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4.0 Test Drive Meme
4.0 Test Drive Meme
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Welcome to Well! This cycle is a little different, if you've visited us before—this TDM takes place in Well's updated setting. See the first prompt for how your characters arrive in Well. Your character arrives with only a handful of memories, clad in a mix of Old Western clothes and clothes that might fit in at a renaissance fair, and 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 November onward, and can happen concurrently with other events during November and December. This will be the only TDM for November, December, and January.
Applications are open October 27th until November 1st, and November 27th until December 1st. Invites are available for friends of current players.
Into the Maze
Content warnings: deadly traps, aggressive foliage, vines, potential drowning, spikes
You wake up surrounded by green. Thick, dark hedges as tall as two adult humans stretch all around you. They're thick, nigh-impenetrable. You don’t quite know who you are, but you’re pretty sure that here, right here? Is not where you want to be.
You’re at a crossing: paths stretch out between the hedges on four sides of you. Which path do you take?
The sprawling hedge maze is vast and complex, especially if you’re not even sure where you should be going. Along your way, you hear giggling, shouts, excited screaming, low murmurs, and, sometimes, the sound of radio static. You might see the faint outline of someone slipping around a corner, and hear them giggling, a long, white dress or robe following them as they move. But you never find whoever, or whatever, is making these noises.
If you follow them, you instead come across:
Thankfully, at these obstacles, you might find another person, equally as lost as you. They may have been following the same person. Once you join forces with each other, the way out is easier to find. Not easy, but possible. If you continue to forge on on your own, the exit will never reveal itself to you.
When you do finally stumble out of the maze, you’re greeted with the site of Wellstone.
tl;dr:
You wake up surrounded by green. Thick, dark hedges as tall as two adult humans stretch all around you. They're thick, nigh-impenetrable. You don’t quite know who you are, but you’re pretty sure that here, right here? Is not where you want to be.
You’re at a crossing: paths stretch out between the hedges on four sides of you. Which path do you take?
The sprawling hedge maze is vast and complex, especially if you’re not even sure where you should be going. Along your way, you hear giggling, shouts, excited screaming, low murmurs, and, sometimes, the sound of radio static. You might see the faint outline of someone slipping around a corner, and hear them giggling, a long, white dress or robe following them as they move. But you never find whoever, or whatever, is making these noises.
If you follow them, you instead come across:
- Thorny vines laying on the ground, or hidden in the hedges, that slowly wrap themselves around your ankles or your wrists, pulling you back, trying to subsume you into the hedge.
- A dark pond stretching clear across the path, blocking your way. You can wade into it, but when you do those voices get louder, so much louder, screaming in your ears. The bottom drops away from your feet. Strange things brush your ankles, turning into hands pulling you down into the oily water. The more you panic, the more difficult it is to get to the other side. Staying calm keeps the water at about chest height.
- Pieces of the path fallen away, down into a pit full of spiny cacti. You might not want to test this one, and instead trust yourself to jump across. It’s just short enough a gap to be scalable by most, but it sure isn’t a comfortable distance to cross. If you do fall in, boy howdy do those things hurt. You’ll need some help getting out!
- The graveyard. There’s nothing getting in your way in the graveyard, but you may simply stumble upon it. The graves are overgrown and covered in moss. The ground is moist and springy. In the middle you may find an old mossy well filled with clear water.
Thankfully, at these obstacles, you might find another person, equally as lost as you. They may have been following the same person. Once you join forces with each other, the way out is easier to find. Not easy, but possible. If you continue to forge on on your own, the exit will never reveal itself to you.
When you do finally stumble out of the maze, you’re greeted with the site of Wellstone.
tl;dr:
- You wake up lost in a hedge maze! You hear strange voices around you, and a figure dressed in white runs away from you.
- You run into obstacles: spiky vines, a deadly pond, a pit full of cacti, or the graveyard. Work with another character (or not) to escape the maze!
