dagung | TDM: May

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TDM: May

Test Drive: May

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 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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Sorry, pal, fresh out of sandwiches. [Bucky is knelt down next to one of the pools, dipping metal fingers in to test the temperature, curious but also wary at the writing that surrounds it. The water is relatively cool in this one, but the one across the way is boiling hot; what’s causing that? After a moment, he uses the heel of his real hand to scrub out a few of the strange runes, and almost immediately, the pool releases hissing steam as it starts to bubble. Boiling.]

I don’t think complaining about it is going to get us anywhere. What have you got over there? I’ve got… magic temperature-changing pools. [Yeah that sounds as weird to say as it is to hear. He straightens up and starts to cross the cave again, sharp eyes searching for clues as to where they are or how they might be able to get out of here.]

[Now there's a voice Tony knows. He perks up, standing and taking his broken device with him to where Bucky is examining the pool. He holds it up, the metal circle dark and cool.]

It won't turn on and I haven't found a way to open it yet. But it does open. Guaranteed. If I can figure out what was used to power it I can find a way to get it running again.

[Whatever it is. Tony doesn't actually know what the device is supposed to do, but he's keeping it to find out.]

So this is some cave bathhouse? I think I'll skip the water if it's all the same to everyone.

[It's a small comfort, at least, to have a familiar face around. Tony's a welcome sight in a situation like this, even if Strange might be a welcome-r one, because Bucky is starting to think they're dealing with the m word, and he's not about that life.] Do you even gotta ask? I think we might be dealing with magic. [He really didn't want to say it.]

You an' me both. [Definitely not going to trust the waters down here.] So what's our next move? Can't find the way out, can't get that weird pocket watch to turn on, and if I'm bein' honest, it looks like whoever used to live here left in a real hurry.

[Tony absolutely knows by now that they are dealing with the m word and he is having none of it. Maybe with Strange around it would be different, but on their own Tony is not prepared to deal with something he really can't explain and break down. He's determined not to let this strange force beat him.]

There must be some reason we were brought here.

[He looks around at the silent waterfalls and the pools surrounded by runes and to the abandoned clothes.]

Someone wants us to see this. Have you tried going down the other paths? It's pulling us back like a magnet.

Does magic ever have a reason? [It's the exact opposite of logical and he kind of hates it. Bucky's fights usually keep his feet firmly on the metaphorical ground of reality; Nazis, terrorists, mad scientists? Easy. This? Not so much.] Maybe we weren't even brought here. Maybe we're having some kind of shared hallucination. Whatever it is, I wanna come off this acid trip.

Yeah, it's some kinda compulsion. Or maybe there isn't anything down the other paths at all and that's why we keep winding up back here.

[Tony immediately turns to give Bucky a scandalized look.]

Oh, come on, you can't just throw that around! You'll summon someone. Or something. You know how this works!

[He's absolutely being melodramatic about it, but that is Tony's defense against stress lately. The more melodramatic he is, the less awful all the awful things in his life will seem. That's the theory, anyway.]

You think we're hallucinating? I don't buy that. But it could be some kind of suggestion.

It's not a program. I can tell you that right now.

[Tony hits a thought and it sticks. He gives Bucky an appraising look even before he's done speaking.]

Hey, Cap, how are you at climbing?

I don't know how any of this works any more than you do. [He comments calmly, with a raised brow. Someone has to keep a cool head in this situation, and it's generally Bucky, at least until things get personal. Then it's up in the air.]

Could be. I've been in space lately. Could've picked up some kind of weird hallucinogenic spore or somethin'. [It's not likely but they're spitballing here, so there are no wrong theories until they find the right theory.

His brows furrow just slightly when Tony gives him that look.] I'm not too shabby. What have you got planned?

[He's laughing, or almost laughing, about Bucky saying that he doesn't know more than him, when he hears about space. Then his entire face lights up.]

Wait, what? You've been to space? Since when?

[He is so excited about this now.]

Why didn't I get to hear about this? What secrets have you been keeping from me?

[Focus, Stark.]

Oh. Right. Well, all paths lead here, right? What about up and out?

Since about a month ago. [Oh no why are you excited, Tony? It's a terrible shitty story and he hates it. He doesn't exactly enjoy space.] Things have been busy, we haven't had a chance to talk. I don't get to talk to anybody much these days. [Other than Daisy, who had agreed to be his partner in all this Man on the Wall shit.] When was the last time we met up?

[A pause.] Up and out? Maybe that could work. How's your climbing skills? Or is this gonna be a piggyback situation?

A month, huh? [That sounds... Well, maybe that is why he didn't notice? He's been busy.] You have to tell me about that. Or are you still in space? It's hard to tell what is where when everything is a dream.

The last time...? Ah. [He taps his chest.] You guys came by to bring me back. I've been getting back on my feet since then. Working on a start up company, actually.

I'm not great, but I can get up.

[As he says that, he's sizing up the actual falls and makes a face.]

Probably. Never know unless you try, right?

[His expression changes subtly to something almost like a cringe when he hears Tony say the last time they met up was when they all come by to bring him back.] Shit, Tony. That was a while ago for me- [Figures they're going to have to deal with timeline discrepancies as well as- whatever all this is.] I've been... A lot of things have happened since then. We'll talk when we get outta this hole.

[Okay. Head in the game, Barnes. There are more important things right now. He stretches out like he's limbering up for the climb.] I can carry you if you need it. Don't try to be a hero and get yourself splattered on the rocks. Someone's gotta be miserable with me.

A while ago for me too.

[He gives Bucky a questioning look. Is his month or so not as long as what Bucky is talking about? It's true he's been burying himself in his own affairs and Steve is still... well, not exactly happy with him, but was it really longer for Bucky? He needs to check up on that later.]

Heh. You wish. I've got this.

[He's probably going to end up a smear on the rocks. But like hell Tony is going to lean on Bucky when he's asking him to take risks. What sort of shithead would that be?]

If something happens, it'll be my fault.

[It was a while ago, longer than a month. Bucky has died since then. Lost everything all over again. He just responds with a subtle shake of his head - they'll talk about it later and sort out how bad the timeline disparity is.

His glance is skeptical, but he's not exactly eager to carry him, so he acquiesces.] Okay. Don't get splattered. You're the only familiar face I've seen in this crazy place.

[He heads to the wall of the cave and starts feeling for a handhold; when doesn't find one, he digs vibranium fingers in and makes one.] If something happens, it'll be my fault for not slinging you over my shoulder. How about that?

[Tony has been so focused on moving forward and pulling himself together that he almost doesn't realize how much he misses. He should realize that he's behind Bucky; that things have already happened without him now. But he doesn't. Not yet, anyway. He still thinks this is something he is catching up on, not something that hasn't happened to him yet.]

I think I'll be okay. If I fall, maybe it'll wake me up. This is all a dream, right?

[Maybe that makes a kind of sense, but it is also a gamble for Tony to be taking. He's not as fit as Bucky is.]

It's never your fault. I make my own choices. But I'm glad to have you watching my back.

I hope it's a dream. We've seen some weird shit. [Interdimensional travel, other universes, time travel, who's to say this isn't more of the usual? Granted, a weird dream is just as likely.

He starts up the face of the wall, digging hand-holds in with his vibranium fingers. It's slow going, but he's trying to leave a clear path for Tony.] Be careful when you're coming up here. The rock is slick.

Hey, none of that. You and me, we gotta look after each other or Steve is gonna kill us both.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

TDM: May

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