February 2022 Test Drive Meme

[reddosmod]

FEBRUARY 2022 TDM

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: Carnival booths at dusk]
[Image Two: Gif of a scantily clad woman walking near a large blinking automatron clown head.]

Prompt Two
[Image One: A giant spider impales small boy in a black silhouette platform game.]
[Image Two: Laughing woman with nothing but a mouth on her face.]

Prompt Three
[Image One: Dice being tossed in slow motion.]
[Image Two: Overgrown mansion in the woods.]

[NAVIGATION]

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A Less Than Typical Arrival

WHEN: Last few days of February into mid-March
WHERE: The Farther Shores/The Boardwalk
CONTENT WARNINGS: Clowns, creepy dolls, extortion?

---

When you arrive, the process is as easy and comfortable as turning from a squid into a Sleeper can ever be. The weather is almost balmy and blossoms bud on the trees. Pink blooms float out like cherry blossoms across the coastline. It is comfortable enough out that you might be tempted to strip down to your shirt. However, you would be the outlier: the people of Trench cover every inch of their skin and wear their gloves. Despite the pleasant weather, there's an ominous feeling and dark clouds over the ocean in the distance.

Oh, don't pay any mind to that! There's a festival going on on the boardwalk. Trenchies beckon Sleepers forward, and they'll find that along with food stalls that offer typical carnival treats (fried dough, corn dogs, etc.) are carnival games of chance. Ring tosses, dart throws, claw grabs. All of the games seem to rely more on luck than skill, and there are gambling tables set aside for people to play against each other.

Among the prizes, Sleepers see familiar items from home, as well as their welcome bag items, such as their Omni. Their welcome bag can also be won, but inside they'll find only their Lamp Friend. All the items usually in the welcome bag can, and by the end of the arrival will, be won by them, but not always for free.

While most games are free to play, some Trenchies may ask for a small vial of blood, or a song, or a joke. Less common are Trenchies who may ask you to work at their business to pay for playing their game. If you're lucky, a kind Waker and/or veteran Sleeper may come by and play for you. However you play (or don't), it feels like an unseen hand is guiding the fortune to ensure that the right items end up in the right hands. The longer you play, the more you regain, the more you feel like someone is watching you.

If you find yourself at the carnival at night, you'll find an edgier crowd, and an energy in the air that inspires a risky kind of fun. You may meet more corrupted and unusual people who greet new arrivals with their idea of a welcome. Nobody is violent, but you may want to be more on guard with your possessions after you regain them. The food and games are the same, but Trenchies are more likely to take advantage of new Sleepers. Costumes that some wear are more risqué and counter-culture. You may find yourself dragged to play a drinking game by a joyful but slightly uncouth looking Trenchie in clown make-up. The prizes to win at the booths that sit next to your own items are unsettling looking but… harmless. Probably.

F.A.Q.

1. Sleepers can identify which Trench item, such as Omni, Lunar Orb etc., is theirs by either a label with their name on it or that presence watching them from behind urging the knowledge into their mind. Suddenly they will just know it is theirs and that someone watching them somehow gave them that knowledge.
   
2. It may be assumed that, regardless of 'how,' the Sleeper's welcome bag items are acquired by the end of their time at the carnival. The Moss King ensures that nobody ends up walking away with the wrong items, ensuring a loss or a gain here and there to manipulate fortune just right. But any number of awkward and fearful possibilities exist in the meantime while you roll the dice!
   
3. There are carnival rides at all hours, but they are limited to: carousel, ferris wheel and House of Mirrors. At night, the House of Mirrors becomes a House of Horrors.

Luck Be a Lady

WHEN: Last few days of February into mid-March
WHERE: All over Trench.
CONTENT WARNINGS: Giant spider, forced combat, creepy mouth face ghost lady

---

[From A SURVIVOR'S GUIDE TO THE UNKOWNS OF TRENCH, written by and added onto by many Arcane Scholars through the centuries and found in the Archives.]

