prismaticrap | ▶ TDM .016

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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.

▶ How to Train Your Dragon 2: Electric Boogaloo
City of Lunatia and Kingdom of Lyestellus | top

As the weather grows warmer and the skies around Lunatia clear up, the toxic fog that once clogged up the airways is dissipating. This is great news: air travel has now become easier, safer, and more enjoyable. The recent increase of renewed flora and fauna must have led to these new developments.

While a clean atmosphere benefits Prismals and Moonblessed, it invites dangerous predators to lurk closer to the border. Fortunately, friendlier creatures also start to flock to the city, including familiar faces from the Lyestellus Kingdom. Indeed, the baby dragons once raised and nurtured by the Moonblessed have grown into the mighty, noble scaleborn they are.

The dragons’ giant shadows blanket the metropolis as they fly overhead for a friendly visit. One of them carries their sovereign, King Shiryn Lyei Drastellus XIII. In light of the Nothing’s recovery and the Inari Highway’s success, the king says that Lyestellus is inspired to further deepen their relationship with Lunatia. He announces that the kingdom has developed a construction plan for a skyway connecting Lunatia and the mountains of Drasomnis.

The Moonblessed are welcome to join their efforts. Lunatia and Lyestellus will be sponsoring a labor exchange program to ensure that everyone is well-rewarded and kept safe on their way to Lyestellus. The dragons will be flying and protecting Lunatian locals and any volunteering Moonblessed alike. But as there are only so many dragons, everyone is expected to share seats.

Several of the dragons are known to be excitable. As they’re looking forward to inviting the Moonblessed back to the kingdom, some overly eager dragons may snatch even the most reluctant person in their jaws to carry the whole way. And when we say excitable, they might destroy a wall of your humble abode to reach you as they are particularly good at sniffing out anything hidden. But how long can you resist their puppy eyes and wagging tails?

B In Lyestellus, one of the available jobs is to wrangle and care for small chicken-sized dragonlets that seem to be especially attracted to Sanguis Moonblessed. Their parents are away because of the skyway construction plan, so someone has to babysit them. These wily dragonlets love to run around in their coops, leaving rainbow-colored droppings everywhere, pulling at your hair or clothes, and cutely singing to try and coerce the Moonblessed into spoiling them rotten or helping them get away with mischievous behavior.

They are also attracted to Chroma and will be attaching themselves to Moonblessed. If they are too excited, they might bite onto their arms, mouth, neck, legs, nipples, and just about anywhere they can reach to drink their Chroma-infused blood. If you experience excess blood loss, you can recover it easily with moonlacing, but it’s best to avoid getting cornered and overpowered by too many dragonlets.

▶ Rise and Wine, It’s Wine o'Clock
Kingdom of Lyestellus | top

Several job openings are now available at Lyestellus’ wine distilleries. The kingdom is famous for its Dragonfang Wine, a luxurious drink pressed from the fragrant wildflowers and aged in barrels of wood found only on the mountaintops of Drasomnis. The wine itself is a vibrant violet with a rich scent the locals describe as heavenly. It is traditionally served during special occasions. With the skyway construction plan in motion, they will be needing to speed up production in time for upcoming celebrations.

C One of the job openings is for flower pickers. This line of work is not for the fainthearted. As they climb up the Drasomnis mountains to pick flowers, they need to watch out for wild wyvern attacks. Their majestic wings are powerful enough to blow a person off the mountain tops and they are proficient in wind magic. Try to avoid fighting near flower fields, as their gigantic feet may end up crushing the poor flowers.

Another available task is to participate in wine tasting to ensure the quality is consistent in each barrel (spit buckets will be provided to each person) as well as to create a menu benefitting to serve for the celebrations. The goal of the menu is to bring out the best flavors of the Dragonfang Wine. For inspiration, the locals will be providing large platters of cheese and draconic mood music.

Be careful not to drink too much: the violet-shaded wine’s delectable taste could lead to overconsumption. Those who get drunk may display flirtatious “peacocking” behavior towards other Moonblessed. Watch out for the cheesiest of pick-up lines!

▶ Slime Beneath Me, Slime Up Above, Ooh, You Love My Toxic Love
Kingdom of Lyestellus | top

Like their previous visit, the Moonblessed will be allowed to stay in bubble-shaped dwellings surrounding a breathtaking mountain springs known to have mysterious effects during the evenings.

