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

That’s me, darling. That’s what everyone calls me.

[ With the high of their intoxication waning, they’re more in a mood to sit down somewhere or something. Impulsively, they grab the stranger by the wrist. ]

Come come, let’s sit somewhere! This is absolutely not a conversation to be having standing among the crowd!

[ They pull him off through some alleyways and into a small clearing away from the crowds with what seems to be a playground with a slide shaped like a round elephant. Fish pulls him over to the elephant’s trunk-slide to plop into. ]

You’ve heard about me from someone, have you?

[ A noise like Erk! stumbles out of him as he's dragged out of the street and into what looks like a park, Fish plopping down to sprawl on a novelty slide. Fjord takes a look around and sees some adult-sized swings, then thinks better of his choices today and remains standing. ]

A small green tiefling named Connie spoke of you, [ this fairytale hero in the story of Molly's happiness until Fish met him just now, ] he said you were the love of Molly's life.

[ To paraphrase. ]

[ Somehow, the words kind of sort of make Fish suddenly sober up. They're all too aware of everything now: the cold air of the season, the sound of their heart beating in their chest, the presence of this stranger in tiefling skin telling them this... and the ring on the third finger of their left hand. Their cheeks heat up, and they aren't sure if it's the champagne supernovas or the words from this stranger.

Unconsciously, they move their hands, their slender fingers toying idly over the metal there. They can't quite look straight at this stranger anymore. ]

... I guess you could say that. Though personally, I'd like to think he's the love of my life.

[ He notices that ring, being far more sober (out of the effort of balancing with a new tail, more than anything, but that's not important right now) with only Fish to hold his attention. He gives a shrug, it not being his place to comment directly.

Still with a few silver to give, though. ]

Molly's the love of everyone's life, [ that guy is a whirling dervish of lovable asshattery, ] but it would take someone very special to make him settle down. I've been told that's you.

[ He hasn't even seen Molly yet, still absently stressing over how that will go (if Molly even wants to speak with one of the people who wasn't there to save his life), but that doesn't mean they ever stopped being family. As subtly as he can behind a mild pokerface, Fjord sizes up the person in front of him and will continue to do so for as long as they talk.

He doesn't offer his hand to shake purely because he felt the reaction of doing so with someone else earlier and was blindsided by the intimate moment, but he gives a polite nod instead. ]

I'm a member of Molly's party, the Mighty Nein. My name is Fjord.

[ At the name, Fish pauses in their thoughts. Hold on... hold on... ]

Fjord...?

[ They look back at him, scrutinizing him, their eyebrows creased in confusion. If only they could dispel magic to see his real form under that temporary illusion! ]

It's only been the one time, but I met you months ago! You were a sailor, right?

[ Uhh. That made zero sense and was the last thing he expected to hear. ]

Begging your pardon, but we've never met. That does make me curious as to how you know about my past, though ...

[ It sounds like how he used to present himself, as a roughshod drawling sailor, too friendly to be threatening to anyone. A thickset half-orc with fewer brains than muscles. ]

I don't ... don't remember this land, or you. [ Also, ] I would never have left without Molly.

...

[ The words make emotion suddenly surge into Fish's chest. To everyone else, Molly was always happy, carefree. When his friends started disappearing one by one, Fish saw it behind closed doors-- saw him lose a bit of the light in him. Those words about not leaving without Molly-- they made them want to bite back.

Yasha was the last to leave and losing her hit Molly the worst. And the pain they saw Molly go through... they didn't want him to go through it again. Not anymore. They promised him that. They promised they would never leave him.

Their lips tighten, they blink back their tears and the bitterness. No matter what, Fjord is Mollymauk's friend. Molly would still want to see him. Fish certainly can't sour things between them. Still, they had to speak truthfully. Their cadence is measured, their delivery steady... doing all their best to keep their emotions in check. ]

You were here once. You spoke differently. And then, you disappeared. You, Jester, Caleb, Caduceus, and Yasha... there's no explanation to how it happened. It could be some anomaly of the moons or planes... but you all did. And Molly was left here all this time.

[ Fjord's not the subtlest when it comes to emotions, he doesn't have Jester's sweet touch or Yasha's gentle insight. He hears what Fish isn't saying, by mentioning Molly being all alone, and his jaw tenses up. To his credit, he keeps his voice steady and addresses each of the issues laid out before him. ]

I worked through my own problems for a long time, it included adopting a fake accent. If any of us were here and now we don't remember — if we were split up from Molly again — I can promise you it was not by our own volition.

