TDM: MARCH

[faileas]

Test Drive: March

Welcome to 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 character, put one in! This time around, reserves will expire after the first 48 hours of applications being opened. Those first 48 hours will be open to those who have reserves only, so we recommend placing one. It will not guarantee you a spot, but it will guarantee you can post your app immediately when they open.
• Applications Open The 24th! There will be a cap of 30 applications accepted this round, and apps will close whenever we've reached that cap. If there are slots left after the reserves-only period, apps will open to those without reserves. 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!
• Test drive threads can be used as samples for your applications!



With that taken care of...

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 Underground

Take a moment. Let your eyes adjust to the dark, your ears to echoing silence, but for the steady drip of condensation down the stone walls that surround you. The tunnels down here are wide, the ceilings high, but they are dim, devoid of sunlight and breeze. The only light, in fact, comes from the shards of softly-glowing shards of quartz lining the ground and the bio-luminescent algae that smears the stone in long, blue veins, pulsing gently, pushing breathable air into the otherwise-stale passageways. The air is damp, but the temperature is moderate - almost comfortable. The tunnels fork off and meander from where you are, some narrowing and some widening, but none seem to lead you to the surface, no matter how long you wander. Is it a trick of the light, that the algae glows a little brighter, pulses a little quicker, when you head in a particular direction? It's hard to sort your senses so deep underground, far from the world above where things make sense. Hopefully you've found a friend by now.

The Crystal Cavern Many of the tunnels, both wide and narrow, lead to the same place: a massive chamber hewn out of the stone by time, and the drip-drip of water from the ceiling into the central lake. Perhaps you came out toward the bottom, and the ceiling is a thousand feet above you, or maybe you came out toward the top, and the lake is a thousand feet below. There are a hundred or more holes in the sloping stone walls that lead to more tunnels, and something like natural steps down from most of them. In a way, it resembles a beehive, this room acting as a central hub of sorts. This is also the first place you find signs of life. Short, tough little tufts of grass growing from the thin soil, bone white in color, having long abandoned photosynthesis and chlorophyll. More of the glowing algae. Small, skittering insects - beetles, grubs and worms. The occasional albino rat, much larger and louder than rats have any right to be. Ruffled and capped fungi growing on the wet rock like parasites, some as large as a grown man. Blind, slimy cave fish wriggling around in the still waters of the lake. And milling around the great stone cavern, slurping up the glowing algae that covers the rocks and grows in lacy sheets across the water, are dozens of great beasts, bigger than horses. Shaped like worms, but with dozens and dozens of stubby, fleshy legs, these creatures are huge, with velvety, multi-colored hides, and though their antennae wave in curiosity when approached, they don't seem aggressive. At least, as long as you avoid the big silk-wrapped bundles stuck to the walls and ground all over the cavern. These are their egg sacs, and if their young are threatened, they'll quickly shoot jets of viscous slime, a quick drying adhesive, that can slow and trap even the strongest adult. If you find yourself in a sticky situation, you better hope someone can wrench you loose - the worms seem content to eat algae, until they've caught prey. Each worm has a long, hooked, chitinous blade concealed within its fleshy jaws to tear and shred, and a nightmarish round mouth full of multiple rows of teeth. Navigate carefully. There at the bottom of the lake, where it feeds into an underground stream that leads down another wide tunnel, there are a few small rowboats, some missing oars, certainly not enough for everyone. You'll have to share if you want to get out of here. Or you can keep hanging out with the giant wormipedes.

