TEST DRIVE MEME #4

[inthenightmods]

TEST DRIVE MEME #4

Hello and welcome to the In the Night test drive meme for September! Thanks for your interest in our game! Reserves open on September 20, and applications open on September 22.

While you're here...

• Take a look at our rules and faq pages to familiarize yourself with the game.
  
• Note that we have a reserve cap of 20, and a (current) application cap of 13 apps this month for new players, as the game has a player cap of 60. An accurate count of current players will always be available on the taken page.
  
• TDM threads can become game canon if both players wish. If the situation isn't something that could happen in-game, you're free to chalk it up to some strange hallucination, a shared dream, or other mysterious circumstance.
  
• Note that this is not limited to new characters threading with characters already in-game. If current players wish to thread out the TDM prompts as canon events, they are welcome to do so. They are welcome to make posts in the main comms for TDM events as well. Please note, however, that actual plot clues or happenings will not occur in TDM prompts.
  
• If you plan to apply, please keep in mind that we do require at least one sample thread on the application to be from our TDM (though it doesn't need to be the current TDM).
  
• You're welcome to use the provided prompts or come up with something on your own, but we do ask that all threads take place in our game's setting.

Thank you again, and we hope you'll choose to join us!

log prompts

GATHER YE ROSEBUDS WHILE YE MAY

With a cloud of mourning having weighed heavy on Beacon over the last month, the Lighthouse Keeper has decided to try and rally the community with a game: a selfie scavenger hunt! With the promise of (secret) prizes for those who play along, she's provided a list of 25 different items to track down and take a picture with. And, of course, all submissions will be public for others to view and comment upon. A town forum, Instagram-style. How fun! Feel like teaming up? Finding a companion to go searching with could make the task go by faster, as there's nothing saying that you can't both submit the same pictures so long as you take them together. And what's a proper game without company?

This prompt is a mini version of this month's Gather Up event.

IT'S RAININ' SIDEWAYS

Overall, the weather has been mild lately. Since Autumn hit, the standard has been overcast darkness blotting the stars and little wind. The rumble of thunder sounds just before the downpour begins, as if a switch has been flipped up in the clouds. If you're in the Invincible, the houses in the village, or any of the other solid establishments, it isn't anything to worry about, really. Mostly, it just means hunkering down until the storm passes. However...it seems that someone opted to build themselves a structure in the square that's proven not to be able to withstand these harsher elements. Whether you're the unfortunate sap in the tent or you're merely a bystander, one way or another, you notice its roof cave in, the beams placed to support it buckling inward and trapping the inhabitant inside. It's not enough to crush someone, but it'll surely be difficult to gather oneself as the wind and the rain bears down without mercy. Call for help and maybe someone will hear you, or be the good Samaritan that runs to their aid.

network prompts

I CAN'T *PBBT* UNDERSTAND *PBBT* YOUR ACCENT

Something's wrong. The things that you type and the things that you speak are transforming themselves upon being posted to the network. Or maybe that's not quite accurate, because everything in your posts are certainly your own words...it's just that indiscernible static has descended upon the page and crept into your audio, blocking out pieces of your statements--just enough to change the overall meaning of what you were originally saying. Efforts to clarify don't seem to be improving the situation, and it's hard to say if there's any way of fixing this. Maybe it's a comfort that the problem isn't isolated on your end; after all, that effectively takes the issue out of your hands to solve. Or maybe it's just the opposite. Maybe knowing that the network is experiencing widespread failures, however mild, fills you with a sense of dread and unease. One thing's clear, at least: you'll need a bit of luck to get your point across for the time being.

THE TITLE EQUIVALENT FOR WHEN YOUR GRANDMA COMMENTS ON YOUR UNRELATED FB STATUS AS IF SHE'S WRITING YOU A PERSONAL LETTER

Sometime in the recent past you had a problem. Maybe it was a dire emergency advertised to the community at large, maybe you became overwhelmed with stress and needed the ear of a close friend, or maybe it was just something embarrassing you were sharing in confidence. Unfortunately, regardless of what the message was, it looks like it disappeared the moment you hit send, as if it had been eaten by the network itself. It's been long enough now that you've brushed it off; you've been able to solve your problem one way or another and moved on. That's when it appears, unprompted, on the network for all to see, regardless of how private it was meant to be. Well, now you might have a bit of explaining to do.

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Comments

Selfie Hunt

[savingthrows]

[Eleven is also new here, and not very upbeat about it. She's somber for a child her age, to anyone who doesn't know her yet at least. Curious, and unafraid, if not weary. She's been trying to apply Riku's lesson in using the application tools on the strange device everyone has in order to take photos.

