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countryclub2022-12-25 08:15 pm
reddosmod) wrote in countryclub2022-12-25 08:15 pm
Entry tags:
DECEMBER TEST DRIVE MEME!
DECEMBER 2022 TDM
UNFORTUNATELY ALL TOO STANDARD ARRIVAL
THE MISDIRECTED
FROSTQUAKE
CODING
Another month, another test drive meme! Our test drive memes are open to anyone interested - regardless of whether or not you join our game!
All Test Drive Memes are game canon. Players can choose to keep their TDM threads canon or not. TDM threads can be used for AC and can be used as your writing sample for your application.
Our TDMs serve as a way to build into the actual lore and worldbuilding of Deer Country and we strongly encourage everyone to enjoy and participate! Current players are always welcome to pull prompts from the TDM to reference on the Network or bring into logs as well as tag out to new characters top-leveling on the TDM itself.
Characters will always be able to actively die during TDMs as this is an extremely dangerous world. You can still have this be game canon! Check out how character death in Deer Country works here.
If you have any questions about the TDM, please ask down below!
IMAGE DESCRIPTORS IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE
Prompt One
[Image One: Man in front of broken glacial ice]
[Image Two: Human face and shoulders, dripping blood with flaking skin]
Prompt Two
[Image One: Monstrous Human with sideways mouth and eyes]
[Image Two: Solitary Snowy Forest]
Prompt Three
[Image One: Frozen Zombie]
[Image Two: Icequake!]
All Test Drive Memes are game canon. Players can choose to keep their TDM threads canon or not. TDM threads can be used for AC and can be used as your writing sample for your application.
Our TDMs serve as a way to build into the actual lore and worldbuilding of Deer Country and we strongly encourage everyone to enjoy and participate! Current players are always welcome to pull prompts from the TDM to reference on the Network or bring into logs as well as tag out to new characters top-leveling on the TDM itself.
Characters will always be able to actively die during TDMs as this is an extremely dangerous world. You can still have this be game canon! Check out how character death in Deer Country works here.
If you have any questions about the TDM, please ask down below!
Prompt One
[Image One: Man in front of broken glacial ice]
[Image Two: Human face and shoulders, dripping blood with flaking skin]
Prompt Two
[Image One: Monstrous Human with sideways mouth and eyes]
[Image Two: Solitary Snowy Forest]
Prompt Three
[Image One: Frozen Zombie]
[Image Two: Icequake!]
WHEN: Last Week of November/First Week of December
WHERE: The Farther Shores
CONTENT WARNINGS: Body Horror, Frozen Wastes, Possible Transformations, Extreme Cold, weird offers of juice under suspicious circumstances?
WHERE: The Farther Shores
CONTENT WARNINGS: Body Horror, Frozen Wastes, Possible Transformations, Extreme Cold, weird offers of juice under suspicious circumstances?
The Heart of Winter in Trench is no time to enter the city as a sleeper. The entire beach is fully iced over with a glacially thick sheet of ice. Numerous patches of thick ice and heavy snowfall can be found around town, though they are shoveled to leave the paths accessible. Where the previous year, skates were rented and offered to those who wish to skate, the ice flows are far too craggy and irregular to be safe. Instead, cleats are given to those who greet and bring the sleepers to shore. Holes are bored at regular intervals deep into the ice flows and lights are lowered down into the holes to give guidance to sleepers' approach. When Sleepers rise from the depths, they find themselves in small wooden enclosures to protect from howling winds and bitter cold, able to form their bodies there in relative comfort in front of a censor with rocks heated by coldblood-infused stones especially for the purpose.
Outside of the bitter, and vicious cold, arrival to the city is a muted, quiet and otherwise uneventful occurrence. There are no tides of monsters. There are no horrific things waiting for people who arrive. There is simply a bone-chilling cold that numbs the soul a little. To help the people as they arrive, not only are they given their backpacks but they are also offered thick mugs of cocoa to help them cope with the cold. It seems to be helping quite a bit, actually. Yet, something about all of this seems off. The people of Trench are nervous, and there is an air of uncertainty in everything.
SEASONAL DETAILS ON THE BOARDWALK
Where normally there would be large food stalls set up and games, displays of beauty such as ice sculptures, the cold is bad enough that the people of Trench want not to be out as much as possible, and doubtless neither do the Sleepers. They are hustled and bundled from one small structure to another. Heavy winter furs that look reminiscent of great wolf pelts are given to everyone, especially those who have no clothing. But it is otherwise a strangely muted affair, though the people whisper of hope that the Shedding Ceremony is about to begin, and with it is the hope of new life and new birth in the City of Trench. In time, many will find that the symptoms associated with Madame Generosity's ceremony of shedding one's older self are in full swing throughout the month of January, complete with possible transformations and itchy, scaley skin conditions. Lovely.
