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riverviewooc2017-04-20 11:42 am
riverview: april test drive meme
riverview test drive memeWelcome to Riverview's test drive meme! Feel free to dip your toes in on the test drive meme to try out your character in the setting, play out a mission, and get samples for your application at the same time!
● Reserves are currently OPEN.
● Applications open on May 1st.
● Providing all parties are amenable, threads on the test drive meme can count as game canon, as the plot in the prompts presented is game canon.
● TDM threads do not count for Activity Check, but they do count for Activity Bonus Points, so long as all characters involved are accepted into the game.
● Threading on the TDM is intended for prospective new characters, so top-levels should only be posted by players of these characters. Since the events in the TDM are considered game canon, characters currently in the game are free to use the TDM prompts logs and posts on the regular communities.
Feel free to use the prompts below or create your own scenario. The setting is built to be flexible, so feel free to make things up as you go.
information resources
premise ● arrival ● setting ● ask a question ● calendar ● navigation
Recently, a team of skilled explorers went out into the jungle to the Northwest of the city to follow up on several sightings of a giant lizardlike behemoth that's been skulking around outside the walls, a creature whose level of aggression (and therefore how dangerous it might be) was unknown. The team, while not exactly as stealthy as they were supposed to be, did manage to find the creature, which they found to have about the intelligence and temperament of a very, very, very large dog. And whom they named Liam.
Having established that the behemoth (which is around the size of a blue whale, snakelike in shape, but with four legs, brown striated scales, large claws and teeth, bad breath, and an affinity for face-licking) is not an intentional danger to the city, the authorities could not rule out the idea that it might cause accidental damage to the city, walls, or crops around the city. As a result, research has been done and a new mission has been drafted and recruited for - baiting the behemoth. The objective of this large-scale mission is for many small, quick-moving teams to take behemoth bait deep into the jungle for the purpose of luring the massive but mostly-harmless creature away from the city and hopefully to a new, less-inhabited feeding area. There is room for many different teams, and all of them should be heading deep into the jungle heading directly away from the city, going Northwest. The authorities in question have come up with a wide variety of food and pheromone scented lures that range from mild to truly stinky, so which type your team gets is up to you.
Each lure is small enough to fit in a cage-shaped canister that can be carried like a backpack by one person with average strength, and each lure-carrier will need to be accompanied by at least one or two fighters. Why, when the behemoth is peaceful? Well....
The behemoth might not be aggressive, but unfortunately it's picked up some unwelcome companions. After last month's near-disaster where a colony of lizardlike monsters had taken up residence in tunnels under the city, wreaking havoc in the power grid, and were subsequently either killed or flushed out of the underground, some of the local fauna has been bumped down the food chain.
The fauna in question is a very large pack of mammalian six-limbed creatures that usually live in the trees and hunt oversized insects in the underbrush. When the lizards escaped the underground into the surrounding jungle, and drastically reduced the population of the insects the mammals usually feed on, the predators became parasites, attacking the only thing left that is more docile than the insects they usually feed on - the behemoth. These creatures are quick-moving, well-camouflaged in the jungle with mottled brown-and-green fur, and sport massive teeth and long tongues that allow them to stick to whatever surface they land on.
Hungry as they are, they will make no distinction between the behemoth's juicy hide and the lure-carrying teams that are trying to help it. Hopefully, their ranks can be thinned enough that the behemoth survives the trip to its new home.
