6.0 Test Drive Meme

[wellie]

6.0 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 May onward, and can happen concurrently with other events during May and June. This will be the only TDM for May, June, and July.

Applications are open April 26th until May 1st, and May 27th until June 1st. Invites are available for friends of current players.

Arrival: Escape!

Content warnings: forced captivity, blood, eating eyes, drowning in sand, forced intimacy

The First Room

You wake up somewhere dark and damp. Maybe this is your first time waking up here, maybe it's your fourth, but the beginning is the same. You're in a small stone room. The only light comes from torches flicking on the walls. The room is bare except for a metal door. And you're not alone. You and someone (or someones) are here together, and you have to get out.

The door is locked, and to leave it you must just find one key. On the door is a note with a clue:

Freedom is hot!

The key is in fact in one of the torches! Depending on luck, you might find it on your first try, or your fourth. Find a way to extinguish the torches, and handle the hot, hot key to unlock the door.

After this, you find yourself in one of the following rooms. Choose one from the first set, then one from the second set, then one from the third set. You will always end in the final room. You must travel through five rooms to escape.

If you don't complete a task in five minutes, you will return to very first room and have to start again.

You can choose your own path, or comment below to have a random path set for you!

The Second Room

You find yourself in one of the following rooms:
1. There Ain't Room
2. Glitter Bomb
3. Riddles Three

1. There Ain't Room
In this room is a shooting game. There's a barrier with bebe guns attached to it, and at the far end are small cut outs of people. There's a sign on the far wall, in old-West style script, reading:

There Ain't Room

The cut outs look sort of familiar! There are cut outs of you and your compatriot(s), as well as some typical cowboy looking cut outs. Shoot your own cut out to escape! You each must shoot your own one, if you shoot each others', that person feels it as if they have been shot, and will start bleeding.

When you successfully hit all of your own cut outs, the floor under you opens up and you drop into the next room.

2. Glitter Bomb
As you walk through the doorway, you feel oddly.... sticky? Like your skin is covered in honey. Because it is! Yum.

In front of you is a room covered in glitter. There's so much glitter. You can't see a door, but you have to find a way out. Search the room to find the exit.

The exit is a trapped door in the floor. You'll need to make your way through the glitter, all the while it will stick to your very sticky skin. You'll need to dig a big enough path to get through, open the door and get into the next room! Too bad some glitter will come with you, and you'll still be sticky.

3. Riddles Three
A large hour glass in the middle of the room starts ticking down with sand as soon as you enter this room. One three of the walls are riddles engraved in the stone, and chalkboards in front of them. You must answer all three riddles correctly before the sand runs out to escape:

• Where waves kiss sand and breezes blow, where tropic dreams grow, I'm where you want to go. What am I? Answer: Kokomo
  
• With auburn locks and eyes of green, a rival, a threat, a beauty queen. Answer: Jolene
  
• With cowboy hats and boots that stride, no one told me where my horse I ride. Answer: Old Town Road

Once you answer correctly, the hour glass disappears, leaving a hole in the floor that you must jump through to exit.

The Third Room

Next, you find yourself in one of the following rooms:
A. Cry For Me
B. Love Me
C. Hold Me

A. Cry For Me
This room is beautiful and shiny, the walls made of crystals. In the middle of the room is a crystal plinth with a small crystal cup on it. In flowing script around the cup it reads:

Collect five tears

You must collect five tears in the cup to escape. Once you do, an entry way opens in the crystal in front of you.

B. Love Me
This room is very plain, and on a piece of paper dangling from a string in the middle of the room is the instructions for this room:

Exchange five sincere compliments each. Don't break eye contact.

You must do this within the alloted five minutes to escape. If the compliments are less than sincere, you may try again, but if you don't reach the five each by the end of the five minutes or if you break eye contact even once, you will be returned to the first room.

C. Hold Me
This room looks a lot like the pub in town. The walls are wood paneled and there's jangling piano music coming from--somewhere?

In the middle of the room is a mechanical bull, with a sign reading:

Stay on the bull together for 45 seconds.

If you succeed within the five minutes, you're free to continue on!

The Fourth Room

Next, you find yourself in one of the following rooms:
I. Blood
II. Sweat
III. Tears

I. Blood
This room is very tall. There's a rope dangling down one wall. On the wall it reads:

Climb!

And that's what you have to do. The word "Climb" starts to bleed. And then the walls start to bleed. The room will fill up with blood within five minutes, so you better get climbing!

At the top of the room is a hatch that will let you escape through a hatch in the ceiling.

