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

"SURE fucking is."

The universe is cruel and unusual, Alex. You just don't always get what you want. Sometimes you wanna go to law school and have a hot royal boyfriend and what you get is running from a giant croco-gator with a zombie apocalypse teen. Sometimes, you just get that.

He wrenches open the doors, ushering Alex in- slamming the door shut as soon as he's inside, leaning heavily on it.

"Is there anything we can block the door with?"

"Good thing I have such such extensive knowledge of barricade building. I mean, I watched Les Mis like three times. And I was only hooking up with someone during one of those times."

Tables can block doors, right? He grabs one and drags it over towards Louis.

"How blocked do we need the door? Shouldn't it get distracted and try and find easier prey?"

"Like... the fucking musical?" Alex, please. "Whatever, luckily for you I AM good at building barricades. It's one of my super-duper fun life skills."

He doesn't actually reveal how he has such a super-duper fun life skill He does reach over for the table, dragging it over.

"Help me upturn it, we need it at an angle. And we need it blocked enough that if it decides it wants to murder us, it can't get it. There's other ways out, if we need it. "