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October-November 2024 Test Drive Meme
October-November 2024 Test Drive
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 βCurrent Character.β
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.
π¦ 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. Then you fall like a shooting star, falling to the land in a burst of starlight.
π¦ 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.
Content Warnings: Natural Disaster/Natural Disaster Relief
It seems as if the Star Children will be restricted to Amrita Academy forever, when nothing changes at the one month mark. Yet, after another week has stretched endlessly past, a morning dawns to show that the moat of Lorasses has vanished. The way is clear to discover what the chaotic storms have left behind.
Most of Folkmore's resident spirits return. Good thing Catbus is among them because the train is not operating. Debris litters the tracks throughout the land. Someone's going to have to work to clean all of that up before normal schedules can resume... within the first week or so, everyone fervently hopes.
That is far from the only wreckage from those storms. As Star Children have seen, even Amrita Academy hasn't really been spared; between the Lorasses moat and the various structures built to weather the storms, the past weeks have left a mark on the school.
The rest of Willow shows signs of extreme growth and age, as if decades, not weeks, have passed. Epiphany and Tides suffer major flood damage, and Exile is entirely soggy and saturated with a sense of sorrow. Avalanche debris covers Wintermute, and the mountains aren't in the same place. Cruel Summer is even dryer, cracked, and in part of it littered with exploded, partially melted robot parts. Never Fade may be the best off; the ground has leveled off, and only the unsecured outdoor items have crashed around or dropped off the island. In general, all regions show signs of warping.
Talaria has been outright knocked down (once again) and will need to be rebuilt (once again). The contents of Talarian homes have been thriftily saved by Thirteen (yet again). They'll be back as soon as the homes are ready to be redecorated! There's also a new elevator connecting Tides to a platform in the ocean at surface level, making it a little bit easier to get in or out of the neighborhood. Fly, swim, or use a boat from Nereid marina to reach it.
Many of the buildings throughout Folkmore, businesses and residences alike, have been damaged, some past the point of habitability. For better or worse, some residences will wait unclaimed, as their resident spirits have not returned from wherever they went while gone from Folkmore. Newly arriving Star Children (or those interested in relocating) just might find those residences awfully appealing. As with all unoccupied homes in Folkmore, they're free real estate.
Each neighborhood has a new (and structurally-sound) building near its center: a hospitality station of sorts, stocked with basic foods (to suit a variety of dietary needs, relevant to the known local residents), clean water, personal protective equipment, basic tool kits, fresh clothing, and clean linens. For those ill equipped to cook for themselves for whatever reason, there's also a canteen/soup kitchen area. The canteen tends to collect idle spirits and Star Children who might be willing to assist with any cleanup tasks too big or too complex for one person to tackle on their own.
Working with the neighbors has an additional benefit, of course: sooner or later, whether while helping clear the train tracks or fixing up someone's home or business (including a Star Child's own), shifting the debris will reveal a weathered container of some sort, locked up tight, that will only fall open at a touch if and when the right Star Child finds it. There is only one chest per Star Child. Inside, is an item from home, either that of the resident whose house/business it's found in or the one keyed to the lock. It may even be a magical item or weapon.
There's some good news as well, in the midst of all the chaos: most Star Children will find that their homes are wholly unharmed; their pets, companions, PokΓ©mon, etc. are all hale and hearty, having spent the entire time cozily asleep in their boxfoxes β which can be reused if kept, and just as easily abandoned now that they've released their occupants.
It seems as if the Star Children will be restricted to Amrita Academy forever, when nothing changes at the one month mark. Yet, after another week has stretched endlessly past, a morning dawns to show that the moat of Lorasses has vanished. The way is clear to discover what the chaotic storms have left behind.
Most of Folkmore's resident spirits return. Good thing Catbus is among them because the train is not operating. Debris litters the tracks throughout the land. Someone's going to have to work to clean all of that up before normal schedules can resume... within the first week or so, everyone fervently hopes.
That is far from the only wreckage from those storms. As Star Children have seen, even Amrita Academy hasn't really been spared; between the Lorasses moat and the various structures built to weather the storms, the past weeks have left a mark on the school.