II. Sweat
When you enter this room, one of you finds that you are alone. You're standing at the edge of a pool, and that pool is full of sand. It's also searingly hot in here. On the wall, it reads:

Rescue your partner!

One person is chained at the bottom of a swimming pool full of sand. A counter on the wall counts down until they will suffocate. Better get swimming!

Once you've rescued your partner, a door on the other side of the pool will open up. Better move fast to get there!

III. Tears
This room is dark, very dark. You can just barely see, except for a glow-in-the-dark sign reading:

Eat some eyes!

And that's what you need to do! In the walls are eyes. They're watching you. You must each eat an eye to continue on. Once you do, a door cracks open in the far wall.

The Fifth Room

No matter the path you took to get here, the final room is the same:

The last room you end up in, even though you enter through the same door, you find yourselves separated by a wall. There is a door for each of you at the far side of the room. You can hear each other, but you can't see each other. Each of you have a plinth in front of you, which reads:

Who should escape?

In front of you are the names of yourself and your partner(s). You place the name of the person you believe should escape in a slot in the table.

Once everyone has made a selection, the names will light up:

• If you all chose each other, your room lights up green.
• If you all chose yourselves, your room lights up green.
• If someone chose themselves, and someone else chose another person, the room of the person with the most "votes" lights up green. The others light up red.

If your room is green, when you open the final door, you've escaped! Welcome to Wellstone.

If your room is red, when you open the door, you find yourself back in the first room. Good luck!

When you escape, you step into the lobby of the Staywell. It's bright and airy with beautiful white stone. When you look behind you, it seems that you've stepped out of a supply closet. Weird!

The receptionist greets you as he always does, welcoming you home.

New characters arrive using this prompt. Characters can return from death from the previous cycle using this prompt. You can also just wake up and be in this prompt, so you can do this as many times as you like.

tl;dr:

• You wake up in an escape room! You must finish (at least) five rooms to escape. You have five minutes to finish each room. If you fail, you'll be taken back to the beginning of the dungeon.

It's alive!

Content warnings: public shaming

When you shake off the glitter and the sand, it might be time to head on down into Wellstone town. The air is full of a shimmering warmth that might be familiar to some. It's like the sun has been baked into the very stones and is radiating back up at you. Run-down buildings lean against each other for support, made out of mostly weathered stone with a few old boards here and there to keep structures up. Desiccated, skeletal fingers of dried-out ivy climb them, waving occasionally as you pass. Waving, and… whispering? For more information about how the town has changed, check out this month's Wellstone Post or read the Locations Page.

The town is alive with sneering, whispering voices. It's unclear where exactly they're coming from, but they're everywhere. Step into the Cactus Pad Tavern and you might hear a decisive no manners! spat sharply from the doorway. Make your way to the steaming bathhouse to wash off that honey, but be careful when you're undressing: you might just hear rude snickering from the air around you. Wow, the walls might say, your toes are so long. What weird feet!

The voices might interrupt a conversation at breakfast to make fun of something you said. Your mirror and your wardrobe might question your outfit choices. They're loud enough to be heard by everyone in a public space and seem to delight in saying cutting things at the worst possible moment. You don't recognize the voices, exactly, but they seem just familiar enough to really hurt, and the voices seem to know you well enough. They might even call you out when you tell a little white lie, or let everyone know exactly how loud you snore.

There's no way, seemingly, to get them to shut up, so... may as well get used to it?

tl;dr:

• The town is alive, and it is judging you. Your outfits, your words, your body, your habits: nothing is off-limits.
• The voices sound just familiar enough to feel like voices you know, but aren't able to be pinpointed to a single person.

Comments

[levindicated]

[Cid scrambles up over his head, trying to be both careful about his head and fingers while also being quick. As soon as he gets his knees, then feet onto the floor, he stands and turns. Dizzyingly, there is no way backwards.]

[He turns in a circle, he is walled off into a hallway with a message at the far end. Who should escape?

There he reads the names: Barnabas Tharmr, Cidolfus Telamon. And yet there is only one slot.]

Oh, what the fuck?! After all that? I should have guessed that the sick bastard who designed this place would end it like this as well!

[Of course he wanted out. If it was by deservedness, the other man literally carried him on his back. Yet at the same time, he could probably endure it again. Cid might be stuck here forever. Sweat drips down his neck.]

[odinpusrex]

[How odd. That he would find himself alone after they entered through the same hatch shouldn't be a surprise, yet he finds himself surprised all the same. Following along the wall towards the door, he pauses when he hears Cid. So the other man wasn't actually gone, simply on the other side of this barrier.

