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Deer Country Mod ([personal profile] reddosmod) wrote in [community profile] countryclub2022-09-25 09:57 pm
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SEPTEMBER TEST DRIVE MEME!

SEPTEMBER 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: Bread Cornucopia filled with fruits and veggies]
[Image Two: Creepy glass eye embedded in sand]

Prompt Two
[Image One: A Lone Lighthouse by night]
[Image Two: Ghost Ship in dilapidated condition]

Prompt Three
[Image One: Wasps, Wasp Nest made from human Mask screaming terror, swirling eddies in wasp Nest]
[Image Two: Horribly mutilated Cenobite in Latex gear with exposed teeth]

STANDARD ARRIVAL
WHEN: First Week of September
WHERE: The Farther Shores/The Boardwalk, Koz's Orphanage
CONTENT WARNINGS: Creepy Prosthetics buried in the sand


On some level, you are one of the fortunate ones. The storms of August are now a distant memory. It is the waning of the Blood Moon and the tempestuous state of the Beast Moon this year is fading finally while the harvest is being collected. Sleepers arriving find no particular difficulty in actually reaching the shores for the most part, and transformations back into their natural state of being are relatively easy. They are met by happy Trenchies and fellow Sleepers with robes of white and their bags as normal, and motioned towards the waiting tents set up along the

What is strange, however, is that when Sleepers arrive, they may find their eyes drawn to something disturbing amongst the sand. Water washes with the waves and tide, and reveals a body part! They are always prosthetics of some variety, and many are glass eyes that eerily stare at the person. They can be retrieved with some ease, though they're in bad need of cleaning. Perhaps they belong to someone in town? If not, however, asking around will get a suggestion to bring those to Koz's Orphange in Crenshaw. They have a Lost and Found there, and it is the season of finding what and who is lost. If they do, they might catch a glimpse of Koz floating mournfully through the area, and one of the children will gratefully take the item, saying that they will add it to the rest of the Lost and Found, before coming back with a photo in hand. "Here, I found this, and I think it might be yours?" The photo is, indeed, of the giver and someone from their past. Perhaps it is an actual photo taken, or one they cannot remember having been taken. Regardless, it is offered to them in a cheap wooden frame. How it got there, the orphan does not know. It was probably there when they arrived.

SEASONAL DETAILS ON THE BOARDWALK

The Boardwalk is quite the spectacle this time of year, and those who were here the prior year will remember many of the decorations and festivities. Pumpkins have been stacked on spikes lining the Boardwalk with grotesquely realistic carvings of faces decorated on them. Massive white linen has been hung in the air to look like ghosts floating back and forth against the ocean wind.

Delicious smells waft from the Boardwalk as fresh donuts, candied apples, and hot apple cider are sold at every other booth, along with complementary cornucopias given to each new Sleeper made out of bread that has fruits of all varieties but always seems to have a small jar of the favorite fruit, seed, vegetable (or even meat) of the person receiving it. If asked where it is from, the Sleepers shrug and say "The Orphans took up a collection to give a welcoming gift to new arrivals." If what is in the jar is eaten by the person given it, it will help to ease their mind and give them a calm that can last up to a week as they acclimate.

Preparations are in order for this year's Black Parade. An annual celebration, it is promoted among the excited locals as something that people can participate in. Face Painting booths and costumes are available to those who wish them, with the statement by the Trenchies, "We do it to disguise ourselves from roaming spirits and hungry beasts."
A FADED MEMORY
WHEN: Mid October
WHERE: In Swimming distance (Barely) of the Farther Shores
CONTENT WARNINGS: Ghostly Ship & Lighthouse, Threat of Corruption, Remains of Ghastly Murder and Dismembered Corpse


It is by accident that your eyes chance to look towards the Farther Shores. There, you happen to see a lighthouse, but you know for certain that it cannot be the lighthouse that is normally there and manned by the fishermen. You can't usually see that from this angle. The moment that you see it, a feeling of mounting dread falls upon you, and you realize that there is no light in the lighthouse. Though the compulsion to investigate can be resisted, there is an almost overwhelming urge to go, to investigate, to re-ignite the flame before it is too late!

