TDM: JUNE 2023

[citycenter]

TEST DRIVE MEME

A TRAIN COMES INTO THE STATION. You wake up on a train. Your phone is buzzing. It's in your pocket, in your hand, on the seat next to you. It's a normal phone, and you're on a normal train car. One of the lights flickers, a little further down. The world is very quiet. It feels like you're right where you're meant to be. On the phone's surface is a white screen and the words— WELCOME TO THE CITY. BEGIN ORIENTATION? ▶ YES ▶ NO Please take a moment to complete your orientation. Once you're finished, the subway doors slide open to let you out onto the train platform. To your right, the platform continues on and eventually ends; to the left is a set of stairs that will lead you up into the station itself. The platform is quiet, clean, empty–there's no one else around, and the only sounds you can hear are your own footsteps, your own breaths, and the occasional faraway sound of a creaking pipe or rush of air. The train you disembarked will stay there as long as you do, its doors still open, until you finally decide to venture up into this new locale. As you make your way up the stairs to your left, you find yourself in the belly of City Hall station. The station is large, a sprawling underground mini-metropolis of corridors and storefronts. Here, you may find others like you, freshly-arrived city residents from other realms (or even your own). There is also a subway map, which will give you an idea of the layout of the neighborhood, and ticketing machines, which can currently only be used to buy tickets to a handful of stations located on lines 1, 2, and 9. If you're hungry or in need of any kind of supplies, there are plenty of storefronts inside the subway station as well—snack stands, convenience stores, restaurants, clothing stores, a pharmacy, and a variety of empty shops that may or may not have ever been in use. Everything is unlocked, and you can take whatever you need. Characters may stay on the train platform indefinitely, and may re-board and re-disembark from the subway as many times as they like, but the train will not depart nor will the doors close. Once they go up the stairs into the train station, they may hear the train doors closing and the train departing. Another train will not arrive, no matter how long the character waits. Only once they come up the stairs into the station itself may characters encounter their fellow newly-arrived residents and take advantage of what the city has to offer. JUMP TO TOP ↑ | ↓ JUMP TO COMMENTS WELCOME TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD. The station is located in the city center. It has three major exits that lead to areas of interest in the district, but there are several other smaller exits that lead in other directions around the neighborhood. You are welcome to use any of them, but may find the north, southwest, and east exits to be the most welcoming. TO THE NORTH The northern entrance to the station leads up into the sunlight and puts you out in a brickwork plaza. There's a modest building in front of you, three or four stories of stone with a welcoming facade. There's a sign above the entryway–it says City Hall. You may be tempted to explore, if you're interested in learning more about the city and how it functions, but prepare to find yourself disappointed–the folders in the records rooms are full of empty, blank sheets of paper, and the logbooks and balance sheets are similarly devoid of information. Immediately to the west of City Hall, you will find a small building that houses the tourist information kiosk. The kiosk is not currently operational, but you may want to remember its location... TO THE SOUTHWEST The western exit of the station takes you up into a city park, lush and green with a very light fog still hanging about the trees. There are lampposts on the walkways and benches where you could rest, and plenty of flora, although you can neither see nor hear any signs of animal life. You walk the paths that meander idly through the verdant grass and you feel a sense of peace, some of your unease about this place easing into a pleasant calm. The air smells fresh, like it's recently rained, and you'll find the grass ever so slightly damp should you decide to take a seat. As you make your way deeper into the park, the trees grow denser and the smell of soil and plant life grows stronger. This is the older part of the park, very nearly a forest, with ivy climbing the trunks of the trees and plants and shrubs growing riotously around their bases. As you turn a corner, you find yourself first in the statue garden, although the statues are harder to see now, choked as they are with ivy. There are many statues, some partially obscured, some