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April - May 2026 Test Drive Meme
April-May 2026 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 a canon item from home, 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: Forced Relocation, Memory Sharing, Memory Loop
Shooting stars flash through the nights, and Star Children splash down into water for their arrival. They may find themselves in the Encantado or Selkie rivers, perhaps a lake in Willow, a hot spring in Wintermute, or if less lucky either the ocean or the Swamp of Sorrows. However, there is no reason to panic. Even the Swamp of Sorrows seems more to provide a warm sad hug than immediate sinking under the water. The water then reacts to Star Children's emotions and desires. Wish to swim to shore? It will oblige (or transport someone from the ocean to another more shore-bound body of water). Want to swim underwater to explore the bottom without drowning? It will oblige that too.
Schools of small fish will greet Star Children as friends and work together to bring watertight bags to them as they make their way out of the water. These bags contain fresh sets of clothes, food from the sea, and a set of comfortable sandals. They're Star Children's to keep! The fish can also swim through the air, and they're happy to guide Star Children around… or just hang out and be friends.
It's wet season in Folkmore. There's regular rain. At best there might be a drizzle. Other times it pours so hard it soaks through any clothing. That's not all. The rain, like the bodies of water, can sweep Star Children away to other parts of Folkmore. It brings people to areas that resonate with their emotions. Sad or regretful? Welcome to the Swamp of Sorrows. Often, the Star Child's ideas about Folkmore, environments, and more dictate where they end up. The rain itself may even wash people away to those places.
The truth is, Star Children need those showers. Negative emotions, especially grudges or regrets, turn into literal grime. This grime coats Star Children's homes and leaves other places they visit a bit grungy. Over time, the sweat, dirt, and grime surrounds Star Children in auras of uncleanliness. Showers, bathing, and swimming all help, but they don't get to the root of the problem: the emotional or interpersonal issues creating the grime in the first place. Nor do any cleaning supplies or magic keep a home clean. There are two ways to fix this problem.
Star Children can get sucked into a bubble of water with someone they have an issue with (grudge, regret, etc) or someone similar to that person. It can happen willingly or get helped along by those schools of fish pushing people together. Once in the water, Star Children will find themselves reliving a related memory. They need to find a better ending, one that resolves the problem, to get out, feel relief, find themselves clean, and come face to face one time with a fish offering a box with an item from home. The item may be a weapon or magical item. If one time through the memory doesn't work, the memory will loop again. Solve the problem or earn enough Lore together to pop that memory bubble.
Alternatively, Star Children can help each other clean up their spaces. Use soap, cleaning chemicals, magic, or elbow grease. Even rainwater will work. It takes conversation or otherwise airing out those issues. As befits Folkmore, related photos will start popping up: on the walls, in albums, in a locket, however! These photos will show memories that can be altered to show other ways those moments could have gone as people work through the problem. Once it's worked through, one time a box with the helper's name will appear. It will not open until the Star Children complete the same process at the other house. Then they can exchange gifts and receive an item from home. The item may be a weapon or magical item.
Shooting stars flash through the nights, and Star Children splash down into water for their arrival. They may find themselves in the Encantado or Selkie rivers, perhaps a lake in Willow, a hot spring in Wintermute, or if less lucky either the ocean or the Swamp of Sorrows. However, there is no reason to panic. Even the Swamp of Sorrows seems more to provide a warm sad hug than immediate sinking under the water. The water then reacts to Star Children's emotions and desires. Wish to swim to shore? It will oblige (or transport someone from the ocean to another more shore-bound body of water). Want to swim underwater to explore the bottom without drowning? It will oblige that too.
Schools of small fish will greet Star Children as friends and work together to bring watertight bags to them as they make their way out of the water. These bags contain fresh sets of clothes, food from the sea, and a set of comfortable sandals. They're Star Children's to keep! The fish can also swim through the air, and they're happy to guide Star Children around… or just hang out and be friends.
It's wet season in Folkmore. There's regular rain. At best there might be a drizzle. Other times it pours so hard it soaks through any clothing. That's not all. The rain, like the bodies of water, can sweep Star Children away to other parts of Folkmore. It brings people to areas that resonate with their emotions. Sad or regretful? Welcome to the Swamp of Sorrows. Often, the Star Child's ideas about Folkmore, environments, and more dictate where they end up. The rain itself may even wash people away to those places.
The truth is, Star Children need those showers. Negative emotions, especially grudges or regrets, turn into literal grime. This grime coats Star Children's homes and leaves other places they visit a bit grungy. Over time, the sweat, dirt, and grime surrounds Star Children in auras of uncleanliness. Showers, bathing, and swimming all help, but they don't get to the root of the problem: the emotional or interpersonal issues creating the grime in the first place. Nor do any cleaning supplies or magic keep a home clean. There are two ways to fix this problem.
