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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[That isn't a terrible start for someone who has never used a sword before, and it's probably helping anger the monster. Fern is assuming that, hoping it anyway, because this guy is obviously a huge jerk who deserves everything that's coming to him.

He's defense with the axe, blocking the scythe a second time. However, this time he aims at the wooden handle of the scythe rather than the blade, letting the blade of his own weapon chop into it. And having an axe jammed into it is going to make it difficult for the monster to swing again, if only for a few seconds, but that's all the time Fern needs to extend that hand into a vine. He reabsorbs the axe, thorns bursting out of the grass as it twists the vine up the scythe handle, around the monster's arm to both injure it and hold it in place so Will can get a few more strikes in.]

[at this point will is going off of pure impulse, remembering being out in the woods with his friends, flailing at each other with sticks and yelling until someone inevitably got smacked in the face and they had to stop to make sure they hadn't lose a tooth. it's a similar technique he's using here, taking advantage of the gripping vine to slash wildly at the monster's legs.

dark, thick blood spurts out of the gouges in the monster's flesh, splattering the both of them, and it bellows, trying to wrench the scythe free and grab one or both of them.]

[Hey, at least he's enthusiastic. That's like 50% of wielding a sword right there, being enthusiastic about it. It's rubbing off on Fern too, and he suddenly has the desire to do a lot more than just keep them from getting sliced in half.

He digs his feet in, not letting the creature pull his scythe away, even yanking back to make him unstable. His other hand forms into a second vine, and the cuffs aren't even an issue as he stretches again, slamming the pointed end directly into the monster's face.]

[there's another roar from the monster, more of that oily, gunky blood spewing all over the place. it's in will's hair, on his face, covering his arms as he lets out a scream of his own and half-trips, half-lunges to bury the sword alongside the vine.

a horrible, squishy sort of groan and more blood, splattering on the ground and the monster is staggering now, about to fall.]

[Both vines snap back to Fern, returning to being actual arms when he sees the flailing, injured state the two of them have left the monster in. Not bad, considering the circumstances. Of course, it still needs to be killed. The last thing they need is this thing coming after them because they didn't properly end it.

Forming a second grass sword in his hand, Fern launches himself at the creature to tackle it, slicing into its neck.

He... figures Will can avoid getting stepped on or crushed, though he's also disregarding the fact that they're still chained together.]

[will is officially never getting all this monster blood gunk out of his hair and eyes and clothes. he swipes frantically at his face as the monster stumbles and groans again and -- then he's pretty much yanked right off his feet by fern leaping into the air. grass man is pretty strong.

fortunately the monster finally drops to the ground with a riotous thud, more sizzling, steaming blood pouring from the numerous wounds. it's pretty gnarly. not that will notices because he's just...gonna lie on the ground for a second. he's good, just. just a second.]

[Awesome.

Fern stabs a few more times from his position on the monster's chest, just to make sure it's dead, before finally dialing it back. He's a little worn out, though that isn't particularly easy to tell since, as a plant, he doesn't give off the typical signs.

He also grins triumphantly. That went pretty well! Better than he expected, in fact.

There isn't much else to do now aside from scavenge, so he'll start poking around the corpse as much as the chain will let him, ignoring all the blood and gore.]

Man, the monsters around here never have any good loot.

[by this point will has slowly propped himself up on his elbows. he's never been so tired in his entire life. he's also covered in goo, ew.

but he manages to struggle into a sitting position, breathing heavily.] Any...good loot...? What, like...treasure and...things?

Yeah. Or like, a key... or a map... something like that.

[He scrunches up his face, jabbing at the creature with his sword.]

Nada. This sucks.

...I think I can...try and get us out? Um, you have to use the right-side trick. I learned it in a book.

[the power of sword + nerd combined will defeat this hedge maze!!]

[He stops poking, turning and hopping off the monster and back onto the ground.]

The what?

[okay, here we go, standing up...any minute now...here it comes...there we go, on his feet.]

Right-hand trick. You put your right hand on the right side of the maze and keep it there. See, if all the walls are connected, like in a hedge maze, then they could hypothetically be deformed into a loop or circle. Then wall following reduces to walking around a circle from start to finish. It's math.

[will pauses, then, looking a little embarrassed.] It's. In a book. [he already said that, but he feels like a nerd now.]

Oh. Huh....

[It's definitely nerdy, but Fern looks thoughtful as he mumbles to himself.]

How have I never thought of that before?

[He scratches his chin.]

It's probably faster to just cut through the entire thing, though.

...I mean. Probably, yeah. [will can't think in terms of swords because he generally doesn't have a SWORD with him, but fern is definitely correct.]

I've been in hedge dungeons before. Unless it's some magic hedge - [Though... cursed grass magic has so far trumped every other plant magic he's come across. He shrugs.]

Just watch.

[He takes a few steps closer to one of the hedges, swiping at the leaves casually. The force and very nature of his blade blows the vegetation away, leaving a massive hole.]