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Deer Country Mod ([personal profile] reddosmod) wrote in [community profile] countryclub2023-01-25 12:08 am
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JANUARY TEST DRIVE MEME!

JANUARY 2023 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: Bloody Candles]
[Image Two: Anatomically Correct Chocolate Hearts in a Coffin]

Prompt Two
[Image One: Woman in restaurant, dressed in pink, surrounded by mannequins.]
[Image Two: Creepy looking mannequin staring]

Prompt Three
[Image One: Hands touching and holding at sunset]
[Image Two: Girl Screaming with her Mouth Fused Shut.]

A TYPICAL ARRIVAL WITH A SWEET TWIST
WHEN: Last Week of January through all February

WHERE: The Shores, Boardwalk and throughout Trench

CONTENT WARNINGS: Mild Body horror for arrival, additional warnings for Blood Bonds and the Chocolatier:
* Blood Bonds: Blood ceremony, bodily ceremony, telepathic/empathetic connections, possible forced/coerced relationships.
* Choclatier: Themes of temptation (non-sexual and/or sexual), addiction, blood sacrifice, severely warped personality/reality including temporary amnesia, inability to use body, paranoia, vomiting organs, homicidal feelings, mild body horror.



For those who are arriving, they are fortunate. The worst of the ice and chill of the Season of Bone is fading. Any ice flows are breaking up and it is safe for little squidlings to come to shore, wakers present to help them with cups of hot cocoa and heavy robes to ward off of the cold. Nothing, however, removes the almost bleak and dreary state of the world. All of the beach seems washed with a sort of white that remindes the mind of bleached bone. Transformation from squid to the sleeper's natural form is slower, because of the cold, but does not pose any real difficulty.

Warm Food is prepared in the form of stews, complemented by bread that tastes heavily of mushroom. Unlike prior years, no roses are given to the new sleepers, though there are roses found throughout the city of trench. All of them, however, are black as midnight and there is an ominous sense to them should a sleeper think to reach out and pluck the blooms. Should someone do so, they will feel an increased paranoia about their relationships for the next few days and the natives of Trench will give them a wide berth, refusing to sell them anything at the shops and shooing them away, though there is no outward sign of anything being amiss. Whispers in town hint that the Doorway is in a poor mood this year.

Nevertheless, the patron pthumerian of the month can be seen around Trench. Bonding Rituals remain very popular this month and many seek to curry her presence during their rites. She shows no outward sign of discomfort or disapproval, yet there seems to be more blood than usual on her ivory blade as she stands in silent vigil wherever a ritual is performed.

Anyone who yearns for a bit of sweetness that they might associate with the waning chill of winter will find themselves meeting a sudden and disturbing fellow (CW: Some Blood/Disturbing Content in some chocolates. Please check warnings in prompt). The chocolatier, who was seen in past years, still wanders about and appears to any who yearn for a happier time in the otherwise gloom of the month. His offer is simple. A little bit of blood, for a little bit of sweet. What is the harm in it? Why his sweets even have mystical properties to make life interesting!

FAQ:
* The Chocolatier option remains identical to what happened in 2023, and is available throughout the last week of January and into February. The chocolates offered have not changed this year.
* Blood Bonds are available all year round, and the method of getting one is easily learned from any local in Trench, or from a Sleeper. While they can be performed every year, they are more powerful if performed in this month (Player discretion) and the Doorway is more likely to be present to bless them personally.

WAIT FOR ME
WHEN: Anytime in February

WHERE: Anywhere in Trench

CONTENT WARNINGS: Body Horror, Loneliness, Depression elements, Being Trapped in One's Own Body, Psychological Horror



Sleepers have been working to put an end to the strange plague afflicting pthumerians. Still, while there has been success, something seems off this month nevertheless. Even if she is not ill, the Doorway appears to be in a foul mood and it is felt by many. There is a moody, brooding sense that permeates the whole of the city, as if something were supposed to happen that did not. It's the awful sense that one gets when they expect to meet up with someone for something important and, without warning, that person does not show and there's no explanation. That light gnawing at the pit of the stomach when worry or irritation sets in grows steadily worse. Is this about someone specific, or a general malaise? It's hard to tell what sets it off. For some, it comes waiting by the coast in the hopes a loved one arrives this month. For others, maybe someone was just busy and ended up late for lunch. It might not even have a visible cause.

