dagung | TDM: July

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TDM: July

Test Drive: July

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 spot, put one in! We accept applications without reserves too, of course. Reserves will expire three days before the end of the application period, on the 28th.
• Applications Open The 24th! These will last until the end of the month, the 31st, with the intro log going on up the 1st. 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 Living Forest

It feels warmer than it should be. Hot, dry, dark. The sky above all but black- save for the ominous orange glow against the distant horizon. In the gloaming there’s a resonant smell of decay; of musty pine and sun-baked wood and, more worryingly, the distant scent of smoke, of ash. There’s no wind to speak of, and yet… something whispers. The shiver of leaves, the crack of dry branches- and if you listen long enough, almost… the sound of voices in the trees.

Controlled Burn
The forest you find yourself in is still alive- for now. Ash filters through the browning leaves like snow, dotting the path you’ve found yourself on in bone white fragments. Following the rustling leads it to grow all the more frantic, whispered voices speaking without words- or perhaps you simply cannot understand. You feel as though you’re being watched, the tree clusters growing thicker, tighter and- is it just your imagination, or… are they moving?

Suddenly before you an old oak splits with a thunderous crack- followed by a deafening scream. Gnarled, blackened hands reach from within the tree, scraping at your clothes, agony wrought through every striation of her features as the infection spreads. Before you, the tree withers as the nymph falls into the dirt, long fingers tearing up the earth as she crawls towards you. Understanding comes to you in stark clarity: the noises through the trees are a cry for help.

Before your very eyes the leaves of her once lush hair dries; cracks and breaks away, falling to join the ashen forest floor. With pleading eyes she gazes at you, before her eyes roll back, and she collapses, utterly still. And she’s not the only one; the forest is alive, the very trees reaching for you, roots clawing up to crack open the earth itself in their desperation.

Don’t let them touch you, though. The infection spreads quickly. Branching through your veins and leaving your limbs sluggish, heavy, and brittle. The feeling is utterly agonizing, reminiscent of having poured molten lava into your blood. The longer the infection is left untreated, the more, and faster it spreads, the worse the pain becomes. The trees know, they whisper the truth: the only way to cleanse yourself is through the fire.

Creeping Fire
Not all nymphs have met such a terrible fate. Not yet, at least. Some huddle together, their branching arms clinging to one another as they softly weep. Others walk willingly towards the distant orange glow with grim determination. Still others implore you with wide, fearful eyes to do something- anything to help them. Surely these new abilities you’ve found yourself with must be good for something.

They lead you to a natural amphitheatre; the slow sloping blackened earth sinking into a gully bordered by a high rock wall. The heat is the most bearable here; the area cooled by the towering stone. Wilting nymphs huddle together along with sympathetic faun. Those who have skills in manipulating water are a welcome relief; these tree spirits are desperate for it. But this temporary refuge won’t last for long.

The infection wants to spread. Like rabies, maddening its’ hosts and raising their aggression. And where better to draw from than the root of this sanctuary? Where the stone wall rises and provides shelter from the fire, so too does it trap these refugees in… Defend against the infected, before all hope is lost.

Staging Area
Past the disease, the horror and cries for help, there is a genuinely quiet place.

It isn’t much, compared to how things used to be, but there’s a clearing scarred at the edges with scorch marks instead of Cwyld, with the beginnings of plants sprouting once more. Baby grass clusters in small groups, small stems pushing out of the ashen ground with hopeful buds. Some earlier bloomers already casting vibrant colors to what was once a meadow. It’s serene, it’s peaceful, it’s an area that’s been cleansed by fire and Cwyld kept at bay by Witches at least a century out of fashion, though they don’t seem to respond to outside presences with how focused they are.

Those taking breaks from their turn on the edge offer greetings and air worries about the spreading taking root in the forest, but (like the Fae in the first dream, for those who recall) don’t say much else unique, wondering if they’ll be able to return home anytime soon and if this was truly worth the effort. Of course it is, an older one might snap back. In a war of attrition, all efforts are worthy.

However, this isn’t the only camp they’ve set up. There’s one not too far off that begins with frost and ends in a frozen area of land, sound muffled by cold and everything from the trees to nymphs so iced not even a dragon’s flame could melt it. Inquiries about this area result in some sheepish looks, and the answer of how some Witches became a little excited at the idea of putting surviving nymphs and the rest of the flora into a form of dormancy and overdid it, a bit.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

This was just something that was going to happen to her? Emerald's face twisted, but she was able to put enough thought into her words to give them context. Just so it was clear what part she was objecting to.

