riverview: may test drive meme

[riverviewmod]

riverview test drive meme

Welcome 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 June 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 for 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

prompt i: search & rescue

Following rumors about a magical healing spring deep in the jungle, a group of intrepid explorers ventured out to verify whether it existed or not. After finding the spring inside an ancient temple overrun with tree roots and flora, they brought samples back and discovered that the spring did, in fact, have healing properties. Just like the rumors said.

Until the authorities decided what to do with this information, no actions were to be taken, nor information revealed to the public at large. Unfortunately, the news leaked and spread to the alternative science communities as well as the top minds at Gramarye Magic Research. With interest piqued, several more unauthorized expeditions set out beyond the fence in search of the spring. And once the information leaked beyond these scientists and scholars? Everyday citizens also launched their own excursions into the jungle, many bringing ailing family members or friends along for the ride.

This month the mission is to deploy teams of skilled citizens into the jungle to rescue some of the less fortunate, unsuccessful parties. Some of these people will be trapped or set upon by monsters, unable to move forward to the spring or back to the safety of the city. Others have simply run out of supplies and need the teams to restock them so they can continue their trek. And some groups have managed to reach the spring and collect their own samples of the spring water, only to find themselves struggling to return to the city before the samples lose efficacy. Feel free to create your own party to rescue, and get a team together to do so!

prompt ii: death from above

Normally, living inside the Inhabited City is a pretty safe bet. You can go day to day without running into a monster or risking any kind of danger requiring a fight. Generally, the tall, laser-fenced walls keep out anything particularly dangerous.

The problem with walls? They only go so high.

While usually assault from airborne monsters isn't a problem that's on the map, there's a few weeks during late spring where a swarm of flying monsters not unlike feathery pterodactyls are migrating back to another part of the moon. They're only in the area for a couple of weeks, but during that time, residents can expect occasional attacks by swooping monsters if they should see easy prey. Usually, a good sturdy dark-colored umbrella is enough to keep them from seeing a potential victim or meal, but sometimes the attacks still happen. So the Perimeter Guard sends extra details, calling in all the reserves, to patrol the city and keep an eye out for citizens in distress. There's also a general call for anyone who's experienced at fighting to help protect their fellow citizens. Whether your character is being attacked or protecting someone else, be prepared - these monsters are quick and have very sharp teeth.

prompt iii: homesick bazaar

Over the past couple of weeks, the portal has seemed really fixated on food. Almost every time the portal changes location, new bundles of food are near the entrance, ripe for the Perimeter Guard Orientation Team to pick up and drag through. As a result, the Orientation Team has set up a free bazaar outside City Hall. The Bazaar lasts from the 20th until the 31st of May, and is completely free, featuring tables and booths laden with food taken from the other side of the portal. Many of these foods will be familiar to characters in the City, whether it's that special brand they're totally addicted to or a plate of grandma's family recipe.

Everything at the Bazaar is totally free, and anyone joining in on the feast is encouraged to share (read: gently not allowed to leave until they do) and to tell stories about the origin of the foods from their own home. It's a multidimensional foodie's paradise!

prompt iv: prijata pregaming

Prijata is a holiday in Riverview celebrating platonic love - essentially, it's a celebration of friendship, geared at showing appreciation for existing friends and finding new ones. While I won't spoil the rest of the prompts for the introductory mingle, one of the main staples of Prijata is gift giving, and the Government of Riverview gets into the spirit of it by giving small gifts to everyone who's arrived since the last Prijata.

This prompt can be used to give a quick idea of what your character is into so other characters or players can suggest gifts to be given them (or to give them) if they are accepted! More information can be found in the Prijata Pregaming modpost.

prompt v: friendr/network

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.

Code to post your character's bio is in the textbox below, or you can just do a text version of the information in the app. An example of how it looks can be found here.

<center><blockquote style="width: 220px; margin: 0; padding: 0px; background-image: url('http://i42.tinypic.com/2uf53s4.jpg'); font-size: 12px; font-family: verdana; border-radius: 20px; text-align: center;"><div style="padding: 10px 0 0 0; text-align: center;font-size: 25px; font-weight: 900; font-style: italic; color: #528887; text-shadow: -2px 2px 2px rgba(150, 150, 150, 1);">F<span style="font-size: 16px;">RIENDR</span></div> <center><img src="ICON URL HERE" style="border-radius: 50%; width: 70px; height: 70px; box-shadow:-3px 3px 2px 0px rgba(82, 136, 135, .75);"></center> <center><div style="width: 210px; background-color: #528887; color: #fff; padding: 5px; font-size: 14px;">Name of Character</div></center> <center><div style="width: 210px; background-color: #528887; color: #fff; padding: 5px; font-size: 11px; text-align: left;"><b><small>AGE:</small></b> ## <b><small>INTERESTED IN:</small></b> Male/Female/Any <b><small>SEEKING:</small></b> Type(s) of Relationship(s) <b><small>ABOUT ME:</small></b> Blurb goes here, can be as long or short as you wish.</div></center><br> </blockquote></center>
Many thanks to mistojen for coding this especially for Riverview!

prompt vi: wildcard

Choose your own adventure and do something else in the setting!

navigation
[river market image is by Tyler Edlin]

Comments

[dendarii]

[ Um. That makes Miles choke on his drink, in fact. He was not expecting that out of her, no. ]

Mental interrogation. Forced?

