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☆ TDM: SEPTEMBER
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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 is part of our September-October event The Price of Revolution, so it's fairly important to note! Aside from that, here are some quick reminders:• The Application Queue is open. Apps can be submitted at any time but will only be processed as space opens up and game plot allows. The application page can be found here.With that taken care of...
• 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!
• And finally, since this is part of our event, characters already in-game ARE allowed to top-level on this post.
Mirrorbound who come to the Coven after dark on the 27th, who have volunteered to assist in waking the sleeping citizens of Dorchacht, are ushered into a large room laid with pallets on the floor inside a huge chalk circle. With Nessie are a group of sleepy-eyed Witches in loose robes, their expressions calm and almost dreamy despite the seriousness of the situation. These are the Dreamers, an oft-secluded group of Witches who study Divination and dream magic almost exclusively. They show signs of suffering some of the dangers of dreamwalking - they space out often, or doze off and have to be woken by one of their fellows. Still, they seem to know what they’re doing as they prepare candles and fragrant incense. Magic pulses through the floor, tingling threads of it escaping to reach out harmlessly toward the Mirrorbound who filter in.
Miss Nessie is the one to explain the ritual in a solemn tone as she oversees the final preparations and the other gathered Witches. "You all seem to have an uncanny ability to dreamwalk that we do not fully understand. Normally such a thing is difficult, it is, but the Mirrorbound are capable without even trying." She takes a breath and lets it go, standing straighter, determined. "Hopefully we can trigger that ability tonight. Theoretically, magical energy can be harvested from the dream planes. While you sleep, and dream, we will perform a spell to allow you all to bring back that energy crystallized into a physical form, and that is what we will use to wake the citizens of Dorchacht. The more you can collect, the more people we can help."
Her determination gives way briefly to open worry, and she admits, "We don't know what form this shared dream will take, or what dangers it may hold. With the spell going, any injuries you sustain in the dream will also carry over to your physical body, so be careful, yes? You can still back out, of course, and none will hold it against you. For those who stay, healers will be on-site and monitoring your physical forms."
Those who stay will be given a piece of a very rare lavender mushroom used by the Dreamers called Faecap, which works quickly to induce sleep - and shared dreaming. As they drift off, the sounds of soft chanting fill the large room.
[Due to the untested nature of dreamwalking, IC volunteering isn't necessary to participate in the TDM - your character may simply find themselves in the shared dream when they go to sleep that night, similar to how TDM characters will just find themselves in it.]
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, and a sour wind brushes across your face and through your hair. It seems to claw at your consciousness like chilling, spindly fingers -
and you know one thing, and one thing alone: this is a dream, and an incredibly realistic one at that.
The Nightmarescape
This is Aefenglom, and yet it isn't, at the same time. A large Victorian-styled city of cobblestone streets and close-together buildings, cut through the center by the River Temese. Whether you recognize its specific features and structures or not, you know deep in your bones it isn't meant to look like this. It's subtle at first, but it becomes more and more obvious the longer you walk the cobblestone streets. Everything is... almost gray, desaturated in color. Buildings are crooked, tilting at improbable angles. Clocks are upside-down. Writing is backwards or unrecognizable. The night sky above bears a greenish hue to it, and the stars seem to swim in and out of different formations. The city is also hauntingly empty - except for your fellow dreamers. The space yawns like it wants to be filled with life; it craves, it's hungry for it.
and you know one thing, and one thing alone: this is a dream, and an incredibly realistic one at that.
The Nightmarescape
This is Aefenglom, and yet it isn't, at the same time. A large Victorian-styled city of cobblestone streets and close-together buildings, cut through the center by the River Temese. Whether you recognize its specific features and structures or not, you know deep in your bones it isn't meant to look like this. It's subtle at first, but it becomes more and more obvious the longer you walk the cobblestone streets. Everything is... almost gray, desaturated in color. Buildings are crooked, tilting at improbable angles. Clocks are upside-down. Writing is backwards or unrecognizable. The night sky above bears a greenish hue to it, and the stars seem to swim in and out of different formations. The city is also hauntingly empty - except for your fellow dreamers. The space yawns like it wants to be filled with life; it craves, it's hungry for it.