Before every new sleeper leaves, however, a final gift is given. It is a small box, which contains a hand written note in scrawled black ink that is alarmingly similar to squid ink. This same box appears the morning of January 1st on the doorstep of every single home of a sleeper in Trench, without fail. If a person in Trench has strange accommodations, they nevertheless find this box where they would normally wake, or around a corner in the early morning with their name on it and no explanation. Inside the box are always the same items: 1 gallon of orange juice, 6 cans of chicken noodle soup, 4 boxes of tissues and what looks like an old world-war I era gas mask. The hand written note reads clearly 'DRINK THE JUICE!' Nobody in Trench seems to know why or who gave them.
Outside of the bitter, and vicious cold, arrival to the city is a muted, quiet and otherwise uneventful occurrence. There are no tides of monsters. There are no horrific things waiting for people who arrive. There is simply a bone-chilling cold that numbs the soul a little. To help the people as they arrive, not only are they given their backpacks but they are also offered thick mugs of cocoa to help them cope with the cold. It seems to be helping quite a bit, actually. Yet, something about all of this seems off. The people of Trench are nervous, and there is an air of uncertainty in everything.
Where normally there would be large food stalls set up and games, displays of beauty such as ice sculptures, the cold is bad enough that the people of Trench want not to be out as much as possible, and doubtless neither do the Sleepers. They are hustled and bundled from one small structure to another. Heavy winter furs that look reminiscent of great wolf pelts are given to everyone, especially those who have no clothing. But it is otherwise a strangely muted affair, though the people whisper of hope that the Shedding Ceremony is about to begin, and with it is the hope of new life and new birth in the City of Trench. In time, many will find that the symptoms associated with Madame Generosity's ceremony of shedding one's older self are in full swing throughout the month of January, complete with possible transformations and itchy, scaley skin conditions. Lovely.
Before every new sleeper leaves, however, a final gift is given. It is a small box, which contains a hand written note in scrawled black ink that is alarmingly similar to squid ink. This same box appears the morning of January 1st on the doorstep of every single home of a sleeper in Trench, without fail. If a person in Trench has strange accommodations, they nevertheless find this box where they would normally wake, or around a corner in the early morning with their name on it and no explanation. Inside the box are always the same items: 1 gallon of orange juice, 6 cans of chicken noodle soup, 4 boxes of tissues and what looks like an old world-war I era gas mask. The hand written note reads clearly 'DRINK THE JUICE!' Nobody in Trench seems to know why or who gave them.
WHEN: Last Week of December through End of January
WHERE: Outside of the Main Districts of Trench, the Wilderness
CONTENT WARNINGS: Horrifying Monster, Body Horror, Being Lost, Severe Disorientation, Hypothermia, Possible Death
WHERE: Outside of the Main Districts of Trench, the Wilderness
CONTENT WARNINGS: Horrifying Monster, Body Horror, Being Lost, Severe Disorientation, Hypothermia, Possible Death
There is no real warning about what comes. Somewhere in the last week of December, people just occasionally turn up missing. The numbers are never alarming, but they're greater than should have been expected in the month of January. Trenchies seem clueless to this, and the Hunters are left scratching their heads. They do not know what is causing the added disappearances, as none of the usual signs and warnings attend the recent uptick. This alone has them unsettled, and Trenchies begin to travel resolutely in pairs and trios everywhere that they go. The reason why becomes all too clear if one strays outside of Trench's main districts and wanders the roads between the districts or anywhere near the farms during this month and a half.
There is something out there. It can never be seen directly, but the sense that you are being watched is inescapable. Hints of a figure in the shadows of the trees are nothing new in Trench, but there is a definite air of malevolence to it, one that is obvious and pointed at your person the moment that you recognize that it is present and acknowledge its existence in any fashion or form. The creature is never there if you look directly at it, but if you happen to catch it more closely out of the corner of your eye, the horrifyingly twisted form of a human being whose eyes and mouth are turned sideways is barely visible, pointing at you!
This would be the time that many good hunters would attack, yet the creature is a slippery one. It never actually attacks directly and any time a person tries to turn to it, it is simply gone. Indirect attacks can cause it to flee, but it always comes back at some point, seemingly invulnerable to attack. What it does, rather than attack, is far more nefarious as its mere presence can be disorienting to anyone who encounters it. All sense of direction becomes lost, and the person can find themselves wandering further and further out into the wilderness, even if they were originally within sight of their destination. The more lost they become, the more that their mind descends into a fugue, one where concentration becomes worse and worse, and memory seems to slip away until they lose all sense of identity. The further out, the colder it gets, and the more the smell of rotten eggs lingers, fetid in the air.