The Procession As you proceed down the stream by boat, the lighting grows just a little brighter, seeming a little more purposeful in how the glowing algae is planted, how the softly glowing crystals are placed. You start seeing a new type of moss, greyish-green and growing in ragged sheets from the ceiling of the tunnel. Watch your head - it's near impossible to cut through this stuff should you get tangled. For a while, you only hear the soft splashing of the gentle stream, but then... there is a flash of torch light, up ahead. The boat ahead is longer than the one you use, better kept, and full of people - three Monsters, all whose forms are based on creatures that thrive underground, in pieces of armor, holding spears, and one very elderly Witch woman, seated in the middle, wrinkled hands folded primly in her lap. Her milky gaze stares straight ahead, with something soft and proud in the set of her face. One of the Monsters holds the torch, the other rows the boat, and the third settles down next to her; they speak in hushed voices, with little smiles. After a while, the rowing Monster slows the boat, before they can bump into a thick, heavy, impenetrable curtain of grayish-green moss that stretches across the whole tunnel, blocking the way, like a gate. The other two help the woman to her feet, and guide her toward the front of the boat - and the curtain of moss. She reaches out for it blindly, and they help her step onto the edge. There is something almost ritual or reverent about the movements, the way they regard the Witch as she touches the curtain of moss... and is wrapped into it quickly, swallowed up, absorbed. After twenty minutes of gentle pulsing, the lump that used to be the Witch is no more, and the whole of the moss pulses with light and magic. The Monsters watch this whole process vigilantly, and once the lights die down, they continue on. The moss parts to allow the boat through, brushing against the Monsters but not swallowing them. The procession happens a few more times, in separate boats, with separate victims - but all are very, very elderly, and seem proud, even happy to meet their fates. Trying to follow them further after the ritual will have the same thing happen for your boat - the moss will part, and brush over those in the boat without causing harm. If you happen to be infected with the Cwyld, however... you might meet the same fate as the old woman, with the moss reaching and grabbing for you. The procession can be stopped, but drawing attention will draw the ire of the Monster guards, and, strangely, the victims themselves, who will fly into a distressed rage at the interruption.

The Marketplace Beyond the veil of moss lies... civilization? The cavern is enormous, big enough to contain a city at least as big as Aefenglom, if not larger, though the population at a glance seems to be much smaller. Twenty thousand people, perhaps, give or take. Buildings have been carved out of huge stone spires, or formed by draping cloth around and between the natural stalactites and stalagmites. Monsters tend to be quite tall or bulky, possessing obvious physical strength, while Witches and humans tend to be shorter than in Aefenglom. They all mingle on the streets together, with no immediately obvious class difference. Since there is no weather to dress for, some don't bother to dress at all, though humans at least tend to wear flowy silks or simple clothes made from wormipede hides. The streets are wide and the buildings far-spaced, and many get around on the backs of those worm creatures, having made them saddles and reins. The stream ends in a lake right next to a marketplace, with many small boats docked on its pebbled shores. The stalls sell all kinds of goods: clothing made from fine silk and worm hide or rat fur, skewered meat (It's bug.), weapons, armor, jewelry made from chunks of beautiful stone. Your arrival is bound to cause a stir though, so keep your head down, and maybe it's time to snatch a disguise from one of the clothing stalls. Monster guards, occasionally flanked by Witches, patrol the streets and keep the peace, and stopping to talk to anyone will make one thing clear: they are not at all used to outsiders. They won't believe a word you say about being from above ground, and they've never heard of your world or Aefenglom. You're nomads from the tunnels, right? Of course, don't be ridiculous, you can't fool them with tall tales! At least they're usually willing to talk - briefly, of course, everyone is very busy down here, it's morning and many will be heading to tend to the herd soon. Those who are subtle and pointed in their questions can learn a lot about the vast but also small civilization below the surface of the world. Strength is valued here - the stronger the Monster or more powerful the Witch, the higher their rank in society, and the closer they live to the center, largest spires of stone. Monster-Witch Bonded pairs are the be-all-end-all, and often wear matching wrist-guards or pendants proudly. Pretending to be Bonded to another will put many of the natives at ease, though Monster-Monster pairs get snide comments about how you have to team up to find a good Witch, and Witch-Witch pairs will get odd looks and assume you both have a very strong Monster partner somewhere. It must be quite rare for Witches to go un-bonded here, and any who pass through without an obvious partner may be propositioned by young Monsters showing off their various talents. Unbonded Monsters may be nudged in the direction of any strange, unbonded Witches - usually fellow Mirrorbound - in a poor attempt at matchmaking. Those poor unbonded Witches need protection, right? Or so the locals think. It's too bad trying to go any farther than the Marketplace will get you stopped by guards and turned back, however. They don't allow nomads into the inner city.

Comments

[coherer]

(curls his fingers into a fist, then drops his hand with a quirk of his lips. that's fine, they likely bow to greet one another. that's what they do in japan, and it's seems the brothers' world runs somewhat parallel. in maybe the vaguest ways, but it's all jonas has to go off of.

so he awkwardly bobs his head instead, before immediately rubbing the back of his neck. is he trying too hard? yes. should he tone that down a little? probably, yes.)

