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June-July 2024 Test Drive Meme
June-July 2024 TDM
Introduction
Welcome to Folkmore's monthly Test Drive Meme! Please feel free to test drive any and all characters regardless of your intent to apply or whether you have an invite or not.
All TDMs are game canon and work like "mini-events". For new players and characters, you can choose to have your TDM thread be your introduction thread upon acceptance or start fresh. Current players are also allowed to have in-game characters post to the TDM so long as they mark their top levels ‘Current Character.’
TDM threads can be used for spoon spending at any time by characters accepted into the game.
Playing and interacting with the TDMs will allow characters to immediately obtain canon items from homes especially weapons or other things they may have had on their person when they were pulled from their worlds! There will always be a prompt that provides some sort of "reward" to characters who complete certain tasks.
🦊 New Star Children meet the Fox still in their worlds, and she brings them into the new realm of Folkmore. As you follow her, your body begins to change and new characteristics emerge. These may stay for a while, or perhaps they will hide away after. And during all of this, the Fox explains to you where you will be going: to Folkmore.
and then... you fall like a shooting star, falling to the land in a burst of starlight.
🦊 Experienced Star Children are already familiar with this time of the month. There are shooting stars all across the sky, and some fall to the land, which means the Fox has brought new arrivals. These newly arrived Star Children will face some tests, but Thirteen wants the more seasoned residents to participate as well.
Perhaps you follow the falling stars on your own, or perhaps the Fox simply teleports you there, but it appears you too will be part of this.
Content Warnings: Ghosts, Potential Violence, Potential Death
Summer has hit. It's hot, and nowhere is it hotter than Cruel Summer. Naturally, new Star Children arrive in Cruel Summer with no indication of which direction to go to escape, unless they're so lucky as to arrive near the Selkie River. The water provides a break, and a selkie skin will protect Star Children from the heat. Though beware the cruelty of leaving a selkie without their skin. Along with the heat, Star Children can hear whispers and the echoes of screams throughout Cruel Summer. There's no obvious source of the noises. Not the normal creatures. Not anything anyone can see.
Whether new or old Star Child, anyone lost, overheated, in need of a rest, or anything else will find a friendly spirit will find them in the sands, rock, or shores of Cruel Summer. They'll guide the way toward the huts found in Cruel Summer. These huts have changed; the huts are bigger and grow together, making them one interconnected twisting winding empty town. No one appears to live there. The wooden town is in disrepair, varying from building to building. Even so, they are cool inside, a welcome break from the summer heat.
No matter how one entered, even through the swinging doors to the saloon, that exit disappears behind Star Children. There's no turning back. The only way out is to explore the way through the buildings. This fact continues to be true building to building as exits continue to vanish. The abandoned town isn't as empty as it first seems. As Star Children explore the branching paths through the wooden structures, they see ghosts of spirits going through the paces of their lives. They're familiar to these spaces and interact with missing objects that sometimes shimmer in spirit energy.
Spirit Children may interrupt these routines to try to talk with the ghosts. Some ghostly spirits are friendly. They may interact with Star Children as though they're someone else, someone the spirits used to know. Others, like the bartender, may treat them like a new customer. Other ghosts are determined to stick to their routines and, should Star Children continue to interrupt, will attack those who disturb them.
These spirits may kill Star Children when they attack. Normal weapons won't hurt them. There are revolvers, shotguns, iron pokers, hunting knives, and other plain weapons around to grab in self-defense. Salt bullets and iron will dispel ghosts. These weapons may be grabbed at any time. However, doing so attracts the creatures in Cruel Summer. A blood red worm spitting yellow acid may break through the floor to eat or spray Star Children. An enormous coyote may leap through the window. Whether attracted by the use of weapons or passing by, any dangerous creature found in Cruel Summer seems agitated when they come near these structures and will attack them and anyone inside. They will focus especially on anyone with a stolen selkie skin.
Should Star Children die, whether to ghosts or creatures, they will not immediately return to life.Do not pass go. Instead they will haunt the ghost town for one week in the room where they were killed. Other Star Children may recognize them and work to snap them out of their routines. Yet nothing will free the Star Children's spirits before the week is through. At the end of the week, they'll come to, alive, in their bodies in the room they died in. Best get through and out of the ghost town before dying again!