fully–very few of them still stand free of the vines and clinging roots. (It doesn't feel quite as peaceful here.) If a statue's face looks a little bit familiar, you may not want to look at it too long. Continue down the path and you will find yourself in a graveyard, one that seems centuries old. Most of the headstones are worn away by time and covered in moss, rendering them impossible to read. The few that are free of moss are blank, or bear only suggestions of names too faint to be understood. (Was that the name of–no, it couldn't have been. Could it?) Many of the headstones stand at an angle or are toppled over completely, having been subjected to either strong winds or the roots of the trees that grow up from some of the graves, spreading branches toward the sky. TO THE EAST The final exit of the station, to the east, puts you out on a quiet surface street. Are you hungry? Or are you paralyzed by choice? There are plenty of restaurants, offering options of almost any food you can imagine. You could try a convenience store–it's well stocked, and the items there seem free for the taking. How about a restaurant? There's no one to take your order, but when you look in the kitchen, there's something on the stove, and it's just what you've been craving. Imagine that. A few blocks down, you come in through the lobby of a tall building and find yourself in a corporate office. The fluorescent lights are steady and unforgiving, and the cubicles and offices are empty. There are a few pieces of paper on desks, a few folders left in organizers, but everything is perfectly blank. Despite how empty and quiet the office is, it nonetheless gives you the feeling that just a few minutes ago, this place was bustling with workers going about their daily business. You enter another building and find yourself in the lobby of an apartment complex–finally, a place to rest. The first door you try opens easily into a completely empty living room, freshly vacuumed but without a single piece of furniture. It's a nice apartment, quiet, but with a little too much echo for your taste, maybe. Still, and perhaps oddly, you have no trouble envisioning what life here would be like. The second door you open leads to an apartment that feels lived-in. Why does it feel lived-in? It's fully furnished with items that seem to go together perfectly, true, but the feeling is more than that–the room feels like someone was just here, maybe standing right in the kitchen only moments before you swung the door open. The air is a perfectly comfortable temperature, and it somehow smells like home despite that you've never once set foot here before. The refrigerator is stocked, and the cabinets are full of spices and flatware and kitchen utensils. As you look around the living room, you find that there are pictures in frames on the walls and some of the flat surfaces–a seascape, a field, a shot of a city park bench. In each of the photos there's something just slightly wrong with the angle, as though the photographer were aiming for a subject that can no longer be seen. Characters are welcome to explore the district around the City Hall subway station to their heart's content. The City Hall building itself contains several floors of offices and file rooms, but none of them contain any particularly interesting information. Nonetheless, characters may wish to team up with other newcomers and try to find some hints about the nature of the city. They can also spend a while in the park, the statue garden, or the graveyard. In the blocks surrounding the station there are plenty of options for food and housing, as well as office buildings, storefronts, and alleyways to look around. There are no workers in any of the buildings, and there does not seem to be an honor system for payment, nor any consequences for taking food from the stores or setting up camp in an apartment or office building. JUMP TO TOP ↑ | ↓ JUMP TO COMMENTS A WASH, ANYONE? The coin laundromat is tucked into the first floor of one of the tall apartment buildings. Soap is complimentary, and while the machines say that they cost a quarter per load, in reality they are fully operational without any money being exchanged at all. If you have any clothes that need a wash, perhaps items that have been dirtied by your explorations (or your travels before arriving in the city), you may want to take this opportunity to wash them for free. From the soap dispenser, you can retrieve packets of detergent in different strengths. There's plenty of stock of for mild to moderate grime and for heavy-duty stains, but there are also a handful of packets with slightly less obvious purposes. For things remembered, says one. For unhappy accidents, says another. Feel free to use