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quaranmeme2018-04-20 06:40 pm
riverview: april test drive meme
riverview test drive memeWelcome to Riverview's test drive meme! Feel free to dip your toes in on the test drive meme to try out your character in the setting, play out a mission, and get samples for your application at the same time!
● There are currently 25 Character Slots available.
● Applications are currently open and will close on May 7th at 10:00 pm EST.
● Providing all parties are amenable, threads on the test drive meme can count as game canon, as the plot in the prompts presented is game canon.
● TDM threads do not count for Activity Check, but they do count for Activity Bonus Points, so long as all characters involved are accepted into the game.
● Threading on the TDM is intended for prospective new characters, so top-levels should only be posted by players of these characters. Since the events in the TDM are considered game canon, characters currently in the game are free to use the TDM prompts for logs and posts on the regular communities.
Feel free to use the prompts below or create your own scenario. The setting is built to be flexible, so feel free to make things up as you go.
information resources
premise ● arrival ● setting ● ask a question ● calendar ● navigation
For the past month, the flooding in Riverview has been out of control, and the attacks of strange mutated creatures from the swollen river haven't been helping much. While the water level has stabilized over the past couple of weeks, the river is still way, way out of bounds and keeping a large number of people in relief shelters or put up with volunteer families, causing significant damage to riverside properties, homes, and businesses. While residents have done everything they can to try to correct the situation, from machines and tech to magic and appealing to the River Spirits during the yearly Flower Festival River Spirit Procession, nothing has made any real meaningful difference.
On the 20th, almost a month to the day after the river started swelling out of control, anyone looking at the rushing surface of the water will start to see a strange glow just underneath it, and as the day progresses, glowing white tentacles start to rise from the surface of the water. As the tentacles rise from the surface, members of the Perimeter Guard will be setting up a protective barrier around the area to keep civilians back until they figure out what's up with whatever's in the river.
In the meantime, the presence of the glowing thing is driving the last of the nasty giant mutated crocodiles, carnivorous toads, and other monsters out of the river in droves. While the Perimeter Guard is still holding the line, volunteers are being called for to take out the monsters as they exit the river, menacing the rest of the city. Whether your character is a member of the Guard in training, helping keep the civilians safe from the possible new threat in the river, or a volunteer helping take out the fleeing monsters, their help will be more than welcome.
After a few days of study, Gramarye Magic Research's strongest mages have banded together and found a way to communicate with the glowing presence in the deep, using a wide variety of nature-based magicks from different realms. And what have they learned?
The presence is not just one creature, it is many, and they are awakening from a long, long sleep. Possibly almost as long as there have been people on the moon - it's hard to tell, when the creatures 'speak' so slowly. What the mages have managed to get from them is that it is their awakening and movement that's causing the flooding in the river, a combination of blocking up the river's exit through the fences with their bulk and an overflow of elemental water magic that is causing the river to swell with more water than it can hold. The creatures, who call themselves the 'Guardians of the Deep,' are eventually ruled to be completely benign, and their only request is to be helped on their migration to the sea - a trip that they usually take once a year when they are not in hibernation. The problem is that, since their last migration, the river has become a much more dangerous place, plagued by monsters and clogged with rubble from the Abandoned City.
Any resident with nature magic of any kind and who can communicate with the creatures, who is a fighter or member of the Perimeter Guard, or who has abilities that can help to clear the river of any debris or blockages, is invited to aid in the attempt to escort the Guardians of the deep down the river. Once they reach the delta and waterfalls, their path will be clear and they will be free to explore the ocean until they return to the city in late fall.
ETA: In response to a player question, the Guardians look like very large glowy amoebas.
The Guardians of the Deep are slow-speaking and they are also slow-moving. For a period of at least two weeks, they will be making their way from the center of the city down the river with the current, and as they travel, they'll be having a rather...interesting effect on anyone who is sensitive to their influence. This sensitivity is something a character may be aware of through a strong connection with or love of nature or animals, it may be a spiritual or magical sensitivity, it may be an emotional one, or it might simply be something a character is not aware of until they are affected. However, no matter what a character is or where they come from, they may be susceptible to the aura of the Guardians.
