TEST DRIVE MEME #11

[expiationmods]

Test Drive Meme #11

Welcome to Expiation, a pan-fandom adventure game with elements of fantasy, science fiction, and some subtle horror.

THE STORY SO FAR (click to expand!)

Characters have arrived in Expiation, a seemingly idyllic fantasy world where they have been told they will be judged and sentenced for crimes they were charged with upon arrival.

Every two months, several characters are chosen for sentencing, where they’re brought to City Hall and told to perform a task related to their assigned crime.

Their only contact at City Hall is a mysterious and long-suffering man called Jerry.

Over time, characters have begun to realize that not all is as it seems in Expiation: as it turns out, the entire world is a simulation that seems to be run by an artificial intelligence.
This AI claims that its purpose, and thus the purpose of Expiation, is rehabilitating the Chosen after their crimes.

In March 2024, after the destruction of City Hall, the city of Aldrip was forced into an upgrade status. While this upgrade was being implemented, characters were pulled into a false reality where they believed they were natives to the city of Aldrip.

Aldrip has been a bit of a glitchy place for many, many months. However, in Summer 2024, these glitches became difficult to ignore, and pointed at evidence of a catastrophic systems failure. For several months, characters experienced chaotic effects as elements from their worlds and many others were thrown into the setting without warning, even going so far as to import a Gnosia infection.

The AI in charge of Expiation believed that performing a system reset might be the only way to stop the glitches before they could impact the world as a whole.

In September 2024, characters complied with the AI’s request and performed a reset. Although this set the AI back to a default state where it felt more neutral–rather than affectionate–toward the Chosen, several people created a system backup that they hope will return some of the data that has made the AI more sympathetic toward the Chosen.

When Aldrip was reset, City Hall became a Courthouse, and this is the new building where Chosen are now sent for sentencing.

TDM top-levels are open to all, whether you are already in-game or not. New characters, please put TDM in your subject header so we’ll know you’re trying things out! You can also put your top-level in the TDM DIRECTORY at the bottom of the post. New folks are welcome and encouraged to use TDM threads as samples in their application. Current players may use TDM threads as part of their AC proofs.

October's TDM takes place on October 21st.

You can view our CALENDAR to keep important dates in mind. RESERVES open on October 21 and APPLICATIONS will open on October 24. After this, applications will next open in December 2024.

Full Navigation

Arrival

Spooky season has come to Aldrip in full force! City and outskirts gardens are full of pumpkins to harvest, trees begin turning red and orange, and there’s a chill in the air that’d have anyone reaching for a cozy sweater. The wind picks up occasionally, howling through the trees, especially near the forest… While the seasonal weather is welcoming, the locals are anything but: they send disapproving glances and keep a wide distance. Unfortunately, this may only be heightened by the new arrivals to the city…

Newcomers to Aldrip face a rude awakening this month. Strange iron cages have appeared on surfaces all over town, short and tall alike, and this is where new Chosen find themselves upon arrival. The cages themselves aren’t terribly hard to open, honestly; the latch is on the outside, and it’s a bit finicky, but it’s not locked or anything. That said, some of these cages are quite high up. They’re sometimes near ledges and windows, but not always, and some new Chosen might need a helping hand to get down.

Yeah. The optics aren’t great. No wonder the locals are a little nervous!

The fall carnival

On the morning of October 21st, a Fall carnival pops up, seemingly out of nowhere. It hasn’t been well-advertised–maybe a flyer or two around town–but luckily for the Chosen, those who work there don’t seem to have the same opinion of them as the locals do. Costumes are not required for the carnival, but they’re definitely encouraged! There is a large tent near the entrance with lots of costumes to choose from, and changing rooms as well, should the Chosen decide they’d like to give it a try. The tent workers will be so excited to help with this process–but they might find some very unexpected choices for the Chosen!

There are plenty of rides, games, and food stalls, so come on down! Some special attractions the Chosen may take note of include:

The Funhouse
Billed as a standard house of mirrors, the Chosen are encouraged to try to get through the maze as quickly as they can. Push your limits! Test yourself!

Inside the mirror maze, the Chosen will find more of a test than they might have expected, at first. As they go deeper into the maze, the mirror reflections seem to change. At first, it’s just little things: your reflection might look in a different direction, or move when you stand still. But deeper within the maze, these mirrors begin to show things about the Chosen that they might not be ready to admit just yet. Some reflections may try to confess to the character’s crime to anyone who may be in the funhouse, even going into detail about it. Some may even show the crime as it happened, or a warped version of that crime. Anyone present can see and hear these reflections.

