prismaticrap | ▶ TDM .009

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You awaken amidst the darkness with only a faint light to greet you. Your body is hemmed in by shards of crystals, gently sparkling and possibly pricking your skin. The surrounding landscape is dyed in the pinks and purples of the dusk filled with crystals protruding from the ground, some as large as a skyscraper. Even the few shy moon creatures you find in the wild have strange crystal growths on their hides. This is far from home— perhaps a dream? You pinch your skin and slap your cheeks, yet nothing seems to do the trick. Searching for answers yields nothing but an endless expanse of purple dust as far as the eye can see. You have four options: one, panic; two, soil yourself; three, admire it all then soil yourself; or four, go into survival mode. Eventually, you’ll realize that you’re not alone.

After a day or two of living off the crystal wilderness, a group of people find you worse for wear. They are the gallant Moon Knights from the planet of Prismatica. After the strange phenomenon during the past months when scientists observed the sudden appearance of rainbow crystals in the sky, the government has been feverishly combing through the moon for more Moonblessed to be rescued. You’ll eventually be brought into Iris’s moon government center.

You all may have your usual inquiries — Where are we? Who are you? What's going on? Why did I inhale all those permanent markers in the third grade? — and the Prismals are almost too eager to answer. They tell you about their world and about the first appearance of the Moonblessed as the medical staff give you an examination to make sure you’re not carrying any viruses or biological hazards. If you react violently, you may be restrained and nerfed with a specialized neurotransmitting gun that releases a numbing agent through the top of your spine. Once the examinations are over, you’re informed that you will be provided accommodations on their planet during your stay.

While waiting for transport to be prepared, you may freely roam around the government center. Eventually you’re called back from exploring, escorted to the docks, and led onto a large transport vessel that makes frequent trips back and forth between the moons and the planet. Faces onboard vary from both old and new Moonblessed as well as the local Prismals. The next destination: Prismatica.

▶ Whip It Good
Iris Moon, Government Center (Arrival) and Planet Prismatica, City of Lunatia | top

Welcome to Prismatica’s hub, Lunatia, the city of your dreams! A bustling metropolis lush with bright lights, vibrant colors, luxuriant plant life, and all the conveniences of technology absent from your own world… It seems like paradise to all the uninitiated. After a quick tour of the city, new arrivals can find themselves getting cozy in their new homes.

A Settle in your new home at Level 2 to find new roommates and say hello to your neighbors! City officials will give you directions to the designated districts across Level 2 and instruct you to pick out a unit. Each apartment complex has a different aesthetic, some may look cozy, some stylish, and some bizarre. The free accommodations have a basic living space that can only fit two or three people at most in one unit.

Starter Chromaspace furnishings are provided which can be controlled with the touch of a built-in panel. Examples are color-changing curtains, transforming sofa beds, cabinets turning into tables, etc. Customizing your apartment or moving out will have to wait until you earn more chroma. Until then, why don’t you check out your new neighborhood or explore the city levels? Maybe your new roommates or neighbors can give you a “hand” with allowance for dinner.

B At the Crystarium Moonports is a new family restaurant called Grapplebears, here to serve your favorite dishes from all around the galaxy at affordable prices! The menu ranges from the atomically hot and spicy Chamakshalan curry rice, delectable dragonsaur steak served with mashed space-tatoes, to the sweet and creamy Lunatian milkshakes that bring all the boys to the yard, all prepared by their handsome and huggable bear crew.

As you might have noticed, the restaurant staff is a ragtag group with members from planets unknown to both Prismals and Moonblessed. The waiters and waitresses in particular are tall, muscular, leather-clad bears who take your order by whipping you with a special riding crop that compels you to bark out your order — but only if you ask to be, of course! They might induce you to reveal other unrelated interests so make sure you’re not thinking about anything embarrassing!

If you chat up the staff or customers, you learn more about the restaurant’s origins. The bears say their planets* were also wiped by the Calamity hundreds of years ago, and life for them has been difficult for them since then…

*Further information about these planets is unavailable at this time.

▶ Night of the Living Dummy
City of Lunatia | top

The last vestiges of Geistnacht have officially passed and the first chilly autumn breeze ushers in the new season. The city is awash in giant piles of browning leaves that decorate every walkway.

A To deal with the mass collection of fallen leaves, many buildings across the city have been retrofitted with a new disposal system to help clean up. A sprawling network of automated vacuum tubes around the city will efficiently suck all those pesky leaves right up. While children love playing inside and using them to “teleport” around Lunatia, they have also been known to spontaneously suck up anyone who’s not too careful. You may find yourself falling on some hapless bystander on their afternoon walk, or crammed in a tube with your new neighbors. Lunar Scientia officials warn everyone to be careful of where you walk, else you might need to crawl your way to sweet freedom.

