October Test Drive Meme!

[reddosmod]

OCTOBER 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: A snowy, rocky beach in winter. ]
[Image Two: Bowls of mushroom soup and bread. ]

Prompt Two
[Image One: Dali painting of the moon as a city]
[Image Two: Twisted, warped cityscape]

Prompt Three
[Image One: Monster choking a sleeping person to death]
[Image Two: Death hovering over a sleeping person]

BONUS PROMPT
[Image One: Liminal Space image of a nondescript room with strange ledges]
[Image Two: Cenobite woman with borg-like attachments to her face]

[NAVIGATION]

TDM Questions • Reserves • Taken • Applications • Full Navigation

[Jump to Comments]

STANDARD ARRIVAL

WHEN: First Week of NOvember
WHERE: The Farther Shores/The Boardwalk, Koz's Orphanage
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 is not the greatest month to wash up on the Farther Shores. It's November and you'll pretty much immediately hate it! The waters are frigid but not quite frozen yet, but that won't make your arrival any less uncomfortable. Thankfully the Boardwalk seems well-stocked with heavy blankets and furs to give to newly awakened Sleepers. Barrels of hot chocolate and hot alcoholic cider are readily available to warm people up. There are several stalls selling hearty soups willed with mushrooms, potatoes, beans, and other filling components.

Fresh baked bread and pastries are sold on wax paper. Enjoy a steaming cinnamon roll or croissant or just your standard bread and butter. Many bakers have set up temporary stoves and seem to invite teaching Sleepers how to cook and prepare bread and pastries. Maybe knead some dough, learn some tricks of the trade. If you help out ab baker, they might even thank you with a sack of flour or other ingredients for bread!

Like last year, as the Moon shifts to Bone, whispers and hushed talk begins anew among the Trenchies about The Tower. There are whispers that something feels wrong. "You know Trench is his body, right?" one might say. "But look at what's been happening. Is everything alright?" There is nervousness, agitation. Trenchies can't seem to put a finger on it. One of the old fishermen mutters under his or her breath if overheard in this time. "Long time since we tried to leave the Tower's shield. Hope didn't bring anything back from out there. World's a strange place."

None of them seem to have anything specific to add. They just seem nervous for some reason.

[JUMP TO TOP] • [JUMP TO COMMENTS]

IMAGE OF THE SELF

WHEN: Halloween through all November
WHERE: All of Trench
CONTENT WARNINGS: Distorted Reality, horrifying cityscape images, mounting paranoia, displacement

---

"They say that Trench is the body of the Tower." It is a saying so often repeated during the Bone Moon season that it becomes more of a mantra. Whether or not it is actually true remains a hotly contested debate between Arcane Scholars and Disciples, one of the few times that neither side fully agrees even with themselves. Yet, if it is true, what happens if the person whose body serves as a city begins to have an identity crisis of sorts? That certainly seems to be the case this month.

At random times, it just happens. You're walking from one place to another with your friend. You just stepped out of a lantern network teleportation circle. You open a door. Suddenly, everything is just wrong. It feels like you are in a surrealist's nightmare. Walls appear to be bleeding concrete in all directions. Stairwells twist impossibly, as if M. C. Escher himself were the architect. The pathway to where you intended to go warps and transforms itself into a perilous, twisted monstrosity that you have to navigate. Worse? The way you got here is just gone behind you, leaving you only the path forward.

Navigating this isn't impossible, but you will definitely need help. It might be that one has to stand on another's shoulders to get over an obstacle and then help them up. Maybe someone very small has to crawl into an opening to reach the door handle so the way through can be found. It varies, and the effect lasts only as long as it takes to get where you're going, but while you're here the reality continues to shift and some of these twistings could easily crush you! Don't tarry too long!

NOTE: The physical danger here is from environmental hazards. Feel free to choose any you like, but they will all return to normal when your character reaches their intended destination. Trenchies know nothing about this, though if one asks one of the former wastes, they will ward themselves as if against evil. They know something, but they dare not speak and will whisper hurriedly that the sleeper had best not talk too openly about this. "Best not to draw attention right now."

