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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. |
II b
I saw a good one over that way.
[She points.]
You're going to practice, right? Let me come too.
no subject
Internal monologue over. If she doesn't know, she'll just have to work with what she knows from talking with adults.]
...Okay. It should be easier if we help each other, so please do join me. It was this way, you said?
[Leslie points in the direction Nana indicated, ready to start walking towards the promised stone.]
no subject
[She leads the way with a spring in her step. Even if this is just a dream, she's enjoying this part of it. For all the confidence she's trying to project here, Nana has only had a tiiiny bit more experience with other kids. And... mostly boys. The prospect of hanging out with a girl her age is a bit exciting.
The rock she found is a little bit smaller than the other one, but it's pretty close.]
Here it is! What do you think?
“oh no, this girl my age will know I don’t know what to do,” they say simultaneously
I don’t know if +Anima has timeskips. And she’s rewarded for this, since the rock she’s lead to is exactly what she was hoping for.]It’s perfect. It’s almost exactly like what those kids were using.
[leslie the oldest of the kids didn’t look much younger than you]
And then if those kids try...it doesn’t seem like we’ll be able to meet them again, but I still don’t want to end without showing I can do it. Right?
[Sure, she didn’t ask the other girl what her goal was, but Leslie suspected from her similarly bad display at the game that her reasons were at least similar.]
"It's okay though, I'll just follow her lead." they both think at once
Yeah, we won't let them make fun of us next time!
[She starts picking up rocks to place on their target range. Those boys are gonna eat their words when she and her new friend... um... oh.]
Oh, um, my name is Nana. What's yours?
[Ugh, how could she forget something as simple as names? This other girl is going to think she's rude now!
Maaaybe she's not doing as well as she thought.]
this subject line response made me laugh a lot, because it's true
She's used to people introducing themselves with their full names, and worries that it's rude when she only gives her first name. But now the other girl has done that first! It's okay to just give Leslie!
Her hands start to reach down to her skirt, as she's used to curtsying when introducing herself, but she stops. Nana didn't curtsy. Maybe it's too formal for someone your own age??]
My name is Leslie. Um.
[It's a pleasure to meet you? True, but is formality bad?? Is it good??? Um.
After a moment of hesitation, she sticks out her hand in a silent request for a handshake.]
Let's...let's show those boys...!
[Is...is this friendship protocol]
no subject
Even if she kind of is...
So should she be more formal? More polite? What's a fancy thing to say? Pleased to make your acquaintance? Luckily for her, Leslie spares her the choice by dropping any pretense of formality herself. So Nana grins and gives her new friend's hand a firm shake.]
Yeah! Let's do this!
[Feeling more confident now, she starts lining up some targets for them. Once that's done, she turns back to Leslie.]
Um, do you want to go first?
no subject
Um, sure! Thank you for setting it up.
[All right, the village boys seemed to have stood about this far back, right? Okay, stone ready, annnnnd throw!
Leslie's attempted underhand throw twists a little as she subconsciously moves her hand away from her body as her arm passes by it, giving it a curve that means that even if she hadn't thrown it too high (she let it go too late and threw it too high), it was already flying off at an angle that meant it was barely over the big flat rock.
She makes a frustrated sound, but shakes her head as she tries not to let it get to her.]
I'll...I'll get it next time! Do you want to take a turn?
no subject
[The polite thank you catches her off guard. Honestly she can't even remember the last time Husky or Cooro said thank you. And Leslie is so much nicer than Maggie was!
She's lamenting the fact that she has to be dreaming to make friends like this as she watches Leslie's rock sail over the target.]
Aw! You almost had it! Next time for sure.
[Nana steps up to take her turn. She aims carefully.... carefully....
And then throws with all her might. Overhand too, so it's arc takes it way too low and it bounces off the big rock. She gives the rock a little pout, as if it were somehow at fault.]
Hmph... a little higher, next time.
no subject
Leslie is in turn a little caught off guard by Nana's supportive comments when she misses. She's only had a couple weeks of people who would encourage her, so she hasn't come to expect it from new people.]
The rock's a little lower than the one the villagers were using. It might have made it harder to judge the height the first time.
[Leslie is pretty sure that the slight change in height wasn't the reason for that miss, given how things went at the village for both of them, but she's not going to say that part out loud.
This time, Leslie tries to imitate Nana's overhand -- maybe that's how you're supposed to do it? -- but since it's her first time, her arc is even worse as she basically spikes it to the ground. The rock doesn't even bounce very much, as Leslie's arms remain the spindliest things in creation and she can't put much force behind it.
But instead of being a frustrating setback, she actually briefly laughs. Having someone encouraging her instead of a group making fun of her has definitely relaxed her.]