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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

He sure did, you scoundrel! Wesley bristles, sticking out his chin like a blade as he glares at him.

"While your lack of manners and this utterly childish behaviour tell me you are hardly worth the time, this insolence shall not stand!"

The words are clipped, the vowels drawn out in a sneer.

"I challenge you to a duel!"

There's a very long, long pause.

Lindsey looks behind him and back towards Wesley, pointing at himself.

Is he...is he serious?

"Me. A duel."

A beat.

"For tripping you."

Another beat.

"No."

No thanks, he's hungry. He reaches over to pat Wesley on the shoulder as he moves a couple steps down towards the dining room.

"What?"

That... He did not expect that. At all. Wesley is stunned, so stunned his mouth just opens and closes a few times while Lindsey pushes past him.

Honestly, he has no idea what to do now. The idea that someone would just decline a duel is so laughable and outlandish that it throws him for a loop.

"W-wait!"

He hurries after the man, eyes wide. Did someone overhear their exchange? Dear God, he hopes not. How utterly embarrassing!

"Whatever do you mean, no? You cannot be serious?"

Lindsey stops at least, this guy is amusing. He pauses at the bottom of the stairs, crossing his arms and shrugging.

"No. That's what I mean."

He grins.

"What, are the dueling police gonna come after me now? Is the Captain of the ship gonna toss me overboard? I really don't think you can make me do anything I don't wanna do."

But hey.

"Now if I did 'duel' you? I'd win and you'd be dead. So I just saved your life. You're welcome."

Wesley just sputters at this impossibility, looking very much like he's about to have a conniption.

"Maybe I shall indeed tell everyone what a fraud you are," he shoots back in a snippish voice.

"It's obvious you don't belong here. With that mouth of yours, clearly you made your way up here from below to deceive the good people on this journey. Did you steal these clothes? We had better conduct an investigation. Maybe they shall toss you overboard indeed!"

Lindsey laughs, turning to leave again when--

--when he goes and says that.

Lindsey stops cold, turning back around, all mirth gone and a cold sort of rage burning in his eyes.

"I think...you're mistaken."

He takes an aggressive step closer.

"I have a ticket, I belong here. These are my clothes, I bought 'em. But maybe I oughta toss you overboard."

Aha! A reaction!

There is a grim and nasty sense of satisfaction when Wesley finally gets a rouse out of the man who so dastardly tripped him over and then refused his attempt of saving face. It's childish, yes, but he doesn't care, he sees that opening and latches on to it.

"Am I."

He sticks his chin out, circling Lindsey, one hand coming up to flatten his tie.

"I'm not so sure about that. You may have the looks but you surely don't have the attitude. It's in your voice, your movements, your... everything. What now, are you going to swing at me like the fairground boxer you are? I beseech you, good sir, do control yourself. If you can."

Edited 2019-12-31 01:23 (UTC)

"You--"

Lindsey sputters, every word hitting at a long-buried insecurity. He looks down at his clothes for a moment, frantically trying to figure out what's giving him away. Was it his walk? The fact he tripped someone surely couldn't be it...

"Who do you think you are!?"

Because yes. Yes, he is going to swing at him like a fairground boxer, his hands already balled into fists.

"If that's what I am to you, what's the point in hiding?"

He reaches out to attempt to grab him by that stupidly flattened tie.

He didn't expect that.

Not in here, not with so many people around. Wesley's eyes widen in sudden alarm but there's hardly enough time to react before the fist connects. His head snaps back and he stumbles to the side with a startled, muffled sound as he clutches at his nose. What!?

There is a burning sensation and he can feel blood trickling out soon after. This cannot be happening? He rounds his back as he doubles over, trying to keep it from soiling his suit but again the man comes for him.

"Fftop!" he demands, flailing his other hand at Lindsey in a fit of panic to fend him off and defend his tie.

And now people are gonna be watching and he's just proved his point.

He can imagine them even if he can't see them right now.

The looks. The stares. The I'm better than you smile he's seen so many times.

Lindsey freezes when he realizes his anger has gotten the better of him, letting go when the other man flails his hand at him.

"I..."

Dammit, they might kick him out or something--

"Come on--outside, now--" he tugs at his arm, trying to get him to follow him back out to the deck.

Wesley is too stunned to resist, still caught up in the events and he pulls out a handkerchief to dab at his nose while he's bustled outside. The cool night air hits him like a second punch and he pulls away, pointing at Lindsey.

"You hit me," he proclaims, outraged.

He turns away to steady himself on the railing, taking a few sniveling breaths.

"When my father hears about this, he will--"

-- probably be disappointed and scold him for getting into a physical fight in the first place. Suddenly, there is something incredibly wrong about the thought of getting him involved and Wesley pauses, bewildered, staring at Lindsey as if he forgot what he was about to say.

The cool air helps clear his head, and there's a sudden flush of shame. He paces a little, working off the excess energy.

The other guy didn't hit back, so...there's that.

"Yeah, I did."

He doesn't want to say sorry--he's not exactly apologetic about it, but he wishes he hadn't done it...hadn't lost his cool so quickly.

Finally, after a long, awkward pause, staring back at him, he shrugs.

"Does that count as a duel?"

"Hardly. Around these parts, we call that an unwarranted attack."

It's the same nasty tone as before but not quite as venemous, be it for... actual, immediate repercussions for running his mouth here or the general sense of wrongness in all this.

"Why are you here?"

"Still think it should count as a duel. I'm just sayin'."

Also because it would mean that he won said duel, so it works for him.

Except what he says takes him a little bit for a loop, because for a moment, he can't quite...remember. Can't quite put his finger on it. Was it for a job? It had to be for a job, for a client, but why didn't he take a...

...take something else and not this boat?

"Client," he says anyway, a little too quickly. "I'm a lawyer. I'm here for a client."

But then again, Wesley could mean why he's here, right now, in front of him, and there's a shrug.

"You...I didn't break anything, did I?"

Edited 2020-01-05 14:51 (UTC)

Despite the initial outrage, the sudden question for his well-being stings. His pride clearly wounded, Wesley quickly straightens up and sticks his chin out. With as much dignity as one can with a handkerchief stuck in the left nostril.

"Surely you jest. It takes more than one ill-placed swing from an--"

His lips move, he works his jaw, but whatever insult was going to seal his fate here dissolves in an awkward clearing of his throat.

"A lawyer, I see. Who... do you represent?"