The reflections will follow Chosen until they find their way out of the funhouse. Unfortunately, that could take quite a bit longer, since those reflections are so very vocal and distracting.

Pumpkin Pick-up
You know those duck games at a fair where you pick up a rubber duck and the bottom of the toy has a prize written on it? Well, we know better than to pick up a duck in a dungeon carnival here in Expiation, so for extra spooky flair, these are small pumpkins instead, with painted jack-o-lantern faces! Picking up a pumpkin should reveal a prize…but what’s this? It’s a challenge instead? Interesting.

Written on the underside of each pumpkin is a truth-or-dare style directive. Players are free to make up any challenge they want, here! If you’re looking for some ideas, we’ve provided some examples in the details cut below.

Click here for a list of example challenges!

Tell someone your biggest regret
Tell someone about the scariest moment you’ve ever had
Confess your deepest shame to a stranger
Take someone’s shoes
Attempt to pickpocket someone without them noticing
Find a stranger and show off a secret talent
Tell someone about the thing you hate most, deep down
Kiss or hug a stranger
Eat something that doesn’t look like food
Tell someone about the cruelest thing you have ever done
Start dancing in the middle of a crowd, but only if there’s no music playing
Tell a stranger about the worst lie you ever told
Ask a stranger out on a date
Set off a small firework without warning
Give away your shirt and do not replace it
Confess your greatest weakness
Put on an extra silly costume
Exchange clothes with a stranger

You get the idea! Feel free to use these as a jumping off point and make up your own–there are no limits to what the pumpkins might say. Once the task has been completed, Chosen may turn the pumpkins in at one of the prize booths for whatever prize they would like. There’s no visible indication on the pumpkin as to whether the task is done or not, so you’re welcome to try bluffing, if you don’t want to complete it…but somehow, the booth worker always seems to know.

Dueling Potions
One of the stalls is a game of chance: two identical potions sit before you on a table. The carnie claims that one is a luck potion, and that choosing that potion will give you excellent luck for the whole day…but how do you tell which is which? By drinking the potion, of course!

There’s a 50% chance of victory, here. One vial does indeed contain a good luck potion, and if you choose that vial, your luck will be incredible for the next 24 hours. Unfortunately, the other bottle contains a bad luck potion, and that will have the opposite effect: for 24 hours, you’ll be plagued by disaster, bad happenstance, and maybe even some extra clumsiness. Does it seem a bit like you need to have good luck to get good luck, here? What, is this a commentary on something? Hmm.

Fortune Teller
Want some woo in your spooky season? A midnight-blue tent covered in stars seems to invite you in. You’ll find a bonafide fortune teller within, complete with crystal ball and heady incense. How fun! They’ll give you a cursory reading, either by palm or with strange-looking cards. You get the feeling that this reading is fairly accurate, but strangely…it’s hard to recite details later, if you try to tell someone else about what they told you. How odd. Maybe it was the incense.

It’s not just a hazy fortune and a nose full of frankincense that Chosen leave this booth with: they also feel a compulsion to speak their minds more than they might otherwise. Whether this is telling secrets usually kept close to the vest, expressing their opinions more readily, readily admitting to crimes they’ve been charged with or other wrongdoings, or some other manifestation of this effect is up to players!

There are plenty of other games, rides, and booths to explore, many of which have perfectly standard fare for events like these. Characters can use these booths to win tickets and get prizes: many booths offer cute stuffies and kitschy toys, of course, but Chosen can also find useful items like weapons, food, clothing, accessories, and things like that.

Witch hunt

Last year’s Witch Hunt was metaphorical in nature–this year, it’s much more literal. A limited number of witch hats are placed on a table in front of the carnival. As soon as the clock strikes noon, the Chosen may grab one and try to keep it out of the hands of fellow competitors. These hats are first-come, first-served, but it really doesn’t matter who starts out with one–it’s who ends the hunt with one that counts!

It seems to be like a city-wide game of tag. The Chosen’s job is simple: obtain and keep a witch hat on their head until the clock strikes midnight. If a “witch” is caught by another Chosen (by way of being tagged), they must hand over their hat, or they’ll be disqualified.

There’s no official sign-up for the hunt, so characters can join in whenever they’d like, or may decide not to join at all. So, what’s this all for? Anyone who manages to have a witch hat on by the time the clock strikes midnight is guaranteed a prize! OOCly, this prize is any small non-magical item from home, either personal or not; ICly, Chosen will not know what this prize is before entering. How do you obtain this prize? There’s an RNG for those who would like a chance to sign up to win an item. Sign-up is optional, and TDMers are welcome to join in! New items will be delivered at the start of November, so any new applicants who win the hunt will be able to obtain their items as well.