Welcome home
Content warnings: disorientation, feelings of being lost
When you stumble your way into the run-down old town of Wellstone, the deadly peril of the maze seems to be over. It’s cold and damp, sure, but at least you’re not in danger, and you’re in luck: up a small hill beyond some gates, you can see an ornate house with golden windows, practically beaming warmth.
Staywell Manor is a grand place, with high ceilings and exposed, ornate beams, lush carpets and tapestries, beautifully upholstered furniture. A man dressed like a butler (the old hotel receptionist, for those who’ve met him) greets you with a bland smile:
“Welcome to Wellstone. We’re so glad you’re here with us! What’s the name on your reservation?”
You remember your name, and you give it to him, and he offers you a heavy brass key. No matter the number, your room does exist in the four-story manor, and is decked out with a four-poster bed, a nice settee, and a closet full of clothes that fit you like they were made for you. They’re a strange mixture, though, a mishmash of old American Western rhinestones and denim and medieval fabrics and silhouettes in bright colors. You might find a fringed tunic dyed bright red, or a pair of cowboy boots with the toes curled up like a jester’s slippers, bell-tipped and absurd. Are those pantaloons made of denim? Weird!
While the manor is lovely and inviting, and much warmer than the outdoors, it is also pretty big. Well, it must be, because you keep getting lost! It’s incredibly difficult to find your way to your room this month. You might find your way to the wrong floor, to the parlor, to someone else's room. Remember to knock!
tl;dr:
When you stumble your way into the run-down old town of Wellstone, the deadly peril of the maze seems to be over. It’s cold and damp, sure, but at least you’re not in danger, and you’re in luck: up a small hill beyond some gates, you can see an ornate house with golden windows, practically beaming warmth.
Staywell Manor is a grand place, with high ceilings and exposed, ornate beams, lush carpets and tapestries, beautifully upholstered furniture. A man dressed like a butler (the old hotel receptionist, for those who’ve met him) greets you with a bland smile:
“Welcome to Wellstone. We’re so glad you’re here with us! What’s the name on your reservation?”
You remember your name, and you give it to him, and he offers you a heavy brass key. No matter the number, your room does exist in the four-story manor, and is decked out with a four-poster bed, a nice settee, and a closet full of clothes that fit you like they were made for you. They’re a strange mixture, though, a mishmash of old American Western rhinestones and denim and medieval fabrics and silhouettes in bright colors. You might find a fringed tunic dyed bright red, or a pair of cowboy boots with the toes curled up like a jester’s slippers, bell-tipped and absurd. Are those pantaloons made of denim? Weird!
While the manor is lovely and inviting, and much warmer than the outdoors, it is also pretty big. Well, it must be, because you keep getting lost! It’s incredibly difficult to find your way to your room this month. You might find your way to the wrong floor, to the parlor, to someone else's room. Remember to knock!
tl;dr:
- You're in the town of Wellstone, where it's cold, damp, and rainy.
- Staywell Manor is warm and inviting, but hard to navigate, and you're prone to getting lost in its halls.
Warm Your Bones
Content warnings: alcohol, intoxication, accidental consumption of blood, hallucinations of demons and shadow people
The town of Wellstone has clearly seen better days and warmer seasons. Cobblestoned streets trace their way between crumbling buildings overgrown with moss and ivy. The early-fall nip in the air is enough to make your breath fog up in front of your face. Clouds hang low and sulky over the down, spitting out little bursts of rain here and there. Wind whistles between the close-crowded buildings, blowing a few leaves and the odd tumbleweed along the damp stone.
With the heavy chill in the air and fog drifting the streets at night, thick and cold enough to creep into even the warmest clothes, it’s tempting just to stay indoors.
Luckily for everyone tired of the damp, the golden light spilling from the Cactus Pad Pub beckons. Just walking inside hits you with a blast of warmth. A fire blazes at full strength in the hearth, snapping and crackling, but more than that, every single table is set resplendently with mismatched fancy china: cups, saucers, creamers, little pots of sugar, and of course, tea, steaming and hot.
