dagung | ☆ TDM: MARCH

Entry tags:

* tdm

☆ TDM: MARCH

Test Drive: March 2021

All threads can be considered game canon,

the prompts and test drive itself will be

• The Application Queue is open. Applications run on a rolling queue system. The application page is always open to submissions, and applications will be processed in order of submission. Verdicts will always go out by the final week of a month, though we can't promise an exact date -- we'll get to them as quickly as we can throughout the month! If your application is submitted during the last week of a month, it may be rolled into next month's batch of applications. The application page can be found here.
• We have a brand new Game World Wiki created with the immense help of our Wiki Bards: Noa, Prince, Maruah and Ran. Thank you so much! It's still being updated, but most of the main game info is there for you in an easily searchable manner. All other info can still also be found through our Navigation page!
• 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!
• For current characters, TDM threads can be used for AC.
• And finally, since this is part of our event, characters already in-game ARE allowed to top-level on this post.

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 Calamity

The taste of magic in the air is electric on your tongue, supercharged, bright, a little tart and fizzy like popping candy. The settlement you find yourself in is unfamiliar to you, but you can tell it is bustling, beautiful, a center of culture and activity for its bygone era. The architecture blooms with elaborately carved flourishes, but you cannot shake the feeling of... otherworldliness that it brings to mind. (Perhaps you are a veteran of these dreams and remember a ship with similar embellishments from far away, that came bearing invaders, in a time long ago.) It is nearly impossible to tell what season you find yourself in - pockets of spring bloom with new life, right next to pockets of winter snowstorms; playful fall winds laden with leaves tug at your hair, and in some spots, it feels hot and muggy like the middle of summer. None of these patches of seasonal mayhem are very large, a few city blocks’ worth at most, and they all butt up against each other, tumultuous, fighting for real estate in a place where the magic bubbles freely up through the ground like a wellspring, uncontrolled. In a way, it seems like a wilder version of Aefenglom’s seasons always being opposite the season in the Wilde, similar but more widespread, more disharmonic.

Fit to Burst
The settlement is bustling and full of that otherworldly architecture, spirals and tendrils and vaguely floral embellishments, except... If you look closer, you can see that only a few of the buildings are really made that way. An illusion covers the rest, purely cosmetic, a glamour; it's a shimmering image laid over reality until you look beneath it at the squat, simple houses made by mortal hands out of rough hewn wood or bricks of packed mud. The people are just as disparate as the buildings beneath it all - glittering-eyed Fae, taller, more elongated and insectoid than those seen around Aefenglom, though many of them use glamours to appear more fantastical and beautiful; humans teeming with magic, who use it freely for anything and everything; other bipedal Monsters with rougher, more bestial features than longtime residents might be used to, more in tune with their natural abilities.

It wouldn't be a bad idea to explore your new surroundings, though you're likely to garner attention. Unless the world you come from is a more medieval time period, your clothing, perhaps even your hair or other aspects of your appearance are likely to stand out. What will make you stand out even more, though, is not drawing on your abundant new magical powers, or strong new Monster abilities. That shop there requires flight to get up to the second story front door. That home down the street can only be unlocked with a burst of flame. Torches when it grows dark? No, don’t be ridiculous, you can't light your own way? Your hair looks hideous, darling, why haven’t you put on a glamour?

Reluctance to use these abilities abundantly and freely garners frowns of scrutiny and disapproval from those natives around you. "We're free here under the Fae folk. They've taught us so much, we never go hungry, we’re never beaten down by the weather." Their words hold truth - their twisted-trunk trees are bursting with fruit, their haphazardly laid out crops flourish in a matter of days rather than a season, rain and snow can be directed at will with just an application of the wild, free magic bubbling up from the ground in rivers.

There is a hierarchy in this settlement. The Fae are above all, and can often be found partying into the night with sweet wine and hallucinogenic mushrooms, teaching humans and Monsters to harness their natural talents and the magic of the land by day. Their attitudes are condescending toward these lesser beings they’ve granted their favor to (including you, now, and aren’t you just the most interesting, darling little things?), delighting in spreading their knowledge. The humans and Monsters still seem awestruck by their benevolent masters - a word they mean in the sense of 'teachers' - accepting their gifts, using their magic, and none of them will so much as whisper a complaint. Not when it’s safe here. Not when all is well.

It's more than they can say for the lands outside of their paradise, even if things do happen here that the Fae do not like to hear them speak of.

