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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.
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[She can feel the coolness from the building as they grow near, but it looks like it's about to collapse in on itself. How scary.
Turning to look at her companion, (
and I'll go with yes because that's more fun and she's seen tree spirits in canon!) she sees him with... a spirit at his ear.. Tilting her head she watches for a moment and then finally decides to just ask.]What's that? By your ear.
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[ He doesn't know the composition of blood. It's got metals in it sure but it's got to be at least mostly water, right? Aren't humans like 70% water or something? ... His education technically cutting off at middle school is showing isn't it-
.. Oh, shit, she can see it- ]
Ah, it's a wind spirit. Using it to enhance my hearing - it's pulling in sounds from a greater distance with greater acuity.
[ Not that he hears any monsters around right now - which is a good thing? Honestly, he doesn't hear much movement or footsteps in general. ... But if she can see them - Lex mutters out another command, causing little flashes of the six or so dozen contracted lesser spirits (all about the size of a penny) around him to briefly flare up. A mix of healing, fire, water, lightning, earth, wind, shadow, and more... They buzz around him, unactivated and thus very hard for almost anyone to see unless they knew they were there, especially when not actively producing a magical effect. The multitude got back to (functionally) invisible pretty quickly. ]
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[She gives him a concerned look that he'd suggest something not only dangerous but questionable like that. But it's also something to keep in mind, because if they can't find any supplies they might... No, they won't have to resort to such drastic measures. She's sure of it.
Right?]
A wind spirit?
[She wonders if they are like tree spirits-- OH! Her thoughts are completely derailed when she sees him summon more, they are hard to see, but they are almost like fireflies around the man before just as quickly they are gone.]
That's amazing, is that your type of magic?
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The moment before then was a bigger deal. Honestly, he preens more than perhaps he should at the source of his magic being called amazing. Naturally, dangerous situation, the man holds it in, but his eyes betray him a little - they shift to a shade of green as opposed to their normal hazel. But he nods ]
Yep, spirit magic. I dabble with it - by which I mean I've gotten pretty decent at making and maintaining pacts these days.
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[A pause in thought before she shakes her head.]
Still, that's wonderful! They are so cute!
[She smiles as she walks towards the building, each step making the hairs on the back of her neck prickle and stand on end. Not that she knows why, but she feels a cold chill down her spine as they near the doors. It puts her on edge.]
I think something is inside.
1/2
[ Learn magic? Is that... a thing people can do here? He blinks at that, genuinely thrown off for a moment. He knew there was a school, but he assumed that was for cultivating existing talents. Did she have an internal mana pool? Did this shadow self thing ignore that? He-
... Too many variables, stick to the mission. ]
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[ Even so, the chill breeze coming from the building was promising. He tries to keep in front or at least next to her with every step she takes closer. He mutters again, willing water spirits to increase his visual acuity a little by straining his eyes--
... There's a soft glow in there. At least, he thinks there. There's- ]
Someone's got a light source in there. I think. Do we go in or press on?
[ His instinct is to avoid the danger, but on the other hand they're in a desert without supplies and there's clearly a chilled air inside there. It's probably ultimately safer. ]
no subject
[Her gut has never led her wrong, so she believes in what she feels very strongly. She knows that something is in there. Whether dangerous or not she's not sure, but she feels sure of what her instincts are telling her.
She pauses though, before nodding.]
I think we go in. We'll cook out here without anything. There could be water inside. Just be careful.
no subject
[ Or at least close enough he can roughly tell where she is. Lex inhales, and steps in the door. The inside of the place gives him a blast of cold air, but also... wow, this is different than he expected. There is light in the interior, but it's a pale blueish light. And this looks like- ]
... A chapel? Maybe a courthouse, I guess. [ there's bannisters at the front, low rows of benches from the way they came in, a little half-wooden fence lingering there between them. Yeah, it's pretty sparsely decorated, so probably some meeting hall or court as opposed to a chapel. Or it's a pretty limited shrine-
Of course, once Mai gets in there with him the door's vanishing behind them. So. ]
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[She says with some exasperation, but steps in behind him. If it weren't for how the lighting changes behind them, Mai would have been too distracted by the crisp cool air to notice the door vanishing. But the light vanishing from the open doorway makes her spin around.]