It’ll be hard to resist the urge to sit down at one of these little tables, and the moment you do, you’re stuck there for at least an hour. Truly: your butt is glued to that chair. At least there's tea, and there are cards on the table with conversation starters on them. But these conversation starters are a little, ah... odd? Comment below to get a conversation starter for you and your tablemate!
May as well have some tea while you’re here, and hope that it is in fact tea. You have a one-in-three shot. The steaming liquid in that pot might be:
Each of these effects lasts from half an hour to an hour, and longer if you drink more of whatever is in your respective pot. Once you're free from the table, if you sit down at another one, you'll be trapped there, too.
Feel free to ask the mods to roll for you to decide which teapot your character gets, and for a conversation starter, just for you!
tl;dr:
The town of Wellstone has clearly seen better days and warmer seasons. Cobblestoned streets trace their way between crumbling buildings overgrown with moss and ivy. The early-fall nip in the air is enough to make your breath fog up in front of your face. Clouds hang low and sulky over the down, spitting out little bursts of rain here and there. Wind whistles between the close-crowded buildings, blowing a few leaves and the odd tumbleweed along the damp stone.
With the heavy chill in the air and fog drifting the streets at night, thick and cold enough to creep into even the warmest clothes, it’s tempting just to stay indoors.
Luckily for everyone tired of the damp, the golden light spilling from the Cactus Pad Pub beckons. Just walking inside hits you with a blast of warmth. A fire blazes at full strength in the hearth, snapping and crackling, but more than that, every single table is set resplendently with mismatched fancy china: cups, saucers, creamers, little pots of sugar, and of course, tea, steaming and hot.
It’ll be hard to resist the urge to sit down at one of these little tables, and the moment you do, you’re stuck there for at least an hour. Truly: your butt is glued to that chair. At least there's tea, and there are cards on the table with conversation starters on them. But these conversation starters are a little, ah... odd? Comment below to get a conversation starter for you and your tablemate!
May as well have some tea while you’re here, and hope that it is in fact tea. You have a one-in-three shot. The steaming liquid in that pot might be:
- Piping hot black tea, caffeinated and bracing. Drinking it makes you energetic and exciteable and very eager to talk to your neighbors. It also makes you feel extremely fancy! Put that pinky up and use the biggest words you know to impress everyone around you.
- Dark mulled wine, spiced with ginger and cloves. Drinking it fills you with unbridled confidence bordering on arrogance. You'll feel lordly in whatever way makes sense: condescending and snotty, benevolent and patrician, whatever you might be prone to.
- Something… else. It’s dark, hot, and sweet, but there’s an odd metallic tang that sits strangely on your tongue. Whatever it is, it’s addictive. The more you drink, the stranger the world around you becomes: you’ll see faces in the shadows and glowing red in the eyes of your companions. Shadowy figures seem to haunt the walls of the pub, moving toward you. You’re filled with fear and paranoia but rooted to the spot.
Each of these effects lasts from half an hour to an hour, and longer if you drink more of whatever is in your respective pot. Once you're free from the table, if you sit down at another one, you'll be trapped there, too.
Feel free to ask the mods to roll for you to decide which teapot your character gets, and for a conversation starter, just for you!
tl;dr:
- There's a fancy tea party happening in the Cactus Pad Pub. It's sort of mandatory.
- Sitting at a table traps you at the tea party for an hour, and you'll be drinking one of three random drinks, each with different effects.
- There are conversation starters on the tables to help you get to know your fellow tea partiers!
- Tea makes you social and fancy, mulled wine makes you lordly and a bit drunk, and the last hot, sweet liquid tastes weird and makes you see demons.
- Ask the mods to roll a random teapot type for you if you'd like!