 A City Void of Life It does begin to fill, in time. The longer you're present in the dream, the more things shift and slide. You can feel it drawing from you, your memories, your thoughts and feelings, seeking out your fears and anxieties, your worries and your upsets. It slips right into your cracks and it digs out what it seeks. It turns the shadows of your mind into horrifying possibilities. Twisted features from your life overlay themselves on the empty city of Aefenglom - a single room, a building, a creature, a person. Not quite memories, they're all off in some way, adapting to the dream, warping. Don't get taken in by familiarity: whatever has drawn itself from your head is very, very dangerous. Shadows lurk where they shouldn't, once welcoming rooms close in on and threaten to suffocate you, a friendly creature's teeth and claws become pronounced and vicious, the darkened figure of a loved one watches you with blank eyes and malice in their smile. Whatever has appeared, it's a manifestation of your nightmares, and it wants to hurt you and the other dreamers around you. Maybe it's a dark what-if that has whispered in your ear at night, a bad end that you feared but never came to fruition, or maybe it's simply just the ugly representation of your greatest fear. Whatever it is, it's out for blood, and it's joined by fragments from the other dreamers. Hopefully you find a friend to help you out. If there was ever a time for a team-up. It's possible to leave the nightmarescape Aefenglom to try and escape these bad ends and what ifs. Time and space work strangely in this dream, and it's just a few steps to Dorchacht or the Wilde, or a quick tumble to the caverns Underground. Movement seems to be more about intent than direction. But it just gives a new backdrop for your nightmares, because they will follow, they will pursue you doggedly, melding into the scenery. |
 Face Your Fears Those who came here on purpose know what the mission is: to collect the crystallized magical energy present in this dreamscape to wake a city cursed to sleep forever. Let the others know, the ones who wound up here on accident, and maybe they can help you - each fragment of a nightmare contains this energy, even theirs, and can be collected and brought back by the dreamers who will wake at the Coven. The energy presents as black orbs, hard and clear like glass, no bigger than large marbles, with images of your terrors dancing deep within them. Coming by these orbs isn't exactly easy, however. To do so, you have to face manifestations of your worst fears. Defeat them - physically, emotionally, by standing up to them and staring them in the face, there are many ways to banish a nightmare - and they'll condense down into the dark glass pieces. With each defeat, the changes to the landscape sprung out of your head will disappear, and that part of Aefenglom (or Dorchacht, or the Underground, or the Wilde) will right itself, ease back into something normal, the oppressive air fading. The shadows will shorten and color will seep back into that patch of scenery. And hold tight to those crystals if you dare - other nightmares are drawn to them. These may not even belong to anyone in particular, but to the continent of Geardagas itself: grasping Shades of Monsters and Witches both, with white eyes and blackened skin, who wish to spread their infection; half-burned Dryads screaming for help; gleeful, malicious Fae playing terrible tricks, more twisted and insectoid than the Fae most know; a growing, creeping blackness that can only be the Cwyld itself. Even the land you walk on, or may walk on in the future, has many fears. It's a good thing some of you have new abilities at hand, and some of you have a few neat changes to help, or perhaps they aren't new at all. Regardless, use your abilities well and work together, it's time to face your fears. |
 Flitting Shadows Those who are attuned to their surroundings might notice something off - beyond everything else that is already quite off, that is. The sense of being watched, wherever you go, no matter where you turn, is strong and creeping, until it consumes your consciousness. Always just outside your peripheral vision is a presence, a shadow, lean and cloaked. No matter how quickly you run or how suddenly you turn to catch it, you can never quite get a glimpse of the figure's face, if it even has one. Trying too hard will make you dizzy, nauseous, as it evades and evades and evades. You might not be able to see a face, or much more than the vaguest hint of a shape, but it sees you. Don't let yourself be distracted from your mission, or from simple survival if you aren't the heroic type. If you linger trying to catch the specter at the edge of your vision, the nightmares will find you, readily and easily, vicious and ready to make you fight for your life. Ignore the sound of wings flapping in the distance, a whisper in an indistinct voice, words you can't hope to understand or even separate from the gnawing paranoia that roars in your ears. The presence never reveals itself, and never attacks you directly. You get the sense that it's trying to determine what, exactly, you're doing - and that maybe it's trying to sabotage your efforts to collect the hard glass marbles of energy from this plane. |
Wen Ning | The Untamed | witch
When he walks he hears the sounds of chains rattling, scraping against the pavement, but when he looks down he sees nothing.
Wen Ning feels weak, disoriented, and there's a slow stream of tears running steadily down his cheeks. He didn't think he was physically capable of crying anymore (he'd certainly tried) but now that he is he can't stop. They keep coming. He wipes at them with the back of one hand but it hardly helps.
"A-Yuan?" He calls the name out into the empty streets, not for the first time since he'd found himself there, not expecting to hear anyone call back. He keeps the hand not trying to stem his tears clasped to his robes near his heart. It's pounding too heavily, too loudly. Anyone nearby has to be able to hear it, he imagines.
