NOVEMBER TEST DRIVE MEME

[sodder]

NOVEMBER 2019 TEST DRIVE MEME

Welcome to November's Test Drive Meme! This month's Test Drive's theme is: DEATH/ZOMBIE 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: Possible mild cannibalism, organs (including pictures of fake food that looks like organs), mutant insect in linked picture, blood, sensations of starvation, possible binge eating, possible binge drinking.
Don't forget to tag content whenever necessary. Have fun!

Prompt One
Prompt Two
Character Arrival
Master Navigation

NOT BEAST NOR KIN

The blood and organs that have been festering in the ground and walls of Deerington seem to not only be attracting rats at this point, but something far more dangerous and... just plain gross. These deadly looking maggots are roughly the size of an average human. They’re slithering in an out of the ground, filling up holes where some organs seem to have burst open, or writhing around in the wake of the red waves that have left bloody puddles in the street. If you keep your distance, they’re mostly just disgusting to watch, adding to the feeling of utter decay that the town has gone into.

But those who wander too close or who are unfortunate enough to go by a nest of these maggots without noticing could end up swarmed. They can leap farther than something that large should physically be capable of and the sharp teeth on the end of their bodies will pierce through even the toughest of skin and bone. Once they latch on, they won’t let go; not until they’ve finished their meal. If you aren’t quick, the blood loss will be, and you could end up an evening snack for a whole group of these creatures.

They are fairly easy to kill, luckily. Average weapons seem to take them down or you can smash their heads (if you can call it that) with a few good stomps from a boot. The only trouble is how quick they move and how strong they are; you might need to call for help to get away from them when you get cornered by too many of these monsters.

ALL YOU CAN EAT

Maggots aren’t the only things that want to eat, though! And it seems that the community center is aware of that as well. Advertisements are strewn all over town for an all you can eat buffet that will be set up, not even an entrance fee required (though donations are welcome at the door if you’re feeling generous). No one in their right mind would want to go and get food from a party into Deerington at this point though, right? Of course not. You’re way too clever for that.

Except that as the party draws closer, anyone who saw the advertisements will find themselves slowly feeling like they’re starving. There’s a hallow belly feeling that no amount of food you consume will ever be able to fill. It feels like you might go crazy from how bad the hunger gets, craving something to fill your stomach, anything... And in the back of your mind, you might remember the buffet. You might start to feel a strange realization that the food they’re offering will actually help get rid of your cravings and you’ll be drawn to the party no matter how adamant you’ve been that it’s not a good idea.

The spread they offer isn’t something that should be appetizing to most on a regular basis; raw, very clearly human organs are laid out across the table on fairly decorative plates. A fountain of what looks like blood is put up in place of chocolate for you to dip your food into. No matter how disgusted you might normally feel, you find yourself practically drooling at the mouth and you’re quick to grab a plate and dive in.

At least the drinks look like they’re normal; sodas, beer, wine, champagne, and liquors ready to create your favorite cocktails. A menu will give you an idea of what pairs best with each organ, so make sure you select something that goes perfectly with your plate of intestines.

What would a Deerington party be without something tricky attached to all this. Even the smallest bites of any of the organs will offer sudden changes to the consumer, each power growing stronger the more that you eat.

• Eating BRAINS will make it so that you are able to hear another person’s thoughts. Anyone standing near by, really. They’ll trickle in slowly at first, but the more that you eat, the more you’ll hear, and eventually it could become overwhelming. Sometimes you can focus in on just one person if you stare at them intently, but that could make you look like a creep. Maybe you should just go somewhere quiet until it passes.


• Eating a HEART will make you feel compelled to confess your emotions to someone. Maybe a specific person or maybe it’s towards a complete stranger, but you just want to get everything out onto the table. You’re overcome with feelings so strong you don’t know how to contain them anymore and you’ve just got to get them out somehow.


• Eating LIVER will cause you to want to drink. A lot. You might find that you’re not able to get enough, even. It doesn’t make you immune to the alcohol though, so it’s got the potential to lead some pretty nasty alcohol poisoning if you aren’t careful. Characters who usually can’t get drunk will find that consuming liver makes them a total lightweight. Woops. Better have someone help you walk home.