He spares it a glance, as if he might see him through it, but then his attention falls upon the instructions and the choices. The answer is obvious, they both would wish for themselves to be free, and logically it makes sense to vote for oneself, but that might not be the test.

Perhaps this is a test of selflessness, trapping those who would sooner throw their companion to the wayside for their own freedom.

Clever.]

It is but a trial like the others before. Think carefully and choose wisely.

[As he says this, he makes his choice: Cidolfus Telamon.]

[levindicated]

[Strangely, hearing the other man’s voice soothes him. Somewhere deep down, he knows that it doesn’t always. When he tries to grab a hold of that thought and trace it back, his head begins to hurt. He eases back off of it. This was likely timed, like all the rest.]

…Very well.

[Of course the other man wouldn’t have any advice for him, it’s not like he’d seen this either. But the trials before tended to value honesty and self-sacrifice. So why should this be any different?

Cid picks Barnabas Tharmr to put into the slot. He steps back and watches the light turn green and breathes a sigh of relief, though he doesn’t fully understand why. Why the green should mean anything at all to him. He goes through the door without hesitation and… ]

[And ends up in a lobby of some sort. He turns about, brow furrowed, scrutinizing the door he just came out of. As if it should make any sense at all…]

[odinpusrex]

[Barnabas stares up at the light that also turns green. Without context, he isn't quite sure what it means, yet he has a suspicion of what it might mean. That meaning being more or less confirmed when he steps through the door and finds himself in a lobby, Cidolfus likewise with him.]

It worked. Good.

[He doesn't need to ask who Cidolfus picked, he's fairly certain he knows, if the trial is what he thinks it was. Not that it matters, seeing as they are now beyond it, and whatever else those vexing rooms were about. Now he needs to figure out where they are, what is this place—

Before he even has the chance to truly question it, they're both being greeted by the receptionist behind the counter who asks for their reservation. Barnabas levels a suspicious stare at them. Yet, he feels somewhat compelled to answer them.

How strange...]

Barnabas Tharmr.

[Sure enough the receptionist seems to know who that is, and finds him his key, offering it over to him before turning to Cid, waiting for his answer. Barnabas takes it and regards it with that same sort of suspicion before pocketing it. Even if this feels...correct, it is still bizarre. Everything about the last hour has been.]

[levindicated]

Cidolfus Telamon.

[He receives his key and regards the other man. He chews his lip in absence of anything else to do with his mouth, which feels hopelessly lonely.]

…I picked you, by the way. I couldn’t have done it without you, so… Thank you. I’m glad you’re out. You earned it for certain, and you saved my hide more than once.

I’m sure you’re tired. Or I sort of hope you are, or otherwise you’re a sight more terrifying than I initially thought. In either case, we’ve earned our rest.

[He looks around this unfamiliar setting, brows furrowing.]

Though I’m not sure I can get too comfortable somewhere that’s got a little closet to Hell tucked in the front rooms.

[odinpusrex]

I do not believe you would be standing here if you chose otherwise.

[Barnabas says plainly. He doesn't acknowledge the thanks, at least not overtly. Perhaps he is modest? Humble? Hard to tell, really, with how stoic he is. Though he does agree with their much earned rest, but perhaps even more so that the idea of getting comfortable somewhere with that nightmarish hell behind a closet door seems a little difficult.]

I am not tired, no. However, rest would serve me all the same. If not here, there might yet prove something more suitable to our tastes beyond this establishment.

[They might not have an actual choice in terms of where they can sleep, but that doesn't mean they couldn't go elsewhere for now.]

[levindicated]

That so?

[But Cid is happy enough to move past that sentiment altogether.]

May as well get the lay of the land before laying our heads down, eh? It would be foolish otherwise with everything we just went through. And ah… I could use a drink in either case, thats for certain.

[odinpusrex]

Fond of the bottle, are you?

[He could sound more judgmental, and maybe he would, if he could remember his distaste for such frivolous desires. Instead, he feels rather neutral on the whole thing. Certainly not opposed.]

You have the right of it, in either case. We should familiarize ourselves, staying ignorant and growing complacent will only serve us ill.

[levindicated]

You’ve got a quicker and easier way to dull pain? [Likewise, his rebuttal isn’t particularly sharp, but impulsive, unleashed wit. He unconsciously rolls his shoulder. He really wishes he had something to rest it on, damn.]

Plus, if I’ve learned anything in the last hour, only a fool would try to go around by himself.

[He shrugs his arm out of his duster sleeve and hangs his elbow in the armhole, sighing at last. Better. Not perfect. But better for now.]

