AUGUST 2019 TEST DRIVE MEME

[sodder]

AUGUST 2019 TEST DRIVE MEME

Welcome to August's Test Drive Meme! This month's Test Drive's theme is: DYSTOPIAN HORROR.

All Test Drive Memes contain at least one clue to the Deerington's upcoming in-game events for the month! Keep your eyes peeled! But...not literally.

Characters may die during TDMs, but you do not need to count it towards a game-canonical death unless you want to. Consider it a freebie. All TDMs can be considered game canon as TDMs introduce minor aspects about the world of Deerington that can be revisited by characters later on in the game. You may also use TDMs for your application writing sample as well as AC.

CW: Physical violence, monster violence, creepy ogre-like monster in link, being hunted by a monster.
Don't forget to tag content whenever necessary. Have fun!

Prompt One
Prompt Two
Character Arrival
Master Navigation

BLOOD IN MY VEINS

With supplies low and food getting even more scarce, things in Deerington, Maine seem to be getting that much more tense. For those who pay attention to the habits of the townspeople, there’s something that might add to that feeling of stress; all of them seem to be involved in some kind of physical training, whether it’s archery, hand-to-hand combat, or fighting with firearms, they all seem like they’re getting ready for something and it definitely feels like it might be something big.

But no one wants to train against a townsperson - it’s highly likely they’re not going to fight fair with the way they’re all glaring at the Sleepers, as though they’re to blame for everything that’s been going on. Unless you’re sparring with people in your own backyard though, it seems like there isn’t any space to get your own training in.

The Betties are starting to pop up around town pretty regularly, waiting until they find Sleepers on their own, and quietly waving for them to come closer. “You need to prepare,” they’ll whisper to you in hushed urgency, before grabbing your hand to try and get you to follow them. If you fight, they’ll insist only once more, before leaving you alone. But there’s something inside of you urging you to comply and follow.

They’ll lead you down an alley, pushing aside a large dumpster, and revealing a trap door in the middle of the concrete. You’ve never noticed it before, even if you’ve been down this alley a hundred times. The Betty leading you leans down, pulling it open, and the ladder that goes into the tunnel is long and dimly lit. You could leave now, but the Betty will insist this is for the best.

“Knock twice. No more or less. Show them what you’re made of.”

Once you get to the bottom of the ladder, there’s an equally long hallway that leads towards a closed metal door. You knock twice and the door shakes before sliding open. The light that comes through is almost blinding with how bright it is compared to the dim tunnel, but as your eyes adjust, you can finally step in to a fully stocked training room.

There are instructors in basics for beginners, areas for intermediate, and most abundantly there are one-on-one sparring areas. The moment you come close enough, you’ll be immediately paired with another Sleeper, and the two of you will be locked in the room together to be observed. You could choose to not fight, of course, but you’ll be stuck there for a good long while if you do. It might be best to just get it over and done with.

So feel free to help others who seem to be struggling or show off your strength for everyone to see. It looks like everyone is going to need to be ready for some kind of fight.

I AM THE GREAT UNKNOWN

Maybe you got knocked out during a fight or maybe you fell asleep in your own bed - or maybe you don’t even remember closing your eyes at all, especially if you don’t usually have the ability to go unconscious for one reason or another. No matter the cause, everyone will wake up in the same place, surrounded by tall, thick hedges in the middle of a... maze?

It doesn’t take you long to realize you aren’t the only one waking up, too. Someone is next to you and it seems like you’re stuck finding your way out of here together. Literally. On each of your wrists is a metal cuff with a long chain connecting them. It can’t be broken, no matter how strong a person is or how powerful a weapon or spell they try to use against it. You’re in this together whether you want to be or not.

Once you can pick a direction to head in, it seems like this might almost be boring - that is until you start to hear the sounds of rustling leaves and breaking twigs. At first it seems like it might just be a trick to spook you, but the more you ignore it, the louder it gets, until finally you see it, charging down the row at you, scythe raised and ready to strike.