whichever seems most suited to your needs. When your laundry cycle has ended, the buzzer sounds and the door pops open so the clothing can be retrieved. You grab a laundry basket and reach in to start pulling fabric out of the machine by the handful. But wait a second–the more clothing you retrieve, the less familiar the items seem, and by the time you've retrieved the last bundled sock from the depths of the dryer you're absolutely positive: These clothes don't belong to you. You're sure that you put your own clothing into the machine, but these are someone else's clothes entirely. Did someone sneak in while you weren't paying attention and swap out your laundry? Or did you accidentally open up the wrong dryer to retrieve the wrong load? Maybe you'd better look around at whoever else is in the laundromat with you and have a go at trying to find the owner of these clothes. Whether the characters have had their clothing swapped or simply opened the wrong machine to grab someone else's laundry is up to the player's imagination, but one thing's for sure: you have someone else's clothes in your basket. Maybe these are clothes that belong to another character in the laundromat, or maybe they're garments that belong to someone that character knew back home. Players are encouraged to mess around with the premise and use it to get to know other characters! JUMP TO TOP ↑ | ↓ JUMP TO COMMENTS COME ONE, COME ALL... Have you ever noticed that flickering sign hanging in the window of that little building around the corner from the parking lot? The one that says PSYCHIC READINGS in bold neon lettering? You step inside the shop and immediately smell a powerful combination of aromas: herbs, candles, incense, something spicy and warm underneath. It's a small space, cluttered with objects. A crystal ball covered in velvet sits in the center of a table, and there are tarot card sets and drawers full of dried herbs and flowers. On the shelves are various remedies with labels printed so neatly it's impossible to tell whether they're typed or handwritten. Headaches, or hemophilia, and also irascibility and fits of sighing. There are also jars full of less easily-identifiable contents, but a close examination may show you frog legs, fish eyes, rat tails. For some reason, it feels like sticking your hand in one of these jars might not be the best idea. Toward the back of the shop is a glass case that holds the bust of a woman. As you approach, your movement triggers a light inside the case to illuminate the woman's face–or where her face would be, if she had one. The normal human features of her face are smoothed out until they barely resemble a face at all, with slightly hollowed divots for eyes and a faintly raised bump for a nose. The closer you get, though, the more strongly you feel that despite the absence of eyes, the woman is indeed watching you. The lettering at the top of the case states FORTUNE TELLER, and a sign affixed to the front of the glass says, Ask for anything, but be careful what you wish for. You form a question in your mind, then ask your question out loud. The woman shifts, straightening up, and you hear the faint whirring of clockwork and pneumatics moving inside her. She gathers her hands in front of her, cupping them like she's holding water, and strange light emanates from her palms, casting harsh illumination on the blank space where her face should be. Although she has no mouth with which to speak, you nonetheless hear a vaguely female voice intone, "Your fate has been read." A paper slip emerges from a slot in the front of the case, your freshly-printed fortune, the ink barely dry. Although the crystal ball will not actually show the future, characters with any kind of herbal knowledge may clock that the herbs and remedies in the drawers and shelves of the shop are legitimate. Characters can ask anything they want of the fortune teller, or make as many wishes as they like. They'll get as many fortune slips as correspond to the number of questions they ask. Players are encouraged to come up with whatever vaguely-accurate fortunes you think work for your character, but if you're low on ideas, you can always try an online Magic 8 Ball or fortune cookie generator. JUMP TO TOP ↑ | ↓ JUMP TO COMMENTS WILDCARD. The city is by no means small, and there are plenty of things for you to see. There's no rush in exploring, so feel free to take your time looking around and peering into various nooks and crannies and alleyways—and don't worry, you're not very likely to find anything peering back. If none of the above prompts appeal, feel free to check out the Locations and Maps pages and write your own freestyle prompt using one or many of the available locations. JUMP TO TOP ↑

