APRIL 2020 TEST DRIVE MEME

Welcome to April's Test Drive Meme! This month's Test Drive's theme is: ENCHANTMENT 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: Enchanted food, possible body horror, mild finger injuries, magic based mind control, rapid aging, possible death
Don't forget to tag content whenever necessary. Have fun!

Prompt One
Prompt Two
Character Arrival
Master Navigation

YOU UNCULTURED SWINE

Pork is on sale!! Time to buy it up for all your family meals. It also means anything with pork in it in all of the restaurants is on special and super affordable for just about anyone. New arrivals can even get a free meal of bacon, sausage and eggs at the diner! Seeing all the low prices, you find yourself craving pork more than ever. But who doesn't love bacon, right? Maybe you had ham and pineapple pizza at Peter's or those delicious and mouthwatering pork dumplings at the Hot Pot. You could have cooked a nice pork loin with your friends and family for a large get together. Candied bacon is a real treat to munch on in the park!

You're cooking it yourself or getting it from the local restaurants, so nothing bad could happen with a little self-indulgence, right? Just about everyone has learned not to trust the food at a giant feast in Deerington, but short of the lunch and dinner menus at the diner, the restaurants and the grocery store have never done a Sleeper harm! At least, that's the way it's always been before. Two years is long enough to start taking things for granted.

Anyone who has any of the specials from the restaurants or who cooks any kind of pork related product at home will find that once they have finished their meal, they will slowly turn into... pigs. It seems to vary on how fast a single person turns, some moving slowly over the course of days while they eat more and more food, and others will turn into a full blown pig in a manner of minutes. At first you can still talk to others and display your usual personality in pig form, but the longer you stay a pig, the more boarish you'll become.

So how do you break the curse? Locals say there's a magic stream up on the mountain that will stop these kinds of enchantments, but you can't go alone. Someone will have to carry you up and sing to you while you drink. It might be a friend or a lover or a complete stranger, but whoever you can nudge into it will have to physically carry you in their arms up the side of the mountain looking for this stream. It can take a while— the walk is fairly long, a few hours at best, but you'll know it when you find it. The stream sparkles unnaturally in the sunlight and it seems like none of the animals are willing to drink from it's unnaturally cold waters. The moment you take a long sip while your companion sings whatever song pops into their head, you'll turn back into a human. Hopefully your clothes turn back with you.

If your character does not eat meat/pork, then they'll be safe from this event!

GOOD ENDURES

Mirror mirror on the wall...

The pork doesn't seem to be the only enchanted object around Deerington this month. There are several of them cropping up all over the place and each one has a different outcome for those unfortunate enough to run into them.

Spinning wheels seem to be in the most random of places. Some of them will even just appear in your house. Sometimes multiple spinning wheels show up. Anyone who gets to close will have the strong urge to prick their finger on the spindle, the needle very easily cutting the tip and making you bleed more than you might have expected. Hopefully you have a first aid kit around.

Anyone who pricks their finger will find that they are forced to follow the next person they see around everywhere. They'll follow them to work, to school, to the bathroom, to the kitchen, even to bed. It doesn't matter if it's someone you've never spoken to in your life, you will follow them like a lost duckling every hour of every day. It's enough to drive anyone bonkers.

Mirrors will also suddenly be being displayed in every home and every shop, even if you never had them before. It doesn't matter whether or not you have a reflection, any person who looks into the mirror will find that they are forced to imitate the next person they make eye contact with. This can be their personality, their posture, the way they speak, their basic movements— you'll start to become a total mirror image. If it goes on too long, you might even start to find the two of you start to look more and more alike...

Apples start to pop up in all the stores as well as in your fridges. They're bright red and look so delicious, you can't resist taking a bite. Even if you don't like apples or are normally allergic to them, you'll want to eat these, and you'll find they taste delicious and don't bring harm to anyone. At least... not at first.

A few hours after eating the apple, you'll start to notice differences in your appearance. Your hair has start to thin and become gray and limp, your skin is wrinkled and covered in spots, your hands become frail and shaky. You're aging, and rapidly at that. Before you know it, you've turned into a hideous hag, one that would frighten children in any fairy tale book. But how do you reverse it?

