dagung | 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

"Then what do you want me to do?" she returns, irritated but not enough to do anything about it. She pushes too hard, she could easily end up back on the forest floor. Besides, Chandra is saving her ass right now.

Her arms are folded in on herself, and she's trying pretty hard to keep it together. Everything feels... dangerous right now, and of course it does but there's a thrumming beat in her head telling her that there's no safe place to be except through the fire. Is it the forest itself, or is it just this... hyperanxiety? She hates it.

"For all I know you started this!"

"Do I look like I'm..."

She takes a breath as she vaults over a rock, the golem stepping around it...

"...the one that started this?!"

Exasperating, thy name is Emerald.

"Just hold on, once we get through the fire, it'll be okay!"

"You're the one who's on fire!"

But okay. No. It's not going to get her anywhere to just snipe at her. She could just as easily drop her and leave her here and then Emerald will be screwed all over again. Her eyes look ahead of the three of them, and yeah, they're at least getting closer to this cleansing fire. The warmth, the comfort that it'll bring. But... maybe only for Emerald's messed up head. This is stupid, she's overthinking things, she needs to stop. She needs to stop.

"Fine. Okay! Fine! Just keep us going, how far away could it even be?" A pause, though she's mostly just trying to regulate her breathing. "How big is this place?" Em. Please stop talking to the running person.

"It's just my hair!"

Chandra bellows as she has to focus on running. And really that's it. It's just hella aggravating dealing with stuff like this.

"And it's probably pretty freakin' big, since it's a dreamscape. Definitely not real, but you probably don't wanna find out how nasty dreams can be here!"

"What do you mean it's a dream?" What the hell? It... explains a lot. She doesn't like it. She doesn't like that it makes sense, because her dreams aren't this vivid, her dreams aren't like this and there certainly isn't much warmth in them lately.

"What the hell are you talking about?" This whole thing is. Way too much. She doesn't feel like she's going to be able to wake up anytime soon, though. She knows she's probably not going to get much of an answer here, not until they're safe, but. Ugh, gods, this is. So much. This is so miserable.

It explains the anxiety, at least.

"A lot! I'll explain soon!"

She finally crosses the finish line, making it through the flames just ahead of the elemental.

Said elemental plunges through as well, carrying poor Emerald in it's arms, and that's when the fun begins.

Fire. Lots of it. Though as they cross the barrier it seems to at least keep out the flames, leaving the women moderately singed.

It's fine. It's fine. Emerald's been burned before in worse ways, though none that ever left scars (lucky her). Spending year after year with her own personal fire elemental will do that. She's still... she's still shaken, more than she expected to be, but she'll survive. In all likelihood. She's survived this long.

Her eyes are still slammed shut, though. This is... this is her brain giving her the absolute worst mixed messages, this is her brain telling her that she needs to run towards the fire for comfort but also terrifying her with that selfsame fire. She's listening, carefully, while they run away and she's trying to determine the best time to open her eyes and take in what's around her, but... gods, she hates herself for having to trust somebody she just met like this.

One hand is moving to her back, though, towards the grip of a gun that isn't burning her beyond the ambient heat. "Tell me if I need to ruin anything's day," she says, trying to force confidence into her voice that just isn't there.

Once they're clear, the pursuit stops. There's definitely an unearthly, eldritch screech from their pursuers, but after that, it seems to be all in the clear. Chandra and her golem stop running, and she slowly has the thing put the cowering girl down.

"I think we're okay. If anyone's day needs ruining, I'll take care of it."

She tries her best to sound confident. She even manages it! Though how much of that is words, and how much of that is having hair that's fucking on fire who can say?

Cowering. Disgusting, but not wrong. She's so angry at herself for so many reasons right now. When her feet that still feel unnatural touch down on solid ground, she lets her golden eyes open and the knot in her gut loosen slightly. Her shoulders get less tight, too, and she glances up at this weird... amalgamation of Yang and Cinder that could be a real person or could just be her brain throwing things at her to see what sticks, or...

She's not sure. And she hates it. "What did you mean this was a dream," she asks again, except it's not a question this time.

"I meant that this is a dream world. You're in a dream, and you'll probably wake up soon. and you may remember this, or you may not."

Hopefully she won't, because hopefully she won't wake up in Geardagas.

With the danger dying down, Chandra's hair begins to calm as well, heat going out, the orange becoming more of a coppery red.

"Are you injured?"

"I'm fine," she insists as soon as she has the opening. Even if she were, she wouldn't be asking for any help from Chandra. She can handle it herself. She can handle everything herself.

And she chases it, in fact, with a sentence that barely takes a breath after that first one. "Wake me the hell up." It all makes sense; this is more... fantastical than a lot of her dreams, there are more characters in it, but the feelings all seem right. She looks over herself briefly, just making sure she's actually injured. Probably should've checked that sooner. But she's fine.

"I don't want to deal with this sleep paralysis crap, either."

"Would if I could, but who knows when it'll all fade out..."

Chandra took a step back, turning away from the stranger with the red eyes. That was unusual as hell. Who just has red eyes and green hair?

Maybe considering the situation that shouldn't be what she focuses on, but weird forests and tentacles are the new normal.

"Got a name?"

Maybe she was unusual. But maybe it, too, was fine. Maybe she could make herself look more normal if her Semblance were still working, but for some reason she could already feel that it wouldn't work if she tries it. Which was great.

"Emerald," she said, clipping the word. Last names weren't happening right now. "Just find some water and splash me with it. I'm not in the mood to wake up the way I normally do from these things." Maybe that was saying too much, but. Whatever. It didn't matter, right? This was a weird dream and this other person wasn't real, and she'd never see her again.

"Well Emerald, I'm Chandra."

She doesn't really need a last name.

And since Emerald asked so nicely, Chandra waves her hand and conjures up some water.

SPLASH

TDM: July

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