Estellise Sidos Heurassein | Tales of Vesperia
i. hedge maze
[Estelle--for her nickname is one of the few memories she's kept--doesn't mind wandering the hedge maze. She finds it quite interesting, actually, walking at a leisurely pace, looking up in wonder at the tall foliage walls. Well, with the exception of the strange sounds, but she'd like to know if there's someone else here, so she tries to follow...only to encounter the cactus pit. She stands daintily at the edge, peering over with a frown--and then hearing someone else approach, looks to see you. No matter what your appearance is, she straigtens up and asks, quite seriously-]
Excuse me, are you the gardener responsible for this?
ii. Staywell Manor
[So, she's here because she's a tourist? Or so the butler said, and that seems to make perfect sense, she supposes, so she might as well tour the building first! But, well, for some reason she can't seem to find her way to her room, or she keeps getting turned around somehow. The first non-butler person she spots will find her imploring them, with minor embarrassment:]
Um, hello! Do you, um, have a sense of direction?
iii. General Store
How interesting...
[As she peruses the wares, she suddenly lets out a little gasps and carefully lifts one of the little sword-shaped letter openers.]
Oh, how cute! But who would wield such a tiny sword? Are there little mouse knights here?
[Her face lights up at the idea--for some reason, it's just exciting!]
iv. Cactus Pad
[The warmth is inviting, and Estelle spends a moment warming her hands near the fire before settling down for some tea. And she doesn't even need to drink any to wave down anyone looking for a seat.]
Please, won't you join me? These cards are fascinating!
i
He looks at her with a slight frown, something stirring in his memory, but he can't quite place her ]
Gardener? Not me. If there is a gardener, looks like they have it out for us.
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Oh, I see...that's unfortunate. Do you know where we could find them? We should really do something about this before someone gets hurt.
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It's... I dunno. There wasn't a gardener before, but there wasn't a maze before. You, uh. You're new, right?
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[Now that she thinks about it, at least, taking another curious look around, before returning her attention to him. That must make him old--er, familiar. She gives him a small introductory bow, some ingrained habit that happens automatically.]
My name is Estellise, but please, call me Estelle.
[It's...a very important name to her, after all, even if she can't recall the reason.]
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iii
But no. He has a job to do and sense to make of this strange and crumbling town, now that he's sure Yuri is safe, and so he's going to move on and put it down and turn to the tiny swords at the same time as—
He looks up at the exclamation with a smile caught on his lips and his notebook (a little bloodstained, crumpled from his pocket, and printed with cowboys) held off-kilter in his hand. ]
Oh, how sweet. It's nice to see that if there are, they'll be well-armed. We'll simply have to hope they're the honorable kind.
[ It's... so cute and small....... he reaches to pick up one of his own, turning it over to glitter in the low light before looking back up with that smile still in place. ]
You must have recently arrived, right? Dumped into that maze?
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Honourable...? If they're knights, then surely they can't be dishonourable in the first place.
[She does not ponder whether or not mice can know honour (oh, she hopes they have some tiny shields, too, because she hasn't seen any of those...). No, instead, she tilts her head curiously. Is it so obvious that she's a recent arrival? (A...tourist, apparently?)]
I was, yes. How did you guess?
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There aren't very many of us, and I was sure I would have recognized you if you'd been here before. So far we haven't encountered any knights, mouse or otherwise, but, [ he lifts the tiny sword again, letting it flash in the light ] a few months ago a good friend of mine spent a lot of time being four inches tall, so I suppose I'll take this for him, just in case. Have you been up to the hotel yet? Um, I mean, the manor. I suppose it's... different.
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[Any potential thoughts regarding knightly honour, mouse or otherwise, are immediately banished, because--that sounds both terrifying and...adorable, actually? She can just imagine someone so tiny, holding the equally tiny sword aloft against a threatening raven... Oh, but her imagination is getting away with her a little.]
Oh, um, the manor? Yes, I was there for a short while. But, uh...I seemed...to have a little difficulty navigating...
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1 / 2
2 / 3 actually
3 / 3
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i
So needless to say she's a little out of it when she rounds the corner and finds herself face to face with Estelle. ...The pink certainly stood out in comparison to the blacks and reds that Ruby tended to wear.]
