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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
siriusly: (b...but i mean.)

[personal profile] siriusly 2021-10-11 11:04 pm (UTC)(link)
I mean-- [his eyes wince.] If you ask the locals, there's kind of a way? Preventative measures, I mean. Blood transfusions. But it sounds like there's a point where things are just too far gone to do much of anything but... but put them down...

[and it's obvious that doesn't sit well with this guy. he's worked so hard to become a protector! but Deerington and beyond has made it clear how futile his efforts are.]
faithfulson: (...okay maybe not)

[personal profile] faithfulson 2021-10-11 11:12 pm (UTC)(link)
[ From the look on Luke's face, he's not exactly thrilled about it either. He frowned, absently hugging his arms to his chest. ]

I'm sure there's more we can do about this. I'll have to keep an ear out.
siriusly: (i think he's dead.)

[personal profile] siriusly 2021-10-12 01:40 am (UTC)(link)
Mm. It's--it's kind of a work-in-progress, as far as getting all the facts straight. [he shrugs, shifting his weight to one leg.] But, ah-- [nope, posture has to be straightened - back on flat feet.] As far as super-important, need-to-know-up-front things, um, mm...Well. You got the bag...it's got some helpful stuff. Like--oh, yeah.

...The...uh...the lantern-guy. Don't freak out if there's one in there - they're weird, but they seem to just be around to help.
faithfulson: (You did what now?)

[personal profile] faithfulson 2021-10-13 05:52 pm (UTC)(link)
[ He had to admit, with everything that just happened with his father, he hadn't thought much about what was in his bag other than the lightsaber. Curious, he slung the bag off his shoulder, peering inside. ]

[ ...that was certainly a thing. ]


What is that?
siriusly: (i...wat)

[personal profile] siriusly 2021-10-13 08:12 pm (UTC)(link)
Aa, ye-yeah... [he sighs, leaning in to see that, yup, that's the guy!] So that little guy...um...you know what teleporting is, right? That little guy can set up a lantern, and from there you can...hop from lantern to lantern throughout Trench.

[a beat. he straightens back up, shrugging.]

That's...really all they do. And they seem to be all about it? It's really weird.
faithfulson: (Sure if you say so)

[personal profile] faithfulson 2021-10-14 02:42 am (UTC)(link)
[ Luke peered up at Manabu, at a loss for words. They could teleport around the town... because of little creepy lantern guys? This was starting to get steadily more and more ridiculous. He let out a breath, closing his bag and shaking his head. ]

...this has been a day.
siriusly: (:\ um this is uncomfortable)

[personal profile] siriusly 2021-10-14 07:59 pm (UTC)(link)
[Manabu's expression pinches with sympathy.]

I-it's a lot, huh... [he rubs at the back of his head again.] Sorry. I mean, it's not all terrible. Just...weird in a lot of ways, is all.

But most folks are helpful, if not outright nice...and it's more than just you and me stuck like this, so you're definitely not here alone.

[even though it can feel like it. hell, it still feels like it for Manabu! it's tough when so many other people have found familiar friends or enemies around, while he's the sole one from his galaxy.]
faithfulson: (Whatever you say)

[personal profile] faithfulson 2021-10-16 06:31 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Luke nodded, offering him a faint smile. ]

I can tell; you've been nice and helpful, so I can only hope the rest here are similar.
siriusly: (ahahaha......what............)

[personal profile] siriusly 2021-10-17 04:26 pm (UTC)(link)
Aa- [he colors a little, hastening to dismiss that compliment.] Well! A handful are! At least as far as finding common ground's concerned, you know? But aside from that, most folks from Deerington really don't want a repeat, so they'll be happy to help make sure you're not gonna wind up in a bad spot...

[he may be projecting a little bit with that hope, but that's not a bad thing, right? expecting the best out of people as a whole?]
faithfulson: (Smiles of light)

[personal profile] faithfulson 2021-10-18 01:01 pm (UTC)(link)
That's good to know.

[ Luke offered the man a kind smile, which probably did nothing for how pink Manabu was. It was kind of adorable that he flushed like that over one compliment, but he wasn't going to say as much. ]

One last question, if you don't mind? Is there a place for people to stay when they first arrive?
siriusly: (do i get any say in this at all.)

[personal profile] siriusly 2021-10-18 08:18 pm (UTC)(link)
[blink.

blinkblink.]


That's...a...a good question, actually... [he looks around at the scattered bonfires along the sand.]

When I got here, it was daylight, and folks on the boardwalk had lots of things to say about this or that, but I went my own way soon enough... [he scratches at his cheek, looking over his shoulder while the dog at his feet sneezes.]

I imagine one of those Wakers would know...you know-- [he looks back.] The folks in the white robes?
faithfulson: (I think I swallowed a bug)

[personal profile] faithfulson 2021-10-21 10:21 pm (UTC)(link)
Wakers...?

[ Luke paused at that, confused, before he let out a sheepish noise. ]

Ah... when I got here, I ended up in a well, not where I was supposed to be.
siriusly: (have you ever tried to read fob lyrics)

[personal profile] siriusly 2021-10-21 11:03 pm (UTC)(link)
Ha? [visible confusion.] Wait, huh? A, a well?
faithfulson: (The cute farmboy peek)

[personal profile] faithfulson 2021-10-26 12:23 am (UTC)(link)
Yeah.

[ Luke shrugged helplessly, a bit of a pink tint coming to his face. ]

Not exactly my best moment...
siriusly: (n...y...?? maybe???)

[personal profile] siriusly 2021-10-26 10:51 pm (UTC)(link)
[looking over his shoulder:] Where the heck is there a well near the boardwalk...how...?

[he shakes his head a little, giving Luke a helpless kind of look.]

This place does weird stuff. Sounds like you got your first taste right out the gate.
faithfulson: (Why are you breathing my air?)

[personal profile] faithfulson 2021-10-29 09:22 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm not sure where it was, honestly. I was more preoccupied with... well, the person that saved me, and getting out of there as fast as I could.

[ He shrugged helplessly. ]

If that's the worst of the weird, maybe it won't be so bad?

[ Right? Right??? ]
siriusly: (ahahaha......what............)

[personal profile] siriusly 2021-10-29 10:43 pm (UTC)(link)
I think...you got the gist of the experience so far. [with a lopsided smile:] Weird stuff and...people who will try to help you out.