Test Drive Meme | December-February 2016/17

[wearethecrystalmods]

TEST DRIVE MEME

Welcome to the Cosmographia Test Drive Meme! This is a place for you to test out any characters you've been considering for the game or just to splash around in the waters and see what's right for you. Give our infopages a glance over and use the prompts below as a jumping off point! Threads from prompt A and B can be made canon for the game so long as both parties agree to it! Prompts C and D, unfortunately, cannot, as they take their cues from events and Excursions already run in Cosmographia. In short - pick a character, write up a starter and have a blast!

PROMPT A - ARRIVAL

You don't remember getting in this hole but you definitely remember falling out of it. You go tumbling out into the heart of a cavernous temple. Sparkling Gems suspended in bubbles float lazily about the ceiling, just a little out of reach. There's a greenish glow cast over the room by the huge crystal looming before you in the center. It's... curiously heart shaped, now you think to take a closer look at it. If you're curious enough to touch it, you'll get some basic answers about your situation... but then again, there's no guarantee you're just going to walk up to a giant weird thing in the middle of a giant weird room and touch it, right? Why not take a look around and see for yourself what kind of place this is? Perhaps you'll run into someone in the same predicament as you, or perhaps you'll run into someone who can help explain why there's a weird rock now affixed to your body?

PROMPT B - THE FARMER'S MARKET

It's Thursday in Waverly Bay, and that can mean only one thing: the weekly Farmer's Market is here again! The town plaza is all abuzz with activity today. Stalls not only from farmers on the outskirts of town but from crafty residents with interesting homemade items to sell, and businesses looking to attract the Market's crowd are all here! The weather's a little chilly but it's still an excellent place to spend the day, so long as you've got some money to spend. Are you shopping for a good deal on vegetables for dinner? Or perhaps you're getting a feel for the residents, having recently arrived? Or, perhaps, are you an industrious gem who's looking to set up shop? Either way, you're bound to run into somebody in this bustling, busy place.

PROMPT C - INVESTIGATION

Now that you're starting to get a hold of your powers, you've been sent through the warp pads on some kind of mission to Bricktown, the nearby city. As it turns out, the town is suffering from an infestation of small, bird-like creatures that have taken to nesting around town and letting out the most awful of rackets. Poofing these creatures will net you a small Gem shard. Poof as many as you can and bubble all those shards! You won't be able to do it alone, though. Maybe one of these birbs is just a bit out of reach or maybe you've not gotten a hang of your powers yet. Either way, working with your fellow Gems is the best way for you to get to the bottom of this and find where these birds are coming from!

PROMPT D - COMBAT

Uh-oh! Looks like you've run into a monster! These critters can pop up anywhere around Waverly Bay so it doesn't really matter where you were before or what you were up to. All you know now is that you need to buckle down and beat this thing! Giant Mothwing - With broad wings that shed scales on the wind, this corrupted Gem bears a striking resemblance to a large moth or butterfly. The body between its wings is no beauty, though - it usually stays rolled into a wheel-like spiral to protect its flat, pinkish gem, but when it uncurls to attack it looks more like a worm with teeth. Yikes! Loud noises make it lash out in agitation. Even when it's not attacking, it flies around restlessly, shedding sharp, glasslike scales that can leave nasty cuts as they whiz past. It'll be hard to get close to it unless it's lured down out of the sky. Chameleoid - The shape of this monster's body is more like a tardigrade than a lizard, but its camouflage ability and long, sticky tongue are worth commemorating. The Chameleoid can flatten and expand its body, and change the color and texture of its outer hide to blend in seamlessly with its surroundings, and it uses this ability to duck in and out of battle. Keep an eye out for suspicious movement when it vanishes from view. The Chameleoid shoots out its 20-foot-long tongue to disarm, trip up, and gross out Gems, but it's not averse to eating any small objects it might grab. The inside of its mouth looks softer than the rest of it, so maybe you can turn that to your advantage...? Hippocampus - A serpentine monster from the sea that sports a pair of razor-sharp forelimbs, two tusks, two horns, and a wicked set of jaws. Where's the protection for the rest of her body? She has a soft belly and a slightly more armored back. Luckily - for her, not you - she can breathe fire to respond to attacks on her tail. Why does an aquatic monster breathe fire?? Sometimes the world just doesn't have to make sense. She's about three three elephants long and faster on sand than she looks, preferring in battle to slither around swiftly and spit fire, but if caught, she'll turn her horns on you! Wildcard Option - Make your own! You know by now that you've got some special powers just from being a Gem. Apparently, from what little you've heard, you can shapeshift into things and pull a weapon from your gem, and you have some sort of unique special power. But maybe you don't know what it is yet, or you're still not used to using it? Guess you're going to have to learn on the job. Don't leave your fellow gems hanging if you see them fighting one of these little guys either! You're going to need each other to take 'em down!

PROMPT E - WILDCARD

Not into any of these prompts? Thought of something more fun? Go for it!

Comments

[nailed_it]

[Yang, meanwhile, seems incredibly unconcerned about the whole thing as she fishes in her side-pouch for a few bills. It's not like this is going to break her bank.]

It's cool. I figure you're good for it. It's not like there's any hurry.

[Maybe making it sound less like a hand-out and more like a loan'll help? No? ...Probably not.

Well, too late, she's handing the money over to the stall-owner anyway.]

[voicetested]

[ Aaaand there it goes. Alalia doesn't speak up to protest anymore mostly because she feels doing so would turn this into even more of a scene. She feeds ridiculous enough as it is. ]

Well -- I must insist you allow me to pay you back in some way. Even if I'm unable to offer you any money.

[ there you go, Yang. An IOU one (1) favour in exchange for an apple. An excellent trade. ]

[nailed_it]

[She should probably feel a little bad for making Alalia so uncomfortable but uh...well.]

...Okay.

[If this girl's gonna insist, she'll absolutely take an IOU. She'll probably never call it in but it never hurts to have somebody owe you one.

Yang's all smiles as she playfully tosses the now paid for apple the other girl's way.]

Sooo, what's your name? [Her smile shifts into a grin.] Figure I oughta know that if I'm gonna call in a favor later.

[Please realize she's joking, Alalia.]

[voicetested]

[ She catches the apple but makes no move to take a bite just yet -- Yang was the one who paid for it after all so it almost feels a little rude to start cramming into her mouth the instant it's in her hands. An introduction is a good excuse to put off eating it for the moment, though.

She bows at the waist in a stiff, practiced motion -- one hand tucked carefully behind her back, one at her chest and one foot slid slightly back. ]

Alalia Ridgely. I can only hope that this will be the last time I will have to ask for your assistance without being able to offer anything in return.

[nailed_it]

[Oh...okay. She's a bower. Cool.

Given the extremely colorful crowd Beacon tended to attract, Yang's not completely unused to receiving that formal a greeting, but she still can't help but raise her eyebrows a little all the same.]

I'm Yang. And really, don't worry about it.

[Since her earlier joking seems to have been taken seriously.

She gestures for Alalia to follow her.]

C'mon. Let's go get you a voucher.

[...Did anyone say anything about a voucher?]

[voicetested]

... excuse me?

[ Uh. Doesn't look like they did. ]

What... would I need a 'voucher' for?

[ That was pretty transparently an attempt to look less stupid by not directly asking just what a voucher is. ]

[nailed_it]

[Yang looks over her shoulder with a slightly lop-sided smile.]

So you don't have to keep trading favors for food.

[And then, since she knows that doesn't actually answer anything, she adds.]

We've got vouchers for some free groceries back at the Temple.