Uh, yeah, he did. (wiggles the kunai a final time, very obviously having no fucking idea how to wield it, with a raise of a brow.) The first night I got here I was pretty freaked out. Sasuke was there, and he helped me through it. He wasn't right about that night, but you definitely need a weapon if you're going to keep yourself safe in Aefenglom.

–do you have one? We can take a walk and get something for you?

[evolved_not_extinct]

With privacy abound, the pieces clicked into place. Her explanation confirmed what conclusion he had slowly been coming to himself.

"Ahh, a way to lead them on a false trail! Aye, their demands for this Bonding is strange, but there does seem to be a wide berth for those who proudly proclaim their partnership."

Well! It doesn't mean he can't be a part of the ruse, too. He turned his claw to properly take her hand and nodded.

"Then for the time being I shall join the act. The folk here may treat us less like outsiders if they presume we've made the leap and perhaps give us more information." Durant needed to think. Think, think... let's look at the rubbish around here, see if anybody threw out something helpful.

"The paired ones wore matching jewelry, a pendant or a wrist guard. Can we fashion something that can be seen?"

[zewu_jun]

[He's still a little shocked by the appearance of ghosts from his past, glancing over at Nie Mingjue with a mix of awe and tentative hope. When he had first arrived in Aefenglom after the strange dream of jungles and monsters he didn't recognize, Lan Xichen had resented being pulled away from the comfort of isolation. And now he finds himself wondering if this place might possibly offer him a chance to do the impossible--to reverse time and make amends with his brothers the way he should have done from the start. It's an ambitious dream, but with everything he has seen and done already, he won't dismiss it.

As Nie Mingjue turns his head and examines him like he's checking for any imperfections, Lan Xichen chuckles and lays a placating hand on his arm.]

No, I was told I am to live as the other side of the Bond pair. I'm learning how to be a witch.

[Something that still sounds strange to him when he says it out loud.]

I did not want to know. I still doubt whatever force or greater being decides which role we are assigned to.

[arturiarex]

[ She probably should have expected that question. Saber pauses, as if figuring out how to phrase her answer. ]

No one forces you, but... it becomes difficult to control one's self around the full moon, if you are a "monster". You might lose yourself in madness and go completely wild. Or if you are a mage or witch, you might find the build-up of mana too much for your body to bear.

[ She frowns. ]

The loss of control is not pleasant.

[wylderrant]

You could at least show a little spine.

[ Iramaat sighs. ]

Or gratitude. One or the other - it would make you less dull.

[chifeng_zun]

[Honestly Nie Mingjue is pretty shocked as well. He just covers it pretty good with bluster and a stern face. He's still working through some thoughts, the lot of them forming a disjointed, swirling storm in his brain rather than his heart. There is much to be concerned over, both back home and here. It's frustrating in a way he does not appreciate at all. He should be back there - with Huaisang - but he knows he's dead. And somehow, instead of simply being dead, he's here, with Lan Xichen, in a world neither of them are familiar with.

It's turning out to be one of those days.

With the confirmation and the lack of anything monstrous to be found on Lan Xichen, Nie Mingjue nods once as if he's satisfied, letting go of his arm, accepting the touch to his own.] Then this force has one thing correct. You are no monster, Xichen.

[And then he huffs a frustrated sigh, scratching at the neck of his robes, flashing scale and something like the impression of tiger stripes crawling across the side of his neck and down his shoulder. He'd hide them better, but he's not afraid of losing face in front of an old friend.] Whatever becomes of us in this dream, it will happen in this magical world as well? [These damned scales itch.]

[mirrortide]

No clue. It's kinda cozy, though. [But that's just her opinion, considering she's a rock and the underground will probably be comfortable no matter what.

She looks around and grips her arm. She really needs to tell Peridot. They promised each other to not keep secrets anymore, but she's nervous as to what the other gem might think.]

Um. Peridot? [She hedges, drumming her fingers against her arm, free hand balled into a fist. ] I.. Have something to tell you. Promise you won't be mad?

[foundfamilies]

Thanks, mods! But yeah, that’d be an answer.

