JANUARY 2020 TEST DRIVE MEME

[sodder]

JANUARY 2020 TEST DRIVE MEME

Welcome to January's Test Drive Meme! This month's Test Drive's theme is: OCEAN 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.

PLEASE NOTE FOR CHARACTER ARRIVALS: This month, all players can choose to have their characters wake up in the town of Deerington or on the Titanic.

CW: Ghost of a child, rotting corpses, drowning, hallucinations, paranoia
Don't forget to tag content whenever necessary. Have fun!

Prompt One
Prompt Two
Character Arrival
Master Navigation

WHERE FEET MAY FAIL

For those who were left behind in Deerington while everyone else was whisked away in the flood during the New Years Eve party, they will find that the town is a little more wet than usual. The streets are still flooded, houses are damp, and the chill of winter isn't making it easy to deal with. Your hands can feel like ice any day of the week and it's hard to focus with how badly you may find yourself trembling from the cold.

But it's almost preferable to the visions. They start off while you're sleeping; large sea monsters roaming the ocean, waiting to pull you down into the darkened depths; or maybe it's a strange, ghost looking girl with glowing eyes and tattered clothing, her skin blue and rotting the way a body does when it's been submerged in water for too long. She's calling out to you, beckoning you down, and all around her are the strung up, floating corpses of the people who were foolish enough to listen.

It's just a dream though, right? Slowly you start to see the girl around town. She's still calling to you, watching you, waiting for you. If you get too close, she'll even be able to grab onto you, pulling you down into the waterlogged streets, and into what you thought was only a puddle of water. It's as deep as an ocean, and just as dark and cold too. Someone near by can grab onto you before she can drag you under and the vision will disappear. If no one does, maybe if you're a strong swimmer, you'll be able to struggle free, but when you resurface, there will be a bruise forming on your arm in the shape of a hand – something to remind you that maybe these visions are a little more real than you gave them credit for.

The only way to stay safe is to travel in pairs. The girl seems to keep her distance when there's more than one person around, but it doesn't mean she won't try to find the means to separate you. Whether it's increasing the flooding in certain areas of the street or trying to distract one of you long enough to put some distance between you and your comrade, she'll do whatever it takes to try and grab onto whoever she can.

GHOST SHIP

Those who are on the boat might find that life is a little easier, depending on what class you've found yourself in. The struggles between first, second, and third are certainly rough on everyone, but many seem to find themselves thinking this is just the way of things. Maybe your mind has been altered to just accept the class differences or your memories completely rewritten and you think you've led a completely different life so far; either way, only a handful of passengers seem to fully understand that this isn't the way things are supposed to be.

There's nothing anyone can do to change things, though, and so many find themselves getting lost in day to day activities. Whether it's working on the ship, enjoying the finer foods in the first class dining halls, or enjoying the rowdy parties in third class storage after hours, everyone seems to be finding something to keep themselves occupied. As the days pass, even those who know full well what's coming seem to forget the looming doom, and you might even find yourself feeling lost in the monotony of day to day life.

But those who stare into the water too long, who look at the strange, large shapes swimming just under the surface might find a sense of dread filling them. The paranoia will shake you to your very core, leaving you with a sense that all is not right with this journey. You can try to tell people, but most will look at you as though you're insane. Eventually, your fear will become so heavy that you start to see destruction all around you. Whole sections of the ship will look flooded, rotting wood and rusted steel taking over every inch of the once proud ship, and every section is covered in algae. You might start to realize it looks uncannily like an old shipwreck.

The ship is still floating, though, and the coarse steady. So it's all in your head, right? Staying away from the water will make the visions and paranoia eventually ebb, but any glance at the floating shapes will cause it to come back tenfold. Maybe just stay inside and away from the ship's edge. It seems a lot safer that way.

Character Arrival

You can read how all characters arrive in Deerington here.

NOTE: Character's this month can wake up in Deerington or on the Titanic.

