prismaticrap | ▶ TDM .015

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CW: Contains potential body horror in Prompt D.

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.

▶ My Anaconda Don’t-
Inari Highway, Amegahara | top

As promised by Lord Bairen, the leader of Amegahara, the route between the cities of Amegahara and Lunatia has been completed. The Inari Highway will improve both travel time and security, letting the Moon Knights deal with any potential threats in a more efficient manner. With the Oracles of the Sinless having cropped up a second time last month, the timing of its completion couldn’t have been more perfect.

Shortly after the Inari Highway’s opening, the Moonblessed are invited to come. Using the highway, attending Moonblessed can quickly and securely traverse the Nothing to personally witness the impact of their Chroma through their stay so far on Prismatica.

Upon entering the glass tunnels of Inari Highway, the glass first displays images of the Nothing before the Moonblessed’s arrival. It was entirely bereft of any life, and only gigantic monsters roamed the barren land. Then the images on the glass walls vanish to reveal the sudden miraculous growth of plant life, astonishing the entire planet.

Scientists at Amegahara have been hard at work testing the Nothing’s capacity to support life. They have determined that a constant and heavy flow of Chroma is required to maintain the baby ecosystem in the Nothing. Otherwise, the existing plant and animal life will die before reaching full growth. The Moonblessed are encouraged to support this endeavor.

B At the greenhouses across Inari Highway, you will find multiple rows of wildflower sprouts and small trees planted near solar panels. In order to help them grow quicker, veteran Moonblessed already know what to do. And if they don’t, Prismals have stitched together some floral “Get Along” t-shirts for this very purpose. These shirts can fit up to two people inside them, making moonlacing practically unavoidable. Everyone will be rewarded trying these out, as the shirts have a built-in feature that amplifies the release of Chroma.

Other activities that can be performed to aid the plants include measuring chemical quantities in the soil, trimming dying leaves and petals, pulling weeds, chasing away bugs, and watering the plants using the Anaconda 5000.

The Anaconda 5000 was created with the same state-of-the-art technology as everyone’s favorite Raging Hydra 5000. This thick and heavy talking snakehead device requires a little love and tenderness to get it started. It will not be shy in giving instructions. The user must vigorously caress its sides to make it spew water. The more firm and powerful the touch, the more water it will release everywhere. However, should you and your friends go overboard with your ministrations, the Anaconda 5000 will promptly explode and set off sprinklers, drenching everyone in the greenhouse, which is bad news for them unless they want a wet t-shirt party.

▶ Beez in the Trap
Amegahara and Lunatia | top

With all the new flowers blooming at the edge of the Nothing, pollen is in the air, attracting a rare type of insect known as the Viscosus Bee. Huge honeycombs will start appearing around both Amegahara and Lunatia, their size and numbers growing rapidly by the hour. The cities will be abuzz about these bees — literally!

A public advisory by the Lunar Scientiae appears: please exercise extreme caution when walking by open spaces, especially around parks, farms, gardens, and anywhere else that has flowers. Better check that nice bouquet of yours before giving it to someone. Chances are that you’ll meet the bees right in their trap!

C Lots of bees means lots of honey. Giant globules of the sticky stuff drip and fall on innocent bystanders, practically gluing them together. Unbeknownst to many, the Viscosus Bee is known for producing the stickiest kind of honey across the galaxy. It will take more than nail polish remover to pry yourselves off each other! Thankfully, there is a special type of lubricant that can help those who are trapped — one that local news stations will tell you repeatedly to stock up on. Local pleasure emporiums will be selling this “Slippery When Wet” brand of lubricant at an affordable price. What you lose in dignity purchasing it, you gain in helping yourself and maybe a new friend.

▶ Flower Power
Amegahara and Lunatia | top

As the weeks pass, you may notice some strange gradient discoloration on the tips of your fingers, and your veins (or wires) have gradually turned green. It’s certainly a peculiar affliction. Even stranger, a light touch like simply brushing against another’s shoulder will discolor parts of their body as well.

All becomes clear when three moons finally appear: everyone affected will not transform according to their usual Moonblessing. Instead, you find vines and leaves growing along your body. Flowers sprout from open cuts, between your lips, out of your eyes, through any available orifice on your body, or in place of certain limbs. You are not too different from a walking plant.