[JUMP TO TOP] • [JUMP TO COMMENTS]

A GOOD NIGHT'S SLEEP

WHEN: Last Week of October through the first week of November
WHERE: At Home, in your bed
CONTENT WARNINGS: Severe Insomnia, Sleep Deprivation, Deprivation induced hallucinations and mood swings

---

Something is clawing at your mind from the moment that the first signs of the cold coming. You can't put your finger on it, but even as you see the people of Trench preparing for the next month's arrival of sleepers, you can see they feel it too. Something claws at the mind and for a few people in Trench, this becomes a very literal problem. The thoughts are so overwhelming that you can't manage to find a good night's sleep. This problem is especially prominent for new Sleepers, who seem prone to arriving with terrible bouts of unexplainable insomnia.

That sounds simple enough to deal with, right? Perhaps some sort of sleep aid, or working oneself to exhaustion, and you can power through it, right? No. Nothing seems to work at first. Searches for a monster are futile. Warding and incense seem utterly ineffective, and no matter how hard you try, night after night you cannot sleep. You are terrified of falling asleep. If you fall asleep, you may never wake up! Even characters who do not fear a mortal death feel themselves compelled by this, and the longer that they do not sleep the more corruption risks them at its door. A night or two missed is one thing, but eventually irascibility sets in. Hallucinations may eventually start to crop up. The body needs REM sleep. It needs dreams, yet the horror that threatens the person will not allow them to sleep, for fear that it will come for them while they sleep. What 'it' is, they do not know.

There is only one solution. For those who already spend time with others? This is a simple thing, but they must still agree to do it. You can solve this curse only if you do not sleep alone. Another must stay awake for the vigil through the whole night. Simple enough given their insomnia, but they will be assailed by their own horrific lack of slumber. Only, after you have had a good night's sleep, be sure to care for the other who was so kind to you. Why? Because anyone so unkind as to not help their erstwhile companion sleep after they have finally gotten rest will find out that those fears were not unfounded and the next time they sleep, they really do not wake up!

Death, in this rare case, comes in the form of a heart attack. Its source is unknown, and all that the sleeper will remember is the worst nightmare of their life as they lay in bed, dying in soundless screams. So, be sure to take care of each other, sleepers!

[JUMP TO TOP] • [JUMP TO COMMENTS]

THE VEINS OF THE TOWER

WHEN: November 1st (And only November 1st)
WHERE: Beginning anywhere, ending in A Nightmarish Place
CONTENT WARNINGS: Liminal Space, Disorientation, Hints of horrible monsters, Possible Death, Insane Zealotry, Mutilated Bodies

---

Rumors have lingered since the first encounters two months ago of a 'space between spaces' that people could accidentally fall into that this occurrence has not been entirely limited to the month it first happened in. Every once in a while, on unusual days, it has happened since that time. There appears to be little rhyme or reason to it, but it has happened again. Maybe you took an accidental step backwards. Or maybe you were crazy enough to have identified some spot you disappeared before and you were actually experimenting with the effect every day to see when it happened. You know, to chronicle the dates it happen, to keep a record, to understand it better, all of those sorts of things that cause some sleepers to poke things that are Better Left Alone because that's what some sleepers do with their free time, and then they touch the spot with something and suddenly they and everything around them are sucked in. How you got there is not important. You're here now, wherever here is.

Only this time its different. You're not in the spot you were last time, and in the distance you can hear shuffling of feet. Dread enters your heart, as you know that you do not have the means to fight whatever it is. You have an overwhelming urge to run, to flee at top speed. You and whoever is "lucky" enough to be with you must run as fast as you can, around corners, a roaring, inhuman scream echoing through the hallways, slamming into walls. You can't quite see it, not unless you want a swift, awful death at least. But around a corner there is salvation, an elevator shaft and the door is open. Frantic scrambling, running and jabbing buttons will cause the doors to close, just as something black like a giant hand grabs the far wall. You hear the rush, the scream. The elevator shudders three times as something pounds on it, but you're safe. Or, are you?

Instead of the usual moldy hallways, you see what looks like a hospital hallway. Anyone who lived through the nightmare may have awful flashbacks, but nothing is chasing you this time. The impossibly stretching hallway seems ceaselessly unchanging, each door locked, at least until you happen to notice a grate on one of the overhead air conditioners open wide. If you are curious enough to crawl up and into it, you're treated to a long scramble through the passageway, right up until you hear voices, menacing ones in the distance. Crawl quietly!

