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3.0 Test Drive Meme
3.0 Test Drive Meme
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Welcome to Well! Characters arrive a little differently this month (see the first prompt). Your character arrives this month in the middle of the formless desert with only a handful of memories, clad in old west style clothes of your choosing, with no items from home.
Anyone is free to play on the TDM, but you need an invite to apply. Feel free to use these prompts, and interact with the arrival or locations. NPCs are around, but only say a certain set of phrases. TDMs can be considered game canon.
This TDM takes place from the first week of August onward, and can happen concurrently with other events during August and September. This will be the only TDM for August, September, and October.
Applications are open July 26th until August 1st, and August 27th until September 1st. Invites are available for friends of current players.
A Little Lost
Content warnings: heat exhaustion, feelings of unreality
You wake up in a sea of sand. It’s hot, and dry, and it seems to go on forever. You don’t remember much about yourself except your name and a handful of memories that most likely aren’t useful right now.
The sand slip-slides under your feet with every step. Sun beats down heavy and hot on your neck and your head. You’re so thirsty. How did you get here? How long have you been walking? Where are you headed? You can’t know. You feel like you’ve been walking forever, but the sun stays high above you, like it’s always noon. It may have been hours, it may have been mere minutes. What are those things circling in the sky above you? Vultures? That can't mean anything good.
Eventually, you find someone else, another new arrival, maybe, or a resident of the town who may have wandered a little too far into the desert. Maybe they have some water on them? Either way, company is exactly what you need right now, because there sure isn’t anything else in this desolate place. Not a cactus, not an animal, not even hints of a town.
Once you’re together, it seems a little easier to move forward. Time starts to move, too. The sun dips in the sky, your feet tread through the sand, and together, eventually you find the town.
If you take too long after you find one another, and the sun sets, be careful. Cacti sprout up closer to town, and after the sun sets, the cacti start to move, and they seem hungry for blood.
tl;dr:
You wake up in a sea of sand. It’s hot, and dry, and it seems to go on forever. You don’t remember much about yourself except your name and a handful of memories that most likely aren’t useful right now.
The sand slip-slides under your feet with every step. Sun beats down heavy and hot on your neck and your head. You’re so thirsty. How did you get here? How long have you been walking? Where are you headed? You can’t know. You feel like you’ve been walking forever, but the sun stays high above you, like it’s always noon. It may have been hours, it may have been mere minutes. What are those things circling in the sky above you? Vultures? That can't mean anything good.
Eventually, you find someone else, another new arrival, maybe, or a resident of the town who may have wandered a little too far into the desert. Maybe they have some water on them? Either way, company is exactly what you need right now, because there sure isn’t anything else in this desolate place. Not a cactus, not an animal, not even hints of a town.
Once you’re together, it seems a little easier to move forward. Time starts to move, too. The sun dips in the sky, your feet tread through the sand, and together, eventually you find the town.
If you take too long after you find one another, and the sun sets, be careful. Cacti sprout up closer to town, and after the sun sets, the cacti start to move, and they seem hungry for blood.
tl;dr:
- This time, new arrivals wake up lost in the middle of a vast desert.
- There's too much sun, too much sand, vultures circling and too little water.
- Finding each other makes time start again, and lets you find the town.
- If you don't make it back to town before nightfall, vicious living cacti appear to attack you.
Face Your Fears
Content warnings: hallucinations, reality shifts
In this town, fear soaks the hot, dry air. It lurks in shadows and the corners of rooms, waiting for their moment. What is it that you fear? Monsters? Disappointing your parents? Maybe you’re afraid that everyone you love will leave you, or that you’ll end up alone. Whatever it is, right now, there’s a chance of becoming very real.
It happens suddenly. Your mind drifts. You lose focus on what you were doing, and when you look up again, the world around you has shifted. What was a nice lunch with a new friend or a fun visit to the saloon becomes a nightmare. What fear manifests is totally up to you, and it can be different every time. The person beside you could become a monster you think is trying to attack you, or you could be suddenly alone in a cold dark space, desolate and empty.
Whatever horror your mind conjures up for you, it will feel real in all ways and with all senses including, of course, your perception of pain. As far as you know, you’re trapped in a nightmare with no way out.