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dimitri alexandre blaiddyd | fe3h

[stubboarn]

CITY CENTRE - ANYWHERE

Would you like to explore together?

[ dimitri will approach anyone who looks vaguely as confused or as intimidated by the surroundings as he is. he has obtained, from the station, a water bottle and some snacks, which he eats as he walks around. ]

I don't know if you've eaten, but feel free to share this with me. [ he smiles politely. ] My name is Dimitri.

[ no last names. this place doesn't look like it bothers with last names, anyway. ]

ooc; you can pick a location in the city and i'll roll with it.


FORTUNE TELLER

[ he doesn't really have much faith in it. it seems, more than anything else, like the kind of toy a really skilled artist would use in order to spook children with, or to tell stories with in a play or an opera.

still, it could be worth trying. so dimitri asks a relatively benign question, and when the fortune teller gives him an answer, he reads, it's best to be left alone. ]

Well, I don't quite agree with that at all.

[ if you're close by, dimitri will turn to you - ] What did you get?


WILDCARD.

ooc; hit me up with anything, i'm easy. dimitri's canonpoint is the tower of winds.

fortune teller

[marmoron]

[ the city is bizarre and this store is especially so. keith's never been inside what he presumes is some new age-y apothecary thing, he's not liking the experience. he turns away from giving a jar of pickled newts the stinkeye when asked the question. ]

From that thing? [ gesturing towards the faceless ... animatronic (???) ] I'm not getting anything. What'd it give you?

[stubboarn]

- This one.

[ he unfurls the slip of paper from his earlier attempt. the message is quite legible, but also, it's the only thing on the slip of paper that he has. ]

I was curious to see if all of the fortunes being given are more or less the same.

[marmoron]

[ frowning as he reads that slip of paper. ]

Seems harmless enough.

[ he turns further away from the shelf of weird jarred things to fully turn his attention towards dimitri and the creepy lady. ]

And I guess that seems reasonable to figure out.

[ Though judging from the continued stinkeye keith is throwing at the animatronic, he hasn't warmed up too it in the slightest. ]

Okay, so. [ gibing his question 0.02 seconds of thought: ] Where's the wormhole to get out of this place?

[ cue the vaguely disconcerting lightshow and movement and voila: a fortune. ]

The love of your life is stepping into your path this -- great.

[stubboarn]

A wormhole?

[ never heard of the term. interesting.

he peers over his fortune and then smiles. ] ... well, that settles it. You were brought here in order to settle down and get married, like any proper man of your age. Congratulations.

[ he's kidding. dimitri looks at the lady thoughtfully, and then adds, ] Then again, I suppose it would be too easy if she just does everything we'd asked for.

[marmoron]

[ dimitri's curiosity will have to be put on hold because: ]

Dude. I'm eighteen. [ which clearly explains everything. ] I'm not getting married and according to your fortune, neither are you.

[ disgruntled, keith crumples up his wad of paper and folds his arms across his chest. ]

SO why do you think we're actually here?

city centre

[unalign]

[ lumine's just emerged from the station as well, carrying an armful of snacks and drinks as she peers down at the map of the subway she's managed to copy. she'll have to apologize to the aranara for using the journal they've given her to draw an unrelated map when she sees them again—if she sees them again. in any case, it gives her an idea (somewhat) where to go to.

at the question, she manages a faint smile to return the gesture, gaze flickering at the snack he's also eating before shaking her head. ]

I'm Lumine. Nice to meet you.

[ she peers down again on her map. ]

Have you been to the City Hall already? It seems like it's nearby and a good place to start ...

[stubboarn]

[ dimitri smiles at her greeting, and looks at her map thoughtfully as she mentions the city hall. ]

I haven't. I have very little hope for its usefulness if it's just as quiet as the station was.

But we can certainly pay it a visit. There might be something useful in there. Or at the very least, something interesting. [ dimitri pauses to finish off his snack, throwing it out to the garbage, and then adds, ] Anyway, it's not like I'm busy with anything.

[unalign]

[ she's honestly not holding her breath either. cities and hubs like this place often are full of people going about their day, and it's eerily strange that there's no single living being existing in this space aside from them. not even the store had anyone manning the register, the goods free for everyone to take.

which she, well, took. nodding slightly: ]

Mm, city halls often have information about the city itself.

[ if not about the residents themselves, then just certain spots or areas in general. but how much information they'd get is another question entirely.

in any case, she gestures at him and starts walking towards its direction on the map. ]

It's strange how it's just us here ...