• Eating the STOMACH will make you want to eat everything. You’ll no longer feel starving, but you just want to taste any food that’s near you, and you won’t stop no matter how full you feel. It’s not just organs, but any food consumed outside of the buffet. It might be a bad time to go to Peter’s Pizza for a late night meal.


• Eating INTESTINES will give you an abundance of courage. You’ll find that you’ve got guts you never knew you had and it might make you willing to go tell your crush how you feel about them, or tell off that one guy who’s been pissing you off for weeks, or maybe you might start to think it’s cool to go scale a building or fight a monster when you don’t have any skill sets to actually take one down. Hopefully you don’t do anything you’ll regret in the morning— assuming you don’t get yourself killed doing something stupid, of course.


• Eating EYEBALLS will allow you to obtain the memory of the first person that you touch. Depending on how much you’ve eaten, you may just see a small snippet or you could get sucked in to a full and heavy flashback. The memory will feel like it takes place in real time, but by the time that it’s over, you’ll find that whoever you touched is only just starting to ask you what’s wrong — or tell you to watch where you’re going, buster.


All affects from the food will wear off within about an hour if you’ve only had a bite — or they could last up to twelve if you really stuffed yourself. Please be sure to obtain OOC permission from any players for the brain and eyeball prompts!

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

Not Beast Nor Kin

[onerthes]

[Hello there, fellow rapier user! Vira-Lorr caught sight of her plight just as she came around a corner and heard the sound of her voice in distress. She raced over, brandishing her own blade while Weiss was jumping to avoid the first lunge.

Her stab caused one of the creatures to shriek in pain and alarm, its fellows twisting their heads and trying to decide between one piece of meet and another.]

Quickly, we need to get out of here before they all mob us at once!

[dustprincess]

[Being sized up as a meal just makes Weiss shiver.]

We'll have to run fast! They can jump pretty far.

[onerthes]

[She swiped with her blade, causing the ground on the other side of the two of them to erupt in stone. The spikes stood between them and several of the maggots. They'd get around it, but as the faint gore erupted, it would serve as a delaying action. Reaching down for Weiss' wrist, she started to run hard.]

Let's not dally. Come on! Introductions can wait until we're not lunch!

[dustprincess]

[Oh! A Semblance? How lucky! Weiss hasn't even tried to use hers just yet.

Having her wrist grabbed just reminds her too much of Ruby and Yang.]

H-Hey! I can run on my own!

[onerthes]

I am certain that you can, but one way or another, we need to get away from here yes?

[She tilted her head and winked at the girl, right before a horrified sound reached her throat. One of those clever things was clambering up on the rocks and lunging from above even as they ran.]

Behind you!

[dustprincess]

[Wow. This woman was a lot like Yang with that comment and wink. Weiss sighs with some resignation.

She looks behind her and raises her blade, making a barrier that the maggot bounces off of.]

Got it!

[onerthes]

[There were some marked similarities, though she was much less... energetic than Yang could be at times, particularly when not in a fight. The sight of the barrier clanging and the creature dropping to the ground got a quick grunt of approval. It was dazed pretty badly so they had a few seconds to run.

She did, at least, let go of Weiss' hand and motion for her to follow.]

We should be safe at my place. Follow me!

[dustprincess]

Right.

[Weiss follows as fast as she can. Being the lowest stamina person in her team... hopefully it's not too far before Weiss runs out of energy.]

[onerthes]

[The pace slowed considerably when it was obvious that the maggots weren't going to aggressively give chase. They were still there, but outside of lunging they weren't as fast as people were. Still, it wasn't a long walk before they were on a street of townhouses and she was leading Weiss up towards one of the first on the street. From within, a dog barked happily as she worked the door.]

I hope you do not mind animals?

[dustprincess]

As long as it doesn't slober all over me, I'm fine with anything.

[Despite her appearance, she does like babies and animals. Just has to keep up appearance.

And thank goodness the maggots stopped following. Weiss can catch her breath before entering the other woman's home.]

[onerthes]

... one moment.

