TEST DRIVE MEME #1

[inthenightmods]

TEST DRIVE MEME #1

Hello and welcome to the In the Night test drive meme for June! Thanks for your interest in our game! Reserves open on June 20, and applications open on June 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/application cap of 20 apps per month (this has been waived for the first month!).
  
• 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.
  
• Though threads can become canon, they cannot count toward AC.
  
• 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

YOU'RE DEAD, JIM

You haven't been in Beacon long when you find yourself in Bonfire Square, staring into the flames and thinking about how you ended up here. Maybe it was an accident, a sudden freak thing that you never saw coming until you woke up on the ferry, or maybe it's a miracle you made it as long as you did. Maybe death was a relief. Maybe it was just your time. Whatever the case, you can't help but reflect on your final moments as you linger in the firelight.

But however you died, it's behind you now, and you're here, stuck in this little town with just a few buildings and a smattering of other people. You're going to be here a while, so you may as well get to know your neighbors, but... Would it be cathartic to commiserate about your deaths? Or is your time better spent stocking up at the general store? Then again, you've got plenty of time, so why not catch a drink or two (or three) at the Invincible? Pretend you're unaffected by your death, and, well. Fake it 'til you make it, perhaps.

Point is, you have options. You're dead, you died, and this is your "life" now. Better get used to it.

AND THEY WERE ROOMMATES

Currently, there's only one place to live (technically speaking) in Beacon: the Invincible, a tavern and inn located in Bonfire Square. Luckily, the place has working amenities (minus light), and the forest spirits don't charge anything for your stay. Unfortunately, it seems there may not be enough rooms for everyone. Guess you'll have to get cozy!

Maybe you'll try to pick a roommate from around town or in the bar downstairs, or maybe you'll just walk into the first room you see and choose that way. Want a room all to yourself? Get ready to fend off any potential intruders. And the fun doesn't end there.

The Invincible's rooms aren't all created equal. Some may have had their furniture stolen or become a dumping ground for unwanted pieces, resulting in a single bed, five dressers, and other equally distressing situations. Will someone sleep on the floor? Will you nail two beds together to form bunk beds? Maybe you just want to make this room into something more like home— potentially to your roommate's chagrin. Whatever you decide, this is where you're staying for now, so you might as well get comfortable.

network prompts

HACKER VOICE: I'M IN

In order to use the network, you have to register a username. Er, at least, that's how it's supposed to work. For some reason, new users have recently been able to bypass that requirement, allowing them to post anonymously. Time to troll strangers on the magical internet!

Eventually though, you'll need a username in order to use the tablet's other functions, like the direct messaging system. So hey, why not take advantage of the ability to source opinions, and workshop your potential usernames on the network? Share ideas, get feedback, steal ideas, critique others, and figure out what you want everyone to call you.

TURN ON YOUR LOCATION

When you wake up, you're in the woods. An iron shackle complete with a chain leashes you to a tree, and the only light you have is your lantern. You've never seen this area of the woods before. You certainly didn't go to sleep here.

Hm.

But, all is not lost. You find your phone in your pocket, as well as a scrap of paper covered back to front in cryptic scribbles. Are these clues to your location? They must be. You also spot a key dangling from a branch, though it's hanging from a tree you'll never be able to reach from here. Perhaps someone on the network will be able to lend you a hand...

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Comments

Benjamin Winters | @albatross | NPC

[scrapcap]

log - and they were roommates

[Winters has lived in the Invincible for some time now, but he doesn't have much to his name. Not more that can fit in a backpack, anyway, which he has slung over his shoulder when you enter the apartment. He doesn't look surprised to see you; the door was open, after all.]

There's too many of you to fuss over privacy. It'll be tight quarters 'til y'all manage to open up the town some.

[His voice is gruff, with a vaguely-American-maybe-Australian-slightly-South-African accent that's nigh impossible to place. And he's talking to you like you haven't just walked in and are now talking to him for the first time.]