[wronganswer]

[ He's not the first person to think a small, young woman would balk at it, including the very perps she interrogates, Judge's uniform or no.

She's already figured out that most people here come from kinder places than she does, but she doesn't rush to offer any justification. ] If they were cooperating, it wouldn't be necessary, [ she points out. ]

[dendarii]

Oh, I'm sure. But - you've never had someone innocent refuse to cooperate?

[wronganswer]

I think you lack the frame of reference.

Do you have a bogeyman, where you're from? Something that you tell kids is gonna show up and drag them away and do unspeakable things to them if they don't give it what it wants?

[dendarii]

Baba Yaga is quite fearsome. And we've other similar tales, yes.

[wronganswer]

That's what Judges are. And Psi-Judges-- [ She shrugs, swirls her coffee. ]

If they're really innocent and they're still not cooperating, I'm not going to torture them, but they know what they're getting into.

[dendarii]

... I see. I still don't quite agree, but I understand.

[wronganswer]

[ That's all just facts of life for Anderson, but now she retreats into herself, looking somber. ]

Honestly... I'm not sure I do either. But it's kinder than hauling them in to the iso-cubes for obstruction, or beating them until they tell the truth. I just have more options.

[dendarii]

[ Miles winces a bit. None of those options sound good at all... ]

Your world sounds a bit unpleasant to visit.

[wronganswer]

I don't recommend it, [ she says dryly. Especially for him. He'd get chewed up and spit out in two seconds.

But that's enough about Mega-City One. ] You said you liked yours. Should I take a vacation there? [ Obviously she can't, but as a hypothetical question. ]

[dendarii]

[ Hmm, well. He makes a so-so gesture with one hand. ]

Better nowadays, but Barrayar specifically might not be a good vacation spot for you.

[wronganswer]

Why not?

[dendarii]

Well - women are still rather constrained, in some ways. And mutants are greatly prejudiced against, though you'd fare better than me in that regard.

[wronganswer]

[ Her brow furrows. ]

If you tell me that isn't the case everywhere, I'll start thinking I should put in for a transfer.

[ That's a joke, obviously. ]

[dendarii]

... Actually. Barrayar is considered particularly backwards about that. Any other planet in the Nexus would have no such issues.

[wronganswer]

Any other planet?

[ She hasn't quite run into this one yet. ]

[dendarii]

Well, yes. We've nearly forty total.

[wronganswer]

Okay... that's different.

[ Possibly a timeline discrepancy as well? If they could just leave Earth-- but that doesn't bear thinking about. ]

And you're committed to yours?

[dendarii]

Ah, yes. Very much so. I'm the Count's heir in my district. Leaving is not an option.

[ Said with just the faintest hint of bitterness. Not that he hasn't considered running off and being Naismith again. ]

[wronganswer]

[ Her brow wrinkles. ]

A Count, like... from the time before the Atomic Wars? [ That sounds almost absurdly old-fashioned-- historic, even. ]

[dendarii]

After, technically. Our colony was cut off when our wormhole collapsed, so we had to revert back to earlier modes of government.

[wronganswer]

[ It's not until he answers that she realizes how odd it is that he'd have had a similar event in history to the Atomic Wars. Huh.

She sets her chin on her hand. ] I wonder if there's something like that out in the Cursed Earth. How long ago was that?

[dendarii]

[ Cursed Earth? Well, it's kind of a backwater, that seems rather harsh. ]

About seven hundred years or so.

[wronganswer]

[ She more means it in the sense that she knows there's still people out in the Cursed Earth, completely cut off from civilization in the Mega-Cities. She's never put any thought into what it would be like for people who aren't despicable criminals evading capture to form a society there. ]

Oh. [ She blinks. ] So your society has had time to recover. [ She's putting some pieces together. ] If being a bureaucrat isn't enough... what were you discharged from?

[dendarii]

[ Smart woman. He finds himself warming to her even when she's getting into uncomfortable territory. ]

Ah. From being a spy, essentially. Imperial Security.