August Test Drive Meme!

[reddosmod]

AUGUST 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: Hands making a fish net]
[Image Two: A Skyrim Mudcrab staring menacingly]

Prompt Two
[Image One: Dingy, empty and creepy old backroom]
[Image Two: Cryptic, Creepy words scribbled on yellow wallpaper]

Prompt Three
[Image One: Skull on top of book]
[Image Two: Book with pages shaped like a whirlpool]

[NAVIGATION]

TDM Questions • Reserves • Taken • Applications • Full Navigation

[Jump to Comments]

STANDARD ARRIVAL

WHEN: First Week of September
WHERE: The Farther Shores/The Boardwalk
CONTENT WARNINGS: Monstrous Crabs, Environmental Threat

---

Normally, the people of Trench would say that September is a fortunate time for sleepers to arrive at it's shores. However, the aftermath of the violent and inconsistent storms in the last month continue to batter the city. The waters are choppy, though they are beginning to calm. The swim is difficult and unsafe, waves threatening to crash unwitting squids into the rocks. It is unlikely to be fatal, but many arrive battered and bruised, gasping as they awaken from their squid form.

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
With theme music! The weather is awful, and so the mood of the beach is a bit more subdued than on other occasions. Food is hearty and dry, easily packaged in oilcloth, and containing mostly hard tack, mushrooms and dried, cured fish. Bottles of water are included with the food, enough to ensure that the sleepers are well fed, and enough packets are offered for a few days in case they need them, but they are certainly not the most flavorful or exotic, reflecting much more the day to day food of Trench.

The people leading the waking are gathered and huddled around makeshift structures and lean-tos to deal with the awful weather along the coast during this period. Sleepers are brought here, to fires to warm. Among those who are present are the fishermen and women who work at the docks. They, along with several of the Architects from in town, have set up booths. Though they do not demand it of anyone, they politely hint that in the season of change, it is good to learn new trades and to find a place in this strange world the sleepers have been brought to. As part of this, they are willing to offer a chance for the sleepers to help craft fishing nets and other gear for those who will brave the waters to bring back food in the season.

The task is arduous and taxing, but it is not without reward. To those who choose to participate, one of the fishermen will approach them and wordlessly drop a waterlogged box into their lap. It looks dilapidated and in poor condition, but they will say nothing more, staring off into the sea from which it was dredged. When the sleeper opens it, they will find that there is one additional item within the box, which might have been included in their welcome bag normally. If pressed, the fisherman will only say that they found it dredged up along the shores in the midst of their work.

For those who brave the coasts or the waters, there is an increased threat of monstrous presence, though nothing compared to the prior month. Poisonous crabs lurk along the edges of the waterways. Much larger versions of small crabs known to live in caves along the shore, these beastly adult versions stand about three feet tall, and have particularly strong pincers which secrete a hallucinogenic venom. Victims of it are prone to paranoid delusions of danger around every corner, and known for mistaking those around them as threats. The crabs are themselves carnivorous to boot, so they are certainly a threat on their own, though they are very much killable, and supposedly very good eating. Bring in some crab meat, and it should be good to trade for additional food and supplies this month, if you dare! As with their lesser cousins, the venom of these crabs is particularly dangerous to the psychically sensitive, Palebloods and Darkbloods.

[JUMP TO TOP] • [JUMP TO COMMENTS]

LOST BETWEEN STEPS

WHEN: August 31st-September 29, January 2, February 4, March 6, April 8, June 10, July 12, October 20, November 1, December 24
WHERE: Somewhere, you're not certain where
CONTENT WARNINGS: Labyrinth, Liminal Horror, Severe Disorientation, Autophobia, Monster Horror, Fear of Falling

---

You just took one step back. That's all. A step backwards while you weren't paying attention, and the sensation of falling assailed you. With a grunt, you found yourelf landing hard, but not hard enough to actually break or turn anything. Around you is a carpeted space. There are old, stained wallpaper walls on every side, set up in variable sized cubicle spaces that look like they should be occupied by an office of some sort. Everything smells like mold, stale and sharp. The carpet is a little bit moist and the wallpapers all seem to be hiding hints of mildew. It feels familiar, but even if you have been in this "place" before it is not quite the same. The wallpaper shades are not exactly right. It always feels like you should know it, but you cannot quite place it.

