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TDM: May
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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 on up June 1st. The application page can be found here.
• 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!
• While current players won't be allowed to post top levels on the test drive itself, feel free to reference or play with the dreams in-game.
• 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 Eternal Fall
The smell of autumn leaves surrounds you, a myriad of colors sparkling into existence at the same time. Despite the warmth and light, the air feels heavy and stiff, as if on razor's edge. The forest is eerily silent - not a bird, bug, or rodent dares to stir - and when you do hear something, it's the high-pitched crying, whining, weeping, sobbing, howling sounds of something far off. The tunnel of bent branches invites you further with an unpleasant compulsion; though fighting it and turning around finds you in front of a chilly, damp cave alight with the faint, cool glow of bubbling fountains and streams.
 The Compulsion Unable to sway yourself from the call of the forest - or maybe you're simply curious as to where it leads - your feet pull you further and further into the autumnal tunnel. The cry from before grows more distant, but in return, the air weighs even heavier on your shoulders than before. The branches hang lower and lower as well, as if pushed by gravity, until their leaves smack your face, twigs offering small cuts from the thorns protruding from their bark. But you can't stop. Not now. The end of the tunnel seems so close; but it's seemed that way for a while now, you suppose, and you've already come this far - you might as well stay the course, wherever it might lead. The further you go, the brighter everything becomes, and you realize it's the leaves surrounding you; they've begun to glow, encouraged by the sunlight streaming in from above, and the wind begins to whisper in your ear. At first, it's only encouraging things, or silly facts - harmless words, but as the foliage begins to shimmer and reflect your image, the wind's words turn colder. Within those reflections on the autumn tunnel, you begin to see your worst moments - morally, ethically, emotionally. The things you don't want anyone else to know, that you'd feel ashamed or struck for anyone - especially those close to you - to see. The wind becomes louder as the scenes play out one right after another, boldly declaring your true feelings as they were in that moment, good or bad. Worst of all - you still can't bring yourself to turn back, even as your mind begins to free itself from the tunnel's compulsion. Maybe someone else can help out, if they're not too taken by their own memories, or maybe the shock of sharing such private secrets will jolt you and anyone else back to reality. Either way, it's that, or staying stuck watching your worst memories play on repeat for what feels like the rest of your life. |
 The Cry While not compelled by any means, you still feel a curious draw down the path in front of you; as you follow the leaf tunnel, with others or alone, you find another, less-traveled path. Following it reveals a large pond colored orange and gold by the reflection of the area it's in, sunlight and shadows playing on its surface. At a glance, it seems to be rather shallow, but that's hardly the truth. You realize, after a moment, that the crying has continued, evidently coming from the water. Looking closer, the culprit is an infected Merrow, who - upon begin seen - shrieks and dives for whoever's looking at it with the clear intent to drag them down beneath the water. Its claws are extra sharp, its teeth similar to a shark in number and shape, and its scales have turned a pale black; an oil-like substance flows from beneath them and from its gums as well, shimmering the same way gasoline does in the light, and its eyes are the tell-tale white of a Shade. It isn't impossible to fight it to get away, especially as some of you have new abilities at hand, and some of you have a few neat changes to help that along. Once distance is successfully put between you and the infected Merrow, it howls in a wet, warbly voice, visibly frustrated. Unlike ordinary Merrows, who can walk on land and have legs as long as they stay dry, this Merrow can't seem leave its pond at all, and electricity sparks from it like little static shocks in its irritation. It does dive back under once it realizes it can't reach you, resurfacing as your character's most important person in an attempt to lure them back. The expressions are far too real, too genuine; even those aware it's a Merrow might be fooled. While its voice isn't a perfect mimicry, the song it begins to sing has with it notes of yearning and beckoning to join it, join your beloved person, in the water. |
