♥ October 2019 TEST DRIVE MEME

[hugtopiamods]

October (Lasohm) Test Drive Meme
Premise ♥ Setting ♥ Rules ♥ FAQ ♥ Mod Contact

Havenwell is normally a beautiful city - all tall spires and pure white stone glistening with gold against a blue sky. Now, it's still quite lovely, but it's marred. The wall that surrounds the city has a large glimmering hole broken through the stone and the buildings are missing bits and pieces here and there. The city is still reeling from the aftermath of its siege when a new set of souls are drawn to its shore. Good luck, new arrivals; and please excuse all the dust.

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❥ PROMPT I: Buddy System

With all the changes and the fear of a secondary attack lingering, the natives are a lot more protective of their newest arrivals. When new characters begin to appear at the temples, they receive the welcome speech, get their communicators and the simple map of the city, and a warning to stay away from the walls. Then they get taken to the front of the temple by a helpful robotic priest. Rather than turn the newcomers loose right away, they pull someone seemingly at random off the street and push the two people together with a cheerful, "It's dangerous to go alone, so please show our newest resident around. Please be buddies!" They wait until they're certain the pair is going to be moving off together before going back inside.

They try to place a new arrival with one of those who previously arrived, but who can keep track of all that, right? Characters may find themselves thrown together with an actual veteran or with another new arrival who only came here a day or even just an hour before them! Good luck helping each other out, offworlders, and don't lose your buddy!

❥ PROMPT II: The Havenwell Archives

Lasohm is another month that belongs to Ohma and after such a vicious attack, a small group of citizens decide that it might be great for the offworlders to help with something important to the feline god. These citizens are marked with a sash with the sign of a quill on it, a decidedly antique symbol considering how technologically advanced the people are. They hand out fliers to any who will take them, offering a small amount of Dora in compensation to any who will help the Havenwell Archives repair, catalogue, and restore any books damaged by the attack.

The Archives is a large building in the south and its doors, which have been sealed shut until now, are slightly ajar, allowing people entry. Head to the Archives and you'll be greeted by one of a handful of robotic citizens, all wearing that quill-emblazoned sash, and directed to a small room where you and other offworlders are put to the task of reassembling history texts that have fallen into disrepair or reviewing work that earlier offworlders completed, fixing any glitches that might occur in the text. Most of the writing is illegible, but it seems that these books are important to the Archives for more than just the information contained within. As you work, you might notice that talking and sharing information about yourself or engaging in physical contact near these books with the other people in your room makes the text on your pages a little more legible, a little easier to read and understand, and easier to fix.

❥ PROMPT III: Virtual Research

After the attack, every part of the city is on repair duty and the means the Entertainment District as well. As new arrivals wander the city, they might be called into one of the numerous Virtual Reality cafes. These cafes vary in layout, but most have areas for the natives to plug directly into the machines and other areas which have older looking virtual reality helmets that allow flesh bodied people experience the games. For those who need assistance with their sensory inputs, basic options like audio descriptions of visual scenes, enhanced audio and descriptive speech, closed captions, and crude mobility chairs are available. A handful of cafes have other options like direct visual or audio cortex stimulation to simulate vision or hearing, or suspension tanks to allow simulated movement, but these are currently unavailable due to damage.

All of these facilities are, unfortunately, under repair. The direct plug-in systems are easier for the robot natives to fix because they can do the most important part of it - testing - by themselves. But for the helmets and other interface systems, they need your help. Naturally, they'll pay you for the work, but they need the offworlders to play the available games and record any areas where they find glitches. Playing with a partner increases your chances of finding and fixing any issues, so feel free to log in for free for once and test any of the following games:

• Big Bass Fishing
The beautiful lake has blue-green waters surrounded by forest and rocky, reedy shores. You and your companion are on a small single-motor fishing boat and you have fishing gear - two poles in the water. As the game starts up a read-out announces the objective: Catch the largest fish before the time limit ends. What's the time limit? ...Well, that's your first glitch because it reads as static. Might as well start fishing though, right? It doesn't take long to catch a few regular sized fish, nothing too exciting, and then? You get the big one - it bows your fishing rod nearly in half as you reel it up. The fish leaps into the air and you realize this is your next glitch because the fish hangs there - the size of a minivan - and yells, "BIG. BASS. FISHING. ATTACK." The fish slaps its fins and tails at the boat and now you and your fishing companion better fight this fish or you'll end up in the lake or worse.


• A (un)Familiar Experience
Jump into the life of the temple familiars and see life from their perspective! Choose the temple, any temple is fine, and be transformed into a fledgling rainbow dragon, a purple mouse, a white raven, or a blue feline. You're free to move about the virtual confines of the temples and, in fact, you can even interact with other familiars in their temples - who may be other players in this game. Play, climb, try to get your fledgling wings to fly, tumble about with the other mice, enjoy your simple life as an animal! --or you would if you weren't an insane size. Rather than being a small mouse, you're the size of a horse. That fledgling rainbow dragon? About the size of a fly. The building sizes are off, too - one might have door that's 30 feet tall, but a ceiling that's only 12. Everything else seems fine, but those sizes? Well, you better figure out how to get around that.


