prismaticrap | ▶ TDM .011

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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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ ~~twunkness ...~~ ]

I see. I thought it might be something like that but it's good to have a solid explanation. Thank you.

[ That cereal bar is going to live on the bench between them forever as a pointless prideful testament to how long Fjord can starve himself. ]

The whole idea of cultivating this energy for profit is new to me, and I must admit that don't like the idea of my magic weakening outside of the relationship I have with my patron goddess.

Edited 2020-01-15 20:33 (UTC)

You're welcome. It's very confusing, this place, and I'm still not sure how everything works.

[ That cereal bar better be looking for downtown real estate now, because Connie's too nervous a person to pick it up again even after being politely declined. ]

It's... not ideal, I know. I don't get my magic from an outside source so I don't know how it affects your magic, but... Kairon is a paladin? He's not happy about being taken away from his god, either.

[ There's a pause. ]

Oh, Kairon is a tiefling, but he's not from Exandria. He's red? I think he's the only one that's red.

[ Cereal bar be sweating. ]

Well, [ here comes Fjord's incredibly limited but enthusiastic knowledge on Melora, ] the Wildmother grants her Paladins their power in exchange for their oath, which was somewhat done on a new pact-blade with me as I was originally a Warlock when I came to her. I can feel her presence here if I concentrate very hard, but it's different than normal. What she gave me won't be entirely lost unless I break my word to her.

[ PALADINS GET RESPECT YOOOO he is all about that trusting love with Wildmum. ]

Do you know which god this Kairon fellow follows?

Oh, Melora? My friend back home is a paladin of Melora!

[ Connie sits up straighter, immediately smiling more. Anyone who follows the same gods as Malawin must be amazing. He has no idea how you go from a warlock to a paladin, but hey. He woke up one day with magic; shit happens. (At least Fjord wasn't a necromancer.)

Pact-blades isn't something he understands either, other than that Fjord has a cool sword... somewhere? ]

Kairon's god... I think it's a very young god? Their name is Rem, but I haven't asked too much. It seemed something very special to him.

[ This is the guy he kisses on the regular, he should really know more about it. ]

[ Super-cool-secret-hidden sword. ]

They are? Wonderful, Paladins all around, it's a party.

[ #PaladinParty in spirit. Connie seems much more at ease now and, honestly, so is Fjord. Good company goes a long way to distracting him from his problems. ]

I've not heard of their god but it seems to me that there are far more than I ever thought existed only a year ago. Do you have a patron like that, Connie? I know you said your magic is innate, are you self-taught like a Wizard, or ... ?

[ Honestly the best kind of sword, it can never be stolen. Plus, you know, the epicness. ]

I think it's at least nice to have some people around that can do some close combat... I think the rest of us are all casters.

[ It's a really weirdly balanced party, and without dedicated healers - unless you count the bards. At least talking about this has Connie relax a lot more, too, talking more easily and animatedly.

It certainly helps that Fjord has a calming voice. (When not having existential crises about dead friends.) ]

I'm a sorcerer? I have this.... this wild magic that just comes out of nowhere, and sometimes it just does things even if I didn't intend it to. I know a few wizard spells, though, because I was taught about magic by one.

[ Like Find Familiar, because we all know that's just wizard for 'Make your own ESA'. ]

[ The existential crisis continues in the back of his mind, please don't let my friend be an undead monster summoned to follow a psychotic devil or an evil cult, but he can prioritise. That shit's still going to be there to stress about later. ]

It's nice to be a bit of both, I'm finding.

[ If Connie had mentioned liking Fjord's voice he would have been inwardly thrilled, having had to put on a drawling accent for a long time in a fruitless effort to fit in with society. While his upperclass accent is proper and far less "fun", it's still as deep as before and relaxing to be himself.

He went to a spa shortly before his arrival on the moon, Fjord's getting really good at exercising self-love. ]

Sorcerers are home-brewed Wizards, then, that's the difference? You don't need the books, you just know how to cast?