The question is getting out there. The fishermen, when the lighthouse is mentioned, will make warding gestures and look terrified. All will resolutely refuse to sail out, muttering incomprehensible curses and lashing their boats securely to the shore. There will be no fishing tonight. The lighthouse, from the docks and shores, is out in the water on a rocky outcrop that nobody remembers being there, though any Trenchy asked will pale at the mention. The only way to get out there is to swim. It is a hard, dangerous swim, but the tide is coming in, rather than going out, so the riptide is not pulling down. It can be done, or a raft can be hastily made. When clambering up the stone steps to the lone lighthouse, it is apparent its door is ajar. And within? Horror awaits.

The insides of the tower are caked in viscuous, green blood. The Lighthouse itself is barely standing. It looks as if a thunderous, colossal fist has battered it repeatedly, the building nearly collapsing at every step. It does not actually break apart, but those who ascend the steps find themselves fighting not to slip on old, caked and thick blood that smells of roses. The contact with the blood isn't doing anything good to the person's sanity and hallucinations of the screams of the dying can be heard, along with shrieks of "What is it?" at the top of someone's voice. An increase in corruption is possible here, though not required. The more one contacts the blood, the greater the risk is. In the top of the lighthouse, dismembered, skeletal remains lay in gobs of what may once have been flesh. One of them holds desperately a torch in their hand, and there is a lighter present. One look out into the night will see a great vessel approaching, broken, its sails tattered and ruined. there is little time, and hopefully the lighter works!

The moment the torch lights the lamp in the lighthouse, the ship veers away from a collision course that would have destroyed the lighthouse and likely the flimsy rock outcropping on which it stood. Shades of dead sailors stare in horror at those who man the lighthouse today, the ship sailing away into the night. All are pointing beyond, and if you look over your shoulder, you can barely see a collosal figure in shadow walking into the town beyond, seemingly confused and wailing. Nothing further happens, and when the people in the lighthouse reach shore again, they will find upon turning back that it is gone, as is the outcropping, though a close inspection does see the remains of a shallow of stone there where the island once stood.

Note: The Ghost ship cannot be interacted with. If someone has the ability to reach it, they will pass through it only to realize it is nothing more than a memory in the land. Fragments of rotted wood and broken masonry can be found in the water below, covered in countless barnacles. Nothing within them shows any proof of what once transpired. There is a risk of corruption from blood exposure, though this is very much up to the players if they wish to incorporate it.

No Trenchy will willingly speak of what transpired, though a careful investigation at the Pale Sanctuary may find a tome among the sacred texts associated with Cloverfield. Reading from it, one might find a forgotten marking that the first sighting of Cloverfield, long ago, saw the collapse of the original lighthouse. No Disciple recalls the incident, and none will speak of it.

FRIEND OR FOE
WHEN: Anytime in October
WHERE: At the frindges of the main districts
CONTENT WARNINGS: demonic bugs, Bug Horror, Grotesque death, Self mutilation, Bug Infestation


The first thing that alerts you to the danger is the screams. They are agonizing, gut-wrenching and full of naked horror. When traveling near the edge of any of the districts, particularly the Crenshaw district, it is possible at times to witness a truly horrifying sight. The screams, if investigated, come upon the grisly attack of a horde of not exactly wasps but closer to demonic insects swarming over a person. They shriek, their whole form shrouded by the terrible creatures as they're being stun and the things seem to be extruding some sort of substance to cocoon them while still alive to one of the trees. There is no cry for help, as the person is clearly unaware of who is there, but do you reach out to save them?

