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's trained. definitely more so than leaks; it's not so much in the way he wraps it, but the nonchalant way that his fingers don't tremble and that it's something almost mechanical to some degree--- the reaction. he does appreciate watching nezhan proceed to fix himself with that liquid, which to leaks' eye seems to be some kind of sterilizing solution, and... would be happy that he's right in the end. that he did not have an antiseptic in his own bag is something he'll chide himself for as well.

but magic could do a lot more than medicine, especially in a pinch, and that was his preferred way of dealing with things. )

No. I am somewhat versed in the healing arts, but not to the extent a true practitioner is.

( that does beg the unspoken question, as he locks his gaze firmly on the bandaged wound. )

... wounding others is more my forte.

( it's that, and that nehan had long ago learned how to compartmentalize both physical and emotional pain. it is distant and dull to him now, to an extent where he barely flinches when cleaning and binding his own wound. he stores the remainder of the antiseptic in the bag at his waist, returning his attention back to the stranger when he has finished doing so. the torn, bloodied sleeve of his jacket also returns to where it had been resting normally, the concern of the wound having been dispelled for the time being.

"healing arts." that is more broad and vague than what nehan is accustomed to. from a family of doctors, apothecaries, and poisoners in a clan of murderers and assassins, his memory was a textbook on dozens (if not hundreds) of elixirs, potions, and drugs. it was all science — he didn't really see anything in it as either magical or artistic. its in this distinction that he feels they are quite different in what they are proficient in.

but the latter statement... )

To be able to heal someone is to be able to hurt them. ( a medicine in the wrong amount could be a poison, just as a poison administered in the correct way could save a life. the more nehan honed his craft, the more he realized how thin that line really was.

he exhales a thin sigh. ) ...You are in good company, then.

( his hands are certainly not clean. he wipes the assailant's knife with a strip of cloth before stowing it in the bag as well. not as much because he wanted to keep it — it was best not to leave evidence. )

( he's not wrong, and this is why leaks' interest is piqued. not just in the way he gathers whatever evidence of a fight into his bag, or the fact he is still unnerved by his own injuries and is able to take care of them without a problem, but that he can understand how being capable of doing one makes the other very easy to understand. how can leaks not respect that, both ears flitting with curiosity as he continues to gaze at nehan with inquisitive eyes, far from the skepticism and anger that normally plagued him.

leaks has grown soft. such is life... one day he'll be okay with it. )

Highly assumptive of you. ( said lightly, as he carefully adjusts his kit and then adjusts his braid. ) But... I will accept your words for now.

( nehan might think otherwise if he learned of leaks' dark past, but he does know to some extent what his appearance does for him. surely he looks innocent? well-learned? not slutting around??? )

And what is my company's name?

( nehan merely smiles in response, the expression feeling more calculated than actually performed out of any appreciation or mirth.

he can only say it without any manner if irony because he gets a sense that this dark-clad individual has similar roots as to himself. the man had admitted as much, at the very least. were he someone genuinely good, someone impressionable or all-too-trusting, he would not have insinuated such a thing. it had been why he pushed mugen away, after all — nehan knows that he is poison. he is only good company around creatures as similarly reprehensible as himself.

so it actually might be more of an insult to leaks, but... well. that's just how it goes, sometimes. )

You may take them or leave them. ( the shoulders underneath the coat roll in a shrug. ) It's up to you.

( sure, nehan hasn't gotten to a point where he's tried to kill every other member of his own race yet, but he had created an incredibly potent and addictive drug which had claimed the lives of many, including children. to claim he has scruples is a dangerous thing. )

Nehan. ( he lifts his chin as he observes the stranger. ) Yours?

( words are cheap. whether he continues to use them or not to his advantage is really up to... well, whatever happens in the future? the smile feels not-fake, but not genuine; something leaks can appreciate even though he rarely does something similar. guarded? yes. measured? yes. it takes certain individuals to get him to crack those lips, and that's not counting the times when a tongue has been slipped in between them that isn't his own---

anyway. )

Leaks. ( a beat, and then: ) Like a broken pipe, not the vegetable.

( because that has come up before and honestly that's the best way to give it some kind of credence. he doesn't dislike his name, but he's only enjoyed hearing it come from very specific people--- the very same who can expose leaks' emotions for what they are and it's not the angy kind. )

You are best returning to one of the safer levels. Though if you are not... I wish to accompany you.

