▶ TDM .011

[prismods]

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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. After an hour or two of wandering through the crystal wilderness, a group of people find you worse for wear. They are the gallant Moon Knights from the planet of Prismatica. Because of the strange phenomena 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? — 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. You will then be escorted to the docks, and led onto a large transport vessel that makes frequent trips back and forth between the Iris moon and the planet. Faces onboard vary from both old and new Moonblessed as well as the local Prismals.

The next destination: Prismatica.

▶ There and Back Again
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  As a Remooning gift from the Lunar Scientia Headquarters, the dedicated team from the Amphoria Room has released their latest perfected technology: Amphoria Pods. These VR Pods, which can fit up to four people at a time, have been set up in the gaming hub within Level 1’s PrismaPlace. They allow users to upload sceneries of their world in order to create a realistic holographic landscape of their homes that others can access and play around with, granting everyone the means to relive past memories with their loved ones as well as interact with the bestiary of other worlds. The pods also use the same technology that enhanced the popular virtual game, League Match Action Online (LmaO), which means you’re liable to feel the chill of cold environments, the burning heat from boiling water, the hard slap of your ex-lover, or the biting sting of a stray wasp. All who use the Amphoria Pods for the first time this year will also receive a small amount of Chroma in case things get too real.

▶ God Save Us from the Queen
Level 1, PrismaPlace and Level 2, Greatmoon Groves | top

The first month of the year is packed with two of the most important winter events this season: Queen Elara’s birthday and the League Match Action Online (LmaO) PVP semi-finals. It just so happens that the Queen of Lunatia is also a huge LmaO fan. Coincidence? Definitely not! LmaO players and royal family fans alike can meet her at PrismaPlace, where she will be appearing in cosplay of her favorite hero, Ah-Kari, while holding a body pillow of Commander GareBear. You, too, can get an autograph or selfie with the birthday girl if you’re willing to fall in line! Her bodyguards will also be in LmaO cosplay, keeping the crowd under control during the long wait.

Queen Elara

Good day to you all! This may come as a surprise to our guests the Moonblessed, but I am a normal person despite my exalted position. Please do not think of me today as Queen Elara. Instead... my name is Ah-Kari, sorceress of the crystal! With my soul fan blades, through the darkness, I shall slice all who dare hurt my commander in twain!

But when she is not meeting and greeting...

Queen Elara

My comrades, we're going to make history today. We're going for a new record. Perhaps the highest kill counts or the fastest clear for this map — it matters not. We’ve practiced day and night for this tournament, so let us show everyone that we’re not to be taken lightly! Also, the livestream is going in the royal archive, so make your successors proud!!

... she will be furiously grinding her character and training her skills in LmaO in the hopes of qualifying for the finals. Spectators will see her bring her own team full of hapless palace attendants who are there to either serve as her practice match partners or provide support to the one-woman army that is Queen Elara.

PrismaPlace is packed with giant crowds, many of them also in cosplay. While the semi-finals are taking place, new and old LmaO players alike can participate in the game’s current campaign: players who form teams get an improved chance of spawning unique monsters as well as winning rare items and skins in those prized lootboxes! Teams can also try to clear the event’s story together, featuring an aerial battle fought on griffin-back, which is heavily inspired by the popular Lunatian epic, The Battle of Abraxas, a colorful and complex story about the conflict between two families fighting over the fictional land of griffins, Abraxas.

 A  Progression in the event requires acquiring a griffin mount and getting it ready for battle. You can lure a wild one to yourself with a special veggie pie on a fishing pole. Should the griffin reject the lure, your character will be caught in a wind gaol and can only break out with the help of other players. Should you succeed, raising the griffin is a tedious task that involves players training alongside their respective griffins, running laps with them, taking them to hunt monsters, and feeding them properly. Depending on their diet, the food you give them will affect the color of its plumage and their battle stats.

Or you can skip the hard work and simply moonlace with your teammates through all the progression bars and required materials to save time. Once finished, you’ll be able to battle one another through the thunderous aerial domain of Abraxas. Clearing the event will net you an event-exclusive skin inspired by the royal family’s shining celestial robes and a weapon skin of a body pillow with your favorite character, so do your best!