The spirit is eventually identified by some of the Arcane Scholars as not being native to Trench, and they believe it is from somewhere much further in the north, from places far removed from this town. There are only snippets about one of their kind ever being encountered in Trench before, and the reports said it eventually became lost and left again, as will this spirit. It is indestructible and unkillable, as it is already dead. The only true defense is to, when the smell of rotten eggs comes along, to cover the mouth and nose completely. The burning of incense also helps, anything to block out the foul odor, which turns out to be the likely vector of its disorienting effect. If they happen to have a compass that unerringly shows direction from prior events, those too can be a protection of sorts finding their way back. If one travels too long out in the wilderness, though, there are fears that one might become as lost as the spirit and die in the wilderness, ultimately sharing the fate that brought it into existence. Even those who escape the spirit's wrath may have lingering memory issues, though those should pass over the next week.
There is something out there. It can never be seen directly, but the sense that you are being watched is inescapable. Hints of a figure in the shadows of the trees are nothing new in Trench, but there is a definite air of malevolence to it, one that is obvious and pointed at your person the moment that you recognize that it is present and acknowledge its existence in any fashion or form. The creature is never there if you look directly at it, but if you happen to catch it more closely out of the corner of your eye, the horrifyingly twisted form of a human being whose eyes and mouth are turned sideways is barely visible, pointing at you!
This would be the time that many good hunters would attack, yet the creature is a slippery one. It never actually attacks directly and any time a person tries to turn to it, it is simply gone. Indirect attacks can cause it to flee, but it always comes back at some point, seemingly invulnerable to attack. What it does, rather than attack, is far more nefarious as its mere presence can be disorienting to anyone who encounters it. All sense of direction becomes lost, and the person can find themselves wandering further and further out into the wilderness, even if they were originally within sight of their destination. The more lost they become, the more that their mind descends into a fugue, one where concentration becomes worse and worse, and memory seems to slip away until they lose all sense of identity. The further out, the colder it gets, and the more the smell of rotten eggs lingers, fetid in the air.
The spirit is eventually identified by some of the Arcane Scholars as not being native to Trench, and they believe it is from somewhere much further in the north, from places far removed from this town. There are only snippets about one of their kind ever being encountered in Trench before, and the reports said it eventually became lost and left again, as will this spirit. It is indestructible and unkillable, as it is already dead. The only true defense is to, when the smell of rotten eggs comes along, to cover the mouth and nose completely. The burning of incense also helps, anything to block out the foul odor, which turns out to be the likely vector of its disorienting effect. If they happen to have a compass that unerringly shows direction from prior events, those too can be a protection of sorts finding their way back. If one travels too long out in the wilderness, though, there are fears that one might become as lost as the spirit and die in the wilderness, ultimately sharing the fate that brought it into existence. Even those who escape the spirit's wrath may have lingering memory issues, though those should pass over the next week.
WHEN: First week of January
WHERE: Anywhere around Trench
CONTENT WARNINGS: Natural Disaster Horror, Frostquakes, Falling Peril, Sinkholes, Fear of the Dark, Frozen Zombies!
WHERE: Anywhere around Trench
CONTENT WARNINGS: Natural Disaster Horror, Frostquakes, Falling Peril, Sinkholes, Fear of the Dark, Frozen Zombies!
At first you think you're being treated to something spectacular! There's a small scale aurora that shows itself in the sky over your head. It's breathtaking and quite stunning to behold. The truth of the matter is all too real almost immediately afterwards however. There is a dull, booming crack as the frozen ground underneath your feet breaks and shudders, giving way! It's an earthquake, or more accurately a frostquake. In and around the city of Trench, as the temperatures shift in the dead of the cold of the Bone Moon, ice flows and patches of snow shift and compress against the ground, causing localized earthquakes to occur.
These frostquakes can damage buildings, causing items to fall, breaking plaster and the like. They are not, however, strong enough to do permanent harm to the buildings unless they are themselves structurally unsound. Each of them is localized, their experience not traveling more than two city blocks way each time one strikes. However, if you are unfortunate enough to be outside when it happens, they have an alarming habit of striking under the feet of unwary sleepers. Every time one of these frostquakes occurs, a patch of ground opens up temporarily into a deep sinkhole!
