prismaticrap | ▶ TDM .013

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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.

▶ Welcome to the Jungle
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.

▶ Let’s Do the Time Warp Now
Lunatia | top

Time is relative, but the days do seem shorter — or longer — than usual. A minute passes like an hour. An hour passes like a minute. Everything appears to be moving along as normal, but the numbers and hands on clocks flicker and spin with an unusual and worrying slowness or quickness. Eventually you notice that the darkness of the night barely lasts long enough for you to fall asleep while the sun seems to glare down upon you for an eternity. The temporal shifts disorient your body, which now grows lethargic from being overworked and underslept. Soon, the temporal abnormalities reach a critical point…

B Due to the temporal distortions, Prismals and Moonblessed new and old feel their bodies sporadically transform in the strangest of ways. Your joints ache like they’ve carried a lifetime’s weight of misfortune and regret. Your voice turns high-pitched like a certain pair has yet to drop. You turn into a confused infant in one moment and the seasoned fighter you always wanted to be in the next. Your memories also shuffle around along with your apparent age, leaving you confused and unsettled. The transformations can occur and last for as long as the 11th, when everything turns back to normal without incident. That time your baby self peed in your pants? Never happened. Until then, moonlacing seems to stabilize the weird abnormalities.

▶ Starlight, Star Bright, First Star I See Tonight
Lunatia | top

The city’s landscape is not spared by the erratic flow of time. Buildings and streets continuously flicker between the beautiful and vibrant paradise it has become to the ruins of glory days long past. Your eyes may struggle to adjust as you try and convince yourself of what is real and what is not. High rise towers one moment will become wreckage the next, filled with technological debris and the echoing cries of the terrified, and the mighty wingspan of an unknown creature continues to hovers in the distance. The illusion will only last but a minute before you’re back in the present, going about your daily business. However, your trip from the future and back is far from over.

Soon, breaking news reports will inform the city about the sudden vanishing of certain celestial bodies in the sky. Though the moons remain where they should, the nights grow longer and darker as the stars in the sky start disappearing one by one until only the sun remains, eclipsed by some mysterious force. Lunar Scientia has already sent capable teams to investigate the abnormalities, so they ask the public to be patient as they wait for the reports. Until then, they have issued safety guidelines and measures to effectively light the city. The Caelus Tower appears to burn brighter than ever.

C For these dark hours, Lunar Scientia releases their latest Chroma-powered technology for Moonblessed use: star lanterns. When a star lantern is held by two Moonblessed, it absorbs newly generated Chroma from them, enabling it to light up the missing stars in the sky as you travel from place to place. The light’s color and intensity will depend on you and your partner’s bond, the spectrum ranging from a violet of hatred to a red full of love. Indifference, however, will not light the lantern at all. It also comes with a float function so that it can be released into the atmosphere without needing to carry it everywhere. Since the technology is limited in stock, Moonblessed may only have one star lantern in their possession.

One of the issued guidelines is to never walk through dark alleys alone even with the lanterns, as the crime rate has increased lately due to those taking advantage of the chaos. This is especially rampant in Level 3, at the mouth of the Lightless.

▶ Oh, They Just Can’t Wait to be King
Outside Lunatia, Port Sylvel | top

On the ides of the third month, an emergency broadcast appears from Captain Natela:

Captain Natela

Greetings, Prismals and Moonblessed.

It is with a heavy heart that I announce that Port Sylvel has been completely crystallized. The Moon Knights are currently recruiting willing explorers and scientists to investigate the cause. Investigations are still pending, but the outlook is grim. The only survivors were among the few we carried out of the city last month. The rest perished from the crystallization.

Our heart goes out to those affected by this plight. There is no cause for panic. There is no sign that the crystallization is spreading beyond Port Sylvel. We Moon Knights stand with the people of Prismatica, as we have done for centuries. We are not mere defenders of a city but protectors of a planet. We endeavor to find the cause of this tragedy and bring peace and justice to the lives it claimed. Until then, we ask for your cooperation. Stay calm and press onward.

Those who volunteer to participate in the expedition will be rewarded for their efforts. They will be assisted by experts from the Lunar Scientia as well as the bear Prismal and Moon Knight Fahrouk, who looks worse for wear after hearing the news.