Gain the trust of the natives, and you might hear rumors, whispers of a rotting pox hitting other communities far from here, or first hand accounts of how so-and-so witnessed another death just last week, a human woman blew up in town, and some of the Monsters, they been goin’ right bestial. Shh, shh, you didn’t hear it from them! (Don’t let the Fae catch you gossiping. They might just take you and the native both aside, whisper in your ears, let the magic wind its way around your brain until you don't remember any longer what you were talking about or even who you are, where you come from. You were having a good time though, right?)

You can try to leave the settlement, to explore the woods that surround it, but you’re likely to be noticed and warned: "You should stay here, make sure you don’t run into any of the unfriendly locals - they don't care for our masters."

The Emergence
Time passes strangely in a dream. It might feel like a handful of hours, or even a few days, before a change can be felt all throughout the strange, unsettling paradise. If you’ve had a recent brush with it in the waking world, you might recognize the signature of it - the Cwyld. Something in the air feels very wrong, like a chill in the middle of summer, a sudden warm wind in winter; the plant life beneath your very feet begins to blacken in color, with near-indiscernible white lines marring their surfaces, and no matter who you are, no matter the pride you may take in your courage, a shiver raises every hair on your body without fail: Something wicked this way comes.

The wellspring of magical energy flowing like a river beneath your feet takes on a new feeling when you try to draw from it, a dark and heavy sensation, oily and creeping. Reaching for the magic, it feels as though you're reaching into hollow darkness, dried up and consumed, and the disparate plants of different seasons, growing alongside each other, begin to bulge grotesquely and burst, splattering an unknown black substance over anything unfortunate enough to be in the splash zone. Possibly even you. Don't pass under the fruit trees. The infection has seeped into the overtapped leyline, and it bleeds through the settlement quickly, much quicker than it seems to move in the current-day waking world. The plant life, with their roots dug deep into the earth, are only the first casualty, as it spreads rapidly to the animals, and then the natives, blackening and tainting everything it touches.

The village is thrown into chaos. Fae and any who seem to have Dragon in them are the first to show signs of infection, blackened veins visible under paling skin and white film growing over the eyes. Bodies grow brittle and twisted the more it spreads and settles in. Humans with an abundance of magic are the next to lose themselves to it, quickly followed by other Monsters. While in the waking world, infection spreads more slowly, here, it can be almost instantaneous, the process of becoming a Shade, losing all sense of self.

They have no resistance to the Cwyld, and in this dream, neither do you. You're just as susceptible to the infection, and some may find themselves succumbing to the infection spreading to the heart and pumping itself through their veins. Becoming a Shade is a painful experience, a painful existence, as the life is snuffed out of you and your body keeps going. In this dream, you might be lucky (or unlucky) enough to keep your wits about you, to remain sentient and somewhat yourself - or you might become one of the mindless, violent many whose only directive is to spread the Cwyld to everything that lives, including your fellow dreamers. Even if you do stay aware of yourself, it is hard to resist the pull of the Cwyld on your mind, urging you to spread and infect, to leave nothing whole and living.

Before your eyes, the settlement begins to die. You can't help anyone who is already infected, even if you know healing spells that work in the waking world, unless you're willing to put them out of their misery before they become a Shade corrupted beyond all assistance. You might be busier trying to save your fellow Mirrorbound, though, as they try to avoid that fate themselves or fall prey to it in front of you.

And while the earth and plants and people around them turn black and fall to ruin, any of the Fae who managed to remain untainted simply flee, running from the settlement without stopping to help anyone in need, not even the students who so looked up to them.

Note: Becoming a Shade in this prompt is optional, and Mirrorbound Shades may keep their minds or not at player discretion! Infection will not carry over out of the dream. Dying in the dream will put your character back at the edge of the village, uninfected and alive again, to witness the rest of its downfall.

Light It Up
Help comes in an unexpected, unwanted form. Those unfriendly locals the residents of this village spoke of previously appear through the morning mists, shrouded in clumsy protections like masks and gloves, and practical, non-flashy spells. The group is made up of grim-faced humans and Monsters, a surprisingly cohesive unit of people who look out for each other as they make their way through the woods with torches held aloft. They are hardier than those indulged, magic-glutted folks who suffer now. These newcomers are dressed more practically, for working land or fighting battles, but they, too, have humans among them who can harness their magic. Their witches keep their torches lit, and work closely with their Monsters, helping each other in a way that will not feel unfamiliar.