"I'm already helping out. Ask Scathach," not that she knew if this person knew who that was. "But if you think I'm just going to sit here and let something else just happen to me, you're out of your mind. There has to be a way to stop this."

There's ways to stop everything. Right?

She could see it, and all she could do was keep smiling. If Emerald had a chance to vent a little, she'd feel better, and get to focus.

"She must be around. Or he; I'll have to find them." Sokie shrugged.

"I'm not going to help you maim yourself in your efforts to be 'normal' and if it's a curse, it needs to go with its flow. Besides, I don't know what else you've gone through."

And she had no context to really care, really.

"I'm not going to maim myself," she fired back, rolling her eyes like the idea never crossed her mind. "Gods. Tearing myself apart isn't going to fix anything."

But what was? Did she just have to ride this out? She didn't ask for this, but when had that stopped anything or anyone. Instead, the sarcasm drained from her voice so she could replace it with just the tiniest hint of suspicion.

"You're talking like you know an awful lot about curses."

"It might horrify a few delicate creatures, for certain." Sokie quipped, watching her. At least she figured that part out. But...well, it was true she didn't ask for coming a bunny rabbit.

She hadn't asked to be what she was either. She just went with it.

"Who, me?" She pointed to herself, and her smile widened. "I've done a few jobs as a curse breaker. Took care of this and that, but it didn't always work out how people wanted. But that's life for you."

"You made a living out of it? How many people got cursed on your watch?"

The more obvious question, the one about breaking her own curse (if that's what this was), hung heavy in Emerald's mind. But she wasn't about to voice it—for all she knew, this other person was completely full of it. She didn't even know her name yet, for the gods' sakes.

"Who even are you?"

"It's a big world, and I'm very good at what I do. Even if it's tricky, I've likely seen a variant of the spell before. It's quicker and more likely things are resolved with me."

She grinned. "Also, you can always count on teenagers cursing each other. They're petty, petty little things."

She lived in a very different world then Emerald, that was for sure. But asking for her...Sokie shook her head.

"Finally! You ask for a name! Well, these days, I go by none other then Sokie Undertown." She offered a mocking bow. "I'm a very experienced magic user. And finally you remembered your manners. Now! I think this is the part where you offer your name."

Yeah, there was... there were a lot of differences between their lives, weren't there? Sokie (she really should've asked for a name sooner) reminded Emerald a little bit of some of the better parts of Cinder, but that wasn't nearly enough on its own to get Em to drop her guard. Not with everything else going on.

"Emerald," she responded with considerably less ceremony. It might've been the best Sokie could hope for. "So you're a witch. Like them," she added, looking towards one of the ones who had given her the cold shoulder when she'd first made it here. "Prove it."

They lived very different lives. But then-there were few people even in Sokie's world that lived a life like hers.

Still, while she could be an easy going person, there was just a lot of rudeness that was coming her way and really-Sokie wasn't into it.

So she didn't say 'nice to meet you' or 'how you're doings'. Instead she tilted her head, and offered a sweet smile to Emerald, before raising her hand, pointer finger extended, like a child play pretending with guns.

All she said was: "Bang." as she drew her thumb down.

And threw a bolt of fire in Emerald's direction. It was intended to miss, just be close enough to make her squeal.

And though Emerald did flinch, it didn't seem to trip her brand new hyperanxiety, which she was... exceedingly grateful for. She recovered fairly quickly, only really letting it turn into a wince and a slight narrowing of her eyes. When she spoke again, though... well, it was probably just a coincidence that she wasn't really feeling the whole "be a complete bitch" thing towards Sokie at the moment. That's all.

"Neat trick. You're not the first one I've met who can do that." Even just here, within the dream or whatever this was, she wasn't the first, but that wasn't really important anymore. Whether Emerald woke up or not...

"Is that all you need to be a witch around here? Because I must know a lot more witches than I thought."

At least she wasn't being hysterical; that was something. Most people would flinch in the face of fire. But hey, she did like the benefit of less sneer, more normal talk. MOre or less at least.

Though that still made her chuckle with amusement.

