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

Kurt skids to a halt on the grass, trying not to imagine the swing of that horrible blade cutting into them both.

He wraps his arms around Jean-Paul, feeling the slippery heat of the blood from his shoulder through his clothes. For a single brief second he holds the other mutant, feels his weight; he sends up a single desperate prayer to God.

Please, let this work.

Kurt closes his eyes and --

BAMF

They reappear in a cloud of purple sulphurous smoke in a different corridor of the maze, a way behind and a turn or two away from the monster. It's impossible to tell the difference between the hedges, but it has worked, although it hasn't taken them as far as Kurt had wanted.

As the monster's frustrated roar rises into the air, Kurt collapses to the grass with a moan, pain tearing up through the center of his body, ratcheting up his spine to the base of his skull. He tastes blood in the back of his throat, but turns to look at Jean-Paul. Logan had survived a similar jaunt, though it had cost him with dizziness and fatigue. He hopes his elfin companion was as lucky.

Edited 2019-08-06 13:32 (UTC)

Jean-Paul sprawls against the grass, the wind knocked out of him. He lays there for a second, eyes wide and staring at nothing, before he hisses air in over his lip. "Ah," he gasps quietly. "Oh. Ah."

Groggy, he pulls himself into a sitting position through sheer force of will. Jean-Paul sits there a moment, breathing shallowly through the pain that seems to come from everywhere all at once. He nudges Kurt with his foot.

"Hey," he whispers. "Kurt? Can you stand?" He isn't actually sure if he himself can manage that, but he knows they can't very well sit and wait.

Satisfied that Jean-Paul is at least alive, Kurt lowers his face back into the grass and makes a low groan in response. If he was the type to curse, he would have done so freely. As it is, he slowly pushes himself up onto his elbows, wincing. A trickle of blood runs from his nose over his upper lip. He dabs at it with his fingertips and then examines them, frowning at the sight of the redness against his indigo fur.

"Ja, I just need.. a moment," he murmurs. "I feel like a Sentinel has used me as a football."

With those words, a thought occurs to him and is on his lips before he can stop it. He turns his head to look at Jean-Paul.

"Why.. why is this happening to me, but your powers are unchanged?"

Jean-Paul shrugs and immediately hisses with pain. He reaches to gingerly feel at the gash on his back.

"Mine are a little off. I can't generate light properly, and I don't heal as quick as I did before. But why I got off lightly and you did not? I don't know."

His lips quirk into the ghost of a smirk. "Maybe this really IS hell and the devil likes me more."

His fingers come away from his back wet. He examines his fingers and sighs before he starts pulling himself to his feet. He's clearly in pain, but it's just as clear that he's not about to succumb to it.

"I can help you walk. Just stay on my good side."

As much as he wants to, Kurt doesn't quite have the energy to roll his eyes at Jean-Paul's quip. He lowers his head for a few breaths, trying to suppress the pain that rolls through him with every movement, then forces himself to push up from the ground.

Grimacing, he moves into a habitual crouch. A tickling in his right ear has him reaching up to touch it with a fingertip. It comes away wet and red. He studies the blood for a moment, then sighs and glances up at Jean-Paul.

"Here," he says, shrugging carefully out of the light cotton hoodie he had been wearing on the other side -- how long ago had that been? -- and that had somehow survived his journey so far. He offers it to Jean-Paul. "Tie this around yourself tightly, to help stop the bleeding."