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! |
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ii-b, bless u liz
Keisuke has been in this house for quite a while. An hour or two? He isn't sure anymore, but then again, there are many and more things he finds he's unsure of. Where this place was, what this place was, what his purpose had been. It was the experience of walking into a room only to forget why you had gone there at all, though stretched and distorted across an entire experience. He had started to cyclically wander through rooms, attention span growing short and memories growing less and less likely to stick from one room to the next.
Until she appears out of nowhere.
Keisuke blinks slowly, owlishly, a bit of alarm slowly setting across his expression. He takes a half-step back but she takes his hand, causing him to leap a little bit in his skin.
He doesn't, however, resist when she starts pulling him along.]
I shouldn't...? [The tone of voice is a bit distant, a bit dazed.]
Why? I was - I was going to... in the next room, I have to...
[His voice drifts off. What about the next room? There's only a hazy blank.]
she's trying to Help
There isn't anything there. Or... [ She's not sure, actually, but that makes the hair stand up on the back of her neck. Like a fog, whatever this house does makes her question even that, so she keeps a grip on why she came back in here at all. If there were other people wandering around, they need someone to guide them out too. ]
I don't know why, but there's something wrong with this house. I can't explain it, but you'll... forget. [ It's a weak word, but it's the only way she knows how to describe it. ] I can help you find the way out. You don't remember, do you?
no subject
Nothing here? A blank space in his brain argues, saying that can't possibly be true, even though there's nothing to back it up. It locks into a cycle, confusing, lighting an acute headache between his temples.]
I...
[It's such a simple question, right? The answer should be simple too: a front door, a rear door, even a window. But he can't remember. How did he even come in here? What was the first room he saw? The more he thinks, the more he ineffectually digs at that mental blank. It seems to frighten him even more.]
I don't.
[He looks around, eyes scanning. He settles his attention back on her again.] You - you do, right? You can show me? I'll follow.
no subject
[ Her voice softens, and it's almost soothing in tone, though she doesn't quite intentionally do so. It's automatic more than anything, since seeing him stumble over the same conflict that she had run into just a while ago is something she's very sympathetic towards. When she speaks again, the softness is lessened, though it's still kind. ]
I was here earlier, but I came back. I had a feeling that someone else might get curious like I was.
[ She nods down the hall, then takes a step back as she starts to lead the way ]
I think it helps when you try and keep something in mind. Something you really don't want to forget.
no subject
Soothing isn't really a thing that happens back home. Not much, anyways. What remained of the world, which rose out of the ashes of the Third Division, had been a harsh remnant. Militarism was still the law of the land, and anyone who didn't fit the bill of a soldier (someone like Keisuke, then) found a target painted on them. It was a world that devoured its weak, not sheltered or comforted them. The only reason he'd survived thus far was clinging so close to Akira, no one would dare bother him.
And even then, Akira had just been putting up with him —
He blinks the thoughts away. Part of him doesn't trust this, her or the kindness she seems to emanate, but the rest of him desperately wants to. It's a confusing place to be in.
He slowly nods.] Okay. [A brief pause.] Thanks... I'm not sure what would've happened if you hadn't come back.
[He'd probably still be wandering around.
He's quiet at her suggestion, feeling that blankness inside his mind, but now it's everything else, not just memories of this house. It's everything. He has only things he wishes he could forget, things which remind him that there's nothing back in Toshima for him, nothing much at all. Maybe that's why this house's effects had been so profound and fast-acting upon him.]
I'll try.
[He's not really lying, but he knows he'll fail.
It's just good that she's leading the way, and it's much easier to follow someone than it had been trying to find a personal impetus to get out.]
How'd you figure it out when you were here earlier?
no subject
[ Because then there's nothing to tether you. Her own curiosity could have been her undoing, because even though it wasn't a limitless house, she couldn't remember going through rooms multiple times. She was just searching, always hoping that in the next room she might find the person that owned this house. She hoped maybe they could explain this colorless world.
When he says he'll try, she looks at him again, but this time with an encouraging smile. ]
But if you need something to try and remember, just focus on my name. That might be easier.
[ Far easier than trying to pull something out of your past when this house makes your thoughts foggy. She's not even sure if trying to remember something even helps, but she feels like it helps keep her own mind sharper against the influence of whatever is doing this. She's of course focusing on the way out, having memorized it with a mnemonic to keep it as clear as possible. As they come to a door, she murmurs something under her breath that sounds like a rhyme, but nods and heads through the door. ]
I— [ She pauses, not quite hesitating, but uncertain of how to explain it. Elizabeth reaches up absently to place her fingers on the brooch on the necklace she's wearing. ] I realized that I couldn't remember someone.