They've come today, they'll say if you get a chance to speak with them, however briefly (they're a little busy to answer too many questions), to try and stop this blight on the land before it can reach their village, some miles to the south. They've seen it before, though never this severe. This Cwyld will spread and spread, until there is nothing left.

Best to burn it all down before its tendrils creep too far, before its roots dig too deep.

They fight and destroy the Shades however they can, showing no mercy, though their spells are crude and simple, and their Monsters use their natural forms without any showy abilities, depending on claws and teeth and strength to do their jobs. Working together, with simple weapons in their hands, they are formidable. Even if you kept your mind, kept your speech, they will not let you live if you were infected - and may not let you live even if you weren’t infected, just to be safe. You may join them, if you wish, help them burn down the blackened trees or even Shades that were once people - or you may fight them, but they won't relent. They burn the whole settlement down, leaving wide patches of scorched earth like blackened scars on the land. It’s the only way, they say, from their limited experience. Everything must return to the earth.

As the settlement goes up in flames fully, they retreat, only remaining long enough to ensure the fire stays where it needs to stay, and will not spread to uninfected forest. For those of you who were completely uninfected and may have thus been spared, they are still unwelcoming and will not allow you to travel back to their own village with them, threatening with swords and flames any who are too insistent. They aren't too keen to talk, but you may get a few answers out of them, the basics - some of their parents originally lived here, learned magic from the Fae, though when they saw the dangers, they left, believing that such power should be used more sparingly, more responsibly. Against the Fae, if at all possible, and against their destructive ways. It was just a matter of time, they thought, until calamity struck, and lo.

You just saw what happens, what that much magic can call down in divine retribution. How magic itself fights back against the excesses of those who would abuse it.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

... Adeline, what I am saying is this is a respite from that. You're going to go back... and things... won't be the same. But here... certainly, you've a few things to get used to, but it is a quiet and gentle place overall.

[She wonders when the Cwyld will set in. She wonders when they're going to awaken, and some part of her mind still screams that she wants to wake up now, to not deal with this, to not deal with Adeline freaking out about turning into a Monster.

Instead, she stands with Adeline, and reaches out to take her arm. Gentle, but firm; she's just trying to anchor her here.]

... Please. Stay here. Running will not... make you wake up any faster. [Which is not something she wants to hear herself, but she's still gotta say it.]

[ A respite. If everything that Maria is saying is true, then... will her body only be distorted once she's at the Research Hall? Will she go mad and simply die? Here, she seems to have her mind, even if something feels so terribly off. It still feels better when Maria is touching her.

She turns her head to look down at the hand against her arm, torn between wanting to break away and move closer. Run or give in. Running would likely mean feeling pain and horror if those woods are as dangerous as Maria says. Giving in would allow her some amount of rest, even if it is short-lived.

One more glance out at the town around her and she finally turns in toward Maria, moving in closer to rest her forehead against her chest. ]

... I just wish things could be the way they used to be. What they should have been.

[And... Maria's spine goes stiff as Adeline steps back closer to her. That was, clearly, also not a response she was expecting.

It's... awkward. A little strange. Maria's done so many things here that her life in Yharnam sometimes feels more like the fever dream... and she's even really written off seeing or knowing anyone from there.

With all the social grace of an awkward teenage boy, Maria does move her hands, and wraps Adeline into a sort of loose hug.]

... What do you think they should have been?

Being able to help the ailing people of Yharnam and those who would seek blood healing. Without the need for Hunts, without the Scourge... When one didn't have to be so fearful of each night lasting longer than the one before it, and wondering who would be left come dawn.

[ The tension is noticeable. Enough that Adeline doesn't wrap her arms around Maria in return. This is... odd, but fine. ]

Yes. Were the world perfect, and Laurence's ideal reached... that would have been what would happen. Then the Research Hall could've gone about its business and reached that ideal that Byrgenwerth sought.

[But the reality is none of that happened, and Maria got to see what happened at the end of Yharnam's life. A slow, awful rot that eventually killed the whole city.

She doesn't say that; it's easier to sit and pretend.]

And then we'd all be free. Of the trappings of being human. The drawbacks. No more suffering, no more death, no more beastial stupidity. Perhaps, we'd even be able to follow the Great Ones to the next plane.

If only... That would truly be wonderful.