If you do not, the scene is horrific and grisly beyond reckoning. The wasps trap the hapless victim against a tree, grafting the extruded paper all over their screaming visage to form a new wasp nest before they ultimately begin crawling inside of them, devouring them from the inside out and implanting their eggs in the new 'home' created for them. It is at this time that the palpable danger may dawn upon you. The infernal bugs have not yet seen you, but they seem to be aware that there is other life around. Do you take this moment to try and beat a hasty retreat, or do you fight it out with the bugs? They can be destroyed, but only by means of abilities and powers that destroy multiples at once, such as great gouts of flame. Hopefully you have a coldblood present! Fleeing them is easier, but can you leave this person to their fate? Still, if instead you observe and take no action, eventually the bugs seem to notice you, and though they swarm near, as long as they are not attacked, they seem to do nothing.

Strange.

If, however, you try to save the victim, a very different scene plays out. The same rules apply to fight the swarm, and if you stop them short of killing their victim, you will see just who it is that you have saved. There, mutilated through self scarification and brutally altered in horrible ways that seem almost fetishistic, is one of the blood crazed zealots. Despite being weakened and badly injured, they lash out at you, their defender. The power that they wield with their blood is incredible, and they demonstrate an ability to wield it that is well documented. The only note is that no Cold-blooded Zealots are present, and so their powers are not represented this time. However, they are drained and though they pose a threat to your life, they can be killed here with a bit of care, can be resisted with great difficulty and certainly be escaped. Either way, there is no true reward for having killed them other than knowing that you have done so. Why are they here? Alone?

It is almost as if they were an advance scout, and the wasps were someone's defense against them, someone's early warning.

CODING
earthworms: (Default)

[personal profile] earthworms 2022-10-21 01:46 am (UTC)(link)
[She isn't sure she likes this tone. This woman reminds her of Crown. In fact, she has Crown's face and hints of the same notes in her voice. But it's like if someone had taken Crown's tall beautiful body and stretched it all flat. Like a shirt hung out to dry too long.

Nona doesn't like it.]


They take me to school. And make me do my stretches. That's normal, I think.

[Nona had never been normal. But she didn't mind. But most people seem to like "normal"]
Edited 2022-10-21 01:46 (UTC)
hauntedsavior: (⚡ alive and breathing in the desert sand)

[personal profile] hauntedsavior 2022-10-21 01:48 am (UTC)(link)
[anna could do a lot of things. she could say a lot of things, too. she understands right now that she is standing at the edge of something, standing alongside venus. and she doesn't know whether venus will sink or swim if anna pushes. she can't know. she can suspect, but she doesn't trust her suspicions here. she doesn't trust her gut, not when it could lead to someone's death. not anymore.]

[she looks at venus, and she gives a quiet smile, and she gently puts a hand on his shoulder. and she calls on a memory of something else, something that isn't at all what's happening here, but something that she hopes will be innocuous enough that she can get away with it.]


Who knows. Maybe something will change. It's not like I'm some gold star lesbian. But I am taken and monogamous, and that would probably be a bigger issue.
earthworms: (Default)

[personal profile] earthworms 2022-10-21 01:49 am (UTC)(link)
[She follows, using the waves to hop forward and letting it carry her until her feet touch sand again.]

I've never seen a fight before. My friends... My gang. There was going to be a fight but then it got called off.
earthworms: (who could do this to her)

[personal profile] earthworms 2022-10-21 01:55 am (UTC)(link)
I don't think I've ever been very normal before. But maybe I could try it...? See what it's like.

[She exhales through her nose.]

I am far from home, aren't I?
wingstosee: (smilingsoft)

[personal profile] wingstosee 2022-10-21 01:58 am (UTC)(link)
[ "maybe something will change." he laughs, only a bit sadly. it's not her that should have to change. ]

I don't really want any of that to change. You don't deserve that. I mean, I don't think so, at least.. But... thanks.

[ for the moment, he steps back from the cliff. the light behind his eyes fades; just like that, they're just two people talking. friends, maybe, or acquaintances, or people flirting who really shouldn't be.

he says:
]

I don't really know where I'm staying yet. I've got a few places people have told me are safe. But, um... I hope we can talk more. It feels- easy, talking to you.
hauntedsavior: (⚡ alive and breathing in the desert sand)

[personal profile] hauntedsavior 2022-10-21 02:01 am (UTC)(link)
[it's not her she meant, but she thinks venus knows that. she won't say anything more on it.]