That goes unsaid for all the Nein.

...

[ Fish is quiet. It's difficult for them to really trust him... not when they barely knew each other before his disappearance. Jester, they would quickly trust though. Yasha, there was no question about her. She was the most protective over Molly. Caduceus was good to them as well.

But Fjord and Caleb were absolute enigmas to the merfolk, save for a single meeting many months ago.

Their bright blue eyes are trained on him, standing their ground. ]

I'm nowhere near the kind of fighter Molly is... I'm not that remarkable of an adventurer either. But if you hurt him, I...

[ Their fists curl, knowing full well that they don't have anything to threaten him with. Well... maybe just... ]

I'll make sure word goes around that you shit on beds.

... That is uniquely disgusting imagery.

[ As a threat that came out of left-field. ]

Very well, since we're doing this, [ gesturing to the SHOVEL TALK STUFF between them, which Molly can never know of, ] the next person to hurt Molly will find two Eldritch Blasts meeting in the middle of their body via two of their holes.

[ It happened to a creature he fought once and he never regretted standing so close to an enemy in all his life. A memorable death. ]

... Anyway. [ Clearing his throat, he rolls his shoulders and shifts his weight from boot to boot. ] I don't want to threaten someone he cares about. [ Despite that being exactly the case here. ] I trust that he knows what's good for him.

[ ~~Most of the time.~~ ]

And I appreciate any help you can offer, given I'm at a distinct disadvantage in these lands.

[ Y E P. Yeah. Definitely. Blasting creatures? Nah. That ain't Fish's work. Their specialty is manipulating the field, charming creatures, and maybe the occasional vicious mockery. ]

Well, that certainly is a way to fuck someone up.

[ They whistle. ]

Right... well, have you found a place to live at yet?

[ He really hopes this merfolk doesn't try to drown him in his sleep, he just got over that sort of thing a few months ago. ]

Maybe. It's ... not what I would prefer, living with complete strangers, but that's hardly a dealbreaker.

[ Spending as much time outdoors as possible and away from the shared living space is more his speed. There is, after all, so very much to see and learn; nothing in all of Exandria can possibly compare. Fjord's thirst for knowledge as a Warlock refuses to let him stay put (that, and he's just really fucking nosy). ]

You have a home here, I presume.

Yes. I live with Molly. All of the Mighty Nein once lived in the same building... there's a garden on the roof that Caduceus used to tend to. We take care of it now, along with anyone else that happens to live in the building. There might still be some empty rooms.

So... the government forced you to room with complete strangers?

[ Fish kind of cringes at the thought. ]

It sounds like the Xorhaus.

[ Especially if Caduceus put his green-fingered stamp on it. Fjord deflates a little as he listens, rubbing the back of his neck. ]

Well, I ... sort of passed out and then left early this morning, I didn't stop for a chat with them. [ Just call him a stealthy Rogue at heart. ] Then I came here, following the lights.

[ And he's been here ever since, wondering if it's better to steal some food rather than waste Chroma since he has no idea how to replenish it without someone he trusts. Holding Sypha's hand in the street had frankly felt indecent, given their mutual surprise.

He never said he made good decisions. ]

Well, I'm sure Molly would like it if you came to visit.

[ After all that shovel talk, Fish is smiling warmly anyway. At the end of the day, this is still one of Molly's dear friends. And whoever Molly trusts, Fish would like to help anyway. ]

We've got a spare bed and a couch too, if ever you need it. Have you figured out the Chroma situation in this place?

[ Now appraised of the relationship between Molly and Fish, his friend's fiancé, Fjord has flashbacks to his time spent as Molly's roommate and he resolves never to stay in a house Molly owns with a lover. Nope. Fjord actually likes to get some sleep. ]

Thank you, I'll see about visiting if ... if Molly wants me there.

[ The paranoia has built up in his head to a background fever-pitch: of Molly an undead, or mind-controlled, or simply hating Fjord for not being there to protect him and wanting nothing more to do with their friendship. Fjord would rather avoid that conversation forever. ]

The Chroma is replenished the same way a spell would be by a long rest, only by touch?

