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 all Fish needs to know. The thoughts fill their head and the image of Molly's cloak and the solitary grave is nearly enough to make them crumple emotionally though they know the truth about their lover.

The snapshots of the fight and everything... seeing the people they had known and had felt various levels of affection for (except for that one goblin girl, oops) weighs heavy on their heart. They focus back at Fjord's tired face again, returning to those surface thoughts, and... well.

They pull in close to pat his cheek affectionately. ]

I know you aren't. But you are hungry. And it looks like you had a very terrible time before coming here. Let me treat you... as thanks for working so hard for every one of the Nein. Because a paladin like you works hard to protect people.

And I appreciate that you do find my eyes pretty.

You're ... welcome?

[ Paladins protect people. That's nothing currently swimming in his surface-thoughts so he just stares dumbly at them and the intensity charged into that sentence, feeling a bit exposed by whatever they saw.

He'll just give in for now. ]

Now that I think about it, I wouldn't say no to a hot meal. Sure.

Come on then... I don't know much about meat as I don't eat it. We could do seafood, though! But anything will do! What do you eat, darling?

[ They pull him along through the streets, leading him to what seems to be a restaurant alley in Caihong where the air is thick with the scents of various dishes flavored with soy sauce, oyster sauce, star anise, and allspice. ]

[ He wasn't going to opt for fish purely in the event it distressed Fish, so it's good to know they're not going to faint if he bites into a prawn. The scents hit him like a brick wall and he licks his lips, the growl of his gut suddenly reminding him he hasn't had a solid meal in almost two days. ]

Whatever you think is best, you've been here longer. I can eat almost anything. [ Thanks to his orcish metabolism which breaks down a lot, even bone. His smile is grateful, warming the corners of his eyes. ] I'll follow the lead of my gracious host.

This one then!

[ They stop in front of what looks to be a brightly colored storefront, drawing attention to its selection of dumplings in various shapes and sizes. ]

The head chef is a fan of mine-- invited me to come eat once in a while.

[ Sure enough, as soon as they walk in, a Lunatian man with deer antlers sprouting from his bald head happily greets them, addressing Fish as "Miss Lyra!" and encourages them to sit anywhere. ]

They've got a dumpling buffet for 90 minutes. It's amazing-- I promise it'll satisfy that grumble in your gut!

[ Fjord politely nods to the shopkeep and takes a seat opposite Fish. Once they're alone he arches a brow and asks, ]

'Lyra'?

[ If there's any free water on the table he'll be pouring them some of that. ]

It's my stage name, darling. "Whorelyn Lyra" is what I'm known as at Club Tourmaline.

[ Their smile is bright and they thank him quietly when he pours them a glass of water. When the server comes over, they're informed that the chef's preparing a special round of dumplings for them both already. Fish orders the dumpling buffet for them both. ]

[ Almost died from drowning (yet again), this time as he inhales half his glass of water to cough up. Whorelyn. ]

It's ... succinct.

[ Not much else he can say to that! Yikes. He racks his brain for a similar subject. ]

My friend Jester has a mother who works on the Menagerie Coast, she's also an entertainer. The best there is, reputedly. It seems like a, uh, tiring career choice. [ Welp. ] Having to look so beautiful all the time, I mean.

[ Fish almost snorts at the way Fjord nearly coughs up his water. They are very familiar with common reactions to their stage name-- some old relic of the years when they were most wild, taking it as a way to reclaim their promiscuity from the shame their family put upon them.

But what they find more interesting is talk about Jester's mother. Also an entertainer? The best there is...?

There was once a time Fish was probably the exact same kind of entertainer, but they didn't need the extra money anymore. Not in this world. ]

Mm... it certainly was tiring in my home world. Here, not anymore. Being beautiful all the time comes naturally for many performers, though. Jester's mother sounds like such an impressive woman. I would have loved to meet her and learn from her.

Marion Lavorre's a wonderful woman, she's always done right by us if we visited with Jessie.

[ He folds his arms on the table, a smile warming his eyes as he watches Fish. ]

Just like you're taking care of me on account of Molly.

[ That smile... that certainly does warm Fish’s heart. They’re feeling that they’re off to a much better start now than when they met the previous Fjord in an underground casino while they were in full drag, being harassed by some unsavory individuals. Their smile warms as well, and those bright blue eyes of theirs twinkle with mirth. ]

Well, of course. Anyone dear to Molly is dear to me.

[ A first round of assorted dumplings are served before them. Smells like a lot of them are filled with vegetables and seafood. ]

I don’t eat meat and the chef knows that. But if you want any, I can ask him to make some!

This is great, really. I don't know how to thank you.

[ He opts for the seafood dumplings first, hissing when he burns his fingers and sucking them better. Too eager. ]

So, which club was it you said you worked at? The Tour ... ? I'd like to drop in on you there sometime, if that's alright.

As long as you being around lights up Molly's days, that's all the thanks I need.

[ Fish's smile and the warmth behind the words are genuine. Though their partner was so good about masking up the pain, they know how much he does miss home. They know that his death haunts his dreams and makes him wake in cold sweats at times.