Bathing in the springs during the day provides great relief, especially to any hardworking person. It has restorative properties that accelerate healing and the relaxing experience paired with gorgeous views can reduce stress and anxiety. The Lyestellus locals consider it as one of their treasures and will encourage all their guests to bathe in them at least once.

D Unfortunately, the largest hot spring in the center known as the Eye of Basti has turned disturbingly discolored for reasons unknown to the locals. It was reported that anyone who comes too close to the water will be swallowed inside. For public safety, they’ve closed the center area of the springs but there is a job listing that will grant access to it.

Those who investigate will notice that the discolored red waters have a strange, thick slime-like consistency. Standing too close will cause the waters to rise and form blood-like tendrils that will indiscriminately grab at anyone within the vicinity. They will repeatedly attempt to drag people into their watery depths. If they fail to pull their target into the water, then a curse will be cast on them. Cursed targets will be turned into translucent slimes which will mindlessly crawl onto any potential source of Chroma to suck their Chroma dry. This includes another Moonblessed, local Prismals, the nearest lamp post, or somebody’s car.

Nothing you try seems to affect the bloody tendrils. But fight long enough in the waters, the natural Chroma of the Moonblessed will gradually purity and restore it to its former beauty. Those who were swallowed, including lost locals, will be able to resurface safely and those who turned into slimes will transform back to their original forms.

▶ 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.

HOT SPRINGS ▶ As stated, only the Eye of Basti spring is badly affected. All other hot springs are completely safe.

TRANSLUCENT SLIMES ▶ Color, size, and appearance are all up to player discretion. Yes, you may choose to have only certain body parts to be slimed.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Usopp places his personal bets. This extremely intimidating stranger will not want to have a splash fight like children. In fact, he may be fresh out of losing one, from the looks of things.

Or in any case, Usopp is enough of a coward not to want to test those proverbial or literal waters. ]

'Limited peace'? [ A concept incredibly familiar to him. How disappointing. ] I knew this place was gonna turn out to be worse than it already is, but that doesn't mean I like hearing it, either.

[ Which actually helps refresh for him the fact that this man is in a state. ]

Ah... are you alright, though? You look pretty rough for a guy in a hot spring.

[ Notoriously places of peace and relaxation. ]

The other pool was less... hospitable.

[ Well, unless you enjoy tentacles he supposes. Wrathion is quite tired of them himself. He takes off his boots, which squelch, and begins unlacing his now pinkish shirt.

We're not talking about it, Usopp. Okay? Agreed? Good. Agreed. It's absolutely fine. This pool is nicer. Don't go to the other pool. ]

Yeah, no kidding! I spent two years on an island that was constantly trying to eat me and I still wouldn't touch that job listing with a ten foot pole!

[ He doesn't do the tall tales thing as much as he used to. It's a low bar to clear with how often he did, sure, but he definitely does that a lot less.

This is still way more on the honest side than his instincts tend to skew. Usopp isn't thinking much of it.

Good for this guy escaping, though, he thinks. He must be pretty tough or pretty fast. ]

Man, definitely take a load off for a while. This is the last place anyone should have to get that stressed out by something.

[ Employees: ah yeah it tries to drag people in with tentacles--

Usopp: oh I thought it was stressful enough that it was a weird color, but OK that's even worse ]

Hmmmm.

[ Wrathion drops his once white shirt to the ground with a sigh, begins trying to finger-comb his slime-coated hair.

Foul, honestly. He can feel his pendant sticking to his chest. This is all... so unpleasant. ]

The magic of this place is stronger than I anticipated, as are its... limitations.

[ The exchange and use of chroma. Wrathion had not realised how much it would impact him. It appears the answer is 'just the same as anyway else'. Being a dragon doesn't make you immune, who'd have thought. He turns glowing red eyes on Usopp, lofts an eyebrow. ]

It appears there is much still to learn.

[ Spoken with the true confidence of someone who has been here all of five minutes and only just accepted that. ]

[ Note to Usopp, from Usopp: magic is real. He sails with a captain who ate a fruit that turned his body into rubber, but that's obviously different.