You are not alone in this place. Another seems to have fallen in this place, thank god because the muffled sounds of these halls are already getting oppressive. The electric hum of fluorescent are buzzing in your ears like a plague of locusts and you can practically feel the migraine coming from the unremitting light, but you dare not take shelter to let your eyes rest in the gaps in the lighting. It feels like there is something there. You should probably be leaving, though that's where the problem really begins. No method seems to clearly work. There are no identifiable features to pick out. After several turns, you might find yourself facing impossibly thin hallways or a dead end. Attempts to keep track of your passage with writing, torn wallpaper and balls of twine fail, as it becomes increasingly and inconsistently disorientating, inevitably causing the lead to be lost, or worse? It might seem to be going the wrong direction. Did someone move it? Magic compasses, even those given by the Pthumerians do not work in this "place" This should not be possible, but it is true.

An hour in, because it always takes longer than that, or does it? Time can be hard to keep track of and omnis don't tell time properly here. Whatever, an hour in, and the need to get out of this place will be getting to those trapped within. They do not belong here, and must escape. The harder you run, the more that the dank odor gets under the skin, worsening even if you should not be able to smell it. Occasional items can be found, but all are useless. If you are fortunate, perhaps you will eventually find a hole in the floor. But, looking down it, you cannot see the bottom. Do you dare leap down, not knowing the end? If you do, the passage seems to go far too long to be healthy. The rush of air and the feel of fraying wallpaper comes until you find yourself deposited on the ground of Trench, in front of the statue of the Tower, or in front of the gates of Gaze.

The less fortunate may finally find writing on the walls. Someone else has been in this place. But, as the cryptic words proclaim the need to S̵̨̡̟̗̰̝͚̲̦̗͔̥̞̈͂̆̿̐́̅̓͐͝T̸̠̥̰̭͎͙̮̬͋̀͛̓̽̚Ā̷̧̮̣̪̤̠̫̤͔̩̥̾̊̍̊̀̇͋̍̚͜͝͝Y̶͓̟̍̆̍ ̴̭̲̀͘͝S̵̨͖̩̻̰͇͎̠̻͚͓̱͇̭͖͒̋͆̀͐͋̾̆͝͝T̴̮̹̫̞̘̈́̏̐̒̋̎͛̂̽̅Ĩ̵͙̖̟̥̤̲̆̈́́͘ͅͅL̵͖̣̫̙̹̊͜L̷̫̠̒̽͌͘͠. A ghastly sound erupts from behind you, complete with unnatural, horrid breathing. Steps come towards you unnaturally fast. If you move, look to turn, there is a vision of something black moving into your field of vision, just before a bone-crushing force claims life and in the next moment you wake, screaming at the feet of the gates to Gaze, or the Tower's statue. Remain absolutely still, and the puff of a breath, the smell of cow hair and breath grazes over the shoulder before eventually storming away behind, until the sound is gone, and the unlucky are left to continue searching until they find a hole leading out.


NOTES:
1. Any step backwards can cause someone to end up between places, participating in this event. Exiting requires either falling through one of the holes in the floor or being killed by the unnamed creatures residing between spaces.
2. If a character dies in this event, they do not undergo normal death effects. They awaken in one of the locations indicated, gasping for breath. While harrowing, and possibly a source of nightmares for the next few days, not to mention chills for an hour or two, there is no further apparent harm.
3. It is possible to encounter this prompt throughout the year. At one random, unpredictable day each month (listed above), the space between spaces is accessible. A person could theoretically fall in on that day, following the rules as above.
4. Mapping the space between spaces is difficult, but not impossible. Perhaps there are other locations within the labyrinthian mass, but for now at least they are not findable.
5. If the natives are asked about this place, they will make a warding sign and refuse to speak of them. At most, they will say something about the "veins of the tower."