[mensrea]

[ An attempt is made to respond, but he just swallows a mouthful of questionable water as something brushes his foot underwater. Had he the air to make the noise, Stiles would be shrieking. Instead, he jabs two spider limbs – claws extended – down toward the too curious thing in hopes of scaring it off. His trichobothria are terrifyingly useless submerged; it’s like trying to listen to a distant conversation while your head is underwater, sound muted and distorted. Now motivated to escape the river of potential death, he swims furiously toward the rocky shore. With all the ungainly limbs, it probably looks like this. ]

[rowdyraven]

I don't know. If they're wrong, they're wrong. A million people could believe a thing, but if there's solid evidence to the contrary than that's all it can ever be. A false belief.

[He says it with a crooked little smile that shows off the sharp points of his teeth, close to apologetic. It isn't quite in his nature to be disagreeable, but nor is it in him to deny provable facts, things that can be measured and seen. Still--]

I'll concede that it doesn't apply to everything. Some truths are more malleable than others. Magic has always seemed a slippery sort of thing, but it goes on existing all the same.

[Though time spent with Aisha and Salim have begun to reveal to him snips and slithers of logic behind what had, once, been too nebulous for him to grasp.

Slowly they grow closer towards their destination - or at least, a destination, the lake widening onto a dark-lit pebbly shore that he can more easily discern now. Boats moored up along it, moving shapes somewhere further beyond that which look suspiciously like people. Above all that, the vast rise of stone spires that look both like natural formations, and houses.]

But! You're right there, about dreams. We're here now, in the thick of it. May as well see where it'll take us.

1/2

[sharmat]

(azura, lend him patience and strength.)

[probiotic]

Hell, with nothing to lose in a dream you better jump in.

[ Ready with a verbal counter like always, a clear motor mouth with a quick wit and quicker tongue. Eyebrows lift at the title he's hit with, boot kicking mindlessly at a bit of gravel before he consents to follow closer after him. ] Well, pardon me. Didn't realize I was speaking to a king's righthand man, but now I know better.

Pleased to meet you, Voryn. Jake Muller, peasant commoner for hire.

2/2

[sharmat]

(letting him drown would be so easy. erect an invisible barricade to keep him from the shore, let him tire and choke and sink. voryn dagoth, however, is not the kind of mer to do such a senseless thing. after he's emerged, he's decided that they will part ways. so this is the last time he'll go fishing for him, stepping into the water.

thin robes hug at tawny skin, before billowing out from him like a cloud.

relatively clean again, perhaps he should later thank the boy for being an imbecile. pushing at a loose sash of fabric, voryn grasps one of the flailing limbs and shoves it back into the water to better clear the way for the hook he makes around stiles' waist. by no means robust, the added weight of water makes him grimace with the effort, but they manage to haul themselves to shallows they can stand in.)

Go to shore, (a grunt, avoiding the slap of a stray tarsus,) then leave me be.

[sharmat]

(it's not his prepared title, nor is it his family name, but it is milder than "m'lord," and "you bitch." thinks briefly on the boy-spider, wondering where he's wound up. dead, probably. too bad.

raises his chin despite their slight difference in height, scrutinizing him.)

A mercenary. (looks away, having obviously come to some conclusion as he continues to a ledge sitting just atop the water's surface.) I respect the profession. The services you offer as a self-made man are in high demand, where you come from?

[mensrea]

[ His savior comes in the form of an aggravated elf in waterlogged robes, who drags him to the shallows where Stiles is able to get his feet back under himself. Like long, thin beached whales, the spider limbs flop lifelessly upon the shore and make no further attempt to assist him; he stumbles out of the water on his own to join them, coughing and wheezing. ]

L-leave…you be? [ Spoken from where he is currently faceplanted onto stone, with no inclination to turn over and properly address Voryn. ] Y-you’re the one…who…!

[ Suddenly, all eight spider limbs reanimate. Straightening into the air, they begin to shake water off their delicate hairs vigorously – beneath them, Stiles whines unhappily as he’s showered in the cold droplets.

He’s not going anywhere, Voryn. If you need peace, you’ll have to find it elsewhere. ]

[sharmat]

Yes, I did. I tripped you off of the ledge. (matter-of-factly, remorselessly turning from stiles to take advantage of the water to do as he suggested and scrub the glue-like ooze from his arms, face, and hair.) You were lucky to mock me, and not someone lacking moral fibre.

(rich off-white material sagging sadly from his shoulders, he emerges to address stiles and those quivering limbs.)

