dagung | TDM: MARCH

Entry tags:

* tdm

TDM: MARCH

Test Drive: March

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 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!

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ she notices the chill, of course. but she doesn't say anything about it. byleth squeezes in return. ]

Probably not, [ she doesn't feel shame in admitting that. it's been such a fucking day, el. ] but tell me. I'd much rather know.

This world...Geardagas...does things to every person that enters it. It sorts people at random into one of two categories.

[She holds up two fingers on her free hand, the white gloved digits standing at rigid attention.]

Some are designated as Witches, and those are able to tap into the magic of this world. The others are designated as Monsters. Unable to work with most magics, Monsters slowly transform and gain otherworldly features. [to her credit, Edelgard's voice does not waver. This is all presented as matter of fact, simple, and with complete candor.]

I was one of those designated as a monster. [She peels back her lips to show Byleth her slightly elongated canines, and with a mental effort allows them to grow until they become fangs.]

I am a vampire, Byleth. The kind of monster that changes the least...but...are you familiar with those old legends?

[ she squeezes her hand more firmly, more insistently, as edelgard goes on. byleth doesn't look away, doesn't flinch as her fangs extend. ]

Familiar enough. [ she brings their joined hands up to her lips, kissing the back of edelgard's gloved hand. this changes nothing, she means to say. ] And if you were a monster in more than name, you wouldn't be so concerned for me now.

Then...you should know that my changes are complete. I do not consider myself some ravening beast, Byleth. That's not what I meant.

[She leans forward slightly, eyes focused intently on the woman she holds as her friend, her teacher, her general...]

I passed away, and am now one of the undead. My body will not age, but I will never again feel the direct rays of the sun. I will not die sooner from what was done to me as a child...but my heart no longer beats.

I am glad that you did not have to see me in such a state. But...now here you are, arriving at the best possible time.

[ byleth's brow creases at first, horrified that edelgard endured that, regretful that she couldn't be there to do anything...

and then she... almost laughs, inappropriately, taken slightly off guard by edelgard's phrasing. but she doesn't move away from her. not at all. ]

El, [ again: soft, reverent, loving, like the woman in front of her is the only thing that matters ] my heart didn't beat until Seiros died. I can't hold that against you.

[ the implication being if this wasn't a problem for you, then it shouldn't trouble me either. especially since it sounds like the changes won't follow them home, whenever they eventually leave, and are a quirk of geardagas's properties. byleth places another light kiss to the back of her hand, clasping it in both of her own. ]

And in that case... I'm happy to hear that I had good timing, for once.

[It isn't a problem for her. It's a strange thing, knowing that she isn't the only one of them to experience such a thing. But it's stranger having Byleth of all people kissing the back of her hand. She doesn't object to it, of course, but she does need a moment to process that before commenting further.]

...That's...

[She shakes her head, chuckling a breathless little sound. Perhaps she should start working on one problem at a time, though. Yet this, she needs to know.]

...What did she do to you, Byleth?

[ it just feels like the right move. chivalry sucks and knights are bullshit but its a knightly thing to do right? and that isn't... not... what this relationship is. right??? either way, she shakes her head at that. ]

I'm not completely sure. The only thing that makes sense to me is that she put Sothis's Crest Stone in my chest after I was born. To make me a vessel. I think... my mother was an attempt, too.

Yet another sin to add to her tally.

[Edelgard doesn't growl, but her tone darkens, her lip twists, and she pulls Byleth's hand to her own lips. Two can play at that game.]

She is not here. Yet, there are things yet to speak of. Strange tidings, sadly. I wish I was able to bear better news.

[ oh. her face heats up somewhat at that—she hadn't expected edelgard to flip the script on her. ]

Our lives have never been easy or simple. Why should they be now? [ still, it'd be... nice, if that were the case. ] Tell me?

[She should have seen her with Zelda...]

Very well.

[She exhales, and just lets it out.]

