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4.0 Test Drive Meme
4.0 Test Drive Meme
Premise & Arrival ֍ FAQ ֍ Apply ֍ Navigation
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!
no subject
[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.]
no subject
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.]
no subject
Uh- Yeah.
[Not that kind of lost, but here she is. ...And then she sees the clasped hands and that earnest look.]
I mean- I guess. Sure.
Why not? What could possibly go wrong.
[Gosh. She knew so much could wrong here, but she wasn't going to say that right away.]
no subject
[Yes, Estelle has completely misunderstood the situation, and is all too eager to rely on her new Maze Master.]
My name is Estellise, but please feel free to call me Estelle. I'll be counting on you!
[Punctuated with a polite little bow!]
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It really left Ruby with no other option but to.]
Uh, right. You might want to take some notes while we're at this.
[And Ruby gives her a very awkward curtsy in return. See? She could be polite too.]
And I'm Ruby. Don't worry. We'll get you out of here.
oh no she's so cute
Ruby, just like the precious stone. That's such a pretty name!
[Oh, wait, Ruby said something about taking notes. Estelle searches her pockets, but unfortunately comes up empty...]
It seems I don't have any pen or paper on hand, but, um, I'll do my best to remember your lessons!
no subject
Either way she finds herself fighting off some red in her cheeks though when Estelle comes off so cheerful about her name.]
Right- Yeah- Just like the stone.
[Just not going to acknowledge it's a cute name.]
Okay. Well that's on you to remember then. I might not always be around to repeat the lessons.
[Alright. And they are off with Ruby leading the way.]
no subject
Yes, I'll do my best! You're taking the time to teach me after all, so it would only be polite.
[She hopes she can get the hang of it... She can't actually remember how she does with instructions, but surely, it can't be too difficult as long as she pays attention, right? So she is absolutely staring eagerly and raptly at Ruby, especially as they come to a crossroads.]
How should we approach this, Master?
[She's pretty sure that's the title one uses towards their teacher, right?]
no subject
Yeah. I guess you have a point there.
[Okay. Master was a little much. Ruby certainly didn't think of herself as some sort of expert. But there were better things to do then fight that at the moment. She moves toward the edge the crossroad, her back against the back of the hedge as she slides in to look down either path.]
Well lesson one is no matter what you do- Do it with confidence.
[She pokes her head out from the edge of the cross and doesn't see anything to the right. Then she pokes out and looks to the left and it seems clear too.
What she misses is a vine poking out from the hedge and wrapping around her ankle.]
no subject
Confidence... In other words, it's important to commit when you come to a decision, is that right?
[It's amazing that Ruby can be so confident here! Every path looks the same to Estelle, as she steps up alongside Ruby to check their options, as yet oblivious to the thorny tendrils capturing the other girl's ankle...until she turns and sees another vine snaking for Ruby's neck. Although briefly frozen in place in surprise, she immediately warns her-]
Ma--I mean, Ruby! Watch out for the thorns!
no subject
[She had been absolutely terrible at it since she got here. She had sworn she wasn't going to get close to anyone, keep them all at arms length. And she's been in the process of back tracking on that. But do as she says and not as she does, right.]
Wait, what?
[And as if on queue she feels the thorny vine tighten around her neck. She tries to raise her hands up to pull it free, but finds two more have managed to get her hands and keep them pinned at her sides.
Her eyes go wide and she looks to Estelle.]
Run.
no subject
[There's no hesitation in her declaration. She may not be sure what to do, exactly, but after she says it, she springs forward and starts to tug at the vines around Ruby's throat.]
Uh, um, please--please let go! I don't want to hurt you!
[Yes, she's addressing the vines.]
no subject
[The vines tighten around her throat, right up until the point where Estelle pulls on them. She takes that chance to suck in a breath.]
No. It's for the best- just go.
[It's not like Ruby could make her run. She feels the vines tug and attempt to pull her into the brush.
