prismaticrap | ▶ TDM .010

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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 accidentally swallow the worm at the bottom of my tequila? — 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.

▶ I Heat Up, I Can’t Cool Down
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 After settling into your apartment, you notice a shiny silver indestructible mechanoid cube with a pair of tiny stag horns attached to it. The card attached says that it’s a gift from the Lunatian government. One touch of the cube makes it hover in place, light up brightly, and play the classic hit Last Firalia by Blam! on repeat. By the 7th listen, you get hot under your collar, beads of sweat forming on your temples and rolling down your neck, and your breath grows labored. By the 17th listen, you’re all but ready to burst into flames — a stark contrast to the plummeting temperature outdoors.

A bit of vigorous moonlacing should keep you from growing too hot and bothered indoors. Or you could simply decide to chuck the cube out the window and let it be someone else’s problem. That won't really stop it, though. The music only stops once the cube picks up enough Chroma in the atmosphere generated via moonlacing, so go forth, and spread the Firialia lust, love, and cheer!

▶ It’s the Moose Wonderful Time of the Year
City of Lunatia | top

In the city of Lunatia, the streets are emblazoned with beautiful antler decorations, gleaming gold and silver along every walkway. Snowflake holograms appear on shop fronts to announce their annual Firialia sales, and Prismals are all rushing to buy gifts and make preparations for the upcoming holiday.

According to legend, on one incredibly harsh winter, ancient Prismals were downtrodden and on the verge of starvation when the majestic stag king of the forest, Firi, emerged from his humble kingdom to bring them warm clothing, blankets, and gifts for surviving the biting cold. It is said that his spirit remains on the land even after the Calamity, appearing every winter solstice to bless the Prismals for the new year ahead. Every year, Prismals mount festive wreaths on their door, decorated with stag horns in Firi's honor, and exchange gifts to invite the benevolent spirit of Firi into their homes.

A Hanging fake deer antlers is a strong Firialia tradition that has endured for centuries — a success that can be attributed to its magical effects, which often compels two people caught beneath to share a bit of Firialia spirit with one another. One can find these trinkets everywhere, decorating even the most secluded of spaces. The antlers come in three colors:

RED: Causes a dangerous but intense feeling of desire to embrace the person you're with! You will want to roughly pin the closest person to you on a flat surface, passionately kiss, and/or aggressively hold hands.

BLUE: Causes people to want to kiss until they’re out of breath, hands liberally moving across each other’s body, and the errant temptation to go further, but no taking any clothes off in public or the Moon Knights will get you! You’ll simply be eager to tease and kiss beyond the lips and have difficulty feeling sated.

PURPLE: Causes people to want to caress each other's faces affectionately, steal soft kisses, and/or tenderly lace their fingers together. They may also feel compelled to offer up some sweet whispers and compliments!

B To combat the cool weather, Prismals will also be handing out cups of warm chocolate moose mousse. This light and creamy dessert is prepared in enchanted moose-shaped cups with a pair of festive graham cookie antlers poking out of it. Prismal traditions include taking a bite and passing it to your neighbor, enabling you to get a glimpse of one another’s Firialia wishlists left unspoken. Fancy a new fishing rod this holiday? Or perhaps that saucy leather subligar you’ve been eyeing since your arrival? The words and images that make up your list appear before whoever eats your mousse, so who knows? Maybe you might get it this Firilia...

▶ Are You Not Entertained?
Level 1, PrismaPlace | top

After the long wait and preparations, the League Match Action Online (LmaO) preliminary qualification rounds are now underway at the gaming hub in PrismaPlace in Level 1, as the city will be hosting the LmaO Grand Championship next month. Moonblessed old and new are welcome to take the game for a test drive and participate!

The award-winning VR MOBA boasts amazingly seamless first-person view graphics and a real-time combat mode almost as authentic as real life and guaranteed to wow and amaze. Players can explore and immerse themselves in the fantasy world of LmaO, where they can create their own avatars and either fight with or against players from Lunatia and the Kingdom of Lyestellus for glory and loot!