Except, of course, there is a way out: you just need to figure out that it isn’t real. Maybe you’re strong enough to do that on your own; maybe you’ll need help from a friend or a new pal, reaching through the illusion to pull you back. After all, these hallucinations are entirely in the mind of the beholder: to everyone around you, it sure just looks like you’re yelling at your pancakes!
tl;dr:
In this town, fear soaks the hot, dry air. It lurks in shadows and the corners of rooms, waiting for their moment. What is it that you fear? Monsters? Disappointing your parents? Maybe you’re afraid that everyone you love will leave you, or that you’ll end up alone. Whatever it is, right now, there’s a chance of becoming very real.
It happens suddenly. Your mind drifts. You lose focus on what you were doing, and when you look up again, the world around you has shifted. What was a nice lunch with a new friend or a fun visit to the saloon becomes a nightmare. What fear manifests is totally up to you, and it can be different every time. The person beside you could become a monster you think is trying to attack you, or you could be suddenly alone in a cold dark space, desolate and empty.
Whatever horror your mind conjures up for you, it will feel real in all ways and with all senses including, of course, your perception of pain. As far as you know, you’re trapped in a nightmare with no way out.
Except, of course, there is a way out: you just need to figure out that it isn’t real. Maybe you’re strong enough to do that on your own; maybe you’ll need help from a friend or a new pal, reaching through the illusion to pull you back. After all, these hallucinations are entirely in the mind of the beholder: to everyone around you, it sure just looks like you’re yelling at your pancakes!
tl;dr:
- You start hallucinating that the things you fear most are actually happening to you.
- These fears feel like real, concrete sensory experiences, even though they're only happening in your head.
- You can escape by recognizing that what's happening isn't real, either on your own or with help.
Bullrider
Content warnings: mild bovine coercion, alcohol
Come on, hot stuff. You know you want to.
Bet you can’t stay on for more than half a minute.
You don’t look too tough.
You think you can tame me?
In the saloon, you hear a voice in your head. It calls to you, the words seductive and enticing: you want to prove it wrong, you want to find out what it’s promising, you hate to lose. Whatever the motivation, you find yourself abandoning your drink and making your way to the new attraction at the back of the saloon: the bull.
It’s a big boy: a massive mechanical bull. Covered in spotted cowhide, with a bull head and big horns, this thing sits on a massive pedestal like a challenge. Around it is spread... relatively thin padding and a flimsy rope to keep the audience back an appropriate distance.
The compulsion keeps a hold on you until you’re on the bull. Maybe you’re on it with a friend, or a stranger, and it starts up with a mechanical buzzing. It starts to sway under you, and now you have just one job: stay on.
It starts easy, but gets harder as it goes along. It’s incredibly difficult to stay on for more than a minute. But during that minute, you feel amazing. You feel hot as hell, in whatever way that works for you: sexy, powerful, bold, in control.
Until he throws you off onto the padding or into the crowd! When you get thrown, there's a good chance you'll go flying into the crowd. Hopefully they're ready to catch you!
If by some miracle you manage to stay on for more than a minute and a half, the bartender slides you a bullrider special: a spicy whiskey cocktail with a hint of lime. Feel free to leave it up to pure chance, and have the mods roll a die for you to see whether you manage to stay on or not.
tl;dr:
Come on, hot stuff. You know you want to.
Bet you can’t stay on for more than half a minute.
You don’t look too tough.
You think you can tame me?
In the saloon, you hear a voice in your head. It calls to you, the words seductive and enticing: you want to prove it wrong, you want to find out what it’s promising, you hate to lose. Whatever the motivation, you find yourself abandoning your drink and making your way to the new attraction at the back of the saloon: the bull.
It’s a big boy: a massive mechanical bull. Covered in spotted cowhide, with a bull head and big horns, this thing sits on a massive pedestal like a challenge. Around it is spread... relatively thin padding and a flimsy rope to keep the audience back an appropriate distance.
The compulsion keeps a hold on you until you’re on the bull. Maybe you’re on it with a friend, or a stranger, and it starts up with a mechanical buzzing. It starts to sway under you, and now you have just one job: stay on.
It starts easy, but gets harder as it goes along. It’s incredibly difficult to stay on for more than a minute. But during that minute, you feel amazing. You feel hot as hell, in whatever way that works for you: sexy, powerful, bold, in control.
Until he throws you off onto the padding or into the crowd! When you get thrown, there's a good chance you'll go flying into the crowd. Hopefully they're ready to catch you!