( in his lifetime, nehan has learned that it is only worthwhile to lie when the benefits outweigh the potential risk. he does not put on a mask for other people, even in the cases when he does wear an actual mask — he is always ever himself, revealing only what was absolutely necessary, given the individual. he is aware it is a defensive mechanism. there was much he hadn't told the higher-ups of the magasin once he had been bought. where he was from, why it was that he had the knowledge he did... but he did share the knowledge that saved him from a far worse fate.

it was good that nehan's memory was so sharp — those alchemical formulas that he had memorized over his parents' shoulders had bought him the time and prestige he needed to eventually destroy the group which had kept him captive.

he gets the sense that this stranger is similarly aware of what he presents to others. nehan doesn't often have a sense that he's in the presence of a like mind. it's... an odd one, to say the least.

one of the corners of nehan's mouth twitches upwards at the explanation; how descriptive. ) Leaks... Let me express my gratitude, then, that the one that comes across me in such a situation is a man with a refreshing idea of discretion.

( nearly all of the do-gooders he'd been dealing with lately would have tried to intervene or call for justice, or some sort of nonsense like that.

as he mentions it, nehan's gaze sweeps upwards, scanning through the construction of this city — just as vertical as it was horizontal. he seems to consider it for a long moment, then his clear blue gaze falls back down to leaks. he gives a small shake of his head. ) We are not the types that do what is best for us, are we? ( that small, fleeting smile returns. )

If you wish to come, come. Personally... I want to see the worst this city has to offer.

( surely such a place is where he belongs — either in the karmic sense, or because it was the place he could try to do the most good, in the broken way that he could. he was too tired to try to decide which. )

( it's very refreshing. how? leaks can't say, he can only get a sense of... not that he would linger on it for too much longer, but a kindred spirit? someone who could use their razor sharp intellect for not-altruistic reasons, and for an unknown worth. he would certainly agree there are too many of the heroic types, ones that would jump into danger without a second thought, and all for the preconceived notion of that they're wanted at that very moment. )

There is nothing to be gained or learned while under the protection and safety of the knights here. ( both ears twitch as leaks shakes his head, huffing his displeasure. ) And most of the time, they prove to be ineffective.

( how many times have lunatia's police and guardians failed at their jobs? either getting killed or controlled or knocked out or... he could probably count the number of times on both hands and then some. )

What the worst this city has to offer? ( what if he were to say that nehan is meeting someone who considers himself to be the worst? he tucks that in the back of his mind; leaks truly feels at home with someone who has such a different mindset. someone who wouldn't cling to him for physical comfort, but may be willing to test his mettle and bring him back to something a little more normal. )

We can do that. It may be a brief trip, and not for us--- for those who believe they will be taking advantage of a situation.

( and so he'll be able to flex his claws or his magic. )

Isn't that often the case. Regardless... I've never belonged under such protection and safety. ( his blue eyes observe his companion out of their corner. his faint smile returns. ) I get a sense that you are the same.

( it was a mark of those upon the fringes of society, that they would use whatever they had at their disposal for their own benefit. used to scrounging for what was necessary, remaining wary of any external help, particularly from heroic types or authorities. karm had existed outside the jurisdiction of various skyfaring justice agencies, and it had done so purposefully — its fate had simply been a reaping of seeds long since sowed. after his escape from the devastation of his clan, nehan had fallen into slavery, and then into a crime family. he was no creature to exist on the carefully-manicured streets of a pleasant district frequented by well-adjusted types. )

Oh? ( he rarely expects help from others. he had intended to search out such a thing for himself, relying on what felt like dowsing rod in his being for the very worst of something. but if leaks had a clearer idea of it, he would rely on him — he clearly seems more familiar with this city than the newly-arrived nehan. )

If you have something in mind, then I will follow.

( and he will owe him. nehan is not one to ignore his debts — instead, he maintains a careful mental ledger. )

( why does it feel like he's talking to himself? it's unusual and strange and it's a lot of things that leaks doesn't like. again, a distant comfort but now there's the approach of something that is... being understood too well. it's why leaks stares at nehan a touch longer than he probably should, which might provoke some kind of realization, but he... doesn't really mean to. to be cut from the same cloth is unfortunate, perhaps their fates would end up being the same.

but even leaks, as unsympathetic as he could be, couldn't wish that on anyone else. especially someone who can do good better than him. )

My wish is to sweep this area and clean it of any... undesirables. There are some who do not desire to be here, yet make this place their home. ( he looks away, both ears twitching. They suffer more than most. ) I believe for them to have a small respite from their normal harassers would be a welcome kindness.