In co-op mode, you will be battling a selection of huge beasts chosen at random. The most notorious among them is Ogma the Dread Ogre, who has high defense and pesky unavoidable attacks. PVP mode pits you against other players, and getting KO’d three times in a row or having your base captured is a loss for you and your team. Fun mode featuring mini-games such as virtual basketball, rhythm step action, beat sword, and many more. Winning any of these modes nets you loads of in-game gold that can be used to buy aesthetic skins, cute in-game pets, fun game emotes, furniture for your in-game house, or weapon and skill upgrades to make you stronger for the next round!

Event emcees will be recruiting anyone passing by for the preliminaries and showing them into fully-equipped private rooms for teams of two to eight players. Each player will be given virtual headsets and tight suits for immersion and communication. Prismal players may be recruited with Moonblessed teams if necessary.

A The scenario for the preliminaries is a majestic coliseum filled with gladiators of all ages and species. In LmaO, weapon choices are currently limited to any melee and ranged weapons you'd find in an ambitious fantasy RPG setting (read: you can find dual swords and grimoires but also gunblades), including an elemental magic system of water, fire, wind, earth, dark and light. Choose your weapon and, with your team, fight for the top spot!

As you begin to battle, you notice that the more you get hit, the more your physical body shows visceral reactions to the attacks. Outside of the game, you lose balance. Bruises appear out of nowhere and mar on your skin. You earn minor abrasions and bleed. It’s possible to feel the sweat or saliva of other players or bots, the sensation of their virtual hands grappling you, or their teeth sinking into your shoulder as they bite. It's a new, tantalizing world of virtual stimulation.

B For those of you more interested in the glamour aspects of LmaO, you are welcome to compete against other players in either the in-game or a real glam-a-thon. Festive LmaO cosplayers will be scattered around the venue, dressed in colorful costumes of characters from the game, such as the ridiculously cool cyborg Kenji and the flirty immortal fox mage Yeri. As for the in-game contestants, they are located on a bright sparkling stage. Large monitors at PrismaPlace can be seen livestreaming everything.

Some of the many competitors are dressed in colorful gear, including stylish himations, risque chitons, and a bevy of glittery, neon gladiator sandals. Challenge other players to a fashion walk-off on the raised catwalk. Score high enough on either contests, and you will win an ultra-rare Firialia plump moose mount in-game. You are welcome to invite others on a scenic moose ride after as the plump moose very slowly waddles across the virtual snowfields and exhibits its adorable built-in feature where it decides to take a nap every few minutes.

▶ 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.

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A great deal as of late, [ Jiang Cheng sighs, the crease in his brow worsening as he obligingly falls in step next to her. ] though not under the best of circumstances.

[ Pausing, he glances in her direction. ]

It's wartime, and my brother was missing for the last three months. I searched for him everywhere I could, and it certainly took me places I would not have otherwise gone.

[ He sighs, then goes on quickly before Peggy misunderstands the situation with Wei Wuxian. ]

He's fine, though. Somewhere around here, I've been told, so I'm sure I'll get to see plenty of this world before I finally track him down.

[ That causes a thought to occur to him and he follows it up with a question— ]

And you, Miss Peggy...? Are you here alone?

[ wartime—there's a set of circumstances she knows all too well. indeed, it was the war that first gave peggy ample opportunity to travel. her heart fills and swells for the man. after all, didn't she sign up with s.o.e. with similar sentiments? her own brother had just been reported killed in action; she took to his footsteps the very next day.

but she smiles—politely, warmly—because jiang cheng's brother is fine. and because she doesn't yet know how to ask him whether he's pleased or disappointed to know his kin is kept and kidnapped here. that can be a rather heavy question for a first impression. and besides! he does an amply good job of switching tack for her when he asks whether she's here alone.

here. alone. peggy inhales while she considers how best to answer. ]

Not quite. There's someone.

[ after all—mister hunter is here. he might not be from her world and he might only be a familiar, trusted face from the last little pocket dimension that had kept hold of her. but she knows him. she trusts him. she likes him. all three are no small feats.

she has yet to meet the myriad of people who are from her world—albeit decades later. when she does, what a spanner it'll throw into the works. ]

[ Though Jiang Cheng is starting to get there, this one is not yet old enough to have had all his optimism beaten out of him and so looks encouraged by her answer. He has some inkling that the situation may be complicated from the way she answers, but surely however complicated, no one wants to be alone...? So he's glad for her, nodding his acknowledgement. ]

Well, more than a few of the people I know from home are here, so I have found myself with considerable support in this new land. Please don't hesitate to ask if any of us can be of assistance to you and yours.