 The Cave Pulling yourself from curiosity or compulsion, the cave behind you - in front of you, if you've turned around - gives off an oddly pure feeling. Like an oasis in a desert, it feels refreshing and calm; incredibly safe, compared to the eerie call of the forest it's in. Within the cave are pools of water that glow and glimmer from the magic runes found around them. The runes shift similar to a mirage whenever you try to focus on them; and try as you might, you can't glimpse what they say exactly. It isn't so hard to figure out though, as the pools of water surrounded by them have a pleasingly cold temperature, while those without them are near scalding. A few of the latter have runes around them, but they're not glowing like the rest - feeding a little magic into them changes this immediately, and steam rises in a sudden blast as the water cools rapidly. The opposite can be done for the colder pools too - taking their magic somehow or ruining the runes will make them bubble and boil as they surge in temperature. But that isn't all the cave has to offer. Moving further inward, you get the feeling you're going down - beneath the ground and the enchanting forest. Eventually, the cave widens out to a massive underground lake, multiple waterfalls pouring into it; despite their number and size, the room is completely silent. All tunnels seem to lead to this one room, with a few of them looking more man-made than natural. Traversing other tunnels leads you into a maze that only ever brings you to the lake, or to the cave's entrance, no matter how many different paths you take. Something different happens eventually though; signs of life begin to appear, or at least signs that life once lived there. Leather pouches rotted by the dampness of the cave hang on sharp nails beaten into the cave walls, with boots in similar condition strewn here and there. Torn, soaking clothing lays in piles in the tunnels, and candles burnt down to their wick's end stand in shelves carved from the navy blue and black stone. There's broken toys and books too waterlogged to read, instruments with snapped strings or clogged holes, and - most peculiarly - smooth, round devices that heavily resemble large pocketwatches or hand mirrors. They refuse to turn on though, either due to age or due to the wetness of the air. |
II dream team time right? hahaha
So Liliana sighs, lifting up the edges of her dress as they slump through the wet undergrowth. ]
Some might think that any child wandering around unattended in a place like this asked for things to go wrong.
[ She's allowed to say that--she was also a child wandering alone in the forest and look where that got her. ]
Something like that.
Chandra's boots squelch in the soft muck, and she turns back at the comment...]
Some might think that, yeah. Do you?
[It's an honest question, because she's really unsure of Liliana, right this moment. Not that she'd ever truly been entirely trusting of the necromancer, but lately she's had more cause than most to rethink their interactions.]
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She thinks back, for a moment, to her own abandon at traveling through the woods she thought she knew so well. The world around you can change in an instant, fields once lush and ready to harvest burnt and dead. To the hordes of the Eternal passing by buildings she tried to leave untouched, but she could only be in so many places at once through the fingers of her army. Not everything can be saved. There are always casualties.
And idiots who blindly throw themselves at death's feet.
That's life, isn't it? ]
I think they've certainly learned their lesson, by the sound of things.
[ It's a non-answer, as many that revolve around her actual feelings on things tend to be. ]
Honestly, who would willingly go through a stroll in this place? It doesn't smell right.
[ Says the woman who keeps the dead for company. ]
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It's not like she ever talked much about herself before, Chandra reminds herself.]
Oh, no doubt.
[To both things, honestly. This doesn't smell normal, not even a little bit. Wrinkling her nose a bit, Chandra pauses on the shore of a small pond, peering around.
Her eyes glide over a small form laying just at the water's edge, something vaguely fishlike. Humanoid, but breathing shallowly, letting out those soft calls.]
Oh...hell, it's not a child.
[She jerks her head to look back at Liliana.]
What do you think?
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The pond draws a small frown as Liliana crinkles her nose up to it. Is this the source of the stink? Or is it the dying Merfolk on the edge? At least she thinks that's what it's supposed to be, though it doesn't look like any sort of Merfolk she's used to.
She comes to a stop a foot or so behind Chandra, raising her chin. ]
Push it back in the water and let's be done with it.
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[Chandra looks back at Liliana, her expression suddenly very, very serious. She'd noticed something, something that maybe Liliana had missed. The oil seeping out of the thing's skin. Oil. Infection. Probably nothing...but could be...]
No, I don't think we want that thing anywhere near...
