TEST DRIVE MEME (JAN 23')

[myddvaimods]

TEST DRIVE MEME
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Arc Introduction, Month 0


The Pull

Falling asleep, closing one's eyes to die, or simply walking through a doorway... it only takes the slightest lapse of consciousness for the magic to take hold. That sudden feeling of falling within a dream overtakes the senses, lasting far longer than it should. If lucky or nimble, feet will hit the floor rather than spine or face.

Characters find themselves pulled into a new world without warning, and they are now in the spotlight. Literally. From their new vantage point from center stage in a cabaret, they can just barely make out the strange, sprawling figures that form their audience. Hulking animal shapes sit at tables and lean against walls, defining the edges of the dark space. The floorboards glow with untold power, etched with countless runes and scripts, radiating power and… a strangely pleasant smell of vanilla and cinnamon fills the air.

"Charming," says a seemingly disembodied voice, tone bored despite the compliment, "Let this one stay, I'm intrigued by them."

"Suboptimal," responds another voice, this time clearly to the right and behind. Looking over a shoulder, the two speaking stand on opposite sides from one another.


The last to speak, a seven-foot tall goat man, is holding a broken shepherd's staff. The whole of the item is glowing with power and strands of magic wind outward like thread or like marionette strings, as they trail to the new arrivals body at all their joints. The goat man sighs and lowers the staff, dispelling the magic and the strands like extinguishing a flame. Colorful sparks and embers erupt and rise all around the stage, before cooling and disappearing into thin air.

"Welcome, you're one of the Pulled. Now, get off the stage," says that first voice again, from the other figure. They are a slim person of ambiguous gender and seemingly timeless age. They crack a smirk, "we have more of your kind to summon, the good Secretary Theodore will explain further,"

With that, it's time to explore what this strange place and experience holds, because there's seemingly no going back now.



Theodore is not his name...

Whether going willingly or getting kicked off, the most recent Pulled is moved into the off-stage area. A man waits, looking uneasy and stressed but doing his best to project some air of competency. He'll shake hands with anybody who'd like to but doesn't seem surprised or offended if they don't take his hand.

"Good to meet you. I'm Ted, Ydris' secretary," he has an overall exhausted air to him, as he pushes up his glasses.

Every Pulled gets the same, rehearsed explanation of what's going on.

First, a welcome to Myddvai, the name of the world they now find themselves pulled into. Myddvai is the vast World Tree, floating pleasantly through space. It is a highly magical place and thus not always the easiest to explain. He heeds that Pulled might want to curve any... expectations of perfect consistency. This world is highly unpredictable.

In the most basic terms, Myddvai is controlled by forces of Chaos and Order. All magic falls between these two extremes and is, curiously, denoted by flavor. The curious scent of cinnamon and vanilla is caused by the magic at work, summoning in the various Pulled. Ted introduces the two on the stage as Ydris and Ives, who are currently the two most powerful beings active on Myddvai. He urges that getting on either of their bad sides would be unwise.

The two on stage have devised this ritual summoning because the whole of Myddvai is in trouble. Ydris is one of five Dragon Deities, the living gods that oversee the natural order and chaotic forces throughout Myddvai.

Due to "a mishap," the other four Dragons are all unconscious. Many groups are scrambling to find their own solutions or, more concerningly, using this opportunity to seize various forms of control.

Ydris is aligned to Order and cannot allow such grabs at power on their, suddenly very solo, watch. Ives, who is a being with wisdom more ancient than even the gods of this world, has enlisted himself to help with this. The two agree they need outsiders with no biases on the politics of this world, and no motivation outside of what Ydris and Ives can offer them all. The prize for cooperation is a simple choice:

"Pulled are welcome to remain in the world and live out their mortal lives in luxury, heroes that will be favored by all the gods... or, be returned to your homes with new life and power. Even if you aren't interested in going home, there are others who are." Ted glances away for a moment, before his gaze returns to the Pulled, "The choice will be each of yours to make... provided you cooperate. If you're not interested in helping, you can be a normal citizen of the world. That's always an option."

Beyond that overwhelming lore dump, Ted can only answer so many further questions, but feel free to inquire with Ted. He's mostly around to field each Pulled as they're directed off stage to meet him. Other Pulled who have already heard the script can hang around in his space longer, but they'll probably get tired of the same speech over and over. Ted looks like he would love to stop...

Join the Audience

"You can join the rest of the audience. Mingle as much as you'd like," Ted urges to those done with their orientation.