You can try to fight, of course, but it’s hard when you’re chained to one another. Learn to work together quickly and maybe you can make it work. It seems to go down with normal attacks, though it takes a long time to get the creature to fall unless you cut off the head. Ultimately your best interest might be set in running as fast as you can to get away. You can lose it in the maze if you’re quick about it. But then you might also be lost yourself.

If you do manage to lose the monster rather than killing it, stay quiet and you might not attract its attention again. It may take a while to find the end of the maze. The hedges feel like they stretch on forever and the sun is blaring down. You’d think there would be shade with all the height of the bushes, but there’s no relief from the heat. Hopefully you don’t burn easy.

When you get to the end of the maze, the two of you will come up on three doors. One door will lead out of the maze and back into the center of Deerington, cuff free. Another door will lead you right back to the beginning, forcing you to start again. And what’s behind door number three...?

The monster, of course.

Choose wisely.

Character Arrival

You can read how all characters arrive in Deerington here.

There is not a collective "all these characters showed up at the exact same moment" occurrence in Deerington. Since characters fall asleep, die, or pass out at various times throughout all their worlds, it wouldn't make too much sense if they arrived in game all at the exact same time. There should be some discrepancy between character arrival, whether by a couple minutes, hours, or even days up to a week.

The players are entirely in control of how/when they want to play their characters arriving in Deerington. For TDMs, you can play it like your character has just arrived and that can be maintained as your game canon, or you can wait until game events for that moment. Or you don't need to acknowledge it at all. The flexibility for character allows a bit more of an organic feel to the character arrival situation, so please play it to whatever feels right for you.

If you are interested in having an "arrival" introduction for one of your TDM prompts, you are more than welcome to explore that option.

Comments

[save_theworld]

[Just a block. She'll swipe, they'll block- easy, right? Frisk nods, holding the blades up- just in time, since she's not waiting around. It's not powerful, but it is fast, and Frisk is a little too slow to think about what they're supposed to do.

Instead, they do what they'd usually do. They dodge, shifting back enough that the blade misses them by mere inches- but their eyes follow it as it goes, not so much the response of someone scared, but someone used to very close calls.

A lot of very close calls.]

...Sorry.

Can I try again?

[onerthes]

Absolutely. Again!

[This time, the motion was more defined. It was far less casual. Vira-Lorr wasn't putting her all into it, but she was now making the motions more intentional, meant to whap with the flat of the rapier if not caught. It was a good way to keep Frisk on their toes and more than that was also a way to train them. They'd catch it or they wouldn't, but each time they should get faster.

They were certainly quick enough on their feet.]

You're light on your feet I see.

[save_theworld]

[Ignoring instinct, it turns out, is actually pretty hard. More than once, Frisk jerks, catching themself before they duck away. Their hands take the brunt of that action, but they catch one or two, gradually getting better at keeping themself steady and actually trying to do what... they're supposed to be doing.

Block. Don't dodge. They're so intent on making sure they're actually trying, it takes a moment to realize she's spoken to them.]

I guess. You, um, can't block magic.

[And it definitely hurts more than a little bit of metal.]

[onerthes]

[She chuckled as she realized why it was that they were having so much trouble. Of course. At their size, they probably had several attacks that could devastate them even with a good block. Magic especially.]

You're getting quicker. I want you to twist your hand next time and try to let my momentum keep taking me downwards. So it misses you, and I am left open.

And as you say. You have to have the tools to block magic.

[save_theworld]

Okay..?

[They have absolutely no idea what she means. But they'll try, attempts- sloppy and often nowhere near what she's actually asking for. Their brow furrows, but Frisk bites their tongue. Keeps going.

She doesn't want excuses, not when she's teaching them. Just results.]

[onerthes]

Here, let me show you.

[The next time that she whipped in, she paused long enough to make sure that the tines caught her weapon. Her hand reached out for theirs while she kept the blade steady, and if Frisk let her, she took them by the wrist and gently started to turn and twist so that the hilt faced down and pushed, showing how the momentum could carry the weapon down, and even direct it away from them in the process.]

Like this. It's like dodging, but using the dagger to help.

