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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. |
no subject
[He'll take a few steps forward, until he's closer to the pond but not within arms reach yet]
H-Hey Sis, how about you come out here? Out of the water?
[He even holds out his hands like look- I'm willing to be hugged! "Fiona" gives a laugh, but doesn't budge]
Ellie, don't be silly. Since when have you been afraid of a little water? Come on.
[Despite it trying to sound amused and loving, there's a certain edge to her voice. Not only that, but its eyes keep darting at Eren, like a prey animal watches a predator.]
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a mental reach into himself grants eren access to the painful stretch under his flesh, growing crackles from his bones. he stays farther behind elliot, but his shadow follows as it towers and touches the edges of the pond. like fire itself, the sound of smacking and splintering wood accompanies his intent to burn her, an elongating throat burning bright like lava.
behind elliot is no longer a sunburned young man, but a medium-sized wyvern, not too small but not too large, shedding through his older skin in rips and tears where his digits can claw and a maw that heats the air with every dry huff. If she doesn’t come out, the whole pond goes. which, in retrospect, isn’t a bad idea. ]
no subject
WELP. THAT SURE IS A FLIPPING DRAGON.
Elliot yelps and does what any rational human being would do in this situation, he dives out of the way and scrambles for safety- out of the path of the dragon. He's trying to wrap his brain around this-- where did that dragon come from?? Where did the guy go?? Why was it ripping off-- skin!?? Was he going to have to fight off a dragon on top of everything else?? Sure, it was smaller than dragons he's encountered before but IT SURE WAS A DRAGON.]
O-Oh Aidios, help!
["Fiona" meanwhile reacts to the dragon, moving back and hissing at it, diving into the pond to try to get away. The illusion breaks, revealing that it was the infected merrow. Survival instinct overruns desire to lure gingers when there's a dragon.]
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from the earthy ground to the sky, the beast’s tail flicks, and he picks up speed to rise up, a clumsy low-heightened flight to spit its flames into the stretching body of water until steam warms the autumn chill. back and forth, over and over. it creates fog, hot and humid fighting the cold and destroying the shade’s home. if it didn’t die somewhere eventually, from drying, it died in the dragon’s rampage to get rid of it.
something different happens, though. the dragon circles back eventually, the lights dimming from the sky and showing off two brilliant moons rising, as hot smoke reaches to them, almost as if desperate. the dragon, black as night but deep in the colors of a sunset, searches for the boy he smells.
the boy, and the dagger. ]
She said Elliot— [ guttural, deep and almost incomprehensible, for his tongue slides uncontrollably from the sides of him mouth, where he has no cheeks, or anything akin to them. ] Was that an illusion too?
[ hiding seemed to make him irritable— or had it been the dark and the sisters ascending to say hello? ]
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When it's all over, he's clearly weakened and a little shaken from it, but he's still standing there, among the ash and smoke. He keeps the barrier up, but oh boy. That dragon...sure talked.
That's new. But then again, he knew a talking cat]
T-That's me. [He gulps] I'm real.
[...]
Please don't eat me.
[He's trying to keep that barrier up until he knows this dragon's intention, even if it's clearly a drain on him]
no subject
[ that’s. that’s offensive! and stings in a rather personal place, made known when the dragon’s words hiss out at “shade”. he’s getting angry rather quickly, though— this guy looks like he could. like. die tripping on something.
the dragon, once he finds the dagger under dirt and leaves, curls it up between two of the remaining digits he had that didn’t stretch out into wings. he taps at the barrier, but it comes out as an irritable smack against it. ]
Put it down.
no subject
[He sounds very much confused, almost like he has no idea what's going on in this place. He's hesitant to put the barrier down, until he sees the dragon carefully pick up that knife he had given the--]
- W-Wait, you're that guy?
[Somehow that guy turned into a dragon? That was possible? He looks really surprised, but he'll lower the barrier. That...explains what happened, even if it's really surreal. This guy changed into a dragon to save him...and he...]
...S-Sorry. Every dragon I've met before has tried to attack and eat me, so... habit.
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[ even though he knows there was no other name for him previously, but that guy. the pull grows, and the dragon’s neck twists back to the moons, the “need” mhairi spoke of only now being clear, but— there’s still something wrong. his bones ached until they seared, like the heat in his throat, even that threatens to anger him when he knows it shouldn’t— but every time he says no to instinct, it rebounds onto him with twice the force. these dreams were always forms of premonitions. ]
You should go— before that happens. [ with fangs bared, he hisses again, because he knows he doesn’t want to hurt anyone. ] If you wake up in Aefenglom at some point, I’ll— explain it better, if you look for me.
no subject
[It surprises him in a way. That's such a human name. The dragons and fiends he's encountered in the past, they had much larger names to fit their size and might. Add to the fact this Eren had been a human when he met him only to turn into this...
"Before that happens"
He catches those words, and the dragon's growing discomfort and agitation. There was something wrong here. Whoever this Eren was, they were suffering, struggling. It reminded him a little of Rean when he'd be trying to hold back his ogre power.
...]
...I will. Find you if I'm ever in Aefenglom. [The words make little sense, to him, but he's not going to question that right now. ]
But before I go...you just saved me twice now. So let me help you in return, okay?
[He'll hold out his staff above him. It'll glow for a moment before it retracts in size, making it no bigger than a violin. He'll put the violin to his chin and pull out a violin bow from inside his vest, and begin to play. A soothing melody rings out. Each note rings with a healing and soothing magic to them that could only be pulled off by a pro-musician.
Sure, it's probably crazy looking to have a small musician play a violin at a dragon, but that's just how Elliot rolls ok]