There are several people from Fodlan on Geardagas with me. Some are from our shared history. Others...are not. Felix and Sylvain are both from a history where they never joined the Black Eagles, and fought against me as an enemy. Lorenz as well.

And perhaps strangest of all, they seem to think you taught the Golden Deer or the Blue Lions. Lorenz's history includes the strangest twist yet though, as he believes you to have been male.

[ yeah, more of time being malleable. some of this makes sense, she supposes. some of it. ]

... No, I would say a world where I didn't walk at your side is the strangest. I can't even begin to imagine... [ there's some...creeping horror at the back of her mind, possibilities of what might have happened, and... the simplest, most frustrating option sounds like it makes the most sense.

she holds that in the back of her mind for now. best not burden edelgard with it for the moment, surely. ]

Can we work with them?

It's not a comforting thought, I admit.

[A world without her partner? No, that would like as not make her into a monster in truth.]

...As...far as that goes, it's complicated. Lorenz has been reasonable and accommodating. He's been here as long as I have, and we've developed an amicable companionship. I even see him for tea from time to time.

[Lorenz is, as always, mostly harmless.]

Felix...can be worked with. I've diverted him to useful, productive ends that suit his talents. More on that can come later. Sylvain though, I have no idea. The man and I do not speak, and moreover, I think if Felix and Lorenz had not impressed upon him that peace is wise, I'd likely have had to fight him already.

[ lorenz is gonna prove to be a good and levelheaded deerman soon enough. byleth nods, taking edelgard's hand in hers again. no particular reason. just because. ]

Sylvain standing with the Church, after everything? It's difficult to imagine. [ then again, her image of sylvain is very much colored by experience. different choices in a different situation. ] I doubt he'd be any more willing to hear what I have to say... I'd better keep my distance too.

I thought it odd too. But...perhaps that's for the best. It's quite difficult to say for certain what the best approach is with him. Felix is a simpler creature though.

[Heh. Considering he just wants to fight, and is a werewolf.]

Mm. [ she nods, thinking that over and filing it away. there's better news, at least. ]

I ran into your ward, earlier. She helped with the worst of the pain. [ byleth smiles, gently. ] Leslie's a remarkable girl.

Ah. Yes...good.

[Edelgard's expression brightens greatly.]

Leslie is more than remarkable. She's an incredibly precocious and clever child.

[ oh that's always good to see. ]

She is. Just what have you been telling her about me, anyway?

Nothing too personal. I told her about every one of the commanders in my army.

[But...and Edelgard doesn't blush or anything, continuing on:]

I told her also that you were my teacher, and about some of our adventures during those far more relaxed days. You've been a central figure in my life for five years, after all.

[ her smile widens a bit at that. ]

I'm... happy to hear that. I... [ god. this is hard. nothing prepared her for her stupid feelings working properly. ] There's so much that I want to tell you, El. But even if I knew how... this isn't the time or place.

No, it's not. We'll have plenty of time. Though, there is yet more I must tell you.

[Ah...yes, this thing might be tricky.]

Bonding. If you met Leslie, did she tell you of this?

Not that I remember. [ so like. maybe. who knows. ]

Very well. Bonding is something that people on this world must do. Witches to it to bleed off excess magic, and Monsters do it because we have a metabolism that requires an intake of magic.

[So...like...]

It involves forming a magical link between two people, and sharing some of their emotions. You are aware of where the other person is, as well.

... I see. [ she swallows. that sounds... nice, potentially? she doesn't know. edelgard isn't offering anyway, she thinks, just explaining. ] How is it done?

Well, you and I would go to the Coven, and they'd perform a small ritual. It's...a little nervewracking forming a permanent one, but nothing too complicated.

[She is.]

[ oh.

oh. ]

El... are you sure? If I wake up in Geardagas, I... you've been there for so long. If it would cause problems for you, then... [ she's not... rambling, exactly. but she's a bit embarrassed, clearly caught off guard. there's an enormity to what edelgard is offering, and her emperor is saying it like it's the most natural thing in the world. ]

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