Falling into the hole can be an unpleasant sequence of events, but the ground beneath is littered with snow and something soft. Though banged up, the sleeper should be able to survive the fall intact. It's getting back out that is the problem. The walls aren't sheer, but it's a difficult climb. A rope can be thrown down, but it's very dark and cold in the space, making it hard to see much of anything. The real danger lies in the fact that they find that they are not alone! The 'softness' that they landed upon turns out to be a small number of other unfortunate souls who once fell in a prior frostquake, their bodies freezing to death long ago and rising as undead, waiting for an opening to escape. They attack blindly and though they can be defeated, they are still quite strong. Unlike some zombies, they do not hunger for flesh, but for the escape from their icy tomb and will do anything to crawl their way out, where they can wreck havoc finally on the living! Better deal with them quickly!
These frostquakes can damage buildings, causing items to fall, breaking plaster and the like. They are not, however, strong enough to do permanent harm to the buildings unless they are themselves structurally unsound. Each of them is localized, their experience not traveling more than two city blocks way each time one strikes. However, if you are unfortunate enough to be outside when it happens, they have an alarming habit of striking under the feet of unwary sleepers. Every time one of these frostquakes occurs, a patch of ground opens up temporarily into a deep sinkhole!
Falling into the hole can be an unpleasant sequence of events, but the ground beneath is littered with snow and something soft. Though banged up, the sleeper should be able to survive the fall intact. It's getting back out that is the problem. The walls aren't sheer, but it's a difficult climb. A rope can be thrown down, but it's very dark and cold in the space, making it hard to see much of anything. The real danger lies in the fact that they find that they are not alone! The 'softness' that they landed upon turns out to be a small number of other unfortunate souls who once fell in a prior frostquake, their bodies freezing to death long ago and rising as undead, waiting for an opening to escape. They attack blindly and though they can be defeated, they are still quite strong. Unlike some zombies, they do not hunger for flesh, but for the escape from their icy tomb and will do anything to crawl their way out, where they can wreck havoc finally on the living! Better deal with them quickly!
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[it's a two story house, victorian in style with white trimmings. he doesn't hear the dogs, though he says,] I live with Miss Makima, she has three dogs, Tiramisu, Cheesecake and Brownie. They might be with her though.
[he opens the door for sunny and will close it behind them. shibe runs in to sit by the fireplace- it's a nice place, clean, old fashioned and a bit grand. it feels a little odd to live in a place like this but what isn't odd about the trench.
anyway he takes off his jacket and scarf, takes off his shoes.] Are you hungry?
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I'll show you some when I do.
[The house is nice, he thinks, as he inspects it. Additionally Sunny thinks Mob is lucky that he's living with three dogs. That was neat.
Sunny stretches his neck and shoulders a bit as Mewo jumps down to join Shibe by the fireplace. She yawns and flops down next to him, rubbing her little face against the dog. She was quite friendly.
Mob's question makes Sunny acutely aware of the pangs in his stomach and he nods. All he'd had was cocoa.]
Yeah, but I don't eat much. [He pauses.] Need help making something? [If he was going to eat he might as well help.]
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meanwhile mob moves towards the kitchen, considering that with a tilt of his head.] I don't really know how to cook. [he admits, so if sunny does... well that would help.] There might be soup left over though. Miss Makima is a really good cook.
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Sunny watches this fondly, before following Mob towards the kitchen. He frowns lightly at the question. He was no Hero.]
I know a little. I used to help my sister sometimes. [Sunny glances downward.] And I helped a couple make a meal recently. [A pause.] We could try.
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[at least he knows a little about first aid, sort of. enough for this. he goes to get whatever is around that could help, nodding for sunny to take a seat on the chair. as he does he asks,] Is your sister younger or older?
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His eye follows Mob as he looks, curious. But then his expression clouds suddenly at the question. His chest tightens at it, and he has to force himself to breathe.
She was born before him. He was now older than her.
It hurt. It wasn't fair. It was his fault.]
She- she's my older sister.
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he brings over a wet rag, offering it to sunny since maybe he'd like to clean his own scratches. and then, of course, he says in completely sincere, innocent ignorance,] Sorry, you must miss her.
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His shaking gets worse at what Mob says. Sunny tries to steady himself but it's not working. He can't get enough air in. For so long he'd been so emotionally cut off. He'd cried for the first time in years at the hospital and now he could feel the tears welling up again.
He chokes out a sob, dropping the rag and pressing his hand to his eye. A warm dribble of blood oozed out of his nose onto his hand, but he didn't pay any mind as it mixed with his tears.
There's something happening with him. A blue aura that encircled him almost like crayon that he doesn't seem to notice himself.]
S-sorry, I-
[He'd just met Mob, how could he be crying in front of him like this?]