"There are a number of phenomena, plant-life, creatures and entities big, small, incorporeal, corporeal, so on and so forth that have yet to be defined. Are they more Pthumerians, half-Pthumerians, a creation of one, a product of blood pollution? We simply do not know, but that only increases the need for understanding how to survive them when they appear. Yes, many appear benevolent, for now. But many more have their dangers and caveats...
THE LADY OF LUCK
An ironic name to be sure and what is theorized to be a being or phenomena with some sort of connection with the Moss King as it only ever occurs in the beginnings of his designated month, after all. Anyone who experiences a moment of good luck or chooses to take a gamble that pays off will soon find themselves tested by the Lady of Luck. A card will suddenly appear in the hand of the lucky person seemingly out of thin air.

The moment the card is turned around to view its face, the holder's fortunes and fate will shift depending on which letter or symbol on the wheel they look at first, and not all will have an effect. Every year the effects change without repetition, records of each have been lost to time and have no value for the purposes of this guide. The only common advice recorded over the years amounts to one word: win. If you do not, misfortune awaits."

This year's tests by Lady Luck are as follows:

T: Reality distorts around you and anyone within a twenty foot radius is pulled into a cylinder of bright colors. The afflicted are made to dodge giant falling candy and work together to push them into sets of three matching candies until they crush together and eventually there is only one row of piled giant candies. If successful, the cone keeping them in that colorful nightmare will drop and characters will find the candies they crushed were objects in the area at the time. A bag of hard candies replace the card in their hand as a reward. When the candies are sucked on, you will feel energized and gain the ability to float.

A: This time the world shifts to appear two dimensional and black and white, you and everything around you are reduced to a black silhouette. You have to leap from moving platforms, solve puzzles and climb ladders. To get to levels above or below you, you must break through with a leap to punch up or stomp down. The goal is to reach a clear finish line and what drives you forward is a massive black spider. Many of the puzzles and obstacles require two people to solve and get over. When you reach the end, your card will be replaced with a white feather. It's a single use item that can revitalize anyone you place it on. Also, you have indeed been jumping through the roofs and floors of businesses and houses etc.

O: A clear force field forms up around you and the nearest sleeper, anyone else in the area or who is walking by will be able to see you inside this cage. Suddenly music begins to play, dance music to be precise. And a hologram of what you're expected to do appears between you in the large area: dance battle. Literally. You are expected to fight Mortal Kombat style, but most of your moves must be some form of dance move. Lights and holographic dancing figures will appear in the area with you to cheer on your match. You can fight till one person is K.O.ed or killed. Yes, there will be a 'finish him' announcement upon your victory. If you refuse to participate you both lose. The winner's card becomes a gold coin that allows you to charm anyone to do what you wish once a year.

"After each phenomena, some sufferers report seeing a woman in the distance laughing so wide it appears she has nothing but a mouth. She makes no sound and appears only briefly, but she has earned this phenomena the nickname 'Lady Luck'. Many attribute it to her direct influence, but thus far it is not clear whether she is the cause or a symptom. Many theorize that the point of these occurrences is to test whether the individuals affected are worthy of the gift of luck."

F.A.Q.

1. Yes, the first scenario is Candy Crush meets Tetris. I am not sorry. And the feather in the second is in fact a phoenix down.
2. The consequence for losing each of these is exceptionally bad luck for a day or several days depending on player preference. Bad luck can be lethal.

The Moss King's Summer Home

WHEN: Until the Second Week of March
WHERE: Unknown Location outside Trench
CONTENT WARNINGS: Perceived Death by Spontaneous Combustion, Acrophobia, Possible violent death, temporary insanity, cursed items

---

The morning after your first day in Trench, or the morning after new Sleepers arrive, there is a small envelope marked with your name within easy reach. Without realizing it you feel compelled to open it. Three things drop out of the envelope: a six-sided die crafted of what looks deceptively like bone, a small white pill, and a hand-written note.

“Dear friend,

I have had the good fortune of acquiring a new summer home outside of Trench and thought to share my good fortune with the Sleepers of the city. Take the pill, then roll the die to come to me. One visit per Sleeper.