[With a sudden shriek, the merfolk, the Merrow, leaps for them across the marshy ground, claws scrabbling to get at them. Surprised, but not really, Chandra pushes into Liliana, grabbing the woman in her silky dress and moving her back without thinking. She was the one in armor, and the Merrow's claws raked against the plating but didn't puncture it, at least.
The level of hostility from the thing wasn't like predator and prey, and that glistening oil definitely called her thoughts back to things Karn had told her about. Things Teferi, Jhoira, Jaya, and all the others on Dominaria had fought against. It couldn't be, not here, but that didn't make the reaction any less visceral and instinctive.]
...Don't let it touch you!
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Well of course we don't want to be ne--
[ But then that disgusting thing screeches and lurches forward. Liliana's eyes go wide and instinct has her raising her hands to cast a spell and it's only Chandra's own quick actions that stop her from looking a fool. No mana, no energy--she knows this, but it's a hard habit to break. Back she goes, nearly stumbling on the awkward slope of the bank, soft and damp.
Her shock is immediately locked up as she frowns, then glares at the thing. She very much doesn't appreciate how such a little spook can get her heart racing.
The oil collects on the ground, slick and heavy and pools into the dirt. Thankfully the creature can only get so far by crawling and makes a guttural sound as it reaches out, letting the oil drip from its arm as it's claws strike at the air. ]
All bark and no bite, hm? New plan--let's let it dry out on land.
[ Drip, drip. It's a shimmering substance. ]
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Second, she raises her hands, fingers moving in the motions of a spell. She's not as good here as she is on other worlds and it's frustrating, but killing one thing? That's not hard.]
Dry out. I can do that.
[Her hands jab, clawlike, at the thing and it shrieks as fire takes the oil seeping from it's skin. It burns blue, then green, then white, gradually consuming the Merrow until it stumbles back into the pool to put itself out, shrieking as it thrashes.]
Did it touch you? Or any of the oil?
[She assumes, wrongly, that it's dead...and it's really easy to ignore what she thinks are death throes.]
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...Right?
There should be some solace that the chain veil at her side is nothing but an ornament at this point. Her mind is so blessedly blank that the pained shrieks of the Merrow a too loud and too clear. She watches with a slight crease in her brow as a familiar flame takes root.
At least one of them is useful. ]
Fine, I'm fine. But I'm definitely going to need to get this dry cleaned.
[ Little lit flames of spots of oil on the ground, but it's...strangely not spreading. Liliana's frown returns as she tilts her head slightly. ]
This is definitely out of my wheel house here, but fire is supposed to be a little more excitable, isn't it?
[ The Merrow's escape back into the pond left a trail of dripping, burning oil after it, but that's all it is--drips with little sparks.
The Merrow's cries suddenly disappear just as the creature itself does beneath the surface from the water. The final plop gets Liliana's attention immediately away from the strangely contained fires. ]
...Our little friend isn't dead.
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Something's wrong with that oil. Can't say what. I hope it's not what I'm thinking it is. But it'd certainly explain why he's not dead.
[Frowning, Chandra lifts her hand and prepares another spell...but the creature shifts, the screams stopping as it's form twists. Into someone familiar. Wearing that damnable smirk he always wears...Jace cocks his head to the side in an expectant way.]
Sorry about all that...claws and teeth business. Sometimes I get so lost in my illusions, you know.
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No, this is something else.
[ And boy is she right.
There's no sense in hiding the way her eyes widen as someone both simple and annoyingly complicating appears as if part of some grotesque metamorphosis. ]
Jace?
[ She scoffs behind Chandra, placing a hand on her hip. ]
Method acting? That's cute. Though you could put some effort into your "hellos" being marginally more pleasant.
[ Though--wait a second.
Liliana gives pause, glancing at Chandra. Chandra--who is not nearly at full capacity and has had to work out some weird archaic method of spell-casting. And Liliana, who isn't able to do a damn thing.
Hm. ]
Conjured that up yourself, hm?
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[Jace seems puzzled by this, head tilting back and forth.
Chandra, of course, purses her lips and looks at Liliana.
Because of course, she noticed the same thing.]
