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

!!!

[green_cyborg_ninja_dude]

[he leaned over a ways to look at the other, giving a smile behind a scarf, wrapped around his scarred face, though his eyes were in view. He pulled it down a bit to speak.]

I will try my best not to step on you. I seem to have forgotten I fell asleep up here is all. I will be more careful next time.

[His accent is thick, Japanese for sure.] These bunks are much better than a floor, aren't they?

HIYA!!

[almightythirst]

[ Jesse takes in the sight of him in one quick glance, from the scars to his jaw and the cleverly-placed scarf. He's not seen many people of Japanese descent here in England, but he feels pretty confident that he has the accent pinned right. These are all details he'll keep track of, on the off chance they come in handy down the line. Not that he intends them to. It's just habit by now. ]

I just woke up myself. The bunks aren't much to write home about, but definitely better than the floorboards.

[ His own accent is thick and very distinctly American, and his clothes not unlike Genji's. Before his first trip over the Atlantic, he'd decided to leave his usual attire back in the US. Blend in. Keep a low profile. That had lasted all of a few weeks after he'd gotten his feet back on solid ground again. ]

I'll try not to wake you up snorin', but no promises.

[green_cyborg_ninja_dude]

[Genji too was taking the other in, a 3rd class guy who had been on a shit before. Sharp eyes and something to Genji that felt like he knew the guy, but perhaps it was just having seen him in here before.]

[He drew his feet up and folded over the, looking down at the other to be conversational. He was, after all, awake now. Not that he remembered exactly how or when he got here. That wasn't a problem though, was it?]

I barely remember falling asleep, so the bunks must be better than not. [He noticed the accent and smiled about it.] I can sleep through snoring though, so worry not. American, is it?

[almightythirst]

[ Jesse frowns just a little, a hand rubbing at the back of his neck as he thinks. ] Me neither, now that you mention it… must’ve been tired out from all that excitement when we set sail.

[ Doesn’t seem worth thinking more about just now though, and he slips easily back into the moment, the troubled look vanishing completely. ]

Yeeup, sure am. Born and raised. Whereabouts do you hail from, stranger?

[green_cyborg_ninja_dude]

[It was a little worrying, to think he didn't remember coming here to sleep, but in all truth, the other was right, the excitement of the day had been a lot and getting away? Even better. He pushed it from his mind with a nod of agreement.]

Ah, I am from Japan originally. Spend some time abroad and now I am here.

[He wasn't lying either, just not going to admit his father was a big shot anywhere.]

[almightythirst]

[ Jesse knows a purposefully vague answer when he hears one, but he's more intrigued than irritated. Getting to know this new bunkmate could make the trip more interesting; or if not that, at least more pleasant for having made a friend along the way. So long as this friend never finds out Jesse has a bounty on his head that he could cash in for a small fortune. ]

Sounds like you probably have some fun travel stories. I'll trade you some of yours for some of mine one of these days, if you're willin'.

[green_cyborg_ninja_dude]

[He doesn't mean to be too vague, but he doesn't figure many would want to know his full story. Here on the ship he's sure he's away from anyone who knows him, his family or his life. Which is nice.]

[He smiled though, peeking down at the other still. At least his bunk mate isn't to bad so far.]

I don't know if they are fun, but I do have stories. I wouldn't mind swapping stories though. We have plenty of time on this ship after all.

[almightythirst]

[ That's something they have in common without even knowing it: wanting anonymity, at least for the duration of this trip. ]

No fun stories? Don't know about that.

[ He tends to have a well-honed sense for troublemakers not unlike himself, and Genji feels like one. Or like something familiar, anyway. Like they're somehow of a kind. If he's not also suffering from lycanthropy (which Jesse would have figured out by now), then he's got to have a knack for trouble. What else could it be? ]

You're right about one thing though: we've got plenty of time to kill around here. Guess introductions are in order. Name's Joel Morricone.

[green_cyborg_ninja_dude]

[He shifted, lifting both legs to sit indian style in his bunk, leaning over his knees to look to the other. They were both free of being known.]

Well, they might be fun, but they might place me in a light I must hide.

[he smiled at that, a troublemaker for sure by the sounds of it.]

Genji. [he said to Joel, a hand coming up to rub at his scarred face.] Just Genji now. My last name was lost to me some time ago. I brought dishonor to my family, so here I am. It is a pleasure to meet you Joel.

[almightythirst]

[ Consider Jesse officially impressed by the pose. He doesn’t think he could sit like that for more than a minute without some serious back pain.

That spark of recognition he’d felt for the troublemaker in Genji flares up again upon hearing his name. Though he’s surely never heard it before—wouldn’t he remember?—having to hide is familiar ground to him. Another thing they have in common. He’d swindled his way onto this ship determined not to get too involved with any of the other passengers, but here he is face-to-face with a man he thinks could become a friend. But it is really too early to tell, isn’t it? ]

Dishonor, huh? Well, don’t feel like you’ve got to hide much here in this room. Not like there’s space for many secrets anyway. I won’t go askin’, but I bet whatever you’ve done, it won’t shock me. Been all over the place, seen all sorts of things in my time.

[green_cyborg_ninja_dude]

[back pain? Really? Had he legs, they might go to sleep. And his back was modified, so maybe that was why he didn't have the pains. Not that he thought about it like that. After all, the thought of his body being cybernetic was barley a thought]

Dishonored the clan, to which my brother tried to fight me. I left. [Wait, that didn't fit quite right, did it? He frowned, a hand coming up to rub at his jaw. Why was that wrong. Oh well.]

So you are a world traveler? That is what I would like to do. See the sights. No strings attached to any one place.

[almightythirst]

[ He’s an old man Genji, leave him alone. And don’t you dare ever mention that Hanzo could probably do the same thing at a similar age, because he dislikes your brother enough already. ]

Your brother picks a fight with you, and you’re the one who has to leave? Hm.

[ He’s got no room to judge anyone’s decision-making skills, but that still sounds like a shit deal to him. Also, it sounds… incomplete, somehow. Not that he could say why. ]

Somethin’ like that. Plenty of places I haven’t been yet, but I’m always on the move. I like it well enough, but not everybody does. [ He leans forward, arms resting on his knees. ] What’s your plan when you get stateside?

[green_cyborg_ninja_dude]

[Old his metal ass. And Hanzo could, but he's conditioned for it. You just have to do more Yoga, McCree]

Something like that. He is the older of us two.

[It didn't sound right to Genji either, but he had no reason to doubt himself either.]

Mmm, I'm not sure what I want to do first. Wander, I assume. Do small jobs to keep money in my pockets and wander. Make my way out west, I think. You?

[almightythirst]

[ This man has never done yoga in his life, and he’s not about to start now. ]

Ah, seniority.

[ He says it like the implications of that word are very familiar to him. And they are. He’s always had trouble with authority. ]

Well hey, good on you for gettin’ out into the world. You’re better off without havin’ to answer to anyone. As for me, I’m plannin’ on staying east. I hail from out west though, and the deserts out there… [ He looks almost wistful as he remembers. ]

… there’s nothin’ like ‘em anywhere else.

[green_cyborg_ninja_dude]

[Never a bad time to start. Join him.]

Ah, you get it.

[Seniority indeed. Genji was never very fond of it himself either.]

I have heard a great many things about the deserts and the painted rocks out west. But what is keeping you East?

[almightythirst]

[ You're going to have to pay him to get him in on that. He accepts whiskey and all major credit cards. ]

Oh, y'know. Just wanted to see the sights, got distracted... one thing led to another, then I was on a boat to England. Life's weird like that sometimes.

Hope I can get back out there one day though. I miss it.