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

[Academic research! Artefacts! Paranormal events!]

Aha! A valiant endeavour!

[Wesley brightens considerably, immediately standing taller and flattening a tie he isn't wearing.]

If I dare say so, I am a scholar of the supernatural world myself. Though lately I have been using my skills in a fight against its darker forces...

[ ...

Jon is acutely reminded of Trevor the Vampire Slayer. Before he became terrifying. ]

Are you of the, um, the Watcher's Council? How— [ he'd been trying not to ask questions but he can't help it, this is crucial, this is good information: ] How do you fight? What do you fight?

I, uh.

[There is a bit of a pause, the first one ever since this conversation started.]

Not anymore, no. I am now working as a paranormal investigator. Helping and protecting people who have come under the attack of sinister forces and their nefarious purposes.

As for the how, well... stakes, swords – I've lately become rather partial to a ceremonial dagger my boss gifted me to slay beasts? But unfortunately, it hasn't appeared here alongside with me.

[A wistful sigh. What can you do. But by God, he misses that dagger.]

The odd exorcism here and there, countercurses – I'll say, it really rather depends whether we're dealing with a vengeful spirit or a vampire nest. I mean, the dragon required more, ah, improvisational skills. It's like they say, sometimes you do fight fire with fire.

[There's a chipper tone to his voice. What can he say? He loves his job.]

You— you've seen a dragon?

[ His tone is pitched somewhere between alarm and incredulity. Is that?? Possible??? Well, the Hunt readily accounts for stories of werewolves, so he supposes— would this be some horrific fusion of the Hunt and the Desolation? What kind of dragon?

Jon is looking the man up and down in absolute bafflement, and a funny mixture of mistrust and awe. This man is a Hunter? Really? ]

Your boss— who is that? I-is he part of the Watcher's Council, or is he a Hunter?

[ He wonders how drastically bad an idea it would be, to sit down for tea with this man.

Martin won't literally kill him, after all. ]

[Can you really go wrong with tea? He sure would enjoy a cup himself.]

Hm? Oh no, no. He's a vampire, actually.

[And because that sometimes tends to go over badly,]

With a soul.

[... Odd. He usually makes it a point to keep Angel's condition a secret, even with clients. Then again, with all the supernatural creatures inhabiting this town, what's the harm?]

Wh- wh- but—

[ This is Jonathan Sims, the Archivist, glitching a bit. He cycles through several expressions, very transparently: alarmed suspicion that Wesley could be a vampire himself, but no, he's certain the man's mouth is moving; absolute offense that this man might simply be having him on, if it's even possible for people to lie to him anymore; desperate curiosity; and a sort of resignation to whatever mess his day has become.

Finally, weakly: ]

Shall we, uh... discuss this somewhere other than the middle of the street? I want to know more.

[ If the man's a Hunter, Jon is almost certainly going to get himself killed. But the possible information is worth it. ]

Why, yes, I suppose. We are stuck for the unforeseeable future, might as well spend it somewhere more homely.

[Of course, they have shared more than the three necessary things at this point but there's the rub – if you didn't know the solution or didn't bother to try if the magic was even truly in effect, well. Things like this happened?]

Maybe over a good cup of tea?

[ He didn't know a Hunter could be this relentlessly cheerful. Lord. ]

I, um... [ shouldn't, he realizes. The man may call himself a Hunter, but he's doesn't seem like an avatar— not a strong one, anyway. He is again struck by the thought of Trevor Herbert before his near-death.

That's less dangerous for Jon, certainly, but raises a different issue: Martin would tell him not to engage with someone he could... hurt. But how is he meant to walk away from information like this? If they're to discover anything lastingly useful here, anything that could help them against the Entities, he needs to follow every lead. The place is an incredible a hub of knowledge! And it's only a few practical questions over tea.

He doesn't need the man's personal Statement. ... Statements.

He doesn't. ]

That is... yes. Tea would be lovely.

[ Jon falls into step beside the man and tells himself it will be alright. ]