Test Drive Meme | August-September 2016

[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 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!

Comments

[ohimesama]

[ She winces like someone with an eye squick might do when watching someone take out their contacts. Seriously, does this kid have a death wish? ]

You don't know what that means? Seriously? Didn't that get beamed into your head like everything else about this place?

[juh_hawny]

Only thing getting beamed into my head right now is your weird... hair... thing you have going on right now.

[Says the guy with bright red spikes and sideburns at 12]

[ohimesama]

[ DO YOU WANT TO GO BECAUSE SHE HAS A LITTLE BROTHER AND SHE'LL PUT YOU IN A HEADLOCK IF SHE HAS TO ]

Uh, who are you to talk about hair? You look like you got into a fight with a can of tomato soup and lost.

1/2

[juh_hawny]

[For a moment he looks a little shellshocked, staring down at his hands. He can still smell the scent of tomato. Down to his very pores]

[juh_hawny]

I totally won that fight, excuse you.

[ohimesama]

...

[ You know. Sometimes you don't want context. Sometimes you know when you have to let something lay. This is one of those times. So she just sighs and rubs her temples like she's getting a migraine. ]

Well you're not winning this fight. Seriously, just watching you pick at that is making me itch so give it a rest.

[juh_hawny]

[He holds his hand up, grips his (teeny) gem, and wiggles it back and forth. You know when someone touches their eyeball or dislocates their thumb on purpose to screw with people. This is 100% that]

[ohimesama]

[ She gives a shrill little choking noise and swats at his hand, making a big show of averting her gaze. ]

Give it a rest already! You're the one who's gonna end up stuck back in your Gem if you keep messing with it like that!

[juh_hawny]

[Nope, you have shown a weakpoint. His pride as a bully demands he leap on it like a rabid weasel.

So he starts kinda papping at her face with it. Or trying to- he's beefy for a 12 year old but not especially tall, she's got some height on him]

I think it's starting to come loose...

[ohimesama]

I SAID ENOUGH ALREADY!

[ She flails at his hand for a second before finally grabbing his wrist and shoving it away from her face as best she can. ]

If that thing pops all over me, you'll be sorry!

[juh_hawny]

[He leans back with all his considerable for his size strength]

Join the alien hand egg collective!

[ohimesama]

[ Okay you know what she warned you Johnny but that does it

She lets go of his hand and instead hooks her arm around his head, locking it in with her free hand. She told you about headlocks, bro. ]

What did I just say about giving it a rest?!

1/2

[juh_hawny]

Grk!

[He's legit shocked. The only person to ever put him in a headlock is Ollie. A friendship headlock. He looks up at her (a little awkwardly from his position) with bright eyes]

Whoa. You're stronger then you look. Not bad.

[juh_hawny]

[Then he sinks his teeth into her arm]

[ohimesama]

[ You thought her little squeal before was bad? Yep, now you're getting a full on shriek. Right by your ear. You're welcome Johnny. ]

OH MY GOD, WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM?!

[ ... says the girl who put the twelve year old in a headlock.

she loosens her grip a bit if only to try and shake him off. ]

[juh_hawny]

[Which he takes full advantage of to skitter away, heading for the high ground.

...right up the heart gem. Don't ask how he managed to climb such a smooth surface. He crouches right on top like a monkey... and his eyes go glassy as the gem talks to him.

Oh okay, that makes more sense.

Not that he's going to stop what he's doing. He's already started this path- it's a matter of principle now.]

[ohimesama]

[ And there he goes.

It's tempting to try and grab at him again but she's pretty sure she hasn't had any of her inoculations updated since she got here and she definitely doesn't want another bite. So she just lets him go.

She's scowling after him though. ]

If you fall off there and crack your head open, I'm not helping you.

[juh_hawny]

I'll make sure to poof right on your weird cotton candy head.

[He huffs down at her- though wow this is a great vantage point. Johnny looks around and sees the bubbled gems floating about.

...and reaches out.

And cups one in his palm.

And spikes it down at her like a volleyball.

Yes, he knows what they are now. He knows they will turn into monsters if they pop. And he's gonna do it anyways]

[ohimesama]

[ Is he doing this?

Oh. Yep. He's doing this. A responsible adult would maybe try stopping him but Miku? She's just scooting back as far as she can get away from the disaster radius. As far as she's concerned he's gonna lay in his own bed and like it.

... of course, that's what she thinks as she glues herself to the wall of the Heart room and waits to see what's set to emerge from that cracked Gem. But if he actually gets in some trouble, she might help. You know. If she feels like it. ]

[juh_hawny]

[He was expecting her to try and stop the bubble from hitting. Or well, as much has he planned or expected anything moment to moment. So what he was going to do if it DID break never occurred to him.

Oh well.

The bubble pops and starts forming something long and very very big]

Cool.

[ohimesama]

[ ... that's a snake. No matter how she looks at it, that thing is almost definitely a snake.

The punchline; GUESS WHO'S TERRIFIED OF SNAKES.

The look of bone-deep dread on her face is probably at least a little satisfying to you huh, Johnny. ]

[juh_hawny]

[It really is. He sits in wonder as the snake thing forms, hissing hot breath right in his face. Enough that his hair flutters back even with how gelled it is.

So he does the only sensible thing and rears back a fist, the one with the gem in it, and punches it right in the snooter.

If he noticed the small burst of dark grey-black energy on impact he makes no comment on it.]

[ohimesama]

[ Did. Did he just... yeah. He punched the snake. Of course he did. She doesn't even have any words for this. A twelve year old is punching a snake in the face. This is fine.

Eventually she manages to make herself bark - ]

Get down from there, you nutcase! Get away from that thing! We need to bubble it again and we can't do that if you're busy punching it in the face!

[juh_hawny]

...I thought punching is is what made it so you can, ya know-

[He makes some utterly un-understandable gesture that might be 'bubble it'

Meanwhile the snake is still processing it was punched by a smol thing]

[ohimesama]

NOT WITH ONE PUNCH!

[ this child must have a death wish. it's the only explanation.

she forces herself away from the wall despite very clearly not wanting to get any closer to the snake and inches forwards. she poofed one monster today, right? she can poof another. ]

Jump down and get over here! We'll fight it together!