Entry tags:

!tdm

TDM #1

TEST DRIVE MEME #1

Welcome to Glencola Reef's first 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. EXPLORING

For a place that appears, by all signs, to be an equatorial island in the middle of a tropical ocean, the local environments are surprisingly diverse. Beaches range from idyllic white sand to storm-swept pebble crags to cliffs with waterfalls cascading off the edges; the interior forests can be thinned from sandy soil or dense jungles full of prickly underbrush and with towering canopies; and the central mountain peaks, perilous enough to climb on their own, terminate in ravines and sinkholes that are hidden by thick foliage until you already have one foot over the edge.

The animals that make their homes here are equally as varied, and sometimes just as dangerous. The standard Earth fare of tropical fish swim right up to most shores, especially where reefs have grown, and a multitude of seafaring and jungle birds make their homes in ocean-facing cliffs and trees. Any one of these creatures would make for an easy snack. But you're not the only opportunistic hunters here; sharks prowl the waters, big cats stalk the jungles, and feral boars raid any camps that smell enticing. And that's just the stuff that looks like it came from modern Earth. Your improvised fishing rod might have captured a trilobite, or maybe that deer you were stalking has rounded on you with a set of alien mandibles full of sharp teeth. Or maybe, among the plants and animals completely foreign to you, you've stumbled across one that's strangely familiar to your home and no one else's.

There's a lot to figure out about this place. At least, in this instance, you aren't doing it alone.

NAVIGATION

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Hm.

[ He's... a little amused, maybe. It's hard to say. His expression doesn't change much, but the noise he made sounded conversational at least. ]

[ He does actually look somewhat relieved when she takes his offering and doesn't make a big deal about it; he doesn't seem to have the manners to give her any you're welcomes in return, but actions mean more than pleasantries anyway. ]

Got anything that holds water?

[ Unlikely, considering they both seem to only have whatever fit in their pockets, but it doesn't hurt to ask. Besides, she seems to know this kind of stuff, maybe the both of them could make something usable. Otherwise they'll just have to be careful and not travel too far until they locate other sources of water. ]

[She may not be making a big deal but it is a big deal to her: after living for so long among the Raven Clan she's unused to people treating her with respect for reasons other than the fact that she belongs to Sigurd.]

I've got a drinking horn, but it's not really intended for transport. If I’d known this was going to happen, I would have made sure to carry a waterskin.

[ Well, she clearly deserves it, so she'd better get used to it. Not that Levi's unfamiliar with that concept, both belonging and not, but that doesn't mean he likes it. Too many good people are never given a chance. ]

That's too bad. [ He would have, too, or whatever equivalent they had back home, unfortunately neither of them had been given the chance to plan for this trip, it seems. ]

[ Well, before making any further plans, they should probably make sure that this water is actually suitable for drinking. He shoves the confirmed-safe fruit into his mouth as he walks, making sure to keep one hand free in case he needs to grab the knife or anything else. ]

[It's likely a good idea to eat the fruit quickly; the walk isn't far but in this heat, it uses more energy than she's used to. She takes a bite and then exclaims in surprise:]

Oh! It's sweet!

[ Yes. Yes it is. Which means it's not really a good main food source, but it should keep them up and running for a day or two while they gather their bearings. Maybe more, considering Levi had the tendency to sustain himself on tea only for way longer than necessary, but then, he didn't have tea here. ]

[ Which was honestly the worst part about the whole thing. ]

It'll have to do until we find something else.

[ Yeah, he seems to take the comment as a negative thing. ]

If I had my bow, hunting would be easier. As it is, I can make snares if this place has smaller beasts like rabbits.

[She takes another bite of the fruit with visible relish. At least one of them is having fun]

I can only imagine what our brewer back home could do with these.

[Yes, her first thought is mead. If Tekla can make apple mead, she should be able to use these fruits too]

Could work.

[ It would be even easier if he had a rifle, but again. No prep. It's a miracle they're not dead yet, honestly, and he's not holding his breath on that until they've managed at least a few days. ]

[ In the meantime, they'll need to scavenge for stuff they need for traps. ]

[ Sounds like wherever Randvi is from doesn't swim in this type of fruits either. He can relate... not so much to the mead part, though. Alcohol doesn't really do anything for him so he usually doesn't partake. Might as well be pouring it down the drain. ]

Same thing but sweeter, probably.

