prismaticrap | ▶ TDM .012

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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.

▶ I am the Terror That Flaps in the Night
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 Your new flat is covered in a sprinkling of feathers here, there, and everywhere! They appear to be coming through the air vents. This seems to be a city-wide problem in all buildings, as many news outlets are informing people to stay alert. They believe the feathers are from the masked seraphim, King Majestas, who attacked the Elaran Amphitheater a few weeks back.

You are advised to destroy the feathers on sight. Prolonged contact with these feathers cause hallucinations and paranoia. You will feel as if winged creatures are always after you, be it one-winged angels or dark-winged ducks. Other side effects include hearing the chanting of voices in an indecipherable language out of this galaxy. These hallucinations may cause headaches, dizziness, or nausea. Thankfully, a bit of moonlacing will heal these symptoms away.

▶ Got Milk?
Level 2, Crystal Beach | top

With the Coiled Hearts Festival fast approaching, local fishermen have already begun procuring food across Crystal Beach’s clear waters to meet next month’s demands. Around this time of year, the popularity of octopus dishes dramatically rises. The Lunatians have an annual tradition to prepare flavorful octopus dishes for the romantic season, such as the much-lauded dark chocolate-coated octopus or the mouth-watering octopus braised with red wine.

Everyone is welcome to join this heart-throbbing affair. During the Second and Third months, everyone is encouraged to give your loved ones something special for a long, successful relationship. Friends, family, and new acquaintances are traditionally given a small amount of Demichroma in tiny cute cases, while lovers are given something that reminds the gifter of their homeland.

A Interested in catching your own octopus? Horned taurus octopi very frequently migrate to the shorelines to perform their elaborate mating rituals. It’s easy to find clumps of taurus octopi participating in a vigorous dance, filled with undulations and strange moaning noises that octopi should not be making. You can lure the octopi by either using a special flute which mimics their moans to gather them in heavy droves. It’s ideal to have a partner with you to scoop the octopi quickly into water containers once they’ve become entranced enough.

Play the flute carefully! If the taurus octopi grow too excited by your music, they will squirt white ink. If you are spritzed with the thick substance, you will start either randomly puking or uncontrollably secreting a milky sweet substance from any body part that secretes liquids. Luckily, the high-end boutique Prissy Polyp is nearby in case you need a change of clothes due to any sizable stains. Effects will naturally wear off after an hour.

B Come with a friend and enjoy learning some octopus recipes together. The Crystal Beach Resort has opened a seminar where several professional chefs will be demonstrating and teaching how to cook various dishes of different flavors and ingredients guaranteed to impress your date, and taste-testing is free!

One dish makes use of horned taurus octopi skin as the star ingredient, renowned for its irresistibly delectable scent. The chefs explain the palatable skin is a potent ingredient in various love potions and aphrodisiacs, so add or mix them to your dishes in moderation! The effects have a significant delay, so you may feel fine for a while, but when it hits, it hits hard. You will become enamored with every little thing — hey, you just met them and this is crazy — but that person’s smile, the sound of their voice, or the way they say your name will make you unable to resist the urge to shower them with your affection.

▶ Going Viral
Level 2, Moonlight Medical Center | top

“Help Wanted” posters can be found on virtual forums and announcement boards across Level 1 to 3. The Moonlight Medical Center has put out a call for volunteers due to a recent shortage of medical staff. The work involves filling in for overworked nurses, performing tasks such as feeding patients their meals, wiping away their sweat, changing their clothes, encouraging their spirits, and so on. Any volunteers may directly walk-in at the hospital. You will be provided a nurse uniform and any necessary equipment while on the job.

The shortage has resulted from the hospital recently taking in a severe number of patients from a nearby small village to the west of Lunatia, Port Sylvel, a known shipping and freight destination. The number of patients worryingly keeps on rising by the day and will soon fill all available rooms.

A Some of the patients are experiencing varying degrees of paralysis. The worst cases have crystallizing parts of their body. The hospital staff will stress that you should be careful around patients with crystallized limbs. Patients like these have a history of aggressively biting anyone who comes close hard enough to draw blood. Those bitten will exhibit similar symptoms as the victims, including crystallization on their bodies, and experience a steady drop in Chroma. An uncomfortable heaviness will cause you unable to move without the aid of others as well as an uncontrollable urge to aggressively bite someone.

While affected Moonblessed can cure it by moonlacing, the Prismals can only be cured by a gluteal inoculation the Lunar Scientia has recently managed to develop. The sick and beleaguered will probably hate you less if you aren’t the one trying to stabbing them with injections in the hindquarters.

B Aside from nursing duties, other available tasks to be completed include making coffee for fellow nurses and doctors, delivering flowers to patients, and general housekeeping. Specifically, disinfecting medical equipment, tidying up rooms, and cleaning the spaces around the hospital. As a result of the current situation, many crystal shards can be found decorating multiple surfaces, such as floors, walls, toilet seats, and so on. These will have to be swept away!