And what does that aura do?
Starting on April 20th and intermittently continuing throughout the next month, any characters with a sensitivity (feel free to make one up that affects your character, or have them be immune as per your choice) will lose an important sense. While sight is the most commonly lost sense, others may lose hearing, taste, touch, smell, or other senses unique to their physiology (whether biological, mechanical, or otherwise). The only relief from this loss is for the character to make direct contact with another character - any other character, in any way, as long as there is no clothing, material, or other matter blocking contact. As soon as contact is broken, the loss will return.
The effect can last for as long or short a time as each player wishes, and affect whatever sense is desired. Reprieve from the effect comes with skin-to-skin (or equivalent) contact with another character, and is not limited to just one other character - it doesn't matter who else is being touched, as long as it's someone.
During this year, there's been an influx of people from a dying reality consisting mostly of living plant people, and they've really taken the Flower Festival as a great opportunity to introduce one of their most honored traditions to the people of their new adopted world. The tradition involves sharing various types of flowers with strangers, with each type of flower having a different meaning and effect on both the giver and receiver - the bond of the exchange can spark emotion as well as physical responses that function in a unique way that affects almost everyone that participates, whether animal, plant, or even android.
Some of the flowers have been used up, but a few types still remain. Any characters exchanging the flowers with other characters, whether friends or strangers, will experience emotional/psychological effects, physical effects, or both once the exchange is complete. Effects can last for as short or long a time as the players involved want, and are as follows:
● Baby Blue Eyes - Trust/Healing the Inner Child
Emotional Effect: Either an inexplicable trust in the person the flower was exchanged with, or a generalized paranoia.
Physical Effect: De-aging. Characters can become a younger version of themselves, physically, mentally, or both. Whether or not their normal selves are of age, de-aged characters may not participate in adult prompts unless they're de-aged to something above 18.
● Rose - Friendship/Beauty
Emotional Effect: Openness and a desire to make new friends, or excessive competitiveness.
Physical Effect: A temporary glamor that makes both participants in the exchange appear as the most beautiful possible version of themselves, and improves their charisma.
● Valerian: - Relaxation/Heart-Opening
Emotional Effect: A near-complete erasure of anxiety and stress, or a dramatic inexplicable increase in it.
Physical Effect: Forced honesty. Both affected characters become incapable of lying. Whether they're compelled to blurt the truth or if they can keep their mouths shut or talk around the truth is up to player discretion.
[Flower meanings used in this prompt come from this site.]
Whether your character is posting up a silly word game, trying to get hold of a friend, or putting out feelers for people to go out into the fray with, the network is going strong.
Alternately, an offer for a free app is popping up on new arrivals' devices - Friendr is a friend-finder and/or dating app. If characters choose to install it, they will fill out a short bio and parameters for what they're looking for, upload a snap of themselves, and then proceed to browse for matches. This is a typical swipe-left-or-right type app.
Friendr base code is by photosynthesis.
The code in the textbox is for the default color scheme, but the Friendr app has a wide variety of themes, so feel free to customize with colors and patterns as you see fit, but do not remove the credit line out of respect for the creator of the code.
Use the wildcard prompt to choose your own adventure and do whatever else you like in the setting!
the tetherer ( original ) ota ; will match format
[The Tetherer is uniquely unused to doing things for themself. Well, no, that may be an unfair assessment. They make a lot of decisions in their day-to-day. What they don't do is cook, clean, and shop. Those tasks -- equally important in their eyes, a vital part of society just the same as a god -- are delegated to people more suited for such things. People who know how to incorporate ingredients into a meal, who know how to get stains out of cloth, who know how to pick out the essentials from the non-essentials.
They're finding the thought of living (mostly) on their own very fun. Getting out and doing things other than their normal duties. Understanding what it's like to be mundane, rather than recognized and revered in the streets.
They're considering which personal-sized watermelon they should pick and how to decide such a thing when the world goes black.