I have a place with me and my girlfriend if all else fails. I'd have to run it by her first, but I think you'd like her. It's probably got enough space for three.

[at least for a little while. but she'd have to see how it goes. if K is on board, and if there's anything else stopping them. but it'll probably be fine. V seems chill.]

I hope we can too, V. Like I said, I've been here for a while, so if you need me, just holler. I think I'm the only Anna around.
necrolord: =- (the words fall flat)

[personal profile] necrolord 2022-10-22 03:09 am (UTC)(link)
This, of course, is when John comes back up out of the water.

He comes up spitting and swearing, not because she'll care but because it's good to have the noise, like the pointless Ow of a stubbed toe. Pyrrha's first warning will be the jar of pain as he catches against the rocks. Somewhere, Augustine's not having a great day. John's with him. The saltwater has never been for him what it is for Annabel; the ocean's always freaked him out.

He doesn't expect to see who's standing with her.

John comes quietly, after that. He's soaked and dripping, inelegant, seaweed in his hair. But he approaches them with something uncertain and marveling in his face, longing pain in the lines of his eyes.

He'd always wanted them all to get along. Pyrrha always got it, a little bit. He'd liked that about her, and thought it was gone.

"Catching up?"
necrolord: <user name="thebutt"> (i babble on til my voice is gone)

[personal profile] necrolord 2022-10-22 04:03 am (UTC)(link)
[ He breathes a laugh, at that, but there's an ugly hitch to it. He shuts his eyes. ]

I think it's all I do know.

[ He levers himself down onto the sand, still clumsy like he's drunk, like he's new. He lies on his side across from her, curled pathetically with the water still running up around his legs. He looks at her over the dull swill of it, and this should feel familiar enough to cut him through, should thrill him with horror enough to overcome this great and hideous longing.

What he says comes stupid and low, petulant as a child: ]


This world isn't mine. Isn't ours. Somebody's keeping us stuck here, away from where we're supposed to be.

[ He swore to end a war. He built a tomb. Things like them aren't made for real beginnings. ]

I hurt her because I wanted to go back to you.
necrolord: <user name="thebutt"> (laying borders as tall as towers)

[personal profile] necrolord 2022-10-22 04:46 am (UTC)(link)
Oh, sure. Stranger danger. Very smart.

[ He's off-kilter, stupid with uncertainty. He talks with that pleading note still plain in his eyes. ]

I'm over by the clocktower. [ He points; the landmark of Gaze stands tall and visible even from here, tall grey stone. There is a fixed, bated-breath intensity in the way he looks at her, like he's waiting for any scrap of recognition. ] If you'll walk with me?
gotaknife: by <user name=everchased site="tumblr"> (Default)

[personal profile] gotaknife 2022-10-22 03:02 pm (UTC)(link)
Martin recoils as the flowery scent of the green blood smeared all over the lighthouse hits him. He shakes his head to try to clear away disorientation that hits half a beat later.

Don't touch it? That's probably sound advice, who knows what it is, or what it would do to bare skin. The last thing he wants to do is get infected or burned by it or something. "Yeah. Yeah. God, what a mess. What even is this stuff?"

He looks at the stairs, leading up to the lamp, slick with the vileblood as well. "All right. We'll have to watch our step, I guess."
gotaknife: by <user name=everchased site="tumblr"> (27)

[personal profile] gotaknife 2022-10-22 06:02 pm (UTC)(link)
That's all right. I'm sure some people have thought the same thing of me a time or two, too.

[He looks completely sympathetic. Coming to shore like this still feels like a lot to him, so it probably is for her too, and she looks like she's probably still only in her teens.]

I think we all ended up far from home. So, at least you're not alone? I'm Martin.
martyrofduty: (Default)

III. text | un: duty

[personal profile] martyrofduty 2022-10-22 06:49 pm (UTC)(link)
Welcome to Trench, Harry. It worked out for you.