[she opened the door and brought her hand up to stop the very large, mangy looking husky from leaping out to do just what Weiss was afraid of. She managed to forestall him, mostly by taking the brunt of the slobber and jumping.]

Down, Winfield! Susan! Susan, get winfield outside please!

[And there was a crack of lightning from the kitchen that gave a little spark to the dog's rear. It was obviously not a sharp bolt, just a little jolt, but it startled him and he barked back at the kitchen before chasing after a flutter of green feathers. A few seconds later? The door in the back slammed and she sighed, wiping her face off.]

Sorry about Winfield. He's... excitable. Come in. Sharona's around somewhere, but she's very docile.

[dustprincess]

[Weiss squeaks at the appearance of a large dog. Then the spark. What... what is going on...

She carefully peeks into the house.]

There's... more?

[onerthes]

[Indeed, there was more. One more, in fact. While Susan kept Winfield distracted out back, a solitary and statuesque creature similar to a wolf with a scythe on its forehead padded downstairs. It paused to look at Weiss with calm, intelligent eyes.]

'sol.

[And, as if that were everything that needed to be said, it proceeded to pad over to the living area and settle itself quietly in there, watching out of the window with mournful, tired eyes. Always so much disaster in this place...

Vira-Lorr motioned for her to come in and beckoned towards the kitchen.]

Sharona won't bother you much unless you want to say hello. She keeps to herself. If you want to use the washroom, it's down the hall and I have a sauna upstairs.

[dustprincess]

[Tensing up, Weiss feels a sense of dread. That looks like a Grimm. Her hand tightens around her rapier grip till Sharona moves away.]

W... What is that thing?

[She's not moving till Vira-Lorr tells her that's not a Grimm...]

[onerthes]

[She saw the tension, as did Sharona, and while one simply sighed, the offered an understanding smile. Sharona could be a little intimidating to look at.]

That, my dear, is an Absol. It is a type of what is called a "Pokemon." They're from a world that a young man of my acquaintance hailed from, though sadly Franciscus is no longer among us. Sodder gifted me her a while back. She's perfectly safe, I assure you.

Not harmless, of course. Even old Winfield can defend himself, but she's very well trained and behaved. Don't let the sinister look frighten you.

[dustprincess]

[Pokemon. Not Grimm. Weiss relaxes a bit.]

I'm not frightened... she just looks a lot like the creatures I hunted back home.

[onerthes]

... I see. Do make yourself comfortable. Sharona won't bother you, I assure you.

[Those red eyes stared back at Weiss for a moment from the living room before turning back to the window, quiet and contemplative. Nope, it wasn't going to pick a fight.]

So... my Absol looked like something you used to hunt? What were those creatures like? Were any of them great prehistoric birds?

[dustprincess]

Right. Thank you.

[She appreciates you for that, Sharona.]

They were black and had skeleton pieces on them. Like skull masks. They came in all sorts of shapes and sized... and there are bird type Grimm. Some of them get huge.

[onerthes]

[Good thing she didn't also have a Duskull. That would have been really awkward. Really really awkward.]

Ah, no, that's nothing like his Archeops. Franciscus introduced me to these creatures. He used to ride on a great winged bird that was from another era. It had lizard-like features along with its bird-like ones

[dustprincess]

So you got a creature from a world that wasn't your own, and shown more of those creatures. That's really weird but kind of cool?

[onerthes]

[She made a mental note not to show Weiss the xenomorph skull she kept as a trophy in the hall closet. That might be a bit much for her.]

This place seems to be a ... meeting and joining I suppose you might say, of many worlds and lives. So little moments of strangeness like that aren't unheard of around here. I'd dare to say they're almost common at times.

[dustprincess]

[Thank you for considering her feelings.]

I see... so there's a chance my friends might come here. How long do people usually wait for that to happen?

[onerthes]

There's a chance one of two things may happen. You may see your friends here, but they could be fabrications of the nightmare. Ghosts. Monstrous versions, hauntings, fake tombstones with their names... It could happen at any time.

Or they could appear here like you have. It usually happens around the middle of the month, just before the latest insanity that follows the lunar cycles. When people arrive, check your phone. If you see someone familiar, perhaps they've arrived.

Other than that, it's hard to predict.