▶ TDM .011

[prismods]

plays hard to get

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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

[beitangmoran]

I am Beitang Moran, Imperial Regent of HuangDao and Star Master of the Aquarius constellation. And I knew who you were referring to because you are not the first one to confuse me for him, and as I have met him, I can attest that we do look pretty much identical.

I also have met someone wearing robes very like yours. Jin ZiXuan. I made a logical deduction as to what your name and affiliation was.

And as I am told your Clan is a very prominent one, I once again ask you to stop making a scene and put this sword back where it belongs, young man.

[Come on, now. Enough of the temper tantrum.]

[inheritedpain]

[ Well that was... a title. Though one that mostly got a confused and slightly exasperated look from Jin Ling. ]

So, you're not even a cultivator at all. [ With an almost heavy sigh. He does put his sword back, though, and instead crosses his arms over his chest. His mood immediately changes when he hears the name Jin Zixuan. ]

You know my father? [ That trace of disdain disappeared. ] How did you meet him? Here?

[beitangmoran]

No, I am not, although I have become familiar with them in this place.

[He's not sure he likes your tone, young man, but since he wants to deescalate the situation, he'll take for now, as long as the sword is now sheathed.

But then of course, the next questions comes, and there is a moment of confusion on Moran's face, because Jin ZiXuan is not old enough to have fathered a child this old - until he remembers that time seems to be a bit more.... elastic here.]

So Jin ZiXuan is your father?

[Now that he mentions it...]

There is a family resemblance indeed. And yes, I met him here a few months ago.

[inheritedpain]

Well, that’s fine. I shouldn’t have drawn my sword on you if you couldn’t fight back. [ Not an apology....

Now that he’s calmed down, it’s easy for Jin Ling to see that this man is definitely not Wei Wuxian. They might share a face but their mannerisms are completely different.

Weird. ]

You did? What’s he like?

[ A pause and then a little colour to his cheeks. ]

I’ve been told that he’s here but I haven’t— I haven’t been introduced yet.

[beitangmoran]

[No, not an apology... and still no introduction either. Really, manners!]

And who would you be then, Jin-xiaogongzi?

[But the next questions are definitely bringing a surprised look to his face, and he frowns, cocking his head to the side again.]

What good is it asking me this? I have met him all of two times [And one of those times, they were both fluffy foxes more interested in eating and then cuddling together]. If he is your father, shouldn't you know him much better than I do?

[inheritedpain]

[ Didn’t he already warn you that he has no manners, Moran?

At least when called out he has the decency to flush a little.

He sweeps his arms out in front of him, clasping his hands and giving a quick bow. ]

Lanling Jin Sect, Jin Ling. [ He does not give his courtesy name, because fuck that.

He stands back up and only flushes darker at the continued question, turning his head to avert his eyes. ]

He died before my one month celebration.

[beitangmoran]

[Ah, finally a name to go with the face.

And then... Moran's earlier tetchiness with the lack of manners pretty much evaporates, a sympathetic look now lighting up his features.]

I am sorry to hear that. But really, I am not the best person to ask. Someone from your world would probably have more answers for you.

And at least you have that resource available to you. You should ask them. Or the man himself. I am sure he would be thrilled to see you.

[inheritedpain]

[ He knows that look. He’s used to that look. It’s pity - or at least he thinks it is - and his expression darkens a little. ]

It’s fine. Forget I asked.

I am going to see him. And people do tell me things. But they never tell me what they really feel. They either tell me what I want to hear, or mock me with it. I just thought someone from outside—

Never mind.

Look I’m sorry for calling you Wei Wuxian. [ There, see, he did learn something. ]

I know he’s here too, they told me.

[beitangmoran]

[It's so much more than pity, Jin Ling.]

I am sorry I cannot be of much help.

I lost my father as a very small child too, and there wasn't really anyone around who was willing or able to tell me much of him. Maybe in a way, you should count yourself lucky that you are granted the possibility of meeting him and asking him directly. But it's understandably daunting. There is no rush.

[He shakes his head at the apology, even if really, it's not for calling him the name you should apologize, Jin Ling, it's for threatening him with a sword. But anyway...]

No harm done. As I told you, it is an easy mistake to make. I am used to it.

[Of course, now he wonders what could possibly make this young man so incensed about Wei WuXian... but it doesn't feel like the best time to ask.]

He is here, yes. And not that much older than you, it seems. Which I assume is not how you remember him.

[He can't imagine the bright young man he met having done something heinous to a child that would provoke that much hatred.]

[inheritedpain]

[ Jin Ling didn’t look at him, mostly just glaring off uncomfortably to the side. He did relax, a little, at the admission, and felt even worse for his outburst. ]

It’s fine. I know I’m lucky. It’s just a lot. Maybe yours will show up, too.

[ He lets out a hard breath about Wei Wuxian. ]

No. It isn’t. But I’m not sure the way I remember him is the way he was, either. He died when I was a baby after he killed my parents. [ Look at that, Moran, you didn’t even have to ask. ] But one of my other uncles did something to bring him back - gave him his body and everything. So I only knew him as Mo Xuanyu until I figured out he’d been lying to me the whole time.

[beitangmoran]

Honestly, I'd rather he didn't.

[Because he's never known him, and he doesn't really have anything to say to the man. Now if his brother were to show up... but he is not a child to get sentimental over such what-ifs.

The story only gets more confusing, though. Wei Wuxian killed this boy's parents? Wei Wuxian died? And was brought back by someone who gave him his body? Who was this boy's 'other uncle'? This is too much information given out of order and in a disorganized fashion, extremely inefficient. So time to go back to the basics first.]

Are you hungry?