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!
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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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no subject
I am unlike animals that age throughout their life course.
[ That's the most textbook way they can try to explain it, a hand coming to prop their head up - the dim light of this world keeps a dull shine on their crystalline hair, clearly not that of a human's. The motion of their head only brings more attention to this glint, a small sigh falling from their lips before continuing: ]
Most living things are "born" and then age up until death... my kind are not like that. [ This person in front of them seems mortal, just from visuals alone, so they do their best to try and remember how other gems had talked about living things before. ] Does that make any sense to you...?
[ Their tone barely raises at the end of their question, making it seem more like a statement than anything. ]
no subject
Oh, yes! [Winnie nods along. Yes, yes, she's totally got this.]
...Er, no, not really. I'm sorry, that was a lie. Do you mean to say that you weren't born then? Did you spring forth fully formed, like Athena from Zeus's head?
[Though her tone is mildly playful, she does believe them. She's in an entirely different world where there's apparently no color full of strange people from all sorts of different places. Deciding that something like this would be the line in the sand she wouldn't cross seems rather silly.]
That comparison was probably lost on you, wasn't it.
no subject
Yes, I don't know of any Athena or Zeus... [ Though it seems as though a similar concept of their birth exists in this person's world, so that's a start. ] But you are correct in saying that when we are "born", we are fully mature.
[ It feels less awkward to say 'we', at least so that there is the notion that there is more than one person that is like them - they aren't some random special case. ]
I take it you're of a species that ages and dies then, then?
no subject
Of course, it's all myth and there's likely no way that actually happened as it's all quite scientifically impossible, but it's a great little story, isn't it? [BEAMS AWAY. She looks so happy to have shared it.
But she nods, expression going properly sad at this inevitable thing] Yes, I'm afraid so. The average lifespan varies and we've found various ways to extend it now, but where I'm from I believe the oldest person I've heard of is around 200, and that's considered very rare indeed!
no subject
My kind certainly don't have any stories like that... [ There are definitely other gems that would be more interested in this topic, but that doesn't mean that the concept isn't mildly intriguing to someone so serious like Cairngorm. ] But we have read about civilizations that had myths.
[ More interesting to them, of course, is the other's talk of lifespan. Their expression softens a little as they speak, losing some of their blunt edge. ]
It's rare for your kind to live past two-hundred? [ They were aware plants and animals died extremely quickly, sometimes within a year, but even two-hundred seems super short to them. ] Most gems around two-hundred years old are considered quite young by the rest of us...
[ It's one thing to read about other living things, but it's another to be confronted with them. It's kind of a culture shock. ]
How old are you, then?
no subject
[Winnie's eyebrows raise in an amused look at the question and she smiles. She considers chiding them for asking a lady their age, but it's an almost endearing breech of etiquette they clearly don't get.]
I'm 24, but I'm already having to endure a bit of teasing about being 'too old' from my friends. [That's a lie, but Winnie laughs a little and eyes them curiously.]
Did you say 'gems'? Like... Rubies or diamonds? Is that what you're called? [Her eyes are drawn to their hair again] I suppose that would explain some things...
no subject
I don't think I even remember being twenty-four...
[ Should hearing this from a living being make them feel old? Probably not, but it kind of does. Their eyes close while she studies their hair, too tired from the day's events to genuinely protest trying to give a history lesson to the other. They would be astonished at the other listing off names of gems if it hadn't been for their teacher mentioning that ancient beings used to have jewelry composed of similar materials.
So, they just let out another sigh. ]
But yes, we are called 'gems'. You're correct in saying that there are Diamonds among us, though I'm not one. [ Their eyes open to study the other, trying to measure their words carefully. ] Your civilization probably uses similar materials for decoration, right?
We are like those materials, but living.
no subject
[Considering she's, in fact, wearing some gold jewelry (a necklace and a ring set with diamonds), this suddenly turns a little awkward. Despite lacking in actual emotions, the awkwardness of such a thing is definitely not lost on her and she looks sheepish.]
Er, yes, well... Now I feel a little bad. [A soft chuckle and she pulls her hand back to cover her ring hand with her free one, looking down at it.] I mean, such a thing doesn't exist where I' from, but I don't want to make you uncomfortable.
[And while Winnie can name a few gemstones on sight, she can't begin to imagine what they might be.] May I have your name?