Whatever happens, the dreadful reality settles in almost immediately. As they wait, the person begins to feel their body stiffen. It does not feel like the lockjoint disease, but rather a sudden and whole-body hardening of the person. Within seconds, they feel their body solidifying into a state almost like a mannequin. Unable to move, they can feel a dread cold leeching into their heart as they are forced to watch, to wait for whoever was supposed to be there. Why aren't they here? The longer that they are there, the colder that they feel, and if they are in a secluded place it could feel quite perilous. However, no monsters can seem to harm the person, their body nigh indestructible. The frigid state, however, denies them the ability to sleep or even blink, forced to watch the world as a prisoner in their own mind.

Palebloods are somewhat fortunate in this state. All palebloods trapped this way find themselves able to telepathically communicate with loved ones or people close, regardless of distance. Their voices, however, are always in a state like the wail of a ghost regardless of their mental state. For anyone else, they can manage to mentally connect through the network to plead for help using an omni on their person, though only in Text form until they are released. So, at least they are not trapped without escape, unless by chance they forgot their omni, but you wouldn't be so foolish as to leave home without your phone would you?

HOW TO CURE THE CONDITION:
Several options exist. Anyone with a "Blade of Mercy" (a gift given last February) could use it to sever whatever connection caused the person to feel like they are waiting, though that might very well sever the emotional connection entirely! The very person that they are waiting for could arrive, in which case a kiss (on the cheek, on the lips, gallantly on one knee to the back of the hand. Whatever works for you!) or an apology for tardiness should suffice to warm the heart. If there is no source, or if that person cannot arrive (or chooses not to), any friend or even new acquaintance can try to help the person not feel quite as alone in their waiting through some reasonable means. Any cure-all for corruption will also help with this condition.

The locales do not have any idea officially how to cure the condition, but they may suggest some of the above simply because it seems helpful at the time. At the worst, the condition does eventually fade with time.

FAQ:
* This can happen in a public location, or entirely remote, wherever you wish.
* The above "Cures" are not exhaustive. Any reasonable act that establishes or re-establishes empathy for the person trapped will cure them.
* Paleblood Telepathy is not limited by distance. However, non-palebloods must have their omni on their person in order to mentally link to it.
* This condition does not lead to death, but if allowed to persist is a reasonable source of higher corruption.
* If untreated, it will usually clear up in a couple days, or at most a week. If a player wishes to use this as a form of hiatus in February, they may, in which case it can last all month.

YOU TAKE MY BREATH AWAY
WHEN: The First Week of February

WHERE: Anywhere in Trench

CONTENT WARNINGS: Choking, Asphyxiation, Body Horror, Dependency, Possible Death



Self-reliance is a powerful tool in the city of Trench. You have to be able to take care of yourself, lest the dangerous elements on the fringe of the city overtake you and claim you in the night. Right?

The Doorway could not disagree more. To her, people depend upon each other. Corruption is only cleansed through the presence of others and conversation, connection. Cures and potions are, in her thought, unreliable. Even going to the Blood Ministers is more of a last-ditch effort when all else fails as she sees it. Sometimes? People need a little gentle reminder, a push to get them to rely upon each other more. Unfortunately, what a Pthumerian considers a gentle push to be tends not to be so gentle.

It happens at random, though it seems to happen most of all when it involves people who might not want to be close. You come into contact with a person, and just as you start to speak, you feel your throat throttle. It is like there is an invisible noose around your neck. No visible rope exists, but the air is cut off. You double over, gasping for air that will not come. Even if you don't or can't breathe you find yourself choking like a flopping goldfish out of water! As you reach out for help, you can see to your horror that the person you are trying to meet is choking too! What do you do? There is only one cure to this situation. You have to get to the other person quickly. There's still time. Maybe you can find some sort of solution if you get there. Deep down, you know you just need to be closer.

The moment that the two choking sleepers make contact, they will be able to breathe. The relief of oxygen entering the lungs comes instantly, though there is a problem. Any time you break contact, you begin to choke again. So long as you are able to stay in contact, you're safe but any attempt to break that contact is potentially life threatening. There is no solution other than to hold onto each other, hold hands, whatever it takes to maintain contact. For how long you ask? Oh, for at least an hour. But it's not like anyone's actually going to give you a timer on this. Will you just put up with it, or will you keep experimenting only to be choked repeatedly.

FAQ:
* Anyone can be affected by this, no matter physiology. It defies magical powers, biology and even blood powers.
* The effects last no more than 6 hours at the absolute max and most of the time it will end within 1 hour.
* Effects will cease when the two participants go to sleep (No accidental chokings). As a result, the effect will always start at least an hour before you might normally go to sleep.
* Yes, you can choke to death if you want.
* There is no knowledge of the effect amongst the locals and no warning about it, so there is no real warning on how to "cure" this other than the compulsion to get close to the other choking person and trial and error. Or Patience!
* No, the Doorway isn't sorry.

