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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.
Arrival
What she didn’t expect was to arrive in the middle of a desert while wearing a ball gown. Her hair is still pinned up, though it’s starting to droop in the heat. Eloise has taken off her gloves and stuffed them… well, somewhere, and she’s using her dance card as a makeshift fan. It’s not working very well.
As she trudges through the dusty landscape, wondering what exactly she’s gotten herself into, she comes upon a man screaming at the sky in a strange language. Eloise has heard all kinds of odd shrieks and yells since she arrived here, but this is the first time she’s actually seen them coming out of a person’s mouth. When he stops for a minute to catch his breath and notices Eloise, she decides to point out the obvious for him.
“Whatever you’re doing, I don’t think it’s working.”
Helpful, right?
no subject
He rubs his hands together, takes a deep breath, and centers himself. The magic is there. He can feel it. That means there's something he can do here. The right words. The right willpower. He can crack this place open.
If he had some of his relics...
"Why don't you go be oh so helpful somewhere else and fuck off?" he suggests before he returns to his chanting, much more deliberate in his pronunciations this go around.
It doesn't work this go either. If he has to spill some blood for this John's going to be really pissed off.
no subject
His accent is what most people of her social circle would deem 'lower class', but that hasn't stopped Eloise from speaking with such people in the past. Telling her to fuck off is startling though, and she reacts with widened eyes and raised brows. Nobody has ever said that to her before.
While it's decidedly rude, Eloise unfortunately has nowhere to fuck off to. The maze of interconnected buildings seems endless and he's the first person that she's come across. She's not going to say out loud that she needs help, but she definitely needs help.
She crosses her arms and watches him continue with his shouting. After that doesn't seem to work, Eloise chances to speak again.
"May I ask what it is that you're trying to do?" Less sassy, more polite this time.
no subject
"Open the door from this realm of reality to my own." John puts his hands on his hips and considers the expanse around them. "Maybe Gaelic? Can't try the Egyptian without goat's blood and myrrh."
And he doesn't see any commiphora trees around here. Nor any goats. He doesn't have a ceremonial dagger either so the blood letting would be... messy.
"You'll have to figure out your own way back home." He looks her over. "Unless you want to experience what the downfall of the monarchy and a feminist movement do for a girl such as yourself."
John tries again with an old Scottish rite, the Gaelic flowing a bit more musically than the Old English. The spell is almost sung. More like sing chanting really. Again the magic within and without responds but on the final words there's not even a wobble in reality.
no subject
The downfall of the monarchy sounds..... like something she might not totally hate, but she's never thought about NOT having a monarch, except when she thinks about moving to America. "What's a feminist?"
no subject
"Even if it was a dream certain entities can pull you into their realm through that," he explains just because he can. Because if she's going to deny what's in front of her he will lecture on the grand mysteries and magical arts like they're a science. Because they are.
"You agree to their deal, whether you believe it's real or a dream, and that's all they need to fuck with your life."
He kicks the sand when his magic fails to break through reality. Again. "A woman who believes she should be treated equally to a man. Or a man who thinks that's actually good idea."
no subject
"We need to get out of this desert," she moans. "Surely this entire country isn't desert."
John's explanation of what a feminist is snaps her back to attention. "Then I am one of those. A feminist," Eloise says. "I suppose that you are not?"
no subject
That many ghosts gives off a cold signal in the back of his mind. John does not want to go deal with that mess.
He frowns at her. "I am. I treat everyone like shit regardless of gender. Took orders from a woman for a long time. Shouldn't have had to, mind you, but not because she's a woman but because I gave her, her soul back."
He huffs out a breath. "That's bloody gratitude for you."
no subject
"You do not hate women, then," Eloise says. "You perhaps hate me because of my presumed station?"
All he really has to judge her on so far is her appearance and the words that she has said.
no subject
Hate is reserved for a very select few. She's a posh upper crust girl stuck in the middle of the desert. Younger than him. Probably going to faint away any second. John doesn't hate her. He's just not a friendly man.
"And I promise you, I'm right scouse. I treat everyone like this. Don't think you're special." He again looks her up and down, checking on that fainting concern he has.
no subject
"From Liverpool?" Eloise asks. "I don't think I've met anyone from Liverpool before..." Her gaze turns up towards the sun, which she quickly realizes is a mistake. It's so hot. Her dress is practically soaked through with sweat. The dance card resumes a frantic waving in her hand.
"Perhaps the spirits inside are friendly ones? Those exist, right?"
She wipes the sweat off of her forehead with her free hand. Whether the spirits are terrifying or not, Eloise can't take this heat much longer. She'd rather be haunted than pass out, which she seems to be closer to doing every second she stands out here.
"Right," she says, her voice slurred slightly. "I'm going.. over there, then..."
Eloise makes it about five steps before her legs seemingly buckle from underneath her. Her last thought as she hits the sand is how annoyed she is that she probably just proved this guy's opinion of her. Then everything is black.
no subject
"Should've said something, luv, instead of wasting your time talking to me." He walks over to her and checks her pulse. Not good but he's not doctor. He can fix himself easily enough but checking other people is mostly guesswork.
He's not a very strong man but John picks her up as best he can. Dead weight is remarkably heavy as he knows from carrying a lot of dead bodies.