A constant through these scenes are the spirits' spoons, visible somewhere in each scene. The ghost spoons are whole. Once free of the ghost town, Star Children may choose to travel to the Shattered Spoon Shrine in Never Fade to search for the broken fragments of any of these spoons. They are in such small pieces, however, that no Star Child may feed them enough Lore alone to bring the spirit back. Two or more Star Children may spend time in the Shrine creating and feeding Lore toward the spoons to heal them. It just may be enough to bring someone back.
Summer has hit. It's hot, and nowhere is it hotter than Cruel Summer. Naturally, new Star Children arrive in Cruel Summer with no indication of which direction to go to escape, unless they're so lucky as to arrive near the Selkie River. The water provides a break, and a selkie skin will protect Star Children from the heat. Though beware the cruelty of leaving a selkie without their skin. Along with the heat, Star Children can hear whispers and the echoes of screams throughout Cruel Summer. There's no obvious source of the noises. Not the normal creatures. Not anything anyone can see.
Whether new or old Star Child, anyone lost, overheated, in need of a rest, or anything else will find a friendly spirit will find them in the sands, rock, or shores of Cruel Summer. They'll guide the way toward the huts found in Cruel Summer. These huts have changed; the huts are bigger and grow together, making them one interconnected twisting winding empty town. No one appears to live there. The wooden town is in disrepair, varying from building to building. Even so, they are cool inside, a welcome break from the summer heat.
No matter how one entered, even through the swinging doors to the saloon, that exit disappears behind Star Children. There's no turning back. The only way out is to explore the way through the buildings. This fact continues to be true building to building as exits continue to vanish. The abandoned town isn't as empty as it first seems. As Star Children explore the branching paths through the wooden structures, they see ghosts of spirits going through the paces of their lives. They're familiar to these spaces and interact with missing objects that sometimes shimmer in spirit energy.
Spirit Children may interrupt these routines to try to talk with the ghosts. Some ghostly spirits are friendly. They may interact with Star Children as though they're someone else, someone the spirits used to know. Others, like the bartender, may treat them like a new customer. Other ghosts are determined to stick to their routines and, should Star Children continue to interrupt, will attack those who disturb them.
These spirits may kill Star Children when they attack. Normal weapons won't hurt them. There are revolvers, shotguns, iron pokers, hunting knives, and other plain weapons around to grab in self-defense. Salt bullets and iron will dispel ghosts. These weapons may be grabbed at any time. However, doing so attracts the creatures in Cruel Summer. A blood red worm spitting yellow acid may break through the floor to eat or spray Star Children. An enormous coyote may leap through the window. Whether attracted by the use of weapons or passing by, any dangerous creature found in Cruel Summer seems agitated when they come near these structures and will attack them and anyone inside. They will focus especially on anyone with a stolen selkie skin.
Should Star Children die, whether to ghosts or creatures, they will not immediately return to life.
A constant through these scenes are the spirits' spoons, visible somewhere in each scene. The ghost spoons are whole. Once free of the ghost town, Star Children may choose to travel to the Shattered Spoon Shrine in Never Fade to search for the broken fragments of any of these spoons. They are in such small pieces, however, that no Star Child may feed them enough Lore alone to bring the spirit back. Two or more Star Children may spend time in the Shrine creating and feeding Lore toward the spoons to heal them. It just may be enough to bring someone back.
- Whispers, echoes of screams, etc become common throughout Cruel Summer
- Huts become bigger, interconnected, growing together. Anyone lost, overheated, in need of something in Cruel Summer gets a friendly spirit redirecting them to these buildings
- Buildings will still be in some state of disrepair, but like a whole twisting winding town
- Insides are a cool respite
supernatural ghost spirit air conditioning - Only way out is through, no turning back, as the exits disappear behind you
- Many are friendly, but some are not. One can attempt to talk to them, but how interactive they are varies
- Occasionally other creatures from Cruel Summer may burst in and attack
- If a Star Child dies, rather than return to life immediately, they stay a ghost for about a week, part of the tour
Content Warnings: Fire, Coerced Confessions
Fire! Fire across the realm! For the second half of June, wildfire burns everywhere. While it doesn’t hurt Star Children, it can reduce everything else to ash: homes, businesses, gardens, spirits. The local spirits will be in a panic and beg Star Children for help from small ice mice in Wintermute to fennec foxes in Cruel Summer. How can Star Children help? Confessions. Anything the person they are with doesn’t know. The more earnest and meaningful the better.
