March TEST DRIVE!

[reddosmod]

MARCH 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: A Bowl of Miso Soup]
[Image Two: A Lonely Lighthouse at the edge of a pier.]

Prompt Two
[Image One: Two super-imposed people with time elapse city lights surrounding them.]
[Image Two: Two people with glowing energy flying between their mouths.]

Prompt Three
[Image One: Gif of "Run" written on a wall in blood as someone stumbles past.]
[Image Two: Zombie Dog from Resident Evil.]

[NAVIGATION]

TDM Questions • Reserves • Taken • Applications • Full Navigation

[Jump to Comments]

A Weirdly Banal Arrival

WHEN: End of March to mid-April
WHERE: The Farther Shores/The Boardwalk
CONTENT WARNINGS: Uh, you were a squid and now you're you!

---

April begins as a quiet month. It's actually bordering on a disturbingly quiet one. Even the Trenchies seem almost briefly on edge on the first of the month when there appears to be nothing going wrong at the time of the first sleeper's arrival. Squids swim to the shore with ease, the currents being helpful rather than harmful, and the transformation is surprisingly easy and painless. Outside of the outright strangeness of having been a squid only moments ago, you are not greeted with any difficulties upon arrival. The weather is just cool enough to appreciate a jacket or extra layer at night, and there are no storms other than occasional spattering of rain in the early mornings, when nobody is up. You arrive to a city that seems to be as at peace as is possible when it is steeped so deeply in blood rituals and strange monsters.

You are greeted by the greeters, who have bags that contain your possessions and clothes for you. All of them look towards the lighthouse with nervous gazes, remembering past years' problems this time of the year, but nothing seems to come of it. After the first day, the Trenchies feel comfortable enough and begin setting up booths where new residents of the city can ask questions. There are booths set up each by one of the local representatives of the Arcane Scholars and the Disciples, who seem to be trying to convince every sleeper to come to them for their answers, enticing them with a broth not unlike miso soup to help fill up. You'd better get used to eating mushrooms, they will both tell you. The broth is warming, hearty and gives a feeling of peace to even the most disturbed of souls. Otherwise, it does little else.

Of course, the Trenchies have a little ulterior motive in trying to entice people. They're quite busy participating in a little playful rivalry, trying to convince people to favor their ideals over others. Both booths will ask the same question. “Do you believe it is better to have someone strong to work beside, or to know enough to walk on your own?” The odd question hints to the perspectives of both groups, but either way they're keeping “score” in order to give each other a hard time if more answer one way or another. Should you answer Work Beside, you might be given a voucher, entitling you to an extra batch of incense from the Disciples. Should you answer Walk On Your Own, you will be given a voucher for a free book by the Arcane Scholars (or a free visit to allies sin the Luminarium, if you're not the reading type.). If you feel like you got embroiled in something bigger, not to worry! You didn't. They're just clearly being a little bit petty, and everyone else seems to think they're being a bit silly. Either way, welcome to Trench.

F.A.Q.

1. Anyone who wishes may answer the question, new or old, but you can only get ONE voucher, so “choose wisely?”
2. Further inquiry will show that there really is nothing going on here other than some librarians and pthumerian priests being petty with each other.

Getting to Know Each Other

WHEN: All of April
WHERE: Around Trench
CONTENT WARNINGS: Out of Body Experience, Body Disassociation, Body Swapping

---

Argonaut likes to think of itself as a helpful soul. With newly minted sleepers arriving every day, it hopes to help them get to know their situation better and better, and what better way can there possibly be than to walk for a day in each other's shoes? Surely they'll thank the helpful little explorer for this new adventure on which they have embarked, without being asked if they actually wanted or needed it? Whatever, this will be fun and after the last few months, Argonaut thinks people could also use a little bit of fun to go with hope for a new tomorrow!

It happens seemingly without warning. As you are walking along, a small and fluttering moth of gold happens to flutter right into your field of vision. This only happens when you happen to be facing someone else, and there is no warning whatsoever. As soon as it enters both of your fields of vision, golden light erupts disturbingly from your mouth and theirs, rushing towards the other person's mouth, while you feel deeply cold inside. A second later, and you are staring at yourself from within this new body! Any magical or psychic powers that you had which are not of Trench origin (such as blood based powers) have traveled with you, but all blood-based powers and physical powers (such as super strength) remain in your own body. No power, however great, seems to be able to undo this change and you appear to be stuck like this!