What else is on your list, now you've found your daughter?
acidjail: (cristabel)

[personal profile] acidjail 2022-10-23 12:44 am (UTC)(link)
[Cristabel alights on the back of the girl's hand, lighter than even a real butterfly would be, and flutters consolingly.]

I know someone who might be able to help. [She suggests, gently.] She knows lots of things. She might be able to help you find where to go.

[She'd do it for Cristabel.]
thunderingcourage: (What time?)

[personal profile] thunderingcourage 2022-10-23 02:05 am (UTC)(link)
"Pretty smart choices for the first things to do yeah. Hopefully, your arrival wasn't too difficult."

She knew that some months of the transformation were a bit easier than others, and then that there were times when it was lucky for any of them to make it at all with the challenges that were posted.

"For good reason, there are ghosts that will haunt people, or there were last year. So dressing up will confuse and keep them away I guess."
cloversandcranes: (Y-You can't be serious!)

I'm back Min! Covid sucks! Sorry I'm so late.

[personal profile] cloversandcranes 2022-10-23 07:54 am (UTC)(link)
[Makoto watched Ryouma stumble over the pronunciation of the word Pthumerian with amusement. He had a hard time saying that word too. Unable to stop a small chuckle from escaping, he nodded and offered Ryouma a small smile.]

I think so. They are certainly important enough to be called something like that at least.

[Makoto turned back to the globs of flesh and frowned.]

Even so, this seems unnecessarily messy, even with god like powers at the helm.

[Or maybe he was just being naive. After all, bugs make a mess when you squish them...Trying not to feel sick with that analogy, he looked around and saw the remains of a hand holding a torch. Frowning he looked up out the window and saw something in the distance. Ignoring the torch, he stood up and squinted at the rapidly growing image before realization hit him]

R-Ryouma-san! We need to light the lamp! Quickly!
towards_okeanos: (hmmm)

[personal profile] towards_okeanos 2022-10-23 03:43 pm (UTC)(link)
"Hmmm, I see" Iskandar nods. Whatever hope he held for hearing that yes, they won, and all had been resolved at last, is thwarted by her answer. "So it is not over. I suppose it is too much for one to wish that the matters resolved themselves propitiously in their absence."

He is glad though for companionship. To have shared the same Master already makes them allies in his eyes, and allies are always precious. Here maybe even more than anywhere else.

"This is place that takes some time getting used to. Nothing like any I have previously visited. Not even the ones with Master of Chaldea."
entreats: (and it ain't coming down)

[personal profile] entreats 2022-10-23 07:27 pm (UTC)(link)
.. ugh. Gross.

It's not even the first time Ange has seen something like this, a room filled with blood like this, as if someone just straight up exploded in the middle of the room, but it's gross all the same. If not just for the fact that it kind of makes her worry about where this blood came from, and whether they could be the next victims of something.

She glances up at the stairs, frowning, and then nods.

But.. she also kind of figures Martin needs a full idea of the situation here, considering he can't even know what this is, as new as he is.

Ange looks at the room around them rather than directly at him as she says: "This stuff.. it's all blood."

A very wholesome and comforting message, she's sure.
earthworms: (Default)

[personal profile] earthworms 2022-10-23 07:36 pm (UTC)(link)
[None sighs, looking a little deflated and definitely playing it up. It felt good to play it up. Like washing grime off in a bath.]

If I don't go home, who will make me do my stretches? Or make me eat eggs and mush for breakfast and check to make sure I actually did it them and not put them in my pocket.

[She looks over at the person in front of her. They're a little older than Hot Sauce maybe.]

It's called New Rho. It's called that because everyone had to leave the old one. [Sadly, but casually. Like it's a simple truth.] What is your home like?
Edited 2022-10-23 19:38 (UTC)
in_loveless_memory: (Oh my god what shut up!)

