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TDM: January
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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.With that taken care of...
• 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. |
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[Sora lets go of her only momentarily to pat at his own chest several times and then going up to smack his own cheeks with his palms. Smack-smack.]
Yeah, it's all me!
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Oh Light, Sora... I can't believe it.
[She almost literally can't.]
I was starting to think I'd never see you again...
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Aww, Kairi. I never wanna stay away for that long.
[Or at least, he's trying to get better about that. Genuinely.]
Did I worry you a lot again?
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I don't know that what we want really matters much at this point.
[It hasn't seemed to in quite a while, really.]
That's... one way to put it. I've been trying to find you for months now.
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Is that why you look so glum right now?
[Sora frowns. He knows this place is a dream again. It's just like before and just like the sleeping worlds he's been to.]
It feels like it hasn't been that long since I've seen you last. What really is this place? What have you been up to?
[Maybe she needs to fill him in a little more.]
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This place is... I mean, where we are right now is sort of a dream-world, I guess. But when I wake up, I've been in a place called Aefenglom. It's full of witches and monsters, and the Keyblade doesn't work, and I don't know what I'm doing there.
[There. Here. She's honestly not sure.]
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[Sora's confusion is apparent but he's doing his best to try and piece this all together. He dislikes seeing her upset like this but he doesn't get how she's had months in this weird sleeping world while Sora feels like he's blinked his eyes.]
Aefenglom... Well, I'm here now so maybe I can actually stay this time. I'll find a way to do that, okay? Have you seen Riku? Or the others? Once we're together we can figure out what to do next.
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[She's not even sure that's one of the places he's told her about. He might have, it's just he's told her so many stories she sometimes can't pick them out from each other.]
Don't make promises you can't keep... Aqua's here, and Ventus... And Vanitas, though he's mostly been keeping to himself. No Riku, though.
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I guess we've got a lot to catch up on, huh?
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[Wow, she's just a genius with words there.]
I can tell you the basics about Aefenglom, and what's happened since I've been there. Or here, maybe. I'm really not sure if this place is a part of the same world or if we just go somewhere else when we dream. I guess that part's not really all that important, though.
[She's focused on a very narrow viewpoint of what counts as "important" while she's stuck off-world.]
I'm not really sure where to start, honestly.
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[Sora frowns. He's really trying to piece this all together. How he came to dream of this place again, were Kairi is and how she's been dealing with that and where all the others might be. It's confusing.]
How about start with what's happened with you since you woke up in this Aefangomy place?
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[After all, would he even experience time anymore, with what had happened to him?
She'd like to stop thinking so much about that, so she'll just do her best to focus on his question. And if that means repressing... well, no big surprise.]
I woke up in Aef... I'm just gonna call it Aef, a few months ago. I couldn't summon my keyblade, or use my magic, or do anything that might help get me home. But I heard that there was magic we could learn here, instead, so I decided to try to learn that, hoping I'd be able to find a way back or at least be able to send a message or something.
I've... basically been working on that ever since. To the exclusion of pretty much anything else.
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Seeing her this down even with him here seeing her and trying to give her some comfort-- His heart can't bare to dwell on it either. At least not right now.
So for how he's going to focus on her. And what she's been doing in this other world so far away from their home.]
Did you start to burn yourself out on trying to find a way home? That seems like a lot. [Sora's expression softens.] This world seems a lot like a sleeping world but I've never heard of one that keeps people and takes their weapons and magic. I can't use my keyblades either. What kind of magic have you learned?
[He crosses his arms, contemplative.]
If Riku were here he'd probably have a good idea of what we should do. Let's work together as much as we can right now, okay? Kairi?
[He doesn't want her to do this on her own anymore. He wants to stay.]
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[She's talked to enough people and heard enough in passing to figure that much out, at least.]
I wouldn't so much say I burnt myself out, just... I haven't really accomplished anything while I've been here. I've been so focused on doing this one thing, even though I'm not sure it's actually possible, I've barely even spoken to anyone aside from Ven and Aqua.
[Which isn't like her, and she knows it, but... she couldn't help it. She has to at least get word to Riku to try and stop him from freaking out about her, which he probably is.]
As for what sort of magic I've learned, it's called Divination. It's a magic to see things that are far away, though you can also use it for other things... telling the future, or interpreting dreams, stuff like that.
... Actually, that all kind of sounds like Master Yen Sid, doesn't it?