The transformation lasts for exactly 24 hours. Regardless of how separated you might be at the time, a month will again appear to you after the end of that period, turning you back into your normal self. Feel free to attack the moths if you'd like. It isn't as if Argonaut or their followers don't die often enough after all. However, this is only possible after they have surprised you with the transformation, should you find your body swapped with another. Well, at least it's temporary, so this isn't so bad right? You just have to endure being someone else for a day. Of course, the bad news is that argonaut dies a lot, which means that their memory is not exactly perfect. So, it is entirely possible that if you happen to be in sight of another person, you might get bodyswapped with an entirely different person!

Don't worry. They'll get this right. Eventually.

F.A.Q.

1. This prompt is easily avoided by simply not encountering a golden moth this month.
2. Argonaut's moth agents cannot be noticed before they surprise someone and cause the transposition of souls, but they can be attacked and killed easily afterwards if desired. If encountered in this fashion, their ability cannot be resisted.
3. Body Swaps last for 24 hours at a time, not a minute more or less, and cannot be undone by any other means. However, body swaps can continue into the wrong body, day after day, for as long as you the players wish to do this. By the last day of April, Argonaut themselves will step in to “Fix this” and everyone still body swapped will return to normal on the morning of the last day of the month.
4. Blood Powers are body-locked and do not transfer. Powers that are Mental or Skill-based may transfer if you wish (or not if you do not wish them to transfer). Powers that are inherently physical such as an armored hide or supernatural speed do not transfer.
5. No memories are conferred by transferring bodies, only a new body to walk around in for a day. Good luck!

Run

WHEN: The First Week of April
WHERE: Trench
CONTENT WARNINGS: Monster Horror, Running for One's Life, Possible Character Death

---

Everyone needs a little exercise, right? Something goes wrong in the rest of Trench, or perhaps someone thinks that it would be a good time for everyone to get out and get some exercise. Either way, the result is that the moaning lantern network seems, for the first week of the month, to not be working properly. The only lantern that appears to be connected to any of the lanterns in town is the one that attaches to the distant Outpost that was established months ago by sleepers, away from Pthumerian influences for the time being. That tiny enclave's lantern appears to still be lit and working, allowing teleportation outside of the city of Trench, but no other appears to be working correctly. You might get lucky after multiple attempts at different lanterns, but it feels really hard to get any sort of connection. It appears that everyone will just have to explore the city of Trench the old fashioned way, by foot.

Well, that's irritating, you might think, but it's far from the worst thing in the world. Perhaps you do need some exercise. First there was the wooden root barriers and now this. Well, at least your legs still work, so you might as well get to walking. All seems well and good when you're traveling inside of the districts, but it's when you get outside of town that things get a little dicey. See, while the hunters quickly mount defenses at the edge of each district to ensure its security (almost as if this sort of thing might have happened before), they can't also keep the paths between districts nearly as safe, and the monsters that sometimes lurk outside of town seem to know it. (This has definitely happened before.)

As soon as one district is out of sight on the road leading to the next, you can hear it. Howls. When you turn back, you see zombie dogs and feral, burning hell hounds in the distance. They snarl. They snap. They bark. Above all, they are coming for you, so you had better either be ready for a fight, or get to really testing those legs of yours! The good news is that the hell hounds, zombie dogs and monstrous wolves are definitely defeatable. The bad news is that there's several of them, so it really is a question of whether you have the skill to beat them back until they stop coming, or you're willing to run. Your odds are better if you do run. They're fast, but they're not as fast as normal, living hounds it seems, which gives someone with a running start a fighting chance. You'd just better treat this as a wind sprint to get to the safety of a friend or the hunters. You wouldn't want them to catch up would you?

F.A.Q.

