TDM #2

[glencolans]

TEST DRIVE MEME #2

Welcome to Glencola Reef's second Test Drive Meme! This is a place where anyone interested in applying a character - or just curious to see how their characters might interact with the setting and others in the game - can mingle with one another. General prompts are provided below for inspiration.

TDM GUIDELINES

• Please read the rules before posting to the TDM. These still apply here and will be enforced, up to and including deleting tags/toplevels and prebanning.
• Posts from a TDM are required to apply. At least three tags across any number of threads within a TDM, posted within the last 6 months, must be provided in every application.
• TDM threads can be used for AC. Note that new characters only need to check in for their first AC cycle, but established characters can use TDM tags for their AC.
• TDMs are not considered game canon by default. This is mostly for logistics reasons - due to how characters travel on the map, it's unlikely that non-network threads that take place here will actually happen in-game. However, I won't stop anyone from working out how to make parts of threads game canon if they really want to.
• New TDMs will be posted every three months. Keep checking back into the current TDM for new toplevels!

I. ARRIVAL

You awaken on a tropical island beach, soaking wet, powerless, and without any idea how you got here. Were you carrying something important, or wearing powerful armor? How unfortunate - it looks like only the most basic clothes, items in your pockets, and simple weapons managed to make the trip with you. Are you even physically the same as you remember? If you had superhuman abilities tied to your physiology, you might be stuck in a completely different body that lacks your usual senses. You might've been whisked away from a tense battle or a near-death experience and wake up delirious, or even injured.

Thankfully, against overwhelming odds, you're not the only one to wake up on this particular stretch of beach. You and your companion have a lot of puzzling out to do.

II. NETWORK

Even if you weren't lucky enough to wake up near someone else, at least you've arrived with a military-grade radio transceiver gripped tightly in your hand (or mouth, or other vaguely opposable appendage of choice). The clunky walkie-talkie will start buzzing and crackling for every public message that starts coming your way. Answering them back is as easy as pressing the "talk" button on the side of the device and either speaking into the receiver, or using the keypad to type into the message box that appears on the screen, then pressing the button again to send. A list of ongoing conversations with responses that are less than 24 hours old can be found by scrolling through the menu, identified by the callsigns that are participating in them. It seems that you've been assigned a callsign, too - it shows up in the top right side of the screen, format AB123C. The letters and numbers picked are...probably random.

This is your easiest avenue to communicating, or coordinating with, or complaining at the other people stuck on this island; how you decide to use this tool is up to you.

III. A SAFE PLACE

Whether because someone else directed you via the transceivers, or someone found you and is leading you there, or just out of sheer luck, you have stumbled your way up the western coastline and run into an abandoned airfield. At least it used to be abandoned; there are obvious signs that the area has seen recent use, from the myriad of footprints in the sand leading up to the ocean, to the racks of drying fish lined along the shattered asphalt of a runway, to the strangely complex water stills and...who even knows what chemicals are brewing in those pots next to the largest airplane hangar? Even if you find the signs of people first, you're likely to run into the inhabitants themselves sooner rather than later, as the airfield has become a surprisingly busy hub of activity in comparison to the bleak isolation of the rest of the island. Maybe some of the more experienced inhabitants will help you figure out what's going on here, or try to rope you into exploring or cleaning out the more run-down buildings lining the runway, like the smaller hangars or the desolate traffic control tower at the far end. You likely aren't the only new person trying to find your way around, either. Hopefully the person you arrived with is more interested in helping rather than just looting the place and running off.

IV. STRANGE BOUNTIES

The weather on this island can be rather unpredictable sometimes. Just yesterday it was sunny and hot, then today, without warning, the sky opened up - literally, like the pale blue horizon was a vase smashed by a hammer and a billowing cyclone poured through the hole - and dumped at least a foot of rain on you in the span of an hour. You just barely managed to avoid getting swept out to sea, hunkering down in the relative safety of the deeper jungle, when the storm stopped as suddenly as it started. Dazed and possibly hurt, you stumble back to the beach to get a look at the sky--

--And find the beach absolutely covered in heaps of beach peas. There are so many that you can't even see the sand underfoot, and more of the pods are still washing up with the swollen tide. A flurry of very confused seagulls are already picking at the pile of legumes, but you should be quick about getting your own share - other captives are likely to show up soon, too, and they probably have much deeper pockets and appetites than the birds.