CODING
decentsort: (profile; eyes closed)

[personal profile] decentsort 2023-03-19 05:29 pm (UTC)(link)
"Just the way you like it," Kanan says.

He listens to the partial statements, the fragments, the awkward reference to his death. Ah. That. Something Kanan hadn't thought about, as regards himself, until he began teaching Ezra (it's awkward to teach someone, to be their 'master' when you never stopped being an apprentice yourself). He'd spent so much time not being a Jedi between the the rise of the Empire and taking on Ezra that this issue hadn't been a big concern. No continuing to train as a Jedi on his own.

"You had a few issues to work out, and I wanted you to be be able to live and operate on your own," Kanan says. That gets a small laugh. "We can definitely knock that one off the list. You've clearly been operating away from the Ghost for a long time.

"Once that was done, I wanted to find another holy site on Lothal, take you there, and knight you. Nothing fancy. Preferably without inquisitors on our asses like with mine."
ezra_of_lothal: (left side profile by malagraphic)

[personal profile] ezra_of_lothal 2023-03-19 05:42 pm (UTC)(link)
It's Ezra who pauses, this time, staring towards the tea house he'd been leading them to, a little ways down and across the street.

"You make it sound so simple," he says, eventually, in soft, pained, but relived wonder. So much of the insecurities, over thinking, tense conversations - the whole knot of it that he's worked himself into since Kanan died, cut clean through with his master's easy assurance.
decentsort: (mood; thoughtful)

[personal profile] decentsort 2023-03-19 06:45 pm (UTC)(link)
"Becoming a Jedi Knight doesn't mean the work is done," Kanan says, "Far from it. You have far more work cut out for you than before. It means you have the tools and maturity to do it."

He smiles. "It is simple, Ezra. It isn't easy. We were going through incredibly difficult times. That forced you to face many lessons faster than they would have pushed you at the temple or on diplomatic missions, before the war. Perhaps some of the Jedi Masters would have told me off for knighting you so young, but one, they weren't there, two, they didn't know you, three, they kinda fucked up big time in the end, and four, well, look at you, you've definitely gotten older."

Oh yes, Kanan definitely would've gotten in trouble talking like that to the Jedi Council. He got in trouble all the time in the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. That's just him.
ezra_of_lothal: (rubbing back of neck by malagraphic)

[personal profile] ezra_of_lothal 2023-03-19 07:19 pm (UTC)(link)
Ezra's brain does stutter a little, at Kanan calling out the masters who are (mostly) not here. He's a little curious what Kanan may believe the elders and leaders of the Order should have done. But it's a fairly useless debate, and he knows Master Yoda and Master Kenobi would agree with Kanan, if in not so many words.

"I know the learning and work is never over," he agrees, fimrly, instead, drawing then across the street. "That's part of why I've felt...a little silly, wishing for, well. Some sort of sign. Something. At some point."
decentsort: (mood; power pose)

[personal profile] decentsort 2023-03-19 07:36 pm (UTC)(link)
They're close to the tea house. Kanan can smell the tea and hear the conversations. He doesn't want to cause a scene that embarrasses Ezra (mostly), but he hears the little bit of that lost boy they found stealing their stolen crates that first day on Lothal in that longing, that uncertainty, that sense that perhaps he's wishing for something he shouldn't even wish for.

Kanan pulls his arm away to spread both arms wide in front of Ezra. It draws some attention but not too much, so far as he can sense. His voice stays quiet, for all it's boisterous and teasing.

"Here's your dead master walking out of the sea to find you frozen as a statue and bringing you back to yourself," Kanan says, "I don't know how much more of a sign you need. If this isn't it, you're never going to find it."
ezra_of_lothal: (ezra smiling by herasyndlla @tumblr)

[personal profile] ezra_of_lothal 2023-03-19 07:57 pm (UTC)(link)
Ezra has felt very much like that kid, on and off, lately, wondering at times if he's always been fooling himself. The more ties he has, to the way things once were, the more aware he has been that he does not, in many ways, fit the mold of a Knight of the Republic.

But then, he never would been that. Never could be. Shouldn't be.

(Obi-wan had tried so hard to get him to see, really see, as much.)

