in and discover. Survival, too, was necessary to her, after all.

The woman's voice cuts through the silence as easily as the blade she wields. Zelda is caught off guard and admits, to herself, that she's used to people knowing who she is. The golden haired princess of Hyrule in the royal blue tunic with the mark of the Royal Family stuck out like a sore thumb in most of her travels, if only because of the renown of her bloodline.

She considers, momentarily, using her full title. Even so, she catches something that the woman says and considers it. "You may call me" is not the same as "My name is"... ]

My apologies. The moment did not allow for any sort of introductions... I am called Zelda.

[ She kind of likes it, the freedom of being... Zelda. ]

[ She's going to have to wash her hands - they're red almost to the elbow and the stink will no doubt draw unwanted attention later. But the pile of meat they have will hopefully keep them going for a little while longer. Cooking it or preserving it will be another problem - they'll probably just have to cook it en masse and devour as much as they can. She leans back from her work with an exhale of breath, back still ramrod straight. ]

Then I am glad to have met you. You handled yourself well.

[ She's not sure Zelda is really a warrior, but she's certainly capable. She has no complaints there. ]

I think we should cook as much of this as we can, as quickly as we can. Better than letting it rot.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

TDM: January

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject