wellcome | 5.0 Test Drive Meme

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5.0 Test Drive Meme

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Welcome to Well! 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 February onward, and can happen concurrently with other events during February and March. This will be the only TDM for February, March, and April.

Applications are open January 27th until February 1st, and February 24th until March 1st. Invites are available for friends of current players.

Arrival: Six Feet Under

Content warnings: graves, being buried alive

You wake up in the ground. The hole you're in fits your body nicely. Just as you wake up, dirt spatters onto your face, into your eyes and mouth. Maybe that's what woke you up. Before you've had a chance to clear it, more dirt drops onto your body from above, again and again, in a grim rhythm. Until you get out of there it won't stop.

Unfortunately, you're six feet deep. You might want a hand.

More unfortunately, you won't get one from the person with the shovel. The gravedigger, silhouetted in black against the sky above you, will continue to shovel dirt onto you while you try to escape. Once you're out, she loses all interest and moves on to the next grave. She doesn't acknowledge you in any way.

Above the grave is a headstone: your own. It says your name and it might have your birthdate. The death date is unreadable. There may be an epitaph about your life. It doesn't look new. In fact, it looks as old and worn as the rest of the graveyard. Other open graves are scattered around in this graveyard, and other people are climbing up out of them, too. Maybe you want to lend them a hand, or maybe you want to get out of here as fast as possible.

A mossy wrought-iron gate leads out into greenery.

Now that you're out, you need to find your way... somewhere. Not here.

For current players, you're welcome to have your character wake up for the cycle like this.

tl;dr:

You wake up in your own grave! Someone's burying you alive! Better get out of there.

The only way out

Content warnings: being eaten alive, carnivorous flowers, intoxication

The graveyard is in the middle of the maze: a sprawling hedge maze on the outskirts of Wellstone town. The ground is soft with recent rain, and the hedges are just blooming green like it's early spring. Your shoes squelch in the muck.

It starts easily enough. As you make your way deeper, though, you'll start run into things that make the maze… harder. Gigantic flowers block the way down one path, and they titter together as you get close, swaying and moving in ways that flowers shouldn't. If you do get too close, a flower lurches forward and snaps its petals around you like jaws. Are those teeth?! They're like foot-long cactus spines, sharp and deadly. You might want to get out of there, and fast. The teeth hurt, and the inside of the flower isn't a cakewalk either. It hurts your skin, and if you're in there too long, your skin may start to burn off.

Down another path are more flowers. These are smaller, and oddly fleshy in color and scent. At the center of each flower is an eye. Some of them seem familiar, although you can't figure out why. As you pass, the eyes roll, following you closely. If you make eye contact and any of these flowers, you feel a chilling wave of fear that roots you to the spot. Your stuck in its gaze, staring back at it as it stares impassively at you. You have the horrible feeling that if you stay here, something awful will happen. It grows worse and worse, more acute, but no matter how strong that fear, you can't move your feet. Someone, or something, has to break your eye contact with the flower.

At a final turn in the maze, the sweet, soft scent of lilacs fills the air. You're sure that scent means you've found the end, and that you should follow it. Naturally, it doesn't. It leads to a dead end. Again. This one, at least, is beautiful: it's a little meadow surrounded by hedges, blooming in lilacs and lavender and little purple-headed poppies. The scent is heady and overwhelming. It fills you up. It settles into your head like a haze, making it hard to focus. It seems like an amazing idea to just… stay here. Lie down, maybe, among all those nice flowers. Just for a little while, you tell yourself.

Only, it may be more than a little while. The longer you sleep in this lovely little meadow, the more vines and flowers will grow over and around your body. Eventually, they'll make their way into your nose, your ears, your mouth and start to pull you down into the soft earth. Someone's going to have to wake you up and get those vines off unless you want to stay in this maze forever!

When at last you find your way out of the maze, past the treacherous flowers, you set your sights on Wellstone: a town in the first bloom of spring, a light mist making everything dewy and bright.

tl;dr:

After you leave the cemetery, you find yourself in the maze. There are flowers that are obstacles along your way.
There are large, flesh-eating flowers full of teeth that want to eat you.
There are fleshy flowers with eyes in the middle that, if you meet their gaze, hold you with fear.
There are lilacs that lull you and make you want to lie down and take a nap. If you do, vines will wrap you up, making it very difficult to get out.
Once you make it through all the obstacles, you can make it out of the maze into Wellstone.