They stumble back in surprise, dropping the watermelon in their hands, letting it crash hard against the tiled floor with an upsetting smack that probably means it's burst open, if they could only see it. They try to reach down for it, in an attempt to clean up their mess, but they haven't planned very far ahead because they're not quite sure what to do in this situation even if they could see. They breathe deeply, trying to keep calm, to find their hand touching only a piece of wet watermelon. They pick up the bare red flesh.]
I... did not mean to do that. Is someone there?
[They were sure someone was nearby when it happened, or maybe they just feel like someone is watching them right now.]
IV. FLORAL EXCHANGE
[What a nice tradition. The Tetherer isn't entirely familiar with any kind of Flower Festival from another world, but they certainly aren't going to not participate. It seems fun!
Besides, what better way to meet people than to randomly hand them a valerian flower in a completely socially acceptable way?]
Hello. Have a flower.
V. FRIENDR/NETWORK
» Seeking: anything!
» Preferences: all
» Interests: looking for suggestions
» Bio: a god seeking new experiences!
VI. WILDCARD
[any scenario is fine! plot w me @
iii ♡
(Somebody is watching them, and it's Lucretia! She'd heard the sound of the watermelon hitting the ground from where she'd been weighing up oranges in her palm, and turned to investigate: a young person, standing there, holding wet shards of jagged fruit.)
Are you alright? (She asks, unaware of their recent affliction.)
no subject
I feel healthy, but I can't find the fruit. Could you help me, kind stranger?
[Most of the watermelon, meanwhile, has sort of slid and wedged itself beneath the bottom of the fruit stall. Their reaching hands can't locate it.]
I think it's been ruined. I should submit a formal apology and donation to the owner of this store, but that may be difficult while my eyeballs have stopped working.
[That's definitely the obvious next course of action, here.]
no subject
There you are.
(All better. Lucretia fishes in her jacket pocket for her card and turns to the vendor, who has been watching the pair of them this entire time without saying a word, and pays for the watermelon.) And don't worry, I have the watermelon covered.
What... has happened to your eyes? (That's the bit she's a confused about.)
no subject
You have an incredible grasp on your Nature. Thank you. That was very kind.
[Order, maybe? Order seems like an apt description of their apparent savior, a strong guess at the person's Nature.]
I can't say what happened to my eyes. It was blurry for a second, and then...
[They rub at an eye a little, blinking forward, trying in vain to restore their sight. Nothing seems to bring back even a little of their vision.]
What causes blindness? I'm unfamiliar with medicine.
no subject
Oh, but their description of what happened to their sight is familiar to her! Lucretia actually hums, curious and excited to find she knows the answer to this. She's not aware that The Tetherer is still new to the Quarantine, so some of this may go over their head in her haste to explain.)
I can answer that, actually! I work at Gramarye, and we've recently made contact with life forms we actually didn't know existed until now. They're self-titled Guardians; they've always been here, but dormant, sleeping under the rivers. As they complete migration, they output a lot of powerful elemental magic, and it seems to be directly affecting those more sensitive to nature magic.
no subject
More powerful Natures can be written off as magic. The most powerful, that of the gods like the Tetherer, are indistinguishable from magic to an outside observer.
To the Tetherer, Natures are simply a truth of the world, not magic at all. Magic is real on some worlds in the Natures Universe, but Natures aren't magic.]
I must be at a disadvantage against the Guardians, then. I am of the three Gods of the Natures, the Tetherer. I suppose that would make me sensitive to their abilities.
[They pause for a moment to think. If they're distressed, they seem to be keeping it inside. But they're certainly not smiling.]
Could you please point me in the direction of the communal housing, or perhaps a guard who can walk me there?
[They reach out a hand, unsure what they're intending to do by doing so, but they need to ground themself without the ability to see what's around them.
They'd never share this with a stranger, especially one they've shared their status with, but the thought that something so limiting can seek out those close to their Natures like the Tetherer is terrifying. The simple act of being blinded so suddenly is terrifying enough, regardless. But they have an image to project.]
no subject
It's highly likely, yes. We, uh– we're not entirely sure how long you will be inconvenienced by this, but we do know that...