• Robot Crossing
Logging in with another character will net you a little farm and a variety of games to choose from:
1. Pick and harvest as many Aellyn vegetables and fruits as you can before the timer runs out! The more you pick, the better your score. Work together with your partner to clear the field in any way you can. Strangely, once you finish clearing a tree or a field row of their bounty, they seem to magically refill when you turn your back. Strangely, when the timer runs out? It flashes 00:00 and the game...doesn't? Stop? In fact, the fruits and vegetables just keep multiplying and multiplying and if you don't hurry up you might just get buried in them all!
   
2. With a partner, use the giant slingshot to launch comically large fruits into a garden patch of other colored fruits. Match a line of 3 or more similarly shaped fruits to clear it from the field. The more fruits you can clear, the higher your score - aka welcome to Fruit Crush. Stack lines of 6 or more to get shining clear diamond fruits that clear the entire row and snag yourself some bonus points. Or they should, but whenever you clear away a matching set, the fruits explode, sending fruit bits and juice everywhere - most notably on you and your partner. Still, the game is going on and it looks like it won't stop until you finish, so good thing it's all a computer game, right? Sure feels real though - reeeeeeally sticky.
   
3. You and your partner(s) are given a magical golden pumpkin and it's your job to grow it into the largest pumpkin possible. Why? There's a county fair of course and the largest pumpkin wins! But how do you grow this pumpkin? Well, for whatever reason? This pumpkin is already the size of a grizzly bear and it just won't stop growing! You and your partner better find a way to stop it from growing out of control or you might get (virtually) crushed! You could do a song and dance routine together to touch the pumpkin's soul to teach it moderation or calm its insane vegetable puberty. You could hold hands and share stories and entertain the pumpkin until it feels satisfied that it's grown enough. You could just hack and slash at it in an attempt to reduce its unwieldy bulk. The possibilities are endless and so is the pumpkin's growth, so you better hurry!

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Have fun however you like with the setting! Make a network post, make up other prompts based on the general setting, go wild. Havenwell is your oyster.

This TDM is for the November application round. If you have any questions, feel free to direct them to the FAQ or to the Mod Question thread below. The reservation round begins on October 30, 2019 at 10:00PM EST and our applications will run from November 2, 2019 to November 9, 2019 from 10:00PM EST to 10:00PM EST.

♥ Taken Characters ♥ Reservations ♥ Applications ♥

Comments

[pyrafect]

[ Still distracted by the utter delightful phenomena that are these spontaneously-appearing tomatoes, it takes her a moment or two to calm her laughter. He doesn't seem to find any joy in it, and she hopes he doesn't think she's laughing at him...

Although the tomato atop his head (that he readily removes) does look silly. (Still no opinion from him, though.) ]

I-- hehe~... I believe it's part of this device. Watch. [ Here she actually points it in towards the counter. ] Tomato. [ And there another one appears. It seems that they had only seemed to fall from above because she had the wand pointing upward.

She has yet to remove her tomato. ] It's incredible when you think about it.

[meridio]

[ Incredible, yes. But this child-like fascination is going to get them buried in tomatoes—in an unoccupied residence, to boot. He doesn't even consider swiping the tomato on her head. After all, who is he to act in her stead?

Rather, he crouches down to pick up the fallen tomato from before. That one joins its successor on the counter. ]

Does this house suit you, then?

[pyrafect]

[ He's so serious! It contrasts with the absurdity of tomatoes appearing out of nowhere. (Thank goodness she didn't say "anchovies".) ] Well...

What do you think about this place?

[meridio]

[ He's given her his one condition, and it's clear from a glance that there are plenty of rooms available for occupancy. Other than that, they need to do something about these tomatoes. ]

It will suffice for our needs.

[ He turns to her. Unless she still wants to compare the other townhouses, he can live in this one. ]

Do you object?

[pyrafect]

[ "My actions are not dictated by trust."

"What are they dictated by?"

"By necessity. I do what I must."

Indeed, he goes by need and nothing more. This house is enough. ]

No objections at all.

[ Moving on, she lifts her hand to remove the tomato from atop her head. ] Although, what are we to do with all of these tomatoes...?

[meridio]

[ It occurs to him then that Pyra might not actually require sustenance. Whether or not she does, he isn't meant to question this as a stranger and obtusely assumes the former. ]

Store them for consumption at another time, perhaps.

[ If she won't, he'll eat them.

With another flick of his free hand, he calls the communicator forth in a flash of light again. They can store the tomatoes after they claim the house. ]

[pyrafect]

[ She will cook and eat because she needs to maintain the facade that she is entirely human....

For now she sets the tomato down upon the counter, and then she moves nearer to look upon his communicator along with him. With the registration menu brought up, it gives the option to add an additional occupant wirelessly. Her gaze travels up from the device to his profile. ] This technology... you seem to know how to use it well.