Officer Fahrouk

Oh, Moonblessed. It's you. Yeah, Hala is doing good. Won the spelling bee! I think she might make the nationals. ... I… I don't think I ever told you. Port Sylvel was our hometown. My wife is buried there. We’d go there every spring. Hala loved picking the flowers there. Did you know that different flowers grow in Port Sylvel compared to Lunatia? Haaaah...

Moonblessed! I know you think I'm not cool enough to hang out with you, and all I do is ask for your help, but please let me go with you! Please… This is something I have to do as a soldier, a husband, and a father.

… What? You always thought I was cool?

Finding strength and resolve after the participants tell him he's supposed to assist them on their mission anyway, Fahrouk distributes LIFE suits to the participants as he briefs them on what they're about to do. He and the participating Moonblessed will then be transported via a large transport vessel.

Port Sylvel is hardly recognizable. What was once an idyllic coastal town is now a site of tragic beauty — crystal formations encase buildings and Prismals like jagged glass coffins, as if preserving life in its final moments. Readings from life detectors tell you that everyone in the crystal has passed on, but you and your fellow Moonblessed think you can still hear their cries of distress carried along by the wind, warning you about the Prideful King.

D Gigantic crystal lions flank the passage of the port city, their wings spread open and blue flames pouring forth from their mouths. You hear rumbling guttural noises, and if you approach them, their roars will escalate to warn you about proceeding any further. Beware: a single bite from these lions can easily tear through the LIFE suit and cause your body to crystallize quickly unless someone rushes in to moonlace with you to halt the effect. These lions are unlike the beasts you’ve fought before: their otherworldly strength is overwhelming, and nothing seems to wear them down. Destroying them seems pointless, as they quickly regenerate the minute they are obliterated.

Eventually, transmissions from the LIFE suits announce an order for escape. Buildings collapse and shatter in your wake, and the ground quakes violently as something awakens in the far distance...

▶ questions

If you have any questions regarding this test drive meme, please ask them in the Questions thread below.

WHO CAN POST? ▶ Test drive memes are for new characters only. Existing players may not post starter threads in the test drime meme. 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.!

IS THIS CANON? ▶ 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.

ANNIVERSARY ▶ Happy first anniversary, Prismatica! Thank you to all of you who have been with us since the beginning. We appreciate it immensely! Remember that we always welcome input and suggestions from players. This event is a little out of the ordinary because of our anniversary celebration.

OPT IN AND OUT ▶ For current players, please do not be alarmed! As always, you do not have to be affected as there are safe areas across Lunatia that remain as is.

AGING UP AND DOWN ▶ You have free reign over how long and how many times your character will be affected. If a character doesn’t have a canon appearance from the past or future, you are welcome to provide one of your own from imagination and use your own PB. You are allowed to speculate on how they’ll look, act, their potential future, and so on. All of these will be temporary to this event. The intensity of the effect is also up to you: whether it will only affect appearance alone and retain their current memories.

IMPORTANT ▶ As a reminder, writing sexual content with characters below 15 years old is a violation of the game's rules and potentially Dreamwidth’s ToS. Players caught doing this will be banned from the game.

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[He looks around. There really is no other sign of life (if he dismisses those eerie whispers, which he's trying very hard to do). The port town was crystallised along with all its inhabitants, and these are crystal lions...]

Right.

[Honestly, he's in over his head. He thought he could make himself useful on this expedition and maybe find out a little more about this world, but instead he only has more questions.]

[Now that he's close to her and can see her face in the bubble-shaped helmet he notices how young she looks, but that doesn't make him want to coddle her at all. Her prior attack on the lion looked like she knew what she was doing, and besides he's seen young girls kick ass before.]

[He unsheates his samurai sword.]

I'll take it from the front and keep its attention. You try to get around and see if you can cut its hind legs, alright? If we can get it down that'll be a start. Or if you can get on its back... not, it's too big, never mind that.

[He really would like to double-check this with Officer Fahrouk, but the man is nowhere in sight - maybe these lions aren't the only trouble the group encountered.]

[Nod. She darts to the side and dodges a swipe, then lunges for the lion's crystal legs -- only for her sword to barely chip one.]

What?