[JUMP TO TOP] • [JUMP TO COMMENTS]

ABSOLUTE IMMERSION

WHEN: Last Week of August through all of September
WHERE: Gaze, and somewhere else
CONTENT WARNINGS: Possible Life-threatening experiences, Distorted Realities, Fourth Walling, Content Depending upon the Canon Referenced

---

As the month of September approaches, and Mariana shows signs of having cooled in her wrath, the people of Trench begin to relax once again. Hoping to keep level heads and to promote learning, the Arcane Scholars of Gaze have opened the private stores of more rare texts from the Archaic Archives. Trundling carts of books are being brought out by roped and masked individuals who kindly offer one to anyone who wishes to partake. They limit each guest to three, though they seem happy to trade a book for a book, so it's always possible to get more. They ask only that the books be returned by the end of the month for cleaning and maintenance. Whispers among the Disciples still with ruffled feathers at Mariana's wrath are that this is Never Mind's way of reasserting himself after strange magical books have been found around town. No Arcane Scholar will acknowledge such gossip, however.

The books seem harmless enough. What is wrong with a little light reading? The fiction within is quite enthralling, though after a page or two, a creepy familiarity to the book's contents comes to whoever reads. There is a sense of deja vu, and only when it is too late do they realize that it feels like they are reading the memories and recollections of someone else, perhaps someone that they know! In that moment, they will feel an inexorable pull as the book seems to literally suck them into it, along with anyone unlucky enough to be next to them!

Those who read these magical books will find themselves trapped in an event within another canon reality. The intent, of course, is to broaden their horizons and experiences, to teach moral lessons through new memories, but as always Never Mind seems not to understand the possible perils. The scenario that they find themselves in, which may be of any canon, is always one of immediate and very real peril, a time in which the character's life is put into immediate and very real peril. They have to prevail or flee successfully to escape the chapter and end the book, though for their troubles it is quite possible that they might bring something back with them. Hopefully it's nothing dangerous!

NOTES:
1. Any Canon may be used, including canons not present in the game. Players are encouraged to use their imaginations, though it is worth being aware that the entirety of the Cthuluh Mythos may be found among these collections, should one wish to utilize these books.
2. There is an actual physical threat that is present in whatever scene is viewed. If it is necessary, a threat is fabricated from the fringes of the memory, even if this changes the canonical scene. It is a real threat and can cause death or harm. However, these threats are killable through all normal fashions, and can be escaped by clever captives. Once escaped or defeated, the sleeper is deposited out of the book.
3. The books are absolutely indestructible, and even if the sleeper does not return them, ravens will break into their home (ruining a window and making a mess) to retrieve all books by the end of September. Multiple books can be enjoyed throughout the month.
4. Items retrieved may be anything from any canon which does not count as a significant power acquisition. Weapons can be brought, though they will be mundane once they emerge in Trench. Players are limited to retrieving one item from another canon per character during the month.

[JUMP TO TOP]

CODING

Comments

b.

[noniad]

[ Ortus does not know who he catches when the slight (bordering on emaciated) young woman tumbles forward. He may be a poor cavalier in most respects, but even the dullest and most useless of their ilk is accustomed to intervening in a fall, and besides - he has been diligent in his studies. He moves more smoothly than he would have when he first arrived, perhaps aided by the comfort of his black summer 'shorts', and catches her gently by the shoulders.

He has halfway steadied her already when he sees her face, and startles. ]

Captain Deuteros?

[ He recognizes this face. He realizes, belatedly, it will not recognize him, save for the distinctive Ninth paint he wears. He props her upright as if she weighs nothing, then releases her, his large hands still hovering about her shoulders just in case. ]

I am Ortus Nigenad, of the Ninth. You would not know me.

[asyetunheard]

[A painted acolyte of the Ninth House was unmistakable at a distance. Even if she didn't know the individual personally, the swaths of black fabric and the skill painted upon their face gave a certain stylistic impression that was recognizable across the Houses and the lightyears between. Judith, for her part, was surprised by the man's strength and odd grace.