You got your heart set on this one?

[He tips his head at the room at large. It's not the best of accomodations, but it's certainly not the worst, either. Maybe he'll be down with sharing?]

[ooc: Yes, PCs can totally room with Winters for realsies. If you're planning to app and would like to call dibs, shoot me a PP/PM after you've tagged in! First come, first serve on this, though of course feel free to tag in regardless.]


two - network

[It's late, and you're cozy in your room in The Invincible, and maybe you're asleep and maybe you're not, but your tablet buzzes. You've got a text from Winters, who happens to occupy the room next to yours.]

Did you hear that?

[This is not frightening at all!]


three - wildcard

[Winters can be found pretty much anywhere in town, though he'll tend to lurk at the harbor near the docks and in the Invincible's tavern, nursing some sort of incredibly strong-smelling grain alcohol. That, or he'll be literally wherever you want him to be. Feel free to come at him with whatever! He's here to answering burning questions and such. You can also shoot him a message over the network if that's more your style.

Winters is played by mippins.]

( network prompt! )

[sunborne]

[ doubt.png

daylight can't help but jolt in shock at the realisation that, no, he hasn't heard whatever is being asked. so deep he was in his mindless sketching of the buildings and the people he's met today, he hadn't noticed anything.

he kind of wishes he has now, because he feels silly for sending this reply: ] No. I didn't hear anything. I was kind of distracted by stuff.

Was it super obvious? [ does he need to feel even more shamed? ]

[scrapcap]

No. Sounded like someone throwing stones at the wall. But I don't see anyone.
What stuff had you distracted?

[sunborne]

[ there's a long pause on daylight's end. partly to see if he can hear someone throwing stones still. mostly to figure out how to be honest with his reply without it sounding, um, bad. ]

I was sketching out some stuff I discovered today when I was poking around the town. Wanted to keep track of what I've seen so far.

[ let's go with that. and let's have day ask the question that's he's wanted to ask the moment he read the message: ] Should we investigate it? The sounds and where they're coming from?

[scrapcap]

Smart. Not much to see yet but a map will come in handy down the road.
Do you have any other skills sides sketching? Any good in a fight?

[sunborne]

[ haha... yeah. let's go with that.

and that? that sounds like a chance for an adventure. ]

I can hold my own in a fight! And I'm a scout for the crew I'm part of. So looking for stuff is something I'm really good at.

[scrapcap]

That so? Good. Could come in handy.
See anything out your window?

[sunborne]

[ give him a second- he's got to try and be stealthy despite his size and colours. ]

Sorry but no. :( I don't think I see anything from my window. Might have missed it
by now.

one

[stolenparts]

Depends on how you feel about kids, I suppose.

[Robin looks around the room, his good eye taking in everything, potential roommate included, with an air of casual curiosity.]

A lack of privacy isn't much of an issue for me. I've never had much of it before, and I'm not about to go about anything scandalous.

[scrapcap]

Mm. How old are you?

[He's watching you carefully, boy.]

[stolenparts]

Hm...around thirteen, I'd say.

[An odd way to answer, of course, but he doesn't seem disingenuous, either.]

So hardly much of a child at all, you could argue, depending on your opinion. I don't really mind either way.

[scrapcap]

You're not sure?

[An odd way, indeed. But, on second thought:]

S'pose it's not the strangest I've heard here. Thirteen's nothing I can't handle. I raised two kids of my own.

[And, as far as he's aware, the ferry's never brought anyone in that wasn't able to fend for themselves one way or another. Stands to reason this kid can, too.]

What's your name?

[stolenparts]

How old were they when you ended up here?

[But he takes a seat. Feels strange to stand around when they're talking. The boy folds his hands in his lap.]

Robin.

[scrapcap]

...Early twenties, both of 'em. Plenty grown. They'll do fine without me.

[Or so he's been telling himself. When Robin sits, Winters shifts his weight, eyeing a chair... But for now, he stays standing.]