If by some miracle you manage to stay on for more than a minute and a half, the bartender slides you a bullrider special: a spicy whiskey cocktail with a hint of lime. Feel free to leave it up to pure chance, and have the mods roll a die for you to see whether you manage to stay on or not.
tl;dr:
- There's a mechanical bull in the back of the saloon!
- There's a strange deep voice in your head, coercing you into giving it a shot.
- It's hard to stay on, but when you're on it, you feel powerful, bold and in control.
- The padding's pretty thin and you'll get thrown hard when you do. You might hit someone!
- If you stay on for more than a minute and a half, you'll get a fun little drink as a reward.
no subject
She navigates toward the start of the lengthy table along the wall where the plates and utensils start the whole train.
"For other meals, you'll have to seek them out at one of the other buildings. Simple enough; there's hardly much to walk, and so long as the dust storms don't kick in or the ground doesn't give out...or the animals grow feral...or the cacti...Mm..."
She trails off, picking at a croissant.
"...Best to just be mindful of your surroundings. As a general rule, yes?"
no subject
He's not sure he can be prepared for anything - it could mean numerous scenarios that he couldn't possibly fathom. Jamie can't imagine what sort of things Cecelia has been through if she's warning him against the flora and fauna and the general state of being in a desert. He sighs, grabbing a croissant himself and looking it over in the hope that it's actually safe.
Could he trust anything here? He's not even sure he can trust himself with his lack of memory.
He frowns.
"So what happens now?"
no subject
She's walking down the array without much concern herself, picking at some fruits and moving to set the plate down before returning to fetch a kettle and cup.
"It's a lot to take in, so I advise doing so with something in your stomach for strength. Unless you've got a weak constitution, in which case...tea, perhaps? Or the cactus juice."
no subject
"It is, but I appreciate your help." He grabs his own cup. "Tea would be lovely, actually."
Tea felt right.
"The room is nice at least." The clothing he could do without but he supposes it made sense for the desert. At least it aligned with what he thought he normally would wear. "I'm not sure I trust the fact that I am a guest here, though." A pause. "I probably shouldn't."
no subject
She's rifling through the meager selection of leaves, feeling a fresh pang of worry for Mayoi. His little tea leaf plants...surely he'd return to tend to them?
She hopes so.
Once he's sat, she gestures for him to slide the cup her way so she can pour water, sliding it back his way when she's done so.
"Trusting your instincts is the right of it," she replies belatedly. "Though...you'll also want to trust the instincts of those you come to trust here, because, as you've just experienced...we can be deceived. I do wish it weren't so frustratingly vague, but that is the long and short of it."
no subject
But Cecelia did help him with a terrifying hallucination. Perhaps she had a point, and he could, at the very least, try.
"If it wasn't vague, what would be the point of being here?" He glances at the water in the cup, tilting his head. "There's something very wrong with the people who live here. I can't seem to get a straight answer out of them."
no subject
"You mean the concierge and other staff. Yes. We've confirmed they're indeed human...or human-adjacent, same as most all of us.
"...Except the centaur, I suppose. But even he is more sociable than them."
She lets that sink in, interested to gauge what kind of response that gives. You never know what is and isn't surprising to a person with limited memory.
no subject
Wait.
"Did you say centaur?" He lifts his gaze, giving her quiet a skeptical expression. "Centaurs aren't real." He knows this much -- he's used them in his writing before.
Then again, he's just now noticing she might be human-adjacent herself given her ears...
Maybe it wasn't as farfetched as it sounded.
no subject
"I'll forewarn you that you may turn into some kind of animal yourself, then...though it won't really curb the panic in the moment. Still."
no subject
It's short-lived, however, as he looks up from the slow-brewing tea and raises a brow.
"How?" He leans forward, wrapping his hands around the cup. "That seems as farfetched as the centaur." Turning into animals, that is.
That stuff only existed in fantasy, didn't it?
"Can you... change back?" If she had gone through such a change, that would certainly prove that you could but -- the thought remains in his head: what if you can't without some sort of catalyst?
no subject
Gads, she hates how much she sounds like some kind of...hag-witch giving ominous fortunes to the unsuspecting children lost in the woods or...or however those stories go. That sounds right at least.
"I wouldn't worry too much about that right now; nobody's showed signs of sprouting feathers or scales today, so it may not be on the docket. Best to take things slow, establish what feels normal...normal to your instincts. Those instincts will feed your recollections. From there...perhaps you will be able to grasp a memory and keep it.