1. Lantern network lanterns are very inconsistent during the first week of the month, unless to reach the far distant Outpost. Returning is possible from the Outpost, but for some reason only to the lantern that was used to reach it by that person. Teleportation powers also seem to be limited to a distance of about a football field and line of sight.
2. This event can be avoided in the Outpost, by traveling in large groups or by remaining inside of single districts. Teleportation lanterns can work, but only very sporadically during this period.
3. Beating monstrous hounds is possible, but requires skill, strength or powers and probably numbers, as they will attack in packs, enough to be legitimately threatening. Death is possible from this event.

CODING

Comments

Bluestar | Warrior Cats | Paleblood

[dousedflame]

[[ note: Bluestar has never spoken to a human before, so she calls them Twolegs. She is prone to coming up with her own words for concepts that are too far outside of her wheelhouse. ]]

i. Arrival

Water. She hates water - why does it always have to come back to water?

The distress is almost enough to temper the fresh new terror, when she's lifted off the beach in the arms of a Twoleg! And that, on its own, is enough to encourage her back into her cat form. Bluestar is still half-slimy and half-furred with wobbly excuses for legs, when she bolts out of her Waker's arms and stumbles back toward the foam.

But she can't go back in the water, can she? No, she needs to find somewhere to hide... as soon as her legs feel well enough she takes off, but the best spot she can find is behind someone's backpack. Whoever lifts it will get the surprise of a very angry, very puffed-up russian blue hissing and swatting at their hand with fully extended claws.

ii. Arrival, part 2

It takes a while for Bluestar to calm down, after waking up. There's a lot to get used to. The Twolegplace, the squids, the complete lack of cats... curling up in front of a 'bowl' of 'soup' feels like the least confusing part thus far, but she still struggles with the concept of it. Food that's basically a liquid, meant to be drunk while warm... she wrinkles her nose at the smell, but the taste is warm and salty like prey. She supposes she can't complain.

She hasn't tried looking in her bag yet - it's about the size of a coinpurse, slung around her neck. The robes would be too confusing and uncomfortable, anyway. Instead, she steels herself before addressing one of the Twolegs sheltering near her.

"Are you new, as well?"

Her accent is English, if they're familiar. Calm, carefully measured, even while she's far out of her depth.

iii. Dogs!

She's still getting used to the Twolegplace - it's hard, even knowing full well that she's better off here than in the forest. So far she hasn't spoken to a single cat, let alone smelled anyone familiar, and every hair on her body tingles with dread whenever she has to speak to a Twoleg. So she's been spending most of her time alone - exploring, trying to gain some familiarity or at least map out her basic needs. Fresh water, prey, a warm-enough spot to sleep.

That's all she's focused on, when she hears howling. Howling, nearby - she doesn't need to know they're monstrous, dogs by themselves are too much danger for a lone cat, and she hears at least three distinct voices. Her ears pin back, and she glances around for- someone. Anyone. A Twoleg will have to do, they know their territories better than she could ever fathom. So she'll be running up to the nearest one she finds, and trying her best to cut off their path without getting kicked.

"Dogs! I need you to control them, or- find a den! You can do that, can't you?"

A

[moonsounds]

It's almost novel that there are still experiences that baffle her now. She supposes she should take it as a good thing--she hasn't completely lost her mind, so things are still alarming. It's a good sign, right?

She tries to tell herself and tries to ignore the fact that she woke up here naked and with a distinct impression of being a squid moments ago. That would be crazy. Instead she's hasty to grab her bag with her things, recoiling in shock when there's a cat on the other side of it.

"Oh--" She freezes a moment, not sure what to do, her eyes wide in surprise before she slowly lowers herself to sit on her knees.

"There, there, it's okay...I didn't mean to scare you, I'm sorry." Not that she expects the cat to understand her or speak back of course. She holds her hand out a little, not too close she hopes. "I guess we're both a little out of our depth, huh..." The island used to have animals on it--she remembers that much. She has flashes of memories, of birds and rabbits and there must have been cats, at one point, but nothing sticks long. Ah, well.

[dousedflame]

This is the first Twoleg to speak to her, and the thing that shocks her the most is that- it's speaking cat. Bluestar lets out another hiss, but despite herself her fur is slowly lowering. It's hard to keep up blind panic when the thing reaching out to you can be spoken to and understood.