(Well. It will be easier to show them. Lucretia pauses for a beat, then reaches out to touch her fingertips lightly to the back of the Tetherer's hand. When their sight is restored to them, the first thing they will see is Lucretia's slightly sheepish expression.)
no subject
Is this your Nature? [they ask, awe in their voice.
They've never felt so grateful to be able to do something as simple as see, but it's true that they've taken such things for granted. They study her face intently, memorizing it just in case it goes away again.]
no subject
Uh, no, it's– we've been investigating the magic behind it and it turns out physical touch overrides the symptoms for... for whatever reason.
no subject
Not that they distrust her. They take note, though, of her discomfort, and loosen their grip on her fingers, remember their training. To resist the Nature just as you indulge in it. It's a balance. Tethering brings people together, but lean too close and it can be a detriment.]
Magic can be strange. I have little experience with it.
I can't ask you to touch my hand forever, not when we've just met. But then, I'm unfamiliar with everyone in the Quarantine.
[Something they both relish and resent. It would be nice to have the Separator here, to have June here, but both come with their share of problems. The Separator alternately worships the ground they walk on and resents them for their recent admission of doubt in their respective roles. June hardly has a finger in her role as Destroyer yet.
It's refreshing to start from nothing. To not have to be a god. But it's lonely.]
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v; un: youradhere
un: the.tetherer
some gods have been more long lived than others, dependent on their species.
but i get a lot of different guesses. most fall in the early twenties age range. i look pretty young.
✔
no subject
i'm the tetherer, one of the three gods.
the separator separates the worlds into new wholes, the tetherer tethers the worlds together so they are not lost, and the destroyer destroys what worlds prove too dangerous to exist any longer.
i'm not the first tetherer, nor will i be the last. the gods are eternal.
v.
no subject
the answer to yours though is that there are a few things in accordance with my title that i know a lot about. i'm fairly familiar with various other worlds as well.
but i've never had a picnic beneath the flowers on a spring afternoon. i've never waded into a lake with all my clothes on and felt algae cling to my ankles. i've never gone on a roadtrip and stopped at every greasy diner on the way.
i don't know how to swim or sing or dance or whistle or jumprope or ride a bike.
the list of things i haven't done is very long, actually.
no subject
I certainly can't speak for everyone, but I believe that one of the more appealing things here is the chance to explore new experiences in... relative safety. I think you'll find that more than a few people in this city brought a list of things they haven't done with them. Who knows? You may just have company as you go.
Of course, I've been hearing that this isn't the best time for swimming. Or wading into lakes. Could I suggest putting those off for a while?
no subject
but yes, i'd heard about the monsters and such coming from the waterfront. i'll take care to avoid doing that for now.
what i'd really like to do is get a job as, i don't know, a waiter, or a janitor, or something fun like that.
i want to see what having a job other than god and diplomat is like. having to worry about finances... paying taxes...
what else do people with jobs do?
no subject
Maybe they will have fun being a waiter or a janitor. ]
Ahh. If you'd included diplomat in your biography, I wouldn't have questioned you not getting to do anything. Speaking from my own experience? It's been a long time since I had a thought to spare for the "what else."
Wherever you end up, try to make sure it's only part-time. Leave a few hours in your day for the really good stuff.
no subject
in all my travels between worlds, i had to represent the nexus and confer with those in power very often.
most did not deem me worthy of doing so at first glance.
but i'll keep that in mind. full-time work may not leave much time for the wading and the jumproping.
no subject
[ A brief pause, then: ]
Oscar Wilde said, "To expect the unexpected shows a thoroughly modern intellect." There are always gonna be a few cavemen out there. Underestimation is a big weakness in this game. And frankly? I hope you took advantage of that weakness.
no subject
it's those that consider themselves civilized that i had to watch out for.
i did enjoy myself perhaps too much when proving them wrong.
what is your scientific expedition in search of?
no subject
New planets and allies. Advanced technology and medicine. New things for humanity to explore. Most of the details are only available to certain clearance levels, I'm afraid. Security issues.
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