When wildfire erupts and spreads, Star Children may stand in or in front of an area they want to protect and confess something to another Star Child who happens to be nearby. Their neighbor? Their partner? A stranger lost in a new land? These confessions simply need to be something the other person doesn’t know to protect structures and spirits. Memories related to the confession will show in the fire. The fire will fuel these memories until they run out of energy, dying down to embers. At least in that place at that time.
Should something start to burn before someone confesses, multiple confessions are necessary to catch the wildfire’s attention and distract it from the fuel source it is feeding on. Two or more Star Children will need to make confessions whose memories are shared in the flames. Water powers can also help quell the flames, but confessions are necessary in the end.
Once July hits, the wildfires are mostly gone, only sparking up here and there on occasion. In their stead are embers. They spark in the air like fireflies and fly around Folkmore, attracted to Star Children. These embers land on Star Children and make them glow. There’s no pain. In fact, the embers provide sparks of insight into memories, situations, and other emotional dilemmas that Star Children haven’t previously understood. Talking the issue over with another Star Children provides further emotional clarity.
Spirits are welcoming to both embers and Star Children. Confessionshelp Folkmore grow as well. Gardens bloom in beautiful displays. Crops grow healthy and joyful. It’s even possible to hear humming from some of the vegetables and fruits. The land grows with the Star Children. Anyone who lacks a green thumb can work their way around that with confessions! Save that dying plant and grow those tomatoes.
One time that a Star Child confesses, either to wildfire or to embers, they will find a jeweled box shaped like a flame. The peak of the flame comes off to reveal the insides. Within, there is an item from home. It may even be a weapon or magical item. Larger more meaningful confessions are more likely to receive weapons. These items may even be larger than should fit in the box or its entrance. Whether the box should only hold a single ring or fill the palm of one’s hand, these items fit. Star Children also can keep the jeweled box, and this one item from home can be stored within the box. Other items too large to fit the box will not enter it. Only the one from the box.
Fire! Fire across the realm! For the second half of June, wildfire burns everywhere. While it doesn’t hurt Star Children, it can reduce everything else to ash: homes, businesses, gardens, spirits. The local spirits will be in a panic and beg Star Children for help from small ice mice in Wintermute to fennec foxes in Cruel Summer. How can Star Children help? Confessions. Anything the person they are with doesn’t know. The more earnest and meaningful the better.
When wildfire erupts and spreads, Star Children may stand in or in front of an area they want to protect and confess something to another Star Child who happens to be nearby. Their neighbor? Their partner? A stranger lost in a new land? These confessions simply need to be something the other person doesn’t know to protect structures and spirits. Memories related to the confession will show in the fire. The fire will fuel these memories until they run out of energy, dying down to embers. At least in that place at that time.
Should something start to burn before someone confesses, multiple confessions are necessary to catch the wildfire’s attention and distract it from the fuel source it is feeding on. Two or more Star Children will need to make confessions whose memories are shared in the flames. Water powers can also help quell the flames, but confessions are necessary in the end.
Once July hits, the wildfires are mostly gone, only sparking up here and there on occasion. In their stead are embers. They spark in the air like fireflies and fly around Folkmore, attracted to Star Children. These embers land on Star Children and make them glow. There’s no pain. In fact, the embers provide sparks of insight into memories, situations, and other emotional dilemmas that Star Children haven’t previously understood. Talking the issue over with another Star Children provides further emotional clarity.