And to feel helpless, to not have that connection to his past to assuage his pain, has always been an inadequacy Fish had struggled with. ]

I work at Club Tourmaline. Hard to miss it-- I'm featured on it as a performer. You'll see a picture of me out in front. The entertainment there is very different from the taverns back home. People sit and watch... it's almost like theater sometimes. Theater with drinks!

I can take him on a pub crawl, if that might help.

[ "Light up" Molly's life will amount to drinking and bad jokes and lots of discussions about largely nothing. The usual. It's hard to say how he feels about the tiefling who is definitely family; maybe it's a comparative relationship to brothers or cousins, the way Fjord sometimes thinks about pushing him into a bush for no reason other than the satisfaction. And then helping him out, of course.

They were never the most mature of their group. ]

I don't believe I've ever been to a theatre before. Don't theatres have drinks? [ ... Moving on. ] How do you mean, the show's 'different'?

That might help. I'm sure he'd appreciate the companionship and the opportunity to get hammered without me hanging off him.

[ They chuckle. ]

The theaters I've seen don't have any. Keeps patrons from tossing them at bad actors. But at Club Tourmaline, the show is simply so dazzling the thought wouldn't even cross your mind. There are comedians, dancers, singers... all sorts of performers. I consider myself an acrobat, though I sometimes sing and dance as well. Or everything together if I'm feeling ambitious.

[ Mission: Get Molly Smashed. Accepted. ]

So you could be singing and dancing and make it comedic, while doing acrobatics?

[ That sounds incredibly complicated and a little dangerous. ]

Well...

[ Fish picks up a dumpling and pops it into their mouth, eating it with a flourish before continuing. ]

Well, Fjord darling, while I am pretty cheeky in conversation, I'm less of a Vicious Mockery and more of a Hypnotic Pattern on stage.

[ He squints, mid-chew, and tries to remember all his friend's weirdest spells. ]

I don't believe I've seen a Hypnotic Pattern before but I take your meaning.

[ If there was any flirting it zooms over his head, which is invested in chomping through some heavy dumplings. He may have cleared half his plate already and be eyeing the extra tray assortment. ]

[ Fish chuckles. Meanwhile, the server brings out even more baskets of dumplings for the both of them. It is an eat-all-you-can, after all. ]

You'd understand better once you see my act. I might not be as exceptional as Jester's mother, but I take pride in what I do.

[ Halfway through a mouthful of shrimp he almost chokes. ]

I haven't — [ Coughing into a fist, needs some water. ] I've only seen her perform on stage, not — I've never, would never —

[ He has nothing solid in terms of widely ... topical proof to offer, is what he means. ]

I have only ever seen her on stage. I'm sure if you do all the things you say you can, you'll blow that side of it out of the water.

[ Because Fish is obviously a famous courtesan too, of course, with their own building at their disposal and whatnot. ]

[ Fish really couldn't hold back the giggles now, Fjord's reactions were just so funny! ]

Well, sweetheart, I was thinking that she was one of the best around on stage as well as elsewhere! I don't want to assume I'm anywhere near her level as a performer despite everything I say I do!

But if you'd like to know my credentials as an entertainer of a different sort, I'm sure Mollymauk has nothing but glowing reviews for me.

[ A pretty sizable list of men in Lunatia do, too. Fish has been with all sorts. But they aren't going to openly reveal how much of an actual slut they are to their beloved's good friend. ~~And that's not even counting the whole bukkake scene they had at their housewarming.~~ ]

[ Is Fish trying to feed him or assassinate him, that is the question. ]

Hm? [ Did he just hear —? Fjord's eyes widen as a blush creeps up his pointy ears. ] Oh. Oh, no no no, you're his [ with a gesture to the ring Fish showed him ] his fiancé, I could never ... I wouldn't. Thank you, I mean to say. That's a very gracious offer.

[ Wow. Shaking his head, he holds up a hand to wave off their suggestion to ask Molly for. Uh. Reviews??? Fucking hell. He can't imagine sleeping with one of his best friend's partners, it grinds the gears in his brain to a halt. ]

You're very ... generous, I appreciate the thought very much.

[ Whoops, so sorry Fjord! Fish decides to shut up about the whole topic and move along in order to prevent any dumpling-related fatalities. Being called Molly's fiancé though... that's... something Fish never expected from the promise rings they exchanged. ]

Your appreciation is appreciated. You are very much a gentleman, darling.

[ They take another dumpling and just enjoy it. Well, where can their conversation go from here... ]

Do you know your moonblessing, by the way?

[ Fjord lives to see another dumpling. ]

Sanguis, which sounds ... blood related?

[ It sure as shit doesn't sound good. ]

Do you know what these so-called blessings mean for a person?

Well, the moons of Lunatia affect us Moonblessed in different ways. And it waxes and wanes every month. Molly, for example, is a Cordis. He gets... well... more willful under his moon. Our home is a lot more of a mess, and he gets a lot more hungry for attention and all kinds of food. I'm an Iris and...

[ "It makes me a bigger slut than I already am." ]

I get more affectionate.

[ Nope. Not gonna tell their beloved's buddy that they get a self-lubricating butt and heat. Because that's when all they want to do is have Molly all to themselves for a couple of days. ]

I don't have a lot of Sanguis friends, but as far as I know, they all get a lot more aggressive when their moon is in the sky. Their senses get a lot more keen, too.

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