Scent of death

Content warnings: bad smells, potential for body horror

It isn't just the maze blooming with the coming of spring: Wellstone itself has burst into bloom. It seems that everywhere you look, flowers have invaded the town. Sweet snowdrops poke their heads up between cobblestones. Violets wink from shadowed corners. Morning glories climb walls and line windows. They all smell wonderful, good enough to make you want to bend down and take a good, long sniff.

Except for one. Blooming in the courtyard of the Staywell, just in front of the door in a little garden circle, is a corpse flower. The flower is massive: over three meters tall, giant stamen thrusting up to the sky with frilly red leaves around its base.

It's hard to avoid the flower: any time anyone opens the door to the courtyard, the scent enters the lobby, the parlor, the cafeteria. It seems to permeate the Staywell at random times. And the scent is strange: if you try to talk to anyone about it, they don't agree with you on how it smells. And they won't agree on how it affects you.

Smelling the corpse flower makes you feel a little... strange. Its effects vary by person, and even when a person smells it more than once, the effect might change. At first you feel a rush of disgust, then nausea, then--well.

When you smell the corpse flower, you might smell:

The most delicious thing you can imagine. You're suddenly extremely hungry and feel compelled to eat as much as possible.
The most wonderful, nostalgic scent. You feel compelled to proclaim your loyalty and friendship to the next person you see.
The most relaxing thing. Your body feels loose and relaxed and you feel at peace. You want to spread the love and feel compelled to get everyone else around you to chill the fuck out.
Sugary sweetness. You feel an intense draw of affection toward the people around you and feel compelled to compliment them in increasingly over the top ways.
The scent of raw, rotting meat. Everything around you suddenly look strangely... meaty. Is that chair made of meat? That wall? You're very acutely aware that you are made of meat, and that everyone around you is made of meat.
The smell of death. You feel a horrible, creeping sense of guilt and feel compelled to confess something awful you do or do not remember doing to the next person you see.

Comment below if you'd like a random smell (or feel free to select for yourself). Effects last anywhere from half an hour to an hour. Characters can experience different effects throughout the TDM. The corpse flower will be in bloom the first week of February and the first week of March, and closed the rest of the time.

tl;dr:

There's a corpse flower blooming in the courtyard of the Staywell.
When you smell its scent, you'll smell a scent that makes you do--something! Select from the list what you'd like to happen, or comment below for a random effect.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Yes, the greatest bards of our time will sing my praises. [ He waves a hand vaguely with a cold smile. He's not sure how he feels about the new title ]

You are just a slight of a thing. Not meant for this sort of roughing it, are you?

[ Alec throws up his hands in theatrical exasperation. ]

Thank you.

[ Finally, someone is saying it. Even if it's some really committing to the old timey bit. (Alec will have to remember that 'greatest bards of our time' thing for later. That's a good one.) ]

No offense to the rugged, outdoorsy types? But this shit sucks. All the evil plants want you dead, the weird animals in the forest want you dead, the air wants you dead, and every time we wake up we have to go on a hike?

[ He suffers immensely. ]

[ Astarion feels exactly how Alec looks right now, and nods along with his tirade. Is that truly what he has to look forward to here? ]

A hike in the morning is a fanciful thought. A dream of those who have never been forced to do it.

[ How foolish those people are. Astarion is stuck on imagining their pained realization at how what they had wished for was truly a terrible fate when he smells something tempting down the next fork in the road. He turns his head toward it and starts moving without quite meaning to. ]

This is interesting.

[ Alec has to stop short to pivot to follow Astarion, but he does it without an initial question. There's no reason not to, since every direction is pretty much as good as the next until they hit a dead end. ]

What's interesting?

[ He asks, interestedly. If Astarion is willing to indulge Alec's bitching, he can indulge his curiosity. Tit for tat, and all. ]

Don't you smell that? It's... sweet. [ Welcoming, even. He walks toward it, and finds himself in a meadow of flowers, which for once in this maze don't seem to want to eat him ]

Oh. Well, that is certainly a change.

[ Alec breathes deep, and there it is. He's not surprised someone else caught it first. His situational awareness is more about people than it is about things.

In the meadow, he looks around curiously, blinking at the variety of purple flowers, breaking them down into shades by absent habit. It's hard to actually make any of the colours he sees with the tools he has, but thinking about it doesn't hurt. ]

Think they're poisonous? [ He asks, conversationally. ] Bet you they're poisonous.