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

wei wuxian | the untamed

[weiward]

third class storage:

[he grew up in lotus pier, so this is far from wei wuxian's first time on a boat. he doesn't remember any of them being this huge or this fancy, but he hears that a lot from the other passengers too.

this superimposes itself over his memories, but wei wuxian still finds enough familiar things to keep him busy. some people treat the third class passengers poorly, and he always has something to say about that when it happens in his presence. he gets in more than one fight over it, always finding trouble during the day and mischief during the night.

mischief being alcohol. he's drinking more than his share of it while the music and dancing are going on around him. wei wuxian laughs brightly as he wipes some of it from his chin.]

It's cheap but it's good! If no one else wants some, that leaves more for me!

[his grin falters when he looks to his side. it's like he expected someone to be there. or, in the event that there is, someone else.]

on deck:

[he's only slightly buzzed when the party's over, and comes up on deck for some of the fresher night air. there's a more melancholy air surrounding wei wuxian now, and it's not helped by the bittersweet tune that he's playing on his flute.

it's only when he opens his eyes that he sees the dark shapes in the water.]

Huh? [he grips the railing and stares before his eyes go wide.] Water ghosts...water ghosts!

[wei wuxian backs away, gripping his flute until his knuckles are white. he reaches out for anyone else on deck and if he seems like a madman...well, it wouldn't be the first time.] There's water ghosts clinging to the bottom of the ship!

wildcard:

[encounter him anywhere else you'd like on the ship!]

deck

[shslliar]

[Kokichi had just worked up the courage to go on deck again, and now this weirdo with a flute is yelling at him about "water ghosts." Hoo boy.]

Wait, what?!

[weiward]

[it could be worse. he could be yelling about the aqua demon. be glad that thought hasn't occurred to him yet.]

Water ghosts! The ghosts of people who've drowned, but I saw more than one. Quick, do you know what town we're closest to? We need to get message to the nearest clan for back-up!

[shslliar]

Uh... Huh.

[This is the Titanic. That theory holds water... But Kokichi just got here and this guy might be affected by whatever's messing with people's minds so...]

Yeah, we're in the Bermuda Triangle, buddy. A lot of people drown here. Just don't stare at the water ghosts too long and they'll leave the ship alone.

[weiward]

[the bermuda triangle rings zero bells. wei wuxian can't think of a single sect attached to a place named that.

he does calm a little before chuckling at that advice.]

Eh - friend. Water ghosts aren't carp. They're not known for just leaving people alone. If we don't get rid of them, they'll definitely cause the boat some trouble.

[shslliar]

[Kokichi scoffs.]

And how do you know so much about the ghosts around here?

on deck!

[blackwaterchild]

[Miu's spent most of her time here in a poor mood, but that was fairly typical for her, honestly. Whatever compulsion that had tried to be cast over her had been broken fairly easily for her and she'd spent most of the trip keeping to herself and being disgruntled trying to figure out how to get off the ghost ship that seemed to be slowly deteriorating around them--not that anyone else seemed to notice.

Annoying.

You know what else is annoying? This guy suddenly flailing at her. She'd been curiously following the sound of the flute (the sound of it made her heart clench oddly and she'd been on her way to tell him to knock it off), and now she had to deal with this. Instinctively she recoils from the physical touch, brow furrowed in annoyance at first before what he's say registers.]

Ghosts? [And then, with more authority:] Let me see. [Hey look, finally something she'll know how to handle!]

[weiward]

Be careful! They're in the water. They're probably underneath the ship as well.

[and a ship this size, just how many would that be? they're travelling across a larger body of water than wei wuxian has personally ever seen, but could so many people have all drowned in one place?

or maybe it's something worse. because right now his mind is definitely set down the path of thinking of worse things.]

How many cultivators are on this ship?

[funny. he hadn't even thought about that until now. wei wuxian shakes his head, tapping the side of it with his palm.]

[blackwaterchild]

[She frowns, watching him carefully as he works through what's happening. She's not sure how strong the compulsion over him was, but he seems to be 'waking up' from it, at least a little.]

A cultivator? Like an exorcist? [Since that's the only reason she can figure he's asking for something like that in connection with ghosts.]

Me, I guess. [For a given value of 'exorcist' and all, and she would never think of herself as such a thing normally, but... Right now doesn't seem the time to be worried about things like that.]