A grate emanating ugly, light is up ahead. As you and your companion work your way over, you're hopefully not heard. Through the grate, you see something awful. Two mutilated and disfigured figures speak while a third, calm and ordered looking woman listens. She seems to have mutilated her throat such that she should not be able to speak, and the other two appear have performed torturous experiments on their own flesh, their twisted visages that of the 'Zealots' that the Sleepers sometimes whisper about in fear. "It is almost time for the harvest. We made the quotas last cycle but only barely. The need is greater. Sacrifices must be made," one hisses. The other nods vigorously. "Yes. The situation is decaying. We have to move to stop this before it gets out of hand."

Before they can say more, however, the third woman looks up, directly at the grate. She smiles once, and a voice echoes from her throat as what appears to be a mouth inside of it moves, her own lips unmoving. "Continue this discussion later. It seems the problem has worsened. We will need to step up security in the meantime." She reaches out a hand and wrenches. The air shimmers around them and suddenly the duct you are traveling in collapses and breaks beneath you. Instead of falling into the farm, however, you find yourself falling through darkness for what seems an eternity, until you collapse hard to the pavement, in front of the entrance to the Gate, your breath coming back to you slowly, shakily.

NOTES: Death is possible should a sleeper assault the first creature. It is a being of impossible angles and blackness, is itself unkillable and will rend its victims to oblivion through brute force. Fighting the Zealots is not possible through this prompt. The grate cannot be opened in time to exit into the Sleeper Farm and engage them. However, the astute will be certain that there was for a moment an actual entry through and into the Sleeper Farm, somehow. Those familiar with these locations will recognize them as being Floor 1, the Stalls

[JUMP TO TOP]

CODING

Comments

iii. Image of the Self

[xiaoxiuya]

When the floor suddenly lurched beneath his feet, Shen Yuan's primary concern had been not falling flat on his face. He fell back against the wall (hadn't there been a door there, not a moment before?) waiting for everything to stop moving -- and when he opened his eyes again, he immediately wished he'd kept them shut.

"I'm fine, thank you," he says automatically when asked, still taking in their new surroundings. Instead of a normal shop-lined street it appears they've been plunged into a deep, brick-lined hole; by Shen Yuan's rough estimation it's going to take him approximately 2 to 3 hours to climb his way out, and he'll probably fuck up his robes beyond compare in the process.

"Well, this is a fine mess we find ourselves in, isn't --" he says, turning to look at his surprise companion for this little adventure (sarcastic) and immediately getting his second big surprise of the day. "-- ah, xiansheng? Or is it perhaps gongzi?" he tries to cover himself, ducking his head in a very off-the-cuff salute. Three months without a word from another cultivator and then two in as many months?? Should he be burning incense to someone in thanks for this?

[baiyueguang]

Lan Xichen is kneeling beside the stranger when he opens his eyes.

"Zongzhu, actually," Lan Xichen corrects. And then gives pause.

Slowly, he raises a finger to his lips, curved in a conspiratorial smile. "But that will be our secret."

(Not really a secret when there are already three people in Trench who know he's the Lan Sect Leader but let him have his fun.)

"Lan Xichen," he introduces himself. "Take your time and get your bearings. Then we can go up."

[xiaoxiuya]

A cultivator and a sect leader? This really was a special day. Shen Yuan wished he'd known ahead of time, he'd have changed into nicer robes. Not that he had an especially large wardrobe, but you know. Being caught in the clothes he'd worn to work that morning was a little embarrassing.

"An honor to meet you, Lan Xichen. This one is called Shen Yuan." He glances up at the narrow circle of light at the top of this makeshift well that sprang up around them. "Ah, begging your pardon if this is too forward, but...is Lan Xichen perhaps capable of flight?"

[baiyueguang]

"Likewise, a pleasure," he says with a bow. "And yes, I will have Shuoyue carry us both out of here if you are not."

After all there were plenty of cultivators who either couldn't fly on their swords, or could only manage short distances.

With great care for their cramped surroundings, he unsheathes his blade. It lowers itself to step height, and Lan Xichen stands atop it, offering a hand to Shen Yuan.

[xiaoxiuya]

"I'd appreciate it. Climbing out of here would be quite the ordeal."