[ And, as if to test this, he stoops and touches a petal with the slightest edge of his fingertip. ]

They might be. Don't-- [ He starts, but Alec is already touching the flower ] touch.

[ He lets out a sigh, but he also sort of wants to go in to see the flowers. They are very nice, and smell very nice, and don't they deserve a reprieve after they morning they've had? ]

Be wary. I need you as bait if those flesh eating flowers return.

[ Alec rubs his fingers together. Nothing bad seems to happen. ]

If I get poisoned, you can drag me around and throw me at them. [ Placidly. ] Maybe they'd die.

[ He's not a hundred percent sure Astarion could drag him around, but it wouldn't be his problem, since he'd be dead. ]

I think they're not going to kill us instantly, so. [ He sweeps his arm out at the field. ] Onward, I guess.

[ It's not a bad thought, although Astarion, even if he could, doesn't want to be hefting a body around. He wonders briefly if he would be poisoned if he drank the blood of someone who was poisoned, then moves along with his thoughts.

He heads further into the clearing ]

Is this familiar? A waypoint toward the exit?

[ He feels a bit dizzy, happy dizzy, and wants to follow that feeling, pressing deeper into the field ]

I've never seen it before.

[ Alec takes his time going forward, examining their surroundings with increasing calm. It's a significant step up from most of what he's had to deal with since he woke up in his grave, again, with a fresh shovelful of dirt on his face.

He should've brought the gravedigger. She'd have come in handy. If he'd known he was going to run into somebody practical, he probably would've done it. ]

It's nice, though.

[ He says, with a note of the mildest surprise. Things are so rarely just nice. ]

[ Astarion walks with him, surveying the clearing with the dim haziness of intoxication settling over him. It is nice, as Alec says. It's nice, and makes him feel like he hasn't in a very long time, and he sort of wants to lie down and--

He snaps out a hand to grab Alec's shoulder, wrenching his mind out of this state as best he can ]

It's a trap.

[ He's not quite sure how he's so certain, but in that moment is he very certain, and he pulls Alec back with no small amount of strength ]

Best we leave this alone.

[ Alec goes pliant when Astarion grabs his shoulder, and that's how he knows Astarion is right. The realization burns through the violet haze with a jolt of sparking irritation. ]

Fuck.

[ He scowls as he grabs the collar of his shirt and pulls it up over his nose and mouth, for all the good it might or might not do.

He doesn't argue, and he doesn't try to lead. He lets Astarion steer him as far as he wants to take it, then follows him the rest of the way out. ]

[ Astarion doesn't hold onto him once he starts moving, and leads Alec back to the last fork, muttering under his breath ]

Traps. Flower traps! The magic here is strange. Very strange. Trying to suck us in with lilacs.

[ At least they make it back to the fork without the flowers trying to suck him in again. Probably because he's so annoyed at the lilacs now. ]

Well, only one way to go, then. [ And he turns decidedly in the direction they did not come in ]

[ Alec yanks his collar down and straightens out his shirt once they're clear, which is a pretty sorry sight considering the state it's in. The residual clinging calm of the lilacs doesn't help his attitude. ]

Yeah. You're gonna want to watch out for that.

[ There's a thin trace of bitterness under the mild indifference of his words. ]

The only thing this place loves more than being a general mindfuck is being a specific mindfuck.

[ He heads off in the remaining direction, disgruntled and rumpled. ]

I preferred the ones trying to eat us. At least being eaten makes sense.

Yes, yes, it seems that we are in some sort of world where we are the playthings.

[ Somehow this feels very familiar, and something in Astarion rears up against it like a caged lion. His lip curls ]

Are you often at risk of being eaten? Or lulled into slumber? Or being buried alive? What other nightmares should I be prepared for?

[ Alec appreciates Astarion's attitude not improving. The guy has a sensible head on his shoulders. ]

Pretty often.

[ He shrugs, reaching out to touch one of the hedges absently as they turn another corner. ]

The memory stuff is probably the worst for most people. This place is big on sharing. So whatever the worst things that ever happened to you are, which you probably don't even know yet, you get to talk about with whichever random person was standing next to you when the sky laserbeamed it into both of your heads.

[ He says this with the matter of fact tone of describing a mildly aggravating inconvenience. ]

[ Well, he certainly doesn't like that one bit, and makes a huffing sound ]

Laserbeamed, is it? Oh, I certainly can't wait to have my life, which is quite a mystery to me, be shared with a stranger. I can't think of anything better!