 B  In celebration of Queen Elara’s birthday, the office of the royal household is hosting a modest tea party in the Greatmoon Groves. Swiffy bots that are normally programmed to remind visitors to keep the groves clean are now playing a birthday jingle on repeat. For people who prefer to be away from the blinding neon lights and the thumping techno music of PrismaPlace, this is the ideal escape. Unlimited tea and cookies are being served!

The tea is a soft-colored lilac concoction made from Ehrysian tea leaves that are known to cause a huge spike of alertness and is popular to Moon Knights and office workers with long night shifts as well as gamers for those all-night grinding sessions. The assorted cookies have either Ah-Kari or Commander GareBear printed on them. In case it isn't obvious yet, both are the birthday girl’s favorite LmaO characters.

Any Moonblessed looking for extra income is welcome to be royal attendants for the day; the hours are paid by Demichroma. They must be properly dressed up as maids or butlers (outfits provided by the royal household) as they serve tables.

▶ Say Cheese
Level 3, Caihong | top

Meanwhile, Caihong is in the midst of Remooning festivities in celebration of the new year, and merriment usually lasts a fortnight, filled with fireworks in the sky. Upon entering the district, beautiful Prismals with rat ears and tails greet you with a Happy Remooning and eagerly tug you along to join in.

Those welcomed will receive a pack of multi-colored sparklers, mooncakes topped with cheese, and a glowing drink called Champagne Supernova, poured in a thin glass in your hand. If you are over eighteen, the rat Prismals will ask if you prefer your drink with a kick. If you say yes, then they will add flavorful ice that causes extreme intoxication and might leave you to be susceptible to all levels of suggestion. Saying no (or if you’re under 18) will simply leave it as a sweet drink.

 A  One of the party games being played by the locals is called Lucky Tail, which is basically pinning the tail on the holographic rat stand-in — with a twist, it must be played with a partner! Another participant will blindfold you, spin you around, then push you forward. The stand-in is located at the end of unsteady elevated platforms forming a maze, filled to the brim with distracting objects underneath. They’re long, they’re thick, and they’re vibrating furiously in an attempt to knock you off the platforms.

Your partner must guide you by voice to successfully navigate through the maze! The game is rigged with various mechanisms, so stepping on specific platforms will activate a number of traps against you or your partner: machines that may tickle, drop colorful slime, or cause the platform to repetitively spin, and who knows what else?

Should you manage to get through the obstacle course and pin the tail successfully, you and your partner will win copious amounts of Demichroma, courtesy of Buwan from Buwan’s Stop.

 B  Another attraction is a fun magic glamour booth known for its face or body swap features. The booth staff, clad in their festive rat paraphernalia, will encourage you and your friends to take aesthetic shots using an illusion generator. The effects last an hour. Photographed images can be instantly uploaded and shared in Prismagram. New year, new you! Why not take the chance to celebrate this momentous occasion in a unique fashion? It’s all in good humor.

There are two buttons to press: (A) CUSTOM or (B) RANDOM. Pressing A will allow participants to customize their desired effects. Pressing B will cause the illusion magic to randomly rearrange participants in questionable positions, new outfits (or lack thereof), and you may even come out of the booth looking like your best friend or your worst rival. The possibilities are endless!

▶ 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.

Comments

[amidstsnow]

[zixuan jumps before turning around. it's like he's been caught doing something that he shouldn't be doing. it's actually worse than that - he's been caught doing something that he doesn't know how to do.

he splashes out of the water, arms behind his back and spine suddenly straight. he's notably avoiding the other man's eyes.]

This is Jinlintai. My home.

[because that's what he was talking about.]

[huaisang]

The Jinlintai I remember does not look exactly like this. [ huaisang covers his face with his fan, watching the other man tentatively. the robes are familiar of course, but he can only guess as to this man's identity. ] Are you —

[ huaisang stops, looking thoughtful. ] You must be doing something quite important. I apologise for interrupting you.

[amidstsnow]

[those are intriguing words. zixuan blinks before tilting his head in curiosity. the other young man's robes are a clue for him as well, but not as much as the fan.

he parts his lips to say something, but he's going to feel foolish if he's wrong.

a second hesitation, his eyes flitting elsewhere before he finally speaks.]

It's nothing that can't wait. And I'm interested in knowing more about these differences.

[huaisang]

Well, for one - [ nie huaisang gestures with his fan towards the newly planted lotuses ] There are none of those to be found, and the place is a lot more golden. But I think the blues here really are nicer.

