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Well Mod ([personal profile] wellie) wrote in [community profile] wellcome2022-01-03 05:30 pm
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1.0 Test Drive Meme

1.0 Test Drive Meme

Welcome to Well! Characters arrive the same way every month. Your character arrives with only a handful of memories, clad in old west style clothes of your choosing, with no items from home.

Anyone is free to play on the TDM, but you need an invite to apply. Feel free to use these prompts, and interact with the arrival or locations. NPCs are around, but only say a certain set of phrases. TDMs can be considered game canon.

Applications open on January 20th, and the game opens on February 1st. Invites are available for members of the mods' plurk lists.

Put on your dancing shoes
Content warning: Alcohol, intoxication, altered mental state

Something’s happening at the Cactus Pad Saloon. It’s lit up bright against the growing night, and music spills out onto the street. Seems like a fun time that you should check out. In fact, it’s hard not to check it out: the closer you get, the stronger the urge to join the fun. If you’ve been spending a lot of time alone, you’ll feel even more compelled to come get a drink.

The bartender serves up anything you can think of: from whiskey to apple juice to blood, if that’s your preference. She doesn’t blink an eye, no matter what’s ordered. The funny thing is, no matter what you order, once you take a sip, the world feels a little easier to deal with, your worries seem to melt away. You’re flush with sudden confidence.

If you strike up a conversation with the person next to you, conversation flows like you’re talking to an old friend. You feel a sense of kinship, deep and meaningful, good or bad, that bonds you together.

The old record player is playing a fun ditty, and the longer you stick around, the more you’re tempted to join, or start, the dancing. Whether you’re a great dancer or you have two left feet, you find that you feel capable of dancing like no one’s watching. No one knows you here, after all. You barely know yourself, so why not draw a partner into the fray? A party’s better together!

If you end up staying there til closing time, the bartender kicks you out with a gruff “come back tomorrow,” leaving you to stumble home with your new best friend. What was their name again?


Sand trap
Content warning: Quick sand, potential drowning in sand

You step through a door into a room you didn’t mean to enter. You were trying to head into the saloon, or your hotel room, or the bathroom, and instead you’re here: in a small, tight, windowless room in a white-washed building. The air here is old, stale, and thick. Hazy gold light bounces off the walls, but you can’t tell where it’s coming from, since there’s no visible ceiling. The walls just stretch up and up into bright nothingness.

Someone else is there, too, coming through an identical door on the opposite wall. Both doors snap shut, and won’t open again, no matter how hard you try. They won’t even break.

This might not be so bad, except that a sound starts to fill the space: sand, trickling down the walls. It’s just a dusting to start. It comes sprinkling down above, seeping through the cracks in the door. The longer you stand there, the faster it comes: sand flows down the walls in massive torrents, building up on the floor, shifting and thick, trapping you in place.

The only way out is up. When you look again at the walls, you’ll notice it: about 10 feet up the wall hangs a flimsy rope ladder, half-hidden by the waterfall of sand. You’ll have to work together to even reach it, or maybe let the ever-growing pile of shifting, slippery sand lift you up? Be careful, because even if you manage to reach the rope, you both have to get out of here, and the longer you’re here, the faster and harder the sand falls. The ladder seems to go on forever, tens of feet up an endless wall. The better you work together, the closer the top seems. No matter how well you collaborate, they're at least 50 feet high.

When you’ve fought your way through the sand and reached the top of the ladder, you finally see it: the sand is coming in through the open windows of a steeple. You can’t see where it’s from, not really. You can’t see much of anything, but it’s clear: the only way out is, well, out. You have to jump, trusting that yourself and your companion will be safe.

Once free, you land together outside of one of the buildings or rooms you were trying to enter, like nothing happened at all. It’s a calm day, after all.

Memories of the living
Content warning: Cemetery, contemplating mortality

Dusk settles purple over Wellstone. Early stars are out, the moon is thin, and you find yourself inexplicably drawn to the graveyard. You can resist, but the more days you do, the harder it gets. The graveyard is calling to you in a voice you can’t hear.

While it seems small before you enter, once you start walking through the crumbling graves, it seems to stretch endlessly. You pass elaborate dust-covered crypts carved with strange angels; bleached wooden crosses overgrown with cacti; a crumbling old well, long gone dry; worn-down headstones jut at odd angles. Some graves have old offerings on them, brightly colored beads or candles or framed photos, sun-bleached beyond recognition.

You may have been walking for five minutes or fifty, but when you look around, you can’t see to find the exit. You hear howling, and see the flicker of lights from behind the graves, but you can never find their source, no matter how much you look. No matter how long you spend in the graveyard, the sun never seems to sink lower in the sky. An oppressive sense of being watched grows to the point that you whip around, expecting to find someone there until—

You do. You find each other. Others drawn here to the graveyard, walking among the crumbling stones, will end up by the same headstones. Exploring together eases the watchful feeling just a little, but it won’t help you get out. No, you’re looking for something. The exit? No, you’re sure there’s something more important than that.