B A pop-up shop in Level 1 is attracting much of the locals' attention, run by a peddler who speaks in a low, elongated hiss and wears a hood over his face. He assures you that his face is of no consequence. What is more important is his selection of wares! In contrast to his cloaked, enigmatic appearance, his travel cart is a Barbie pink explosion of frills, hearts, glitter. He will tell all visitors he comes from the Valley of the Crimson Serpents, which Prismals and older Moonblessed arrivals find odd. Wasn’t the Sanguis moon uninhabitable?

Among the peddler’s wares are adorable, wide-eyed and heavily perfumed dolls in all sorts of clothes a child dreaming of rainbows and tea parties could ever ask for. Hug and squeeze a doll, and you will be greeted by a pre-recorded voice telling you how they’re your bestest friend ever. It’s like they were made for lovin’ you! But if you look away for one moment, you can almost swear you hear a snake’s hiss, its long tongue licking the shell of your ear… The next time you see the doll, its body will be in a slightly different position or location. Is it… following you? Fortunately, a minimal amount of moonlacing will make it leave you alone. You can wait it out too, but why would you?

Destroy a doll and it will later reappear wherever you are when you least expect it, good as new, but leaking from their porcelain heads is a strange pink, glitter-covered liquid. The peddler calls it the “love juice” giving the doll an extra dose of affection for you.

▶ Bird is the Word
Level 2, Greatmoon Groves | top

As autumn paints Lunatia with its golden hues, pumpkin decorations and desserts are now in vogue. This is thanks to Chroma-infused pumpkin seeds, which allow them to rapidly grow in all sorts of sizes, shapes, and colors. The Moonblessed are invited to visit one of the largest pumpkin patches in the city housed within the Greatmoon Groves, where they can enjoy the sight of oversized, colorful neon and sparkling semi-phallic pumpkins, expertly carved to greet you with their buck-toothed smiles.

A The pumpkin patch is full of toddler-sized creatures called hugbugs. When they are not tending to the pumpkins, they follow the Moonblessed around, requesting hugs and treats in exchange for their obedience.

Reward them and they will do simple errands for you and give you compliments. They will also be your personal hype men, talking up your strengths, talents, and physical assets to all those special someones you’re trying to impress. Once you earn their trust, they will be your friends for life!

Ignore them, hurt them, or bully them, and they will cry and place a curse upon you, reducing your self-esteem to nothing and magically forcing you to cry along with them. The effects of the curse may last for up to a week if you’re not careful! But how could you do such a thing? The hugbugs are sensitive and want somebody to love.

B If you manage to survive your encounter with the hugbugs, you are welcome to join in on the Prismal knitting group and enjoy creating your own fanciful scarf made of Galadrian thread, which is known for its bright, golden sheen and aromatic properties. Give it to a friend or wear it yourself, and you will notice a strange ability to attract animals and insects of all kinds. Live out your Disney Princess fantasy! Or a Hitchcockian nightmare. It’s all a matter of perspective as a whole flock of honking birds comes bounding towards you.

▶ Questions
If you have any questions regarding this test drive meme, please ask them in the Questions thread below.

▶ As a reminder, test drive memes are for new characters only. However, current players are more than welcome to use these prompts for their own posts in the IC communities, personal inboxes, catch-all posts, etc.!
▶ As our test drive memes are game canon, feel free to keep any threads that happen here as canon for your character should they be accepted.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[He inclines his head a bit to indicate that he's listening, though he doesn't address the first part. "Wuxian" is it, he supposes.]

I am not. I'm from somewhere that is very different from here, though it sounds as though it's very different from your home as well.

[Well, at least in naming conventions.]

I did wake up in the sky. I never imagined that that could be possible, but such was the experience that I went through. Ah! [ wei wuxian shudders at his own thoughts. ] The sky is much darker than I thought it would be!

What is your home like? Do you have cultivators there as well?

[The less we talk about heights the better, so moving on!!]

We don't have cultivators, no. What are they?

Cultivation is mastering one's qi and harnessing it to perform feats that are in tune with the spirits that surround us. Everything has a spirit, or a potential to develop one. Cultivators use this energy in many ways, some good, some bad.

The YunmengJiang Sect, headed by the Jiang clan and to which I belong to, is one of the five biggest and most renowned cultivation sects back home. The family believes in precepts that uphold the clan's words: attempt the impossible.

I hope to meet such goals someday, and make my Sect and clan proud.

Ah, that's a lot to talk about though! What about you? Any family, loved ones? Do you practice any sort of arts?

[Oh, that's fascinating... Nothing like what he's familiar with, but that's part of what makes it so interesting.]

I may have to ask you more about it sometime.

[But since you did ask...]

I do have a family, but our relations are a bit strained. [That's one way of putting it.] My duty is to serve the Empress, a task I take great pride in. Everything I do, I do for her.

[All of that is very technically true!]

[ wei wuxian lights up, both in elation and in concern. ]

You're a military general? Or a scholar, perhaps? I feel like I've disrespected you now! Master Hubert, that's not very nice of you, letting me be so casual with you!