[ Just don't ask him why he's out here shouting at the sky instead of getting help from said support. It's complicated. He's under the impression that he has pride. ]

That's terribly bold of you.

[ she doesn't think before she speaks. her chiding bubbles up, out, and is committed to the conversational air around them. at first blush, it may seem as though she's deflecting his carte blanche offer of assistance.

in reality: ]

Can you speak for them? [ her head tilts. ] The other people from your world. Perhaps they wouldn't be so keen to lend the same level of assistance to a stranger as you appear to be.

[ as peggy has already done, given their current walkabout. ]

Yes, I can.

[ There's a rare conviction in Jiang Chen's immediate response, an edge of defensiveness to his tone as he pulls his shoulders back, chin tilting up. ]

My sect and the others like it exist primarily to serve. There is no other point to having power than to protect those without. Though our circumstances and relative ability to provide may be different here, I am certain that creed remains the same.

[ Is this a little naive of him? Probably. He's new, he only just inherited his sect after his father's passing. War is upon them, a time when half the battle is selling the world on their ideals. Still, it's what he believes, however mistaken, and he's more than prepared to stand by it. ]

[ curiouser and curiouser. ]

Whom do you and your sect serve? Ordinarily, that is. When you're not all here.

[ in a very real way, one might say that peggy's vocation is one of servitude. a federal agent can and should devote herself to the safety and wellbeing of the citizens around her—even if she is herself not a natural-born citizen. but she would also be the first to say the ssr does not always make good on its mission statement. ]

The common good.

[ In theory, anyway, without getting into the messy details of sect politics and what happens when one or more of them grow power hungry and start to toe that line. ]

As a cultivation sect, we have abilities beyond that of the average man. It is our expectation and duty to protect all in need. Being away from home doesn't change anything but our means.

[ ...the common good! she has to wonder how that works, exactly, when there's so little profit to be had in altruism. her own do-gooder nature is just about barely propped up through her work. and even then, plenty of compromises must be made. too many, at times.

—hold on, did he say...? ]

What sort of abilities?

[ she pauses, turning to look him in the eye. ]

Oh, um.

[ The question startles him and he has to stop and actually think about how to quantify a cultivator's powers. ]

...all sorts, really. We all have the same basic abilities. We hone our spiritual power which allows us to use a variety of spiritual tools. We have specially forged swords, usually housing a spirit of its own which regards us as its master. [ He raises Sandu at that to show her. ] I also have Zidian, Amethyst Bolt. It's... [ His expression darkens slightly. ] ...a family heirloom, given to me by my mother.

[ Saying that, he flexes his hand to demonstrate how his hand crackles with purple energy. At least he has the sense not to pull out the full whip in front of a stranger and a lady. ]

[ a stranger and a lady she may be—but, oh, she hangs on his every word as he describes his answer. hell, there's even an audible gasp at the rich spark of energy between his fingers. ]

And [ bear with her ] is this all very...normal? Where you're from?

...mostly? Not everyone can do it, hence the sects, but. It's certainly not uncommon.

[ This is the first time it's occurred to him that other places may not have the same situation as them. ]

Does your world not have such a thing?

—My world has instances of certain individuals gaining abilities or...powers, let's say. Beyond what's natural. But those instances are very few and far between.

[ at least, they are in peggy's time. and outside of steve, she's only ever seen it go terribly awry. ]

[ Jiang Cheng blinks, head tilting at this frankly baffling information. ]

I see.

...

...then what do you do about all the ghosts?

[ uhm. ]

I beg your pardon. All the ghosts—?

[ he mentions them so casually, so readily. it truly gives her pause. ]

[ He stares at her, completely serious. ]

Yes? The... ghosts? Hungry spirits? Demons? Walking corpses?

[ He's imagining where Peggy comes from to be a truly dire place, where the general population has to cope with hauntings on their own. ]

[ hmm. it's a tricky line, she thinks, because all she knows is what's true at her point in time and the information that she is privy to knowing. even so... ]

Back home, common wisdom suggests that such things simply don't exist.