Slowly, very slowly, Bluestar leans forward to sniff the hand. Her eyes never leave the Twoleg's face, never stop being wide enough to see the ring of white around them.

"You could say that." Her voice is, shockingly, still calm. There's a definite edge to it, but she's doing her best to keep a diplomatic tone. "How are you speaking?"

[moonsounds]

Oh.

Perhaps she is still a little insane. Because that cat is definitely talking and speaking to her clearly, right? She doesn't move though, too surprised to pull away. "I could ask you the same thing," is what she finally settles on, shaking her head. "I've never talked to a cat before. At least, I don't think so."

She's like, 80% sure she never used to do that. It doesn't feel familiar. "Do you... have a name I could call you? Mine is Ruka."

II

[survivalthroughhate]

Maul didn't do more than blink once when he was addressed by what otherwise looked like just an ordinary cat. Most humans from standard versions of Earth might have been a little surprised but Maul came from a galaxy far, far away and so was far more used to a great number of non-humanoid sapient species being around, even those that had nothing approaching hands with dexterity, a usual requirement to maneuver most situations no matter what planet called home.

"No, I have been here for going on a year and a half," he said in a soft, smooth voice, treating Bluestar as an equal rather than a curiosity. "I come down here when the new Sleepers arrive to see if anyone from my own galaxy shows up." He still hoped perhaps one day his mother might make it to Trench. Stranger things had happened.

[dousedflame]

The way he speaks to her catches her by surprise - as though he's spoken to cats before. As though their cooperation is normal. Bluestar has to mull it over for a bit... she supposes she isn't very familiar with Twolegs, and he seems to be a very different color from the ones at the edge of her territory back home. Perhaps his kin are simply more responsible.

"Sleepers. How apt, this all still feels like a dream."

She ruffles her fur up against the cold.

"Tell me, have you seen any cats wash up before me?" It feels too hopeful to offer names, but any cat would be welcome company.

[survivalthroughhate]

"It certainly does. But I assure you it is quite real." The amount of pain and pleasure both he'd experienced during his time here showed that clearly enough.

"I have seen no Sleepers like you wash up before. But that doesn't mean more won't come now that you have shown up. Sometimes, one draws others from the same world here. That was what happened with me." Maul had been the first but certainly not the last from his own galaxy. Sometimes he wondered if bringing him to Deerington had been some sort of catalyst or focal point that the rest ended up being gravitated towards when they were selected.

i

[halflighting]

Paige noticed the cat, of course. She saw the poor thing scramble out of a well-meaning person's arms and run off. She decided to follow and make sure it was okay. It could be an ordinary cat, or it could be a familiar here to guide a young witch. Paige cautiously lifted the backpack.

"Hey, there," she greeted in a soothing voice. "You're okay now." If this was indeed a familiar, it would be able to sense the magic in Paige. If not, hopefully she came across as a kind and gentle person.

[dousedflame]

Bluestar is, for all intents and purposes, a regular cat. And the only thing she gathers from Paige is that she's a Twoleg, albeit much calmer than Bluestar is used to. She is, at least, starting to gather that the Twolegs are trying to help her. But they're also much, much larger than her.

"No, I'm not okay!" The indignant yowl comes out before she can think. She tries her best to rein herself in, but the distrust in her eyes is palpable. "Who are you, what do you want? Why aren't there any other cats here?"

[halflighting]

The voice startles her a little. Paige would assume this was someone enchanted to look like a cat, but the behavior is way too cat-like. So a talking cat, then.

"My name is Paige. I saw you and wanted to make sure you were okay." As for the other question, she wasn't sure of the answer. "There could be other cats," Paige muses. "Inside with their owners or out by the docks hoping for a hand-out. There might be an animal shelter around here too," she adds. "I don't know, I just arrived."

( iii )

[cryptograms]

This cat is talking to him.

Ford draws up short, blinking down at the creature and temporarily forgetting all about the fact that they're definitely both going to get ripped to pieces by hellhounds in a few moments. It's been a while since he's seen a cat with a degree of intelligence that would allow for human speech, and she's definitely not one of the Authority somehow come back from Deerington.