Not everyone is cut out for missions into the jungle or cleaning up angry predatory parasite monsters, but that doesn't mean that staying home means being safe from the weird things that come out of the portal. In the early morning of April 20th, drawn by the warmth of the rising sun, a massive swarm of rainbow-colored fireflies emerges from the portal into the quarantine. Unlike regular fireflies, though, they are bright enough to glow even during the day, and these bugs have bite! While generally harmless aside from stinging a little, the bite of the rainbow fireflies causes certain kinds of emotional response to become heightened, depending on the color of the firefly in question. While scientists have never run into these bugs before and have no idea how it works, they can cause this effect in any kind of sentient creature that is capable of emotion, including androids and characters that are usually unaffected by substances. The effects on emotions are as follows:
| ● RED: Lust/Anger ● ORANGE: Honesty/Openness ● YELLOW: Fear/Anxiety |
● GREEN: Jealousy/Envy ● BLUE: Sadness/Grief ● VIOLET: Love/Affection |
When a character is bitten, the effects on their emotions can last anywhere from an hour to a week, depending on the character's psychology and resistance to certain emotions - for example, if a character has a hard time dealing with their grief, the effect of a blue firefly may last longer than other colors. How the characters manifest the heightened emotional response or sensitivity is up to the individual player, as different body chemistry or other circumstances might change how characters are affected. Red firefly bites have a 50/50 chance of affecting a character with lust or anger, though characters who have not reached sexual maturity (underage characters) won't get get the lust effect.
Firefly effects can be easily avoided simply by avoiding the fireflies. It won't take long for some of the geniuses in the Quarantine to start making and distributing firefly repellent, and characters can expect sales of mosquito tents to skyrocket.
These alien fireflies have a lifespan of around a month, and they are unable to procreate outside their native environment, which means the last of them will be dying off around May 20th.
CLARIFICATION: In response to a player question, the effects of the fireflies CAN layer, so they can be affected by more than one at the same time. Red fireflies with the lust effect don't make characters incapable of controlling themselves, just heighten feelings of arousal/desire.
Whether your character is posting up a silly word game to distract people from the dangerous mission going on, trying to get hold of a friend, or putting out feelers for people to go out into the fray with, the network is going strong.
Alternately, an offer for a free app is popping up on new arrivals' devices - Friendr is a friend-finder and/or dating app. If characters choose to install it, they will fill out a short bio and parameters for what they're looking for, upload a snap of themselves, and then proceed to browse for matches. This is a typical swipe-left-or-right type app.
Many thanks to
mistojen for coding this especially for Riverview!Choose your own adventure and do something else in the setting!
no subject
Oh, well. No, actually. [ He smiles again, apologetic? Not apologetic because of what he's about to say, but because he once more didn't make things clear enough and now he needs to clarify. ] Alec and I were together for the duration of our stay there. And monogamous, very much so. [ A lot of confusion surrounding that one, both here and there. ] We were simply very good friends, Axel.
[ 'Simply' is a very weird word for it. It was, and continues to be, strange and wonderful. ]
You make a number of valid points. I think, if the environment in the city where we lived had been different, it might have been a problem. But it was one of the most peaceful places I've ever lived. And I have lived in quite a few places.
no subject
No, no need to apologize! I have experience with this, so I should have been expecting it. Or at least handled it with more grace, [ he adds, again smiling that sympathetic smile. ] Thank you for being patient with me.
And for listening! That said, whatever you would prefer to do going forward, I'll respect.
[ He still wants it to be clear that if Axel would find it easier if they didn't interact, he understands. Plan of action. Another time. Onward and upward? ]
You did! At my nightclub, Pandemonium.
no subject
He holds up one finger. ]
One I don't mind telling when you're ready. That goes for any of this, really. As long as it doesn't concern something that I think Alexander ought to tell you instead, I don't mind sharing. [ Here, he shrugs. ] I think we can use our best judgment about subjects better not to broach.
[ But let's talk nightclubs! He likes that topic. ]
You were a very good employee. Very punctual. [ He looks at Axel, as if waiting to see what sort of reaction that evokes. ] I'm not sure that you don't seem essentially the same. If I didn't know that you didn't know me, I would think we could just as easily be walking around Eudio now.
no subject
As for "not going anywhere for awhile," that elicits another of those halfway-to-sympathetic, knowing little smiles. It might not be hugely inconvenient, not as much as it would be if, say, they were mortal or time weren't frozen for them at home or any number of other things were true, but that doesn't make it a walk in the park either.