[His luck is no better than hers. He charges at the lion head-on with a loud shout as she takes the side route, trying to get its full attention on him, and he succeeds... it turns its focus from her to him and spews a wall of blue flames in his direction.]

Shit!!

[He skids to a halt, almost toppling over from the momentum, and staggers a few steps back, shielding his face with his sword arm. Once the fire attack ceases he looks for her.]

Ah, crud...

[Clearly the plan did not work out. He readies himself to distract the lion again so she can get out of its vicinity, seeing how nothing can seem to substantially damage it. Oddly enough the second lion hasn't interfered with any of this, keeping its attention on preventing anyone else who may approach from passing through. Granted, he was kind of banking on that. Come to think, that fire burst could easily have turned him into a crisp if only the lion had aimed a little further ahead - did it just want to keep him back? If so it'll want to toss the girl back out at all costs.]

Retreat!

[She probably already drew that conclusion on her own, but then again he doesn't know how stubborn she is.]

But --!

[She slices again, more determined, but still nothing. The lion snaps at her, which she barely manages to knock away, only to have to duck fire and run.]

How?

[How is it so strong, or how to get away?]

[Damn it. She's trapped there now and it's his fault. If only he had his subordinates, he'd dispatch one to get him a bazooka... alas, no such luck.]

Go that way!

[He swings his arm to the far side she originally came from to indicate where he wants her to go, all the while running in the opposite direction. He'll feign trying to dash past the lion on its other side and hopefully catch its attention that way.]

!

[She runs indeed, albeit reluctantly; the lion turns toward Hijikata, and Mai hesitates and stumbles to a stop.]

No, escape!

[As she calls, it turns back toward her, and she moves to block a blast of fire with her sword -- how is that working, that's stupid.]

[He's deflected bullets with his sword before, so he's more or less taking this in stride, even though he's still damn impressed. He's pretty sure his sword can't do that.]

Are you telling me to run and leave you here?! What kind of shitty guy would do that?

[While the lion is trying to roast her he sprints up to its flank and slashes across it, making crystal splinters fly - but as before the surface damage repairs itself almost immediately. It lets out a mighty roar, focusing back on him.]

Come over! Now's the opportunity!

[Is this his imagination or is there a rumbling going through the ground under their feet? There better not be an earthquake.]

[She bites back a hiss as the lion moves, some of the flame diverting. But even as her sleeve is torn and her arm starts to form frystals, she reluctantly runs for it.]

Invincible. How?

[Looks like they ought to get running anyway.]

Beats me!

[He keeps an eye on the lion as she gets out of its immediate space... the way it looks down at him, no longer attacking as if it can tell that they're retreating, makes him feel like it's much more intelligent than he knows. It makes him feel small in more than one way. What was he thinking to just barge into this fight? But he didn't want to just be a useless warm body while the girl was putting her life at risk. Darn, he never even asked her name--]

[There's a loud, dull rumbling as the ground shakes again, more noticeably this time, and he can hear an intermission coming in through his helmet as he runs up to his battle companion's side.]

You're hearing the transmission too, right? We're supposed to esc-- shit.

[He can't help but swear as he sees her arm. This looks bad. He jams his sword into its sheath and grabs her upper arm rather tightly, hoping to prevent the crystallisation from spreading further under the LIFE suit's fabric.]

Are you ready? Let's move out!

[They'll make for an odd sight, running on increasingly unstable ground with him gripping on to her arm, but there's little else he can think of doing than returning to the transport ship as fast as possible. This mission really was a disaster. If the girl doesn't make it or loses her arm...]

[She nods quietly and runs along with him, gripping her sword tighter with her good arm in case the bad one lets go.]

Don't worry about me.

[It isn't spreading yet, but she's straining as she runs.]

[He can tell that she's in pain. Hopefully there's medical personnel and treatment utensils onboard the ship, but he's optimistic - the Moon Knights would be a petty lousy police force if they'd set out on a mission like this without taking the necessary precautions.]

Hang on just a little bit longer!

[The ground is quaking worse and worse to the point where them holding on to each other is more of a stabilising asset that a hindrance, and he nearly runs into her out of surprise when a tall crystallised tower starts crumbling and collapsing.]

