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Deer Country Mod ([personal profile] reddosmod) wrote in [community profile] countryclub2021-09-24 08:03 pm
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September 2021 TEST DRIVE MEME

SEPTEMBER 2021 TEST DRIVE MEME
OUR GAME IS OFFICIALLY OPEN TO THE PUBLIC ON OCTOBER 1st.
Reserves open on September 26th. Applications open on October 1st.


Welcome to another Deer Country 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: Skeletons running across the beach and crashing into each other.]
[Image Two: Apples being dipped into caramel and put on a sheet.]

Prompt Two
[Image One: A sketchy film reel of a well.]
[Image Two: An undead girl crawling up the side of a well with contorted movements.]

Prompt Three
[Image One: A massive whale bursting out of water to eat something.]
[Image Two: The inside of a whale's mouth filled with water and the back of its throat.]

STANDARD ARRIVAL
WHEN: End of September to mid October
WHERE: The Farther Shores/The Boardwalk
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

The Boardwalk is quite the spectacle this time of year. 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. One or two booths are set up offering Face Painting, Natives explaining to new Sleepers that face paint was integral to the survival of Trench sometimes - especially during the month of October. "We do it to disguise ourselves from roaming spirits and hungry beasts."

You hear rumors of something known as The Black Parade coming soon and there seems to be a festive buzz about the event. The weather has gotten a little too chilly to enjoy the beach in bathing suits, but there are other ways to take a bit of a break before committing your life to the terrors of Trench! In the evening, natives will go out to the beaches and set up cozy bonfires in clusters. They will throw in batches of incense to keep the beaches safe and fill the air with the warm, comforting scent of cinammon. Smores are generously enjoyed around these fires. Stick around and you will hear some natives telling stories about Legendary Ghosts. They might ask you if you know any stories like that too.

But of course, they give a caution about ghost stories: "Careful. You'll never know when you'll start living a ghost story yourself..."
WELLNESS
WHEN: Always - this monster permanently exists in Trench
WHERE: Near the Wayward Station in a Well
CONTENT WARNINGS: Bodily contortion, nail trauma, being trapped, possible drowning, "child" appearing monster.


You are pulled beneath Trench and into the currents that circulate throughout the city. You are jostled through the complex sewage system or waterways and get tossed between the stone tunnels until finally you're spilling down into a deep, deep well. You hit the still water at the bottom, easily a hundred feet down, and everything is finally quiet. The water here is quiet and still: nothing like the hurdling ocean water and channels you were pulled through. Up above you can see a perfect circle of light: the opening to the Well.

Another soul is plopped out next to you. Perhaps a familiar face or someone you've never met before. It's good to know you're not alone. Still - how to get out? There's some low pressure in the Well weighing down on you, but more than that, the pressure seems to dull abilities almost completely. You can't just fly out or zoom up the walls as you might normally be able to. The walls are made out of wet cobblestone and they are slick and difficult to get a grip on. You're sooner to destroy your nails than make it even halfway up. And it's a long way up.

Maybe there's something around you that might help? Being thrown into the Well at least comes with the benefit that your Welcoming Bag is floating in the water with you. Maybe there's something useful inside or you can use your new Omni to send a distress call. Or use your Omen to try and help someone find out where in this godforsaken place you are.

Your Welcoming Bag isn't the only thing floating around in the water with you. A human skull bumps into you before sinking down under the water. Something slides through the water beneath your feet, wisps of hair glancing over your ankles.

Suddenly the heavy sound of stone sliding against stone comes from above. Someone is sealing up the Well. Your light is running out and just as the last sliver of light casts across the water, you see a humanoid-looking creature peering at you from the other side of the Well. Then everything goes dark.

Torn fingernails rip across your arm and you're yanked underwater. The moment your blood surfaces, even just a drop of it, you're revitalized with your power (if you have any). For those who are warmblooded and common, you will find that you can suddenly at least see in the dark almost perfectly. You can also see a distinct pattern along the stone wall that could be more easily climbed than anywhere else. Now the challenge is to just try and get there.

The girl in the Well with you is violent and ferocious. She will try to drown you or break your body as quickly as she can and will use the dark and the water against you. She cannot be killed, but she can be temporarily stunned and thrown back. Once you begin climbing, she's quicker out of the water, crawling up the wall after you in spastic, contorting motions. The only true way to stop her is to get out of the Well and seal it back up. You realize that whoever had originally closed the Well wasn't doing it because of you...They were doing it because of her.