But right you are. Let’s take a look.

[Cid strolls straight out the front door into the blazing beat of the sun, high in the sky. He instantly starts sweating and moving towards the meager shade of the overhangs.]

I don’t even know where we are. Absolutely none of this looks familiar. [But he can’t even picture what familiar might look like, and stops as the headache makes the heat nauseating.]

[odinpusrex]

Simply endure it.

[Easy to say for a man who has dulled emotions...]

Though, if you are in need of my protection, you need simply ask it.

[As they head off, he takes note of how he holds his arm, how it rests in that sleeve. That shoulder is a real burden, isn't it? A shame.

Barnabas is less noteably impacted by the heat. Or rather, he does not seem to respond to it, even as sweat begins to form on his brow. His layers help nothing with it, but he does not seem interested in complaining, not taking any of them off.]

Have you not learned by now you cannot rely on the familiar?

[Ignore that they're literally relying on each other and the vague familiarity they hold...]

[levindicated]

Everything is so simple for you, eh?

Fine, old bag of bones like myself could use a strapping young man like yourself.

[It doesn't take very long to walk around the entire town square here. He takes in the dilapidated buildings, the sand, the dried out forest beyond...]

I already did rely on the familiar, Barnabas. Barnabas... Can I call you Barney? Rolls off the tongue a bit better.

[odinpusrex]

[Barnabas doesn't dignify that with a response, and simply moves along. Though, being called young is interesting, not that he believes himself elderly, but he does not think there is much a difference between his and Cidolfus' ages... maybe. Still, he supposes he is in better shape, so he lets the comment be.

Though, at being asked if he can call him Barney that gives him pause. His gaze fixed on one of the dilapidated buildings as he thinks it over.

It isn't a very kingly moniker, he supposes, but he also can't seem to care much about that.]

If that be your wish, I see no reason to deny you.

[levindicated]

Excellent. [It is unlikely that the other man's rejection would have mattered much. He might have slipped into it either way.]

Hm, what that?

[He gestures with his chin to the bath house.]

Let's take a look, eh?

[odinpusrex]

[Barnabas follows the gesture to the building which looks... well, different than the others, but not particularly more together than them. Though, if it has Cidolfus' attention, he sees no reason not to inspect it.

With a silent nod he heads towards it, not knowing what to expect when he walks through the threshold, but it certainly isn't this. The moisture in the air is, well, different. He wouldn't name it pleasant exactly, not much really is by his measure, but it's certainly a contrast to the dry, hot air they were just in.

Looking around the place, he then focuses his gaze on Cidolfus.]

How unexpected. Though, I would not name it unwelcome.

[It's good to know there's bathing facilities, after all.

Though the sudden movement of a creature approaching catches his attention and he stares at the dog on its hind legs rather intensely in silence. It doesn't seem hostile, but...]

[levindicated]

[Cid turns and steps back, reaching for a sword that isn't there. But the upright hound seems to mean no harm as it hands them towels. ]

Oh, thank you kindly.

[He takes the bundle and looks to Barnabas.]

I could use a soak, how about yourself?

[odinpusrex]

[Barnabas keeps his eye on the strange coyote as he takes his own towel, distrusting the creature, though he's not sure if that's just how coyotes are. He doesn't have the memory to tell him otherwise, really.

Cid's question pulls him from his thoughts, and he looks to him with an expressionless look. The sweat that dampens his brow and sticks his bangs to his forehead kind of answer the question for him, really.]

Can we trust this place?

[He doesn't sound scared, because he isn't. This is just a reasonable question after everything. To just be naked and vulnerable seems like a poor idea.]

[levindicated]

No, but fuck if I'm going to walk about with my left nut stuck to my thigh for any longer, chafing to hell and back. We can take turns doing look out if you like.

[Cid gazes at the canine for a bit longer. Was that any stranger than anything else, truly?]

If this place is no good, I'd rather know sooner than later. Come on.

[Cid looks between the three choices of doors. Indeed, the square seems like the safest pick. He pushes through, pleased to be greeted with a normal enough room.]

[Cid pulls his coat off, then his boots, then unbuttons his shirts and pulls it off over his head. The sight of his own arm stops him dead in his tracks.]

What the fuck?

[He licks his thumb and tries to wipe it off. ]

[odinpusrex]

[Barnabas hums with contemplation at Cid's words, but he doesn't argue. The visual of his left testicle being stuck to his leg he could have gone without, but it hardly matters. Silently he follows him, his own quiet agreement, and like Cid, he begins to undress. Taking off his vest, and peeling off his sweat-soaked shirt.