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It's okay. [he tries to assure, taking in the blood and aura- a psychic? it didn't feel quite the same, more like bloodmagic but a little strange. it was heavy, that color and aura, he can almost feel it.
(55%)
he looks over to the fireplace suddenly, realizing what would make him feel better if he needed comfort.] Mewo? I think he needs you.
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Mewo gets up and trots over to Sunny, rubbing her body against his leg and purring loudly.
That's enough to at least get him to look down at her and snap him out of the spiral he was going through.]
Mewo.
[His voice is pained as he says her name, reaching down to pick her up and hold her. She doesn't object as he hugs her and rubs his face against her soft fur. After a moment or two his breathing becomes a little steadier and the strange aura around him begins to abate.
He puts Mewo onto his lap and she quickly settles in. Sunny pets her as he inhales and exhales.]
Thanks.
[His voice is even quieter than normal. It's not clear if he's thanking Mob or Mewo or both of them.]
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sunny must really miss his sister, or... well, something bad happened. as he lights the stove top he settles on the fact he's pretty sure this was a pain beyond being far away from her now. something a lot more complicated than that, where there was always some hope.
the thanks is clearly for mewo, the true mvp in mob's mind. when he looks back over things seem to be more settled. shibe watches from the doorway.]
I'm sorry. I upset you. [simple as that.]
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Now that he was calming down, he was embarrassed. Showing emotions like this in front of a person he just met. That wasn't okay.
He finally looks up again when Mob speaks, and shakes his head. He didn't want Mob to feel guilty. It wasn't his fault.]
It's okay. [He pauses for such a long moment it doesn't even seem like he's going to continue.] Mari- my sister- is dead.
[His heartbeat sped up just saying it. Inhale. Exhale. Focus on Mewo.]
I just started dealing with it.
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he nods once in acknowledgement, and the shibe cautious demeanor seems to soften just a touch. for a long moment he says nothing until finally he offers,] It's okay to cry, if you need to. Or not, if that's how you feel.
[it feels a bit awkward to say, but it was still true.] This place can be kind of... bad, about that. Things that hurt us. You aren't alone though.
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He nods.]
How is it bad?
[There's a mixture of both worry and impassivity there somehow. Concern for how bad it might be but also neutrality knowing that it would be difficult to surpass Black Space.]
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I fell into people's memories a few times. They were hard ones for the person, though I think they felt better after.
People told me weird things like that happen sometimes. Stuff like the zombies, but also stuff we're scared of. Stuff we did. [a little pause there.] People try to help each other though.
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(Which he deserved.)]
Is there a way to keep people out of your memories?
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[which stinks. the kettle whistles and he hurries to move over to it, trying to keep everything clean. miss makima liked things clean, he'd be a good roommate no matter what.
just carefully pouring the water and making the tea, a simple green tea he brings over to sunny and holds out.] Also your nose is bleeding. [thanks mob.]
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Magic sounds cool. [He takes the green tea, holding it in both of his hands. His blinks in surprise at the mention of him bleeding. He glances down at his reflection in the tea and sees that, yeah, he sure was.]
Oh. [He wipes the blood off onto the back of his hand without much thought.]
Thanks for the tea. [He takes a sip.] We can still try to make food, if you want.
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[which he's fine with. time to go get whatever bandages they have though. given how much he trips trying to run he comes back with bandaids he got himself. they have cats on them. the trench is weird man.]
I would. I want to learn to cook better, really.
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Your powers aren't magic? [To Sunny they might as well have been.
He watches Mob go get the bandages, internally delighted that they had cats on them. He looks up at Mob and gives him a nod of approval at them he hopes the other boy understands.]
Alright. What ingredients do you have?
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[since that aura was clearly something. he can't quite tell what, but something.
but yeah he understands the nod and gives a nod back. finally, a fellow taste-haver.]
Mm, fish mostly. Some vegetables too, mushrooms. Fish and mushrooms are what they have the most of here.
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What powers?
[He tries to focus back on the food though, trying to think of what to do with those.] We could do stir fry if you have oil.
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[he has no damn idea, given he can't do that.
he looks at one of the cabinets and ah, there's some oil, he pulls it out to show sunny. he is now the expert here in mob's opinion.] Will this work?
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Anyway, the oil. Sunny inspects it and gives a nod.]Now we need a wok. [A pause.] Or a pan if you don't have one.
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[she's smart and capable like that. he looks through and finds a decent sized pan, bringing it to put on the stove. also goes to get the ingredients he mentioned, making sure not to take anything he'd totally use up since he isn't sure if miss makima needs them for other things.
but there they go, they have the fixings all ready.]
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