-The Moss King.”

What could go wrong? Then again, given the Moss King's love for life and death gambles, what could go right? The moment you roll the die, before you can see the side it lands on, you explode in a shower of self-immolation and gore, only to be recombined painfully at the Moss King's summer house. The house is shaped like a giant die, and you're in front of the face you rolled. Hope it wasn't a one!

• Rolled a 1: Congratulations, you're crushed under the giant die and wake up in a coffin in the cellar. How much air do you have left and how do you get out? Scream loud!
• Rolled a 2: You're in front of a conservatory. When you walk through the glass door, it's impossible to avoid the itching ivy. You're going to be uncomfortable and scratching for hours...
• Rolled a 3: You're in luck, you're at the front door! When you ring the doorbell, the sound outside is positively deafening and your ears will ring for hours.
• Rolled a 4: Crawling in the master bedroom window like a burglar from the private porch. How uncouth. Even worse is the security measure, which dumps a can of paint on your head, leaving your hair and skin some unholy and nauseating color for the next hour.
• Rolled a 5: The backdoor seems almost harmless, and in fact? It is. Nobody expected you to come in the back door, you barbarian. Better wipe your feet on the floor mat or you may never get the mud out of your shoes. No, seriously, wipe your feet or you'll be slipping and tripping every couple minutes for the next few hours.
• Rolled a 6: Hope you're not afraid of heights, because you're falling from pretty far in the sky and through the roof below. Thankfully the shingles and mattress beneath somehow break your fall into the attic, but it probably hurts like hell.

Once you're inside the house, you find a quaint, strange space. There's a surreal sitting room decorated with flowers and moss hanging down the walls and the smell of lilacs fills the air. Tea and cakes are set out for guests and you seem to have the run of the house. There are spare bedrooms that you can stay the night in and when you wake the next day, you will be in your own bed in Trench feeling extremely well rested.

Around the house, there are strange objects and curiosities, some of them very familiar and some that just seem useful. You can find at least one item from your own world here, something of great significance, or even something that you thought was lost forever. Or instead of an item from home, what catches your eye is one of the small potions that says 'drink me,' or a strange, useful tool that you find in the closet, or even a wabbajack. No, seriously, it could actually be the wabbajack. The Moss King's a bit of a hoarder when it comes to the strange and surreal things people have lost in bets. Almost anything is possible. A note is attached to the item you want with a promise: “Give and take, tit for tat.”

You can take one item from the house, for a price. Should you have been 'unlucky' enough to have rolled a one or a six? You're now in luck, the Moss King considers that suffering a fair trade. If you rolled any other number, you must leave something behind. If you do, your item is yours to keep. If you decide not to make the trade, you can spend your time in this surreal home, surrounded by hoarded knick knacks as long as you care to.

If you choose not to spend the night, leaving the summer home is a lot easier than entering it: just go out the front door... and then walk along a winding path that allegedly leads back to Trench. It looks and feels like it's going to take forever. Space warps here and you can feel it, it's uncomfortable but not painful. Before you know it, the walls of Trench are visible through those woods and you are in Trenchwood again. Be wary, though, monsters lurk and odd mushrooms with varying unpleasant effects such as hallucinations grow along this path home.

F.A.Q.

1. If characters try to enter the house in a different way than the number they rolled, they'll instantly teleport back to their starting point.
2. Despite what the note says, characters can visit the home again by rolling the die, but the pill that was taken the first time can't be replicated.
3. If they decide not to take the pill, or you visit again, they feel like the house keeps shifting around them, tilting and distorting and revealing horrors in the walls, what horrors they see is up to you. The painful process to get there will be even more harrowing and hard on the body as well. But there's benefit to continuing to go back: the objects you can take.
4. Items taken that are not special items from home and invented by you must either be a one-time use item or a weaker benefit multi-use item. One time use items would be for if you want to give your character an especially big benefit like a staff that instant heals lots of people or a big death laser, multi-use items would have lesser abilities such as providing more endurance in a fight or healing small scratches.
5. The more times your character visits and items they take, the more unpredictable the items become. It's on them for ignoring the note saying you may come only once. You may grab an enchanted sword that's supposed to make you stronger on your third visit, but find when you use it, the enchantment will randomly have the opposite effect. Single use items will also be subjected to this drawback and after their one big beneficial use, the item will become cursed and hard to get rid of, always finding its way back to you. What kind of curse your single use item generates is up to the player. Players may also decide on the method it will take to get rid of their cursed object so long as it's not simple.
6. The price characters pay to get each item may be any range of things: another item from home, any object of general value or personal value, a good amount of your blood (enough to make you woozy when you're done), a small but important memory, if you rolled a 6 and were badly injured falling through the roof or rolled a 1 and suffered escaping the coffin.

