July Test Drive Meme!

[reddosmod]

JULY 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: Colorful paper lanterns shaped like jellyfish lit up and hovering in the air. ]
[Image Two: A person with long hair wearing a crown dedicated with shells and rocks. ]

Prompt Two
[Image One: A GIF of waves breaking roughly out in the middle of the ocean. ]
[Image Two: Strong waves crashing into a lighthouse and rocks. ]

Prompt Three
[Image One: A large Ningen (a sea creature that is half human, half monster, and has no face except for a large slit for a mouth) towering over a deep sea diver. ]
[Image Two: A person standing out on the rocks with their arms out stretched as the tentacles of a large sea monster wave in the air above the ocean. ]

[NAVIGATION]

TDM Questions • Reserves • Taken • Applications • Full Navigation

[Jump to Comments]

STANDARD ARRIVAL

WHEN: August
WHERE: The Farther Shores/The Boardwalk
CONTENT WARNINGS: N/A

---

You're one of the lucky ones. Your journey is smooth sailing and you wind up exactly where you're supposed to: on the Farther Shores. You grow out of your squid body without a hitch, either with the help of another Sleeper or one of the Wakers, and you get to discover this new world. All new Sleepers might take some time to find their bearings. It might be tricky to remember how to use your body parts the way you're supposed to. You might stumble around the beach or forget how to talk - but don't worry! It'll come back to you sooner or later.

Hopefully, you've found something to wear, either in your Welcoming Bag or otherwise, and can start familiarizing yourself with your surroundings. Maybe you help some other squids out on the beach. Waking up sucks! You feel for the little guys. And hey, maybe you're hoping one of those squids is a good friend...Stranger things have happened.

SEASONAL DETAILS ON THE BOARDWALK
This month has an entire festival dedicated to Mariana. The people of Trench seem to be quite enamoured with her, despite her often cruel and unpredictable behaviors. The festival has gone all out with decorations. The boardwalk will be lined with lanterns in the shape of various sea creatures, such as jellyfish, dolphins, seahorses, and (of course) squids! These lanterns will be lit every night throughout the month and will burn through the night. They are bright beacons to a month that is otherwise becoming more and more gray and chilly as time passes.

The people of Trench are also decked out for the occasion. Blues and greens are the popular color choices for outfits, and many people will even decorate their hair with pieces from the ocean. Whether it's with full headpieces that are worthy enough for mermaids or just something as simple as weaving shells into a braid, everyone seems to have something on them that ties them to the sea. There are stalls set up to help newcomers (or oldies who just want to have some fun) decorate their hair as well and face paint for those who want to go the extra mile.

The festival comes with all sorts of celebrations that can be partaken in at absolutely no cost. There are food vendors, though they seem to be short on seafood this month. Likely it's due to the rough seas with waves so treacherous that not even the most skilled of sailors seems to be able to get out into them. They'll remark on how difficult is must have been to swim to shore in those awful waves. So instead of fish and shrimp, there are other sea-dedicated dishes: seaweed salad, noodle dishes made with seaweed broth, caramelized chicken in a fish and ginger sauce, etc. There are also ocean themed desserts, such as cupcakes with blue frosting shaped to look like a great wave. There are games such as dunk tanks, dart balloons, ring tosses, and other typical carnival entertainment. If you can think of it, it's probably there. At the end of the night, there's often a fireworks display over the rolling waves.

[JUMP TO TOP] • [JUMP TO COMMENTS]

rough seas and high winds

WHEN: Last Week of July, First Week of AugustT
WHERE: Beach and Nearby Oceans
CONTENT WARNINGS: Threat of drowning, severe weather phenomena, Environmental hazards, possible death

---

For some reason, Mariana is particularly wrathful even as the month begins. Even leaking into the end of the month of July, the sea begins to foam and rage in ways that are almost impossible to imagine. As you stare out int the beachheads, you may see vast waves and surf that would daunt the most professional of surfers. Water crashes into each other in colossal spouts. Waterspouts can be seen as storms occasionally buffet the coastline and just out into the ocean itself. However, the one thing about this chaotic energy is that it is just that, chaotic. One moment the sea may be calm, and the next it is a roiling, seething force out to destroy everyone.