[ and yet she's seen a man flicker and disappear from the tangible realm—to exist in a ghost-like state, if not exactly like a ghost. but that could be explained by science, could it not?

and what's being described now...! well. her nose crinkles. ]

As far as my world—and my time—are concerned.

[ she says it as though it's noteworthy. her time. ]

[ That's a thing??????? You can just NOT have ghosts??? This is brand new information to Jiang Cheng and he stares at her, half in horror and half in terrible dawning realization. It's possible to just not have ghosts. Some people aren't constantly plagued by human resentment after death. Corrupted prayers can't consume peoples' souls.

What, from the bottom of his heart, the fuck. ]

I... That's... ...good.

[ ...is all he manages in the end. ]

There are people who believe otherwise. [ naturally. ] But I can't say that science is on their side.

[ that said, she's not against imagining that maybe, just maybe, his world is different. ]

...if you had them, you would know.

[ Jiang Cheng tries to put it delicately, face rather scrunched as he tries to pass the plain existence of extremely cursed objects and shambling human remains through the filter of polite getting-to-know-you talk. ]

Such things cause us... an enormous amount of trouble, and we go to great lengths to protect the general populace.

[ He's still trying to imagine... no ghosts. What do people do all day? What do they do all night? Is it safe just to go out? Wander the mountainside in the dark recklessly, confident the only thing that might eat you is a wolf? Doesn't seem fair, really. ]

[ now, protecting the general populace—that's something peggy knows a thing or two about. not that she can express that experience here and now. it's confidential, after all. top secret.

and as much as he tries to tread around the topic, peggy is far more likely to interrogate someone than talk about herself. so: ]

How long has it been like this?

Since... always?

[ Since as long as there have been dead people, surely. It's never occurred to Jiang Cheng to look into precisely when their current situation came to be, as the fact of the restless dead and all their associated problems are spoken of as a simple fact of life even in the oldest books he's personally touched. No one ever talks about a time before. ]

[ since always.

so there wasn’t some change, some alteration, some event that made the dead so restless. peg chews the inside of her mouth—thoughtful and quiet. ]

I’m so sorry.

[ not that any of it is her fault, of course. but she does feel a kind of sympathy for the horrors he’s only implied. when she thinks about all the people she’s put to rest… ]

What determines whether someone returns—as a ghost or otherwise?

It's... fine? [ Well, it's absolutely not fine, but it's the way things have always been. It feels like getting condolences for the fact of having earthquakes, or flooding, or rainstorms.

...

Peggy's world gets those, at least, right?

Jiang Cheng isn't sure how stupid he'll sound asking and so bites his tongue, but at this point he's leaving nothing off the table.

But, oh! Finally, a topic he's knowledgeable about! ]

A variety of factors can come into play, but by and large the restless dead are caused by unresolved emotions of the person in life, usually negative in nature. Regret, resentment, and the like. Of course, there are also demons and evil spirits, which fall under a different category of being—

[ and perhaps it speaks to the sort of person she is that she struggles to imagine how anyone might go into the grave without some negative business left unresolved. although without knowing the threshold of what is or isn’t unresolved enough, she supposes she can’t say for certain. in the end, it all sounds a bit more art than science—something which undoubtedly rubs her the wrong way. ]

Such things are simply superstition. Back home. [ she’s quick to correct herself. ] Not that I doubt for a moment that it is all very real and very harrowing where you’re from.

[ she means it—earnest and sincere. she’s seen enough terrible, inexplicable things in wonderland to understand that there is more to others’ worlds than she could ever dream of. ]

It does make me wonder how here works. With regard to death and the dead.

I presumed it would work the same as where I'm from, but... I also presumed that such things were universal. I certainly hope what you're used to is the case here, if there's a choice.

[ Jiang Cheng closes his hand around Zidian and it gives a faint crackle of electricity in response. It's more a security blanket to him than anything, a reminder of his own abilities in the face of the unknown. ]

Regardless, should there be any threat to your person I will protect you to the best of my ability.

(no subject)

mucked - 2020-01-15 17:09 (UTC) - Expand

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