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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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"My brother is here," he said simply. "He is far greater than I and always has been." He wasn't certain how Maul would take to Nightsisters; their experiences with them would always be very different given how they had both grown up. "I have my doubts that any Sisters would wish to hear any words from my lips, least of all talk about matters that shouldn't be mine to tell." He shrugged his shoulders all the same. "But if you are gone, I will pass on your message."
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"I've met Maul, he came to my aid when I arrived, and took me to meet our sister Merrin." Her eyes narrowed at the flames, daring to try to circumvent their progress. "If you tell them I have left a message, not just a Sister but use my name, they should be willing to listen." It would have been a desperate message but then: it was.
"Coming from what I've seen, all our Brothers have value. We are all of Dathomir. We have our place in society, of course, but all are valued, important for our people."
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He nodded his head to her mention of his elder brother. "I've heard speak of Sister Merrin, but I haven't met her personally." He considered the idea of running across more Sisters to be a dangerous prospect, but Maul held a different opinion on the matter. His brother had the confidence of a lack of formal education on how many Nightsisters kept their male counterparts in line. "But my brother is more than capable." Savage would always be Maul's best wingman. "I will provide your message to any of our kin should you disappear, Sister."
He nodded his head in agreement, aware he had value, limited though it may be in the eyes of some. His mate had thought very little of him once he had failed her, and he expected that there would be limitations to these Nightsister's patience for failure as well. "I am a warrior, and I should be used as such, Sister. However, as you see fit with me."
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"I would not rest, once I knew of her existence. She is talented and beautiful. And so strong." She had been a little demanding of Maul over it even, but she thought it was understandable under the circumstances. "She is also from Mother Talzin's clan." Morgan was aware why a Nightbrother might shy away, some of the older Sisters were incredibly demanding and heavy-handed with their mates, needing to prove themselves to their full blooded kin. Morgan hadn't minded one way or the other her youth. Now, she found such behavior weak and insecure. Once a Mate was claimed, if you needed to bring him to line with such treatment, return him and find another.
That belief may also come from their people being so preciously few, wasting their bodies was aiding Grievious. At his vow, she patted his arm approvingly. "Good."
"I've had to be my own warrior since Grievous attacked our home. But I am not blind to certain prejudices others have regarding sex and size. Right now, I want to find the rest of our kin. Later...I may have need someone larger to quell violence." If she was injured and needed something handled... she would sort out later.
But even the most alien-hating of the Empire would not be likely to challenge her Brother, for his size and appearance.
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"So you will form a clan together?" They might be of different clan Mothers, but did that matter anymore? There were so few of them left that it seemed beneficial to bring their talents together. After all, he had Maul, so the Sisters should have each other. "Good. Mother Talzin's coven was very talented, so it seems fitting it survive too." Likely not for long; he'd heard Merrin chose a human mate, and he respected it to a degree.
He nodded his head at the information she provided freely of herself. All women were fierce and talented warriors that he had met. He stared at her, not unsurprised that his sheer size would be used. At seven-foot, two-inches, he towered over almost everyone, and while his reputation for violence wasn't yet know, it would be soon enough. "Those who underestimate a Sister deserve to die," he said simply. "My brother has me serve a similar function in negotiations."
Wait, was he agreeing to be her bodyguard? He actually didn't know if she was asking or demanding that of him.
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"I would like to, but we haven't come to an agreement yet." Morgan couldn't even pretend to be upset over it, but she was frustrated. "Yes, and as I prove, having a human father doesn't mean one cannot be Nightkin." They would have to make Ichor or obtain some somehow but it was possible - and she was no slouch when it came to Magick, so she wasn't overly worried.
"They do," that was an easy agreement, "But there might not always be time for a fight, so quickly cowing someone is handy." She was glad she wasn't going to have to push the issue of him being used as a threat when needed.
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"I see. That politics is beyond me," he said simply, shrugging his shoulders. Politics and negotiation were for the people smarter than him, and he was perfectly fine with that. Maul had proven to be vicious and logical after all, and he expected any inter-clan politics between Sisters would have similar nuances. "He had strength to provide a daughter to the clans." Maybe he hadn't been killed for it too!
"If they know what's good for them, they will keep the negotiations going forward. Removing their heads is the alternative." A very successful alternative he had found. The powerful Black Sun had faltered with a single stroke and the Pykes had given in after news spread. The latter was the smart ones.
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"Mother trained me in them, so I had no choice." Not that she minded, but it wasn't a talent that had come naturally to her. She and Merrin had to come to an understanding, but she was fairly sure that in the end, having another Sister around would win out. "He did. Although I can't say I have ever been curious about him or his fate. He wasn't one of them, after all.
"And that is why you would be such an asscet in these cases." It's fond, someone other than a Nightbrother would get a lecture, but no, she'd always give a fellow Nightkin far more leeway than anyone else.