The rules of this place are strange. Riku called it a game, and Eleven indulges not out of glee, but because it's a good distraction, a good lesson to figure out, and allows her to explore her newfound residence a little.]

Not sure.

[She gives the question some more thought.]

The rules seem... vague. I have never played this.

[luxoraculi]

Yes. Even though we are technically dead, we can still die. Somehow.

[ She leads him past the stupid bounce house and up the path, into the cabin. It's small and cozy, for the most part. And it shows that it's very much lived in by the three of them. ]

I've no idea how that is possible... but it is, apparently.

[nyxulric]

So a few setbacks there. Right.

[ The fact that there's endless night surrounding them, a need to carry a lantern with you at all times, and no immediate source of light outside of these lanterns and the bonfire is just a little concerning there, truth be told.

Speaking of concerning things though? That doll is probably one of the creepiest things he has ever seen and it sure is getting A LOOK from the Glaive. So much, in fact, that he even comes to pause for a moment to stare at the thing before he steps his way inside. ]

That what passes for a bodyguard around here?

[savingthrows]

[Right on all accounts.]

like the lanterns and the light tower and the fire

yes they help

[nyxulric]

[ The bouncy castle might get a look out of the corner of his eye but just... he'll ask later. So much later. The fact that they're dead yet can die again somehow is what has his attention for the moment. ]

Are you serious?

[ He knows she is. ]

So then what? We end up some place else?

[luxoraculi]

[ Closing the door behind them, she leads him to the small sofa in their living space and gently urges him to sit, taking a seat next to him. ]

I am very serious. But to answer your next question... I don't know. None of us know.

[otrazhenie]

[ Elena watches him as best she can in the dim light from her lantern, listening for any sound heralding the further collapse of the sad little structure. She can hear the wood shifting as he pushes against it, a soft groan that most wouldn't be able to pick up amid the rush of the rain. ]

I'll be fine, I heal fast.

[ Taking a deep breath, she gives her own tentative push to the nearest beam, feeling the shift and hearing that soft shifting again within another part of the tangle of broken materials. Making a quick decision, she raises her voice to be heard over the rumbling. ]

I think I can move this, but you'll need to take my lantern.

[ Hopefully he realizes how big a deal that is here. ]

[nyxulric]

[ Nyx remains silent for a moment as she explains, staring to the fire as the face of his own mentor gently pushes its way to the front of his mind. Unlike her, he had to fight against his teacher, someone he had looked up to and taught him how to fight like he does now. Corruption is a helluva drug. So's being unable to let go of the past. ]

Sorry to hear that.

[ His tone is genuine as he gives her a glance before he looks back to the crackling flames. ]

Got anyone else here that you know?

[nyxulric]

[ Well if she's just going to drop him down like that. ]

Well that sounds like shit.

[ He sighs that out, hand coming to drag down over his mouth before it settles on his chin and he takes the moment of frustration to just... look around. Take in this little cabin here. ]

[luxoraculi]

[ ...better get used to it, Nyx. ]

Indeed. There is much yet to be discovered about this place. Forgive me, dear Nyx... I wish I could be of more use to you.

[ Considering three people are crammed into this little cabin, it's pretty clean, too. The house smells of spices and baked goods, and there's definitely a warm atmosphere despite their dark, cold surroundings. ]

I hope that we can at least make this as comfortable for you as possible. I know that this... is a lot to take in.

[kungfuey]

[ She gives off little to suggest her feelings one way or another, though perhaps there's arguably an edge of unease. Unlikely for the reasons one might expect of somebody who is armed to the teeth. The last cops she encountered tried to lynch and eat her. Near death by cannibalism has a way of making you extra careful around people.

His sarcasm is, however, appreciated. The barest hint of a grin playing at the corner of her mouth. She'd never known how to deal with people who flipped out and were looking for somebody to reassure them. Sarcastic barbs? That was more her speed. ]

Technically... its a bunch of really big rats all - [ Tangling her fingers into a twisted knot as the papers flutter in the breeze on her lap. ]

Didn't want to freak you out by leading with that, but if you're not worried. [ Meeting his sarcasm with a dash of smart-assery of her own. Scarlett's smile pulling at the other corner of her lips now as she rests her hand on top of a stack of what appears to be old bulletins. ]

[nyxulric]

Guess I should find myself a place then around here. Rent can't be as bad as it was back home.

[ The whole lack of natural light thing isn't exactly a luxury by any means. ]

[reigniter]

When were things ever simple?