[ She huddles in a little closer to Maria and closes her eyes. ]

I can't back out, now. Not when I awaken. I've committed, already and I... don't want to lose hope. Perhaps it's a selfish wish for Blood Saint, but... I want to be something. If I can... withstand the treatments; the experiments, I'll be that much closer.

[She wants to say something about... how Adeline is not. That Adeline is far more than just a lowly blood saint. That she was always far more than that. That her family valued her and that

that... Maria herself valued her. It was why she hated the concept of Adeline being a Blood Saint.

She closes her eyes, and draws Adeline a little closer against her chest. Now it feels more like a proper hug. A protective one at that.]

I know, Adeline. You are... and will be very valuable, I'm sure. But just for now... stay here. Just a bit. Even if it feels strange, and even if the changes are scary, you'll be alright.

[ Adeline seems to relax some when Maria holds her closer. There's stability in her embrace that she desperately wants and needs. At least it stills that need to run away when she'd wanted a little more time with Maria.

She breathes a soft sigh and finally wraps her arms around the other woman in return. ]

I'll stay, if only because you're here.

Good. Stay here, for even a little while. Take respite from... the truth of the world.

[That horrible truth - that the Church had failed her and was going to fail the entire city. But Maria also isn't sure Adeline is going to believe all of that... so she tries to do it nicely. She tries to give Adeline something to focus on that doesn't challenge her assumptions with the nature of the Church.] Alright. Do you feel well enough to rejoin the crowds? I'll guarantee you the changes you've exhibited are not so strange to them.

[ Adeline wouldn't believe it, nor does she want to. Distraction is a very good idea for the time being. Even if she is very hesitant to make her way into any sort of crowd right now.

The fae talking to her earlier hadn't been afraid, at least. ]

Yes, I suppose...

[ She lets go of Maria, turning a glance toward the direction they came. It would be easier to give in, when she's inwardly fighting so hard against these changes, but... she isn't quite ready to do that, yet. Baby steps. ]

Come along. We'll find, perhaps, a street performance or play. Something to take the mind off things.

[Considering food is probably off the menu anyway, because it usually is in these dreams. She holds her elbow out, as she turns back toward the main avenue. They'll... find something to do. Even if it's just window shopping. She wants to keep Adeline's mind off of things.

And she wants to keep her own mind off the fact that Adeline is here. Adeline is here, and Adeline is a Monster, and while Maria's come to a tentative sort of peace with the Monsters in this place, she still doesn't always like or trust them, especially new ones who don't understand what they're going through.

Now, though...

Maria sighs. Well, if Adeline does end up waking up on the other side of a mirror, she has a lot of work to do.]

[ Adeline readjusts her hood and then takes Maria's arm, trying to mind her own pace to keep up with the much taller woman. At least there is plenty to look at even without having to worry too much about finding entertainment. ]

Why does this place feel so... odd?

Hm? You mean the dream-like quality of it, or... [Ah, well, that's going to be another thing to try to explain, buuuut-] The magic in the air? Being a Monster does make you more sensitive and receptive to magic. It's... a product of this particular dream.

I suppose it does. It's almost stifling.

[ That isn't... much of an answer. Not one that makes sense to her, that is. She hums softly in response, staying close to Maria as they walk. ]

The fae I was speaking with earlier said that I shouldn't resist so much... Would I change even more if I didn't? I suppose it would be easier, but... I'm not so sure I want that.

This is unusual - typically, there's far less, and Monsters must take their magic from a Witch Bond. I know it seems odd, but that is... simply how this dream works. Would that it was any different - gods know I'm not the biggest fan of Bonding.

[As for the other... well, Maria doesn't like to think of it that way, but there's really only one thing to say:]

... The fae would be right. Fighting the changes will slow them down, but has the... unfortunate effect of a great mental toll. Sometimes to the point of... going feral. Which, in Monsters, looks a lot like a Beast: Killing indiscriminately and horrifically. The one difference being that you can come back from being feral. It is not a permanent thing, but, to awaken after having done such a thing...

[She trails off about it. It would be abject horror.]

No, I don't suppose you would be...

[ She smiles just a bit, but only for a moment. The rest of the explanation has her stopping mid-step, her hold on Maria's arm tightening. That is truly terrifying, thanks. ]

... Where might I find a Witch to bond with? And, perhaps... I should let myself change now. [ She turns her head and buries her face into Maria's arm. ] I don't want to hurt anyone.

With this much mana around, you should not need to, but... [Maria clears her throat a little, suddenly uncomfortable. She had never had a problem with her designation before, but telling Adeline about it is a little different.

