JUNE 2020 TEST DRIVE MEME

Welcome to June's Test Drive Meme! This month's Test Drive's theme is: FAIRY 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: Alligators (pictured & written), pictures of skulls, violence, mention of corpses, possession, possible death
Don't forget to tag content whenever necessary. Have fun!

Prompt One
Prompt Two
Character Arrival
Master Navigation

TICK TOCK TICK TOCK

The low sound of growling coming from the pipes should probably be a cause for concern, but is it really that strange for Deerington? Is anything that strange anymore? There's been people talking about monsters again, the kind that snatch kids and small animals without mercy through the gates in the road and someone said they saw something that looked practically prehistoric pop up through a manhole on the north side of Main Street. He was drunk, though, so who's really gonna believe the ravings of a college kid on a bender.

The growling sometimes comes with hisses, a strange snapping sound, and the occasional scratching of claws against metal or stone. There's something down there alright, but are you going to go try and find it yourself or just hope someone else takes care of it?

Anyone who ventures into the sewers will find that it's become home to some rather large and terrifying beasts; alligators, to be precise, but not normal ones. Oh, no, that would be too easy. These have clearly been mutated, grown to a much larger size than any alligator anyone has ever seen, with teeth as sharp as diamonds and they're ready to rip you apart in one bite. The skin is hard as rock on top, but the underbelly is still soft as ever. Looks like you'll know where to aim if you decide to fight.

Those who don't go into the sewers can still find that the alligators are indeed popping up from manholes, or coming out of from the drains along the road, and if you're not careful, they might even manage to somehow find a way through the pipes and into your home. It shouldn't be possible, but anyone who's been in this town long enough can tell you that anything is possible.

These large alligators take at least two people to take it down. One particularly strong person may be able to fight it off themselves, but it's going to be dangerous and you'll probably walk away severely injured. The more who join in, the easier it will go. Normal weapons will work fine on the underbelly, but the top skin will be incapable of being penetrated by even the most advanced of weapons. Magic seems to have a particularly strong effect on them, however, so maybe you should think of teaming up with a wizard.

RIDDEN THE BACK OF THE WIND

The smell of corpses is what hits you first; it's overwhelming and impossible to escape, no matter how hard you try. It seems to take over the entire town at random intervals, and the first thing you'll notice is the locals running indoors. They'll slam all windows that face west shut and lock them tight, or maybe go so far as to close any open windows and doors all together, and they'll stay there until it's passed. You'd be wise to do the same.

The wind picks up quickly and there's the sound of what could be hummingbirds, but doesn't sound quite right. The fairies that come through are looking primarily for the dead or dying to whisk away their souls, but being particularly sadistic bastards, they're prone to getting sidetracked by tormenting the living as well. They'll swarm unsuspecting victims in the outdoors, picking them up and pulling them high above the streets as they circle them. If you're caught, they'll swarm around you, the humming becoming unbearably loud and the vibrations shaking your body down to the very core. The evil within them will consume you and when they drop you - which they always do - you'll find that you're filled with a violent and uncontrollable rage.

This rage will cause you to attack anyone and everyone around you with whatever weapon you are most efficient with. You're not just here to do mild harm, you're out for blood, and you'll soon as kill your best friend if it means quieting the darkness welling up inside you.

The only means of curing the darkness is by purifying it with light; this can be interpreted metaphorically by having someone with a pure intentions try and love you through your own pain or literally by having someone use light magic or bright, shining sun lamps to literally overwhelm the darkness inside of you and give it no place to escape. It's entirely up to the player.

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

[ The wall behind Jess is unremarkable to the point of sterility. She might be browsing the network on the clock. In her defense, security patrols are boring work, except for when they aren't. ]

You can come to the hospital, just don't take anything from the local staff. They're... off.

I was told to be careful of the locals staff. I wasn't sure if there were any Sleepers working there or not.

[ ooc: whoops formatted it like a text tag out of habit, my b ]

There are a few, yeah. I spoke to a guy on the network a little while ago, said he was a psychologist. Not the same as a psychiatrist but he should at least know where the right meds are stocked.

[No worries!]

[She gave a hallow laugh about him being a Psychologist. That was her major as well, but she nodded, running a hand over her face and resting it at her neck a moment.]

Thanks. I'll have to find him and at least talk. Though I'm worried this era wont have what I might need.

There's always the chance we'll get flung into a different one and you can stock up then.

[ Not that Jess has experienced any advancement of setting in her time here, just regressions, but why should it be any less likely than the other weird crap that goes on? ]

Oh god, I think one jump in time is enough for me. Unless it's taking me home. And right now, I might be okay with this place compared to that. At least this is.... different? [She ran a hand over her face, frowning. A pang of regret. She should want to go home, shouldn't she?]

There are other people here who would choose to stay, too. I'm not one of them, but. [ Jess glanced off to the side, out of frame. She should want to be, maybe. It's not like her life has been going particularly well the past.... all of it. ] I get it. Everyone's got their shit.

[Her hands move from her forehead to over the back of her head, paused there as she lets out a breath.] I should really want to go home, shouldn't I? I've heard nothing good about this place so far.

I don't know. [ In her case. Jess doesn't know anything about her, except that she requires access to medication that may not exist here. In itself, a good reason to want to go back. But she could be in a bad relationship, in a bad place, or any other number of bad circumstances.

She sighs. ] I sure as hell miss the internet. Having more than one bar to choose from. Food carts. [ Her sister. ] But there's a weird sense of solidarity here. When something's seriously screwed up, everyone acknowledges it instead of trying to sweep it under the rug.

[ Which sucks for her as an investigator but is an objectively okay aspect? Ever ready to dismiss her own optimism, she adds, ] Could be Stockholm syndrome talking.

[She moves to take a seat, head dropping a bit as she watches her lap, listening to the other talk. There is something nice about having someone to talk to, even if it is just about this place. It's almost comforting.]

[It's a lot better then a random ass panic attack, that's for sure.]

I think I might start missing the internet soon. Bar's weren't always my thing, but right now one sounds good. There's got to be a good diner around though, right? This era was known for diner food. [She missed her sister a lot too, and her parents--God, not going to think about all that.]

I wouldn't put it past Stockholm, actually.

When you say Seriously screwed up, what do you mean? [Because no one has actually talked about the screwed up part of this plaec yet. Not in detail at least.]

It can mess with your mind, your feelings. [ For Jess, that's worse than when the environment goes physically tits up. But she doesn't particularly want to ruminate on it, so she moves on to other examples, ] Or just do straight up really weird shit. Last month, I think? Some people were turning into pigs. So that was a thing.

[ A flask appears from offscreen, from which she has a swig. From the look on her face, it's not coffee. ]

[She's settled down against the front of a couch, the seat behind her head and she was clearly on the floor. Her legs draw up and her arms wrap around them, resting her wrist and the fluid on her knees. She frowns as the other woman talks.]

I was told it was a dream state. I suppose messing with feelings and turning people into pigs makes sense on that level. I was also warned it's dangerous here. I'll admit, I'm not a fighter, and right now I'm not even emotionally a fighter. Everything about this place seems... bad, I guess.

[If it's a flask, she'd assume it wasn't coffee, which she herself has already had two cups of.]

People will jump at the chance to teach you, if that's what you want. [ Her tone implies she doesn't recommend it, doesn't necessarily understand everyone's eagerness to learn. Sure, there's danger, but there are a lot of capable fighters, too, and they don't sit on their asses like she's wont to do. ] But there's a -- police force, militia, whatever you want to call it. Snoozers that know what they're doing. We're not totally defenseless. [ To the physical threats. ]