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He blinked when she called him an asset. It was true, but no one other than his brother had ever said as much to him since he had been removed from his home and transformed. He shifted his weight where he stood at the apparent fondness in her tone. “Do you… require me to act in such a function for you here, Sister?”
He almost defaulted to suggesting Maul, but when it came to size and height, he did overtake his brother on such factors. Perhaps his potential was more than he had anticipated?
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She was still muling over such foolishness when Savage shifted and she inclined her head just a fraction, giving him more atten5 than her inner thoughts. "I require you to be willing. Things may not come to such measures, but that is doubtful." While it was an order, it was given without bite. Threats she believed, were best reserved for Others - there were too few of them to afford to squabble or needless cruelty between them.
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He opened his mouth to rebut about Maul then closed it wisely. She was correct in a sense, and yet Mother Talzin had invested considerable time and effort to find her eldest son. "My brother had the strongest blood and the rarest colouration..." he said softly. "I dare not speak on Mother Talzin's motivations or plans...." She hadn't been unnecessarily cruel to him, but he knew he was a means to an end.
Willing, hmm? It sounded like an order, which meant his actual willingness may not be required but strongly encouraged. "As you say, Sister." Yet, he had a single boundary he was willing to be punished for. "Unless you order me to go against my brother." He dropped his eyes aside, deferent.
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"I can completely agree on his coloring. One of my older sisters had a boy with deep orange coloring and there was much fuss." He would have been seven or so when Grievous came - she had no idea what happened to him. "Honestly we were all surprised she had a boy at all, her other two were girls." That memory comes only with pain, she was close to both Sisters, and they were all about the same age. One had fallen beside her, and she'd found the other's body later.
"I won't ask you to go against your brother or our Sister Merrin. We need each other." That she can, will, vow.
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"Maul is the only red male of our generation I expect," he remarked. The mention of deep orange colouring reminded him of his younger brother, and that thought brought a small grimace to his lips. He hadn't thought much of Feral these last months. "He is most likely dead, especially if the Nightbrother village was located." It was a fact of life and death. They would have returned to the Ichor to feast with the Fanged God. "The loss of Dathomir affects you greatly, Sister."
He nodded his head, relieved and taking her at her word. "Need each other for what? To conquer this place?"
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"No, not this place. Let Thirteen have it. We have a home, we should retake it. Here we have the ability to gather in numbers and strength, with the opportunity to gain more strength. Numbers we do not have. But leave that to me." She would need time, but she could formulate several plans to gain their numbers, and would need to.
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He nodded his head and said nothing to disagree. He had come to discover his potential, and if that had to happen here and not on Dathomir, he would gladly do so. This was his chance; Mother Talzin and the Coven had made him so he could be whatever was necessary, but it was up to him to discover the limits - if any - of this blessed curse. "As you wish, Sister. My brother will also be gathering allies to suit his pursuits."
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"I am thinking less of allies and more of ways to recover our numbers but if our Brother has allies, they will be most welcome."
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"Brother always carves out allies. Everyone is greedy for something," he said simply. He didn't hold out much hope that other Nightkin would arrive to add to their number. It seemed too good to be true to know so many existed here in this place already.
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"From what the galaxy has whispered, he indeed is gifted in such regards." Which was important, and needed. She didn't know if more would appear here, but she knew more could be made. Which was equally important.
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"He is. Hence why you should do better to speak to him over myself," he said simply. He did not have the skills of his brother, but he had also come here to develop his own on a path that he chose. Perhaps this Sister and his brother could find a fruitful alliance.
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It takes her a moment to pull herself together, to cool herself to present. Still at Savage's words, she patted his bicep, "Do not discount your talents Brother, especially with so few of us currently, all our talents are precious."
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Her passions are warranted; it is in their blood to be roused by such fights, to seek knowledge and power. He didn't dare touch her in return, but his gaze fell to where her hand continued contact with his arm. "I can see why others would follow you, Sister."
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Maybe he thought he would need to prove himself to back up such a claim. He would.
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"Some may have those feelings but with so few of us, there is less Magick to draw on. And we will have fewer without our Brothers alive." But she too believed they were mostly stories told to keep especially male kits in line.
"Good. Tell me Brother, have you hear takes of Purrgils, the giant space beast which roam the hyperlinks as the edges of known space?" The oldest tales, ones she had thought were just cradle stories.
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"The Force is everywhere Sister, though perhaps not as the Ichor of our own planet produces. We are strongest at home, so... do you think these temples beyond our stars will have the same potency as Dathomir?" For him, he drew on the Force whenever and however he wanted, but the Ichor was important to their people to contain their spirits and allow them feasting. "You... have chosen a mate, Sister?" He asked very, very tentatively.
He tilted his head at the strange name, considering before shaking it in a negative. "No, Sister. Are they important to your cause?"
[OOC: SPACE WHALES!!!]
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