( and it would allow them to act with discretion. the best word. )

( if nehan notices much of an unseen, unspoken similarity, he doesn't make note of it. he remains seemingly aloof, attention drawn lightly between the cityscape and strangers around them. he walks slowly, casually, feeling the odd sensation of being completely removed from all of the words and actions of his past that he had been certain would eventually catch up with him.

and if he notices leaks' lingering attention on him... well, that, too, he doesn't really let on about. he is an erune who keeps his cards close to his chest.

and, really, do better...? nehan has already destroyed enough lives he feels something like that is already a foregone conclusion, definitively in the negative.

a hum sounds from the back of his throat, thoughtful, pensive. ) But isn't that what the Moon Knights are for...? ( with the leading tone of his voice and the vague upward curve to his lips, it's clearly an acerbic joke. this was no place for the good people of the city, or the people who guarded those good people.

so who is there to safeguard the people who are not so good? well, individuals who are quite terrible themselves. just not so terrible to take advantage of a situation like this in such an atrocious way. )

Do you have any idea as to what numbers we might be dealing with? ( a more pertinent question. he only has so many bullets. and so many doses of trancensia. )

( he smiles. thin lipped and slight, born from amusement. this nehan is surely something. as he starts to walk, the shadows almost seem to bend around them--- do they fear the combined power of these two individuals? or perhaps, it's the faint glimmer of his lantern that has made itself known again, their bond starting to potentially grow. there is still barely enough light to make things out.

but there is something there. )

They take care of what they must. There are enough Moonblessed here to fend off most dangers in general, but they do not linger in the shadows.

( though there are some that do, and leaks generally finds them to be annoying--- few don't trigger that particular response. )

No idea. It may be that they are all opportunists in the worst sense, individuals that do not gather unless the rewards are great and the risk is low.

( which is not leaks' life. he rather risk it all regardless of the outcome. )

... are you impatient?

Peacekeeping forces like that will only allocate their limited resources in the places they feel are most important to protect. Often the places that need them most fall by the wayside.

( he says it knowingly, though the reason why is not an exactly pleasant one. the magasin crime family had preyed upon those spaces. who protects the people and their order of day-to-day life when the police (or whatever synonymous force) couldn't? the mafia — though the peace they sold did not come cheap. and if that wasn't enough, they had leaned upon nehan's strengths to develop a drug to get these people addicted to, to force even more rupies from their wallets into the magasin's coffers.

he had single-handedly done enough of his fair share to destroy communities like these. he wouldn't argue that he had done it against his will — anything had felt justified, in order to maintain his position as pharmaceutical chief.

but he was released of those shackles in this world. of the magasin, of their demands, of his deed of slavery. he is no heroic do-gooder like those crews of skyfarers. does he even now feel any impetus to help save people? he isn't sure, but... at the very least, he is angry enough with these thugs after the failed mugging to do something about them. )

Impatient? No.

( that silent smile again, one that doesn't touch his eyes or his tone of voice. the reflection of a personal joke: in certain ways, he had all the patience in the world. )

Like I said before: limited resources. ( he places a hand on the grip of his handgun. ) At a certain point, my usefulness will become to its end.

( he could fight hand-to-hand, but he wouldn't hold a candle to any assassin of karm without taking trancensia, and that, he had in limited supply as well. )

... you may think that, but being useful is rather easy here. Even in the most dangerous of situations.

( even the most incompetent fighter, the least skilled technician, or the dullest magician could have some kind of use. moonlacing: to provide energy to those who draw upon it, that also somehow will revitalize this world... whether leaks honestly cares about the latter, the former is what is most important. it always will be. whether he uses it selfishly or not has changed the past few months, where there are somehow a few individuals who would be very fortunate to have a merciful leaks behind them. or on top of them. or other places.

how ironic that leaks would have some knowledge on crime families, thanks to his experiences in yoshiwara... though frankly he also didn't particularly care for the life he had there, save for the very memorable moments of claws and fangs.

and nehan should find comparable company in leaks. there is no desire to directly do good. the cat simply needs an outlet for destructive impulses, lest he give into the ones that may bring him too many complications. )

Though I suppose there are varying kinds of dangers here, depending...

( but he doesn't want to go into anything terribly personal. a shake of his head, and leaks' focus is now on the path ahead: dark, unforgiving, full of future victims or perhaps more thoughts that stay unsaid. )

... I trust you are prepared.

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▶ TDM .013

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