They're also very rude and instead of letting Ruby go like Estelle had asked, try to branch and pull at her hands too.]
no subject
[Panic properly coursing its way through her, she doubles her efforts to yank at the vines. She can't, she can't simply abandon Ruby here! They won't budge, though, and she feels a tugging at her ankle.]
Ah--please, stop! Please let go!
[No, no, no, if they pull her away from Ruby and the vines strangle her--no, that can't happen, she thinks desperately. Please don't let it, she pleads. Please stop, please don't do this, please-]
PLEASE-!
[She barely registers the plea she shouts, as her body glows and a bright wave of light emanates from her to spill over their surroundings. It may cause Ruby to feel dizzy and nauseous, though the vines loosen their grip and retract--only to squirm and twist as they swell, all nearby plants growing unnaturally large unnaturally fast, becoming a tangled mess of massive, gnarled stems.
It takes only a moment, and Estelle falls to her knees afterwards, sweat beading on her forehead and she gasps in air. What just happened? Is Ruby okay?]
I... Ruby...
no subject
She feels the vines tighten despite Estelle's attempts to pull her free. Then the light starts to emanate from the other girl and she can't do much to shield her eyes outside of closing them. A moment passes and she feels a wave of dizziness- but she also feels the vines loosen and pull away.
...She also sees Estelle on the ground and she's quick to move, sliding down to scoop the other girl up in her arms and quickly make a dash away from the vines and further down into maze.]
Don't worry. I've got you- We're getting out of here.
no subject
I think...I think I'm alright now. What about you? Are you okay?
[She looks with worry to the other girl's face, and--she gasps again, as she notices the foliage stretching much higher into the sky now than before.]
What did I...?
no subject
[There's a hint of relief in her tone as she says it. But there's a slight pause before she answers for herself for herself.]
I'm fine.
[Her tone is a bit more flat with a bit more observation it's clear that that there are still marks and little cuts on her neck from where the vines and thorns punctured and squeezed.
But she's still Running trying to put as much distance as she can between them and whatever happened. If there's one thing that can be said about her, it's that she can certainly run.]
I don't know- But it got us out of there.
no subject
[She tears her gaze from the twisted plants back to Ruby, her focus drawn to the cuts.]
Oh, no... You're injured, Ruby.
[Estelle doesn't even think, lifting a hand to gently touch Ruby's neck, but--she's not sure why. She doesn't know if there's anything she can do about them.]
no subject
[Ruby's a little preoccupied with the running that she doesn't notice Estelle's hand going to touch her neck until it's happened. And- She really doesn't know how to process any of that. She just glances down a little awkwardly.]
Don't worry about it- It's that it happened to me than you, okay?
no subject
Th--that's not true! We should treat you as soon as possible!
[Let's see--how should they go about it? What does she remember? Um...keep it clean...and bandage? Oh dear, she's not a doctor of any sort...]
no subject
No, trust me. It is.
[She slows her pace down. Finally a bit tired and maybe a little dizzy from running with Estelle in her arms.
They were still in the maze, but a fair bit of distance had been put between them and whatever Estelle had done to those vines.]
You're just going to have to trust me on that.
no subject
[She wants to argue; if there's one thing she's stubbornly against, it's agreeing that Ruby getting hurt is a good outcome of any sort. But since Ruby is hurt, Estelle changes tactics.]
Well...we're far enough away now, aren't we? Let's stop and rest.
no subject
Yeah. Just for a minute though. We should probably keep moving incase the vines get wild again.
no subject
...Thank you.
[She is grateful to Ruby for the support, and nods to her-but then her face gets serious again.]
Now, you should sit down. Please let me take a look.
no subject
As was seen by how difficult she was being about this whole situation. She gives a little roll of her eyes when Estelle asks her to sit down.]
You're really not going to let me off the hook for this? Are you?
[And like a kid. She moves to sit down on the ground. With a little huff and all.]
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CW: Depression and maybe suicide ideation going down the line.