[weiward]

Exactly. We have to exorcise them before they join together and gobble us up.

[his heart is still racing, and the whispers inside his head still tell him to be afraid, be terrified. but it's not deep enough to change who wei wuxian is completely. this needs to be dealt with, and he won't run for the hills.]

You? [even for a disciple, she looks young. but as wei wuxian looks around the ship, he starts to see more and more to worry about. he squeezes his eyes shut for a moment before nodding.] Let's hurry.

[blackwaterchild]

[She looks skeptical at the idea of these water ghosts eating them (since when did ghosts do that?), but then draw herself up with a challenging expression]

Yes, me. [What's the part that makes her look like she couldn't be one? Is it the short skirt and thigh-highs or the seeming absolute lack of any weapons?

So, you know, that's fair. She thrives off not being seen as one, since that's way too much of a hassle. People then expect you to help.

In retrospect, Miu thinks she shouldn't have said anything here either, but she's tired of being on this ship and if outing herself is a necessary evil to getting back to something sorta normal, then she'll deal with it.]

Those things have probably been clinging to this ship for days. They can wait two minutes while you get ahold of yourself. You're starting to see everything for how it really is too, right? Take a breath.

on deck

[gremlinkeeper]

[Is it any wonder that when Wei Wuxian is in danger that Lan Wangji appears? Be it because of the draw of the flute, or the cry about there being water ghosts, Wangji almost flies to the railing to look down, hand tightening around Bichen. He spares Wei Ying a steadying glance though, but also to make sure the other man is unharmed.]

Wei Ying. [The calm down is implied, but also the reassurance is there. That Wei Ying isn't alone now. That he isn't crazy. And that he isn't seeing things that aren't there.]

They do not appear to be coming out of the water.

[weiward]

[if wei wuxian invented the compass of evil, lan wangji surely invented the compass of wei wuxian - according to some people, those two things are one and the same.

as soon as he hears that voice, the fog inside wei ying's head tries to lift. he knows this man, who looks as steady and as stern as he always does. he closes his eyes and takes a deep, steadying breath. and when he opens them again to see him still there, he can't help but smile.]

Lan Zhan. [he walks closer to his side again to take another look into the water.] No. Still, it can't be good for so many of them to be gathered in one place.

[gremlinkeeper]

[This isn't right. Wei Ying is dead. He's looked. So many other people have searched, even if just for this man's body.

And yet Wei Wuxian stands right next to him.

And Wangji doesn't seem to mind if it means he's just as dead. Not if through death, he can be where he belongs. With Wei Ying.

But the water ghosts concern the other man, and so he'll try and help.]

So many could form a demon. And this ship is too far from shore. [He'd been looking.]

[weiward]

[he should be dead. he remembers lan wangji's face above him. he remembers the anguish on it. it wasn't the way he wanted to leave the world.

a dream, maybe? or perhaps this is the dream. it has that sort of feeling. either way, wei ying's gaze catches on lan zhan for a long moment.

he lifts the flute to his lips again. they are far from shore, and the resentful energy might be too thin. still, where there is water, there is always drownings and shipwrecks.]

[gremlinkeeper]

[Three years dead, and Lan Wangji has been aware of every single hour of that loss. If this is a dream, he never wants to wake up. A-Yuan is being cared for, despite his birth clan.

He looks back, gaze steady and almost expectant. He stays close when Wei Ying starts to play, not to stop him, but to make sure he's there for catch him, or support him, or...anything else Wuxian needs from him.

And he's here to keep other people from interfering.]

deck

[lanofsizhui]

[There are ghosts everywhere. Lan Sizhui can feel it. The melancholy and energy are thick. He didn't have much practice with spirits, his skill level is that of a junior. On deck, he can see them and sense the spirits, and they give him the chills.

Further down the deck, he sees a familiar person on board and he was being grabbed, seeing the one person he holds dear being in a state of panic.]

Father...? [Then catches himself.] Senior Wei! You are here. Are you all right?

[Bravery and courage, they need it now. Though Lan Sizhui is also trembling in fear.]