Damn it, the whole place is coming down--

[At least the transport ship is in sight now.]

[She runs with another burst of energy, but it seems like every unreal jump or dodge past a new crack or pile of rubble is wearing her down.]

The ship.

[They're almost there, but she looks back to the "lion-san" standing guard, which are apparently completely unharmed.]

[He doesn't look back. Those lions will know what's good for them, he's pretty sure of that. Fellow expedition members are already boarding the ship in a rush, with others approaching as fast as they can on the shaking ground, and he wastes no time in helping her up the ramp, looking around for Fahrouk or another crew member.]

We need a medic over here!

[He lowers his voice to address her.]

Sorry, I should have asked much earlier - what's your name?

...Kawasumi Mai.

[She winces a little and looks down at her slowly crystallizing arm. She finally drops her sword, letting it clatter to the ground.]

They should heal everyone else first. I can wait until then.

How can this wait?! - Hey!! A medic, we need a medic!

[His loud yelling finally gets a crew member's attention among the chaos and noise as the ship prepares for departure. She hastily leads Mai to a sickroom, with Hijikata trailing along after picking up her sword. After swiftly examining her arm she turns to him and asks him to help by moonlacing with her.]

What?! How am I supposed to do that? I can't just--!

[He looks at Mai. What the hell did he get himself into here? First she got hurt on his watch, now he's expected to get physical with her (even if it's just hand-to-arm contact)? What if he makes it worse?]

Is this... is this okay for you?

[Mai looks away, then back at him as her breathing slows.]

Just touching my arm is fine. I'll last. If you're okay.

[She's visibly getting tired, but she's not as badly off as some others in here.]

Yeah... yeah. Let's do this.

[Looking around it seems like things really didn't go as planned on the whole. Luckily no one appears to be fatally injured. Some people are already helping each other via moonlacing. How hard can it be? He's grasped the concept, he just isn't used to much physical contact with others outside of fights.]

[After making sure she's in a comfortable resting position he carefully puts his palm on the crystallised part of her arm and tries to channel healing energy into her, somehow. However he can't feel anything happening.]

This works on the basis of our, ah... relationship, right?

[This is way too much to ask of them. Everyone who came along on this mission is pretty much a stranger to their fellow volunteers. But he does know a few things about her. She's brave and valiant, strong and enduring, and she puts herself last.]

[In these regards she reminds him of a few people back home he holds dear. Once he makes that connection, unconscious as it may be, it's like a mental block unlocks and he can feel sincere appreciation for her, both as a comrade in arms and just as a person.]

[He thinks he can sense something now, though it's hard to define - he doesn't feel energised per se, nor does it feel like he's charging her up like a battery, but there's something going on. If she feels remotely the same as him they should be able to generate chroma, right?]

[For the first time since he set foot into Port Sylvel his expression relaxes. He's determined; he won't let her lose her arm.]

...?

[The effect freezes at this point, stopped completely. She looks down at her arm, not turning to anything else, still tired but starting to repair.]

...A lot of energy. Thank you. You didn't need to.

Hey, it's your energy too. It takes two to generate it, that's what they said, right?

[He's relieved; finally something is going right (even if this is damn weird). But now he can feel the exhaustion kicking in on his end too, so he gets as comfortable as he can while keeping his hand on her arm. He'd like to smoke, but he'll be considerate and wait until they're back in Lunatia.]

Let's try to rest a little.

[It seems like everybody is on board now as the ship takes off. It's a surprisingly smooth start considering how badly everything is shaking, and once they're airborne the distressing rumbling finally stops. He's too tired to strain his neck and try to catch a glance of the crumbling city through the window, he'll just close his eyes for a short while and hope that Mai's arm will be in better shape by the time they land.]

Mm. ...We didn't find anything. Just what happened to everyone there. Why any of this?

I don't know.

Did you hear those... echoes?

[He won't acknowledge that they may have been the voices of ghosts, that's too spooky.]

Maybe it's the fault of the king who governed this place. I don't know about the political borders around here, but the thing about the king is all I could really understand. Whether he played around with stuff too powerful to be contained or drew the wrath of some local deity - those lions or something else -, I've got no idea. Maybe it's something else altogether.

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▶ TDM .013

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