Star Children can get sucked into a bubble of water with someone they have an issue with (grudge, regret, etc) or someone similar to that person. It can happen willingly or get helped along by those schools of fish pushing people together. Once in the water, Star Children will find themselves reliving a related memory. They need to find a better ending, one that resolves the problem, to get out, feel relief, find themselves clean, and come face to face one time with a fish offering a box with an item from home. The item may be a weapon or magical item. If one time through the memory doesn't work, the memory will loop again. Solve the problem or earn enough Lore together to pop that memory bubble.
Alternatively, Star Children can help each other clean up their spaces. Use soap, cleaning chemicals, magic, or elbow grease. Even rainwater will work. It takes conversation or otherwise airing out those issues. As befits Folkmore, related photos will start popping up: on the walls, in albums, in a locket, however! These photos will show memories that can be altered to show other ways those moments could have gone as people work through the problem. Once it's worked through, one time a box with the helper's name will appear. It will not open until the Star Children complete the same process at the other house. Then they can exchange gifts and receive an item from home. The item may be a weapon or magical item.
- Star Children arrive/land in some body of water. Even if far from shore, wishing to get there will have the water helping.
- Schools of small fish give waterproof bags of clothes, food, & sandals. They can also swim through the air.
- It's raining. A lot. The rain can also transport people, just like the water.
- Star Children & their homes get grimy due to emotional issues: grudges, regrets, etc. Get clean through one of two ways: relive a related memory in a loop with someone until finding a better ending (or earning enough Lore to get out); or clean homes together, where photos showing memories will pop up (cleaning goes both ways).
- Either solution will get a box with an item from home, though cleaning gets your helper's box. Then Star Children have to help in return. The item may be a weapon or magical item.
Content Warnings: Flooding/Environmental Hazards
Front and center on every Relic is a new icon: a crying-raincloud emoji, looking utterly heartbroken. Any curiosity at all will prompt a (blessedly quiet) siren and an alert of an INCIPIENT FLASH FLOOD Warning In Effect!! … even if there doesn't seem to be much clarity as to just how incipient any flooding might be. There's a list of actions to take in preparation, though, prioritized according to where a Star Child might be when taking a look:
Front and center on every Relic is a new icon: a crying-raincloud emoji, looking utterly heartbroken. Any curiosity at all will prompt a (blessedly quiet) siren and an alert of an INCIPIENT FLASH FLOOD Warning In Effect!! … even if there doesn't seem to be much clarity as to just how incipient any flooding might be. There's a list of actions to take in preparation, though, prioritized according to where a Star Child might be when taking a look:
- In Talaria, all those tiny houses deserve a chance not to be flooded out for once! Come join the construction brigade, and show support for Baba Yaga at the same time: this idea has legs, and soon enough the houses will as well! Or stilts, if chicken feet don't suit the rest of the house's decor. Don't worry, they'll crouch for accessibility whenever the floodwaters haven't risen. (And any houses that aren't altered will still have the standard treatment – Thirteen will store all belongings safely until a new or dried-out home is claimed, eventually.)
- In Cruel Summer, a new fighting arena is being dug out of the sand, because that sand needs to be put in bags. (That, or a new arena was due to be dug out of the sand, and the sand might as well go into bags to be hauled out of the way.) It turns out that sandbags are actually pretty heavy. They need to be hauled out of Cruel Summer anyway, to get to all the places they need to go; working in teams, or at least pairs, sure does seem to make them lighter and easier to haul!
- In Willow, Exile, and Cruel Summer, along the banks of all of Folkmore's rivers, teams are working together to stack those sandbags deep and high, to build up the depth of the riverbeds and keep the floodwaters from overflowing those banks. Populated areas are probably the most at-risk, but given the way all the unpopulated areas seem to have shrunk down so much, it's probably wiser just to stack 'em up all the way along.
- The docks in Nereid are a slightly different story. Houseboats float, after all, so who cares about a little flooding! Right? Wait, no, spirits keep sharing cheerfully ghastly stories of places houseboats have ended up following past floods, and that sounds just awful. (Who wants to move a houseboat back to the docks from the middle of the desert?!) It's the docks themselves that need the work, with new ropes getting twisted and braided (as there seems to be a shortage, with previous supplies all used up) to anchor the docks to the shore, and new floats attached to the underside of the docks to allow houseboat residents a safe way back to land if the water levels are still high. Firming up the attachments of the houseboats to the docks would be a neighborly thing to do as well.
- Flood warning pops up on everyone's relics. There's work to do!
- Help Talaria little houses get legs (or stilts), so they don't flood.
- Dig out a new arena in Cruel Summer, putting that sand in bags to shore up riverbanks.
- Stack up the sandbags from Cruel Summer so the riverbanks don't floor into Folkmore. Can be in Willow, Exile, or Cruel Summer.
- Attach houseboats to the docks, so they don't wind up somewhere else around Folkmore!
- Once the work's done, enjoy a communal meal and receive a glass bottle full of decorative colorful sand. Paying attention to it will provide a feeling of community. It's nice.