[ He is pretty angry now, just thinking about it. He wishes he had a sword, or at least a knife, so he could take it out on--not Alec, he supposes. The child is rather helpful, and not very annoying, at least not yet. Children tend to get annoying, however, so offing him might not be the worst idea...

Deep breath. He squares his shoulders, and marches onward ]

The sooner we are out of this maze, the sooner I can find whatever is responsible and make it pay.

It's oodles of fun.

[ Alec affects a nasally cultured accent for his faux agreement, once more entertained by the cadence of Astarion's complaints. There's a flair to it he wouldn't mind being able to mimic. ]

And good luck with that. [ He drops back into his real, ambiently flat voice. ] Sincerely. If you find them, and you've got time on the way to kicking their ass, let me know.

[ He kicks at a stray branch, falling slightly behind, and realizes Astarion's sped up. He hustles to catch up and keep pace. ]

How would you do it? [ He asks, mildly curious. ] Just killing them, or thinking of getting creative?

[ Astarion quirks an eyebrow at him at the mimicry. One more tick in the "children are annoying" column. And yet, he isn't ready to kill this one just yet. But he could. If he decided to. ]

I suppose it depends on what they are. If it is a mere mortal, I shall certainly make him suffer. Men are so easy to torment. A little bloodloss, a little flaying... perhaps stripping him and tying him up in the middle of that graveyard, or this town you've described. Yes, then I may watch the life bleed from his eyes as those he's wronged each take a turn on him. But I would take the final one and cut him open from his belly to his throat.

[ Thinking about it is making him feel a bit better, and there's a smile on his face now at the thought. He has no idea if he's done that before, but it certainly feels familiar ]

If he isn't mortal, I may need to get creative. Dominating a beast or being of old will require more planning. Be certain that he will pay.

[ Astarion's a forward thinking individual. Alec appreciates that even more than his entertaining speech patterns. He debates pointing out that other people might have more longstanding issues with the powers that be around here, but ultimately decides against it. Most of the people around here wouldn't have the stomach to finish the job, and Alec will just be satisfied when they're dead or gone. It doesn't really matter who does it. ]

Disembowelment. Gruesome. [ He nods approvingly. ] Hopefully whatever the alternative is also has some guts, if that's your thing.

[ He's got moxie. The least Alec can do is be encouraging. ]

Mm, it just might be. A pity, to not remember, isn't it?

[ It would be so nice to reflect on the death he's wrought before. At least, he's quite sure he's wrought some. Maybe more than some. It's irritating, to not know.

But as they talk of such fun things, they're walking through the maze, and the flowers seem to finally have left them to it. It's just hedges, and Astarion finds himself at another crossroads. He looks down the two paths available to them, then up at the sky as if he could know where to go based on the position of the sun--the sun! Isn't that a marvel in itself? He takes a moment to enjoy it, even if there's still a chill in the air, he can feel the sun on his face. ]

Which direction is town? North?

Uh.

[ Alec blinks at the question, then at the sun, then at the options they have. ]

I don't know. [ He admits. ] How do you know what direction north is?

[ The sun rises in the east, he's pretty sure. He's heard that somewhere. Applying that information to figuring out a totally different direction is beyond him. ]

[ Astarion lets out a dramatic sigh. Explaining that clearly isn't worth it. He sniffs the air, as if that will help him. It doesn't, and he's irritated about that ]

Forget it. Left. [ He doesn't know if it's correct, but he has to take a shot anyways ]

Left it is.

[ Note to self: figure out what direction north is, and how that relates to the graveyard. Then maybe the next guy who worms out of the dirt won't get sniffy about it.

He resists the temptation to ask again almost halfway down the path, which he thinks is an admirable show of restraint. ]

Seriously. How do you know which way north is?

[ Astarion lets out an impatient breath and starts to explain it, but just as he opens his mouth he doesn't know how to. Or if he remembers how to. He frowns, looking down at his hands, then up at the sky. ]

By the position of the sun. If we knew what time of day it was, we could tell north by where the sun is. [ He knows that much, but explaining anymore is beyond him right now, and his head sort of hurts trying to think about it ] But that doesn't matter because I can't tell if it's just before or just after noon!

5.0 Test Drive Meme

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cw: description of torture and threats of violence

cw: description of torture and threats of violence

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