If you fail to seal the Well afterwards, the girl in the Well will haunt you. She will endlessly stalk people and drag them down into the waterways of Trench. She travels primarily through water and must be confined to the Well or else. The Well is located in the Trenchwoods close by the Wayward Station.
SWALLOWED
WHEN: Can happen any time someone goes too far out into the Pthumerian Ocean
WHERE: Middle of the Pthumerian Ocean
CONTENT WARNINGS: Being swallowed alive, travel inside a beast, possibility of killing a beast, organ-centric horror.


Like many Sleepers, you might get swept further out into the ocean before you're swept towards the Farther Shores. It's not the ideal scenario and immediately puts you in a vulnerable position. When you break the surface this time, you're in the middle of an unusually calm ocean. Where are the waves? Where is the commotion of the ocean? Although you're completely alone, you don't feel alone.

Pressure is building up beneath you. Something is coming towards you. You can feel the water beginning to churn about and you need to start swimming. Now. Still too disoriented from reincarnation, you probably don't have enough sense of self to use any sort of powers to get out of the situation. There's a tremendous roar, and suddenly, the world is going dark all around you, walls of red coming up on every side. Massive white stones jut out at you and it takes you a moment before you realize what's even happening.

A monster is about to swallow you whole. It's significantly bigger than you to the point where you've washed down its throat without a single injury. You don't even know what swallowed you, but you're sliding down the throat and through its body within seconds. You somehow get tossed to a strange part of its body and land on a fleshy surface and discover you're not the only thing this creature has eaten. Other Sleeper(s) are nearby, and maybe even some pets, all more shocked than hurt.

Looks like you've been had. But it's far from the worst. Everyone's okay and there doesn't actually seem to be anything inside of the monster that's interested in hurting you. Avoid the stomach acid and figure out the insides and you might actually just make your way out of the creature without incident. Most of the monsters who swallow Sleepers don't seem to even realize what they did, and you can usually find your way out the way you came in. Along the way, you might discover some other interesting things inside of the body such as swallowed ships with interesting resources, some of your items from home or other people's homes...And of course, you'll probably find a lot of skeletons of creatures swallowed long before you. Not everything can figure their way out of a massive creature.

You can always hack your way out of the creature but that's gory and tough work. These are behemoth beings and even cutting your way out won't necessarily mean you killed it - but it probably does mean you're going to really piss it off. Then again, it's so big, will it really even bother to fight back?

The situation can be admittedly disgusting. There's nothing fun about swimming up a creature's bloodstream or having to navigate its intestines. Some creatures are bigger than others, making the journey far more complicated. Others are smaller, easier to escape. If you upset someone's stomach, you might even just get puked up and that might be one of the simplest ways to get out of dodge.

The monsters can look like anything and be nearly any size. The Pthumerian Ocean is massive and contains massive beasts and lesser Pthumerians. Once your character has gotten out of the beast, they will find that they are much closer to the Farther Shores. They might even wind up beaching the creature they're in if they're really lucky! Navigating the creatures isn't too unlike navigating a complex cave. The only difference is the walls around you are some sort of organ.
CODING
survivalthroughhate: ([TPM 13] Hooded centered)

[personal profile] survivalthroughhate 2021-09-26 10:21 pm (UTC)(link)
[No until they run out of ideas for the sequel that is.]

Your father. He's Anakin Skywalker, yes?

[Maul stares hard at Luke. Maybe it's just because all humans tend to look alike to him but still...]

You look just like him.
faithfulson: (The cute farmboy peek)

[personal profile] faithfulson 2021-09-28 02:02 am (UTC)(link)
[ Luke froze at that, his mouth working in surprise. He didn't know what to say to that; part of him wanted to make the sarcastic comment, to mock offense and say something about not being stuck in a helmet. Having something physical that connected him to the man he had idolized, then feared, then respected and wanted to save made him feel... something he couldn't describe, and he ended up glancing away, blushing faintly. ]

Thank you.
survivalthroughhate: ([TCW 7] As you know...)

[personal profile] survivalthroughhate 2021-09-28 04:54 am (UTC)(link)
I hope his charming good looks are the only thing you've inherited from him.

[The Force only knows Maul can't deal with two Skywalkers if they both act the way Anakin has. Then again, the first time Maul met Anakin he'd killed the Jedi, so this introduction is already going ten times better!]
faithfulson: (What no?!)

[personal profile] faithfulson 2021-09-30 12:56 am (UTC)(link)
[ Ha... about that... Luke made a sheepish face, shifting slightly on his feet, before peering up at him. ]

I've been told I'm a bit reckless like he is, but... I don't know much about my father as he is here.