[stubboarn]

Often. But it would be better if someone were to provide direction.

[ which he hasn't seen anyone do that since his arrival, so he doubts the city hall would have anyone either. though he does note what lumine says about the city and nods at her words. it is strange. ]

... if some person were left to their own devices to conceive of a city, I imagine this is how it would be structured. It feels like the skeleton of a city, waiting for something to fill it from within.

Perhaps that's our business here, though I'm only guessing.

[ dimitri stares at one of the taller glass buildings, reaching up to the sky. ] Not exactly how I would imagine a city. It feels too cold and impersonal.

[unalign]

[ perhaps she's so used to traveling by herself that having no one to give her directions for once is very freeing. not that she holds it against paimon as the little fairy has been a good companion and guide for the most part, but being able to explore feels different.

though maybe not in a place like this where nothing makes sense. like this city. ]

Fill it with what, though ...

[ because there are somethings in this place. the only missing assets are people. are they supposed to live here? ]

The emptiness reminds me of the ruins I've been to before. At least those give you a story of what happened everywhere you look. This place ... doesn't.

fortune teller

[willtheunwise]

[ Will is inspecting a shelf of jars when the other man speaks, his own fortune crumpled in his pocket. Friends don’t lie. Stupid machine. ]

Oh, just something my friends used to say when we were little kids.

[ Which is really creepy, because how did it know?

Will rubs the back of his neck and turns fully ]

How about you?

[stubboarn]

But you haven't been here before, surely?

[ dimitri frowns, and then adds, ] If nobody is in a position to leave from here anytime soon, then you have all the time in the world to figure out why you are reminded of such a thing now.

[ of all times.

dimitri unfurls his paper and shows him. it's best to be left alone. ]

Not as unnerving.

[willtheunwise]

Not as far as I know. [ Will has been out of his own world, sure, but never anywhere like this as far as he knows ]

I don’t know if it even means anything, maybe there’s someone here who can read minds or maybe something to do with this thing… [ Will pulls the strange device out of his pocket, the one that’s like a computer in miniature and regards it with suspicion ] It did ask a load of questions…

Maybe they’re just all kinda rude.

[stubboarn]

I imagine anyone who's brought into this situation would feel a bit less polite given the stress they're under ... or the distrust they feel with the amount of strangers in this place, whether it's warranted or not.

[ dimitri tilts his head in thought, staring at the distance as he watches the strange animatronic, the other unfamiliar signs. ]

Anyway, until proven otherwise regarding these slips of paper - they're just that. If it was vague enough to be close to the mark ... then it's done its task, I think. I'm sure we're not the only ones who've received something strange.

[willtheunwise]

[ Well he’s got that right. Will doesn’t trust anything here yet, or anyone for that matter. He’s half expecting it all to be some elaborate way to screw with him ]

Probably not, if it is just here to shake us up then I guess it worked but it’s not going to stop me trying to work out what’s going on and how to get home.

city centre

[festal]

(If he's looking for someone confused or intimidated, he doesn't have to look any further. Sakura jumps when he approaches her and doesn't seem to relax even after he establishes himself as someone pleasant and friendly.

She seems completely on edge and regards him nervously for a moment before... taking a deep breath and exhaling. Closing her eyes, she counts to herself and tries to calm her nerves,)

Uhm.... (And though this place may not are about names or titles, she can't help but offer him a quick and polite bow in greeting,) Sakura.

(Rising,)

S-sorry... I guess I'm just... a little overwhelmed right now b-but if it isn't too much trouble... (He did offer his company? So it should be fine?) I would appreciate some company...

(No comment on the snacks. She feels like enough of a burden already.)

[stubboarn]

[ dimitri smiles, and says gently, ] No need to be so formal, Sakura. Such things matter little here, and I am not important enough for the amount of due respect you give me. Your pleasant manner is greeting enough. Treat me as you would a friend.

