dagung | ☆ TDM: SEPTEMBER

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* tdm

☆ TDM: SEPTEMBER

Test Drive: September

All threads can be considered game canon,

the prompts and test drive itself will be

• 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.
• 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.

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Not at all- you surprising me is still far more welcome than some of the other surprises I've had here thus far. [ though he cannot help the continued look he gives her, as if trying to place her in his memory. he's almost sure he doesn't know her, despite her knowledge of his name, but- there's also an odd nagging feeling, as if he should.

he tries to clear his thoughts, particularly as she continues speaking, but- the joking flirtations serve to distract him once again, albeit in a different way. despite his attempt to continue looking calm and collected in this strange nightmare world he's found himself in, he can't help the slightly embarrassed twitch of his ears before he recovers and plays along. ]

Generally, one knows the name of their date before they begin- but, I must confess I cannot place yours, despite your knowledge of mine. [ there's a question in there, but when he gives a small incline of his head and continues, he does sound sincere. ] Something for which I must once again offer my apologies, of course.

[When she smiles at his response, there is a tinge of sadness to it, but it's quick to vanish, turning more sheepish instead.]

Aye. My name is Irhya. And... I'm a Warrior of Light. I apologize for surprising you like that; most people here remember differently as well, so you're hardly the only one.

[And that ought to explain what he needs to know, anyway. The use of singular in particular. Not the first to fail to recognize her, nor the last if she had to guess.]

Though I must admit, last I saw you, you still had the partial crystallization. Did something happen? You look so... fresh.

[ ...a warrior of light? as though those were the magic words, an odd mixture of partial understanding and more confusion washes over him. while g'raha's thoughts first go to his friend, they quickly stray to others: ardbert and his companions, who fought so hard. the people of the crystarium, newly awakened to the echo and eager to go out and help their recovering world. the specters that elidibus summoned, relentless in their pursuit. she's given him a lot more questions, but before he can ask them she's asking him one that he's not entirely sure how to answer. ]

...Ah. Yes, that. [ bizarrely, he looks almost shy as he holds out his crystal free arm before schooling his expression into a more thoughtful one. ]

A recent development, and- I must admit- rather a long story. But to answer your question: yes, I suppose something did happen. [ okay, that was an unfair answer; at least he knows it. he ducks his head momentarily before turning curious eyes back to her. ]

Though I imagine you have plenty of long stories of your own.

Haha... that I do.

[She gets what he means; though it seems they have a thousand questions of each other now, this is probably not the place to be entertaining them at leisure. But what else can she say? She looks to the side for a moment, considering.]

I've been here for nearly a year now, I believe. You just happened to walk straight into the thick of a crisis. I'm currently working on trying to get those marbles they need; I just had to take a breather. And change my jacket.

[And get her arse healed up enough so that she wasn't bleeding all over the place. Though changing her jacket is a hint in and of itself, along with the greatsword on her back...]

[ though he continues to have a million questions for her, she does manage to immediately answer some questions about their location that he hadn't even had a chance to ask yet, but is clearly grateful to hear. ]

You've been... here for a year? [ he repeats, emphasizing the "here" by gesturing towards the strange, dreamy landscape around them. it's difficult to imagine being stuck here followed by these shadows for a short amount of time, let alone an entire year... but then, perhaps that was the crisis she mentioned?

he does look concerned at the mention of needing a breather and fresh jacket, though, so he holds onto questions on the marbles in favor of a different one. ]

Are you alright to continue? It seems I may have brought more trouble right to you when you were trying to get a moment away from it.

Not... here here. The rampaging nightmares are temporary. Or they'd better be, anyway.

[She waves a hand, appearing unconcerned, but if she's to be honest, the whatever-it-is tailing them has more of her attention than she'd like to admit. Maybe there's somewhere she can lead him that it won't follow them into...]

Oh no, not at all. I just jumped back into the fray, after all; I was kind of expecting it.

[Her ears perk forward, straining to listen past the barely-there whispers trying to make her lose focus. She could go back to where people are being healed, but to lead it there might be a bad idea if it's looking for victims.

It's hard to separate from the din, but there appears to be another set of footsteps behind them. She lowers her voice]

Don't look now, but I suspect that trouble you speak of is going to happen sooner rather than later.

Edited 2020-10-11 07:40 (UTC)

[ although he's by now more or less accepted that this is not, in fact, just a regular dream the idea that this place could ever be something... different and less nightmarish had not yet fully occurred to him. it certainly brings an odd mixture of relief and alarm... which he pushes aside in favor of other concerns, such as his lingering worry that she may not be fully ready to jump back in. ]

Still, you ought to- [ he does not get to finish telling her what she should do, though, as at that moment her lowered voice warns him of the approaching danger. his own ears give a small flick as he struggles to listen as well, hand itching to move to the staff on his back that he has already discovered is useless here.

instead, he defers to her year of apparent expertise. ]

What shall it be? Fight, or flight?

Normally, I would turn around and start smacking the thing. But...

[But what? What's stopping her from doing that now? It's a strange sense of foreboding, like she should just get out instead of trying her luck, and it's too strong to ignore. Despite the rush of adrenaline going against it might give her.]

I'm gonna have to go with flight on this one. Let's go.

[Abruptly, she reaches for his hand and starts running, intending to dart around several corners to try and make it stop tailing them, whatever it is.

After ducking into several alleyways and quickly making her way through to the other side (lest the shadows creeping in there start to converge on them), she's... not confident in having lost the presence, but confident enough that it's far enough behind to stop for a moment. She pauses to catch her breath.]

Heh... Exciting enough for you yet? Granted, this isn't the sort of welcome I'd have had in mind...

[ despite the situation, he can't help but give a small laugh at mention of simply smacking their pursuer- particularly as that really is all he is capable of doing right now, since his own abilities seemed out of reach in this dreamworld- but he becomes more serious as she grabs his hand and pulls him along. ]

Flight it is!

[ his younger body's stamina and agility allows him to (mostly) keep up as they twist and turn through this unknown place, but when she stops he clearly needs the break. he tries to catch his own breath, leaning forward and putting his hands on his knees. ]

"Exciting" is certainly one way to put it. [ and again, he cannot help an out-of-breath laugh. ] I'm starting to believe the absurd training regimens I've been given were, in fact, real and not simply an attempt to tease me.

[ or both. probably both. ]

But worry not- I ought to be used to such welcomes by now. [ and despite the strangeness and worries he holds, well... this was a sort of adventure in its own right, wasn't it? ]

Training regimens...

[A curious comment, but it leads her to one conclusion: this is the Source G'raha, having been roused from his slumber in the Crystal Tower. But she lacks context, so it's really the only thing she can draw from that so far. What of the Exarch on the First, then...?]

I used to be a conjurer, so I had to go through some brutal regimens myself so I wasn't quite as vulnerable a target in combat. Things just worked out better all around once I picked up a sword and learned to take a hit, though.

[She casts him an oblique glance. Is it safe to just... ask, perhaps? Maybe if she takes him on a brisk walk while they talk...

Funny how she doesn't let go of his hand, though.]

You... are the G'raha Tia of the Source, then?

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☆ TDM: SEPTEMBER

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SORRY 4 DELAY midterms hit me hard...

npnp!

ty!! <3

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