Though, he is not greeted by such a stony surprise as his companion, and so when he glances over to see what the commotion is about, his eyebrows raise in mild surprise.]

Is that... stone?

cw: mild body horror, petrifying, nudity and adult themes from here down

[levindicated]

[He touches it, feeling it up until it reaches his shoulder and the petrification is worsened. The flecks darker.]

I'm turning to fucking stone.

[And he stares, sitting with that fact. He watches, waits to see if it's worsening in real time. But after moment he realizes that it simply isn't.]

...No wonder my arm hurts.

[he looks at Barnabas at last, and is nearly overcome by the sight of him. His muscular, glistening body. It's truly incredible. An impressively sculpted body, with nary a scar. Save for the one, of course.]

... I'm glad one of us is in decent shape. Well. It... It doesn't seem to be worsening. And I can still feel my more pressing issue.

[He sighs as he tugs off his trousers, folding them up. If only he had some dry underwear. Oh well. He takes his time wrapping his towel about his waist, ultimately unselfconscious.]

[odinpusrex]

[Barnabas remains silent as he looks over the other man's body, the wash of grey over the expanse of him, though it isn't fully connected with flecks of it here and there. It's... concerning, to say the least. That this man before him, this Cidolfus Telamon that he knows and was once close to, is petrifying.

Slowly, it seems, or perhaps it has stopped entirely? He isn't sure. Cidolfus doesn't seem to know either. How strange.

As attention is brought to Barnabas, he doesn't feel the slightest bit bashful. Though, he's left wondering about what might have caused Cid's condition. Yet, as he tries to think on it, he is only rewarded with pain. So, instead he focuses on undressing the rest of the way, his own eyes glancing at Cidolfus as he wraps his towel around his bare form. He was not a sore sight, though what rumbling interest looking at him inspired felt weighed down by something inexplicable.

Barnabas moves to do the same, wrapping that towel around himself once his boots, pants, and under garments are removed and stowed away.]

Do you think it is this place that has afflicted you so?

[levindicated]

Could be. Had I any complete memories otherwise I might know. But why have I got it and you haven't?

[Cid truly tries not to stare, but there's not even anything better to look at. He feels his pulse quicken, but thankfully little else happens to give him away. He tries to get ahold of himself, turning and heading toward the hallway, checking their choices.]

Hm, private or public bath? ...Not that I think it matters as far as safety goes?

[odinpusrex]

I do not know.

[He answers honestly. This place is baffling, and nonsensical at best, Cid being partially petrified could have simpl been luck, just like them running into each other was.

Barnabas notes the staring, but he does not mind it. It's a little inconsequential and it isn't like he feels shame nor does he feel awkward about it. All the same, he follows Cid, and contemplates the question.]

Perhaps private.

[Not that he expects others to come in necessarily, but that just sounds like a better option.]

[levindicated]

As you wish, your Majesty.

[Cid opens the door to the private bath and takes it in. Now, this is downright nice in comparison to what they'd been dealing with. He's sure the public bath has splendor, but... The other man wanted privacy, was it? As soon as Cid steps through the threshold, he pulls off his towel and tosses it onto a bench. He steps down into the water, sighing contentedly. He turns in place, looking up at the other man. ]

The door's locked so... Barring some unavoidable disaster, may as well get in, hm? All the rooms can't possibly fill with blood, right?

[Right?]

[odinpusrex]

One should hope.

[Barnabas says coolly, as if he didn't just watch Cid bare-assed get into the water. Unlike Cid, however, when he removes his towel, he folds it neatly and places it aside, before stepping into the warm water. It isn't unpleasant, despite the heat they had come from, but it's especially good against his sweat soaked skin.

He doesn't invade Cid's personal bubble as he settles into a spot, letting himself sink enough that the water is to his chest while his arms rest on the edge, his back against it.]

I cannot help but wonder if this may be too good to be true. I suppose I do not trust so easily.

[levindicated]

Unless the weather is totally different when we get out of here, I don't think this is too much to ask.

[Cid doesn't bother averting his gaze. The other man doesn't seem to mind, so... He looks at him hard, trying to keep his expression neutral. Barnabas Tharmr. His king, Odin. What did any of it mean? He doesn't really realize how intense his look is. He feels as if his mind itches. He craves something he cannot name. He feels baffled, triumphant, worried, and a few other things on top of it. He takes a breath and tries to clear his mind.]

I've been trying to figure out who are are to each other. I've got less than half a clue, though.