This is, naturally, dangerous for those who are just hapless squids trying to reach shore. They may find themselves inexorably being flung towards sharp rocks and shoals, threatened with being dashed upon the stone near to the coast, or they may find themselves constantly swirling in eddies and whirlpools to the point of near exhaustion. However, they are not the only ones so threatened. Even those on the coast are in near constant danger of being washed right back out to see by an unexpected wave and sudden rip-tide. There are wood planks and other detritus to grab hold of, but it is very much a battle for one's life out there!

The sea's rage, the locals say, is because Mariana is particularly incensed over something that occurred. They do not know what exactly, but many have said that sleepers have felt a particular brunt of this ire lately. For now, it is a game of survival and a constant battle to bring people in safely.

Notes:
-Any natural weather occurrence is possible in the first week of August and last of July. Seemingly impossible combinations may occur (A waterspout in the middle of the eye of a hurricane, almost anything.
-These threats will be upon anyone who is not far enough inland to enjoy the festivities. The beach is not truly safe and sleepers are hustled inland quickly.
-Death is possible, though sleepers who die in the ocean find themselves returning very quickly as squids for some reason, within 24 hours, only to be threatened again before they eventually find shore.

[JUMP TO TOP] • [JUMP TO COMMENTS]

of monsters in the water

WHEN: Throughout August
WHERE: The coast and waterways
CONTENT WARNINGS: Monster Horror, Possibly Getting Eaten, Threat of bodily harm, Unnatural Physiology, Existential Dread

---

Something has been dredged up from the deep by the storms that rage. It is said that Mariana not only presides over the oceans, but also the most powerful monsters that dwell within the deep. Some of these, it is believed, may be the remains of Pthumerians whose minds and lives were lost during the hard times before, or the spawn of their mating with things other than humans. Whether these rumors are true, eldritch things have begun to emerge from the depths and darkness, things best left unseen.

Throughout the month of August, it is possible to encounter creatures that can only be described as monsters emerging from the water. With every passing storm, another emerges. Some are as large as small kaiju, while others are closer to human size, and each shares very little in common with the others, save for two particular details. The first of these is that they are all aquatic in nature and bear at least a passing similarity to sea monsters of ancient legend or particularly large and dangerous aquatic animals. Giant cuttlefish, Megalodons, Plesiosaurs, Octopi, Sea Cucumbers, Whales, or any of a number of other sea creatures appear to be their basis. The other similarity, however, is that all are hideously and grotesquely deformed. Tentacles, second rows of teeth, great clawed hands and feet enabling them to walk on dry ground, a thousand eyes all over the hump of a hunchback whale all shooting laser beams in the full moon, almost anything seems to be possible, though the changes are all chtonically horrendous in nature.

These creatures are violent, dangerous, and horrifying to behold. Just looking at them jars the mind and threatens to damage one's psyche while they try to understand what they are seeing. Bones are in seemingly impossible angles, bodies moving in ways that they shouldn't. Just looking at them can cause nausea, vertigo or mental breaks, though the danger does not stop there. They are agents of chaos, seeking to destroy mind or body, on a rampage whenever they reach ground, though they do not delve far into Trench beyond the waterways and beach, almost as if they are prevented by something. When one strays too close, an ominous light glows from the tops of the tallest spires in the city and they are inevitably repelled, but until they are killed or sent back to the deep from whence they came, they remain a threat outside of the city.

[JUMP TO TOP]

CODING

Comments

[theflyingone]

This young man's ethereal quality does not put Altaïr at ease, despite the ready explanation of what can only be thought of as sensing energy. In a short amount of time here, and even a bit in his own world, Altaïr has seen marvels that most people would explain as magic, even his own second sight. But Altaïr is a man of science. He pragmatically only believes what he can see the evidence of. If sensing energy is something this person can do, so be it, but it is simply another facet in the natural order of things. Surely.

"You have determined its purpose, to keep monsters away? Or is this just a guess? I had wondered about that," he concedes the reason for his upward staring at the tower with a slight lifting of his stubbled chin.

[distant_one]

"It's a theory. I was near the beach earlier. When one of the monsters from the sea went too close to Trench it lit up, and something is preventing them from going too far inland. I haven't seen them light up before."

It could be something else was keeping the creatures away, and the light was just meant as a warning to people that there were creatures being repelled. Either way there was a connection, but D didn't know what it was.