To the clumsy comment, she at least had information that would make his admission less painful.]

Information on your house is sparce at best, Ninth.

[She said briskly-- not even commenting on the ease with which he had helped her right herself on her feet or the way he gamely hovered if she were in need of more aid.]

I never would have guessed that the Reverend Daughter had a Cavalier Secondary. And-- you needn't worry. I'm not as fragile as I look.

[Words spoken exactly like a prideful necromancer who looked as if they had been through nothing short of a harrowing ordeal and would never outright admit that they were dying, even though the machines holding her guts together were malfunctioning and slowly causing sepsis.]

[noniad]

[ The admonition does persuade Ortus to lower his hands, but not his watchfulness. He has never even seen Harrow so poorly off, and he has seen her at extremities he is loathe to even recall. But he does not linger on that, yet.

Like Master Warden Palamedes Sextus, this is the true Captain Judith Deuteros, then. He knew from the tale that Dyas tightly, grimly recounted for the Lady Pent what grievous injury she had suffered, but necromancy should have seen her in more hale condition than this. It is a mystery, and he has not found any of those to end happily in some time. ]

Of course not, Captain.

[ He glances about them for seating in this small bookshop, settling on a high-backed wooden chair he picks up and sets down for her without prompting. The proprietor looks at them curiously, but she bends back to her reading soon enough - a handsome woman in her sixties, seated behind a counter festooned with her wares. ]

I do not take offence at going unknown. I have only recently taken up the position, in this very city. [ A demotion, technically, but a welcome one. ] The Reverend Daughter will be most pleased to hear of your arrival.

[ She almost certainly won't, but that is more a general quality of Harrow's than anything about the Captain. ]

[asyetunheard]

--Will she?

[Skepticism leaked into the business-like tone she was trying to maintain here, and a certain narrowing of her eyes at reference to Harrowhark Nobagesimus was enough to set adrenaline opening a tap throughout her system. Judith, recalling her own training and the bits of work Camilla Hect insisted upon, drew in a deep breath...

-- it was still not enough to quench her nervous fear.]

We had an argument on our last meeting where she sealed my mouth shut, Ninth. Unbidden-- except for those blasted envelopes she insisted on reading as soon as she spotted the Crown Princess and I.

[She scoffed. ]

Camilla explained what she had observed of your Reverend Daughter before she awoke.

-- is she still your Reverend Daughter? Or has she been corrupted by that traitor beside the Emperor?

[noniad]

[ There are many times that Ortus has wished intently that his lady was less prone to keeping her own mouth firmly shut. This is one of them. His expression goes to war between scandalized, long suffering, and resigned, coming to rest on a layering of all three. ]

I would not take it personally, Captain.

[ And so the Crown Princess and Camilla Hect are keeping company with the lost Captain - each revelation is more curious than the last, but the matter at hand commands his attention with much greater urgency. ]

Before I explain, I assure you - the Ninth are not your enemies, and we mean you no harm here. My Lady is no traitor [ a curious note there, as if he would have it be otherwise ] but she was - beset on all sides, and had no allies, nor sense of who or what could be trusted.

[ He casts through what he knows of the Second - a House fortunately well-chronicled in military record from time immemorial, which allows him to hit on a possible solution. ]

It was a matter of the highest security of the Empire, and the integrity of Imperial secrets. You understand, do you not?

[asyetunheard]

....I do, Ninth. But, forgive me for being skeptical.

[She heaved a wearied sigh, knowing full well how delicate matters of intelligence were. Yet still, her heart raced at the mere memory of what had happened, both with Harrow and someone else...]

It's not the Reverend Daughter that specifically concerns me. She's not the one who rigged a Stele for the Blood of Eden to have me operate alone-- nor the one that used her flesh magic to fix my insides while I was still conscious.

[noniad]

A stele?

[ Ortus rarely raises his voice outside of poetry. The extent to which he does now is limited, rising to all of the ringing boom of 'every day conversation' for most people, but the alarm of his expression is clear. ]

And while you were - ? Captain Deuteros - I am truly sorry for what you must have endured, but I do not understand - who did such a thing to you? Who are the Blood of Eden?