CODING

Comments

[thevengefuldoll]

[ While working in sync, the three players are able to time the remaining sets right. As the suits unite, both glow vibrantly. After the pieces disappear, a pouch is revealed in both locations. ]

What's this?

[ The demon picks up the pouch left behind from the blue set. While untying the string, Chin Yisou pulls out a small blue candy. ]

This must be our reward. Is there a piece in yours?

[ Should the stranger's curiosity piques, he will find a red and white candy. The strange barrier seems to be active. However, the players do not have to dodge anymore gems. ]

I wonder if it's worth eating....

[ Chin Yisou seems hesitant. After all, edibles in Trench tend to have odd effects. ]

[burnitblack]

[was it the most indulgent way of spending his time? no. did it beat getting crushed by falling blocks? yes. so long as this guy was the one willing to do all the heavy lifting, dabi was content to remove obstacles in the way. between the burning and the rolling lifting tossing, the blocks are swiftly removed and...

uh. the hell is this? a pouch? (and why the hell is "his" in the red and white blocks' residue?)

dabi picks it up, frowning at the item. a tug on the string and he dumps the item into his hand. candy...]

Is this some kinda joke?

[he doesn't sound amused by it. trying to kill him and then rewarding him with this? the boulders of candy would've been a better reward (for someone who likes candy that is).]

How'd you get pulled in here? Didn't see ya around when it happened.

[moving onto more important matters.]

[thevengefuldoll]

Call it a hunch, but this little piece may be our ticket out of this odd space.

[ Chin Yisou holds up the candy. It may be a trick, but to eat the treat may be more rewarding. He plops the candy in his mouth. Once the demon finishes the piece, he begins floating. Confused, his omen watches then disappears into the ground. ]

So this is what being a bird is like, no?

[ The demon manages to find the edge of the spacial barrier. He sits on top of an invisible wall. ]

I think it's your turn!

[ Chin Yisou calls out to the stranger below. ]

We can give to chat once we're both on the normal grounds.

[ The demon waits for the stranger to follow suit. ]

[burnitblack]

Ya think so?

[he gives the bag a toss, still wavering on the edge of burning it to ash and leaving it alone. putting some random thing in his mouth after surviving a death trap reeks of foolish decision.

again, dabi's not gonna be the experiment here, so watches as the other man pops the proverbial pill first. and floats. okay that's... not what he expected.]

Look more like a ghost.

[but now the task falls to him. much as he'd like to simply rocket his way up there with his flames, he's not yet cooled down from them. and if this place is indeed shoving them into this death trap, it's likely not going to be so simple to let them out with their own skills...

growling, he throws the piece into his mouth and swallows it. likely not the best idea, but candy's not really been his thing. takes a few seconds, but soon enough he shoves off the ground and drifts up the other man, keeping his balance easily enough.]

You better hope we end up in the same place when we get back.

[thevengefuldoll]

End up in the same place?

[ That's a valid point. The Trench has a way of shifting people and places. ]

If we do not then...

[ Chin Yisou takes a dramatic pause. ]

What's your name?

[ The thought of being transported to another location troubles the demon. After all, he enjoyed this venture and meeting someone with unique abilities. For the moment, he hesitates to land on the ground outside of the strange spacial enclosure. ]

[burnitblack]

I ain't chasin ya down.

