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

[belsnickel]

[There's that look from her again, like she's assessing the value of all his component parts and finding them deeply wanting. The thing about Hazuki Kashiwabara is that he would never have chosen to make her direct, face-to-face enemy of her. She's too fucking smart, and worse, she knows how to use all that smart in a way most people don't.]

[Something about self-control now, he guesses. Don't let her rile him up. Which is easier said than done, but there are plenty of harder things. Part of him is kind of curious how this is gonna play out, anyway.]

[So, sure. He snorts under his breath and offers a slow, queenly wave at anyone who seems to be paying attention to either of them.] Yeah, I'm real badly trained.

[And of course he follows her. Comes in step with her quickly, because he's pretty sure following her without staying in her line of sight is gonna go pretty poorly for him. He doesn't look at her as they walk, but he's keenly aware of her every movement. Because he has to be.]

So what's the plan, exactly?

[computational]

[I'm real badly trained. So this is what it takes for him to acknowledge it! It takes a remarkable amount of self-restraint not to comment further. Only because it would blow this paper-thin cover she's erected.

Her gait isn't particularly hurried. Not like she wants to escape from the crowded marketplace or anything. But it is purposeful. At least Santa is of comparable height; someone with shorter legs might have a hard time keeping stride with her.

She watches him out of the corner of her eye, of course. But she doesn't look right at him.] Hell if I know. But there are too many people here, aren't there?

[A wormipede shawl displayed at a stall catches her attention as they pass it by. God, it's cold down here, but she doesn't particularly want to wear the hide of one of those things.

Pointedly:] I'm surprised you don't have a plan.

[belsnickel]

[He lets out a soft humming noise, an acknowledgment. Yeah, there are too many people here. Generally, to do anything with. Crowds are difficult to predict and almost impossible to control. A small group is another thing.]

[But then there are cultural factors to consider, too, right? Neither of them know with any kind of certainty how these people will react if provoked, or even what would provoke them. This is quite literally an alien world. So there's the other factor: the more people present, the greater the likelihood of an unforeseeable action.]

[Oh, and speaking of provocation—]

Are ya?

[He turns to look at her, hands shoved back in his pockets again, eyes unreadable in their wrongness. What's she expecting to get out of this, he wonders. A reaction? Well, not yet.]

A guy can't be on all the time. Hey, you should get one of those.

[Pointing very rudely across her, he indicates a coat with all the shape and gravitas of a Cruella de Vil number. There are more similarities, too; it's made of wormipede skin, with approximately a jillion little wormy legs sewn in along the back until it looks more like a porcupine than anything else.]

[computational]

[Hm. Yeah, that's something she didn't like about him right from the word go, besides what a prick he is. There's a look in his eye sometimes that no one should trust. That she doesn't trust, obviously, but she doesn't trust anyone.

Still. It went a lot deeper than she expected.

She grimaces as he reaches across her, leaning back the way one might from a very large bug. She doesn't immediately follow to where he points, electing instead to glare at him first, but then she gives her attention to—]

Ugh. [Jesus Christ, what are those things sticking out of the back? Are those legs? What the fuck is this place?] As if I'd cover up this body with that hideous thing! It'd suit you, though.

[You know, being hideous and all, heh.]

[belsnickel]

[Pfft. Okay, he can't help but laugh. Both at the continuation of his own stupid joke and the fact that she's willing to let go her pointed barbs, even for a second, in favor of calling him ugly. Fucking amazing.]

Yeah, I'm totally worm couture. Thanks.

You couldn't pull it off, huh?

[That one's weak and he knows it, acknowledges it with a shrug.]

It's not gonna get much better than that, not down here. Seems like it's all worm and worm byproducts.

[computational]

[He...laughs. Where'd this sense of humor come from so suddenly?

Hm. Maybe the game coming to its intended conclusion put him in a better mood.

She frowns thoughtfully as she regards the abomination of a jacket. (She is not thinking about the jacket.)] I'm not a worm, so no. [The sick burns just keep coming.

Speaking of burning, actually.] I don't need it anyway. Didn't you hear that Witches can do magic?

[Said with a straight face. Too straight a face, frankly, the same way she talked about nonsense like the mind being held separately from the body, controlling it remotely. Except apparently some of that stuff wasn't nonsense, was it?]

[belsnickel]

[If he could hear the thought, he’d laugh. It’s objectively pretty funny. Not that he, objectively, can blame her for not being able to quick travel to his perspective on the matter. She spent nine years wondering, nine years working, but she didn’t spend nine years mourning. It’s different.]

[He’s probably empathetic to that, somewhere deep down. Underneath all the layers of bitterness and hurt and guilt, and underneath all the icy understanding that there are things he needs to be doing that aren’t doable here. Nothing nearly as important as Akane alive — but important.]

[He wrinkles his nose at her, odd eyes narrowing.] Magic isn’t real, [he retorts, like a petulant child combating an adult attempting to convince them of something improbable.] This is just some other science we haven’t encountered yet. You can’t expect cave people to know how to explain it any better.

[Never mind the transformation he’s already going through. Everything is science when boiled down to basics. And speaking of which, he’s beginning to slow.]