The cobblestones under his feet become slick, wet with what he assumes must be water from a recent rain shower. But then he feels something drip onto his shoe, and turning his eyes downward reveals that both of his hands and forearms are coated in blood. It pools underneath scattered bodies that he now realizes are all around him. He freezes, breaths shaky, and a familiar voice speaks up behind him.
What did you do?
The voice is full of a venom he's only once heard directed at him, and he doesn't want to turn around. He squeezes his eyes shut instead. "I don't... I didn't... I don't remember..."
WHAT DID YOU DO?? The voice screams at him, and he's hit from behind with enough force to knock him to the ground. He throws his bloody arms over his head, still refusing to look at the speaker.
"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..."
ii. face your fears
Wen Ning stands alone, exhausted, staring at the small black orb in front of him. He finally reaches out - slowly, cautiously, to grasp the object and clasp it in his hands as if it's immensely precious, despite the nightmare it contains.
He's spent a while having to bear resentful energy, not letting it consume him, but the terrors here are still difficult to deal with. They know right where to hurt him.
The young man seems a bit wary, skittish, and the eyes that skim over the recently cleared area are completely black in color. The magic he's used still exists in a dark mist around the base of his robes that's only now dissipating.
He holds the orb close to his chest and finally limps away from the scene.
iii. wildcard
(Anything else! If necessary I can be contacted at
1.
there's so much blood waiting for him. he can smell it, but it's too familiar for him to want to turn back or even cover his nose against it. death, and in the middle of it-]
Wen Ning? Hey!
[wei wuxian sees him as he's knocked to the ground. he's definitely not a trick of the dream, just another victim of it.]
Leave him alone!
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To have done something this terrible and not even remember it, he must truly have lost control of himself.]
I'm sorry... [All he can do is repeat the same apology, throat tight.] Young master... I didn't mean it.
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[wei wuxian is in it too, though not a part of it - at least not the wei wuxian who touches his shoulder and tries to pull him to his feet. he tries to be gentle, but they only have so much time.]
I need you to help me. Do you understand?
[he should, as much as he's done it.]
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This is a dream. Of course it's a dream. Wei Wuxian is a rabbit and he's dreaming.]
Y-yes... [He blinks in wonder at the man, because it's all he can do.] What should I do, young master?
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We need to face them. All the scary things here. It's important, people will die if we don't. [and then it dawns on him that the ghost general is in fact staring at his ears.] Wen Ning, my eyes are down here.
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[It will just be really, really hard to keep from looking back up.]
[He straightens up, allowing the other man(rabbit?) to help him get to his feet.] If none of this is real [then he didn't kill any other innocents] then how do I fight it?
[He's sure willing to try.]
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[wei wuxian won't leave him alone though. he'll fight wen ning's nightmares too.]
What was attacking you?
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It was--
[He almost doesn't what to say who it was. But then that becomes a non-issue as shadowy arms come out of nowhere to try and wrap around Wei Wuxian's neck.]
Master Wei!
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but those ears do come with their advantages. it's an extra sense, something that makes him react without thinking when those arms reach out for him. wei wuxian spins and aims a kick at the midsection of-
himself? only twisted and angry. more a memory than a complete fabrication.
he scowls and hands the ghost general his sword.]
I'll distract it, you finish it off!
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1. a city void of life
“Wen Ning,” he calls as his steps quicken, and he’s by his side within seconds, sword unsheathed. He drops to a crouch, a firm yet gentle grip around his shoulder. And everything changes, blood on his hand, corpses and bones lying decayed on the cobblestone, Wen Ning’s own vision.
“Wen Ning!” and he grits his teeth as he scans their ominous surroundings, hold tighter around the hilt of his blade as he rises and more or less shields him, the tip of his weapon pointed in the direction of the voice.
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Unfortunately this also means his attention can be drawn to the figure he's been trying to avoid. It's nothing more than a silhouette made of swirling resentful energy with a pair of red eyes glaring at them through the dark, but its voice is that of Wei Wuxian, even if its tone is corrupted and hollow.
What did you do? It asks again, more quietly. What good are you to anyone if you can't tell me from someone else?
Wen Ning turns his eyes away again as the phantom speaks, focusing on the hem of the white robed man in front of him. "A-are you here to kill me, young master? It's... alright."
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“Wen Ning,” he says again, on-guard as he looks for him over his shoulder. “A-Yuan is safe, as is Wei Ying.” If not here, then in the waking world, where it matters. “Clear your mind, and rise.”
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Wen Ning's bloodied arms lower until his palms are on the ground. Lan Wangji says the impossible, and his eyes dart between the solid figure protecting him and the dark, angry specter not far beyond him. Red-rimmed eyes are wide in puzzlement, but he starts to stagger to his feet regardless.