"No. There's far more to it then a little dime store magic." She wiggled her fingers a bit, just to see what Emerald would do. "But this really isn't the time to go around showing off, and I'm sure most others feel the same. They're either healing if they're specialized, or they're saving their strength. Because whatever is coming, we're likely the first and only line of defense here."

Dime store m—no. She didn't have to get angry on Cinder's behalf. Cinder would be here soon enough (right?) and she'd get revenge herself. This was fine. All of this was fine.

"If we're all supposed to be banding together to hold the line like we're suddenly the heroes," she started instead, and she reached behind her back to grab at the grip of one of her guns and pull it out of its holster with the barrel pointed towards the ground. "Then why won't these fire? I know what a gun jam looks like and this isn't it."

And just as readily as she pulled it out, she flicked out the blade hidden in its barrel, letting the contour of her weapon become more of a hand scythe. "Why would whoever got us stuck here make us worse at fighting?"

Cinder could defend herself, and they could have some fun together. It'd be fine. Totally fine.

"Like I said, I don't think it was a person. It's not about making you better or worse. Ask the faun and the dryads-I'm sure they'll tell you that what you're becoming Emerald is something that is native to this world."

She shook her head. "It's making us native. It doesn't want your tech. It doesn't want anything outsider. If it was a person, it would be different-it would have stolen what you have and gleaned what information on how it works from you already."

Faun. Dryads. "Like from fairy tales?" she found herself asking, as though every single fairy tale she'd been told growing up hadn't turned out to be true so far. "I'm turning into some kind of... fairy tale bunny, because that's how things work here." She wanted to ask another incredulous question, but halfway through the sentence her tone shifted to the strangest sense of recognition.

"Fine. Okay." She shook her head and folded up the blades of her guns, then holstered them again while she continued. "It needs us to be native so we can defend it properly. I can believe that. But why does it think we're all the type of people who can defend things? I'm not exactly a hero."

"Sure, from stories. But stories can be just unverified fact-it's easier to enjoy if it's just stories and not needing to check if you've got a fluffy tail on your butt."

It was too easy, and she smiled without baring her teeth. That would be too threatening just then, maybe. Or at least mocking.

As for the rest...she shrugged. "Couple of theories on that. Could be grabbing until we find someone craving that spotlight, or the world may be in the way of saving ourselves or friends. Or both."

She gestured to the rest of the people milling around. "Ask around. Maybe you'll learn quicker then you think."

Emerald wasn't going to turn herself around and check. She wasn't going to rise to it. There was something more important happening in this conversation—but yeah, her eyes did flick off to the side briefly as she tried to look anyway.

And then something Sokie said really got her attention. Saving her friends. Her friend, really. If that's what Cinder was to her, or if that's what this place thought Cinder was. "Saving us from what? From all this? Because they're the ones who made it our problem in the first place!"

She stood pretty confident in that protest, but still didn't feel... great about it. "This is... idiotic. Nobody I know or care about got sucked into this weird dream world except me anyway." She was alone again. Naturally. "I would've found them by now. Instead of more witches. Like I needed more of them in my life."

She thought that Emerald would take the out of the conversation-Sokie wasn't being the nicest person, and really was being kind of rude.

"I don't know if everything is burning, first of all." Her voice was mild, and her hand came up, lightly brushing a curl out of her face, away from her eyes.

"And for second, you have no idea who is and who isn't here, yes? And third, it sounds like you've got something against magic users. Need to get something off your chest, or do you just not like me? I mean. I can't see why, with me giving tit for tat here."

Sokie wasn't deserving of the real answer to that question yet. Largely because she was absolutely right and Emerald had no idea who or what was waiting for her here, and there was no way in hell she planned to admit that she'd been caught like that—much less admit to anything else.

"Not magic users," she started insistently. "Witches. And you haven't earned the right to know more than that." And in all likelihood, she never would. A bit of the edge left her voice, even as her stance shifted and she kept trying to stare down this other witch. "You couldn't do anything about it even if you did know what was going on. No matter how much fire you throw around."

"Oh?"

Her smile was sweet, and she didn't look away. But she didn't seem intimated. If anything, she seemed more...bored? Even if she did keep on smiling.

"You make it sound as if I should even care. I don't. And while I have done the shot of warning, it was intentionally wide. And while a witch means something where you are, it means something different to me."

Sokie shook her head, and started to turn away. "I've other people to check on and some rescues to conduct, if this is how you want to be."

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TDM: July

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