But, right. The dogs. A concern for both of them, and especially a concern for a cat. He kneels down, digging into one of his coat's inner pockets with one hand.

"I don't know about a den, but I can get us both to safety."

And he withdraws a rounded, vaguely gun-shaped object from his pocket. He offers his free arm out to Bluestar, hoping she'll take the cue to let him pick her up.

"You don't get motion sick, do you?"

[dousedflame]

She recoils instinctively from his hand, but- what other option does she have? Get grabbed by the Twoleg, or take her chances with wild dogs that even he seems afraid of.

It takes her a moment to gather her courage, but she moves forward, letting herself be picked up and crawling up onto his shoulders. Which involves digging very long, very sharp claws into his clothing.

"I don't know what that means."

[cryptograms]

Ford's starting to get impatient when Bluestar finally accepts his invitation, but once she does he brightens up again. Fortunately, Ford is not only wearing a coat, but a thick turtleneck sweater underneath it. He can definitely feels Bluestar's claws pricking against his skin, but it's no so bad. Once he's certain she's secure, he takes off running. As for motion sickness, he debates a way of quickly explaining it in ways a cat might understand.

"In a few moments we're going to abruptly cross a great deal of distance in a very short span of time, and it can be a bit disorienting. So hold on."

And with that, Ford takes off running. He moves at about the pace one would expect from an adult human, and so his warning might not make much sense at first. Running away isn't his only goal, however. They might be far from safety, but they're not that far from Trench, which means signs of civilization and Hunter activity still dot the landscape. In particular, there's an ancient iron watchtower just a few minutes run from where they are now. It's not especially tall, maybe 20 feet at best, and both too far away and too difficult to climb to suit their purposes normally.

Fortunately, 'Ford' and 'normal' don't often go in a sentence together, and as he draws closer he lifts that gun of his again and aims it at the tower.

"Here we go!"

He reaches up with his free (six-fingered, Bluestar might notice) hand to steady Bluestar and pulls the trigger, and suddenly the two of them are zipping through the air and towards the tower, the magnetic forces in the 'gun' pulling them along like a grappling hook. A few moments later they unceremoniously slam into the side of the tower, and with a big of scrambling Ford manages to find purchase on the rusted metal - and he doesn't even cut himself in the process! Hopefully, his passenger isn't too rattled by the trip.

A

[faithfulson]

Luke is always there to help the Wakers every month, doing what he can to calm others that suddenly found themselves squidified and then in their normal forms, or some mix of the two. The sound of someone struggling caught his attention, and he caught the sight of something furry bolting from a Waker. He made sure the person he was currently helping was alright, before following after the furry streak, sensing out where it could have gone.

"Hello..." he asked softly, following the sense of someone scared nearby. "It's all right; I promise I won't hurt you."

[dousedflame]

Bluestar was really hoping that Twolegs were easier to hide from than this - but it seems that running away has only made them more insistent on tending to her. If nothing else... having a few minutes to hide has given her a chance to get used to hearing them speak. Intelligibly, even.

She's staying put under someone's backpack, but she won't run off if he moves it. She can tell he has good intentions, if nothing else... and a comforting tone. Her guard is still up, but she can be reasoned with.

"Why should I trust you? You're not a cat, you don't smell like cats."

[faithfulson]

Luke let out a surprised noise at the fact the cat was talking. He probably shouldn't have been given the nature of this place, but it was always a bit startling when an animal did something he didn't expect.

Instead of violating her space by moving the backpack, he sat down a comfortable distance from it, folding his legs over each other. After all, like Maul told him before, people don't lay claim to cats. Cats choose who they want to interact with.

"No, I'm not a cat," he replied, chuckling softly. "But I have no reason to harm you. I'm here to help those that arrive here; I know how disorienting it can be."

iii

[forcechanic]

She's not the sibling who's good with animals. That's the one who isn't even here. But she also knows that it wouldn't matter with these dogs.

She lights a violet lightsaber, but says "Our best chance is to run. Follow me."

She's not entirely sure where safety is, but she suspects she knows better than the newcomer.

