OCTOBER 2020 TEST DRIVE MEME

Welcome to October's Test Drive Meme! This month's Test Drive's theme is: MONSTER 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: ... Monsters..., excessive blood, possible death via monster or drowning, violence, being trapped in tight spaces, bloody GIF, dead body parts
Don't forget to tag content whenever necessary. Have fun!

Prompt One
Prompt Two
Character Arrival
Master Navigation

curse the fiends

Waking up groggy and confused on the floor of what seems to be a large metal warehouse is never anyone's idea of a good time, but here you are. You may not have even known Deerington had warehouses (except for those who have been to the real Hair of the Dog) let alone how to get to one of them. It's clear you've been placed here against your will, but for what reason?

You aren't alone. There may be one, two, or even three people there with you. You're all in this together, so you may as well work as a team to see if there's a way out. The room isn't very large and it's completely empty, save for a single flashlight in the center of the floor. The only way out (or maybe it's a way in) is a long, narrow, and very dark corridor. That's gotta be completely safe. Despite hesitations, what choice do you really have?

The flashlight won't give off an abundance of light, but it at least makes it so you aren't stumbling around blindly. As you move through the corridors, you'll start to hear the sickening screech like nails on a chalkboard, but there's something worse about it. Something that makes you feel like a bucket of ice has just been dropped down your back. Something dangerous. There are different corridors that branch off of the main one you're walking down and your team will have to decide whether to stick together an choose one path or split up and explore multiple to find away out. Given that you've only got one source of light, you'll want to choose carefully.

Whether you stay together or split up, the corridors all look the same. The same sound follows you wherever you go. Eventually you'll start to notice it sounds close. Too close. Like it's right... above you?

Looking up, you'll see a large monster which jumps down in front of your team within seconds of having the light turned on it. The beast takes up the majority of the space in the corridor and there's no getting around it. Time to double back and try out one of those other passages, it seems. Hopefully you can run quickly. It's not the only thing that's jumping out of the shadows to try and hunt you, either. The large creature is working with a smaller set of monsters who seem to appear out of nowhere, their footsteps impossible to hear, but the screeches they give are almost deafening. If you split up earlier, maybe you'll run into each other now; it seems like the monsters are herding you together, trying to make you easier to hunt.

The small monsters can be killed easily. Any weapons you have will work against them, no more than a couple of shots from a gun or a good hard swing of a blade will be needed to take them down. The big beast you first ran into is another story. Nothing seems to work to slow this guy down. It'll bleed, sure, the injuries are more than apparent, but it doesn't seem to make the monster any weaker. If anything, it just makes it more irate. The only chance of living is getting out.

If you're lucky, you'll eventually turn enough corridors to see cracks of light at the end of one. Light that seems to be coming through a door. If you can outrun the monster down this long, straight stretch, it seems to actually be your exit. The door is heavy and the lock is a little rusty, but with a little team effort, you should be able to get the thing shoved open. Slam it closed before the monster can get out and you'll find yourself safe again.

fear the old blood

It's just the month for getting stuck in tiny rooms. This time, walking through any door in Deerington could land you inside this cramped closet with far too tall ceilings. Again, it seems you aren't alone; the wall on the opposite side of the closet seems to have brought in someone the same as you. The doors behind you both disappear and it seems like you're completely trapped. There's shelves all around you, completely empty, but they've got to hold a purpose, right? You may take some time to look them over, see if there is some kind of switch or hidden compartment they might be blocking.

While you're observing the cramped space around you, trying to find a way out, you might hear the sound of air rushing from above you, almost like the sounds of an elevator shaft. There's a ding, a click, the sound of doors opening— all from the ceiling up above. It's a way out! But nothing ever comes so easily in Deerington. Within seconds of the doors cracking open, blood will start to fill the room, pouring in from your only exit.

Working together and using the shelves as leverage, you might just be able to reach the ceiling to pull yourself up (and hopefully your partner), but you'll have to push against the downpour of blood in the process. It's far from easy, definitely slippery, and you'll have to move quickly if you don't want to end up drowning. Waiting it out for the room to fill so you can reach the top easier will prove to be a horrible idea; the moment the blood reaches the top of those bookshelves, rotting hands will begin to reach from the walls, dragging you down and keeping you from getting to the top.

Once you have both made it into the exit above, the doors will close, and the elevator will right itself. There's no blood anywhere to be found and there also isn't a button to press to choose any floors. You'll simply hear the sound of the elevator climbing the shaft before the doors open again, and you'll be let out into the lobby of the Grady Hotel.

Time to head home and take a shower, I guess.

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

Fewer people, hm... what was it like? I know you mentioned the name, but it's kind of a mouthful for me - I don't think I'm familiar with it!

[ still trying to get used to that whole, 'hey, we're probably from different worlds' thing himself. ]

[Hana shakes her head.]

Fewer here. There are lots of people in Kyoto, a bunch of tourists.

[Finishing off the last of the noodles Hana let out a very satisfied sigh.]

But only four live at the shrine. Sakura, Tachibana, Hana, and now Chikahito.

[ he's sipping at his tea with a thoughtful look at that. these names - none of them were 'mother, father.' her parents...? maybe it would be best not to ask. ]

Oh, in a shrine? The clothes you had on - that's right, I thought it looked a little familiar... does this mean you're a priestess? I'm sorry - Japanese culture is, ah... a little fuzzy to me!

It was delicious, thank you.

[Finished with everything she seemed to take a moment to think about the question of being a priestess. Then shaking her head.]

Nope. I am a guardian.

[ her thanks earns a warm smile before he regards her answer ]

A guardian? [ he echoes it, giving her a curious look. ] Hm, so what does that entail?

Cleansing ofuda. Fighting oni.

[Hana stared at the bowl again, as if it might magically refill before finishing the toast.]

I protect.

[ 'oni.' he knows this word; and there's a brief furrow at his brow ]

Ah, so... Miss Hana... you protect others?

[ she was so young. he can't help but be slightly disconcerted at the idea, even if there was no denying she was agile and possessed wits beyond her age if her behavior during the Rain Of Blood And Disgustingness was any indicator. still... ]

Is it dangerous?

[Hana nods, for the first question as well as the second.]

It's dangerous for Chikahito, he can't fight. But I protect him.

[Aww no more noodles. Hana's head sank to the table and she looked over at Able seemingly unaffected by the conversation.]

[ the ease with which she can talk about it is a little distressing, but Abel makes no outward sign of his feelings on the matter. this was clearly every day life for her. ]

How do you protect him...? I can tell you're pretty fast on your feet, so you must be strong, hm?

[Hana shakes her head.]

Magic. I use my Myôhô, I take in. Tachibana and Sakura make the weapons to fight too.

[ he's looking into his teacup for a moment, before he regards her with a slight furrow at his brow ]

Is it normal for children to fight where you're from?

[ the priest has to consider that perhaps the principles of their worlds were different... but it just didn't seem right. fighting monsters, wielding magic and weapons - her greatest responsibilities at this age should be her friends in school or how best to fill up the long days of childhood that would suddenly blow by so fast when she was older. ]

No, Hana's special. Our non-exitance.

[Hana was neither Yin or Yang, fortune or misfortune, Hana was blank and thus able to take in both and use both without danger. And because Hana was blank both were able to be taken in and used.

With her own teacup empty she made a grabbing motion at the teapot.]

Tea, please.