The cure for all three enchantments is to tell three facts about yourself. Even just introducing yourself will show improvement if it's to someone who never knew your name before. Those who ate the apples will have to seek someone out, but anyone who pricked their finger or looked in a mirror will specifically have to confess these three facts to the person they're enchanted to follow/imitate. Once three facts have been shared, you'll be able to leave, return to normal, and age back to your regular self.

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

[ it almost feels like there's far more reflective surfaces in the bakery than she remembers, mirrors aligned on the walls by the tables than had previously been there. but she doesn't raise many questions about it; she works here, but it isn't as if she manages it, and she wouldn't put it past the locals to make some rearrangements while she wasn't on a shift.

instead, she focuses on tending to the back, setting up a few fresh pastries and desserts to place on display towards the front for the day, far too occupied to consider the new decor of the shop.

eventually, as she's cleaning up along the tables, wiping the surface of crumbs with a damp rag, she notices the woman standing in front of one of the mirrors, almost seemingly distracted. walking carefully behind her, she prepares a polite smile. ] Can I help you?

[To her credit Maria doesn't exactly startle. She does turn around, the fingertips of either hand pressed against the tops of her cheeks, her expression curious.

And then she breaks into a sheepish laugh, dropping her hands quickly.]

Oh no, I was just... ah, well, being a little vain, I suppose.

[She glances back to the mirror now, intrigued as she adds:]

I've never seen a mirror quite like this one inside a bakery before.

[It's certainly more ornate than one would expect in a place that sells breads and cakes.]

[ wanda manages a wider smile at the girl's casual honesty, something almost a little refreshing as she manages a soft laugh of her own. ]

Well, then, don't mind me. Feel free to keep looking to your heart's desire.

[ but she relaxes where she stands, fingers brushing against her apron to clean off the remnant of flour on her skin. ]

Actually, I hadn't either. This, um — it wasn't here yesterday, but I guess someone did some remodeling. I hadn't stopped to look at it yet, but ... I suppose it is a little over the top.

For this sort of store. I have seen more ornate things but I certainly don't run into them every day.

[If the furnishings in Dracula's castle weren't absolutely lavish then she didn't know what to call them. Then again she supposed the furnishings in her own family's home hadn't been any less lavish, has they.

She takes in the mirror a moment more curiously, then huffs out an amused breath.]

I think if I stared at my own image much longer I wouldn't be able to stand my own company, never mind gaining an ego.

[So instead she turns to Wanda herself and then can't help but peep into the case nearest her.]

It all looks so good.

[Seriously, Maria can't cook or bake worth a damn so this all looks fantastic to her.]

No, definitely not here. We do usually like to keep things simple here.

[ at least she likes to. she may not run the bakery, but she does like to maintain a bit of that humble appearance. something more in common with the family-run shops around sokovia. it isn't home, but it isn't as if she can't try to selfishly make herself feel more of it anyway.

she's suspicious of the mirror, but she tries to not overthink, wondering if maybe giving it too much attention might make those suspicions come true. instead, she lets herself be distracted by the girl's enthusiasm, turning back to her with a smile as she looks through the baked goods. ]

Would you like any? There's a mix in case you have a preference for either the usual American recipes or perhaps something a little more European?

American?

[Her tone, and look, is distinctly curious.]

I'm afraid I don't know much about that. Are their recipes so different?

[ wanda laughs a little; it's not out of any sense of mockery, but rather the fact that she could relate to that quizzical feeling. ]

Most days, I don't feel like I know much about it myself. I've only lived in the country for about a year, so most of it still confuses me. Most of it is ... incredibly greasy.

[ that's one word for it. ]

I tend to stick to Sokovian or Serbian dishes.

[That causes Maria to look intrigued.]

I'm not familiar with Sokovia. I know of Serbia but I'm afraid I've never eaten anything from there.

[She seems apologetic then.]

I haven't traveled outside of Romania really. One day maybe but... ah, well, things have been difficult.

[I.E. she's spent much of the last year traveling Romania searching for Richter, perhaps dipping into both Bulgaria and Serbia along with others but never staying to sight-see.]