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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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... guess we'd be the villains to them, huh. Ah, well. We know we did the right thing! [THUMBS UP!]
I owe yah one, beary buddy.
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You can do a lot with a perspective flip. [Not that he's a writer or even trying to be, but he notices some trends in fiction.]
I'll... keep that in mind? [They're in a dream though, so can he really?]
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Yeah. A lot... [he looks around the forest, which was buzzing with activity all around them, even if they seemed safe for the moment. Probably best to not linger.]
We should move on. Don't want them sending, like, real hunters after us or something. You're leaving big tracks, you know.
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Can't do anything about 'em.
[How'd he become a bear? How does he stop being a bear? Does he just will it?
Bears: How do they work?
Standing back up and heading back into the forest. It's dangerous, but it feels like everything around here is..]
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You walk a head of me a while and I'll cover these. Lose anybody who might want to follow us out here! [sometimes he's a bit smart]
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[But he'll comply. It seems like a good idea, and he's not about to argue when there's potential danger. Argument needs a safer environment than a forest with stuff trying to kill them.]
You probably only need to do it for a few kilometers. Just so it looks like the tracks stop.
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Just enough to lose anybody following. Those people must hunt or something, they didn't look like farmers.
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Didn't look like there were crops nearby. Maybe they gather stuff in the forest too?
[Not that he has any idea what's safe to eat around here. Even as his stomach growls, he's not ready to be quite so reckless.]
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... guess this is all a dream. They could maybe just suddenly appear or fly or something. Dreams don't need to make sense. [this is remarkably realistic for a dream, yet he can tell it is one. Feels lame he doesn't get to just control it all! He thought that's what was supposed to happen if you knew you were in one. Lame. So lame.]
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I turned into a... were-bear or something. Can't be real.
[Would he imagine himself as a monster if he could help it? There were plenty of people who called him that, but it's not like he ever meant to end up as one.]
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Definitely the latter.]
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Aren't nicknames supposed to be short?
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Even, like, J-bear is longer! [which mostly sounds like a terrible rap name, not that Soren knows what that is]
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J-bear's the worst one so far.
Soren's short too.
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[he mispronounces his own name to sort of make this rhyme and it still mostly doesn't]
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[his family is a whole lot of the ends justify the means sorts, Juza]
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[Source: Theater dad is part of the yakuza.]
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[nothing like that in his world, organized crime isn't so much a thing in Katolis, not aside from like... gangs of bandits. A far cry from Yakuza.]
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[If he doesn't know that then...]
Extorting and threatening people. Or breaking shit to get what they want.
[Like cheaper cloth for their costumer.]
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... I'm trying not to be like that. You, uh... tell me if I am, okay? I'll knock it off. [if they even ever meet again after all this. Probably no chance, right? Just a dream and all!]
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Absolutely nobody would ever ask him for this at home, but here, where he looks like a weird bear monster, he's being asked to be somebody else's conscience?]
... 'kay.
[If he agrees now, and he sees this guy in his dreams again, he'll remind him to not be an asshole. Will that happen? Is it even possible? Most of his dreams are about the stage, if he even remembers them at all.
There's another pause, because he knows his own flaws better than anyone. Juza knows that feeling well, knowing who you were and, and wanting to change.]
You know who you wanna be or... just different?
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I guess, huh... I want to be the best knight I can be. That will mean always protecting those who need it. Like that weird kid we rescued! That was a good thing, I'm sure of it.
[So sensitive, Soren, with the "weird kid" commentary. Even if they just sort of flew away unceremoniously, Soren was glad they didn't abandon someone in need. That's the right thing to do.]
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Yeah. It was. [It's not like Juza can point out "weird kid" is rude. He's already feeling super weird being this bear shaped monster-thing.]
Can't let anybody die when you can do something about it. As long as you're trying to get better... That's the important part.
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That should do it. I don't think anybody is following us this far from our last tracks. [he'll move back around to Juza's side, giving him a firm pat to his fluffy shoulder. There we go, bear friend!]
You have any idea where you're heading? Got like... some special bear sense? [that could be a thing, right?]
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