Seems suspect. Don't you think?
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[ Liliana immediately puts on the air of being rather bored with his antics, as if she's seen them all at this point. (And, really, she's seen quite a few and finds more than enough of them to be troublesome. He should know better than to put his mind...nose where it doesn't belong. Mind-nose. Yeah.) ]
Or maybe he's just losing his touch?
[ Time to Girl Gossip. She shifts her weight to one hip and rests a hand casually on Chandra's shoulder. ]
After all, when did Jace the Grand Telepath need the ambiance of a murky pond to support his illusions?
[ The weight of her hand increases slowly, with a barely noticeable tug backwards. ]
Apparently he's been here all this time and just waited to find some wandering women to try and scare. A new low, which is impressive in and of itself, I'll admit.
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[Chandra smirks, leaning into the touch just a little, unsurprised that this was how they were going to play it. It was very...Liliana. (Mean girls with magic in a way.)]
Definitely a new low but not that new, considering the first time I met him he tried to jump me in a sewer.
[Trufax, that.
The subtle pressure on her shoulder is a good indication of what the other Planeswalker is planning, and Chandra's hand slips behind her back, beginning to work through the motions of a spell.]
I...what? No, that's not it at all...
[The not!Jace seems puzzled. But only until Chandra's hand whips around...hurling a fireball right at the obvious fake.]
Asshole, he'd never try and spook us like that. He knows better.
[Like, seriously knows better.]
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[ Chandra was certainly naive, but not an idiot. At least not when Liliana needed her to catch on. And she did, as expected, bringing a slowly growing smirk as she regarded "Jace". Right on cue, the fireball went out and the the illusion rippled--but not at all like Jace's normally do. More like fragments struggling to keep into place, but clearly no match for the fire. ]
One would hope by now, but let's not give him too much credit.
[ Jace disappears and there is the Merrow, fighting to return his likeness. ]
Ah, our slimy new friend. Hello, again. You're going to have to try harder than that.
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[Chandra's hair ignited as she let her emotions slip. Curious thing, that.]
...Our slimy new friend.
[She raised both hands, fire forming over her palms. The fishy creature never had a chance to realize it's mistake in messing with these two.]
Bye.
[Clapping her palms together, she released a spray of hellfire, catching the thing fully and igniting it's oily, disgusting flesh. It was dead before it hit the ground with a hiss of steam rising from the shallow water.]
How revolting.
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Freshly burnt. It's a heavier stink.
Liliana makes a point to draw her hand back and wave the air as if the smell is offensive enough. ]
It's leaving an impression, but not the one it wants. Good riddance.
[ Though it also raises several questions. When she's done with her dramatics, Liliana takes a step closer to the water's edge to get a closer look at their fallen friend. ]
Curious that it would pick Jace to try and trick us, isn't it?
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[Chandra, of course, is utterly unbothered by the smell of burnt anything. Flesh, toast, wood, water, corpses, all of it? It's just fine with her. But she walks over and nudges the blackened body with a boot.]
Mind magic, maybe? It could've tapped into our memories somehow. It knew we were both fond of him, at least.
[Which is about as far as she can say for her own opinions of Jace. He was alright. Weird, but alright. Liliana, of course, probably felt differently.]
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No matter. ]
I do loathe others poking around in my head uninvited.
[ It was usually a crowded enough place. But no spirits, no Raven Man. Nothing in her mind right now but Liliana. It's a strange calm. ]
Well, we've uncovered this little rouse. I'd like to get back to down and find something to eat.
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That sounds like a good idea to me. Let's get gone.
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[ She turns to look back the way they came. Hopefully there won't be any further shenanigans in forcing their footsteps. ]
Now, as they say--"age before beauty". Or is it "beauty before age"?
[ Liliana waves the air as if to clear it. ]
Either way, that's me.
[ And she leads the way with a flourish of purple silk. ]
You didn't think this was going to go unremarked, do you?
[Chandra isn't going to let that one lie. She can see the odd bit of grey there, Liliana.]
Let's go.
[And with a clink of chainmail, she follows.]