[ He had thought the pieces of the puzzle more or less set in place, but once again, it seems as though context has been elided. He wishes very much he too had a chair to sit in, and after some fumbling, he obtains one, setting it in front of the Captain and sinking down into it heavily. ]

[asyetunheard]

[The sheer amount of questions dropped like dozens of paper flowers from a towering man with the comportment of an orator than a proper cavalier was dizzying. For a brief moment, Judith wished they had been as light as the delicately folded blossoms in varying shades of red and purple that Coronabeth sent her with every promotion. Instead, she was in the peculiar position of needing to offer comfort to a behemoth with sad, bewildered eyes...

Like the Warden, the Captain wasn't one for platitudes.]

That's too many questions, Ninth. The best that I can explain quickly is that the universe is far more complex than anyone as far from politics as the Ninth House can imagine. The Emperor has enemies, they call themselves the Blood of Eden.

The commander on the vessel I've been held on is called We Suffer, and it seems many of them have turns of phrase for names instead of anything we're familiar with.

You seem to have heard of a Stele. I can't give you details, but it seems like this Lyctor helped them get a hold of one. Ordinarily it takes three necromancers to operate-- but they only had me.

Defeating Teacher killed Marta, but I very nearly joined her. Several times. There was no way I could be useful to them, but that didn't stop them from trying.

.... Honestly, I should have been dead before that Lyctor showed up to berate them.

I'm not sure how I lived.

[noniad]

[ Ortus refrains from pointing out that his questions numbered but four, and one of them rhetorical; he permits the insult to his House to pass. He only notes to himself that he begins to see why his lady was not overfond of the Captain - because they are already so much of a kind in his eyes that he sorely wishes to fetch the young woman a blanket and a cup of warm, lightly salted water. The prickly dismissal and icy pride of a young, frightened necromancer is a woeful thing to behold. ]

The Second are renowned for their endurance. I do not doubt that your training and your courage allowed you to survive.

[ It helps her immensely that she says Marta. It breaks his heart, slightly, along a well-cracked faultline. For all of the Captain's undoubtably grit, she seems improbably fragile before him, and Ortus is made soft by his sympathy. ]

I trouble you overmuch with such questions. Forgive me, Captain. I was surprised - but we should first see to your well-being, and the securing of a place for your person.

[asyetunheard]

[That her body survived eight months of infections, surgeries, and machines inside of her was an act of spite and spite alone. A soldier to the core, Judith had known there was no way she could just die. Who would give report about the conditions they faced? Who would be there to keep an eye on Camilla and Coronabeth so that they didn't become radicalized?

Judith shifted, uncomfortable underneath Ortus' heavy gaze.]

I'll be fine with some clothes and a bed, Ninth. A barracks, if there is one, will suffice.

[She was lying.

She loathed the idea of being around strangers.

-- And yet, for all that Ortus was a stranger to her, he was still from one of the Houses. The ways of the Ninth were as foreign to her as the ways of the Second must have been to him, but she could see that they were aligned in one obvious way. It was hard to remove them from their cultures entirely.

It was a small comfort amidst a sea of uncertainty.]

And don't worry about it, your questions have their reasons. I'm just...

[She trailed, and allowed her proud mask to slip enough to show her bone-deep weariness and exhaustion. Her muscles ached, her heart pounded in an unfamiliar manner that made her nerves jittery, and even a thousand years did not sound like enough sleep.]

I'm just tired.

[noniad]

[ Ortus is not sure what sort of punishment one might incur for looking at a necromancer captain of the Imperial fleet and thinking poor thing, and so he is glad, as he has oft has cause to be, that his thoughts are his and his alone. All that shows in his expression is the deferential readiness of serve of a well-trained cavalier presented with a necromancer in need. ]

Then we should see you settled soon, Captain.

