TEST DRIVE MEME #12

[expiationmods]

Test Drive Meme #12

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 the Courthouse (formerly City Hall) and told to perform a task related to their assigned crime. Their only contact at the Courthouse 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 September 2024, that AI needed to be reset as a consequence of some catastrophic systems failures. So far, there has been no downside to this reset–but the AI has also been strangely absent since then.

-In November 2024, a strange event overtook Aldrip and turned it into a week-long eternal night where technology ceased to work. During this time, the simulation that generates Expiation seemed to malfunction, causing a strange crack to appear in the surroundings. Through this crack, characters were able to see some sort of metal enclosure. They could reach a hand in, but little more than that. This crack has disappeared, for now, but what it means for Aldrip's future remains to be seen.

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.

The missile toads can be found throughout the rest of the month of December, and there will be one prompt that is during the Solstice.

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

**REMINDER ON NEW CANONS AND CANON UPDATING**

A note about spoilers. There are a lot of canons coming out right now that players are inevitably interested. This is good! However, we’d like to remind you that we have an app wait time of two months for new canons and one month for new material, ie canon updates.

In addition to the wait times, we request that any players (and potential players!) be sensitive about spoilers. Warning for spoilers is encouraged; you can even put spoiler content behind a details tag or block it out in text. Additionally, please do not use spoiler icons in top-levels or top comments, and ask before including spoiler content (including icons) when tagging out. Thank you!

For those who may not know how to do a details tag, we'll give you a handy-dandy code!

<details><summary><b>TITLE HERE</b> (click to expand!)</summary> this is where the text for the drop-down goes! spoilery tl prompts can go here so players who aren't interested in getting spoiled can keep scrolling OR interact with a non-spoiler prompt if there is one!</details>


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Arrival

You wake.

Or…you think you do.

The first thing you notice is…well, darkness, even when your eyes are open. Reaching out, you realize that you’re in a very narrowly enclosed space. You feel as if you’re probably standing up. Beyond that…well, it’s impossible to tell…

It’s a strange awakening that greets new Chosen this month: they arrived encased in coffins. Most of these, they’ll be able to open themselves. It’s possible that some of them may get a little stuck, though, meaning they’ll need some help from the outside. These coffins begin to appear in the sidewalks and open spaces of Aldrip overnight, appearing at random, and they’re all standing upright. Huh, it’s almost like they’re a specific reference or something. For an added festive touch, they’re adorned with seasonal bows and may even have wrapping paper prints on them.

Welcome to Aldrip?

JUST HEAR THOSE DRY BONES JINGLING [missile toads]

The holiday season has come to Aldrip, bringing with it all manner of festive cheer! Buildings are adorned with decorations and festive depictions. Skeletal Santa and his eight zombie reindeer, Frosty the Lavaman, Rudolph with menacing red eyes, glowing with a strangely haunting light… What, isn’t that just the normal holiday fare? Don’t your yuletide decorations spontaneously burst into flames, or grow terrifyingly sharp teeth?

Doesn’t your mistletoe come with amphibians?

That’s right: they’re back. Mistletoe has appeared throughout the city, and with it comes a seasonal infestation of missile toads. These nefarious creatures will do anything they can to get Chosen stuck under their namesake foliage, even shooting sticky substances at their feet to trap them! This substance only seems to disappear when the missile toads’ demands are met. They’ll pelt you with a little scrap of paper to tell you what those demands are, one of the following three:

”Now kiss!” Need we say more? The type of kiss required is up to you. Pucker up!
”Now fight!” Feisty little fellas, aren’t they? These toads want a show, and they won’t be satisfied until someone walks away sporting bruises.
”Now talk!” Maybe the physical stuff is too easy. This toady audience wants to hear secrets–the juicier the better! Whether one participant or both needs to confess something is up to you, as is the severity of the secret.

These creatures plague Aldrip through the end of December, but given the questions we’ve gotten about how to use them (you know who you are), this might not be the last we’ve seen of them…

[img courtesy of titsay @ twitter]

The Winter Solstice

Aldrip’s traditional Solstice feast is set to happen just after the longest night of the year, and what a feast it’s shaping up to be! Even before the Solstice itself, the town is decked out with twinkling lights and snowy decorations. In the daytime, there will be snowy fun and games: snowball fights, ice sculpting, snow fortress building, and wintery sports like ice skating. Even the locals seem to be put in a better mood!

However, Aldrip’s tradition comes with an attached superstition. The locals say that all must be indoors the night of the Solstice itself, beginning at sundown on December 21st. Tricks and misfortune await anyone outside when the dark and the cold sets in, so they say!

But then again, nothing really happened last year, so it should be fine. Right?

Well…

Any Chosen who wish to test their luck will find misfortune awaiting them in the form of snowmen patrolling the streets. These snowmen are on the lookout for any creatures out of bed, and beware–if they see you, you’ll be pelted with snowballs until you’re out of sight. Can they be snuck past? Sure, probably. They’re just snowmen, after all. You’d be right to try sneaking, too: anyone hit by one of their snowballs will find their body slowly turning to ice. Brr! Oh, and, because we’re sure someone is going to ask: the snowmen can be melted, destroyed, fought, or otherwise messed with. They melt down just to ordinary water.

Anyway, the icy affliction can only be melted by a show of affection (platonic, friendly, romantic, etc), either by the affected Chosen or toward them. It can be as simple as a funny joke or sweet story, or as complicated as you wish, but it must be genuine. The longer the afflicted Chosen goes without, the more their body turns to ice–eventually, they may become one of the ice sculptures on display around town! They can still be turned back if it comes to this point, but obviously they’ll be at the mercy of someone else’s gesture of affection, as they will be unable to move. Oh, and they’ll probably need some time to warm up.