However, as your work day progresses, some of the shards can be seen suddenly moving on their own. These crawling shards will start clustering together to turn into elaborate, floating monolithic formations that will then begin attacking anyone nearby. Their main ability includes shooting diamond spears to impale any unfortunate victims in their line of sight. In the midst of the chaos, nurses and doctors will beg the Moonblessed to please protect the sick and wounded. The crystal formations can be destroyed by any method, though because of their incredibly sturdy composition, they require multiple hits before they shatter into dust.

▶ 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

Would one truly know peace if it were the only thing present?

[Then again, he already knows this man is a polytheist. Gods, rather than a God, so it was a debate that won't benefit either of them.]

It is quite charming. Though your point earlier stands. There is something I find more pressing to do, but judging by the fact that you have stayed here so long, I imagine returning would not be so easy.

No. I doubt the Prismals even know how we were brought here in the first place, let alone how to send us home. Considering our value to them, they're probably not in any rush to figure it out, either.

[The Prismals seemed benevolent enough, but ultimately, their problem was one only the Moonblessed could solve. It wasn't unreasonable to think they might not want to give them up so easily. He couldn't exactly hate them for it, but...]

If given the choice, I imagine many of us would not choose to stay. This world is inoffensive, but our place is not here. I suppose that's not true for everyone, though.

Then I suppose they are quite similar to us in that sense.

[Needing mana and all, and now Chroma. It is a wonder Servants can last given the amount of upkeep they need.

Speaking of...]

How do you maintain a form here? Is your Master with you?

[Hmm. Well, his own situation was a little complicated in that regard, but he didn't mind explaining it.]

I do not have a Master, and I never did. Before I was brought to this world, I had died—as a human, not a Servant.

[In other words, his existence was probably something between a human and Heroic Spirit... But considering he was already aware of all of those things, including even the fact that he would be summoned, the only real difference was purely physical. He basically considered himself a Servant, at this point. But, he continues:]

I suspect that Chroma is the answer. The Master of Chaldea is not currently present, which means that many of the Servants here are without a Master, so it is not a requirement to maintain your form. Still, I imagine it would only be a boon to have one.

[Especially for the less... you know. Moonlacing-inclined.]

That explains it.

[Perhaps? Maybe? Look, something was weird about him this whole yime, but it's probably less for that reason than for anything else. He also ended up contracting with someone due to special circumstances, so this is a bit of a weird space to be in.]

Oh, then are you offering? My current master is a tad avoidant to the concept of handholding, much less any other attempts at this moonlacing.

[For a moment, he just blinks, taken aback by just the sheer audacity of the question. The fact that he can ask him something like that, even as a joke?! WHO DOES THIS!!!]

Y-you're an even bigger fool than I thought, addressing me in such a way! But no, I no longer have need of Servants. [He only deigns to offer a serious response, because— well, Gilgamesh wasn't heartless. If it was necessary for the Servant's sake, he'd probably do it, but unlikely for his own. Still...] If you could live without a Master, would you not? Then again, that doesn't solve the problem of Chroma, I suppose. What a dull Master you must have.

[Not that there's anything wrong with living like that, of course. But it does seem a little unexciting.]

[He smiles cheekily at that, obviously teasing, but he does appreciate the honest response. It was a lot better than he expected.]

If he were a more willing master, then I would worry. After all, he quickly picked up a Servant without understanding what he agreed to.

I doubt it would be a shackle. He seems quite happy letting me do what I wish.

Good. [A simple response, but the implications are many. There was no doubt that there were advantages to being a Servant—the opportunities they would have, the things they'd get to experience—but there were disadvantages, too. They would not always have Masters as selfless and kindhearted as the one from Chaldea. And that wasn't even taking into account what he knew of the Grail and Grail Wars and everything in between.] Perhaps the two of you suit each other after all.

[As they head away from the shore, they're closer to returning to civilization—or at least to where the shops along the beach are. It's his turn to ask a question now. It's also simple, but far more meaningful than it might appear.]

Saber—is that what you wish to be called?

[He was content to enjoy the company, if he were honest. It was nice to simply walk with someone without the worries of war, though he supposed that's not at all completely possible with the knowledge of who he left to fend for herself. Still, he can't do anything about it until he understands what he is exactly in at the moment.

The question makes him pause for a moment, then he smiles.]

It depends. I never caught your name, but you were Archer when I met the first you.

[It's a feeling Gilgamesh understands well. This place could be pretty boring sometimes (most of the time), but it's a peace he hasn't known in a long while, so maybe it's not that bad. Even if he def wouldn't mind dunking this guy in some sand.]

If we're going by the "rules," I would probably be more of a Caster now. ["Probably," he says. He's been faking the whole mage thing all this time, after all, so there's still some room for doubt.] But you may call me Archer, for that is still who I am, or by my True Name, Gilgamesh, for it is no secret. It matters little to me.

[Many of the Servants here had met him as a human, and... Well, there was really just no reason to pretend like he cared about keeping secrets. He wasn't a Servant in a Grail War, and even if he was, it's not like knowing who he was helped a whole lot, anyway.]