[ That's very much an upturned question in his voice. ]

[ Very fair! They're sounds that remind everyone in the building that he is very alive. ]

I'll certainly tell him about you at least.

As for the Chroma, yes. It's absolutely by touch, darling. The more touch you get, the more Chroma is made. I heard that fighting hand to hand could also generate it, too. Be careful you don't go too long without it, too. You could crystallize.

[ His eyes widen at the idea of crystallising. ]

... Right, well. I don't suppose you know of any fighting pits around here?

[ Because Fjord would absolutely rather get the shit beaten out of him on a regular basis than have to hold hands with random people. If Beau were here they could have sparred every day; keeping an arm slung around Caleb or Caduceus could have worked; maybe Jester would have held his hand (that's asking for trouble); even Nott might have consented to sit at his side awhile to rack up Chroma as they drank in a bar.

But with anyone new, it sounds a shade too intimate. It's weird.

Fjord is, as Fish may well notice, a little stuffy when it comes to openly displaying affection. ]

Tell you what, darling... come visit the club I work at. The bouncers that work there like to fight. I don't frequent places like that, but they certainly do.

[ Fish personally finds fighting a strange way to pick up Chroma, but to each their own. ]

And while you're there, I could absolutely give you a couple of drinks for free, too.

I'll do that, thank you.

[ Fish mentioned their job before, some sort of entertainer. Fjord's now mildly curious as to what that boils down to, but before he can ask his body gives a brief shimmer as the illusory tiefling body vanishes to leave him back to normal.

Taller and thicker-set than Fish may remember, the Wildmother's weird seaweed egg altered him while they Communed to have a little more muscle than before to suit his role as her Paladin. His tusks have both grown in and he has a short, neatly trimmed beard (he may have gone to a spa recently back home before turning up here), hair pulled back on the top into a small ponytail, and most noticeably he wears a glinting brooch on the clasp of his brown cloak with a blue gem at its centre. ]

... Oh, thank goodness. I thought I'd have to deal with that tail all night.

My, you've even gotten older and more built since the last time I saw you. It really must have been some strange rift in the planes or something like that.

[ They quietly appraise him, looking him from head to toe. ]

Whatever you've gone through, I have to say that it certainly does look good on you. You look... better.

[ Well, gosh. Don't make him blush. ]

I'm a Paladin of the Wildmother now, being a little more jacked evidently enters into that. The sword's rather ... big.

[ And he summons the Star Razor broadsword in a flash of rich green light, the marbled-blue blade dripping in fresh sea-water where he grips the hilt. ]

[ Fish's eyes are wide and bright as the sword is summoned, they've never seen such a use of magic. Sure enough, it's big, the heft of it demanding more physical power than a scimitar, short sword, or rapier.

For a moment, they're thinking of the muscles that could be under whatever Fjord's wearing. But they quickly backtrack. Though they're in an open relationship, it isn't really good to lust over your darling's close friend upon first meeting. Stop being a thot for a while, Fish. ]

That certainly is a big sword... know how to use it well?

[ Won't stop them from making suggestive remarks, though. That's just how Fish rolls. ]

[ Fortunately for Fish (or unfortunately?) the flirting goes right over Fjord's head, engrossed as he is in checking his sword has survived the journey. He feels relief to know he can still summon it and that the Wildmother hasn't left him entirely, even if she can't respond to his prayers. ]

Certainly, I'll step back if you want to see it in action.

[ And he does so in order to go through the motions of a spar with an invisible partner, the faint arcane energy of the blade glowing blue along the former cracks in its metal as he brings it down one final time. Nearby, a wooden horse-ride affixed to the ground by a bouncy coil slides neatly in half with a belated crash. Fjord winces. ]

Oh, shit.

[ He may not have realised how close that was, oops. ]

[ Fish’s first thought: oh... he isn’t the kind of guy to talk dirty with.
Fish’s next thought: but hot damn, he moves good...

And then the crash happens and their thoughts quickly go to a course of escape. ]

I think we ought to go before the Moon Knights see.

[ And since their first instinct is touch, they unconsciously reach for Fjord’s wrist to pull him away from the park and back into the festival throng. ]

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LITERALLY RUNS HOME TO GET ON THE LAPTOP FOR THIS

WHOOSSSSHHHHH

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Ngl I’ve been stalking the other threads you’ve got and omg I hope you app ;;