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

I don't know how it is where you're from, but where I'm from, stories of a supernatural nature will not record on standard digital devices. Too much static and tearing. They will record on an analog cassette tape recorder, though. For whatever reason. That's the first screening test we have.

Really.

[He leans close, folding his hands over and his cold demeanor drops several inches. That's wholly new. It's a scam. but it's a creative scam.]

IS this...a story when it's told by anyone? Or by the person involved? I'd love to test this if you don't mind. I have a friend who runs a podcast.

[Martin frowns.]

I did just say in my world, Dr. Strand. I don't know if it's going to be the same here. In a dream. Typically when we're doing this, it's with a written, first-hand account from someone who's filled in one of our Statement forms. The account might be about something they experienced personally, something they witnessed, or, very rarely, something they heard about. Mostly those come in the form of letters between people that the Institute's acquired. It's been around 200 years, so there's a lot of historical record available.

[Right.

He runs a hand through his hair. When he speaks his voice is sincere.]

I...apologize. It's hard to accept that I've been shanghai'd into a dream still.

[And at least he's being honest. When the other man talks about this institute though his sincerity into genuine interest.]

200 years old. That's incredible. And you've always been doing paranormal research? With equipment and a budget and staff?

[He just has interns who he can bribe with college credit,a personal assistant, and keep the name and his business going but it was just him. To have 200 years of history...]

...The notion of being unable to record stories is really [creative] unusual. Your world must have a high instance of paranormal activity.

[Well, they have... staff. And a modest budget. The most modest out of the entire Institute, Martin has discovered once he'd become Peter's assistant. Of course Elias would underfund the most vulnerable department. All to plan. Hmph!]

It doesn't. Like I said, we just happen to deal with the real ones. We have thousands of Statements in our archives. My job was to help authenticate them. Or not. Most of them go into the discredited boxes.

...so you and I are in the same business. The Strand Institute deals with debunking things, however - my world is mostly murderous cults.

[Does he look a little nervous? Maybe. He scratches the back of his head. ]

I'm a skeptic. My father was also in this business you see, I'm used to skepticism. Please forgive my rude comments earlier.

[Martin is quiet for another long stretch as he just eyes the other man. Strand Institute. Like the Magnus Institute. If this is a budding Jonah Magnus, that's... problematic. To say the least. The thought occurs that he could be an unwitting acolyte, much like Jon had been... like all of them.]

Mm... [He's not the first to be rude, he won't be the last. Martin just moves past it.] We have murderous cults. Does the People's Church of the Divine Host or Cult of the Lightless Flame mean anything to you?

No.

[He sips at his water.]

Order of the Cenophus? The Deva Corporation?

This is almost funny. We're apparently from different worlds but it sounds like we have a lot in common. Cult of the Lightless Flame?

[He should probably keep this man away from Jon.]

Seems so. It's a cult based around the Desolation, one of fourteen eldritch entities that are real in my world. It deals with the fear of fire, destruction, and loss... in certain contexts. Look, I should probably warn you that there's someone else here from my world that you should be careful about talking to. He's not a bad person or anything, he's just... very intense and can get aggressive in pulling information from people when he gets in a certain mood. If you've had actual supernatural experiences, that's going to interest him. His name is Jonathan Sims. If he asks you about anything, I strongly suggest you tell him it might be better if you write it down.

Edited 2020-04-09 19:01 (UTC)

Thanks for the warning.

[He commits the name to memory before chuckling.] We're quite similar. There's a young woman - considerably shorter then I am. She runs a podcast that I ...

[Pause] Cohost? That's the term correct? I don't think I could be called that. I guest. She's...

[He runs a hand through his hair.]

She's been helping me with my family's connection to our...order. Though there are no Eldritch "horrors" Ours kidnap children however and that...obviously is a problem.

[There's nothing. Even if he had dreams of tall monstrosities and kidnapped children.]

...Her name is Alex Reagan and she is just as tenacious. And as much of a believer. I've been doing my best to try and ease...her interest please don't say anything.

I've seen a lot of children around here. [The comment is idle as he glances around the cafe. There are more pigs. Martin is becoming intensely uncomfortable for a number of reasons. Not least the 'connection' this man seems to be trying to forge. He's aware that's just... what people do, but his instincts are to push away, withdraw.]

I won't say anything if I see Ms. Regan, but, um... sorry, Dr. Strand, would you mind if we maybe continue this conversation later? Or... over text? All of these people changing is... weird. [It's a good excuse. Much better than 'this is too much social activity in one sitting and you have given me too many emotions in a short space of time to be able to handle well.'] I think I should probably see about what's really causing it and how to fix it.

Edited 2020-04-09 19:33 (UTC)

Of course.

[Strand can be oblivious. The fellow has given him some information and he accepted it but all the pigs around...

He waves a hand.]

I appreciate the help. Best of luck, just- there has to be a natural reason for it.

Mm... [This man is not his problem. This man is not his problem.] Maybe just avoid any meat for a little while, okay? Good luck, sir.

[There's no charge for the water, so he just rises and heads out. He... really should find out what's going on with these pigs. It's very Flesh-y and he doesn't like it at all.]