[theflyingone]

The lights must belong to some municipal or district authority, or perhaps simply the owner of the tower. They belong to someone. People usually do not take well to people climbing roofs, except when they look like they live in the low-storied residences with roof gardens to escape the heat. It's trespassing.

"I should like to examine that light," he muses without a care for any of the above without expecting an answer. No harm in idle thoughts that are only serious to him. He angles the shadow in the opening of his hood down again at D.

"And how long have you lived in this city?" he asks, returning the thread of conversation to where it was: D not having seen this phenomenon before.

[distant_one]

D doesn't admit to his own curiosity. The fact that he came here from the beach and was feeling the ground is proof enough in his mind of their shared interest. The place D comes from is strange enough that scaling such a tower to investigate a magical light would be considered suicidal and foolish, but also likely to come with a large payout for whoever could claim what was at the top.

"Three months." It's barely any time at all for D, and yet these three months are longer than he's lived anywhere in a very long time. His omen, a crow with an obvious scar line down its back, swoops down. The hat he wears makes landing on his shoulder difficult, but the bird manages it.

D doesn't even look at the bird or otherwise react to its return. "They might be there to protect Trench for this month each year, or just when creatures that large come towards the city."

lmk if i can change anything

[theflyingone]

This strange hat-wearing man might at least acknowledge his faithful bird's return. Rude. But perhaps D and his Omen(?) are just that accustomed to each other. Ultimately, Altaïr has his mind on higher things--literally.

"Fascinating. And a vital part of the protection of the city no doubt. I have never seen its like before, unless one includes lighthouses," he says in the noncommittal tone of a stranger and passerby. "Now if you will excuse me, I will take my leave."

It's a little abrupt, but he can easily disentangle from a casual conversation, not being one to ensconce himself in it in the first place. He wanders around the base of the building for a bit until he is sure the young man he met is no longer on the street within line of sight.

He finds a shady nook and begins his ascent. In his land, towers are symbols of status and very costly and time-consuming to build. He guesses (but does not truly know) that a big project like this is bound to be associated with a ruler or religion in his land. There could even be multiple purposes to this spire. The shapes of some of the buildings in this city look fantastical to Altaïr. They speak an architectural language slightly familiar but mostly alien.

The damp wind whips at his robes. High up, but nowhere near the top, he finds a large bit of flat eave as a landing and pauses to rest.

[distant_one]

Less abrupt than D would often leave conversations, as Altair at least said goodbye. D acknowledged the farewell with nothing more than a nod as he had business to attend to. That was why he investigated this particular spire, he had reason to be in the area anyway and it was convenient.

Periodically his attention wandered back to the spire, focusing his sixth sense and listening. But it wasn't until he was on his way again that he picked out someone climbing the spire. They were far enough from the crowd now that D had an easier time picking them out, and when he passed where he could see D's keen eyesight easily picked up the sight of the man he was talking to earlier.

"Go on. You'll know if I need you." His omen once again took flight. D would have waited until nightfall personally, but if someone else was already going up to investigate he might as well go now.

Small imperfections and tiny ridges served as handholds and footholds for D, and anything large enough for an unskilled climber might as well have been a ladder. The wind tugging at his hair and coat only add to the slight illusion that he's little more than a shifting shadow on the shady side of the structure.

[theflyingone]

Altaïr is sure to keep himself subtly hidden from view of the street most of the time. High up enough, and he doesn't have to worry about even that.

He did not account for extremely keen, inhuman eyesight.

It is as he's resting that he spies someone following him. He gives a small start, but hardly perceptible to himself because it would be a bad idea to fall from mere surprise. He does not court these heights without knowing what he is doing. He thinks to make his escape--climb higher and find a suitable place to jump into a haystack--until he recognizes the dark shape of that coat scaling the tower in lizard fashion. The jig is up anyway.

"What do you want?" he demands.

[distant_one]

D uses his hands to toss himself upwards the last few feet. The long coat spreads out and for a moment D looks like a mystic bird before he lands silently on the edge of the ledge.

"To find the source of light. If you're going too, we might as well look at it together." Or D has read this situation wrong and interrupted someone's recreational free climbing time. But the seriousness this man has and his earlier interest in the light at the top makes D think that isn't the case.