D Your emotions towards others will also cause certain flowers to spontaneously burst out of you as soon as you exchange words with them. What do these flowers mean? Well, if you ask the Amegaharans nicely, they may give you a few guides to let you know, or you can check your local library.

Otherwise, you will be left to try and guess on your own as your body slowly germinates itself in front of others. This effect will naturally wear off once the three moons disappear.

Scientists at Amegahara will later postulate that the phenomenon originated from some of the intense cross-breeding of the plants in their greenhouses, which had released unconventional spores that had attached themselves to the Moonblessed and spread about.

However, they will assure you it’s nothing to be alarmed about. Just another hiccup in the name of science! The effects will be completely gone soon.

▶ 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.

DO I HAVE TO PARTICIPATE? ▶ As always, all content is optional. You do not have to be affected by any of the prompts if you wish to opt out.

AMEGAHARA ▶ With the opening of Inari Highway, the city may now be permanently accessed. You may travel freely between Lunatia and Amegahara anytime. Refer to this announcement for more details.

FLOWER POWER ▶ As always, the severity of effect is up to you. You may choose to have minor effects and only have one flower grow on any desired body part.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ He normally doesn't have anything to do with the newcomer apartments, having long since relocated to a larger place; however, he does pass by it on his way to the park to draw. Rohan's noticed some people freshly arriving here, as happens periodically, which is the only reason he pauses and approaches (people watching, of course, curiosity, too - he wasn't going to be taken by surprise again if someone from home should appear). So, he'll take to the steps and start exploring to see if anyone familiar or interesting appears when the...disaster coming from Caesar's room catches his ears. It's not too shocking that someone is thrown by the technology. There were a lot of people like that.

But when he approaches the room and peeks inside, there's an entire new level of disaster that he wasn't expecting. Nope, not your problem, Rohan - he tells himself, and he picks up one leg and then sighs deeply.

Fine, two minutes. He'll take two minutes out of his drawing time for this. Two minutes isn't that much in the scheme of things.

He walks in, blows past Caesar without a single word, and moves his fingers over the panel with months experience and practice. ]

Maybe it will be better if you don't touch it.

[The appearance of someone new is enough to keep him from PVPing the wall panel and curbs his growing irritation at the entire situation.

He pictured pearly white gates, clouds, heaven-the stained glass murals on the chapel walls all over Italy would've made him believe as much.

And what he got instead was wifi, magic and color changing curtains. The whole ordeal is exhausting. He'll win against this rando technology eventually-he always wins, but maybe not touching it is the wisest course of action right now. It seems like this guy knows how to work it.]

Grazie. This isn't something I'm used to. How do I get it to-

[And he gestures towards the room. This is quickly reaching Joseph levels of chaos and he doesn't want to even remotely associate himself with that. He's better than this!!]

Just be a normal room with a bed and a desk and some light.

[ Rohan's not the most patient of guys, so he's not well suited to be a teacher. When he moves, he moves fast. It's just how he works, so slowing it down isn't his typical, but he does for a moment. Better do this now then asked fifty questions later. After all, he doesn't know the guy, so he's not sure that he deserves to have his furniture spinning in a frenzy of nonsense about his room.

So - Rohan shows where he moves his hand next, there's a panel that displays types of furniture. ]

Here. Only use this. It will allow you to select what type of furniture. If you hold down on the furniture, you can pick colors.

[ And then, rather flippantly -- ]

You don't even know how to read.

[ He pauses for only a moment. ]

No one is used to it.

[ Mostly. ]

[He deserves that.

He deserves that, so he doesn't open his mouth and let every snappy remark that's resting on the edge of his lips tumble out. Anger and irritation are blinding and he knows better-especially now. The decorating panel, and subsequently this guy, are far less important than the fight he had with an ultimate being, but it's that same anger that led him down this path.

So he bites his tongue, stares down at the guy is both helping and insulting him in tandem and-

At least he got a crash course on all this. It should be easy to pick up from here on.]

I'm not worried about the color or style. Something simple will do for now, but I'll keep that in mind. [There's a pause and-] Mamma mia-what a day this has been.

First day, then?

[ He can only assume. His first days in the city were a bit of a mess and an adventure, but he's been here so long now everything seems... normal about this place. It's easy to forget how weird and awkward everything about this place was. That starter apartment, the changes they could make with technology. There's still some oddities, though. There's something easy about the way he moves his hand over the panel, as if he's done this many times before, and he truly had experimented a lot. ]

Easy.