Spirits are welcoming to both embers and Star Children. Confessions
One time that a Star Child confesses, either to wildfire or to embers, they will find a jeweled box shaped like a flame. The peak of the flame comes off to reveal the insides. Within, there is an item from home. It may even be a weapon or magical item. Larger more meaningful confessions are more likely to receive weapons. These items may even be larger than should fit in the box or its entrance. Whether the box should only hold a single ring or fill the palm of one’s hand, these items fit. Star Children also can keep the jeweled box, and this one item from home can be stored within the box. Other items too large to fit the box will not enter it. Only the one from the box.
- Last two weeks of June, wildfire burns across Folkmore. After that, they are rare.
- Confessions can protect or rescue buildings, land areas, and spirits.
- Come July, embers spark across Folkmore like fireflies. They provide insight for Star Children. Talking helps.
- Confessions help the land grow.
- Confessions reveal a jeweled box containing an item from home.
Viv | Legends and Lattes | Legend
[If there is one thing Viv doesn't expect to awaken to these days, its rolling sand dunes and a blistering heat that makes her skin prickle.
The orc woman needs a moment to take in the scenery before she slowly sits up. A frustrated sound escapes her as she scrubs a calloused hand against her face. There is a resigned kind of irritation there, opposed to nay actual surprise or shock.]
I retired for a reason. Seven hells... [She pushes herself up carefully onto her feet, boots crunching in the sand. It takes her a second to properly remember following a fox in her dreams. Her brows furrow together as she winces at herself. Viv if anything is a fool through and through]
Why did I follow a fox? What was I thinking?
[Her hands itch to hold onto blackblood, but the blade remains hung up in her shop, a display piece more than weapon these days. She had put the blade down for a reason. For a better future. For a better version of herself. Viv was unaware that exact dedication is what attracted the fox to her in the first place.
Fellow new Star Children will encounter a seven foot orc woman forging her way through the desert. She's taking her time, clearly experienced in handling rough terrain. She's using what looks like an apron to shield herself from the sun beating down on her.
She will slow down for anyone in need, but seems intent on making her way to the town in the distance.]
Flames To Embers
[A hungry fire erupts, gobbling up the edges of what looks like a quaint bookstore. The sight makes Viv's heart jolt against her ribs in a panic. She had just gotten into town and hadn't expected to encounter something like this.
She whips around looking for something to put the fire out. A desperation sharp on her features. Her protruding bottom tusks becoming more prominent with the determined grimace she wears.
A spirit murmurs something about a confession and Viv levels the spirit with a look. Incredulousness obvious on her features.]
You can't be serious, we need some water here! Not- a confession! What are some pretty words going to do about this?
[Viv can certainly be swayed, since she's heard of stranger things in her life time, but she's more than a little throne off by the spirit insisting on a confession.]
Flames to Embers
This world seems to run on paradoxes. But if there's one thing I've learned while walking between worlds, it's that it's best to follow the customs of the country, no matter how strange they may seem at first blush.
[If Viv turns, she may spy a human-looking male about head shorter than her, clad in a very out of season long black coat, his eyes hidden behind dark lenses. Something about his appearance, the unusual smoothness of his face, the texture of his golden hair, and the erect but graceful carriage of his muscled form might make her think of an elf, though his ears don't appear pointed.]
((OOC: Yay! A Viv! I recently read the first book and utterly loved it. Need to get the second one, hope it's as much fun as the first.))
no subject
Another oddity on top of everything else. She opens her mouth, then closes it.]
...I can't argue with that too much, can I? [More a grumble on her part. Not that she can stay particularly perturbed, the fire is getting out of control.]
We just- confess something? Anything?
((OOC: I think you will! Its a bit more adventure-y, but still awesome.))
Ghost Tours
Oh well, he'd been considering coming out to help the new folk anyways. But the strange noises, the cries and shrieks echoing the area were unsettling, setting his teeth on edge. And for all he hadn't explored the area in detail just yet, he'd skimmed enough maps to know that there wasn't a town known to be here. So he started towards it, figuring anyone with sense would head towards that sort of landmark if only to get out of the beating daylight heat.