If you follow your impulses, you may just find it: a gravestone, weathered, old, with a familiar name on it: yours. Your date of birth can be visible, but the date of death is too weathered to read. You may find an offering there, something small and meaningful to you, a small shiny coin or some bright beads.

Once you find your grave, when you look up, you’ll see the exit. You’re really not that far from it, after all, the rusted iron arch barely a stone's throw feet away. Your companion won’t see it yet. You can make a dash for it, get out of this awful place, or help your companion find their own gravestone. When your companion finds their stone, they will also be able to see the exit. Exiting together will alleviate the impulse to come back to this place. Leaving alone will only draw you back, making it more difficult to find your grave again.

You can take the offerings left on your grave if you want, but the sense of being watched will only grow greater until you’re compelled to return them, and leave another offering of your own.

faeriegold: (past to think about)

[personal profile] faeriegold 2023-01-19 03:12 am (UTC)(link)
I have two mainsprings. They're wound - re-tightened - with the same key in the same opening. They don't power my whole body, there aren't gears in my fingers and toes. Those rely on static electricity.

[She hesitates. Vögelein doesn't remember to be shy of strangers, but she retains something of her unhappiness at having to ask. She also tends to have an expression that's very broad and easy to read, like a stage actor; she has only ever known humans, and they need to be able to tell how she feels.]

...I still know quite a bit about my own workings. I know if I'm not wound regularly - every thirty-six hours, but every twenty-four is better - I'll die. I'll lose my memories and then die, but I think that's not what happened here.

None of these are the key, my key, but... one might be similar enough to work. If you would help me.
shiro2hero: (WHADDA FUCK CHILDE)

[personal profile] shiro2hero 2023-01-19 07:42 am (UTC)(link)
"A risk?"

Honestly, Shiro hasn't focused too hard on remembering. It bothers him that he doesn't. But ... remembering might tell him why he's so uneasy about his right hand.

And he'd prefer to deal with one problem (namely, what the heck is going on) before adding on another.

"What, really?" Is that a serious question, Yuri.
shiro2hero: (shit i can't believe that worked)

[personal profile] shiro2hero 2023-01-19 07:45 am (UTC)(link)
[He makes a noise that's probably meant to be a laugh, but doesn't quite come out beyond a huff of sound.]

If I did, pretty sure I wouldn't remember it.

[It's probably not that funny, but pacing slowly through a graveyard in the twilight is probably as good a time for levity as any. He takes a cautious step over a rock, hoping he didn't just accidentally hop over someone's grave.]
shiro2hero: (oh honey no)

[personal profile] shiro2hero 2023-01-19 07:49 am (UTC)(link)
Shiro.

[It takes a moment of debate before he extends a hand. His left hand. Decidedly not the one made of metal.]

Sorry - I don't mean to rain on your parade here. I'm just worried.
whisted: (God speed us fair wind)

[personal profile] whisted 2023-01-19 04:12 pm (UTC)(link)
[The "to do" of pulling levers is easy to cleave to. It's action; it's momentum; it's helping without having to worry about the obvious solution to their problems.

But it's not difficult or time-consuming, which means they're very quickly back to the real concern with their only real solution to the pressing problem of not dying. The second Horatio catches hold of the first wooden rung, feet still firmly on the ground, his stomach gives a very unpleasant lurch.
]

You first. I might--

[Is there a polite way to tell someone you don't want to vomit on them in a life-or-death situation? Maybe not. Hopefully the queasiness on his face as he stands aside is sufficient.]
whisted: ([t] I'll tell you of a fight; my boys)

[personal profile] whisted 2023-01-19 04:17 pm (UTC)(link)
From the--?

[Lifting one hand purposefully toward the jars represents whatever it was she'd just done, right? Right.]
whisted: (if the heavens prove so kind)

[personal profile] whisted 2023-01-19 06:19 pm (UTC)(link)
[Timing is very much the question. The sound of music is a bit chaotic to Horatio's tin ear, but having someone else's feet to find a rhythm with isn't... impossible. Just a bit sloppy. Certainly a bit slow as well, as if something about the action is inherently unfamiliar or unintuitive.]

--and this is-- fun?

[Not that Horatio sounds like he's having a bad time. He isn't. The easy, friendly contact of their hands is actually quite comforting. It's just a bit bemusing as an activity overall.]
sighsheavily: (pic#14667796)

[personal profile] sighsheavily 2023-01-19 06:20 pm (UTC)(link)
...

[she tries to not look too displeased, but she can't help but frown as she accepts the unusual paper pad. how is one supposed to maximize the real estate of pages shaped like this? paragraph cohesion and symmetry will yield caverns of empty space - and not even enough for footnotes!

...not that it matters, she supposes, but the thoughts bubble into her mind so quickly that she can't help it.]