[personal profile] in_loveless_memory 2022-10-23 09:57 pm (UTC)(link)
"I didn't enjoy being stark naked for the world to see," he blushed deeply, his ears pressed against his head. "But I got a robe and that was about the worst of it."

At the mention of ghosts, he glanced over to Yuiko.

"When we say ghosts, we mean like, of people not pokemon?"
in_loveless_memory: (Screw You)

[personal profile] in_loveless_memory 2022-10-23 09:59 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm not the least bit shocked it's not that easy. [Life is misery and then you die.]

Is there any good news or is this place as terrible as Deerington?
in_loveless_memory: (Oi!  Stop that!)

[personal profile] in_loveless_memory 2022-10-23 10:03 pm (UTC)(link)
Ritsuka's ears shot up and he pulled away from the masked people, thinking he was about to face three to one and honestly, one on one was awful enough seeing as Maul easily beat him physically.

But then- 'It shall be done, Lord Maul.' came. out. of. their. mouths.

Oh, you had to be fucking joking! He hissed, bearing his teeth. Here he thought there couldn't be a bigger idiot than Maul but no, there were idiots who FOLLOWED him?!

"I am not accepting this as a favor, I owe you nothing as I have made it very clear I want nothing from you. So whatever underhanded generosity you think this is to fool me, I want you to be well aware I don't give a shit."
jedies: (Saved its best for last)

[personal profile] jedies 2022-10-24 12:24 am (UTC)(link)
I don't think it is particularly terrible, but perhaps my opinion is not the best one in that regard.
in_loveless_memory: (Um what?)

[personal profile] in_loveless_memory 2022-10-24 12:40 am (UTC)(link)
Why wouldn't you be the best one, Obi-Wan-san? [His ears perked up. As far as Ritsuka was concerned, Obi-Wan was one of the few adults with more than two brain cells to his name. ]
iaiafhtagn: (Default)

[personal profile] iaiafhtagn 2022-10-24 03:46 am (UTC)(link)
"Mm, life still goes on and is filled with things that challenge us! "

As much as it would be nice to not have to worry over anything, that's not really in the cards. But that just made the moments of happiness all the brighter for her.

"I've noticed. It reminds me of home a little bit. But also, not really. Like a bunch of different things have been squished together into all of this." A frown, it reminded her of the Dreamlands a little. And of the stories her other self had told her of the worlds beyond. Only more grounded and understandable.
acidjail: rights to use paid by me; do not take (Default)

cw: blood, ear trauma

[personal profile] acidjail 2022-10-24 03:48 am (UTC)(link)
[That's even more unexpected grit in him, even drawn out as he is to the trembling edge of hysterical collapse. There is a great deal people are capable of at that edge, she's found; it's a place she has taught herself to thrive in.

It's not one she has to occupy here. The ghosts come as they are called, or whatever these are that amount to ghosts. There is something unclean to these spirits, a trailing aftertaste of a coil that goes on and on forever, up and up and down again, air that echoes with the stilled scream of endless time. There is something unstuck to this place that haunts her periphery more dreadfully than any ravenous unanchored soul.

Undead fingers scrabble at the seams of her. She shrugs them off like spiderwebs. What burns in her burns too bright and too hot, even now, to be grasped at and pried by any feeble, unspun thing.

Her ears have popped by the time they reach the top. Blood trickles from both that almost matches the color of the blood on the walls, but this she renders inert, bubbling like crocodile scales before the spirits can suckle at its thalergy. Where Mike's eyes fix on the lighter, hers fix on the torch, and she plucks it up with as much regard for the hand holding it as she might have for a shelf she lifted it from.]


We're nearly finished. [She pads to him with more relief than she likes, holding out the torch with the expectation he will light it, which it more credit than she would have given him before the climb.] Let's see if this appeases them, shall we? Or I'll tear this horrid thing down to the stones, and see how you all like that.

[That last, peevish threat is not for Mike, but something she looks at past him, her nose wrinkled in distaste. There would be nothing to see if he turned to look.]

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