Other regions show clear signs of the warping they have endured similarly.
- Wintermute alternated between blinding light and pitch blackness, with mountains growing and crumbling away alike. Cabins were transformed into igloos.
- Willow experienced all the seasons in a matter of days multiple times, growing crops and new trees, losing old ones, and its buildings weathered as though through decades.
- In Epiphany, the streets ran with water so high it was difficult to walk, and the buildings shifted to reflect related settings.
- Cruel Summer grew hotter and more oppressive, so that survival away from the Selkie River was impossible. On the 13th, there was an explosion, and it rained robot parts.
- Exile was swallowed entirely by the Swamp of Sorrows, leaving no dry land.
- Tides filled with water, dark deep water that could not readily be seen through.
- Never Fade became even more purple, with a thick haze that erased visibilty of borders. It also became steeper, so there was no flat ground.
The rest of Willow shows signs of extreme growth and age, as if decades, not weeks, have passed. Epiphany and Tides suffer major flood damage, and Exile is entirely soggy and saturated with a sense of sorrow. Avalanche debris covers Wintermute, and the mountains aren't in the same place. Cruel Summer is even dryer, cracked, and in part of it littered with exploded, partially melted robot parts. Never Fade may be the best off; the ground has leveled off, and only the unsecured outdoor items have crashed around or dropped off the island. In general, all regions show signs of warping.
Talaria has been outright knocked down (once again) and will need to be rebuilt (once again). The contents of Talarian homes have been thriftily saved by Thirteen (yet again). They'll be back as soon as the homes are ready to be redecorated! There's also a new elevator connecting Tides to a platform in the ocean at surface level, making it a little bit easier to get in or out of the neighborhood. Fly, swim, or use a boat from Nereid marina to reach it.
Many of the buildings throughout Folkmore, businesses and residences alike, have been damaged, some past the point of habitability. For better or worse, some residences will wait unclaimed, as their resident spirits have not returned from wherever they went while gone from Folkmore. Newly arriving Star Children (or those interested in relocating) just might find those residences awfully appealing. As with all unoccupied homes in Folkmore, they're free real estate.
Each neighborhood has a new (and structurally-sound) building near its center: a hospitality station of sorts, stocked with basic foods (to suit a variety of dietary needs, relevant to the known local residents), clean water, personal protective equipment, basic tool kits, fresh clothing, and clean linens. For those ill equipped to cook for themselves for whatever reason, there's also a canteen/soup kitchen area. The canteen tends to collect idle spirits and Star Children who might be willing to assist with any cleanup tasks too big or too complex for one person to tackle on their own.
Working with the neighbors has an additional benefit, of course: sooner or later, whether while helping clear the train tracks or fixing up someone's home or business (including a Star Child's own), shifting the debris will reveal a weathered container of some sort, locked up tight, that will only fall open at a touch if and when the right Star Child finds it. There is only one chest per Star Child. Inside, is an item from home, either that of the resident whose house/business it's found in or the one keyed to the lock. It may even be a magical item or weapon.
There's some good news as well, in the midst of all the chaos: most Star Children will find that their homes are wholly unharmed; their pets, companions, PokΓ©mon, etc. are all hale and hearty, having spent the entire time cozily asleep in their boxfoxes β which can be reused if kept, and just as easily abandoned now that they've released their occupants.
- The moat is gone! Freeeeeedom!
- The train is not operating for one week until October 27th due to debris over the tracks.
- Every region of Folkmore shows scars from the past month's extreme disturbances. Things have not reverted to before.
- Most spirits have returned; some remain absent. Claim the free real estate, if quick or bold enough.
- Hospitality stations have appeared in each neighborhood stocked with food, water, clothing, and linens.
- The canteens serve as a social hub and place to ask for/volunteer assistance.
- One time only, cleaning up or moving debris will reveal a container holding an item from home: yours or the person's you're helping.
- Most Star Children's homes will be unharmed; any damage should match the region's damage flavor. The level of destruction is up to you.