I...I suppose it will do. You have my thanks. [gads, now she has to pray she finds a writing utensil that's not unwieldy...]
whisted: (replied our captain)

[personal profile] whisted 2023-01-19 07:29 pm (UTC)(link)
They might be.

[That's something they can Know, surely. True, it's an indistinct nothing, but it's something that can probably be clung to while everything else feels like a wash.]

But it's more they-- [Horatio starts to gesture, then thinks better of it. These poor jars don't need to be put under any further stress, surely.] --look quite compelling, don't they?

[They're jars. Flynn wouldn't be wrong to have the confident answer that they aren't.]
searingwing: (pic#14902148)

[personal profile] searingwing 2023-01-19 08:10 pm (UTC)(link)
I suppose borrowing a broom would work for now. [Will that work for him? He's not sure. His grip and the force he can bring into a fight are higher than he expected. For now-]

What sort of sword are you used to? [Great swords? One handed?]
searingwing: (only fate's left to decide)

[personal profile] searingwing 2023-01-19 08:20 pm (UTC)(link)
Sorry, I'll warn you next time. [He stares at the candle flame dancing on his palm. Still not burned. The flame flickers but regains strength. A living source of flame, indeed.]

Yes, I can see that glimmer ahead of us. It's a possible clue. Or bait. Either way, it's something. I'll guide us there if you wish to look.
unjedi: (56)

[personal profile] unjedi 2023-01-20 12:41 am (UTC)(link)
[ huh. ]

From the way I look.
whisted: ([t] port royal)

[personal profile] whisted 2023-01-20 02:31 am (UTC)(link)
Ah.

[In fairness, there were all sorts of looks here. Honestly, "not a bit touched by scurvy" is still a little off-putting.]

Jar thing felt more remarkable.
unjedi: (86)

[personal profile] unjedi 2023-01-20 02:33 am (UTC)(link)
It is remarkable, isn't it?

But I haven't shown it to many people.
whisted: ([t] with courage bold)

[personal profile] whisted 2023-01-20 02:42 am (UTC)(link)
No one else giving you excuses, is it?
unjedi: (167)

[personal profile] unjedi 2023-01-20 02:43 am (UTC)(link)
I need a good reason to show off.
hellonspectacles: (his eyes were a perfectly lambent grey)

[personal profile] hellonspectacles 2023-01-20 03:19 am (UTC)(link)
[Palamedes nods, his own expression serious and thoughtful as he listens to her explanation, carefully committing it all to memory. While his memories are hazy regarding his life before Wellstone, he has already discovered that he has quite the natural talent for remembering anything that has happened to him since arriving here, and is finding it to be a rather useful skill. Two mainsprings wound every twenty-four hours. Static electricity. Keys.

He speaks with a businesslike cheerfulness that he hopes will help allay the girl’s obvious concern.]
Well, we won’t be letting that happen. Now, where is the opening for the key? [Examining her closely enough to figure it out for himself just doesn’t seem Polite, you know?]
whisted: ([t] I'll tell you of a fight; my boys)

[personal profile] whisted 2023-01-20 03:27 am (UTC)(link)
Thank goodness, then. [Although.] Suppose it's nice, though. Not running from emergency to emergency.
unjedi: (191)

[personal profile] unjedi 2023-01-20 03:29 am (UTC)(link)
[ running . . . she had felt she was running from something, even in the stillness of that graveyard. ]

Not yet anyway.
whisted: ([t] hms santa barbara)

[personal profile] whisted 2023-01-20 03:43 am (UTC)(link)
[

So that's ominous.
]

Not yet?
unjedi: (131)

[personal profile] unjedi 2023-01-20 03:45 am (UTC)(link)
Well, we don't know what kind of situation we're in at the moment. It could change.
faeriegold: (death is passed down a mean heirloom)

[personal profile] faeriegold 2023-01-20 03:54 am (UTC)(link)
[She doesn't know how she feels about curiosity. It's natural, isn't it? She must have faced it before. How old is she...?]

It's on my back. Here, I'll... here.

[Vögelein flits to land at the top of the stoop and after a moment of hesitation turns. Her dress is cut very low in the back, revealing her keyhole. It looks like it takes a tubular key, which rules out about half the ones she collected, just at a glance.

It's a tricky spot even on a human. On her, with her wings in the way, it's clear how she wouldn't be able to do this herself or even see it. But also, when she's close and still it's easier to see how she's put together, with fine but visible joints. Her wings emerge from dark slots in the gold shell of her 'skin'.]


Nothing's stuck there, right?
whisted: (you shall give out)

[personal profile] whisted 2023-01-20 03:57 am (UTC)(link)
...hm. I suppose there's just-- moving forward all the same.
unjedi: (192)

[personal profile] unjedi 2023-01-20 03:59 am (UTC)(link)
But what are we moving towards?
whisted: ([t] when at Spithead we lay)

[personal profile] whisted 2023-01-20 02:57 pm (UTC)(link)
[That stumps him for a moment. It feels like something that should be known.

Still, there's always pointing down the aisle.
]

Hats?