Shen Yuan accepts the hand with gratitude. "Are you perhaps a recent arrival?" he asks as they ascend at a comfortable rate, the sheer depth of the well giving them plenty of time to chat. "I've been keeping an eye out for other cultivators since I arrived here in Trench this past summer; you're only the third I've met so far, and only the first had definitely arrived here before me."

[baiyueguang]

"Yes, just recently. I am already well-acquainted with the other three."

Well-acquainted is putting it lightly. One is his brother-in-law, the other is his younger sworn-brother, and the third is is the younger brother of his eldest sworn-brother.

It's enough to make one's head spin.

Shuoyue carries them slowly but steadily upwards, so neither gets tipped off the narrow blade. Eventually they emerge from the mouth of the well, into the city proper.

"Have you befriended any of them yet...?"

[xiaoxiuya]

"Oh? Well, that's a little unfair, isn't it?" Shen Yuan hides a polite little titter behind his sleeve. "Here I've gone months without a single visitor from home, and the three -- no, you said it's four now? The four of you already know each other?" He sighs wryly. "Almost I'd be tempted to issue a complaint, if only I knew who to hand it to."

"Wei Wuxian did me a good turn once, when I was a newcomer," he's saying as they emerge from the well, "And I already consider Jin Guangyao a good -- fffffff --" He bites the curse into one of his sleeves, head spinning at the view that greets them. They'd begun their journey in a deep pit, but now they've emerged on the roof of Trench's clocktower. The city spreads out below and above them, two perfectly mirrored images. When Shen Yuan dares a glance up at the space directly above their heads, he even spots two tiny figures in white and green, the latter looking back down at him.

"Oh. Oh, I really hate this," he says in a very calm, very flat undertone, and slams his eyes shut once more.

[baiyueguang]

It sounds like Wei Wuxian; he's done so many good turns for others in his life, it's no wonder Lan Wangji fell head over heels for him.

He's about to remark along those lines when they emerge into the mirrored city looming vast above them. When he looks down, the well is gone. When he looks up, he sees themselves, miles away, standing atop the clocktower, both equally perplexed.

"It's certainly..." horrifying? Mesmerizing? Headache inducing? "...Unpleasant."

In the distance, there's a roaring crunch; the city below them making an effort to begin rolling itself up. The one above, however, seems to be perfectly stable.

"Hold on," he says, ascending with Shuoyue. Their mirror images drift closer to them, and soon they pass through each other.

Gravity takes hold, and they fall a few yards into an alleyway, back in the Trench they know and tolerate.

[xiaoxiuya]

"Oh god," Shen Yuan groans, his eyes still shut tight. He hasn't yet realized that at some point he grabbed Lan Xichen hard around the waist and buried his face between his shoulderblades like he was trying to hide behind them, but give him another minute or two and he'll figure it out. He's still trying to process this latest round of bullshit.

"I take it back," he groans under his breath. "Every time I bitched about that stupid vision quest, the nightmares, that time I turned into a fox spirit and embarrassed myself in front of Jin-ge...I take it all back. I'd rather turn into a hundred fox spirits and dance naked in the street than go through that again..."

[baiyueguang]

Lan Xichen gets to his feet, a little dazed from the whole adventure, and offers a hand up to Shen Yuan, with only the smallest furrow of his brow.

"...You turned into a fox spirit?"

Because he just saw a mirror image of the city spiral in on itself like a fruit roll-up and this is what he takes from the whole ordeal. His companion turned into a fox spirit.

[xiaoxiuya]

"I put on a cursed mask by mistake, it was this whole -- thing," Shen Yuan groans, accepting the help back onto his feet. He pushes his hair back and pats some color back into his cheeks, finally re-focusing on Lan Xichen again with a sick little grin. "It wore off on its own after three days, I'm fine now. Strange things just sort of happen in this city, it's nearly normal here. Although I'll admit," he adds with an exasperated little sigh, "I've never seen the city do what we just saw before."

[baiyueguang]

"A mask possessed by a fox spirit... that must have been quite the ordeal."

With Shen Yuan hale and whole, Lan Xichen directs his sword back into its sheath with only a gesture.

"Though strange things seems rather an understatement. Was that some kind of illusion...?"

Normally he'd be quick to catch on if that were the case. But this seemed... otherwise.