"But don't force it should your head begin to throb; you'll find no reward in suffering."
no subject
"Tell me," he glances down at the mug again, musing lightly. "Is there a reason I don't remember much? How I got here?" Other than traversing through the desert. He definitely recalls that much. "I don't think I made this reservation."
But he can't be sure, could he? What if he did? Why would he come to this small town with strange people?
Maybe that was the reason.
no subject
"But we all come with so much missing, that much seems to be the same. It's...cruel comfort, if it can be comfort at all, but I suppose it's less horrifying to know you are not suddenly the only one with tremendous gaps in your memories."
It's easy to be trust the wrong people, be manipulated.
no subject
He sighs, lifting the tea to his lips and taking the first sip. This was certainly more complicated than he wanted it to be, but when was life easy? He leans on his elbows, contemplating what he should ask next. He feels like he has a million questions, but there was a significant lack of answers.
"What can I do to help?" Where could he start? He needs whatever information that she was willing to share, and he would start to dig.
no subject
Her eyes lift and fix on him, watching for reaction while she lifts her teabag out of the water, setting it on the saucer.
"Or if you just mean to lease yourself out to any old project, well...that depends on who you ask." Sip.
no subject
He doesn't know why he has this drive to know, but it definitely feels like this is the right path to take. Maybe it'll help him survive this strange journey that he's found himself in.
"Point me in the right direction of who I need to talk to." A pause. "Or give me a starting point and I'll start digging. Someone here has to have found a hint, a clue - something more than it just being a mystery."
And if not, he's certainly going to do his best to get to the bottom of it.
no subject
"But myself and Palamedes Sextus are working on that. He's found a way to reach out to some...other bound souls here. Unseen. Ghosts, if you will.
"Beyond that...the graveyard. So much seems to hinge on what we can learn from that place."
no subject
"I'd like to help." He says, finality in his words. "Whatever I can do to help, you have it."
He tips his head a bit. "Did you say Palamedes can... what, speak to the dead?"
Legitimately or are we talking like a phone psychic? Cause that could be an interesting endeavor if true.
no subject
no subject
He exhales out his nose as he sets down the pastry, wiping his hands off with a napkin.
"What have you tried so far? I know there are things that are used in paranormal investigations but..." Well, he can't recall what they are. "What do you plan to do next?"
no subject
"For example, asking for names yields a bunch of nonsense - likely because multiple sources seek to respond at once. Simple yes-no questions work better, but were not entirely problem-free. Yet when asking to indicate whether or not we are in this place as a trial or punishment, with distinct options to select to prove as such, the responses were very uncertain.
"I imagine getting easy philosophies onto the why or the science of how will not be easy. With this avenue, at least."
She goes quiet for a bit to eat.
"If you wish more more guidance in general, I would say study yourself first and foremost. What you know, what you infer...what may be lingering at the surface. Memory recall is sporadic, but there are some here better at it than others. Ryan, for example...I would consider him far more helpful in that regard than I."
Because he's friendly and approachable and she's...her.
no subject
He's got vague ideas of spirit boxes and Ouija boards, but nothing quite concrete to consider helpful.
"You've been helpful so far. You caught me dealing with a hallucination of sorts and helped me out of it -- I'd call that extremely helpful."
He shudders thinking about the man from earlier. His menacing approach, his malicious smile - he's grateful he was just an illusion but if he was going to haunt him here... well he wasn't looking forward to that.
"Not to say that I don't appreciate being pointed to someone else who could also assist - I do - I just don't think you should discount yourself."
no subject
"It's...mm. Well, not a full discounting. I'm far less self-deprecating of late, so there's that. I only mean to say...I archive, yes, but my analysis may not be as keen to your interests as others would be. Palamedes, Aizawa, Darin...everyone's perspectives have valuable facets, so it behooves you to speak to everyone here to paint these pictures for you.
"But that aside, once we get more than spooky omens of being trapped and demands to get out from the ghosts, I think there's other avenues to explore."
no subject
But there were names, more people that he could seek out and ask the same questions of. People who he could attempt to rely upon in the coming days, weeks, months? However long he was staying at this hotel he supposes.
"Well, here's hoping you are able to explore those other avenues."
As much as he wants to insert himself into their investigation to seek the answers he wants, she doesn't know him. He barely knows himself, who would trust him so early on?
no subject