There is only a curtain blocking the backstage from the seating area. Joining the audience reveals that the figures watching this ritual are animal, insect, and arachnid people. Dog, rat, bat, snake... all manner of heads sit expressively upon more human bodies, all dressed in sharp suits, gowns, or mixtures thereof. This appears to be quite the fancy affair!

These are Springtide Vampires, the aristocratic leaders of this particular culture. They eagerly invite Pulled in pairs to sit and socialize with them.

While a few lick their chops at the new arrivals, they insist they are not out for off-world blood. No, what they want is connections to the Pulled. Springtide Families are all headed by a Vampire, and those who grant resources to this endeavor are being promised great favors or riches by Ydris. So, they are hungry for clout more than anything. A few Vampires are interested in making conversation about themselves, but most prefer to simply eavesdrop on any Pulled sitting at their tables and speaking with one another.

Pulled who are especially interesting or social will be slipped a calling card with a family crest: Rat, Dog, Raven, Moth, Cat, or Spider. The Vampire granting the card will instruct Pulled that this will be valuable soon. So, hold onto it for later and guard it against thieves. Pulled can only acquire one of these cards each, so choose carefully. If Pulled decide to trade among themselves, that may come with future consequences.

((Note: Vampires will be NPCs available for interaction below, but players are free to handwave basic interactions, as described above. Receiving one of the calling cards can also be done at player discretion.))

The bar is open to a new you


At the far end of the cabaret is a long bar leading to a kitchen. Mysteriously, the cabaret has no discernable exit. There is a row of seats facing the bartenders and another facing the stage. Both rows are exclusive for Pulled, set aside from the Vampires. Everybody who was pulled in arrived wearing whatever they last had on. If an outfit was too revealing, damaged, or just not comfortable, then Pulled are offered a silken robe and slippers to wear instead.

Whether a waitress or bartender addresses a Pulled, they refer to them as their Myddvai Breed. "What would you like to drink, Elf?" "You look like a hungry Rahuth! How about something from the kitchen?" and so on. All Pulled take on recognizable characteristics native to Myddvai, features determined by the Pull of the universe. Any who ask are told that features are likely to continue to manifest the longer they're on Myddvai. Some Pulled might also experience their form shifting wildly between different breeds and are assured that will settle down eventually. This kind of transformation isn't painful, only strange to experience. Pulled can get told all the basic information available on Myddvai breeds at this time.

Pulled have plenty of time to chat just among themselves at the bar. If endless, freely provided alcohol isn't enough to loosen the tongue, then perhaps sharing a meal will? Pulled are required to order food as pairs or parties, individual requests won't be served. The menu is distinctly lacking in grains, dairy, and red meat, exclusively having vegetable dishes and various seafood on offer. It's all very flavorful and filling, seasoned well, and delivered warm.

If you're facing the stage, there's plenty more being pulled in... and come to find out, not everybody is allowed to stay.

The Ice Storm

Watch and it becomes clear that the ritual doesn't always result in worthwhile Pulled.

The room swells as the pair of powerful beings do each half of the summons. Ives steadies his staff and draws in the smoke generated by Ydris, who looks entirely different. Their human illusion is dropped during a summoning, showing their true form as a fantastical, wax-bodied being of fire and metal. Flames all swirl intensely, creating a smoke that is wound into concentrated magical strings of energy. These lines are what pull people out from their worlds, causing a void in reality from which they arrive through. The tear is quickly stitched back together by those same thread, weaving the space back together again behind the new arrival.

If a Pulled is deemed unworthy, Ives points the staff at them. A flash of light overtakes the entire room. The Vampires appear to all know just the time to duck or hide their eyes when this happens. Except a certain Sir Goodpoint the flash is his favorite part.

After this light dissipates, the person is gone. Seemingly returned home. One would... hope. The next ritual begins again, people stay or go. There seems to be a completely unknown ranking system at play. The Vampires casually mention how many Stars someone is worth in passing. Not everybody chosen has a high rank by this measure, so that doesn't seem to be the deciding factor.

A semi-regular occurrence is the Ice Storm. This is when an unwanted character is Pulled multiple times and everybody in attendance has gotten just so fed up with seeing them. One of the front-row Vampires seems to have started a trend, that of plucking an ice cube from their drink and throwing it at the offending Pulled. Basically, everybody in the audience takes this as a great opportunity to pelt the unwanted Pulled until Ives makes them go away, jeering and booing are optional.

All Pulled in the audience are given cups of ice, wordlessly encouraged to participate. Nobody subjected to the Ice Storm is allowed to remain. Any who stand to object to this will get the Ice Storm directed at themselves, instead. It won't get a Pulled who was already chosen sent back home, but they will get a good pelting for their trouble.