[either they go back to the same place they left (well, dabi at least hopefully) or they're going separate ways. he looks so nonplussed at the dramatic pose. this guy reminds him of mister and twice, some weird fusion of the two.]

Dabi.

[short and simple. though the villain has no such hesitation and heads right past him, stitch-webbed tails of his coat drifting behind his legs. hands in his pockets like a punk. but lucky him, he does arrive back (after one hell of a trip) at the same place he left.

namely nearby the table he'd been gambling at... any sign of his lanky companion?]

[thevengefuldoll]

[ The demon nods in response. As he watches the other disappear, Chin Yisou decides to land. Magic courses through his body and the demon is brought to an unfamiliar location. He sees the other at a gambling table. ]

So, is this how where you were before the other game ?

[ As with other odd circumstances, Chin Yisou keeps a log of his investigations. Though he doubts that the teenager would care to answer. ]

[burnitblack]

[he only hears the other's arrival, glancing over his shoulder to confirm, indeed, the strange man has returned. dabi's by the table he'd previously been playing cards at, crouched down among the overturned furniture and scooping the winnings into his hand. look, the rest of those shmucks are dead now, crushed by candy, so they're not going to use this shit. it's not money though, since apparently this place runs on bartering, but hey, valuable is valuable.]

Around here, yeah. Think everyone showed up here.

[all the new people... still doesn't quite get it, but that's what's going on. he finishes gathering everything of use and shoves it into the bag that used to carry the candy.]

[thevengefuldoll]

I see.

[ The demon watches as Dabi pockets the various items. He doesn't judge. Chin Yisou's thoughts still circle through the game. ]

So others were playing this card game with you. Then at a point you are brought to the space with the falling gems?

[ The demon wants to understand the information surrounding the odd occurrence. Yet, some cases are left cold. ]

[burnitblack]

[standing up, he shoves the bag down to his side, working on stuffing it into his pocket the best he can. it's not easy, but he manages it. whatever's in there was at least valuable enough to gamble with, so it should serve him well enough here.

this guy's still hanging around, though dabi keeps his distance and some attention on him in case.]

Yeah... picked up a card. [he sweeps his foot across some of the scattered cards, but ends up with nothing.] Don't think it's the same kind as these.

Everything changed after that.

[thevengefuldoll]

Incredible!

[ The demon's curiosity piques. A thought of what to come plays in mind. ]

We should be on alert.

[ Chin Yisou states as fact. ]

If you come across anything strange, then please contact me.

[ After a pause, the demon adds. ]

Granted if you're in the mood for an investigation.

[ The demon smiles. Trench may be deadly but is fascinating. ]

[burnitblack]

[dabi's giving the guy a flat, walled look. someone's very interactive with all of this, and while he certainly isn't trying to get into the villain's personal space, the oddly-stanced camaraderie irks him. like this guy assumes they're allies simply because they opted to survive together for a moment. inclusive "we" and requests to contact...]

I already am. [alert. for someone who has a shit load of trust issues, dabi's wary of the man. someone so ready to be friendly is suspicious. because they're either looking to backstab or simply naive / stupid. neither of which he's comfortable allying with.

that said... dabi'll keep him in mind regardless. never hurts to have some backup advantage.]

I'll keep it in mind. You should get lost before somethin else tries to kill ya.

[cause that's what dabi's doing.]

[thevengefuldoll]

Very well.

[ The demon heads back into the woods. With his arm eaved high, he bids goodbye. ]

Try not to get killed too often. Oh, and Thank you for playing.

[ Chin Yisou feels compelled to find more oddities. Yet, for now he is content with the experience of meeting someone fascinating. ]

despite dabi being a dick, i really enjoyed this cr!

[burnitblack]

[no response from dabi. he's already taking his leave and chalking up the experience to a first step in this place. the notion of getting killed "too often" is amusing and irksome.

but the "thank you for playing" makes him look back over his shoulder. the hell's that supposed to mean? ... whatever. he's out of this freak show.]