But, about your family... surely there's a way that you could reconcile with them. Live with hope in your heart!

Oh no, nothing so grandiose. I don't have a problem with casual address.

[It's fine, one of his classmates gave him a dumb nickname and he never corrected her, he really doesn't care.]

As for my family... No, there is no reconciling with them. It's a clash of ideals, and not something either of us are going to change.

[...This is a little awkward, but Hubert is not going to focus on that, it's fine!!]

The Empress means far more to me than my family ever could, anyway.

I can relate to that. I don't know where I would be without the Jiang patriarch's help. Ah, my life would have been so depressing! I would be running from dogs and men with sticks to this day.

[ wei wuxian's gratitude seeps into his voice. he's fond of jiang fengmian, and of jiang yanli and jiang cheng, who he has come to consider as his siblings. a sharp lance of heartache pierces wei wuxian for a moment; he'll make them worry again, now that he's so far from home with no foreseeable means of returning. ]

Say, do you know how we can get back?

[...Good question.]

I've been attempting to determine that for myself. I need to return as soon as I can, but I haven't had any luck in finding out how to do that. I have heard that it happens seemingly at random, but I haven't seen any proof of that.

[In other words, he's not giving up until he's certain one way or another.]

That's troublesome. I have affairs back home that I need to attend, I can't stay here for very long. Ah! This isn't great at all!

[ several expressions cross wei wuxian's face in an instant - dismay, frustration, sadness, despair, and then, at the very end of the train of expressions, hope. ]

If we find the leaders of this place and implore them politely, maybe they'll let us leave! It's worth a try, don't you think?

[Honestly, Hubert feels Wuxian deeply on the emotional front. He's just keeping it off his face.]

That's what I'm thinking. I'm certain there are plenty of people who wouldn't mind staying, but those of us with important work to attend to back home should be allowed to leave.

I remember seeing a castle in the Greatmoon Groves. We could start there.

[an adventure, and so soon upon arrival - wei wuxian smiles brightly at humbert as he gestures for the man to follow him if he so pleases.]

What better time to start than now!

[...Usually, he'd prefer to handle this alone, but he can't see any downsides in having a partner along for the adventure. If anything, it may be beneficial to have someone else there to draw attention... Especially given that he knows so little about this place. Safety in numbers, at least for now.]

Very well. Please, lead the way.

[...And some more headpats for these two so they'll hopefully be content with letting him leave, alright, let's go!!]

[the little critters keep pace, surprisingly. at least, humbert's own do; wei wuxian's own is happily perched on the young man's back, buoyed by a small slip of paper stuck on its back - a spell to become light as a feather.

making their way over to the castle doesn't take very long, though it's quite a distance. the greatmoon groves are vast, and the towers looming nearby seem so foreboding.

not that such things have ever kept wei wuxian from proceeding with an idea, once it's taken hold of him. he turns to humbert, gestures that they should move forward, and then takes the first step up the staircase leading up to the castle doors.]

[...Well, alright fine they can follow, but every time they start trying to talk about how great he is, he shushes them with more headpats. Obviously this isn't exactly working, but he's doing his best.

He does notice the slip of paper on Wuxian's pal's back, but he isn't sure what it is or if it's even important, so he doesn't question it. Anyway, it takes a little while to make their way to the castle, but here we are!

Hubert nods at Wuxian's nod and heads on up as well.]

Do you know what to expect once we're inside?

[He sort of doubts it, but might as well ask.]

I expect they'll either welcome us warmly or attack us for trespassing!

[he's smiling. this idiot is smiling even as he talks about being skewered by swords and lances, continuing to walk up the steps with a jaunty grin on his face.]

Either way, I'm sure we'll be able to charm them into disarming and speaking with reason. Have confidence in your own capabilities, Mister!

I can't wait.

[It's the most deadpan response imaginable. Hubert looks exasperated, but he's still coming along so you know what, this is probably fine.]

My "capabilities" are better suited to intimidation tactics, so it may be best for you to charm them.

Now that's just being mean to yourself for no reason.

[ wei wuxian plays at being chastising, but the shine in his eyes more than adequately communicate that he's mostly kidding.

surprisingly, they haven't been stopped yet. there are what wei wuxian assumes as fellow 'tourists', and it helps them blend in with the sparse, spaced-out crowds. there are guards posted at seemingly random posts, though, and wei wuxian pays attention to them discreetly. ]

Say, how good are you at providing a distraction?

[He offers Wuxian a smirk at the first part, but here we are, and there certainly are guards around, aren't there. Hubert's already taking note of their positions. It would be easier if he knew more about this world, but this is at least a good start...

Then Wuxian speaks up and he raises his one visible eyebrow.]

What exactly do you have in mind?

[...Which isn't an answer, but he'd rather hear the plan first.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

▶ TDM .009

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