[xiaoxiuya]

"It was terrible," Shen Yuan says, and then completely fails to elaborate. Instead he shrugs and takes a few steps over to the mouth of the alleyway, just to make sure it opens onto a normal street.

"Who can say?" he finally addresses Lan Xichen's question. "It might have been an illusion, or it might have all been real. I think the only way to know for sure is if we'd stuck around long enough to get caught up in the collapsing city -- and I certainly don't want to know what that feels like." He tucks his hands into his sleeves. "Lan Xichen certainly showed up in Trench during an interesting month," he notes with wry amusement.

[baiyueguang]

He tucks an arm behind his straight back, and trails along behind Shen Yuan. The city seems normal enough at the moment, and he takes a few cautious steps out the alley.

When nothing happens, he gives a nod that it's relatively safe.

"From what I have seen, and what you have said, it seems there is rarely a time where something interesting is not happening."

[xiaoxiuya]

Now that's an understatement if I've ever heard one, Shen Yuan doesn't say. Instead he nods and says, "Trench certainly likes keeping us on our toes. The best advice I can think to give, after living here for nearly half a year, is to stay alert and make allies wherever you can find them. I've yet to see a problem that was solveable on its own; in fact Trench seems to prefer throwing us into trouble together."

He sighs, casting his gaze up at the (mercifully empty) sky. "It also seems to enjoy dragging out dark secrets and forcing us to share painful memories. My first month here I was plagued with injurious nightmares that leaked out into the waking world, and the only way to stop them was to share one of my worst fears with a near-stranger. I don't mention this for sympathy, of course, but only so Lan Xichen can prepare himself for such a possibility."

[baiyueguang]

Lan Xichen considers some of his worst memories and nightmares for a moment.

"It is any wonder people even leave their homes," he remarks, mortified that he might have to tell something so utterly personal to a complete stranger.

"I take it these," and he holds out his omni, "help in that regard?"

[xiaoxiuya]

"It's not all bad," Shen Yuan feels the need to say. "I've made some good friends here, people my life would surely be emptier without. The locals are reasonably friendly, and the city itself can be quite pleasant, when something horrible isn't happening."

It's just that horrible things keep happening. He grimaces and embraces the change in subject.

"Oh good, you got yours." He pulls his own omni out to compare it Lan Xichen's. "They're communication devices, yes, though they also give you access to a sort of interdimensional archive. You can use them to send images over a distance as well, still or moving."

He demonstrates the steps for opening the camera feature on his omni, and then -- does he dare? Does he dare to take a selfie with a master cultivator, a sect leader in his own right?

He absolutely does. Afterwards he shows Lan Xichen the picture of the two of them with a bright laugh, amused by his own silliness.

[baiyueguang]

Fascinating. He examines the picture of Shen Yuan grinning beside a bemused Lan Xichen. So perfect are the resemblances that it's like a mirror had simply captured a moment in time and never moved on.

"I suppose such a thing renders painting obsolete. Though..."

He looks up at Shen Yuan, still quite perplexed.

"What do you mean by 'interdimensional'? I'm not familiar with the term."

[xiaoxiuya]

"Not at all," Shen Yuan says airily. "I was born in a world that had used similar technology for decades, and people still created and studied paintings all the time. They simply served a different purpose, that's all."

Oh, but Lan Xichen is apparently from one of the less, uh, 'cosmic' xianxia settings, or hasn't come to grips yet with those aspects of reality. Shen Yuan's grin takes a turn for the chagrined. "Forgive me, I fear I've gotten ahead of myself. You must of course be familiar with the concept of the heavens and hell, how they lie without yet remain connected to the mortal world?" At Lan Xichen's nod, he continues, "Now picture all three realms as if they were written descriptions a single piece of paper, somewhere in the middle of an entire stack of papers on which are written descriptions of other mortal realms, other heavens and hells. The ones that are close together will be similar, sometimes differing in only a single character, but the ones that are far apart may be very different indeed. Each piece of paper may be considered a 'dimension;' it's a way of viewing reality in its entirety as though seen from the outside. Things that have to do with multiple dimensions -- such as a library containing books originating from multiple realities, or this city populated by people from very different worlds -- are considered 'interdimensional.' Does that makes sense?"

[baiyueguang]

Lan Xichen is intrigued. A world with similar technology, and yet he was clearly a cultivator.