[When you're an absent nobleman's lonely wife, you take your entertainment where you can get it]

What she makes with apples is so strong that the day after a festival is occupied by locating where all of the warriors have passed out.

[ Well, it can be fun to watch drunk people make fools of themselves. Although he does peer back curiously when he hears that, because hey. Maybe this mythical brewer's stock would actually make him feel something, too. ]

Local festivals must be fun.

[ He's not judging, swear. His tone is just naturally pretty even. ]

They are! It's a time without hierarchy, where people from all walks of life can celebrate together.

Even if they don't remember much of it afterward.

Sounds nice.

[ The time without hierarchy part. Not so much the not remembering it part, though he can definitely think of a few things he'd like forgetting. ]

[ He slows down a little, listening for any sounds of running water. ]

Are we still on the right path?

[Randvi nods and points to a large splintered branch]

You can see where I cleared the path.

[When all you have is a hammer]

[ He frowns a little as he inspects it, but nods. It's an obvious enough trail to follow now that he knows what to look for, but also subtle enough that someone coming across might not pick up on it. ]

[ They walk in silence for a while, checking for the splintered branches to make sure they're still on target, and eventually, they come into a small clearing with some rocks and a small waterfall, a tiny forest river running from it. ]

Ah. Here it is. I wish I had the materials with me to make a map.

[ That's too bad. Levi has nothing either. In fact, he probably has less inventory than Randvi does, considering he only arrived with his uniform and the one or two things he had in his pockets at the time. Map supplies were definitely not part of it. ]

[ It would definitely be helpful right about now, though. ]

We can't make a map, but maybe we can make this place easier to find.

[ They just need to tie some bamboo shots together or something and secure it to the tallest tree in the area. Like a flag, of sorts. It won't be visible from too far away, but it could be something. ]

Hm. We could mark the path with stones. My scouts taught me their trail signs.

...do we have stones?

[ Maybe there are some on the beach. He's not so sure this would be efficient, though, since they'd have to lug them over all the way here. ]

In the river, I’d imagine. They need not be large.

[Yes, in order for them to work efficiently she’ll have to teach people the meanings but they seem less likely to be inadvertently disturbed than something tied to a tree]

[ That isn't going to help anyone find the place from a distance, but it's not like he has the rope needed to build a sign pole properly. Besides, they still don't have a good idea of where they are. If this is enemy coastline, it might be a good idea to not alert anybody about their position. ]

[ He nods. ]

Will you show me?

[ How to arrange them, he means. It's going to take him maybe a minute to fill up his flask, it's not like he's got other plans after that so he might as well help her. ]

[Until they have a way to store water they can't stray too far anyway, but this might help them if they get turned around]

Of course. They’re simple by design, and here we may only need a few symbols.

[If they start needing to mark troop movements or bandit camps, then they have bigger problems on their hands]

I imagine ‘hazard’, ‘resource’, and ‘supply cache’ would be sufficient.

Sounds good.

[ He cants his head slightly to gesture at the waterfall. ]

"Hazard" or "resource"?

[ In case she wants to try the unicorn horn thing again. He probably won't trust it until it's correct at least three times in a row, but so far it seems it was right about the weird fruit, since he's feeling just fine, aside from that slight tiredness that has been ever-present since he got here. ]

[It absolutely does not work, and the man who recommended it to her father was actively being poisoned by his subordinate while using it, but she believes that it does and right now that's all they've got]

Resource. I drank from it already.

[ Guess they might discover it the hard way, then. ]

[ So far, so good, though. Drinking from it and still being alive and well an hour or however long later is a more solid proof anyway. ]

...

[ He goes to fill up his tiny water flask and fish out a few round stones out of the stream, then he'll simply wait for Randvi to show him how to make the signs. ]

All of the signs are simple - less room for error, and not all of my scouts are literate.

[She picks up a branch to draw the signs in the earth in front of him.

Three vertical lines side by side:]

Hazard.

[Two horizontal lines, one on top of the other:]

Resource.

[A large stone encircled by smaller stones:]

Supply cache. We can use this for camps as well.

[ Simple enough, so far, though it's quite different from what he's used to, so he glances at her again with a small frown. ]

What about placement?

[ He assumes there should be several at least at different distances. ]

TEST DRIVE MEME #1

TDM GUIDELINES

I. ARRIVAL

II. NETWORK

III. EXPLORING

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