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

"I see..."

Now that Mami has had a closer look at the cat, it's clear that it's no normal creature. Another oddity of this world for sure. But it doesn't seem that dangerous... at least not yet.

"It seems friendly enough," She observed. She bent over a little and held her hand toward it, just trying to be friendly too.

"Cats are friendly enough to almost anyone. Scratch their ears and they'll let you get away with murder." The cat didn't actually agree with that, but it wasn't going to bring that up right then. Rubbing its head up against Mami's hand, it purred softly, content with all of the affection it was getting. It was the center of the world and it knew it.

Larxene settled for petting back to its tail quietly. "So then. You've seen my tricks, magical girl. Tell me. What kinds of tricks make a magical girl magic, mmmm?"

Mami giggles a little, gently scratching the ear back. She does have a certain weakness to cute things after all.

But the question makes her pull her hand back and straighten up again. "Magical girl magic?" She asks. "Well... it varies between each magical girl, but mine specially is ribbon based." She gently tugs on the ribbon around her neck without thinking much of it. "I've been able to use it to trap enemies as well as create weapons with it. Like my musket-"

In a flash of gold light, an old looking gun appeared in her hands.

Oh? She caught sight of the ribbons and the musket, whistling once at their sight. So, a ranged combatant with a bit of field control through her ensnaring ribbons? The gun wasn't something unusual. There'd been a few amongst the armies of Maleficent and other uglies that had a penchant for firearms after all. Not many, but they were there. Yeah, that tactic could work.

"Quite the little sniper girl are you? Tie them down and blow them away. And here with all those smiles I wouldn't have taken you for the cold and methodical type. I'm almost impressed." As she talked, she kept petting the cat quietly, filing the tactical information away for future reference. Surprise would be valuable if she had to fight this one sometime.

She gives a weak laugh back and lets the musket disappear. "You'd be surprised," She replies, only partially a threat. After all, there was no need to fight now, but Mami did have a little bit of a reputation back home for not putting up with a lot. And this woman definitely rubbed her the wrong way...

"And you? You have some kind of electric magic then?"

Nope, no need to fight, and Larxene was prone to rubbing even the few people who liked her the wrong way. It was a gift of hers, to be such a charming, warm and inviting soul. "Too clever," she said, giggling and looking over at Mami with one elbow propped on the back of her hand, finger tapping at her chin. "I might have a few more magical tricks up my sleeve, but a girl has to have her style, and I have always loved that crackle and crack. So sudden, so fierce."

"I see," Mami says, reaching down to pet the cat walking between them again. "It's certainly unique; I'm not sure if I've seen anyone else with powers like that.

"If you don't mind me asking, how did you get your magic? I've never met another person who hasn't made a contract before who can use powers like that. I can't help but be curious...."

"Oooh, now wouldn't you like to know the secret of my powers?" She put a finger up in a conspiratorial fashion, laughing pretty openly, her sardonic, wry little grin there on her face and never quite reaching her eyes. "I'll just say that a bargain might have been struck once upon a time, but I've always known how to summon lightning to my fingertips. Getting good at that? Now, that's how I have fun."

Which is to say electrocuting fools. Lots of them.

"A... bargain?" Now that's curious. Maybe Larxene did make some sort of contract then, but not the same one as she did. Even though she doesn't trust this woman that much yet, she does hope it was for the best in the end. Mami's been starting to question her own contract...

"And what will you do now that your powers won't work properly here?"

"Of a sort. The sort that made me what I am," she said, being evasive about the details as usual. She wasn't about to reveal what the nature of a Nobody was, or that whole 'keyblade legacy' garbage, whatever Xemnas had been babbling about. Her memories of Elrena had never been strong, and she'd never cared that much to know better.

"Oh, I think I can handle a few fizzles. Why ever would I stop using my precious lightning just because it takes two snaps of my finger instead of one?" Boy was that an understatement about how depowered she was, but she had always been a cocky creature. "I suppose I'll be looking into a way to properly thank whoever's responsible for that." That tone when she said that did not sound healthy even if she was giggling and smiling.

That is....vague. Though Mami doesn't really blame her. Yes she did show off some of her own powers, but most of what she is still a secret for a reason. Better to protect herself now in this unfamiliar place and around a possibly dangerous being.

"At least try to keep yourself out of trouble," She sighs. Then her gaze turns to the cat. "We don't know who may be behind all this after all..." Despite saying that, she does give the cat another friendly scratch.

"So, what do you think you'll do now?" The girl asks this mostly out of curiosity, but she's also wondering what to do herself.

Secrecy was both a good practical concern, not to mention a fun game to play at the expense of others. Larxene certainly enjoyed it in her own time. "Oh, I really really doubt I'll be able to do that soon enough. Trouble always seems to find me," she said, giggling away in amusement. "For now, though, I'm in no hurry. Might as well have a look around this quaint little town and see what fun there is to have. Since I'm stuck here."

"I see... well in that case..."

Mami smiles at her.

"Why don't we go get some tea together then? It could be fun."

"Next thing you know, you'll be asking me out for salted ice cream treats or something stupid like that." She grunted at the thought of it, but she also didn't have anything better to do, not really.

"Fine, but don't go prattling the f word around, or I'll give you a short circuit and be on my way." Because Friend was a dirty word for this one.

"Fine by me," Mami laughs quietly then goes to lead the way.

She doesn't really know what Larxene means by salted ice cream (she's not a fan of salted treats anyway), but she's completely fine with not being friends. In fact it's probably better that way for now.

But who knows what this world would bring for them. Maybe they would end up needing each other... or maybe even they would destroy each other. Only time would tell.

(OOC: And they ran off to live happily ever after, sitting on the lip of clock towers and talking about their feelings! Hah, not! Yeah, this is a great point.

Good luck on your app!)