Perhaps the cultivation world makes considerable progress in the future...? He's already quite fond of his omni. Having them back home would make a world of difference.

"I am familiar," he agrees, letting Shen Yuan continue. Listening closely to the explanation does paint a picture he can understand; if worlds were books, he's on an entire other shelf than the one he came from.

"So while this is another realm of existence such as the heavens and hells, it is, itself, not an afterlife, plucking people from various pages of their own stories."

It would explain the disparate timelines at any rate.

[xiaoxiuya]

"Yes, precisely!" Shen Yuan says cheerfully, relieved that his explanation did its job. It's only second time he's given it, after all. "We, and all the other Sleepers, have been moved from our own books to someplace new, as though someone carefully snipped our characters out of the page and pasted them onto a new one. For my part," he continues happily, seizing this opportunity to loredump with both hands, "this is the second time I've traveled between dimensions in this way. I was born in a world with advanced technology but no cultivation, and then traveled -- works of fiction in that world called it 'transmigration' -- into a world where among other things I learned how to cultivate. I lived in that world nearly four years before waking up on the Farthest Shores here. So if Lan Xichen has more questions, I stand a better chance of being able to answer them than many other people he might encounter."

[baiyueguang]

Lan Xichen stops in his tracks at this bit of news.

"This has happened to you before...?"

He thinks he should probably follow that up with maybe a question about ways back. That's probably something he should want, no? He has duties back home, to his Sect, to his family, to the elders...

(No he doesn't want to go back.)

"Of course I have questions. Was your last transmigration similar to this one? Or are they different every time?"

Does everyone turn into a squid when they go to another world? Is that just what squids are?

[xiaoxiuya]

"Mm-hm." Shen Yuan has been unconsciously angling his steps closer to Lan Xichen as they walk, both so they can talk more easily and so they don't get separated if the city suddenly decides to roll over in bed again. When Lan Xichen stops, Shen Yuan does too, though not so quickly that he's able to avoid bumping Lan Xichen's shoulder with his own.

"Oh, sorry," he says, giving his shoulder an embarrassed little pat. "My mistake. But yes, this is the third world I've lived in that I'm able to recall. The first time, I believe I might have actually died in my original world -- at any rate, I fell very ill, and woke up in a body and a house that wasn't my own. Waking up here was much more sudden but also significantly less unpleasant...I know it's not the same for everyone, but I sort of liked being a squid."

He thinks for a moment about how much he should share right away. "Some of the books in the library say that the Pthumerians bring us here to give us another chance, to make new choices divorced from the pressures and responsibilities of our old lives. That comes more easily to some than others; for my part I'd been trapped in a rather nasty situation in my second world, and it was a relief to suddenly find myself reborn here."

[baiyueguang]

Lan Xichen shakes his head, accompanied by an apology for stopping so abruptly. This was, after all, quite a lot to take in.

"Twice reborn with your memory intact," he muses as they resume their walk. The city seems reasonably quiet aside from the occasional passersby.

"It is a lovely sentiment, if what they say of the Pthumerians is true. But it seems a trade-off in regards to troubles."

He gives a soft, self-deprecating chuckle. He'll still take a city twisting impossibly on itself over the pain he left behind.

"What manner of trouble were you in back in your second world?"

[xiaoxiuya]

"Wei Wuxian also claims to have lived in another world prior to this one," Shen Yuan comments, blissfully unaware of the brewing interpersonal trouble in his newly extended friend-group, "But I've yet to meet anyone else who can say the same. But then again," he adds with a touch of scrupulous honesty, "I can hardly say I've spoken to every single Sleeper in Trench. Perhaps there are others who simply don't care to advertise the fact."

For all his complaining about the challenges and invasions of privacy Trench poses them, Shen Yuan also prefers this to the fate that awaited him in his second life. He hums his agreement, and takes a moment to think over his answer before saying, "The first world I transmigrated into bore a strong resemblance to a novel I'd read shortly before the end of my first life, and my new identity was that of one of the characters in the book. An entity similar to the Pthumerians was interested in making sure events in that world played out in accordance with the plot of the book, so..."

He sighs deeply, and tries to force himself to smile through the discomfort as he says, "I was forced to betray a young man I'd been mentoring, so he could take the first steps on the path to achieving his 'glorious destiny.' Not something I take any pride in remembering, I assure you."