Uh- Gardener? No- I think you've got the wrong person there.
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[She gives a polite little bow, but despite her disappointment at not yet finding this mysterious gardener, coming across someone at all in such a huge maze is rather fortuitous. She's not really sure why she's here, actually, now that she thinks about it... She gives Ruby a curious glance, and asks innocently-]
Say, do you enjoy getting lost?
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[From Ruby's experience the locals in town have always been notoriously fickle. The next question does catch her by surprise.]
I have spent the last few months trying to get lost and failing miserably at it.
If you want to give it another go though, I'm game.
[This is probably too much of a shot at her mindset the last few months, but she's going to roll with it.]
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You've been...trying to get lost for that long?
[Wow. This person must be really good at mazes if she hasn't been able to get lost. In that case...Estelle holds up clasped hands, gently imploring.]
Oh, will you assist me? If it won't be too much trouble, of course... It is very interesting, but I'm afraid I'm not as much of a maze expert...probably.
[After all, she's not...really sure what she is.]
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oh no she's so cute
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CW: Depression and maybe suicide ideation going down the line.
ii.
Not really. I still don't know what island we're on!
[He thinks, his crew might, but he doesn't know how to find them when he can't remember their names or faces. It's really stupid. He'd think he might have fallen out of his ship and hit his head or something, but he's sure his crew would've helped him in that case, so maybe someone beat him up? Bah. If he finds them he's definitely going to beat them up back.]
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Island? Wow, I didn't know we were on an island at all--that forest looked like it would be difficult to navigate. Does that mean you saw the ocean somewhere?
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Huh? Isn't everywhere an island?
[Confused noises. He scratches at his cheek.]
I'm still looking for the port on this one. It's got to be somewhere.
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[She never thought of it that way before, but now she sees that he's right!]
Anyway, there's no telling how far away the port would be if we don't know the size of the island. And, um, it sounds like people like us have been trapped here for quite some time...
ii
this exact girl.
she knows this girl's face and voice.
the recognition stills her after the stiff startle at being approached, and she remains standing, staring at the girl like she were a crossword puzzle for a moment there.
but not too long - that'd be rude.
she lifts her head.]
More or less. I take it you are searching for your room? [since dining is on the main floor - which this is not.]
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Oh, but it would very rude of her not to answer the question. Sheepishly, she nods.]
Y...yes. It's, uh...turning out to be a lot more difficult than I expected. Maybe I'm not very good with large buildings like this...
[Oh, where are her manners?]
I'm Estellise, by the way. Are you also a tourist here?
[Yuri agreed it was more like kidnapping...yet the butler didn't seem like a bad person, either, even if he did keep repeating himself.]
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without missing the beat:] Cecelia. [she pauses to consider.] I'm unclear on that. I have no recollection of signing up for a visit, but many things are possible.
Where is it you mean to go?
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[Tourism should normally be rather deliberate, shouldn't it? The missing memories do make it hard to tell, though... In any case-]
I was heading for the third floor. Or that's what I've been trying to do... I just can't seem to find the stairs to the next floor.
[Her chin drops a little in mild shame. A staircase really shouldn't be so difficult to find. Is she really so hopeless at this?!]
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III
I wouldn’t put it past this place. But, I think I’ve used one of these before.
[He runs his thumb over the hilt and tucks the little blade into his pocket. It isn’t much but any weapon is a weapon.] for opening letters and packages.
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Really? It sounds dangerous to use a sword for something like that, even one as small as this.
[After a moment's consideration, though, another question pops into her head.]
Oh, if you remember that, that must mean you worked in post, yes?
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After that I was a knight for a time. [He smiles just a bit. It’s amusing that both require the same amount.] There’s a lot of paperwork involved in that too.
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[She peers at the offered blade, and--wow, it's true! There really is no edge. She's actually relieved it's not dangerous.]
You were a knight? Oh, I see! That's why you used a letter opener like this one, right? Because you must have already been proficient with a sword.
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