[ He moves through a menu for beds, picks the most straightforward one he can find, as well as a desk, some lighting, and a table. ]

Maybe you'll even get used to it here.

[ He's sure that some don't. ]

[He didn't expect the guy to see this decorating session through to the very end, but he finds himself grateful for the company and help regardless. It's one less stress to end the day on and he-]

I don't have much of a choice.

[Whether it's luck that pulled him here or some kind of divine punishment for a past he never truly paid his dues for, he's not sure yet. The guy's right though-he will get used to it because he has to. Because there isn't a choice and he's not going to let some rando alien town beat him.]

But maybe that's true for all of us.

[He watches the furniture come to life, all too happy to see a bed after the events of the day.]

How long have you been here? You seem very familiar with all of [And he gestures towards the apartment again-] this.

I suppose you do have a choice, if you don't mind being miserable.

[ Listen, Caesar could just as easily chose to not learn and figure out things, if he wanted to. Though Rohan doubted anyone would consciously make such a choice. After all, this place was pretty straightforward. Physical contact generates Chroma, Chroma and Demi-Chroma are used for nearly everything. He adjusted, even, and maybe didn't always mind.

He'd gotten used to a lot of things about this place. ]

Ten months, give or take a few days. Though how long I've been here says nothing about how long you'll be here. I've seen several people come and go - so your stay could be much shorter, or maybe longer, I suppose. I don't know if it's up to you.

[The explanation he received during his initial arrival explained the basics about this world and how it operates. Part of him had been so fixated on the technology that had pulled him back from the literal grave, that he didn't focus as much as he should have.

The point is-he's not sure how to feel about it. He had accepted the potential for death the moment he left the hotel in Saint Moritz, but it's another thing to have been brought back to life, only to have yet another potential time limit imposed on him.

He gives Rohan's explanation some thought and says nothing about it. Less than ten months, more, maybe never and he could be pulled back into whatever afterlife he narrowly avoided.]

Those scientists seemed unsure as well. Researching us won't be fruitless though-I'm sure they'll learn something in time.

[He waves a hand, striding over to the window-one that thankfully opens with ease. There's probably an automatic way to do it, but he doesn't really care. It's the simple things in life and one of those happens to be the cigarette in his pocket. One he quickly lights and takes a drag of, now that his apartment has slowly taken shape.

He feels a little better when he exhales that first bit of smoke.]

How do you occupy your time here? Generating chroma can't be everyone's sole purpose in this city.

Probably not. I don't think they care how long we stay, though.

[ It's not like he's noticed them following up with anyone - and there's been people here longer than himself. You'd think, after some time, they'd start partnering with residents. Research requires follow up, so Rohan's pretty convinced that the people here are such a convenient source of Chroma, that they don't bother correcting anything.

Not that he cares, anyway. He has no intention to leave at any point. He's settled - so to speak, and fairly happy. ]

I'm an artist by trade. I spend some time at the cat cafe - Beans! I know the owner.

[ Naturally, of course. ]

Other than that, just do what you'd normally do to kill time. Find a job, a new hobby, places you enjoy spending time. I'm sure you can figure that part out without instruction.

[ He hopes. ]

You don't even have to Moonlace all that much if you'd prefer not to.

[ He doesn't himself. ]

Edited (i swear i will learn to type one of these days) 2020-06-07 02:58 (UTC)

[A what cafe?

Those two words don't go together-he's about 99% sure of that. What do they sell there? Cats? Or beverages? He's mildly offended about it, but only because he can't discern what it is without prodding further. He feels incredibly out of place-even the cafes are odd.

But as he's about to ask for a bit more detail, the guy offers his advice and it sounds shockingly similar to everyday life back in Italy.

The life he would've lived when the Pillar men had stopped being threat, that is.]

I'll manage from here. Your tips have been invaluable.

[And he kind of sounds sincere?? Just a little bit. Getting firsthand experience about this place puts his mind at ease in the way the government's explanation hadn't.]

It shouldn't be difficult to acclimate-moonlacing and otherwise. I'll adapt.

[But that's a tomorrow problem for ole Caesar.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

▶ TDM .015

welcome to the jungle

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