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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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[As for the fish] Oh that would probably help wouldn't it? [ Stated in a very matter of fact tone, suggesting, he had indeed actually forgotten and needed to be reminded. Although very intelligent, Xie Lian at times falls victim to an absent and wandering mind.
Above the sink, there's a small cabinet. It doesn't have much in it, besides a basic fork, two spoons, one very dull butter knife, a thread and needle, an old black skillet and two flintstones. Xie Lian's brows pinch together at the mash up of items.] I guess this will have to do. [ A shrug of the shoulders. Turning back towards Sunny ] Have you ever scaled a fish before?
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But as for scaling the fish- Sunny takes stock of what was available to them and makes a bit of a face. He didn't know much of anything about scaling but he knew this was not going to be great.] No. The flint is the sharpest thing here, though. So- [He grabs one of them, feeling the texture and testing the pointiness with his fingertips. It still wasn't that sharp.] We just scrape this across the fish. I think. [He has no idea.]
Happy New Year! CW Fish Scaling
Would you like to try? [Asked as a suggestion, there's not a hint of pressure in his tone.]
happy new year to you, too! CW fish scaling
Somehow this moment has an air of familiarity to it, though, and it takes him a moment to realize it's because he's being reminded of Hero. The gentle, encouraging way of teaching someone was so like him. For a second it makes his chest ache, before he pushes it down to focus on reality.]
I want to. [He moves to take the butter knife, and does his best to repeat what he just saw Xie Lian do. It's not great. The knife intermittently gets stuck from friction or slides forward too much without getting the scales properly. It's not a complete failure, though. He does get some of the scales off.]
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[Lifting the fish on the right for emphasis] so we can cook this up on the skillet, or [lifting the fish on the left] eat it raw, it's your call.
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Cooked. [Sushi was fine and all, but something warm sounded more appealing at the moment.] I've cooked fish before. [So he could actually be of help. He goes to grab the skillet and then realizes they're going to need a fire. Everything was so complicated.]
Do you like it here? [Not just because of the roughing it when it came to food but... everything about this place.]
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Leaving Xie Lian time to ponder over his question. He doesn't answer immediately shifting his weight as he tears a small piece of cloth and searches for more fuel to add for the fire ] Honestly, it's something I'm still getting use to-living here. [He's no stranger to roughing it out in the woods so the issue comes from more futuristic developments and a ghost from the past.] There's a lot of technology that escapes me, and I'd be lying if I said
[I didn't miss someone from back home.Stopping his hands from striking the metal knife with the flintstones before continuing his sentence] that emotionally it's more difficult being here then anything else. [A pause as those golden eyes gleam with a sympathetic sheen. Not wanting to upset Sunny or fall into a rabbit hole himself, he compartmentalizes that piece for later. A genuine smile appears as he finally gets the fire to catch. Lighting up the tiny cabin with a small warm glow. ] But I think focusing on being in the moment keeps me grounded.[A beat. He motions for Sunny to come feel the delicate fire that sits inside the almost dilapidated stone kiln. Before returning the question in a considerate manner] how are feeling about all this?
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He watches Xie Lian prepare the fire, listening intently as he explains how it's been for him being here. Focusing on being in the moment... That was probably the best way to go about things.
When the fire is prepared, he moves closer to it. Almost hesitantly he puts the fish in the skillet and places it above the kiln. He hoped this wasn't going to cause it to go out.]
I'm... not sure. [Sunny glances to the side, a light frown on his face.] I was going to move away from home, anyway. I guess this isn't that different. Except- [A pause.] There's no way to contact anyone now.
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Forgive me if this sounds out of step, [giving Sunny a confused blink] but your parents granted you permission to leave home at such a young age? [Xie Lian was not given that right until he was almost seventeen and even after proving more than able to take care of himself, his mother still had her reservations.
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The question was a little surprising to Sunny, however, and he does turn away to look back at Xie Lian.]
Oh, no, I'm moving with my mom. Not that she's not around much, anyway.
1/2
2/2
And yes, it looks like the dull knife will now assume the role of spatula as Xie Lian hands him the repurposed tool.] Hmm. Moving can be very stressful [not to mention being violently uprooted from your way of life just to be dumped into the Trench.] Were you ready to move [realizing that's a bit vague] before coming to the Trench?
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He holds the knife in this hand, staring down at the fish for the perfect moment to flip it.]
No. [But boy was the situation complicated.] I've lived there my whole life. All my friends were there. [Flipping the fish time.] But I'm... not as afraid as I was before.
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That must have been very difficult. [It never gets easy leaving behind friends and family, especially at a young age. It's something that Xie Lian had to learn to navigate and live with for centuries. He's not sure of the specifics surrounding Sunny's circumstance, and he's not sure that it's his place to ask, but what he does know is that.] Many people aren't brave enough to accept the idea of being afraid of something let alone able to confront what they're actually afraid of. You should be proud of yourself.
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You're very kind. [But he wonders if Xie Lian would change his mind if he knew the circumstances.] And I can tell you're being sincere, but it's hard to accept being proud of this.
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I guess I feel like I should have been pushing back earlier. It could have saved some people a lot of pain. [This is obviously not just about moving.]
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I did. I told them about- [He stops, not liking the way he was putting things. After another few seconds he starts again.] We worked out a lot of issues we had and started to repair our friendship.
But I had to tell them the truth about something. And I did. But... that's the last thing I remember doing. I don't remember their reactions. Maybe I didn't get to see them before coming here. [So, that was kind of rough.]
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tw: eye injury
Oh. Yes. [His hand hovers close to the bandages before he lets it drop again.] One of my friends- We fought. [Though it was hard for him to separate the reality versus the fantasy of what had happened that night, he had an idea of what had actually injured his eye.] He had a pair of garden shears and... stabbed me with them.
Wow poor sunny!!
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Yeah. I'd... appreciate the help with it. [He knew it was going to be unpleasant to look at and deal with.
For a few moments he's quiet, making an attempt to eat some of the fish before him. Occasionally he glances up at Xie Lian and the marking on his neck, before he finally musters the courage to ask.] Does that still bother you?
Sorry for late reply I'm traveling and it's taking me a bit more time to answer!!
[The bandage lays limp next to him on the ground. There's another silk wrapping coiled tightly around his arm- he hasn't touched. A quirk of his head as Sunny's question catches him off guard] does whaa- [stopping himself before finishing while shaking his head. A single hand to his throat.] No, it doesn't hurt at all. [ Physically the shackle causes him no pain. Giving a small reassuring smile, that quickly fades as it dawns on him] . Is this your first time seeing one?
no worries, take as much time as you need!
[No pain then, that was good.] Yeah, I've never seen anything like it. It's kind of like a tattoo but... [Also not?]
I come home tomorrow, then I should be more consistent!
okay, sounds good!
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