... Ugh, she just needs to do it.] I am... designated as a Witch in this place. If... the mana dries up, we can... exchange my own. But... that may not happen. You may well awaken before then.

[ So far, this dream has been a rollercoaster of emotions and unfortunately, she can't help but settle on being very afraid. Afraid to wake up and afraid to stay here. Not that she probably has much choice in the matter. She'll wake when she wakes, after all.

She breathes out a heavy sigh, leaving her head against Maria's arm, her eyes slowly opening. Maybe it would have been better that they stayed behind in that quieter spot. Being in a crowd isn't helping.

But Maria is also doing her best to calm her. There's no need to be difficult. At the very least, she can try to power through this. So, she nods her head in response and lifts her head to look forward again. ]

Thank you. That's comforting... [ Sort of. She's going to pretend that it is, at least and start walking again. ] You said there are street performances?

[She is trying. She is trying her absolutely hardest to keep Adeline calm. The last thing she wants is the other woman to freak out and possibly exacerbate the problems more.] We wil find something, yes. In the meantime, we can marvel at how easily these people use their magic. You see how some of these buildings look or are made? There, see, a roost for harpies. Then, how do you get up there as a Witch? Well, I could teleport up there, or use wind to fly, and there are others doing just that thing.

[ Alright, Adeline. Focus.

She takes a breath and tries to shove all of that apprehension and fear to the back of her mind as she looks toward some of the structures. It is like Maria said: there are different ways of getting around with magic.

It's unfortunate that the circumstances are not so ideal. She would be completely awestruck, otherwise. And maybe she is to some degree. ]

You can... teleport? [ She hums as she looks back up at Maria. ] Could you show me?

[ Look. It's a distraction. If Maria's going to try to keep her calm, she's going to try to stay calm. ]

Would you like me to take you with me? [She nudges into Adeline, just a little bit.] It's a bit disorienting, but it is one advantage over Quickening that I can think of. Master Gehrman could teach you the quickening ability, but it was always only for you. You could never take someone with you. I can, here, if you'd like to find a higher perch.

[ Ah, look. A smile, albeit a small one. Adeline nods her head in response. ]

If you don't mind. I'm very curious, and a higher perch to admire the scenery would be lovely.

Very well.

[She halts them in their place, and turns to get a bit more... physical contact with Adeline, then looks around. There's a promising perch up above a multistoried shop. Looks like a perch for Harpies, but it's unoccupied at the moment. They can go up there for now.

And just like that, there's a flash, a surge of magic, and they're both... there, atop the shop, looking down at the street. Maria motions.] Well, you can survey the kingdom from here. Though I've no idea where we actually are. Do you see anything interesting you wish to do?

[ When physical contact is actually making her feel better, she doesn't protest a bit. She looks up at Maria, as she seems to be searching for a place for them to go and then tightens her hold on her hands. It's a... jarring sensation, to say the least. From the magic and then just from the concept of being one place only to be another in a matter of seconds.

It's a lovely distraction and she'll gladly hold onto it, allowing herself the surprise and awe no sooner can they look out over the space before them. Keeping one hand on Maria's arm, she steps away just enough to look out over the edge of the perch, looking around for anything eye-catching. ]

How very curious this magic is... [ She glances back up at Maria briefly. ] It's such a wonderful view from here.

[ There now. She's actually starting to sound more like herself. ]

Hmmm... There seems to some kind of performance over that way.

[ She gestures toward a large group who appear to be watching a smaller one just off one of the main avenues. She can hear the music even from where they are. ]

[It is very disorienting, and Maria doesn't blame Adeline for needing a moment to figure out where she is and what she's looking at.

And Maria smiles - just a little, that little rare smile she only gets with people she really likes.] It is, isn't it? I am fond of sitting on the clocktower of the city that is usually on the other side of these dreams, and simply looking out upon the world. [Even if she also ends up having to look out over the ocean, and all the uneasy feelings that brings to her. She prefers just to look at the inland areas, to see as far as she can.]

Is there? [And that brings her back from thoughts of just how much she'd like to wake up right now. To go back to Aefenglom, and her gardens. She peers the same way Adeline is looking, and then... nods. Ah, yes, some kind of roving group of street performers. Definitely something to look at.] Alright. Do you want to sit up here a bit longer, and then go over there? Or are you ready for another teleportation?

☆ TDM: MARCH

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