Particularly if someone has no experience with this sort of thing. Thus, it does seem wiser to let that lie a bit. For now. Magnus does think it's worth talking about later though.
Later. ]
We spoke about the Council, yes. [ He remembers very vividly the context of one conversation in particular and his expression turns somewhat pensive. ] Briefly. [ And he says no more, at least initially. He prefers to see what Axel makes of that, because everything else he could say to elaborate feels like it's going to involve a lot of personal information. ]
no subject
We are looking very significantly at you as we write this, Axel.
But maybe there'll be enough outlets that it won't feel so confining? Magnus already suspects there's going to be plenty to keep him occupied, and that's without running a magical nightclub. ]
We spoke about it a little. It's very hard to ask for references when you're hiring people from multiple universes, [ he says, wryly amused. ]
no subject
I believe [ well, he knows ] he was in banking. Meaning it wasn't much of a career change, working for me!
[ Which isn't necessarily important to emphasize for any special reason. He just says it. Now they've located a place to drink, perhaps it's okay if Magnus leads the way to a seat? ]
no subject
Is it better or worse if I answer your questions with a lot of specificity? [ Might as well be direct when asking about whether Axel prefers if he's vague or not.
Let's pretend this makes sense, okay? It clearly does, in his head. Also, please don't mind him very subtly shifting one hand. Furthermore, don't mind how the volume in the room seems to slowly lower itself until it's at a very comfortable level for polite conversation. ]
I like to think of myself as a fun boss! Also, I'll be honest, I probably drink on the job more than most. Not to excess - although my "excess" is different than most. [ He raises his shoulders very slightly. ]
no subject
Perhaps. Maybe he had an inkling. In response, he nods. All right, no more "in banking" answers. He'd be right about the lack of potential eavesdropping, too! Magnus isn't paranoid, just cautious.
The question evokes a soft chuckle. ]
Yes, that would be correct. It helps a great deal when you spend a certain amount of time developing cocktail recipes!
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Understandably so! I'm familiar with a wide variety of magic from my own world and it took me, oh, a few months to really get used to the idea of a lot of the things I saw when I first left it! Curiosity killed the cat and all. [ But satisfaction brought him back! ... back to a different universe entirely? ]
You're always so curious yourself, Axel. It's a trait I admire! [ He's thinking back to their previous discussions on magic. ] I was born with my magic, though I've met people who learned or who had it given to them
[ That's a nice choice, for sure. Magnus might be eyeballing something with an impressive pineapple garnish. ]
no subject
[ Old man problems. ]
And I would say it depends on how long-term "long-term" ends up being. [ He waits a beat. ]
We can talk about something more mundane, too.
no subject
[ ... he refuses to entertain the thought of being here without Alec, so the "worse" he's referencing must be something else. That comment about competence makes him smile. Not because of the suggestion of competence, but because it strikes him as a very Axel thing to say.
Pursing his lips to keep from smiling too broadly, he keeps some of his amusement out of his voice. ] I'm not really sure I know either. What drink sounds interesting to you? [ There. Perfectly normal, average, non-magical question that could be asked just about anywhere in the multiverse! ]
no subject
Oh, I'm sure it won't be a permanent arrangement. [ He wrinkles his nose slightly. No, that would not do. ] I'd have something to say about that and I know I wouldn't be the only one.
[ Magnus peeks at the drink Axel mentions. ] A good choice! I was thinking pineapple. [ Humming softly a second here. ]
no subject
It can be difficult to learn to negotiate space with others. [ Granted, he never had that much trouble acclimating to Alec as a roommate and he'd been on his own with his own space for quite awhile. ] Though that's not the only reason, of course.
Interesting that apricot and pineapple are readily available on another planet, isn't it? Or another planet's moon, as the case may be.
[ He'll be ready to place an order whenever someone comes by. ]
(no subject)