[Seriously. He wants things to be out in the open for once. No more hiding, no more lies, no more secrets. Unfortunately, nothing in their lives seems to be easy anymore- Ignis never expected anything to be handed to him on a silver plate, but he detests being kept in the darkness.

Ignis pauses at the question and gives the doll a look. Oh, that thing.]

Not sure. A forest spirit won it for me and I thought it would be rude to throw it away.

[He just doesn't want to insult the spirits. Who knows what they are all capable of. Maybe the doll itself will turn on him for throwing away the gift. Ignis is not going to take that risk.]

[nyxulric]

[ Hey, better to not assume anything, right?

But her reaction is more than enough for an answer and he just nods as he looks back out into this lovely little storm they've found themselves caught in. ]

Not the sort of place a lot of people should be. But you're right, a kid especially is likely to cause a stir.

[ With another crack of thunder booming over them, he presses himself against the door a little more, knowing it's damn well futile with the way the rain blows sideways but. ]

What she look like? In case I see her around.

[luxoraculi]

Or you could simply stay here with us. I doubt that the boys are going to want you to leave, and I know I certainly don't.

[ It's not safe. Also, they have a cool bounce house in the front yard. ]

[nyxulric]

[ Heals fast, huh? What is it with running into people who have that ability? Sure would have come in handy for him a few times in the past.

The shifting of the mess and wood around them catches his attention and he shoulders a little more of the weight of the cracked beam he has against him. The rain blowing sideways and the wind whipping around doesn't help much in the way of keeping things from slipping or collapsing further but when he hears her speak of the lantern she carries with her, he glances off to his own. Yeah, still looks fine. ]

Give it to me here.

[ And as he speaks loudly over the wind and rain and boom of thunder, he reaches a hand through the mess while still keeping the cracked beam from collapsing further and making everything even worse than it already is. ]

[nyxulric]

You sure you have the space here for another body?

[ It's by no means anything like any palace or even upper class apartment complex. But it's certainly bigger than his old apartment back home, so. At least there's that. ]

[luxoraculi]

Yes. We will make space. The worst case scenario is that you would room with me.

[ At least her quarters aren't super girly... well. She's got lots of flowers in her bedroom, and glitter gel pens. But that's it, really. ]

[oldtonew]

Perhaps. They could have ballista, though. Or some other long ranged weapon.

[ Kettara isn't used to fighting in the sky, but she's aware of some of the general dangers. Still, the potential benefits likely outweigh the risk at this point. ]

That would be wise. Perhaps I could accompany you?

[ It seems more useful than this scavenger hunt, at any rate. ]

[nyxulric]

That probably comes in handy a lot.

[ Much as his warping did before he lost his connection to his King. Now it's no more fancy magic tricks and having to just use what strength he's already got with him.

But he nods when she seems to be ok, another heavy sigh as he catches his breath in the rain around them. Normally, he'd offer her his jacket (or what's left of it) but considering they're both soaked to the bone? A little on the pointless side of things.

Reaching down for his lantern, he looks to her with concern. ]

You ok?

[oldtonew]

[ It's strange to encounter humans who have no notion of what she is, or think to hate her for it. Kettara nods just once. ]

My mother came from a place called Outland. But I was born on a world called Azeroth.

[ She's lived in many places since, and called more than one home. They all seem very far away, now. ]

What is your home called?

[nyxulric]

[ Well now that suggestion gets Nyx to raise a bit of a brow to her before he chuckles and gives a shake of his head. ]

Not so sure the King would be ok with that, no offense.

[ Shacking up with his King's fiancée? Yeah, he's trying NOT to get killed again? ]

[oldtonew]

[ She nods just once, still watching the fire. Everyone here died. From what she's heard, most of those deaths were unpleasant and painful. Worthy, perhaps, as Kettara desperately hopes hers was. But painful nonetheless. ]

No. There is no one from my home. And most of you are human.

[ Most of the time she's angry about this. Currently she's more tired than anything. ]

What do I call you?

[luxoraculi]

Noctis would not mind, I can very much assure you.

[ She shifts a little bit at that, glancing off to the side for a split second before deciding to drop it. ]

Besides. He does not get a say in who I decide to invite into my room, no one does.

[ So there! ]

[nyxulric]

A what now?

[ He heard him right, didn't he? Forest spirit? Never mind the whole apparently it won a creepy looking doll for him part. ]

This something of the norm around here that I should be aware about?

[ Should he be expecting a visit from a water spirit in the shower or something? ]