[ A chime coming from her own communicator notifies her to accept the invite registration from his. ]

[meridio]

[ Not as well as he could, but so far the interface has been intuitive. He need only press the button for confirmation of so-called purchase, and the technology will take care of the rest of the arrangements. He can manage this much. ]

Though my exposure was limited, I have witnessed similar technology elsewhere.

[ Dismissing the communicator, Somnus cranes his neck toward the doorway. ]

Is that all for the kitchen?

[pyrafect]

[ She responds with a nod to his question, but then inquires further to what experience he has with technology before. ]

From your own world?

[ ...Where he's been dead for 2k years. ]

[meridio]

[ They can talk while they walk. He leads them out of the dining kitchen area. ]

Yes.

[ Chroma might count, if they were discussing computers. These communicators so closely resemble phones from modern Eos.

And . . . that's right. Manners. ]

Does your world boast something similar?

[pyrafect]

[ How quickly he moves the subject! He does it so easily, too, as casually as he leads her from one room to the next. ] It does, but, ah-- wait, wait! [ She waves her hand excitedly.

Then, eagerly: ] Let's talk about your world first!

[meridio]

[ Pushing a door open to reveal a small bedroom, he stands by the doorway in case Pyra wishes to go in and look around. As long as it's there, he isn't so curious.

The tail end of her waving catches in his periphery, and he appraises the eagerness of her expression. ]

My world has no bearing on this one. What is it that you wish to discuss?

[pyrafect]

[ This is bedroom #1... and it's only the bare bones of one at that. ] No bearing? [ She repeats, looking faintly perplexed for a moment. ]

....Ah. That's not true.

[meridio]

[ It seems that, no matter the world, he seems prone to drawing words of that nature out of her. ]

How so?

[pyrafect]

You are... a part of your world, aren't you?

[ Rhetorical question. ]

[meridio]

[ In the loosest sense of the word. She's being sentimental again. ]

I was, once.

[pyrafect]

[ Once? It seems she has to lead him on a chase again. ] Think back to your life.

Was there anything you left behind?

[meridio]

[ What he left behind . . . ]

Of what do you speak?

[pyrafect]

[ Her gaze carries her sympathy for his death still, and her voice is soft. She steps closer to him, and there is that same tender motion from before, her free hand lifting to over the two of theirs. ]

Whatever you wrote down on a scroll or book.

However you changed the land... with each step you imprinted upon the ground.

Any children you may have had.

The people you interacted with, whose hearts you may have touched.

[ Her hands squeeze his, her look hopeful. ]

Those legacies live on... making you a part of your world, even past death.

[ So many lives were lost the very day she had been created by her otherself. All of those legacies lost when the entire continent was destroyed. If any bit of Torna still exists in the five hundred years she's been sealed, she doesn't know, but she hopes a part of it did. She's also hoping that his is not a similarly tragic tale, that something of him survived through the ages. ]

[meridio]

[ At the mention of a book, his gaze drops.

Such is the power of a name, for one. They discussed something similar in another world, and it serves as a reminder of all he had while his brother was robbed of everything. Somnus' hand sits limply between Pyra's. ]

Be that as it may, matters of my world have no place here. Our discussions should involve this city, not other worlds.

[pyrafect]

[ She shakes her head, her hair swaying softly side-to-side. Lifting her eyes to his, her answer to that is spoken as if a reminder. ] You being part of your world... means that you have brought your world here.

[ She, too, acknowledges that she is a part of her world; her being here has only put this one in more danger even if she might partake in sharing touch with another. Unlike her, however, she believes that he poses no such threat to the integrity of this land. ]

That is what I mean that you and your world have bearing within this one. [ She squeezes his hand, as if the emphasize her point that him talking about his world matters! ]

[meridio]

[ Strangely pretty words come from her. In the end, it makes no difference. He has no interest in prolonging this discussion, chiefly because doing so will help no one. There is one thing, though, on which he'll concede. ]

If not for my world, I would not be here. Nevertheless, this world demands our attention.

[ He moves on to the next door. In the process, he almost pulls his hand out of hers. ]

[iustaegis]

[ --Her other hand quickly reaches to clasp his, just to secure their joined touch. It makes for just a little awkward way to walk into the next room, but it gets the job done. ]

...Through touch, yes. [ She feels the need to remind him; don't get sloppy with hand-holding now, boi. ]

But also so much more, because now you are a part of this world as any other.

[ Even as an otherworlder. ]

[meridio]

[ Just as he felt the need to physically take her away from the sentimentality. Feeling Pyra's secure grip, Somnus slows down upon reaching said door.

It's another bedroom. ]

As a part of it, we must heed the gods' call lest the world is lost.

[ As such, touch is what registers in his mind as the foremost priority. It's their duty. ]

[iustaegis]

[ Another bare bedroom. Which one will he choose, she wonders? She'll leave the first pick to him. Her second hand leaves their prolonged hand-holding. ]

Somnus... you might just leave a legacy here as well.

[ More than just handholding, too, she's sure. ] More than touch.