soddersays | MAY 2020 TEST DRIVE MEME

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MAY 2020 TEST DRIVE MEME

Welcome to May's Test Drive Meme! This month's Test Drive's theme is: DARK FANTASY 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: Heightened mental health issues (anxiety & paranoia), auditory hallucinations, option for visions of canon death and violence, child death, corpses, possession.
Don't forget to tag content whenever necessary. Have fun!

Prompt One
Prompt Two
Character Arrival
Master Navigation

DEATH'S EYE

Desperation and anxiety are things that come easily in a place like Deerington, but lately it seems like it's being felt in waves. Maybe you're feeling more desperate to get home, maybe you're afraid of what will happen when you do leave here, or maybe you're dreading what the month to come has in store for you. Some people might just start to feel anxious and terrified with no real reason behind it. The worries are plaguing your thoughts, leaving you unable to trust those around you. You keep seeing visions in your dreams of violent wars, senseless murders, and all of it seems to end with a stand in the middle of the woods with a single glass orb.

There's no rationality for it, but eventually, you'll feel compelled to find the orb. You'll find that when you leave the house to go somewhere, you'll forget where you were headed, only to end up at the edge of the forest. Sometimes you might sleepwalk and wake up in the dirt by the trees. If you decide to fight it and keep leaving, you will grow more and more paranoid, isolated, and violently aggressive to those around you. If you can wait out a full week, you might find the anxiety starts to ease, and slowly over the course of five days, you will begin to return to normal.

If you don't fight it and head into the woods, you will feel pulled to follow a long and winding path through the woods. There are multiple branches off of the path, but you won't feel compelled to go down them. Keep heading straight. Another personal will eventually stumble down the path you're on as well and the two of you will walk together through the woods.

Eventually you'll find a clearing. It's the same clearing from your dream with the same orb displayed in front of you. One or both characters will hear whispering throughout the clearing that grows more intense the closer you get to the orb. They're urging you to touch it, to free yourself from the pain you've been feeling for days on end. The strong can fight it, but most characters will be too weak from the lack of sleep and the constant fear to refuse to give in.

If you do fight it, you can leave the clearing, but the same anxiety and paranoia cycles will follow you for another full week before it begins to ease. If you don't fight it and you touch the orb, you will be filled with a blinding pain that runs through your entire body. There will be a quick and heavy sequence of images that runs through your mind; they will be images of the most traumatic experiences that your companion has ever faced and you will feel as though you were experiencing every moment first hand.

When you break free, the anxiety and paranoia will be gone and you'll be back to yourself. It seems you two will have a lot to talk about on the walk home.

Note: It does not have to be just one character who touches the orb. Both characters are welcome to.

NOW YOU SEE ME

The first few signs you're being haunted are easy to miss. Maybe you think you just misplaced your keys or put that book you were reading down on a different counter than where you find it. Things get a little harder to ignore when random objects start to fall off shelves or glasses shatter without any warning. Eventually there's no denying you've got a full fledged poltergeist on your hands; the walls will shake and screams will echo in your head that you can't block out no matter how tightly you cover your ears. Lights will flicker and bulbs will eventually blow from the power surges. Objects that fly across the room will barely miss your head— some might not even miss at all.

If you know any tricks for getting rid of angry spirits, none of them will work. Trying them seems to only make the spirit angrier. If you try too many times to get rid of the spirit, it will eventually possess you, filling you with a blind and violent rage that can make you attack even your closest of friends. The possession will last for one full hour and once the spirit leaves you, you'll feel completely drained for the rest of the day.

But there's hope! In your blessing's basket, your character will find one-half of an antler wreath. The trick is to find the person with the other half. Each wreath will have a unique set of flowers on them and you will have to find the person who has the flowers that match your own. Both of you will have been being haunted by the same ghost, it seems; they were a busy little poltergeist.

Once the two halves of the wreath are connected, it will begin to glow, before a faint wisp of light starts to travel a path in front of you both. If you follow the path of light, it will take you through the town, down the roads, through the playground at the elementary school, and eventually stopping near the edges of Koji Pond. Continuing to search will eventually lead to both character's stumbling on the body of a young child. Rest the wreath against them and the light will encompass the body, becoming blindingly bright, before disappearing altogether.

Both characters will be filled with a sense of peace afterward and will be safe from harm for a full twenty-four hours after the ceremony is complete.

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

[She'd been in the park when the kid had shrieked, maybe out on a park bench somewhere? It took Neo by surprise enough to investigate, and so she'd walked over, rubbing at one of her ears and giving a slightly irritated look down at Sakura before sighing visibly and rolling her eyes. Was this a new arrival or someone cursed by that dumb witch to look like a kid again?