The snowmen disappear at first light after the Solstice, and the feast begins as soon as people are able to leave their homes once more. All will be able to enjoy the festivities in peace at this point…well, except for the missile toads. They’ll still be around for the rest of the month.

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

[individualized]

I believe so. It seems similar to what I was given in the previous world I found myself in.

[She pulls a small, dark, crystal-like object from one of her sleeves. If it's a device, it's clearly not functioning at all anymore. Echo frowns at it for a second, but seems to figure out what's wrong with it quickly.]

...Apparently it doesn't work in this place. But the main function revolving around a "screen" seems to be the same.

[chimericalclaw]

The—

[Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. His brain skips a step as the implications hit him, mouth left half open for a moment before he snaps out of it. Sorry, Echo, he's having a moment with this, helping you has been put on hold.]

"The previous world you found yourself in." You've had an experience like this before?

[individualized]

[It didn't dawn on her that someone might find it this surprising, but in retrospect, something this strange happening to a person twice would be highly unusual. It's hard to notice when you're right in the middle of it. And haven't been able to take notes just yet.

Echo nods.]

Yes. I found myself there under different circumstances, but there was a large number of people who had lived in other worlds previously.

[She'll leave out the parts about squids and different blood types if she can.]

I know this cannot be where I came from, so I assume this is a similar situation.

[chimericalclaw]

[He's having some trouble processing the idea. How many dimensions like this are there, that steal away unsuspecting people for their own purposes? He brings a hand to his brow with a look of consternation. Responding with something worthwhile is a feat he wouldn't be able to achieve without the level of control he typically exercises over himself.]

... that does appear to be the case. I take it your departure from that world was unintentional, as well...?

[individualized]

[Echo's lips tighten a bit and she glances away uncomfortably. That was even more complicated to explain and might make this man really upset if he was troubled already. But in the simplest sense she can tell the truth, so she looks back at him and responds firmly.]

That's right. It was just as surprising to find myself there.

[She may not sound overly convincing, given that she's comparatively monotonous.]

It seems irrelevant to the situation at hand, however.

[On that note she's gonna put away her Omni (and maybe find a place to throw it away later) and get back to looking at this new device.]

[chimericalclaw]

[She's not the first near-monotone girl speaking of frustrating matters he's encountered, but he does wonder. Still, all sorts of people come from all sorts of worlds...

How irrelevant is it, really? Altius hesitates, and he doesn't bother to hide it, folding his arms as he glances to the side and gradually up towards the city's skyline, looking at nothing in particular as he processes. A quiet breath leaves his nose.]

Well. If you have any more questions, I'll do what I can to answer, but I'm beginning to suspect I'll have more of them for you, eventually.

[He won't put that on her immediately after arriving, however calm she may appear.]

[individualized]

[From her attempts at explaining her background in the last world, Echo knows that it tends to be A Lot for other people. She needed to focus on this sudden change right now, not trying to convey what Chains are and how Contracts work and how she came to be.]

You said the patrons of this place intend to punish us for what was on this paper. What does that entail?

[chimericalclaw]

[Funnily, the supernatural aspects of her creation would be less... emotionally upsetting to him than the existence of Trench—though the why of that he'd have no intention of sharing any time soon. Or ever.

He focuses more on her, now that he has a solid question to answer again. She may not be entirely pleased with it, though; it's not something he can fully predict.]

Every other month or so, a group of us are "sentenced." The tasks given at that time are apparently tailored to our crimes and personalities to some extent. I myself have only read of mundane things like apology letters or community service, though some have been stubborn enough to ignore them and suffer the consequences—which seem far worse.

[He's not going to hide the fact that he considers that foolish, though the full extent of his disdain doesn't come through; it simply shows as a mild frustration in his voice.]

I've seen people forcibly changed physically or robbed of abilities as a result.

[individualized]

[Echo's expression doesn't change at all as she listens. She may not have even blinked. After he finishes, she takes another moment to think, and then nods once.]

Understood. Thank you for the information.

[The worse consequences didn't sound that different from things she'd encountered before. It actually sounded like it might be slightly better. Beasts had been... yeah, she doesn't want to talk or think about that.

Echo turns away, but after a second or two, she turns back to Altius.]

Where do I go now?

[Not long after she got to Trench, Oz had just dragged her to a place to live, and she sincerely doubts that's going to happen again.]

[chimericalclaw]

[At first he almost thinks she might just leave it at that and wander off—at this point, he's encountered all sorts of personalities, and it would just add another to the list.

Thankfully, the question she asks him next is one he has a specific answer to.]

I can take you to the Inn. The owner allows newcomers a month of free room and board, and you can find others to question there, if you like.

[individualized]

That sounds reasonable. I have no doubt I need more information.

[She gives him a polite bow.]

Thank you for your assistance, Mr... [Pause.] ...I believe I've neglected to get your name. Or to introduce myself. I am Echo.

[chimericalclaw]

[He ducks his head in response to the bow, never one to ignore his manners when they're shown to him. The situation is hardly dire enough to forget them, his own aggravations with the concepts he's just become aware of aside.]

Please call me Altius, Miss Echo. If I can make your arrival any easier than my own, I'll consider it time well spent.

[individualized]

[Hey, in that prior world, she turned up in the middle of the ocean and had to fight sea monsters, she knows how it can go.]

All right, Mr. Altius. It's good that I am not troubling you.