The... the door is gone.
[Looking around them, the place does kind of look like a chapel or courthouse, it was strange. And for the moment surprisingly empty with no discernable way out...]
I think the Fox trapped us in here... for whatever reason.
[But why?]
no subject
[ He did glance back briefly to the door, but then focused more on the room asa whole, gripping the sword hilt tighter- no creatures... no other doors? No other doors which are obviously visible anyway. If this is a courthouse or chapel there's probably some in the back which they can't clearly see right now past the pillars.
-- Nothing for it. ]
Let's move in further.
[ Which he will, indeed, start doing. ... He could totally sense that eyeroll. Shit was he being patronizing? ... Maybe. ]
no subject
[She pouts as she follows him in further, looking around, the hairs on the back of her neck was absolutely standing on end, something is here... she can feel it. Sense it...
But where? Mai looks around them carefully, unsure. That's when a door that was hard to see from where they were sings open to have a ghost float into the room--]
What...
no subject
Ghost? Spirit? Monster? - no, humanoid shape. Or at least close enough to humanoid for the standards of this world. Semi-transparent, shimmering, blue, but otherwise looks like some sort of bird-like humanoid-ish creature who is wearing a comical curly old school judge's wig. The thing opens the door and then is walking right past them towards the the central podium next to them, around one of the pillars.
Lex didn't move to attack or anything, but he is holding a defensive posture just in case. But the thing seems to just be... ignoring them. So far. ]
no subject
[She knows, even if it looks different, she knows in her bones and soul that they are looking at a ghost... one that's going about it's business as usual. Looking around them, she sees more ghost coming into the room now, more gathering and going to take seats.
There are so many and she dodges out of the way of a few as she stands there, trying to stay out of their way. She doesn't want to touch them, just in case, but she doesn't know if they know they're not dead. If they're friendly.]
no subject
[ His first instinct is to flee, but the only spot to flee is the way that "judge" just came in. They still could, but for now, he's making to hug the wall, generally just let this all play out as an audience gathers, an accused ghost (based on the position) gets to one side with a lawyer ghost, prosecution... basically, the seats start to fill out. No jury, so this must be that sort of system where the judge rules? Maybe?
He shouldn't be trying to analyze the ghosts. Thus far, they all seem to be ignoring them ]
no subject
[She follows him, skirting around the room towards the door. One ghost gets between them, not intentionally, but it seems to be moving the same way they are so that it becomes hard to stay up with the man.
Mai starts to panic a little. She's not scared, but she doesn't know how the ghosts here work... she's not sure she's seen so many in one room before.]
no subject
[ Oh man there's so many of them.
He tries to keep close to Mai. He has no idea if he can protect himself, let alone her, should it come to that. But it's good to be responsible-
Oh no, ghost between them.
At least they all seem to just be doing ghost court? That guy who went between them just scoffed and said something like "make way, make way." ]
no subject
Hi...?
[She can't tell if he's mad or not, but he's becoming increasingly frustrated with the fact she's not able to get out of his way.]
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Sorry sir, we'll find our spot.
[ He didn't know if these things were rational or not, but given it did pay attention to the girl, maybe he can talk it down.
... Hand still on the hilt of his sword though. ]
no subject
She looks around and then whispers to the man with her.]
What do we do?
no subject
[ Or just like. linger in this room and see what happens? ... His voice betrays his unfamiliarity with a situation like this even if he's also trying to seem decisive ]
no subject
[She will be decisive for them and leads the way towards the door as sneakily as possible.]
no subject
Okay let's get past the ghost lawyers and get to the door! Hopefully the next room is less crowded! ]
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Maybe Mr. Ghost will allow them?
But as she reaches up to open the door, the ghost lashes out at her!]
Eep! [SHe stumbles back, barely missing getting hit.]
no subject
[ Did he say that aloud? He did. Honestly, Lex isn't sure if anything on his person actually can hurt a ghost, but he mutters for five electrical spirits to empower his sword, sparking electrical energy through the dark blade. The gloves on his hands retard the energy from connecting with himself, but he's careful to try to hold it out but not actually touch the ghost or Mai as he issues one threat-
... It's probably foolish not to strike second, but there's so many in the room, he has to try ]
Peace, friend. We're trying to get gone.
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