- Creatures in boxfoxes are out, fine and dandy! Boxfoxes can be kept/used again.
Offshore near Agrona Academy, there's something new. Something bewildering, maybe. Something growing. There's also something swimming up to any Star Children near the coast: a very large sea turtle, not willing to come far ashore. She's singing and chirping to get attention, in case being big enough to have a six-foot-long shell isn't quite good enough for some reason. (Or the way she has a blue-green bioluminescent glow when underwater, as becomes quite visible around dusk.)
She's happy to explain that she needs a place to lay her eggs. She doesn't have eggs to lay, just yet, but she wants to have her place all ready anyway. To that end she's busily building a brand-new island not very far from shore. It's just over there, visible once she indicates it with a flipper, barely any higher than the waves cresting around it. Here's the sad part: while she's used a great deal of cleverness in building it, from rocks and sand and bits of broken reef, she's all out of construction materials that she can reach! So she needs help: more construction material for the island.
It seems she's got a very loose definition, though, so pretty much anything that can later be covered in sand or dirt is fair game. Lucky that she wants it now. There's a perfect place todump all that debris in the ocean recycle all the debris, anything not structurally sound enough for a repair-in-place job. Bigger is probably better, too. Work together with other Star Children to haul up the big stuff. It brings more and more joy to her songs as she finds the exact place for each and every item, making her island grow bigger and bigger.
Anyone who actively participates will be rewarded five (5) spoons by the turtle directly, as a thank you for helping her to keep her eggs safe. (If anyone asks, she'll explain that it's the number of limbs she has, so she thought it was perfect!) In addition, she gives each person a smooth and shiny sea rock that fits in their palm perfectly! If the island gets big enough to be more than a sandbar, anyone who helped with the construction will find it far more welcoming than those who didn't. She isn't expecting to use anything but the beach.
She's happy to explain that she needs a place to lay her eggs. She doesn't have eggs to lay, just yet, but she wants to have her place all ready anyway. To that end she's busily building a brand-new island not very far from shore. It's just over there, visible once she indicates it with a flipper, barely any higher than the waves cresting around it. Here's the sad part: while she's used a great deal of cleverness in building it, from rocks and sand and bits of broken reef, she's all out of construction materials that she can reach! So she needs help: more construction material for the island.
It seems she's got a very loose definition, though, so pretty much anything that can later be covered in sand or dirt is fair game. Lucky that she wants it now. There's a perfect place to
Anyone who actively participates will be rewarded five (5) spoons by the turtle directly, as a thank you for helping her to keep her eggs safe. (If anyone asks, she'll explain that it's the number of limbs she has, so she thought it was perfect!) In addition, she gives each person a smooth and shiny sea rock that fits in their palm perfectly! If the island gets big enough to be more than a sandbar, anyone who helped with the construction will find it far more welcoming than those who didn't. She isn't expecting to use anything but the beach.
- A large sea turtleβwith a 6 foot in diameter shell and about 3 feet tall at the shoulderβstarts building an island off Cruel Summer.
- She needs help getting more building supplies. Bring your debris, bigger the better, here!
- All Star Children who help will be rewarded five (5) spoons and a shiny and smooth rock from underwater that fits in their recipients' palms just so.
- Star Children who help find the island more welcoming than those who didn't.
no subject
The moment she bares those teeth at him, he holds his hands up as a means to surrender and straightens up some, swallowing down the rest of his laughter. Don't piss off the demon fox, Dante. Wouldn't want to get bitten after all.
"Chill. It could be worse. You could have turned into... a worm or something." He's trying to be reassuring?
no subject
She tries to gesture at herself but her attempt to use an arm to do just that means she wobbles as she lifts a leg and her balance shifts. She snuffs indignantly and looks around wildly, hoping to god Dante didn't catch that but she knows its a completely futile hope and he definitely did.
"I am chill!" she blusters, about as unchill as one can be. "Shut up!"
no subject
"Relax," a beat, hands still up. "Or don't. Who am I to tell a woman, eben when a fox, what they can and can't do?" Nailed it. Hands coming down, he sighs then and stares to her, rubbing at the stubble there on his chin. There's a possibility Vergil might know something about this, given the amount of time he's been here, and whether or not this is a permanent sort of thing they're going to have to deal with now. Sucks, if so. Yikes.