Because Lan Wangji would never lie to him, and he wants to believe what he's saying. "But I... Did I...?" Yet if he caused all this, he can't walk away from it. He feels as though something within him is missing, and if he'd released his rage and killed all these people then perhaps he'd somehow also manifested the entity in front of him. Will clearing his mind really make it go away?
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“A dream.” The shield he’s cast around them is strong from months of practice and unshakable focus, but not indestructible; they need to find a way out of here, and he needs Wen Ning to be clear-headed. His face marginally softens, and he gently grabs his wrist, his hand warm with soothing magic. “We must face our fears, and awaken to safety.”
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This means he hasn't killed anyone - at least not these people. He hasn't lost control and there isn't some space of time he's missing where he potentially went on a rampage. He's not an uncontrollable monster.
Though still somewhat uncertain, the relief is evident in his eyes as he straightens up at the other man's side. "What do we do? Should we... should we fight him?"
ii.
When he comes across the Ghost General, limping and alone, he thinks, 'Ah. It must be time for my own nightmares to haunt me.' Because ever since he learned how he will die, his nightmares have centered around Wei Wuxian's loyal general. Thanking the heavens that he has his bow and quiver with him, he sets an arrow to the string and takes aim. His appearance has changed, becoming sharper and more birdlike, but his voice is as clear as ever.
"What do you want?" He calls from a safe distance. "Don't come any closer!"
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He can only stare. Any traces of his magic are gone now, leaving him to stand wearily and pathetically in tattered robes. He isn't going to run. If the man he killed wants to shoot him he'd have every right to.
"Young master...?"
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That's not what he said, exactly, but with his emotions already heightened by the creeping sense of being constantly watched in this nightmare, Jin Zixuan is allowed to be a little on edge, okay?
He pulls the string taught, keen harpy eyes seeing through the darkness the differences in Wen Ning's appearance between the last second and the next. His eyes are clear, he looks tired, sad, confused. All ploys, Jin Zixuan expects, to get him to lower his guard until the Ghost General can get close enough to attack.
"You can't trick me, whatever foul spirit you are," he warns, voice dripping with so much venom you would think he was his naga half brother instead. "I won't hesitate to shoot you through the heart."
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He knows neither Wei Wuxian or Lan Wangji would approve of this choice, but neither of them are still with him and he doesn't have the energy for another fight at the moment. "You know... if you shoot, I'll just catch it."
It's a bluff, of course. Wen Ning's senses are dulled here. Normal. He's not a puppet anymore and he's not skilled enough in his new magics to know how to make them work the same way. It's possible he could knock the arrow aside, or perhaps protect himself with a spell, but it's doubtful he'd be able to catch it like before.
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Again, it could be a ploy to get Jin Zixuan to lower his guard. It hasn't yet occurred to him that this Wen Ning before him could be anything other than a trick of dark magic sent to scare him into losing ground. And yet... That line of thinking doesn't have the ring of truth Jin Zixuan has come to rely on. The warning bell in his mind which alerts him to lies is only ringing for the promise to catch the arrow, not for the defeated air that Wen Ning has, kneeling and repentant.
He lowers his bow, squinting in confusion.
"What are you?"
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"I'm... a witch?" He says this as though checking with the other man to make sure he's said it correctly. "I think that's the right word." You were one of two things here, and he was that thing. It's the only term he imagines Jin Zixuan could be looking for when asking that question, and it's all he can offer as a way of saying he isn't some nightmarish illusion. Though if he was, then at least this confrontation might have been simpler to handle for both of them.
"...I like your feathers," he adds as a pathetic sort of addendum.
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He stops his approach, standing over Wen Ning's kneeling form, and issues a stern command. "Stand up." There's no reason for him to stay in the street like this. There are nightmares about, they must be cautious, on their guard.
"When did you arrive? I heard nothing to tell me you were here." Surely someone who knew his fate would have warned him. If not his half brother, then one of his brothers in law.
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"Recently. Everything was already..." he nods to either side of him, "like this. Master Wei and Master Lan... they both told me I was having a nightmare, but. It seems like everyone is." And it doesn't end, even when you capture pieces of it.
"I heard that there were others." He doesn't add it's good to see you alive.
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"Yes." Everyone is here in the nightmare now, well done Wen Ning. Way to figure out the obvious. "I'll let them fill you in on the reasons why. We must go, before more nightmares close in on us."
Go where, he doesn't know. He just knows they're sitting ducks (no pun intended) standing out here in the open.
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cw: dead bodies
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