Man, kids could be so annoying.

Sighing, she stepped into Sakura's field of vision and raised an eyebrow, one hand on her hip as she tapped her foot, looking over at her and waiting, as if for an explanation of what she wanted.]

[Sakura has no idea about the age shenanigans going on. She does however at least give a sheepish look when the other raises an eyebrow like that. She flails, in waving her hands a bit in apology for the noise. She's just....startled? Not having expected to end up here like this and all.]

Ah....sorry? I'm not sure what happened? How I got here?

[Neo made an 'ah' motion with her mouth and nodded curtly. Her body posture shifted to a more relaxed one and she walked in slowly, looking the girl over. So, she was a new arrival. So be it. She didn't look like anyone that Neo recognized, so that removed any sort of need to pay careful attention to what was going on right now. This one did seem a little bit on the harmless side.

She reached up and tapped her lips before putting her fingers up to her forehead, mimicing deer antlers and pointing at Sakura, head cocked curiously. Did she remember the deer?]

Hm....? Oh, that dream? With the deer?

[It was strange. Sakura is kind of used to having odd dreams though. Prophetic ones she can't always make sense of in not having the whole context for them. Not usually until much later on when it is closer to the time of things fitting together for her to have the pieces necessary for what the dreams might mean. Including that dream. Was Neo saying the dream....actually happened last night?]

[Yes. That's the one. She snapped her fingers and pointed right at Sakura when she said that. It wasn't exactly the most detailed of explanations, but the girl had asked 'how did I get here,' and that was the only answer that Neo actually had, so she nodded once rather firmly and gave her a little grin to say she'd got it.

Of course, how much of that was conveyed by having a mute woman nod and point at you was open for debate. She was bound to need to bring out her fluid eventually.]

[Sakura's eyes widen at that. Sure, she's used to strange dreams and them eventually coming to pass, with her gift for foresight, prophetic dreams. But that didn't mean that she expected this? To end up here.

Still, she does gather that the other must be saying she got it right. Noting the other hasn't said a word yet, actually, she tilts her head, biting her lip.]

I was right? Um....I...are you okay?

[She is aware of some people not being able to speak or some choosing not to in particular circumstances perhaps. She's not sure what the story is with Neo, but if there's some way to help?]

[She nodded and smiled over at the girl before snapping her fingers and pointing at her throat for a moment. A shake of the head to indicate that she couldn't speak before she reached to her wrist and pulled her fluid off of it. Shifting it to the phone mode, she started to tap on it, turning it into a chalkboard of sorts. Her fingers moved fast and she showed it to the young woman.]

Sorry.
I've always been like this.
Nothing's wrong.

O-oh....you can't speak? I'm sorry. I guess it's easier though, with the...phone?

[The thing she wrote on at least. That must help? Instead of constantly needing to play charades every time she needed to express herself or say something. Sakura can't help the twinge of pity, figuring it must still be difficult to deal with, especially in some strange new place like this.]

[A quick nod and she tapped a little more on it.]

A little.
We had these at home, but less designed for this sort of thing.
It's just a pain, so I do without most of the time.

[She didn't seem that annoyed. this was all very normal for her, a regular every day experience. So, it didn't offend her in the slightest to discuss it, even if she didn't that often.]

If these are better designed, easier for you to use then that's good. I'm sorry. I don't know um, sign language to be able to use that to talk to you.

[Still, Sakura bites her lip, unsure where to even start in asking about this place. She doesn't want to not accept help but she doesn't want to bother others either. And probably she should have investigated more around the house, the room she woke up in before leaving in her panic, but. Well.]

Um, you're not from here? I mean, you mentioned home like it was somewhere else....?

I wouldn't know that either.
Never was one for sign language, other than military hand signs.
Not really the same thing.

None of us are from here

[She nodded afterwards. No point going into more detail than that. The girl, after all, wasn't asking for details, simply confirming that this wasn't her home world, wasn't she?]

I guess it isn't, the military ones. I'm just glad you have that to help, at least.

So....everyone here, they all had that dream? And woke up here? How....?

[How was that possible? Sakura had strange dreams, sure but there weren't that many even back home with the power of foresight. She had never woken up anywhere other than her own bed at least.]

[Frankly? She hadn't actually wanted the help when it came. She used it, but it was surreal when she was simply used to people not trying to understand. People were too helpful here by her standards. Still, no reason to bring that up to a kid. Not like she was responsible for that.

