crystalclods | Test Drive Meme | August-September 2016


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 the Gem Observatory. From the sounds of things, there's an ancient relic here somewhere that could serve useful for the Gems in the Temple and someone has to go out and find it. ... the only problem is that you're not exactly sure where you should start looking in this place. And on top of that, it's a complete mess. Junk and debris and books and papers everywhere with no clue where this relic could be. You're going to have to do some serious digging to find this thing. And on top of that, you might find that when you try to go back the warp pad you took here has managed to stop working in between your arrival and now. Maybe something went wrong back in the control room? Or the pad itself needs fixing? You'll have to poke around in the guts of the machine to try and figure this one out.
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...? *Strawberry Spider* - Though its long, spindly legs holding it off the ground make it look like a spider, this monster is actually mostly made up of plant material. Trees and strawberry plants are rooted in the corrupted Gem's featureless, geometric body, forming woody legs and blanketing the monster in foliage and strawberries. Its aroma may be sweet, but the Strawberry Spider is ruthless and very, very perturbed. It stands 15 feet tall and 25 feet wide, and its skittering feet move fast to stomp on attacking Gems. Thinking of cutting off a leg? Try it, and hundreds of strawberry runners will immediately sprout from the stump to ensnare you. The strawberries are hungry, and they've got a "taste for blood"... Damaging the plants living on it won't actually hurt the corrupted Gem, and they grow back fast. This will be a tough monster to defeat. *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!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

She sure knew how to back him into a corner. It was as if she knew what he was going to say, or had a response for everything he could think of. It made him a bit wary, but mostly annoyed. He was a bad person, could she not tell?

There was truth in her words, though. He hated it.

"You shouldn't trust a complete stranger." While the truth was the opposite, he figured it better not to get involved too much. After all, the more friends he made, the more pain he would cause should something bad happen.

"I shouldn't, but I often find myself doing that..."

And she doesn't seem bothered by it. Naomi stared at him, stared pretty hard actually. Yup, this was the same old Shinjiro, back to his rather fatalistic views. "Look, if you start having problems, come talk to me. I've contained out-of-control gems before."

She's contained gems? He looked up again at the gemstones hovering above them in the cavern. Is that what those bubble-encased gems are? Out of control gems? "Ch..."

"Whatever." He muttered, starting to wander about more. He didn't care if she accompanied him or not; he wouldn't get more information without scoping out the place. It's strange though; he seems to have a knack for finding the exit.

Edited 2016-08-22 22:25 (UTC)

She noticed him look up and shook her head. No, not like that.

Watching him leave, she followed shortly behind. Whether or not it was to follow him was to be seen. After all, her room was this way.

Shinjiro shuffled slowly, though he began to move at a normal pace when he realized the woman was still accompanying him. Perhaps he was in her way.

Or was she following him?

He eventually stopped. "I don't need anybody's help, I'll figure this place out on my own." He frowned deeply.

"That's fine. I'll leave you to your own devices..."

But yeah, luckily, he stopped near her room. Turning to the door, the molted purple, star-shaped gem embedded in the door resonates with the one in her chest. Approaching it, the door opened. "I can't exactly change where my room is located though, you understand."

Watching the woman interact with the door, he stopped, curiosity getting the better of him as the gem on her body and the gem on the door started to illuminate with life.

"...You live here?"

She looked back at him, a hand on her hip.

"Yes. Most of us do... In fact, one of these doors should have a gem matching yours."

It sounded like a dormitory or apartment for gems. He had a room somewhere, which was good to know. Having an escape might be helpful.

He crossed his arms and leaned against a door where a piece of petrified wood was affixed. "Hn..." He grunted, his neutral glare gradually and quickly turning into a look of surprise as the door gave way. Shinjiro toppled over without opportunity to break his fall, hitting the ground hard with his back. "CH!"

God dammit.

Naomi watched him, shaking her head... and then saw him fall over. Walking over to look in the now opened door, she stared down at him. However, stepping inside? Couldn't do that. "Oh, look at that. We're neighbors."

He held the back of his head, releasing a pained groan. He seemed to keep finding himself on his back those past 24 hours. Rather than stand again, he thought perhaps he would just sit there for a moment. It was apparently his room from how she reacted. Only a door or so away from the woman, he had a feeling he would see a lot of her in the time to come. "So who are you supposed to be, anyway?"

He undoubtedly would especially if he kept almost similar odd hours. Hands on her hips, she hummed, "Naomi Kimishima. You can consider me the unofficial Temple doctor."

"A doctor, huh?" He supposed that was good to have around. And almost ironic considering the timing of events in his life. Though if he was a sentient gemstone now, he wondered just how a gem would get sick.

"Yes. If you find yourself injured after an encounter with a gem monster or otherwise, don't hesitate to stop by." Being left vulnerable as a gem is no fun.

A gem...monster? He pondered asking about those as well, but he already had enough to take in. And the more he spoke to someone, the more curious they would be. More friendships were the last thing he needed.

He would be careful and watchful for the creatures to start, however.

"A lesson for another time. You wanted to settle in so I'll leave you to do so. Avoid going to the forest until you learn some of your gem abilities. They tend to linger there."

And if she saw him there anytime soon, she would certainly drag him back to the Temple.

Test Drive Meme | August-September 2016

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