Ezra laughs, full and bright. "Ok. Yes." Another, softer huff. "Have tea with me, Master. And we can talk about suitable 'nothing fancy' for here, yeah? Any other last bits of advice you just have to get in there," he continues teasing, before adds, more thoughtfully, "While I think about making a call or two."
decentsort: (mood; hmmm)

[personal profile] decentsort 2023-03-19 11:02 pm (UTC)(link)
"We're definitely not on Lothal anymore," Kanan murmurs. That part of his plan is out.

As for advice. He smiles, soft and warm, "Always listen to Hera, even though she isn't here. Have a question? Think to yourself, What would Hera say?"

Kanan enters the tea house, navigating between tables to find one relatively private by feel in the Force, and sits. It's been... a long day. One day. Being alive is a lot, and being a wise Jedi Master doesn't come with a guidebook of wise sayings.
ezra_of_lothal: (Default)

[personal profile] ezra_of_lothal 2023-03-20 12:39 am (UTC)(link)
"You know," Ezra muses, as he slides into a seat. "I don't ask myself that often enough."

How much frustration could he have saved himself, with more of her sort of clarity? Recalling that her commitment had been tempered by the knowledge that sometimes that dedication means walking away from what's not working, or simply distance from the ones you love the most?

He clears his throat. "No Jedi temples here, no. But it is my home, now."
decentsort: (mood; power pose)

[personal profile] decentsort 2023-03-20 12:44 am (UTC)(link)
Kanan's still smiling slightly, thinking of Hera. There's a soft hurt too, to be separated, with all that they'd been through and all they could have gone through together. Kanan still doesn't know how the Rebellion goes. That's not the point of this visit. It's in other people's hands.

"You don't need a Jedi temple to be a Jedi, Ezra," Kanan says, "Only somewhere sacred, somewhere special, to you and to your home." Trench. This place. Kanan might be able to find places that fit if he tried, but Ezra's been here. Kanan trusts his judgment.

"Got anywhere for me?"
ezra_of_lothal: (you think by malagraphic)

[personal profile] ezra_of_lothal 2023-03-20 01:44 am (UTC)(link)
It only takes him the space of a breath or so when he really thinks about it.

"Yeah. We call it the Sanctuary. It used to be a monastary for the Moon Presence. Then abandoned. Some of us have turned it into a, um, community center. Soup kitchen. Infirmary. And there's a tree there, that keeps corruption at bay. I meditate there, pretty often."
chenqing_player: (Default)

[personal profile] chenqing_player 2023-03-20 02:00 am (UTC)(link)
Not familiar with that one but I'd be curious to hear more about it. Is your line of work popular there?

[Because even thought dealing with spirits was popular on his world...his style of it was not.]
cynomorpha: (pic#14865932)

[personal profile] cynomorpha 2023-03-20 02:25 am (UTC)(link)
[ A small scoff, a joke he hasn't shared. ]

I suppose so, for those who want to serve in the capital. They're less enthused about protecting the villages.

[ A slow exhale of smoke. ]

But if they wanted to be certified through the academy, they had to get through my classes. As it turns out, my standards are exacting. I was the most hated professor for several years running.

[ He smiles cheerfully. He has like a 75% drop out rate and he's very proud of it. ]
chenqing_player: (oh i see!)

[personal profile] chenqing_player 2023-03-20 02:43 am (UTC)(link)
Ahh..a teacher of the arts. They definitely didn't want me teaching people what I knew.

[Some learned anyway...]

It's interesting that it was at least supported enough to have you teach it. Even if the success rate was low. The harsher the teacher, the better the student will be.
survivalthroughhate: ([TCW 65] In thought)

[personal profile] survivalthroughhate 2023-03-20 03:16 am (UTC)(link)
Maul thought on the offer for the moment. He wasn't all that comfortable with turning his back on the Jedi, but if he was focused on his padawan, the chances of being attacked went down. Finally, he nodded, a stiff, jerky movement.

He swiftly got out of the facility before it could explode and take them all with it. Once they were a fair distance away, he stopped and looked back at the two Jedi. Once again, he felt the echoes of things that had not happened before rising up within him. He'd fought alongside this Jedi before (or later on? Time was a loose concept) and then...he'd turned on him. He remembered he'd tried to hurt him, kill him Maul thought distantly.

Why? Why had he done that? "I've fought you. Not now. But at some point in time."
cynomorpha: (pic#14865374)

[personal profile] cynomorpha 2023-03-21 01:17 am (UTC)(link)
We're... vital. Anywhere that people gather attracts the attention of the ghosts. Every village needs protection; trade caravans, military units. And the capital requires the most attention of all.