There's no telling what kind of strange magic or information the robed man might have from his dimension. D's knowledge is considerable but even in his home he constantly encountered things he'd never seen before. Here he doesn't even have long centuries of experience to rely upon.

[theflyingone]

As on the ground, they are matched in curiosity. In the air, their clothes match as well, in a birdlike way. Altaïr frowns at all this. He is usually serious and shows as much. He is very serious about investigating the light. After some rapid deliberation, he makes a decision.

"In your three months here, have you learned who owns this tower? Or any of the other lighted towers?"

It's almost as if they had never interrupted their conversation on the ground. Altaïr is doing his very best to take D's ethereal weirdness in stride. He's used to just himself and his Brothers being the only ones to explore vertically.

[distant_one]

"Ownership isn't a big thing here. There are no taxes or deeds, if you find a place unclaimed you can simply live in it. I'd guess towers are claimed by one of the patrons, and if not then the architects or arcane scholars as a group. Perhaps disciples who follow The Tower."

There's not much order in this place, and what order there is D often disagrees with. Most of which is related to the blood sport practiced by Hunters here.

"Up until now the only tower of interest was the watch tower." D gestures in its direction though they can't see it from their current position.

[theflyingone]

Loose groups, guilds and such with leaders, or perhaps affluent business owners and merchants... everything a city could offer. But no king, not even a steward or mayor...? Where one can grab it, people will always seek power and control. This is what he has seen in his world, a conflict as old as mankind. Altaïr will have to see more of this world for himself, so he pivots his thinking conditionally.

"The Watch Tower is one of the Lamp Locations," he remembers out loud. Privately, he intends to visit every Lamp Location as soon as possible so that he may travel instantly between them. This mobility will be a boon.

"Hopefully I will not have to climb that one as well." He will. He's dissembling, and he is so habitually serious it's hard to tell if he's being dry or not. He looks to his next foothold, plotting his route up.

[distant_one]

"It is. There's nothing very interesting at the top of that one." At least not so much to D. If the other climber finds it interesting or not will be for him to see if he climbs it.

"Are you ready to continue climbing?" Humans don't have the same endurance D does. Hands grow tired, muscles need to rest.

[theflyingone]

Altaïr mustn't show weakness--No, that is foolish, and he pushes that foolish kneejerk reaction aside. He will not fall to his death because he was too proud to admit his limitations. He should not be afraid of being seen as--simply a man, a person, human. The burdens he places on himself know nothing of that.

"Now that I have rested." He stopped for a reason. "And there is always something interesting to see, at least, even if it is not on the tower itself. I climb to make observations."

He begins again. The latter part of the journey is always harder than the start, muscles and fingers beginning to heat in earnest.

[distant_one]

"Most people don't even think to look up, much less find somewhere to look down from." D observes. It's a common flaw in people's thinking to not be aware of dangers from above, but one D can understand.

He waits for the other climber to begin, and chooses to follow his path. They're close enough in height that the handholds chosen are in comfortable positions for D to use as well.

[theflyingone]

Altaïr and other Assassins pride themselves in seeing the world differently. They aim to transcend its illusions. (That may take a less metaphorical meaning in this world.) It is Altaïr who is the danger from above.

Altaïr hauls himself onto a small balcony spanning the circumference of the narrowing tower, no doubt used to service the well-crafted glass prism that sits just above the two climbers at the top of the spire. The wind is relentless here, tugging at his robes unforgivingly. The air is cold and carries the sea with it. Altaïr feels like he is on the tallest tower in Acre.

"What do you make of the world, as I see it?" He does not know if being this high up is a common experience for D.

[distant_one]

D is much more interested in the glass prism than the view from the tower, but he does take a moment to look.

"I feel further removed up here than I do when I'm thirty miles from the city." There's a very real distance between D and the Trenchies, he keeps himself separate despite staying here a long time due to the unpredictable nature of this place's effect on him.

[theflyingone]

"It is a view that should be taken in often."

And with that, he turns his attention to their main objective. He scales the last bit of tower point, barely more than one story high, and clings to the edge like a strange robed weathervane.

If he were more versed in magical things, he would be more cautious. But he has touched the Apple and lived, so he only pauses a little before placing his palm flat on the glass.

Nothing.