She looked over at her, the short woman tapping her lips before nodding and then shrugging pretty openly. Yeah, everyone showed up that way, but fuck if she knew how it happened. She held out one hand and conjured a quick illusion of a magician's wand in it, making it shoot out what looked almost like rose petals.

Magic?]

Eh? Magic....?

[Given her experience with magic back home she might wonder if this is or not something to do with Clow. Kaito, perhaps, if she were more suspicious of him and his intentions with looking after Akiho. She tilts her head at that, unsure she's experienced magic that could quite pull this off, but then the cards could do all sorts of things. There could well be some sort of transportation card or something, or something like Snooze to bring them here.]

Hm....I wonder if that means magic could take us back home somehow.

[Hmmmm.

She shrugged and shook her head, clearly unsure. No, she wasn't sure if there was a way for magic to bring them back. Magic was outside of her experience, so it was difficult to be certain of much. Admittedly, the answer probably was yes. The question was what magic they needed, not if magic was needed.

She hadn't really been looking into it. She tapped on her phone and showed it after a second.]

Know much about magic?
Not my forte.

Well....a little? But I'm not sure about magic that would do something like this? So many of us all dreaming the same thing, the deer and all of this?

[Sakura bites her lip, holding up one of her Clear Cards to show Neo. She's not usually too open about this, but. If magic has something to do with all this perhaps she could help somehow with her own magic and abilities somehow? It makes more sense to try help if she can. in letting others know about what she is capable of?]

I have these cards.

[A nod. Yeah, this was definitely way above her paygrade too. It was above anyone short of Salem's paygrade, and maybe even further, and Neo hadn't even met that woman before. The power at work here was ...impressive.

She squinted at the card before leaning back and then gesturing towards it, cocking her head. The 'what does it do' was written pretty obviously all over her feature.]

What -- ah, it's....just a card.

[True. Just not the whole truth? Sakura's unsure on this dream in how open or not to be yet with her magic and the cards abilities. But Neo could probably guess from how rather unique the card is that it's something special. It's definitely not some normal, basic tarot card like it might first appear from the shape of it.]

[Tappity tap tap.]

Funny.
You mentioned it when I mentioned magic.
Is it a focus or something?

[She wasn't entirely buying "It's just a card," but her curiosity didn't go too deep on this one. Everyone had their tricks up their sleeve, and it wasn't like she was out to cause some kid trouble.]

It....well. They're special cards. From an ancestor initially, before I sort of....made them my own.

[That much isn't too damning? Is it? Though, if Sakura wants to help, it might be best to be honest? About her abilities? So they know what she can do to ask her for help? Maybe? She's not sure how to manage this. Without Kero to help her out.]

Each of them can do different things. I don't know any of them could help us wake up though.

[Ah, they were magical implements then. Ok, that sort of made sense, even if she didn't really understand magic. What she did wasn't magic to her, just something that theoretically anyone could do with what was inside themselves.

She nodded quickly, pointing at that card specifically in her hand, raising an eyebrow. It was pretty obvious from her expression that she was a little curious what this card, specifically, could do.

I show you my trick if you show me one of yours?

Your trick? Ah.....well....if we figure somewhere more private? And you don't tell anyone?

[She bites her lip, looking hesitant but figuring if this was all a dream and all, it might not be as bad? To show her? To at least try with something simpler like Flight.]

[She beckoned for Sakura to follow and motioned towards a nearby alleyway. It wasn't dingy or dark or scary or anything. But it had the advantage of not being right out in the open where everyone would see the magic used.

When she got to the lip of the alleyway, just after she was out of sight of the street, she smiled and turned. What looked like petals... or shards of glass started to form around her, beginning at the bottom of her feet and going all the way to the top with a little tinkle. When they finished...

there was a dark haired native there, with green eyes despite the black and white, dressed like all the others. She winked.]

[Sakura follows, standing more near the edge at the entrance of the alley in comparison to Neo, as she watches. As she admires the..petals? And then starts, her green eyes widening when she sees the other suddenly there?]

Wh -- ?!

[It almost might remind her of Mirror though this is a little different. In that this girl looks different to Neo?]

[She turned fully towards her and grinned. When she blinked, the pink of one eye showed despite the black and white, and she added a little wink before giving a sassy snap of her fingers. Just like that, the faint sound of a crash of glass echoed briefly and the illusion scattered in so many pieces and petals... only to fade entirely afterwards, evaporating.

She looked pretty smug about her power, but she did like it.]

MAY 2020 TEST DRIVE MEME

DEATH'S EYE

NOW YOU SEE ME

Character Arrival

Arrival

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