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

What?

[ He turns, pointing the branch at the stranger. A person? Here? In this weird nightmare scenario? When he stops threatening the insects, they take their chances closing in and he starts waving the branch around again in front of his face a lot more wildly. There's also some pretty undignified shrieking, but that's two down!

Like the other, these are also soundly stomped on. ]

I mean.. kinda? Dumb vampire joke? Gotta keep it light or you know.. it's pretty depressing.

Anyway, who's Lalli?

[The moment the guy turns and points his branch at Emil, Emil lifts his free hand to show he's unarmed - the other is still occupied with a bundle of clothing, upon which a white and orange cat is perched.]

Hey, sorry to startle you.

[There's a beat while he processes what Jongdae said in explanation about his mosquito comment, and then he blinks, once, in obvious confusion.]

What's a vampire? I mean, yes, keeping it light is good. I wouldn't call it depressing so much as a hellish sticky nightmare, but, you know.

[A short little breath.]

Lalli is my best friend. Usually when I'm in some weird dream it's because of him somehow. Who are you?

[ Oh, there's a cat! He's not threatening with the stick now for sure, wandering a couple of steps closer to peer at the animal. ]

S'okay. I didn't even realise there'd be any people here. 'Cause like-.. [ He raises his hands to indicate the big weird bug-infested jungle they're in. Other people are not top of the list for what he'd expected to encounter. Probably something like giant cockroaches next..

The question catches him off guard for a moment or two of plain confusion that shows on his face, his head tilting a bit. He's still fairly new to the whole vampire thing, but even in his own world they had those as a concept. ]

You've never.. heard of that? I mean.. it's all a little different depending on the story but in general. Uh. Undead thing, drinks blood to survive, does not do well in sunlight.

[ He scratches awkwardly at his cheek, because generally when you informed a person that you were potentially a horrible, possibly unnatural blood drinker it's not necessarily well-received.. ]

Er.. anyway, I'm Jongdae. Totally not gonna eat you though, ahahah.. [ Very nervous laughter. ] ... Which is potentially less of a thing to worry about in a dream anyway, but I dunno what kind of dream this is. Like is this a 'wake up and just enjoy the bad memories' or an 'if you die in the game, you die for real!' kind of scenario?

[ Jongdae shrugs a little. ]

In any case, no worries!

[For her part, Kitty doesn't really react much to the stranger approaching, she just peers up at him a little dazedly. It's too hot for her here too. Frankly, it's too hot for anyone.]

No, not really. I think maybe someone mentioned it? Once? Maybe it came from some Old World book I never bothered to read, but I don't know anything about it.

[But then Jongdae is answering the question, and Emil's eyes widen a little bit.]

Wait, you eat people's blood?

[The reassurance that he's not going to eat Emil is a little helpful, but he's still taking a step back from Jongdae to make sure he has a head start in case he changes his mind about that...though now he sort of gets the King Mosquito joke, at least?

For a moment, Emil considers whether or not it would be dangerous to be eaten by a vampire in a dream or not, judging by all the other dreams he's been in, then comes to a conclusion.]

I'm Emil. And I'd really prefer not to be eaten, thanks. I have to warn you that if you tried I'd fight back and I'm a pretty good fighter. Anyway, I've been in a lot of dreams before but never one where I got hurt, so I don't know the rules either. I'd rather not find out.

[ He finds this cute, at least cute enough to feel no shame whatsoever about making weird faces at the cat the whole time.

At least until he's questioned about the blood, at which point he stops abruptly and glances up at Emil. ]

Uh.. yeah, actually..

[ He straightens up and attempts to look more innocent and non-threatening, although the only time he possibly looked menacing up until now was when he was waving the stick. He's not very big and doesn't seem to have the build or the movements of a person who's ever really trained in anything physical. ]

I'm not really proud of it. Told you it was depressing! [ He laughs again awkwardly. ]

But in being kind of a garbage fighter myself, I'm not looking for any trouble. Unless you're a mosquito, which you thankfully are not. Interesting that you've been in a lot of dreams before though. I can't.. really relate. Does that mean you might know how to get out of one?

[Emil can't hold back a little smile while Jongdae starts making faces at Kitty and she gives him an expression that's so put out it's hilarious.

The confirmation that Jongdae eats people's blood is a little startling, because he'd almost thought he'd heard wrong or misunderstood or something, because the idea of someone who lives by eating other people's blood is quite absurd. Jongdae can go about looking innocent and non-threatening all he likes, but Emil is mostly just a little floored. This is a very strange dream, and he's had a few really weird ones (birds that swam underwater and fish that flew, among other things).

But there's not really a lot that's threatening about Jongdae. He's less broad than Emil and Emil is carrying at least three visible weapons and one concealed, while Jongdae is unarmed except for his stick and doesn't really look like he knows how to use it. So he just sort of blinks and listens to the reply, his head tilting a little. Which makes his hair stick to his sweaty cheek. Huffing, he lifts a hand to pull the strands of smooth blond hair from his cheek, making a face at the sensation.]

I don't know if I'd call that depressing. Then again, I've never eaten someone else's blood. Anyway, I won't fight you unless you try to do that to me, so it's not a problem right now. As for dreams...no, I don't really know how to get out. Usually I just woke up on my own, or Lalli kicked me out or whatever.

Are we supposed to be doing something here?

[ It's a good thing Jongdae left the part out about having monstrous strength to go along with his condition, but what Emil didn't know about the stuff Jongdae was making a point not to do definitely wouldn't hurt him. ]

It's kinda like eating meat if you're one of those people who feels bad about it but at the same time realises you can't really get by on a meat-free diet even if you're all morally opposed to it. But you know.. there's like options and stuff..

[ He catches himself before he can go into any more details about the particulars of feeding habits. There's literally anything else to talk about right now. ]

Totally doesn't matter though, does it? Nope. Because no one here's eating anyway! And that is a fantastic question. That-.. I totally don't really have an answer to. I'm not sure if we're supposed to figure a way out or just wait for it to happen. Maybe it depends on who is dreaming? Maybe we're all dreaming and this is some kinda weird shared dreamspace. Which is new, I've never heard of that before..

[ The surrounding jungle doesn't feel as empty as he would like it to feel either and he's quite glad that he's not completely alone. Maybe it's just his imagination acting up because it's the first time he's really registering how vast and also shadowy it is without something trying to drink his blood.. ]

TDM: January

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