test drive meme 1.

[awashmods]

Her Pa committed suicide By biting off his head. Her mother saw her uncle's ghost And died of fright, she said. So her unpleasant habits Seem most curious to me, Because she seems to come from such A happy family.

Prompt 1: he forest looms as ever, colorless but not at all dead. The leaves are full, fluttering in the silence, but there's no scent to them, no color. The effect is eerily hard to navigate, almost like an optical illusion, leaves, branches and trunk blending together with the small path -- which already disappears and reappears at a whim. But even so... If you brave the path, it seems as though there is something leading you onwards. A trail of... something, crumbs, maybe, the same shade of colorless as everything else, almost impossible to see. Following those might be a bad idea -- your chances of getting lost, tangled in random underbrush, or wandering aimlessly for hours are pretty high... to say nothing of what you might encounter if you stray too far (hint: even the small, fuzzy things have nasty bites). Still, it's there, and if you follow them... eventually you will come to a small house. It's decrepit, falling apart and in shambles... do you really want to go inside? Perhaps armed with one of the many convenient tree branches that have probably smacked you thus far? Prompt 2: hould you enter the house, you'll be greeted with a creepy, creepy doorman. Aw, how cute! And in that doll's hand, there's...a message. On a slip of paper, it reads, simply and plainly: The more you take, the more you leave behind. Curious! (And yeah, you can destroy the doll. It's just a normal doll. You may even come across said doll already crushed by an intrepid explorer.) Of course, it's a riddle, and the answer's a warning -- the longer you walk around and about the house, the less you'll remember about yourself, until you forget why you were there and why you should leave, and who you are at all, doomed to wander forever. Or someone saves you, that's fine too. Prompt 3: roblem: There are no fresh eggs in the Town. Solution: Catch a feral chicken, and keep it for eggs. That seems simple enough, right? You're totally up for the task... right? But why do all of the animals look so strange in the forest? Mutated, with teeth, or wings that don't belong, or claws. That's... a chicken, right? Catching it will allow you to get some eggs, but that beak looks pretty nasty -- it might be harder than it looks. But you're intrepid and clever, right? Why not demonstrate your Chicken Wrangling Skills that won you the championship so many years ago? Or try to serenade the savage beast? Or wuss out and form a coalition with which you draw lots to see who has to do battle with the chicken? There's safety in numbers! But the prize will surely be worth a bit of blood loss and fowl-related trauma. Do it for the eggs. Prompt 4: here's a new quest on the forum today, and it looks awfully easy! It's listed simply as: Quest XXII. Talk to someone you've never met about their childhood. Quest will be completed when you have reached an acceptable level of knowledge. On the other hand, that's a little vague, isn't it... ? How will you even know when you've completed a quest like that? Still, it looks easy! Maybe go give it a try. You could respond to the forum post to try to find people, or just go on outside, go harass someone about their past. If you're lucky, you'll drag it out of them with very little hassle and it won't take you a good chunk of the day. If you're unlucky, that's what highly persistent stalking is for! But don't forget, you'll likely have to return the favor. And your new friend might not be the only one listening. Extra: Got something in mind? Want to play with the setting more? The sky's the limit, so feel free and make up your own prompts to play with! Welcome to Awash's first Test Drive Meme! Please check out the FAQ and rules as you test your characters out. The setting is yours to play with, so be creative and have a good time with it! Important dates to remember are March 1st, 9 PM EST, when Reserves will open, and March 7th, 9 PM EST when Applications will open. Keep an eye out for it! If you have any questions about the TDM, feel free to ask us here. If there are any other questions, you can catch us via PM, the FAQ or the contact page. Thank you for your interest in Awash!

Comments

[messianic]

[That's a really good question.

It actually makes Minato quiet for a moment as he considers it with perhaps more seriousness than is strictly necessary.]

... Because I want to know, I guess. I'm a little curious about you.

[worlds]

[Minato, please.]

You're curious about a complete stranger?

[messianic]

Is that weird?

[He doesn't think that's weird!!]

We ended up here together, so... of course I'm curious.

[worlds]

[Growing up on a small island where everyone knows everyone, Ouni doesn't really know how people handle strangers.]

There are better people to be curious about.

[messianic]

... What do you mean by that?

[?????

That's such a puzzling thing to say, really.]

[worlds]

What I mean is just what I said.

[Which is all the explanation Minato is going to get, really.]

[messianic]

[... It's fine.

Minato will just contemplate that for a moment, and extrapolate.]

In that case... I think you're someone who's perfectly fine to be curious about. [DECISION MADE.]

[worlds]

[As he cuts away more branches—]

I don't care.

[DECISION OVERRULED.]

[messianic]

[Shrug!! That's fine too, he doesn't care.

Ouni doesn't have to care for Minato to want to learn more about him.

TRUDGING ONWARDS.]

[worlds]

[The quieter Minato is, the happier (?) Ouni is. He's not thrilled about this guy following him, but he'll put up with it, so.

TRUDGING ONWARDS IT IS.]

[messianic]

[TRUDGING ONWARDS.... until they come across that creepy little house.

Which does give Minato pause as he tilts his head at it. Hm...!!]

... How creepy.

[worlds]

[Meanwhile, Ouni just walks straight up to it and opens the door.

#yolo]

[messianic]

[...sugoi.

Minato follows, naturally, blinking slowly to himself.

There are no self-preservation instincts here, so it's fine.]

[worlds]

[At least in Ouni's case, it's a matter of being confident enough to take on anything that comes his way—whether rightfully so or through arrogance.

Still, when they come across the doorman, Ouni freezes, markings forming across his skin as his power flares up around him (Minato, uh, might want to step back). For a few moments, he waits to see if this thing is going to attack, or something...!?]

[messianic]

[Yeah, Minato's going to stand in the doorway and watch.

... ... ...Hm.]

It doesn't look like it's alive, Ouni-san.

[Ah--]

Is it holding something...?

[Minato's just....gonna walk past Ouni when it seems safe to, to look at that message.]

[worlds]

[You do that, Minato. Ouni's going to wait and hope that Minato reads out whatever is written, because heck if Ouni wants to do it with his subpar literacy skills.]

[messianic]

[Sure, why not? He's just assuming Ouni's not that interested.]

"The more you take, the more you leave behind"...?

[?????]

[worlds]

... Nonsensical.

[He steps forward, glancing around the house.]

[messianic]

[Um.]

Maybe it's a warning.

[But Minato follows anyway, putting the note back with the doll. Sure. Someone else might need it.]

It kind of sounds like a riddle, though.

[worlds]

Doesn't sound like anything I've heard before.

[Then again, Ouni is hardly a purveyor of riddles. Either way, he's heading deeper into the house.]

[messianic]

You haven't ever solved any riddles?

[Not that Minato knows very many answers to very many riddles--it's fine.

He's puzzling over it as he trots a bit to catch up to Ouni's wandering.]

[worlds]

Can't think of any.

[He's a former street rat, what more do you expect.]

You don't seem to have any idea either.

[messianic]

... No, sorry.

[Minato's brow furrows as he thinks.]

I'm still thinking, but it's a little complicated.

[worlds]

Well, let me know when you figure it out. [Sure, Ouni will think over it too, but he knows his strengths and weaknesses??] At least, it probably means we shouldn't take anything from this place...

[Which sort of goes against his instincts, coming from a culture that loots what's been abandoned, but whatever.]

[messianic]

[He'll try... it's going to get harder when everything starts to get fuzzier, though.

But for now? Onwards they go.]

I'd say that, but... it doesn't really look like there's anything here to take.

[So why leave a message about it?]