John carries her towards the buildings where there's at least shade. He does drop her a little when he leans her against a wall but he's feeling the strain of the heat now.
He removes his trench coat, loosens his tie, and rolls up his sleeves. He doesn't have any of the herbs necessary to conjure a cooling breeze. The best he can do is lightly fan her with his coat in the shade.
no subject
Eloise groans slightly. At least they're in the shade now, which is marginally better. She tries to sit up and is immediately dizzy, so she lays back down again.
"In my defense," Eloise murmurs, "I'm wearing a corset and you're not."
no subject
He folds his jacket up into something of a pillow and tucks it under her head so she's not resting on the old, possibly splinter filled wood. He rubs his hands together and holds them over her.
His chanting is more musical this time, something slow and rolling. The air around her starts to chill and cool down. When the chanting ends there's a bubble of cold air around her.
"It won't last long in this heat but it should help a little." Aeromancy is not his strongest bit of magic.
Arrival
He approached, a little cautious but mostly full of anger. "The fox must be looking for entertainment if she dragged your sorry carcass into this mess." For all that he looked like a demon from Hell, Maul's voice was completely dissonant. He sounded like he should have been in a lecture hall in Cambridge as some university professor with that soft-spoken voice with what sounded like a posh British accent that smoothed out the edges of it. "John Constantine." He spat the name out like it was a curse and with the familiarity of someone who knew exactly who he was talking to. One hand came up and he began to Force Choke the wizard. "I should kill you right now." Then just as suddenly he stopped that agonizing pressure on Constantine's throat, even knowing most of his spells were verbal and he could now have one tossed in his direction.
"But I won't. I still owe you a favor." Was Maul well aware this was a different version than the one who had cursed him to feel the pain of others? Yes. Did he care? Not in the slightest. Maul repaid his debts and he had yet to repay the wizard for a good turn he'd once done the Sith Lord. So that debt remained and it had yet to be wiped out. Until that happened, he couldn't kill him.
no subject
"I don't know who you are, you wanker," he coughed out, rubbing at his throat. "But try that again and I will send you back to whatever miserable pit you crawled out of."
He summons fire to his palm, bright and intense even in the desert heat. The fire always burns hotter when he's pissed off and someone trying to kill him absolutely pisses him off.
He lets the flames die out so he can get back to what he was trying to do in the first place: escape. While he looks to be ignoring the demon that just tried to kill him John's very aware of his presence and is ready to respond if he tries that choking business again.
no subject
He circled around the wizard slowly, his usual black clothes shielding him from the worst of the desert elements. The Sith Lord explained his reasoning for his contradictory actions further. "As I said, I can't kill you until I have repaid my debt. You helped me once when I was in need and I promised to help you in return. So I remain in your service as much as I despise you." Which was a lot considering he'd put a curse on Maul that had taken over six months for him to find a way to break.
no subject
The only reason he doesn't free this bloke from his debt right then and there is because he knows it's the only thing keeping him alive. The second that debt disappears this asshole will try to kill him. John needs a bit of time to prepare for that.
"Alright, mate, that's good to know but as you can see I'm busy." He wiggles his fingers. "Need to focus."
Once he finds the right incantation he should be able to free himself from this reality but he's got a lot of magical traditions to go through.
no subject
Maul waited but eventually he got impatient. It had never been a quality he'd possessed in ample amounts. He opened his eyes to find Constantine still chanting phrases in languages Maul had never heard of. "Just what are you doing?"
no subject
Gaelic doesn't work. No Old Norse. Maybe he really does need to head south and look at desert magics. Of course, this environment is all constructed by the fox that trapped them here. It's not really a desert and arguably magic from any region should work on a constructed reality.
But it's not. John's pissed.
"I'm trying to open a doorway back home," he says without looking towards the demon that's seemingly attached himself to him. Typical of John's luck. "This is another reality just laid over our own. If the fox can drag people here, I can drag myself out."
no subject
Maul shifted his legs around, propping himself up with his hands as he continued to watch. "That is an interesting theory but probably incorrect. But by all means, continue beating your head against a wall. You're only going to dehydrate yourself with all that chanting and any route to the nearest piece of civilization is going to be quite a distance."
no subject
"Yeah? What do you know about the planes, hm?" He asks, eyebrow raised, and hands on his hips. "Did you study Blavatsky? Le Vey? Any of the old masters? Dee? Kelley? Anything?"
John doubts it. The demon's understanding of the world was very narrow minded so he doubted he understood anything about the mystical arts.
"No? When you've done the reading you can lecture me, mate."
no subject
He idly gnawed on one of his claws, a bad habit he had no intention of stopping anytime soon. "Besides, you're not going to be able to break the rules the way you're trying until you know what they are."
no subject
The rules matter in some cases but he's already got a pretty good idea of the rule here. That is no one leaves without this fox spirit's permission. John doesn't care about permission.
"Now, you're clearly more familiar with me than I am with you so why do you think anything you're saying is going to change my bloody mind?" He raises an eyebrow.
no subject
"Because occasionally you have a grain of sense in that idiotic brain of yours, though I'm hard-pressed to remember when I've ever seen it before." If bonking him on the head would have gotten through to him, he would have already given Constantine three or four lumps on his thick skull.
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