As he went, he spotted another figure, taller, green. Unable to help the faint flicker of surprise as while he didn't recognize the strange woman herself, he'd bet money that she was an orc. And if he squared up a bit in a subconscious effort to look a bit bigger and more impressive than he actually was? Shhh, no he didn't.
"Hey there!" Called out with a wave as he picked his way closer to her, other hand moving to check that his waterskin was indeed on him. "Haven't seen you around before- you're a newcomer right?"
Or he could've just missed her before this. It's not impossible, but being out here now made it more likely that she was one of the new ones this month.
no subject
The call is enough to make her gaze flicker over, brows going up in surprise at another orc. At least, she assumes he's another orc. Sure, Thune was a metropolitan city compared to the last places she stayed in, but she hadn't encountered another orc properly in a few months. Maybe even a few years. A life of constantly being on the move made time feel nebulous at points.
She smiles back at Fjord, something a bit broader than she usually did. Viv was used to more carefully softening her smiles to make her tusks less noticeable, less hostile seeming.
It was nice to not have that need.]
New as they come, apparently. [She slows to a stop, keeping her apron tucked over her head to keep the sun at bay.] You part of the welcoming committed round these parts?
no subject
Yeah, newcomers seem to show up in a regular sort of cycle, [He slowed once close enough, unhooking his waterskin to offer the woman's way.] Saw the starfall goin' on, figured I'd come see who might need a hand. I'm Fjord- s'good to meet you.
no subject
The damage to his tusks is... concerning. Viv's mind flicks through options of how, but she doesn't ask. Not her business.
She lowers the apron, just draping it over her shoulder to free up her hand for the offered waterskin.]
We're all falling from the sky, then? [She carefully uncaps the waterskin, to take a swig.] I remember going to sleep, following a fox... You'd think I'd know that's a bad idea, yet, here I am.
Flames to embers.
He stares up at the flames and his eyes shine with teal blue. Water bursts out of the ground to slam into the fire. But it only lessens it, keeping it from spreading.]
It’s a trial. They always involve us having to do something like this. [He takes a breath and says,] I’m 47. Having a mostly human looking guise makes everyone think I’m in my twenties. But I’m not.
[The fire abruptly shrinks.] I didn’t even want to look like one of my own people. [It shrinks a little more.]
no subject
You'd think magic would follow some logic, but, I'm fooling myself with that.
[If the fire can die with words, she certainly has a few she can say.]
I lied by omission to my closest friends, my traveling companions, about what I needed the stone for. [The guilt she carries for that has lessened marginally with time, but is still enough of a confession that the fire dwindles.]
no subject
…what did you need it for? [He looks at her as some of his guise snaps. Crystal like green antlers appear. A long winding teal dragon tail with a tuff at the end curls just before it would touch the ground.]
no subject
Old poem said it brought fortune. I thought... it was finally a way to start anew. A little luck never hurts.
no subject
He had noticed she started to relax when some of his true self slipped through.]
It doesn’t. You left the group to start over. Didn’t you? [The flames shrink to almost nothing.]
no subject
I didn't want that. I want to live and find out what that means again. [It takes Viv a moment to realize the fire had shrunk away to nothing. Only crackling embers remain that lose heat rapidly.]
no subject
It’s a good goal to find a life that works out for you. [The fire is out. He looks around. There looks to be ways up but someone who could fly would have a better vantage point.]
…now that the fire is out. How good are you at spotting things from a distance?
no subject
There is more glory in burning both ends until there isn't anything left. I'm not much for glory these days. [Viv wanted peace, but, wasn't sure it was an option for her.]
Depends on how far, I'm known for strength, not the keenest eyes.
no subject
He shrinks in size to that of a medium sized building as he rises high enough to get a good look. His great head turns to fix on a point to the east. He drifts down and points with his right foot.]
There’s a path to the east. We’ll be back inside. No telling what is in there, but. There’s no other exit from this courtyard. I can feel some kind of barrier up above.
no subject
It wasn't all she expected, not by a long shot, but she's happy to be wrong. Her imagination couldn't have conjured that if she tried.
She manages to wipe the surprise and touch of awe from her face after a moment, calling after him.]
Looks like we're hoofing it then. Shouldn't be too bad at least.