[ Fjord is damn good at compartmentalization if he can have that in his head plus carrying a friendly conversation. Wildmom be proud. ]

I suppose being able to choose if to chop with a sword or use a spell would be great if you're out of power. I have a dagger I hardly even know how to wield.

[ He shrugs a bit, but looking a little amused. Fjord is now the second multiclassed person he's met, and it's honestly fascinating to know people can pull from such different places. So is the voice, because while the 'upperclassness' would actually make him feel more ill at ease, the way the man uses it is more familiar and kind rather than the coldness he was used to.

(Plus big bass boost.) ]

I guess you could say that? I just... the first time it happened I was stabbed and when I opened my eyes the attacker was dead and I wasn't hurt any more. It was... it was very weird. I don't need books at all, but I learn spells kind of randomly instead.

[ Connie wiggles his fingers a bit in what is definitely self-taught and no perfect Caleb-academic way, creating a small dancing light ball. ]

[ ~~fjord's asmr voice~~

Thanks to a life of interweaving lies on a constant basis and the pressure of a monstrous patron breathing down his neck, compartmentalising has become necessary for survival. If he were Beau, he'd just pop pop a lot of jaws. But he's quieter than that by nature, in ways he sometimes still hides, like being perfectly happy to sit with someone much younger and be taught new things. ]

If you healed yourself then those are solid Cleric vibes, I'll put that out there for you. Being your own healing potion sounds very cool.

[ Maybe one day Fjord will be able to do something similar, but he doubts it. That's just his admiration talking.

The light from the ball catches in his new illusory eyes, tiefling yellow without pupils. ]

How many spells do you know by now, if you've been learning on the fly?

[ He looks slightly awkward at that, shaking his head. ]

I... don't think I healed myself as much as I stole his lifeforce to stay alive.

[ Connie sounds a little bit bitter at that - it had taken him some time to get over the fact that he killed someone, even if that person had tried to stab him in his own bed. ]

So very cleric-y. [ More like wild surge necromancy shenanigans. ] But, um... I know seven cantrips, because my teacher taught me two of hers, and then I think seven other spells? Only one out of a book, though.

[ It sounds like a lot, when he says it out loud like that. ]

Do warlocks have to use books or do their patron tell them spells?

Oh, shit, I've done that too.

[ On purpose to get back at Yasha for her fucking attacking them (and to keep her weakened in case she went nuts again, but you know). It's still a pretty cool move and he doesn't seem put off by it. ]

As a Warlock it's rather a piecemeal affair, you can learn from scrolls and books or the creature you serve can infuse you with the power to grow and consume more magic. You use your spells a lot, so you're always pushing yourself toward a better skillset, and eventually you unlock greater potential within yourself.

[ And then your patron decides to tAKE IT ALL AWAY THAT'S FINE so you sever your shitty pact and yeet yourself into the arms of a kinder deity, but that's not salient here. ]

You... have? Oh.

[ He's not sure if he should be concerned or relieved that he's not the only one. Then again, Fjord was probably the type who actually did it while adventuring or something, and not in his own bedroom. Connie hasn't been able to recreate that spell on his own, either, so it should be a one-time thing. (Maybe.) ]

That sounds interesting, being able to gather magic through such many different things. At least you get some help from the patron? I only had about a month of training or so with the wizard that helped me before I had to leave, so most of it is still just... happening.

[ Add this 'must moonlace' thing and it's a wonder he hasn't turned into a potted plant more than he already has. ]

I've done some fighting here, after some things happened, but I don't know if I have what it takes to unlock anything more.

It's not straightforward help, per se ... The Wildmother can be somewhat coy. I have the relative stock of my old abilities back though, I think.

[ Except now he gets some Paladin pizzazz on top to be extra fancy. ]

All you can do is keep on trying to do better —

[ The fake-Fjord illusion drops without warning as his hour is up; the eyes go back to orcish slits, horns and tail vanish, and the tiefling is abruptly tusk-toothed in his half-orc state again without realising. ]

— and eventually you'll get somewhere.

I'm sure she wants you to figure things out, too. She sounds like a wonderful deity, Malawin talked about her all the time.