V. HOSTILE STRANGERS

As others have had the misfortune of discovering first-hand, there are entities on the island that have been here for much longer than the active group on the transceivers has been, and they aren't necessarily friendly. One in particular guards their territory fiercely from intruders - or maybe they just enjoy toying with those that wander within their reach. For those exploring the dense jungles in the northeast, this individual's motivations are probably the last things on your mind when you encounter them personally. Minding your own business, by yourself or traveling with others like you, noting the odd lack of animal calls in an otherwise vibrant jungle, suddenly there's the faint whistling noise of a crossbow bolt hissing through the air on a collision course for your vitals. You might consider yourself lucky if you stumble into one of their expertly-hidden rope traps instead and end up dangling by your ankle ten feet in the air. Hopefully, if you are currently traveling alone, someone will find you quickly enough to keep you from being killed outright by this hidden assailant.

NAVIGATION

Comments

[wingbound]

"This is one," Levi tilts his head slightly to indicate the airfield. Recon and debriefing seems to be a preferred conversation mode for him too, at least when it comes to their current situation. "There's also at least one well-armed hostile in a cabin at the north east portion of the island. Several abandoned holding cells between here and there. You can speak to a woman named Randvi if you want to see a map."

[solitarysoul]

Right. Of course an abandoned base would be interesting. And a map would probably be nice, but he gets hung up on something first.

"What sort of hostile?"

[wingbound]

Well, it's not entirely abandoned now, seeing that people have turned it into a community of sorts, but they're not exactly using it as intended, so it does nothing for the disarray and decay of the military(?) aspect. Although he's been told this was a base for 'tourists'. Whatever.

"A hunter of sorts. Very familiar with terrain, judging from the fact that nobody has seen them so far. One guy who ventured too close was killed, a few others got shot at and rapidly changed course."

[solitarysoul]

A hunter...like the woodsman, maybe. Or those weird hermit guys who'd live out in the wood and fire on both sides. He doesn't really like the idea of getting shot, especially since he can't shoot back.

"In a cabin in the northeast." He has to pay attention to know directions, but he doubts he'll be going out very far without trying to do so. "Got it."

He pauses for a bit, thinking. "...is that the only hostile?"
It didn't really make sense to him, especially after spending three days in a town where practically everyone wanted to kill him, that there'd only be one problem here.

[wingbound]

Definitely more the weird hermit type.

"No," Levi grumbles, "but so far the only one who interacted with anybody besides shooting crossbolts from undetermined locations."

It's... not exactly safe in a multitude of areas, oops.

[solitarysoul]

"What else do I need to worry about?"

[wingbound]

"You've probably noticed the weather." Levi does not have the concept of tropics, but it's clearly much warmer than back home, not to mention the sudden, strong storm that went by recently. "There's poisonous plants, you need to make sure the water you're drinking is clean, and a few people have spotted dangerous looking animals."

[solitarysoul]

He nods. Its not this hot where he comes from. "How do I tell if the water is clean?"

[wingbound]

"You don't." Levi's expression remains mostly blank, but there's beginnings of a frown now, indicating it's serious. "If you manage to collect rainwater it should be safe, but otherwise you need to filter it or boil it, or risk catching something that'll make you shit yourself to death within days."

[solitarysoul]

Oh. Of course it wasn't easy. "How often does it rain here?"

He's gonna need a bottle or something to collect it.

[wingbound]

"Often enough to manage." At least, that's what the FAQ says. "There's also morning dew, and mountain springs further inland. You can also dig a water hole, but it's not as safe as an actual filter."