[ he hopes that that puts her at ease, somewhat. ]

It is no trouble at all. Would you like to walk with me? Or to rest elsewhere? [ he digs through his pocket, and offers her a small can of juice. ] You can have this, if you'd like.

[ dimitri can't taste, so unfortunately for sakura, he offers her a can of tomato-veggie juice. ]

[festal]

(Maybe after she's calmed down some, when this is all over and she's had da moment to collect her thoughts and reflect on this encounter, she might reflect on Dimitri's manner of speech and what he means by formality meaning little here. She might be able to piece together some small crumb of suspicion... but for now, her thoughts are whirlwind.)

But th-this is how I... (Treat her friends. Gods knows Hana has begged her to drop the formality but she can't break her habits.) I mean, I'll try...

(It's what she'd promised Hana.

She accepts the can and holds it in her hands. Contemplating her options for a moment before answering,)

A walk would be nice. (She sounds uncertain like she isn't sure if she's making the right decision but she'll try to explain her reasoning--) I know i-f you're lost, it's easier to be found if you stay in one place but... my brothers and sister always tell me i-it's important to make sure you're safe first.

(Waiting in a dangerous place is asking for harm. Make sure you're safe, if not, find a safe place, and if you must wait... then be proactive. Being idle helps no one.)

[stubboarn]

I can keep you safe, if it comes down to it.

[ it's said in confidence, dimitri never second-guessing his strength. ]

But so far, I haven't seen any signs that this place could be dangerous. It's ... rather empty, really. The likelihood of getting more lost is more likely to happen than anything else.

[ for a minute, he observes a city map which doesn't quite ... tell him everything that he needs, considering it's not really a place he recognizes to begin with. but he takes note of some nearby landmarks, and says, ] If we go down this street, we should end up in a park. Would you like to try that?

fortune teller

[laidtocrest]

[It absolutely does look like horseshit, but also it looks like interesting horseshit, and the sort of distraction that he needs after...well. Everything. And he knows Dimitri, so, honestly, Sylvain figures that things could be worse. He's in over his head, but he's got someone he can fake it until he makes it for.

Anyway. Dimitri asks a good question, and Sylvain somberly declares his fortune.]

Never give up. You're not a failure if you don't give up.

[Yeah.]

Not sure how I feel about that, Highness, but I guess I can take it as a sign all of those slaps in the face mean something in the long run, huh?

[stubboarn]

- Sylvain.

[ well. at least he's not alone, but also: why sylvain? but also: why just sylvain? the goddess has a very funny way of dealing with things.

only sylvain can take him out of his thoughtful reveries and into a more exasperated state, because that comment brings out the prince out of him. ]

... perhaps if I was added to the list you'd come to your senses.

[ kidding! anyway, he pockets his own fortune. ] It's not the wrong sentiment, however. In certain areas of life a degree of perseverance is required, and encouraged.

[laidtocrest]

[It's probably a sign of something that joke/"joke" gets him to laugh.]

Hopefully that perseverance doesn't include you wanting to slap my head off of my body, Your Highness.

[And Sylvain...gives Dimitri his fortune to also pocket because they can be friends in Dimitri's pocket, it feels right, somehow. Moving on.]

You know, being in here makes me feel like any second Seteth's gonna show up out of nowhere and drag us both off to remedial choir classes. Is it just me? It can't just be me.

[stubboarn]

One shouldn't underestimate the amount of freedom we have been given, despite everything else. [ dimitri says, amused. ] Although we really do need to figure out a way to get back.

[ he frowns when he's given the fortune, and he looks at sylvain in confusion: ]

Shouldn't you keep it? It's your fortune, after all.

[laidtocrest]

You got better pockets, Your Highness.

[Sylvain says this with utter sincerity, like this is something he truly believes instead of just some wyvernshit he pulled out of his ass. And he says this with conviction, like discussions about pockets are far more important than things like where are they, what are they doing, what's going on, is there anyone else they know here, etc al.]

This isn't your way of saying you're gonna run out the back and abandon me, taking my fortune with you, are you?