[ It's the most he's ever known about religion, honestly. He wasn't much of a faith person himself, for many reasons. It seemed nice to have someone so powerful knowing you exist, though?

His white eyes look up at Fjord as the man speaks, and then the features change suddenly. Gone are the horns and the tail, but he's still quite green, in a very pretty gradient way. A half-orc? He might have expected a human with that voice, this is better. ]

Oh, hello. Nice to meet you.

[ Oh, there he is, Fjord pats his head down and rubs the seat of his pants to check the extra appendages have really vanished, huffing through a smile. ]

It was fun while it lasted.

[ Maybe next time he'll be a tortle like Orly, that would be crazy. ]

Sorry, ah. Yes, this is the real me. [ His lips twitch. ] Hello, again.

It's nice that you're still green! I don't think I've seen any other moonblessed with that color.

[ He is more seafoam green, but still. Also that might be a weird comment, but it means a lot to Connie in very deep ways. ]

Are you settling in okay? I mean... uh... before I mentioned your friends?

[ The little sorcerer honestly feels bad for dropping all of this on Fjord when the man is new here, but he can't take it back now. ]

[ Said with an overly wise, knowing air as he gently bumps Connie with an elbow, ] Well, green is the best colour.

[ He straightens out an awkward expression and coughs into a fist as Connie mentions the derailing of Fjord's emotions, resolving to keep his shit together in the future around the little tiefling. They are far too perceptive with Caduceus vibes. ]

Oh, yes! I'm fine, thank you. I'm enjoying the festivities, they're really very beautiful when the lights burst in rainbows across the sky.

[ Fireworks are cool. ]

[ Connie snorts at that, but his smile doesn't vane. Green is a good color. (And it means he's not alone.)

It's not hard to notice some of how Fjord had reacted, even if Connie always thought it was worse than it might be when it comes to reading emotions. He's not as much a perceptive person as he is an anxious young man with some hypervigilance.

Plus, you know, hearing about your (possibly) dead friend being alive??? ]

They are. [ He says softly, not mentioning any of the rest. ] Like explosions of colorful stars.

That's a good way of putting it.

[ Later, he may investigate those fireworks and see if he can pull a Nott in stealing one to take a look at. He will likely fail, but. That's probably for the best. ]

Back home, my friends and I have a house in a land where eternal twilight is the norm. My friend, Caduceus, made the most enormous tree erupt from the tower and it stands as tall as a castle on top of it with tiny lights twinkling all throughout its branches, their dim light cast over the entire neighbourhood.

[ Please don't blow off your fingers, Fjord. You need at least one hand to swing the sword?? ]

Eternal twilight... that sounds both pretty and frightening.

[ It's also nothing he's heard Molly or Caduceus mention before, so maybe it's a newer thing? ]

It sounds like Mr. Clay. Making a tree, I mean. He had a garden here in the city, also on a roof.

[ There's a deep chuckle and he shakes his head, hands clasped in his lap. ]

And that also sounds like Deuces, making everything prettier no matter where he goes. [ More curiously, ] When was the last time you saw him?

It is a really nice garden! You should see it, I'm sure the Wildmother likes it too? Though it's a little less green right now because of the weather.

[ When asked about when he saw Cad last, though, Connie's face falls a little. ]

More than seven months ago, I think.

Edited 2020-01-16 15:21 (UTC)

Maybe he'll wake up in the field of crystals like I did, then everyone will come here and we can get Molly back home.

[ That's the loose plan forming in his head. ]

...you'd take Fish too, right?

[ He doesn't mind the idea of taking Molly out of here (even if it meant losing his friend), but not without Fish. After everything Molly told him about how he had never expected a relationship, and how happy he was... it would be cruel to rip that away from him, even if it meant he would be with his friends again. ]

[ Fjord looks largely unbothered by the idea of taking more people, it wouldn't be his choice. ]

I mean, sure. Whoever wants to come back with us is welcome.

[ Even little green tieflings. ]

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Your Fjord is so goood sdsaf

asdff thank u ///

❤

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