[dousedflame]

Bluestar is happy to follow, but she's quickly starting to realize that Twolegs are very slow. Instead of running, she ends up powerwalking behind them while every fiber of her being begs to just sprint off in a random direction.

She notices the tool in this Twoleg's hand, too, but can't fathom what it is - only that anything Twolegs hold tends to be exceedingly useful.

"What is that you're holding?"

[forcechanic]

"A lightsaber. It's a weapon that can hurt the dogs, but there's one of me and an awful lot of them." She's not really stopping to count and they show up strangely in the Force. That's the trouble with the walking dead. Not much life energy.

She's still going to do what she can to protect the stranger though.

iii.

[itknowsyou]

The most unsettling thing is that he knows, from the moment the cat comes dashing out onto the cobblestone road, that she's afraid. Not in the sense of mundane animal terror, not the gut-deep untranslateable flash of instinct— she's afraid in the way humans feel fear. When she speaks, there's a part of him that isn't surprised at all: only fascinated, a predator on alert.

The rest of him then catches up to the fact that a cat has just run up and yelled at him. For a terrible moment, Jon is convinced that this is some new power he's only now discovering. This is just his life now.

"You— oh, uh..." As humans go, he's a reasonably short and scrawny one, his face and hands dotted with scars. He seems utterly taken aback. "You're running from— dogs?"

This sounds horribly silly when he says it aloud. But if he's much slower on the uptake, the hounds will round the corner.

[dousedflame]

Out of everything, the scars stick out to her the most - she's not used to seeing them on Twolegs. She herself has a long scar reaching across her shoulders, and a torn ear. Warrior life is taxing, even for the most careful of cats.

"Yes." She meows impatiently, "Dogs, very close behind me. Can you call them off?"

As far as she knows, any Twoleg can do that. Dogs seem to listen to them.

[itknowsyou]

"Not likely," he mutters, mostly to himself. Knowing his luck. "Let's just, um..."

But he's saved from having to figure out what the right course of action is, when confronted with a talking cat, because the hounds finally tear around the corner and into view. They are not in any way normal dogs. They make him suck in a sharp, sudden breath and tense like a rabbit.

The Archivist has never been athletic in any sense of the word, and he is keenly aware of that right now, as he takes a stumbling step back away from the things in the street.

"Run!"

He reaches down unthinkingly to scoop up the cat, and falters like an idiot when he remembers she can talk. Whether she leaps into his arms or tears off down the road ahead of him, there aren't many paths available: a short stretch of cobblestone, and then he can test the first door they come to.

Re: Bluestar | Warrior Cats | Paleblood

[thevengefuldoll]

The demon stops to survey the situation. A talking cat? He thinks with curiosity. Yet, the old man has no time to dwell on such matters. He turns his attention onto the beasts. With a free hand, he pulls out mahjong counters- sharp enough to pierce flesh. He throws several into the nearest hound. The counters stick up out of the creature's muzzle like porcupine quills. Yet, the zombie dog continues its pursuit.

"Well, that solved nothing," he says. The demon approaches the cat with a sheepish smile. "I guess it's time to bolt, huh?"

[dousedflame]

Every moment she spends around Twolegs is more confusing than the last. She's just learned they can shoot quills like a porcupine, among all the other strange tools they use.

And worst of all, the dogs barely flinch. These are far, far more dangerous than the pet dogs that strolled through her territory.

"You can't control them?" Frustration leaks into her tone, but she can't just run off and abandon the Twoleg now. Instead she hares her way over in front of him, stepping anxiously in place while she waits for him. "Okay, let's go - if we find a Twoleg den we can close the door on them, right?"

[thevengefuldoll]

Two legs? The demon smiles. He nods to the talking feline.

"Indeed," he replies. The demon proceeds to lead the way. "I have an idea of where to go."

Spit and grime fall from the zombie hounds as the rush forward. The demon keeps an eye on the cat. At least she's quick. He thinks. Around the bend, a Shabby Structure appears ahead. Once inside, the demon closes the door. He closes the extra wooden latch. From outside, a series of howling ensue.

"Well, at least...we can catch our breath." The demon sighs. He slouches to the barren floor. "You may call me, Chin Yisou. Who might you be?"