[weiward]

[this ship...is definitely playing with his head. he could've sworn that he just heard this young man call him 'father'. there's a moment where wei wuxian's mind flashes backward, less because of the word and more because of the feeling associated with it.

it would've knocked him off his feet if he'd let it.

but wei wuxian straightens, with a little help from the hand that he's instinctively placed on sizhui's shoulder. he sees the robes of the lan clan. he sees the nervousness and the determination in his young face. he remembers him from their brief meeting in mo manor. the polite one - obviously raised well, he was.]

I'm fine. [the longer he looks away from the water, the truer it is. he shakes his head as if clearing it even more.] Where are the others? It's not good to be out here alone.

[lanofsizhui]

[Sizhui came from a much later time where he remembered memories he buried deep from his childhood. His love and respect for Wei Wuxian is a gap of 16 years, so Sizhui has grown. With relief, he stayed by his side while he guides him away from the rails since he senses the source of darkness is swimming beneath the waters.

If he guides him away from the water, the terror will lessen. For now, he stays by his side, so Wei Wuxian won't be alone.]

No, not good at all. I came alone. I couldn't find the others. I think me and the other juniors are separated. I have no idea where we are going on this boat.

What about you Senior Wei?

[weiward]

[this is good. this is someone wei wuxian can protect. this is someone who can keep him from staring into the waters and losing it.

mostly, this is someone wei wuxian can act like the wise older brother around. he does enjoy that. he pats his shoulder once more, voice more certain and reassuring.]

If they're here, we'll find them. If they're not, then they're safer.

[the same could be said for lan zhan. he swallows against the hope and longing he feels for wanting to see him.]

Wherever we're going, it should be safer than this ship. Are you able to maneuver your sword?

[if the ship does go down, maybe sizhui can at least fly above it and stay safe.]

[lanofsizhui]

[Lan Sizhui doesn't have much experience with ghosts and spirits being at a junior level but he can sense danger. He has fought zombies which is just as terrifying.

At the moment, they're safe for now. Sizhui wearing the same fashion a Lan Zhan as this is someone from home of Cloud Recesses who is familiar and recognized him. With a nod.]

I hope we could. This ship is scary. [At the suggestion of his sword.] My sword? Yes, it can fly.

on deck

[angelic_archer]

[The more time Alec spends staring out at the water, the more unnerved he becomes. Eventually he starts patrolling the way he would if he was still in New York. He doesn't have his gear and his only weapons are a few knives that he swiped from the kitchens, but he still keeps watch.

He's used to the other passengers reacting in various ways to the shapes in the water. Some seem oblivious. Others seem to question their sanity. The one that attempts to grab him seems to be a Mundane with the Sight and knows that something supernatural is near the ship.

Alec starts moving automatically, sidestepping the reaching hand, but stopping himself before he does more than that. This being's a frightened Mundane, not a demon or a mugger. Making a placating gesture, he keeps some distance between himself and the other passenger in case the being starts to panic.]

There's something in the water, but I don't know if it's a ghost.

[weiward]

[he shouldn't be so relieved that someone else sees them too. but at least that means that it's not madness inside his head...this time.

wei wuxian looks at him, daring another peak over the edge of the ship.]

A monster, then? Something not human.

[different category but just as troublesome if it's set on a ship full of people.]

[angelic_archer]

[The caution causes Alec to wonder if the Mundane knew that he had the Sight. This could be the first time that the being had seen something that was part of the Downworld. Thinking of how Clary had panicked, he keeps his tone steady, the way he would if his parabatai was having a nightmare.]

It might be a monster, or something that others think of as a monster. Sometimes the things in legends aren't as terrible as people believe.

[Leaning over the rail, Alec tries to compare the shape in the water with all the creatures he's studied over the years. Despite his efforts, he can't see enough of it to determine what it is.]

I don't know which this thing might be.

[weiward]

[well, he can agree with that theory. sometimes wicked tricks aren't so wicked. sometimes the bad can be used for good. one of his best friends is basically a zombie.]

We're still afloat. [and they've been afloat for...as long as wei wuxian can remember. it's a little foggy inside his head right now.] It could be that it's something that doesn't mean us harm.