[ "Anakin Skywalker" was a whole separate mystery from Darth Vader. He just... wasn't sure how it all happened, if his father was dragged into the dark, or if it was always there within him. ]
survivalthroughhate: ([TPM 16] Tattooed face)

[personal profile] survivalthroughhate 2021-09-30 06:42 am (UTC)(link)
Ask Obi-Wan. I am biased and can say nothing positive about the man. We've been at odds ever since we were in the previous town. I ended up having to kill him the first day he arrived.

[There's that reckless streak Luke was just talking about at work. He pauses and seems to realize how awful that must sound to Anakin's son.]

He did eventually get better! Death isn't quite as permanent here as in other places.
faithfulson: (Why are you breathing my air?)

[personal profile] faithfulson 2021-10-10 09:50 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Luke looked mildly alarmed at the fact that his father apparently died at some point. That very likely hadn't helped things much, but the fact that he "got better" was... disconcerting, because how did you get better from death, but he wasn't going to ask anything more on the subject. ]

I know the kind of person my father becomes, so... I won't say I understand, but I can see how he would be at odds with several people.
survivalthroughhate: ([TPM 40] Thinking)

[personal profile] survivalthroughhate 2021-10-11 05:43 am (UTC)(link)
He's been having a great deal of trouble lately. Falling fast to the Dark Side and losing what little sense he once had.

[Luke, save him from himself, please, before he completely goes Vader on everyone.]

I'm not entirely sure precisely why Obi-Wan and his wife like him so much but there must be some redeeming qualities I just don't see.

[It was hard to find anything to like about someone who spent his time fighting Maul, angry with him, or openly weeping onto his shoulder. (Though they had an unspoken agreement just to never talk about that one.) Anakin always seemed like he was one mental breakdown away from losing his mind completely.]
faithfulson: (I learned a lot...)

[personal profile] faithfulson 2021-10-11 12:00 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Luke cast his eyes downward, focusing on his gloved hand. He wasn't stupid; he knew if his father hadn't believed that he was who he said he was, he would have left him to drown in that well -- or worse. The Darkness was there in him, festering like an open wound, and he wasn't sure how much he could help, but... ]

There's good in him. I saw it when he was at his worst, and he's not there yet. Even the Emperor couldn't drive it away from him, and I don't think this place will be any different.
survivalthroughhate: ([TPM 16] Tattooed face)

[personal profile] survivalthroughhate 2021-10-11 04:50 pm (UTC)(link)
[Maul blinks in surprise and almost takes a step back at Luke's words, his eyes widening just a little. He's heard them many times before-- not directed at Anakin but at himself. Many people here have either told him that directly or said it when speaking about him to someone else. 'There's good in him.' It had taken him a long, long time to even start believing in those words given the past he'd come from.

But hearing it said about Skywalker puts a new spin on things. If someone else, his own son even, can see something in the Jedi worth saving, maybe something really is there that's redeemable. If Maul could start finding his way out of the darkness after living in it for so long, maybe Anakin can stop his descent into it with the right help. If he wouldn't listen to Maul or his own master, maybe his son was the right choice for the Jedi.]


Well then. If you believe it, perhaps there is something worth saving there after all.
faithfulson: (Looking out)

[personal profile] faithfulson 2021-10-11 05:04 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Luke smiled faintly, if a little sadly. Though he hadn't missed Maul's response to his words, he elected not to draw attention to them. He didn't know him, not yet, but he had the feeling he'd just given him a lot to think about. ]

I do, yes. I hope this time, I'll get to know him better.
survivalthroughhate: ([TCW 4] Looking up)

[personal profile] survivalthroughhate 2021-10-11 07:44 pm (UTC)(link)
I wish you luck in that endeavor, young Jedi. You're going to need it.

[Maul's apparent age is a bit hard to tell but he's got that same world-weary attitude like he's seen it all that Obi-Wan also possesses.]

I'll leave you then to settle into this place. If you need anything from me, contact me using the device you were given.
faithfulson: (Soft and simple)

[personal profile] faithfulson 2021-10-11 07:49 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Luke's not quite there with Obi-Wan and Maul, not yet, but he can relate to that weariness all the same. He offered him a small smile and a polite incline of his head. ]

I will, and thank you.

[ He paused, not forgetting about the Omen. ]

And thank you for the introduction.
survivalthroughhate: ([TPM 68] From the back)

[personal profile] survivalthroughhate 2021-10-12 04:51 am (UTC)(link)
[Maul and Venge both give polite nods at the thank yous directed their way.]

May the Force be with you.

[Then Maul walks off, mulling over the idea of another Jedi here that feels far more different in the Force than any Jedi he's ever encountered before.]