[ He rises to his feet and offers her a hand, already considering where she may be housed at first. He would bring her to the dojo, but he is not certain of the impact it might have on his lady, and besides, it is not his roof to offer. He also cannot bring her to an abandoned dwelling, devoid of the comforts she is so evidently in need of. A lodging house might present too many strangers, and interruptions of hubbub that would tax her nerves. ]

May I guide you to the local medical facility for an evaluation? I can assure you of fair treatment - my own lady has served there, and will vouchsafe you.

[ And they have clean beds and private rooms where the Captain might be attended to while Ortus ascertains how best to proceed.

(It does not, somehow, occur to him that he is being overly bold for his station. ) ]

[asyetunheard]

Ninth

[Judith deadpanned, looking askance at Ortus as it became obvious that her... difficulties were evidently harder to mask than she realized. Not even Coronabeth had treated her as quite so fragile, even when her staples tore open...]

If I never see the inside of a medical ward again, it will still be too soon.

[And yet-- she accepted the hand. Pragmatism still won out over her inherent pride, and she was grateful for the company of someone who seemed to understand. ]

[noniad]

[ Ortus' touch is very gentle, even with the rasp of newly formed callouses on his fingers. He assists her to standing and no further, releasing her at once when it becomes clear her balance is once again steadied. ]

I am sure that is the case - but we must all of us endure that which we would prefer not, at times.

[ An overwrought method of conveying the fact that Ortus will not be satisfied until the Captain is afford some form of medical attention. He may only hope the flourish of his words helps conceal their weight. ]

And you may call me Nigenad - or Ortus, if it pleases you to.

[ But not Ninth alone, a boundary quietly asserted. ]

[asyetunheard]

Very well then... Ortus.

[It was a reasonable boundary-- although, Judith had no idea how to respond in kind. Despite everything, she was still unwilling to wholly give up her life, her training, and everything she had worked for in her eleven years of service with the Cohort. The intense training, the lessons drilled into her heart, and the promotions she had earned meant too much.

Giving it all up would also be a disrespect to Marta.

She wasn't able to do that.

Settled on her feet, Judith righted her crutches for further support-- her body still ached from her time as a captive, and she knew even with effort it would be some time until she felt close to her 'normal' again.]

And, thank you. I'll take your words under advisement, but I hesitate to seek aid from the Reverend Daughter. Perhaps there's someone else who would understand...?

[Perhaps Abigail Pent, or even the Warden. Anyone who wasn't a Lyctor, in all honesty.]

Don't worry yourself about it. I'll find someone. Until then...

[She trailed, looking a little lost momentarily. So much had happened in a relatively short time, and she was no longer sure how to proceed.]

Have you met anyone else from the Houses? Do you know what happened after... after my call was answered?

[noniad]

[ Captain Deuteros is not obliged to surrender her title, in Ortus' ungiven opinion - he recognizes the comfort of being called by a familiar name, in the familiar ways. There is a reason he has always insisted on Nonagesimus, never the First, when it comes to his own lady.

Much like his lady, he suspects that the Captain would be greatly displeased by any offer of carrying or other aid, so he bites his tongue on that subject as well. He is so busy biting his tongue that her final question catches him off-guard, though it should not, and his hesitation is far more marked than he would prefer as he steps ahead to hold the door open for her - a courtesy she is entitled to as a necromancer, regardless of her ailments. ]

My Lady Harrowhark was rescued by Cohort forces, as was the Princess Ianthe Tridentarius, both ascended to Lyctorhood. I do not know what became of the rest of those assembled at Canaan House, nor their bodies, nor yet what was told to the Houses about what occurred there.

[ A paltry report. He knows so much, and still yet so little, all told to him through the lens of his much preoccupied lady and Gideon. His first answer is unsatisfying, and he fears his second may be overwhelming - but he cannot let her go defenceless, unwarned - whatever the cost to himself may be, however it might incite the fury or despair of a loyal subject of the Emperor. ]

I have met others of the Nine Houses here. The Master Warden Sextus, but not his cavalier, Camilla Hect. [ He quiets as he speaks, watching her closely. ] And I have met two of the Emperor's Saints. The Saint of Patience and the Saint of Duty...and I have met the Emperor, who yet dwells here.