Those worms will be drawn to what remains of their eggs, so I recommend that you leave as soon as you collect yourself. Where one or two protect the nest, more undoubtedly roam nearby... it is their way. (spoken like a true mer of resdayn, province of fucking bugs and all manner of strange, squirming creatures. now to find a way to cross the stream, already walking down the shoreline with a tightening of his sash.) Goodbye, Stiles.

Crystal Cavern [might not be a long thread even but I can't resist.]

[turmoiling]

[Jin Guangyao isn't the person Nie Mingjue's talking to, but has just started to edge out into the cavern's light when he hears that familiar voice and freezes.

It's one thing to yell a final 'fuck you' to someone when you're crazed with pain and betrayal and know you're going to die anyway. It's entirely a different thing when you're... alive? Or some semblance of, in this hazily dreamlike world. Self-preservation instinct starts to kick in as he turns his head and stares, eyes wide, starting to shake just the tiniest bit.]

Brother...

[stopfen]

[She just blinks, then goes back to watching the moss. What was that all about? She was just saying it because so many people had assumed she'd known something.

But his next comment, that gets a hum. 'History's written by the victors', yeah, she's seen that. Someone who was dead couldn't defend themselves.]

In the ruins of a village, before I ended up here. That was immune to the infection as well... Some people ate it.

[Okay she does look at him at that. Mikasa herself hadn't ate it. But that sure was going to be awkward.]

[hegemonwings]

Coming from the Great Tree Moon, at least that isn't much of an adjustment.

[ byleth hums in thought. she wonders what makes the seasons different here. ]

How advanced is it? Edelgard said it was a strange place, that it would be easier for me to understand if I saw it for myself... but I do wonder how their society compares to ours. [ if it's that large and dense, then surely disease must be rampant...? unless they've devised solutions. ]

[indispensabilis]

[ You know who you remind him of... ]

I've been told that I make even Prince Hamlet look compelling and decisive.

[ He does not relay this with even an ounce of humor. ]

[turmoiling]

The sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach is masked by the intensity of emotion already writ large across his face. "So that's how much you..." He can't quite finish the sentence, dropping his head and shoulders trembling with his own shaky breath in.

It wasn't just because of that, and if it had been, was that so wrong? To hope for a little good favor from a prestigious sect when he had nothing? And to see what he had thought was a true brotherhood grow from it?

"I won't ask it again, Brother," he vows when he looks up with tear-streaked cheeks. "I give you my word that none of those things will happen again. Why... why would they, why would I have reason to? I regret it all. All I can ask is that you believe it." his voice hopeless at the end.

[turmoiling]

Jin Guangyao doubts that very much. If Hanguang-jun was the same as when he'd seen him last, at any rate.

"My second brother is here as well?" he says with some surprise as well. "How is he faring with these changes?"

[abandonware]

That's...

[Impossible. She looks to Pod, as if in expectation of an answer, but Pod is silent.]

I —

Not here. I don't know this place. But where I'm from [humanity was gone], there hasn't been a sighting of any human in...

[She trails off, at a loss. Then, needing to focus on something else:] We need to find the way to the surface. I heard moving water ahead.

[turmoiling]

Something like that. If one is close, like dear friends, parents for their children, or between husband and wife.

[Jin Guangyao explains, suffering the arm across his shoulders with the forbearance of a (short) man who's resigned himself to the act and smiling cheerily as they head off down the street like they really are old pals. At a brisk pace.

Unfortunately these sorts of amorous natives are everywhere, hassling other obviously unbonded Mirrorbound here and there in the crowd.]

I think we might not escape unwanted attention for a while. Should we find something to do to occupy the time until things quiet down?

[zewu_jun]

Jin Guangyao starts to say something that sounds so much like the beginning of a fear that La Xichen has harbored ever since the revelations at Guanyin Temple and Lan Xichen draws in a rough breath in echo of his brother's. Trembling right next to him, the younger man looks fragile and alone, and Lan Xichen can't help the feeling wrenching in his gut when he sees the tears. He's already pale and looking more frayed than before, even though their conversation hasn't been that long. He looks at his brother in silence, lips trembling a bit as he struggles for words, then seems to find some sort of courage a rallies.

"Don't hold back what you want to say." His voice isn't as strong as he wants it to be, but he tries to be confident through his response. "You keep so much from me. I used to think that no one could see how patient and noble you really are because they simply refused to see it. I thought that I saw someone different in you because you allowed me to see you. But I was wrong in the end too. I just want you to trust me."