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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[He was expecting something. Not sure what, precisely, but something. So at the very least, he couldn't claim to be surprised when it was indeed something, that he got, but he wasn't actually prepared for it to be as... pleasant, as it was. He stiffened for a moment, Titus actually managing to make it a decent way through that explanation of magic from his own world before he remembered to actually take his hand back.

A warm, comfortable hum of energy, pleasantly thrumming along his palm and skin. The only comparison he could make would perhaps be the sensation of resting in a sunbeam, a calming and almost lazy sort of feeling, and one he was both hesitant and conversely eager to break from.

Strange.]

Akin to aether, from what I know of it. I'll admit, I'm not a mage. My grasp of how magic works is fairly basic.

[Does he sound a bit hazy? It's almost as if there'd always been some sort of edge to his words, and for the moment, that's all been ground away and softened.]

So long as I remember to shake enough hands, I don't think I'll be wanting. I really don't think I'll have to get intimately involved with anyone.

[After all, how much chroma could his own dark arts burn through? Surely not that much, right? Perhaps that was also something best tested before he got too free with it.]

How can you tell, precisely, if you're running low? I imagine the symptoms are fairly evident, since you need it to be alive. Would I become incapacitated before death if I allowed it to dwindle too far?

Ahh, that's a good question! I cannot speak for everyone, but in my case I begin to feel exhausted and light-headed. But symptoms like that tend to come on gradually, and I have a habit of overusing magic, so I have dealt with my fair share of letting it get too low before I even realize it. [ he laughs, because it's hilarious how dangerous that is?? apparently?? ] When chroma loss becomes extreme, it becomes very difficult to move, and the body itself begins to crystallize. At that point, you will indeed be in quite a lot of trouble if you are in an isolate location or otherwise unable to contact others for assistance.

I take it you rarely find yourself in particularly dire straits, if it's that easy to laugh about.

[There's a noise from behind the helm, and it sounds vaguely disgruntled, at best.]

This place seems kind of built around discouraging solitude, doesn't it? Heavens forfend you wander off alone and deprive everyone of your chroma. You don't find that to be a touch irritating?

Well, I was scolded about it by friends, so now I am much more careful... [ he doesn't use less magic or anything, but he did create a spell that alerts him when he's run down to around 30% of optimal levels. ]

It...
...
No... I had never considered that.

[ he frowns. ]

I suppose... you are not wrong. But I hate being alone anyway, so it never occurred to me to think of it like that.

As well you should have been, your life has value.

[The helmed head tilted, pale eyes watching Titus quite carefully]

But what if you wanted to be alone? It would be highly ill advised, wouldn't it? Regardless of whether or not you would enjoy being alone, it's a choice that you really couldn't make.

You're not really free to decide if you'd rather be by yourself, are you?

[ he has kind of a weird reaction to that your life has value comment; it's not a flinch or a frown exactly, but... perhaps a slight twitch and a briefly inscrutable expression? ]

Ah, no. I mean, yes, you're right. I suppose that is a definite drawback... to this place. But at the same time, it's not as though these are rules imposed by society... they are simply the principles by which this world operates. It is not so different from a person who hates eating or sleeping, is it? They would not really be free to decide not to, but no one would be to blame for it, either.

[A reaction nevertheless, one that would go without comment, but ever still silently noted]

You're not wrong. It certainly doesn't seem as if we have anyone in particular to blame for this, no matter how engineered it might feel.

Regardless, it does nothing to make it feel any less aggravating. I'm quite used to having to eat and sleep, less so with needing to be around others in order to live. It'd only been advisable, rather than necessary.

... And finding food, and a bed to sleep in, can oft times be far easier than finding someone who wants to touch you.

[ ????? ]

...But why wouldn't people want to touch you? You seem to be a perfectly charming gentleman, if a bit on the mysterious side.

—Ah, but in any case, I am sorry that you will not be able to live here in the way you prefer. Or, more precisely, you have my sympathy.

How nice of you to say, and you don't even know me that well. Give it some time.

[There's a smile to be heard in those words. Consider him vaguely charmed at that.]

I understand you don't have the same hangups with it, so consider me happy enough to have your sympathy. I'm well aware there's little to be done about it.

But we've shaken hands, and I haven't even introduced myself. My name is Fray, and I'd like to thank you for being so helpful thus far.

Well met, Sir Fray! I am Titus Alexius. Call on me whenever you find yourself in need of a handshake!

...In fact, while I cannot alter the circumstances that render you unable to live a life of solitude, I would really be more than happy to support your choices however possible. For example, we could spend a half hour shaking hands once a week, and then you would probably be able to spend the rest of your time on whatever solitary pursuits you prefer! [ .... this is about 70% a joke, but he would also be 100% willing to do it, so. ]

[The laugh that joke managed to pull from him almost sounded surprised. As if genuinely taken aback at how funny he actually found that. ... Does nothing to stifle it though, and it quickly evens out to something easier and softer.]

If nothing else, I know I can call upon you for the company. Perhaps a drink and a full night of vigorous handshakes?

By all means! And if we ever find ourselves feeling particularly daring, then perhaps... both hands at once.

Such debauchery, what would our other Moonblessed think of it?

[Ah, that tone had warmed up nicely, consider him fully charmed now.]

I am quite serious of the offer of a drink, anyroad.

In that case... there are two things I would like to ask you.
First: Have you ever had a honey latte?
And second: Have you ever had waffles?

I'm afraid I haven't the foggiest on what a latte is, but... I have heard of waffles before.

I've never had one, they tend to be out of my price range, and I'm hardly a chef.

Then let me treat you to some of each! ...Though I assure you that they are very reasonably priced here, at least in my opinion.

I can only imagine with your personality, you might be the richest man here.

Mind you, if that's what you want, I'll make a note to return the favor.

Nonsense! If you intend to keep paying me compliments like that, I'm going to end up owing you.

...But you know, for a while there I really did think I had somehow become among the most attractive and interesting people alive. When I figured out it was only because of an appealing scent I gain while my Moonblessing is active, well... that was a sobering day, indeed.

Were but I able to pay all my debts in flattery.

Ah... yes, that's right, the Moonblessing. I was told of this as well, but I'm afraid I wasn't quite paying as much attention as I should have.

[A bit too angry at the time for that.]

I recall they said there were three of them, and that each has their own effect on those under it's influence. I don't recall any explanation as to what those effects were, however.

'Expensive perfume' wouldn't have been one of my first guesses.

I found it surprising as well! But I have come to appreciate it, if only for rather mercenary reasons. I tend to find myself with a very much heartier than normal appetite when Cordis is in the sky, and, well... it turns out that when you have an enchanting aroma, people are much quicker to offer you extra-large helpings, discounts, or freebies.

...Though I do make sure to tip more generously at those times as well, so I like to believe things haven't become too lopsided. Oh, and did you know you are actually allowed to tip as much as you want? There's no upper limit!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

▶ TDM .013

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