[Wow, Gil, don't dunk him in sand that's hard to remove in armor!!

Also oh, he did not expect that to be his True Name. Then again, if he thinks about it, it made a lot of sense. At least, from what knowledge he has from the Grail.]

In that case, you may call me Richard. It is not as though I have reasons to hide it either.

[Not if they were safe here. Unless this Gilgamesh passes on the knowledge to his other self like some sort of weird mindmeld.]

[It's exactly what he deserves!!]

Hm. Perhaps I will remember it. [It's kind of a tease, but the way he says it is so serious that it probably doesn't sound like it. Generally, he didn't care to know or remember such things about people, but...] It isn't easy to walk alongside one you have no reason to trust.

[Maybe Richard is just an idiot, or maybe he just completely lacks self-preservation, but Gilgamesh knows it isn't an easy thing to do, both from his own experiences and what he knows about others. It is incredibly foolish, but maybe he doesn't mind it. It feels like... a distinctly human thing to do.]

Please do. Though if you forget, I will have to call you Goldie in retaliation.

[He is probably joking, but also probably going to use the nickname anyway.]

Then... Is there one here you see fit to trust to walk by your side?

Hmph. You have a troublesome mouth, Wandering King. [But he doesn't sound too mad about it. It's fine, there are probably (definitely) worse things to be called. As for that question... Hmm. He doesn't answer right away, as if to consider how to go about it. It would've been such an easy question before.]

It isn't a matter of trust, but there are those who I know I can rely on, I suppose. [There was only one person who he could say he explicitly distrusted. Even then, though, she wasn't hard to manipulate (read: buy)... But anyway.] ...unless you are referring to my friend. Then yes, they are here as well.

[Far more accepting of people though he was, that title still (very stubbornly) belonged only to one.]

I am often told so. I earned quite a reputation for it.

[Oc e no, though that was troublesome in a completely different way. He actually looks like he treats it as a praise, in the way he looks bashful but pleased.]

Lancer, then? Oh, perhaps they do not recall me either in that case.

Most likely not, no. [Even if they had experienced it, the odds of them remembering it were pretty low. Then again, Spirit Origins worked in mysterious ways. (And then, there was Gilgamesh.)] I doubt it will be a problem with them, however.

[They were far more personable than he would ever be, and they seemed to be getting along well with the other Servants. They maybe won't even want to punch him... probably.]

Oh, hopefully not.

[That said...]

Speaking of other Servants, would King Arthur happen to be here? I would also be glad to meet Merlin, or any of the knights.

He is, along with a handful of his men. He may be a bit different from the King of Knights that you are familiar with, however.

[Should he tell him... Maybe it'll be more fun if he leaves it a surprise. Then again, differences aside, Arthur was still Arthur.]

The King of Knights prefers to keep to himself, but I'm sure you'll have no trouble tracking down the others. Especially Merlin. He has a habit of showing up when you'd least prefer him to.

[He didn't dislike Merlin, and he was probably one of the few people that would say so. But the point still stands!!]

Oh?

[He looks interested, so much so. Like a child excited to find out the secret behind those words.]

Ah, but do not tell me! I wish to find out myself. Knowing he is here is exciting as it is.

Hm. I'm sure. [Then, in a completely unkingly gesture, Gilgamesh reaches over and ruffles Richard's hair.] Well, if you're anything like the rest of us, there will be plenty of time for that.

[Without being quite so forward about it, Gilgamesh had still judged him, and he has decided that... maybe he's okay. It could be worse. He could be a Lancer, for example.]

[Did he just get petted by the King of Heroes...?

Richard is taken aback because that is like the last thing he expected, and he kind of stares for a moment, blinking rapidly. Ah.]

[He did, and that's just something he's going to have to live with. Gilgamesh is very aware of how different he is from his younger self, but also: he doesn't care.

He slows to a stop, then, and regards Richard even if he might still be feeling caught off guard.]

What will you do now, Wandering King?

[It's a general, open question, but it's meant to be. There are no wrong answers... Or, well, there are, but you know, it's more out of curiosity than anything.]

[Please don't try to be his dad, it never ends well for anyone. Or. Something. Not that Richard hates it, but the action certainly shones a weird light on Gilgamesh's thoughts on him. A child perhaps, or a dog. Probably both.

The question has him smiling though, because his plan never did change.]

To find a flute, and perhaps find out what kind of music would the King of Heroes want to listen to.

[Definitely both. But he seems amused at his answer, at least.]

How frivolous, but I suppose that's just the kind of place this is. [In fact, "frivolously" was how most of the Servants spent their time here, Gilgamesh included. Not having any actual serious responsibilities to attend to (like, say, the end of the world) really leaves you with a lot of free time on your hands!] Hmm, well, it isn't fun if I give you all the answers, so I'll leave that to your imagination.

[He will probably come to regret that decision.]

Then I will take that as a challenge.

[Which. Yeah, please don't regret. Also probably a good point to end this thread.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

▶ TDM .012

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ohh my god, RICHARD!!

It is important okok

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