Ben Winters. Winters'll do.

and they were roommates

[evocation]

[Kyna just shrugs, crossing her arms and leaning against the doorframe. She doesn't really have her heart set on any of the rooms. She's still firmly in the grumpy stage of grieving, apparently.]

What do you mean, open up the town some? Are we supposed to build new houses or something?

[scrapcap]

[He considers that with a "hm".]

That's not a bad idea if you can manage, but no, you won't need to build nothing. There's plenty already here, out in the woods. What we've got in this little square, that's just the beginning.

[At least he doesn't seem to take offense to the grumping.]

and they were roommates

[gowithanger]

No.

[In fact, Arya seems more interested in Winters than the room - her gaze passes over the latter in a quick sweep that serves to note exits and blind spots, but lingers on the man in a sort of chilly evaluation that is entirely too old for her apparent years.]

What do you mean, open up the town?

[It's a strange way to phrase it if all he means is 'until some of you work up the nerve to wander beyond the square'. Maybe there are predators lurking out in the dark, kept at bay by the light of the bonfire - as much as anything can seem reasonable upon waking after death, that does.]

[scrapcap]

[He snorts. There's not quite a smile, but the corner of his mouth does tick up some.]

Awful short answer for a little mouth like yours. Good on you.

[He knows weathering when he sees it. She'll do well here, he thinks.]

I mean what I said. There's more to this place than meets the eye. You won't be stuck in this little corner for long, 'less y'all waste time dragging your feet.

[gowithanger]

[Arya utters a small scoffing sound. There are certainly vices she could be accused of, but dragging her feet has never been one of them. Quite the opposite, in most cases.]

What happened to the rest of it?

network

[survivaltricks]

[well, there's one thing in the world that even death doesn't change: a teenager's tendency to dick around on his phone before bed. the message pops up while he lies sprawled on his mattress, and he blinks at the pixelated letters in mild bewilderment]

[. . .]

It wasn't me.

[HE DOESN'T EVEN KNOW WHAT WINTERS IS TALKING ABOUT]

[scrapcap]

Didn't say it was. Whatever it was, it came from outside. See anything out your window?

[survivaltricks]

[. . . Akira knows that's an innocent question, but. . .]

Ah, yeah. I think I see something?

It's called pitch blackness.

[but he can't help the slightly snide reply nonetheless]

⤜ wildcard; the harbor

[dadyl]

[ The first thing Daryl does when he collects himself is make for a horizon, so it's inevitable that he eventually finds himself at the water's edge. Even though it seems to lead nowhere, no solution to this strange predicament at all, the murking smell of the lake is somewhat soothing. The quiet, barely-there lapping against the dock, ripples from some distant, unseen source, is an eerie, lonely sound - but at least it's natural. The forest is natural too, but the bizarre darkness of it brings Daryl no comfort. They're like the woods from home, but not at all.

He isn't given to approaching strangers, but he can't see how else to learn anything about this place if he doesn't, and Daryl is tired of exploring and finding nothing. Nothing but this deserted lakeshore and thicketed woods that eat the light from his lantern.

So he sets that lantern down on the dock next to the seated figure, a respectful distance away, and sits down next to him. Well, "next to him" being almost two yards away, but there's no one else here, and it's quiet. And for now, Daryl is tired of walking. ]

Lemme guess. No boats today.

wildcard; tavern

[averytinyparticle]

Hey, Mister!

[There's really no reason for this kid to be in a bar...but he struggles his way up into one of the high chairs like he's used to slumming it in places like these, nonetheless.]

Do you know if they have root beer here?

two - and didn't bother setting up a username yet, smdh

[equinoctials]

Wrong number.

[ Riku, who has failed to set up a username so far due to being too busy moving furniture for people and generally trying to make himself useful, may be intentionally missing the point.

Maybe he didn't hear anything.
Maybe he's just pretending he didn't hear anything.
Maybe he's checking out the window right now. ]