[ he lowers his fan slightly. ] Jin-xiong, have you been well?

[amidstsnow]

Yes, they're a...newer addition.

[he offers awkwardly, hands clasped behind his back. zixuan's gaze flashes back to the man behind the fan, which has been lowered enough for him to get a good look at the resemblance.

just another one of those differences. he understands now.]

Well enough, thank you. Are you here alone, or is your brother here with you?

[huaisang]

[ that makes huaisang sad. he had heard rumours and seen things back then but paid them little to no mind. idle gossip to pass the time about jin zixuan and maiden jiang — of course, he figured that they cared for one another but this deeply? enough to have jin zixuan wading in dirt to plant these himself. ]

I am here alone. [ of course, nie mingjue had outlived zixuan. not by much but... nie huaisang has no desire to share a future that has not happened for jin-xiong yet. he's not heartless. ] Are you waiting for maiden Jiang or is she hiding here with you?

[amidstsnow]

I hope things haven't been too difficult for you.

[genuine concern. nie huaisang is unlike others. he seemingly has no use for the sword, leaving him vulnerable. but perhaps there really isn't much use for it here. if that's the case, the other man might be better equipped to deal with this world than he is.

he looks in the direction of the flowers helplessly, unsure of how to answer that. things are still...so very much up in the air.]

She's not hiding. [a good start. honest.] I can't speak for how long the wait might be.

[nothing is certain. he feels like everything he tries...fails, and worst of all at his own hands.]

[huaisang]

[ nie huaisang smiles. ] I am well, Jin-xiong. [ that much is true, besides, he is glad to see familiar faces in this place. faces that would otherwise be just in his memories back home. ]

You might see her still. [ and it's not like there isn't another jiang yanli here too, that would surely cheer jin zixuan up when he finds out, right? unfortunately, nie huaisang is not one for sharing information. ] She will be glad for it.

Are you courting her then?

[amidstsnow]

[his heart does a funny thing when he thinks about nie huaisang's words. the possibility had occurred to him, but he's still so new to this place that he didn't feel certain of it.

whether or not she would actually be glad for it...jin zixuan blinks a few times before glancing down. he would like to believe that, but it feels like she's been unhappy in his presence more often than not.

which has led him to this.]

I...am trying to show her a different side of myself. [his next words are harder to say. he'd actually avoided them at first.] A better side of myself. Whether she accepts it or not...

[he trails off helplessly. only the future knows that.]

[huaisang]

[ he feels bad knowing what he does but sees no sense in spoiling this happiness. the future is not kind to them.

if a version of him were here and he were ignorant... nie huaisang would probably tell him, but not right away. let him enjoy this because sooner or later someone surely would tell him. ]

A better side? That is very charming of you, Jin-xiong, I absolutely believe that you will.

I mean, this is already a grand gesture! Planting all these by yourself despite how much you hate getting dirty and all... I would be very impressed if I were Maiden Jiang.

[amidstsnow]

[jin zixuan is used to being praised for many different things. but right now, he seems almost embarrassed by it. he has confidence in those other things. every time he's tried...this, it's ended in ruin.

plus it's as if nie huaisang can see right through him. he clears his throat after a moment.]

You said that the Jinlintai you knew was more golden...

[no, he's not attempting a subject change, why would he.]

Was there an occasion for your visit?

[huaisang]

[ in all fairness, nie huaisang has insider knowledge that allows him to say those words with the confidence not usually found in sensible people. but when has huaisang been entirely sensible? he has been sheltered and lazy, then angry and lost, and now tempted by revenge. ]

Well, my brother is sworn brothers with Jin Guangyao. I came along a few times at his side for meetings and such that took place here.

[amidstsnow]

I'm sure A-Yao welcomed you as well. He lived in Qinghe for some time, after all.

[he remembers seeing them together back at cloud recesses. his half-brother had seemed loyalty to the young master. and whatever had passed between them was obviously smoothed out after the sunshot campaign.]

[huaisang]

I don't know, I don't know. In my world, San-ge and I aren't close. So, I really don't know.

[ he has to keep that frail thread of illusion, a plausible deniability should jin guangyao show up. huaisang opts to change the topic entirely and grabs onto jin zixuan's sleeve, shameless. ]

Oh no, Jin-xiong, that lotus plant looks so very crooked!