Dropping his hand away from his chin, hands come up to rest on his waist then.
"You want me to see if they got any fox treats around here?"
no subject
The hair on her hackles, having bristled and stood on end over the course of the exchange, slowly flattens down against her shoulder blades and she closes her eyes, trying to regain some composure. She's a fox. Okay. But she's not an animal. She's a civilised devil, after all. She and Dante are both smart, they can figure this out, she can't possibly stay like this forever. At least he's being sympathetic-
...scratch that.
"You are enjoying this way too much," she growls.
She will not rise to it, she will not rise to it...
no subject
Walking back and forth some, he rubs at his chin again, eyeing her. How did she even get like this in the first place? They'd been talking about the Foxβ had the Fox done this out of spite for being badmouthed as she had been? It's possible, he thinks.
"What if you... click your little feet together three times and say there's no body like Trish?"
no subject
"What if you do it?" she replies, offering up an impressively human looking eyeroll at his suggestion. There's no body like Trish? That's just cruel. "I'm pretty sure it wasn't the little dog that got the magic powers in that movie."
Never mind that she's not a dog. The point still stands.
no subject
But, hm. This really is quite the predicament. He's never quite seen anything like this around here before and isn't sure how to go about reversing this... if that's even a thing, which? Going to keep that thought to himself, no need to cause any more panic than they have going on here as is. Again, he wonders if maybe Vergil might have some idea about this.
"Seriously though. What happens if you think about being yourself again?"
no subject
"Lady is never going to hear about this," she tells him. "Or I swear I will shed all over everything you own, don't think I won't."
But he makes a good point, maybe this is a mind over matter thing. She exhales slowly and closes her eyes. Think about being herself again.
She waits a moment. Then another.
"...I feel ridiculous."
no subject
He gives her a bit of space to do her meditation exercise there β stands all quiet and waits to see if anything happens. A tickle of the nose, a wiggle of a tail, sparkle to the fur. Nadda. That's when she gives up for a moment and he hums in contemplation.
"Would you rather feel or look ridiculous?"
no subject
"I'd prefer it if ridiculous was off the plate completely," she admits, and then, because it is ridiculous after all, she can't help but manage a little laugh at herself and the predicament. "At least I'm not something completely hideous."
And under the circumstances she's not about to offer up any alternatives in case the universe continues to laugh at her and turn her into a toad. Or a pigeon. Or a slug.
And at least she's still her enough to talk and think normally.
It's this thought that sees her body start to shift and grow gradually back into a human (technically) shape.
no subject
So he stands there. Arms crossed in front of him and just... lets her do whatever she needs to do to get this to work. After all, he doesn't want her stuck as a fox and damn well knows she doesn't want to be stuck as that either, so. It's silence from the youngest son of Sparda as he watches, brows raised some.
"Well I'll be damned."
no subject
"That makes two of us then."
You know. Devils and what not.
And with that, she laughs and looks around for her lost apple. Damn. It's covered in dirt and she's still hungry.
"Does shit like that happen often around here?"
no subject
"How am I supposed to know? I haven't even been here that long."
But hey, at least that seems to be a thing they know happens now? He hopes it's just a her thing and won't accidentally happen to him either. Granted, kind of cool, sure. But he already has a transformation he tries to keep control of when wearing it. Really doesn't need another one to worry about.
"C'mon. Let's get some grub around here. I'm starving and you dropped your apple. Tsk tsk."
no subject
And it has rattled her, suddenly losing control of her body like that. She doesn't like it one little bit. She's going to have to try to figure out how to stop that from happening again, but if it had to have happened in front of anyone, at least it was Dante. Oh he's got teasing material for months now, she knows that, but it's about as close to a 'safe' environment for it to happen in that she could ask for. And she is not asking for it to happen again anytime soon.
"So how long have you been here anyway? Tell me you've found somewhere good to eat in that time."