It also makes for a progressively funnier show as new Pulled appear and slip on the remains of the previous Ice Storm. Glad that wasn't you, right? Or maybe it was and now you understand why...


OOC Notes

Welcome to the Test Drive Meme for Myddvai's First Season!

This post is Open To All for play, both those with and without invites to our game are welcome to play in this space.

Players are allowed to play around with their character as any of the available breeds while on the TDM. TDM breed choice does not need to match an application. All threads from the TDM can remain canon even if breed is changed later when applying to game. The lore reason for this would be instability of a character's form when first pulled in. Breed choice cannot currently be changed once within the game, so choose wisely when applying!

As a reminder, TDM participation is a required part of our Application to join. Both top leveling your characters and tagging around is encouraged!

For those without Invites who are interested in applying, feel free to join our discord and inquire about potentially receiving an invite.

All Mod Invited Players are allowed to extend unlimited invites to those they wish.

For those with invitations, Reservations are open along with this TDM! Please put in a Reservation if you are intending to join the game.

Applications open on the 1st of February and priority will be given to Reserved players. The first round of acceptances to the game will go out Feb. 4th along with an IC Introduction Event.

Not sure what Breed you want to pick for your character? Head over to our Design Workshop! Moderation and other potential players would be happy to help brainstorm.

code bases by tricklet

Comments

[illyria]

Perhaps we've no further use for one another, then. You know no more than I.

[ She would never be able to identify the impulse that caused her to speak the very opposite of what she wanted. Self-preservation as an emotional concept she hasn't gotten to yet, and if it were she'd likely intentionally defy it.

But she looks away from him as she speaks, not quite wanting to give him the opportunity to see whatever expression this form is capable of making should he agree. She can no longer trust her own face, and it's enraging enough to make her crush the cup of ice in her hand without really noticing she's done so. ]

[hard_decisions]

Perhaps you're right.

[The thought makes him feel oddly empty- as if he's already grown accustomed to having her nearby again, and her absence would feel like a loss. The thought surprises him. He suspects it would only upset her- she's already more volatile than she's letting on, judging by the cracking sound from her cup- so he keeps it to himself.]

But it's possible that there's a practical benefit to our continued alliance nonetheless. Thus far, they seem to reward networking and punish isolation. It could be that solitude will be dangerous, especially in your... present state.

[...that's as delicately as he can put it, but he suspects it will still provoke an unpleasant reaction- she's never liked having her limitations pointed out, and having even more strict limits is unlikely to improve her mood.]

[illyria]

[ She abruptly turns her head back to stare at him with a blank intensity that could mean she's contemplating throwing him into the nearest wall. Certainly, there's an aura of disdain and barely-controlled rage about her even now, but she doesn't speak or even indicate she's heard him beyond that first snap of her head for a number of long seconds. It's a silence that ought to make a normal human nervous -- fearful, even.

She doesn't expect such a reaction from him. ]

I care nothing for their rewards nor their punishments, in this state or any other. But if you wish to resume our alliance, that would be... acceptable.

[ There's something about her that almost seems stung by the entirety of it. Being so limited yet again. Having deigned to show -- to feel an emotion for this fragile creature who refused to even stay dead. It's a horrible indignity that she ought to put an end to here and now.

But she won't. To do so would be it's own kind of lie, and she's made a vow to herself never to do that for him again. ]

[hard_decisions]

[There's a comforting familiarity to her cold scrutiny. Oddly, there's a part of him that prefers it to her simply leaving, though he knows it's irrational. Now, more than ever, he suspects he doesn't need to fear that it will end in violence- after all, she's less potent than she's ever been. So he'll quietly endure the scrutiny, and whatever no-doubt confusing and incomprehensible thoughts must accompany it, until she finally speaks.]

I think it would be for the best.

[...There's more, but he's not sure she'll like hearing it. He braces himself, not at all certain of what her reaction will be.]

And... I know it isn't in your nature to be concerned with the displeasure of lesser beings-

[Which she'll no doubt believe their hosts are, even if evidence suggests the inverse-]

But I'll confess, I'd rather you not get hurt.

[illyria]

[ There are still plenty of ways it could end in violence, but her desire to punch him through the nearest wall is relatively muted at present.

She tilts her head to one side, perhaps considering whether or not she ought to be grievously insulted by the insinuation that she's too weak to defend herself. She supposes there will be plenty of opportunity to correct that assumption later, once she's found her bearings. ]

I do not bend to your wishes, whatever sentiment I might've recently expressed for your benefit.