[save_theworld]

[They go still when she reaches out, offering no resistance to the way she directs their wrist. Time seems to slow down, a bit.

They keep their eyes on the blades, how they lock together. What the twist makes her sword do.]

Oh.

[Sorry is on the tip of their tongue. They swallow it.]

Okay. I'll do better now.

[onerthes]

[She watched them go through the motion, nodding and stepping back once again for a proper swing. It wasn't the most exciting thing for anyone to watch, them trying to block each of her swings, but it was a lot more useful than wailing on each other.]

You're quite the quick little study aren't you?

[save_theworld]

[With an actual example, they manage to do better. It's not perfect; can't be, when it's never been practiced before. When they do catch her blade, their motions are awkward, enough so that she could probably skewer them anyway, if she really wanted to.

But she compliments them anyway. Frisk stills, for a moment, looking at her under their lashes. Is she being genuine, or is she making fun of them?

They think she's being genuine.]

...Thanks. [That in itself deserves a little smile, edges of their eyes crinkling with previously hidden good humor.] You're a good teacher, miss... um..

[onerthes]

[Pretty genuine. She'd trained plenty of young swordsmen in her time, even if she was far more on the magical side of things. A little support went a long way. Grinning back at them, she nodded once.]

Vira-Lorr. I am a prophetess and seer of sorts. Though I do spend my fair share of time doing a bit of training, now and again. And what of you?

[save_theworld]

Frisk. I'm just a kid.

[No fancy titles, unless Fartmaster counts.

But she probably doesn't know what that means, and they don't really want to explain. Or have her thinking it's what it sounds like.]

What's a prophetess?

[onerthes]

Haha, nobody is 'just' a child. You are brimming with potential, my dear. Don't let yourself feel otherwise.

[She grinned at them as she smiled away. From the sounds around, they'd at least partially satisfied their 'masters' at least for now, mostly because they were being disappointingly unbloody about this whole affair.]

It means that, back in my home, I could see the future. Not right now, mind you. Nobody can here at the moment.

[save_theworld]

[They're- brimming with potential?



No one's ever said that before. Frisk looks down, expression obscured by their fringe. But blocking their face doesn't mean they aren't listening.]

...It'd be nice if you could.

But maybe- we can have more lessons, until it comes back.

[onerthes]

[It just seemed the right thing to say to a kid, so she'd said it. She watched them and listened as they talked, bobbing her head.]

Oh, you wouldn't want to see the future here. This place would be so awful about it, showing you all the worst futures I'm sure. It loves to twist our gifts like that.

Buuuut, I don't mind more lessons. Is there something you'd like to try learning?

[save_theworld]

Does it? [It makes them wonder what would happen if they tried to-

But no. They don't have any reason to try that right now... except curiosity, maybe.]

Other ways to disarm people? And stop fights- without hurting anyone?

[onerthes]

It does. Either making them hard to control, weaker, painful, or if it can make us believe the worst is coming, it will.

[She considered her options and nodded, sheathing her sword. Ok, this small, they would have trouble with a lot of moves, but maybe she could show them some self defense tricks?]

First of all... tonight, after I take you back to your home, I will introduce you to this thing called "Mace." And no, I don't mean the maces there on the wall. It's very useful on humans. There might be a little hurting, but nothing permanent.

[save_theworld]

[She may have a point about visions, then. But her advice sounds more interesting than that train of thought. A mace that isn't a mace? What is it then? They don't know if they want to learn more ways to hurt... but then, if it's nothing permanent, and it's for humans...]

Thank you. I'd like to learn.

[Whatever they can. Even if they are just a kid.]

[onerthes]

[Well, in theory it wasn't permanent. you had to be a bit careful for it, since there were some side effects and it depended on which variety... but basically? Non-lethal.]

Ok, first of all, they don't have it here. Ask at the Hart Mart about "Pepper Spray." I wouldn't bother with the bullhorns. Anything you're going to need this for will probably not really react if you make a lot of noise, and you might get more. That's never good.

You want Pepper Spray.