The overall sentiment pulls a broad, genuine grin out of him.

There's something to be extremely worried about every day. It's a job that Usopp boldly cannot stop performing even if he'd like to. But it's kinda nice to take a couple of minutes in a nice hot spring and talk to someone, and not feel like death is set to rain down from above at any moment. Or, well, he's hoping it won't. ]

Don't worry. You get used to feeling that way about weird places. They've got a way of showing you what they're made of even if you don't go looking! [ Even though that fact of life never reassures him personally, maybe there are people that would find it reassuring. ] Talk about a real pain to deal with.

[ Not yet! There's always time for that unexpected rain of death, though! ]

I admit, while I have travelled extensively before I have never found a region as... unusual as this.

[ Being so magically restrained without an active spell is... new. The idea of this being a constant thing has Wrathion somewhat concerned. He'll need to find a way around it, and quickly.

For now, he begins shucking off his wet, slimey socks and pants. ]

Have you encountered places like this before, then?

[ Tell him of your travels, new friend, while he busies himself stripping the rest of the way. This slime gets an 0/10. ]

Edited (i used the word 'places' twice and don't like it) 2020-06-15 16:23 (UTC)

[ That's fair. The sooner he's de-slimed, the better for his aesthetic, probably. ]

Nothing exactly like this one. We've been to a lot of islands, and they all have their own things going on... ah, but after we're there for a while, it usually turns out there's something really messed-up going on, and my crew ends up right in the middle of it.

[ Well, Luffy does and they follow him, at least. If something didn't happen to a new friend that makes them inclined to get involved. Usopp's more than used to that much by now. ]

It makes it hard to be a coward sometimes!

[ And that's how you really know there's truth magic properties to the hot spring. ]

[ How admirably straightforward.

He carries on, brow furrowed in thought as he drops slimy fabric to the floor. ]

I've known many people with an equally curious aptitude for finding trouble.

[ Adventurers are like that. Or is it simply that the Horde and Alliance find it, and then drag the Adventurers with them? ]

You must be skilled to survive all these challenges.

[ Are you, Usopp? If so... what's your daily quest rate? He may require some samples of local strange phenomenon. You sound like just the person to harvest them! ]

It's pretty flattering to hear someone thinks that! It took a lot of work to get where I am! [ He does, definitively, gain 100 watts of good energy from that alone. There's a full on laugh and everything. Usopp, the easy-to-flatter. Usopp, the validation cactus. Usopp, a man so used to attempting to shove down his low self esteem that "you must be skilled" should be a spark to a powder keg of bragging rights. One time he got hit with a 4-ton bat. His wanted poster calls him God Usopp. That's the ultimate brag.

It's throwing him off a little that he doesn't feel like running away with this one. Is he dying? Is this feeling comfortable and secure around another person? ]

Sometimes things are a lot more about luck or having someone help me out. Everyone else on the crew is on a completely different level! But I like to think it says something that I haven't gotten killed yet. [ Even if it doesn't, at least he knows Luffy and the others want him around. That says even more. ]

-- oh, did you want a washcloth or something?

[ Wrathion is always entirely assured of himself, and thus has absolutely no idea what this concept of 'low self esteem' is. Can you eat it?

A washcloth sounds useful, though. ]

I suppose that would be wise.

[ Get the slime off properly. He drops off the last of his clothing and stands considering his now naked, slime covered human form. Hmmm. Is this slime corrosive in some way, does it stain? He wonders what it will do to the fabric of his clothes long term. He'll need to wash it and then dry it. What an absolute disaster.

Still! That problem is for future Wrathion, current Wrathion just wants his skin to feel clean. He paces over to the pool and gives it a last, hesitant glance. No tendrils appear to grab his ankles: a good start. Satisfied that Usopp isn't about to perform some double-cross he lowers himself into the water, ducks his head under and then surfaces and shakes his wet hair a little. The water weighs down the waves in his hair, rendering them flat black streaks over his tan skin.

His bright red eyes study Usopp curiously, considering. ]

What manner of work does this crew do?

[ He's trying to nail it down: airship crew? Regular ship crew? Crew in some slang variation? ]

[ And then Usopp finishes fishing out....... a knife, no wait, false alarm. It's just a washcloth. He chucks it over in Wrathion's direction, where it can sit on top of the water for 2 whole seconds before it's too wet to survive that life anymore.

