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

arrival

[fieldtrip]

[ Toph doesn't immediately realize there's people up there in the higher cages, but once she does, she figures it's been a while since she's done some random acts of public service and she might as well help out. There's just been a lot fewer buildings that need to be rebuilt lately, but that doesn't mean she's against it, and she gets easily bored.

So she's intentionally wandering around listening for if anyone needs rescuing from their dangling metal prisons when she hears Wolfwood heckling people.

She stops short underneath his cage and points directly up at him, a tiny girl with bare feet and a blind gaze still leveled straight ahead. ] Let's get one thing straight. You want me to get you down, you better say please.

[ She's not taking no disrespect, okay? ]

[clericus]

Fine! Keep walkin'! [ wolfwood gets one last parting shot at a local as they're hurrying away, and he clicks his tongue in aggravation, leaning back in his cage. seriously. this is getting a little ridiculous, at this point. if he could, wolfwood would get himself down-- but his only option is to jump, and if he breaks every bone in his body, he doesn't think he'd manage to drink a vial before kicking it. what's a guy gotta do to get some help around here?

when he glances at the ground again, there's some... kid. pointing at him like he owes her money or something. ]

Hah? [ wolfwood's lip curls up in a snarl. ] Who's sayin' please? You think I need yer help? Real cute. Go ahead 'n get me down, and then you can thank me for lettin' ya.

[ he is the architect of his own suffering. ]

[fieldtrip]

Okay. You got it.

[ Who's she to resist a direct invitation? Toph's not going to actually hurt him, of course, but a chance to show off and stick it to someone being annoying is too good to pass up.

Toph smoothly takes a bending stance, sinking into her knees and rooting her feet. Still without looking up, she makes some decisive hand and warm movements. The door to Wolfwood's cage suddenly swings fully closed, the metal bars twisting and warping to seal it more absolutely than any lock. Then she raises her arms up and sweeps them down.

There's an ominous sound of metal snapping as the attachment point at the top of the cage is severed, and then it's dropping at full speed, Wolfwood in it.

She gives him a gentle landing by absorbing all of the impact into the ground, causing it to ripple out like a wave in water as it disperses, the cage bobbling up and down before it settles. It's probably something like a roller coaster in sensation: full speed down, then softly coming to a stop. ]

You were saying? [ she asks loudly, now right next to him. ]

[clericus]

[ toph's reaction is a little... too compliant. wolfwood's face scrunches in disbelief-- and then the cage door swings shut and distorts itself to seal him in. he immediately grabs at the bars (or what's left of them), giving the door a hopeless shake. ]

Hey, what gives--

[ there are no roller coasters in no man's land. so to wolfwood, this is how events unfurl: the support holding the cage in air snaps. he begins hurtling to the ground. his heart launches itself somewhere up in his throat, and as cold fear locks his limbs down, he can't even manage a scream. right when he hits the ground, instead of splattering him like a worm, the landing is... soft. floaty, almost.

well. he must have died. hurts less than he always thought it would. he's definitely going to the bad place, though.

when he hears toph so close to him, wolfwood realizes that his eyes are still shut tight, and finally opens them. ]

Anybody ever tell you y'got anger issues? Maybe you should get into a class or somethin'. [ in spite of the brave face, wolfwood's voice comes out a little shaky, and standing up is a far-off dream right now. ]

[fieldtrip]

[ Oh. He's just a loudmouth. Bullying someone who can't return the favor is just no fun at all.

Toph sighs gustily and reaches forward to physically pry open the bars, the metal screeching. ]

You shouldn't be provoking people if you can't back it up, you numbskull. I'm still expecting a please, by the way, and now you can add a thank you. [ She did get him down and in one piece. ]

[clericus]

[ now that he's on the ground, he gets a better look at the metal tripping over itself to move under toph's hand. the vantage point doesn't help much-- wolfwood still can't make any sense of it. maybe the girl's like him, or elendira? or-- something more like knives? he shudders to think of it.

wolfwood pushes himself to his feet, dusts himself off and fails to actually get any dust off. ]

Who said I can't back it up? Asking for pleases 'n thank yous... How do I even know you were the one who got me down? There ain't anybody who could see a pipsqueak like you from all the way up there.

[ wolfwood reaches a hand out to muss her hair, but it's... surprisingly sturdy. when he pulls away, there isn't a strand out of place. ]

[fieldtrip]

[ Toph met Knives once and thought he was funny but also woefully not a metalbender. So far, only Caitlyn here has that distinction, and she's not a true earthbender, either. It's a little lonely, but Toph isn't about to complain about it.

She folds her arms, flatly unimpressed. With both the big talk and the attempted hair mussing. She has her hair pulled tightly back, of course, she isn't about to mess around with it on a daily basis. ]

Sorry, do you need another demonstration from the pipsqueak? [ she asks sweetly, in a clear tone of threat. ] Because there's more where that came from.

[clericus]

[ wolfwood's also not an earthbender, or any kind of bender, but if we're getting bonus points for 'funny,' here... ]

Haah? [ he tips his chin up, lip pulled up in a snarl. the thing about wolfwood is-- he never learns his fucking lesson, hand pressed to hot stove over and over again. it's not the first time he's taunted someone that could fold him up like a pretzel by some means or another, and it certainly isn't going to be the last. ]

'S that a threat? Be my guest. Gimme another sideshow act, pipsqueak, I ain't scared.

[fieldtrip]

[ There's a long pause as Toph waffles on which way she's going to go with this, and then she suddenly grins hugely and gives Wolfwood a healthy punch in the arm. She'll give him a chance. ]

Hell yeah, I like your attitude! There's way too many bozos around here apologizing just for existing.

[ Vash........... Too bad Wolfwood can't back it up, though. Sad for him. ]

My name's Toph. People showing up in cages this time is pretty messed up.

[clericus]

[ wolfwood is expecting some sort of divine-scale punishment, because he definitely ran his mouth a bit too much. but instead, toph winds up for an amicable punch to the arm. oof. he has no clue where a pipsqueak like her gets that much... torque. ]

Seriously? [ not the bozos, that's no surprise. (vash.....) but wolfwood was getting the distinct impression that they'd gotten off on the wrong foot, and may never find the right footing.

generally, wolfwood is fine with that. better if he rubs people the wrong way, and gets them to steer clear of him. but maybe he's old enough now that he shouldn't pick fights with fourteen-year-olds. especially if he's the one of them who can't back it up right now. (don't expect him to actually learn a lasting lesson from this.) ]

Y'think? Wasn't all that bad. I'd stay up there, if somebody remembered t'feed me.

...So it ain't cages every time, then?

[fieldtrip]

[ He's getting a chance and if he keeps insulting her it's back to repercussions, though Toph has already decided it'll be smacks and not bending-related torment. It's not fair, or fun, to start something with someone who can't give it back. And ultimately, she does like argumentative shit talk, even when it's aimed at her. It just takes her a second to switch from genuinely annoyed to performatively shit talking. ]

Nah, they just left me in this field nearby and I had to figure out where the town was. [ Wow, that feels like a million years ago now. Kinda crazy to think about, so she doesn't.

Toph snorts. ] I think I was doing a public service getting you out of there. Feed yourself.