[ Too many want to train minimally only to remain ensconced in the capital where they can rely on others to do the hard work. ]

Poorly trained students get people killed.
chenqing_player: (Sincere)

[personal profile] chenqing_player 2023-03-21 01:47 am (UTC)(link)
We were vital as well. It was just...my style that people frowned upon. But anyone who practiced regular cultivation was always busy. Was your world more modern...like this one? This one has a lot of things I wasn't used to when I arrived. Like...water inside. that was an exciting change.

[The modern marvels of the world are incredibly and he has been very spoiled by it. If he does ever go home it is going to be hard to get used to not having some of these things.]
cynomorpha: (pic#14865721)

[personal profile] cynomorpha 2023-03-21 02:40 am (UTC)(link)
The capital had some of these things; new inventions.

[ A vague gesture around them, cigarette smoke trailing. ]

But nowhere else.

[ He was not enjoying such advancements on the battlefield camps. ]
chenqing_player: (Messing around)

[personal profile] chenqing_player 2023-03-22 04:09 am (UTC)(link)
Slightly ahead of mine then. [Or at least parts of the world would be. He seems to be so completely out of his time. He's been away from home so long though that there is very little that surprises him anymore.]

I can't promise I'd be a lot of help but if you ever have questions about this place I can try to give some answers. I've been here for quite awhile.
decentsort: (Default)

[personal profile] decentsort 2023-03-22 07:47 pm (UTC)(link)
The Sanctuary sounds a lot like what the team of the Ghost contributed to on Lothal as best they could, especially before the worst of things. Providing food and medical supplies. Perhaps more providing the supplies so people could do all that. Kanan likes it plenty. The 'we' that includes Ezra also makes it fit right, and the meditation.

"Sounds like a good place," Kanan says, "I'd like to see the tree after we have tea." He winks, so to speak, clearly making a pun on the word see.
decentsort: (action; talk w wolf)

[personal profile] decentsort 2023-03-22 07:55 pm (UTC)(link)
Caleb is glad to get out of buildings that explode and kill everyone inside. He gets his whole group, dark Force user and all outside. He's not entirely sure why he's even trying to save the guy at various points as they run outside. Doesn't this guy try to kill him? Why does everyone try to kill him?

Still, the man's alone, injured, and confused. What kind of Jedi would he be to purposefully leave the man alone to die? He wasn't even going to let the Grand Inquisitor die. He'd offered his hand. That man had chosen death.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure about that. Not that I remember it," Caleb says. "Not now. Have you considered—do you really need to fight me at all?"
cynomorpha: (pic#14865376)

[personal profile] cynomorpha 2023-03-23 12:11 am (UTC)(link)
[ He glances at the man from the corner of his eye, contemplative of this offer. Rather than say anything, he just circles his arms and bows his head.

And walks off. ]
survivalthroughhate: ([TCW 30] Glowing eyes)

[personal profile] survivalthroughhate 2023-03-25 10:03 am (UTC)(link)
"I've fought my whole life," Maul said simply. "One more or less is not so different for me."

From the very start, he'd had to be tough and fight for survival. If there was another way to get what he wanted, Maul had never learned it, not until he'd come to Trench. It was still something he was trying to unlearn. He stared without blinking at Caleb, still trying to piece together memories of his future.
decentsort: (Default)

[personal profile] decentsort 2023-03-25 08:04 pm (UTC)(link)
Not sure of much—most of his life is hidden from him—Caleb finds it relatable, strange and perhaps worrisome as that is. Why must life involve so much fighting? Surely something comes after the fighting.

He holds out one hand. "Lets make it one less."
ezra_of_lothal: (Ezra eyebrow raised by redacreuse)

[personal profile] ezra_of_lothal 2023-03-25 11:03 pm (UTC)(link)
"I...might be able to actually show you," Ezra offers. "I send and receive sense impressions from my animals friends regularly, so-"

Just a thought.

Another beat of hesitation. "Would you rather it be just us?"
decentsort: (mood; thoughtful)

[personal profile] decentsort 2023-03-26 01:19 am (UTC)(link)
"So I could get their visual impressions," Kanan finishes. He thinks it over. The last visual memory he has is of Hera's face. Does he want to add something to that? Is it disrespectful? Kanan coughs, almost laughing at the What would Hera say? thought, which would probably be a solid smack upside the head.

"Yeah, I'd like to see that," Kanan says, "It'd be nice to see that meaningful of a place to you." Even through the eyes of another. Humbling, for it to be through an animal's eyes instead of his own.

Kanan focuses on Ezra intently. "Did you invite Master Kenobi already?"

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