This is nice, okay. Hot springs are relaxing, but sitting in one all alone kind of sucks after a while. Someone willing to hang out and talk is the best case scenario, and when no murder attempt was made, the worst case scenario disappeared. ]

Oh, just pirate work. It covers a lot of different bases. [ He thinks it sounds very cool. This is one of those things in his life that he's honest about regardless of magical water. ] What about you, though? What's your story?

[ Wrathion considers this. ]

I suppose you could say we are both... unaffiliated. My primary concern has been the redemption of my family name.

[ A bad reputation can be so frustrating. Sometimes you just need to solve it with a little murder and... then attempt to not do anything bad for a few years so people trust you. Second part harder than the first. He lifts a hand to push wet strands of hair back from his face, frowns in thought. ]

It has been... difficult.

[ Hmm. He doesn't really wanna talk about this. Why is he talking about this? Time for a topic change! ]

That, and the protection of my home from the Old Gods.

[ Sometimes you just gotta fight gods. It happens. It's also apparently a more normal and safe conversation for him. ]

[ Oh man, this poor guy's family name. It occurs to Usopp he doesn't know any of this guy's names. He puts that not on the back burner, but slightly off to the side of the main burner, the better to ask here shortly. There's time. He'll get around to it. ]

Like god gods or just people who decided they were gonna call themselves gods? Not that I guess it makes a lot of difference either way when you have to worry about keeping safe from them.

[ The latter, he is familiar with. Sometimes a One Piece villain just be like that. The former, he hopes to remain unfamiliar with. Mortals are scary enough. ]

[ Hmmm. How to explain. ]

Those that we call Old Gods are... ancient entities who once ruled our world. They infect it like a sickness, try to corrupt and control it. The infection was thought too deep to remove entirely, so instead they were locked away -- chained deep within the very core of our land. This did not silence them entirely. One by one, have they whispered to people -- pleaded, made bargains, sought freedom so they might rise up and remake their Black Empire.

[ There, isn't this a pleasant spa-time story to be telling? ]

[ This trip to the spa came with lore.

Usopp's always been a sucker for a story. Legit historical stuff, sure, maybe that's always been more Robin's favorite area, but if it's got legs to stand on, it's got legs to stand on. What man is immune to that? ]

No way... corrupting a whole world? Even if it weren't coming from a guy with red eyes, that's super creepy! [ Smash cut to Usopp tearing back his own shower curtain armed with a toothbrush later because he somehow convinced himself an Old God was hiding behind it, tbh. ]

[ You can never tell with Old Gods. They're sneaky like that.

Wrathion retrieves the sinking washcloth, wrings it out and considers Usopp. ]

Do my eyes concern you?

[ He hadn't really thought about it, to be honest. Glowing eyes are normal enough where he's from. They make it obvious he isn't a normal human, but are they... creepy? ]

[ Well, now he has to give it due thought. ]

Right now? Not really. [ It's a chill zone. He's a polite guy who's only slimy physically. The initial danger of being in danger has passed by, a leaf on the wind. ] But if all you see is a pair of glowing eyes in a dark alley, of course that's something to be concerned about! I'm a regular human, something like that could be a really bad omen!

[ He slaps the water a couple of times as he talks, not unlike a man in a board meeting hitting the table, for emphasis. ]

[ Ahhh, yes. Glowing eyes perhaps are indeed unusual where this person is from. Wrathion smiles, idly amused. ]

And what might I call this regular human?

[ What's your name, hot springs pal? Since you've been so helpful. ]

[ Helpful and cool. The full hot springs pal package. ]

Oh, sorry. I'm Usopp! It was nice to meet you before introducing myself, but I guess it's nice to meet you officially, too.

[ What an interesting name. He nods, accepting this greeting. ]

You may call me Wrathion.

[ Magnanimous, look, he's not demanding he be referred to by his title! ]

I'm glad the company in these springs is more... pleasant.

[ Compared to that last whole debacle. He wrings out the cloth, begins idly rubbing it along the back of his neck, his shoulders and along his arms to make sure everything unpleasant is completely gone. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

▶ TDM .016

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