[ A pause, and then, more quietly: ]

I would likewise prefer it if you did not get hurt again.

[hard_decisions]

[He never expected her to submit to his will, of course- but he's used to her being defensive about her own motivations, so he doesn't bother trying to explain. For all he knew, she'd decide it was unseemly or diffident, or get more offended that he would think she cared enough to merit an apology, or any of a dozen other responses-

For now, he'd count himself lucky she didn't get violent about it and move on to the next point she'd said.]

I'm not planning to get stabbed again, I assure you. Once was quite unpleasant enough.

[illyria]

[ Illyria makes a sound somewhere between a huff and a snort; whatever it is, it's definitely her commentary on Wesley's planning ability re: stabbings.

It's beyond time for a change of subject. Lingering on what had happened serves nobody, least of all her. ]

Have you ever heard of a creature called an Empyrean? It's what that person tending bar called me.

[ She looks down at her subtly metallic limbs with a degree of fascination; every now and then she catches the light just right to see that they have taken on a faintly glittering effect. It's not aesthetically unpleasant -- certainly it's better than the baseline human shell -- but she hasn't chosen it and she has no idea what it's meant to be or how it's meant to function in this place. ]

[hard_decisions]

[He'd seen a number of others with similar... construction? Similar appearance, anyway. Regardless, he had no name to put to the shape. Now that he does, it... still isn't helpful, actually. Ah.]

It's not familiar to me. I'll need to find a source of more in-depth knowledge, this place seems to operate on entirely different rules than the magic of our world.

[... Or was it only his world, in her eyes? That phrasing might have been a mistake. Best not to dwell on it.]

That may explain why we were 'pulled' into these native forms.

[Not that his current body was noticeably different from the old one, aside from the pulse and the lack of a knife wound.]

[illyria]

[ She lets his phrasing go unremarked on. She'd chosen to link her temple to Wesley's world some time ago, when humankind was new and she thought they'd die off nicely in a few millennia. Earth was never the problem. ]

I don't know their so-called gods, at least not by those names.

[ Her true name had been incompatible with human speech; not even she can say it now. Illyria was an approximation that doesn't seem worth mentioning at the moment, not when she's staring at him with vague resentment. ]

You are unchanged. What makes you exceptional?

[hard_decisions]

[Small favors. Sometimes talking to her was like navigating a minefield, as surprising for what wouldn't set her off as for what would. Perks of befriending an Old One.

Not that they were friends, exactly, and she would probably use his spine as a weapon if she heard him suggest that they were, but still.]

Nothing at all, I assume.

[It's okay, Illyria, you go ahead and glare to your heart's content, he's used to it.]

It could be that, since humans already existed in this world, I didn't need to be altered to conform... or it might simply be sheer dumb luck that I wound up in a human body again.

[illyria]

[ Horrifying. Loathsome. Never use the word friend anywhere near her, Wesley. She neither comprehends nor desires the designation.

She continues to look him up and down as though he were some manner of science experiment, and then seems to come to a satisfactory enough conclusion for the time being. ]

Disgustingly fragile, but I suppose it could be worse.

[ She casts a pointed glance at some sort of being with fluffy ears and a tail. Hideous. Imagine having her only ally turn into one of those. She'd rather go back into the Deeper Well. ]

[hard_decisions]

Oh, yes.

[He follows her gaze with a touch of amusement. Far worse, indeed. Somehow, Wesley didn't think he really had the face for 'cute and fluffy.']

We can also be grateful that you weren't placed in a more frail form.

[This 'Empyrean' form was likely still a downgrade from the potent but diminished being she had remained when last he saw her, but at least it looked durable, and not...

well. He suspects that being fully human would have been too horrible for her to tolerate on principle.]

[illyria]

[ Her face is still human enough that the subtle momentary shift at the thought of being human or even any of those other fleshy things is clear. But only for a moment. She hadn't been, and there was no sense in dwelling. Wesley wasn't dead, so there wasn't any sense in dwelling upon that, either. And she has no real opinion on whether or not she'd like to be sent back to a place that would never be home, but she certainly isn't going to remain subject to the whims of rival gods for the rest of her days. ]

I cannot see that it matters; one way or another I am trapped, and apparently they've found us both suitable enough to remain. I suppose you owe them your thanks, given your alternative.

[ There's a small part of her that is grateful to them in her own way for this small gift, but she doesn't feel that she owes them anything in particular. The idea of awakening even more creatures who will have power over her is revolting. But so long as Wesley remains, she'll keep her own word to him and refrain from killing anyone. ]