Wildcard

Make your own fun! Just because it’s not in the prompts doesn’t mean it’s not possible. Have at it! Go crazy! Try not to break anything (too much)!

♡

Comments

[cupidsammo]

[ While she does know the saying, that barely makes sense in this context! They aren't even close!!

Aagh...

Jinx heads off, beckoning her to follow; there's a reluctant start, but just as quickly, Koharu falls into a step behind her. Perhaps it's because she claims to have the answers Koharu seeks; she's also having a difficult time simply walking away from the situation when the other girl seems to be enjoying this. ]

That's—good. [ Probably? ] I just want to know why I ended up in a cage... and how I even got here.

[opheliac]

Beats me about the cage bit. Prooobbably this place's way to pull pranks. Or to freak your brain out. That happens a lot here.

[ as they stroll, they start to approach an area that's becoming more and more crowded. and to not lose sight of her new little friend, she waits until koharu is standing side by side with her before linking her arm with hers. if this is too forward, that's too bad! ]

— As for getting here, the Council...or Jerry... or this A.I thing roped you here. They think something you've done back home was worth being trapped for. You're here, because you need to be redeemed. Maybe you killed someone, did some thievery, blew up some stuff, whatever!

[cupidsammo]

[ It's pretty forward. Koharu slips out a surprised squeak, and will be undoubtedly attempting to subtly slide her arm out of hers. ]

I... what?

[ Okay, that sounds insane. ]

But I've never done anything like that!

[ She's been normal?! ... She's pretty sure, anyway! ]

[opheliac]

Then you got the unfortunate crime of "making funises".

[ if she tries to slide her arm out of her hold, jinx will just squeeze tighter. we can't have her getting lost in this big, beautiful island! ]

Meaning, the Council or Jerry or whatever made up your crime because you've been boring back home.

[cupidsammo]

[ Let her free... ]

That's...

[ "Being boring". Well, okay, Koharu can't refute that she's fairly boring overall, if one were to ask her, but to think that's apparently a crime. (On second thought, it probably is to a lot of people.) But to drag her all this way, wherever they may happen to be, over it?

She deflates. ]

I—I'd rather just go back home. I have work to do...

[opheliac]

Love to bring the bear of bad news, but you're stuck here until they feel you can go home. So make yourself comfy, Kid, because this is gonna be your new home for awhile!

[ finally, she unhooks her arm around the other, then leads on forward to the buffet table. koharu can stand there and be confused and lost if she wants, jinx will be grabbing a paper plate in the meantime and silverware for herself (just in case she needs it). ]

[cupidsammo]

[ Um...

She isn't sure she quite buys that; Jinx may have caught her fall, but Koharu still feels reluctant to put any full trust into her. For all she knows she's simply screwing around with her more; there's a little mental note in her mind to, perhaps, ask somebody else about this. ]

If you say so...

[ She doesn't sound entirely convinced, either. If she gets lucky, maybe she'll spot one of the others. There's no way she's alone here, right? ]

[opheliac]

[do de do, jinx goes through the buffet line to grab whatever she wants on her place (even going as far as to steal the last of something while someone else was reaching for it), and then casts a glance over her shoulder to koharu — eyebrow quirking.]

Hey, are you gonna get in on this, or what? It's free food and you should never pass THAT up. Unless you're a snob.

[cupidsammo]

Mm—no, I don't... think I am, anyway.

[ She wouldn't consider herself a picky eater, and it does look good, but while Jinx looks happy to pile food onto her plate, Koharu doesn't approach any closer than she needs to. ]

But it's hard to feel hungry after... I mean, you're telling me I can't go home.

[ And that's on top of being forcibly dragged around by a girl she still isn't entirely confident won't turn around and hurt her. ]

[opheliac]

Alright, fine, I'll let you mope around about it for a day or two. But only for that long.

[she whirls her focus to the buffet line again, picking whatever remaining meals she wanted on her place, and then flees to a vacant table that's away from all the other locals. jinx isn't expecting for koharu to follow, in fact, now that she told her the basics, she wouldn't be too surprised if they parted ways here.]

[cupidsammo]

[ Moping? Is she moping?

... Well. Maybe a little, and Koharu is doing a bad job of hiding it. Surprisingly, though, Jinx collects what she wishes on her plate and then just—walks off. No dragging or forcing her to come along or even telling her to come with.

Probably because she's moping, huh.

Not that she isn't going to take the chance to get away, and yet weirdly and irrationally, it kind of sucks to think it's because she was being such a downer. Ugh...

Guess it's time for her to hide out in this crowd. ]