Test Drive Meme #1 (cw vehicular crash, moderate injury)

[spoofer]

Test Drive Meme #1

Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.

You don't need an invite to test
but please remember we're currently invite-only

CRASH LANDING

Exit one dimension, enter the next. It was chaos: pressure against your ears, light bending in an impossible, unimaginable way. The very molecules of your body vibrating against one another. If you have windows, the view outside makes no sense. Even if not, your hands, your face, your feet seem like an uncertain thing. It's the feel of reality itself tearing apart, reshaping, reconnecting, thread by thread.

And suddenly, there's a beach— or ocean, whichever you land in. Smoke. Fire. Salt water churning up, fizzing around.

Maybe you crash, in a ship wrecking into sand. Maybe you merely stumble out of a portal, a ragged wormhole in space. Or maybe you fall off the back of an incredible steed, some creature that carried you into this place. Either way, there's pandemonium around you. Incredibly, severe injuries are far and few between— nobody's screaming about the dead. But you might have to help pull someone free of wreckage, or move quickly to salvage burning belongings from the landing craft. Maybe it's the crafts themselves, that you're trying to salvage.

Likely, you don't know them, these other strangers who arrived here^[1]. Maybe you don't trust them— you just came out of a dying world, after all. But you all have one thing in common: you're here now.

When you get a second to breathe, maybe you'll see it. The brilliant green forest across the sand. Beyond that, the glint of a faraway city.

INTO THE WOODS

Your first night at Xistentia does not feature five-star accommodations, but as the sun begins to set, the forest offers everything you need to survive. By now, you may even have met your daemon, who'll help guide you through this. There is fallen wood to make fires for warmth and cooking, any number of rabbits, deer, and fish if that's what you're into eating. Those very same animals also provide guidance as to what vegetation is edible, including a variety of vine mushrooms, fruits, and flowers. If you're the kind of creature that mostly eats other sentient creatures, well. Technically, there are a lot of those hanging out too^[2]! Now and then, you'll see tiny, winged humanoid creatures the height of a finger dart in and out of view.

A resourceful group, the multiversal refugees have determined ways to create shelters, using wreckage, supplies, and basic survival knowhow. There aren't enough blankets to go around, but the weather is mild and the fires seem to keep out any aggressive creatures.


Things get quiet. This could be a good time to meet the others under less fraught circumstances. Maybe you'll see some familiar faces and reunite with others who fled from your dying world; maybe you'll meet someone new.

Try not to seek out and fight any Rock Trolls. It's still early.

ENTER THE CITY

The city is beautiful, even with the vines covering everything, the streams running down half the streets, the massive white deer leaping off under the highway overpasses. The architecture of the skyscrapers is incredible to look at, modern and sweeping. It's clear that terraced gardens were part of the building design, and some of the greenery that lines the street had been part of the original city plan. This is a city of great potential.

And it knows you're here. As you walk by, beacons like streetlamps begin to emit a gentle glow, registering your presence. No doors are locked, though you might find yourself chasing out nests of silver-winged birds and bug-eyed rabbits.

Here, you can claim empty shops or the clothing and other sales items inside of them. Apartment complexes aren't difficult to find in a range of sizes; nor are standalone homes, brownstones, loft studios. Penthouses may not feel like penthouses when there's a thin layer of dust growing on everything and a flower growing out of the sink, but you know what? Maybe that little bud is gonna be your first roommate.

It's the strangest thing. After a few days, the lights begin to work and the water begins to run, fully operational within the unseen sewer system. At some point, the keys to your house or residence are going to turn up. Your daemon will help you find what you need. F.A.TE.S. welcomes you.

NETWORK

By now you've settled in. You have some time to explore the city, the woods, and your new kit.

Chances are pretty good that your daemon is not a phone or a computer or a wax-sealed piece of parchment or a Howler, nothing with a convenient camera or a keyboard; it probably isn't even a pocket sized. Likelier, it stares at you with eyes that contain the lenses-- or powers-- of a camera, and some part of its body projects a holographic keyboard into the air. For those of us who are not accustomed to manipulating intangible light prisms, it's about as intuitive to type on as shaping a cloud with your fingers.

But here's your network access. Accessible to all your fellow travelers in XISTENTIA.

Misfires, typos, and blurry video footage are likely. Time to feel like a Luddite!

CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE

hells yeah

Footnotes

1. Some of these can be nameless, plot-device NPCs to facilitate interactions! But even in this case, please avoid gore in describing their current state of being. Anyone dead or catastrophically injured will have disappeared by the time your characters make it to Xistentia. There are no corpses or dying here.
   
   
2. But like OOCly ask permission ofc.

Comments

oh gosh, no problem at all!! c:

[lacquers]

[ Apologies to Aida, Magnus is a little enamored of this new technology and his fluttery friend here. ]

Oh? [ Curiouser and curiouser, that's Magnus. ] How old is he now? [ Because, yes, that cat is the very definition of a big cat. Very big cat. Magnus collects strays of the domestic variety, so Alec's daemon was quite a step away from those little guys. And Aida's friend here seems to be even more impressive in terms of sheer size. ]

Adventurer might be a good word for it, yes. [ He's thinking, a sight which his daemon decides to catch from several angles as she(?) flies around his head. ] Isn't he a soldier?

[ A hum. ] Well, Alexander is really a lot of things.

[ailindor]

[ She's much the same, admittedly, but she's trying to keep her focus on him instead of her daemon. Manners and all! ]

He's about six now, give or take a few months. Should be done growing too, I hope; if he gets much bigger, it won't be quite as easy traveling with him. [ Not that she'd let that stop her, of course; he's one of her best friends.

Aida watches quietly, intrigued (and maybe also a touch nauseous thanks to the sudden movement causing motion sickness). ] I'm sure the same could be said for many here. Are you a solider or adventurer as well? Is that how you two met?

[lacquers]

[ She's doing a better job than Magnus, no doubt. His curiosity has been getting the better of him since he got here, in part because it's better to be curious about where they are now than ruminate on where they've been. That said, his attention focuses more and more on Aida by the moment, as he's very clearly invested in their conversation.

He does inadvertently help with the motion sickness by pointing to a nearby branch, upon which his daemon very soon alights, causing the video to become steadier. ]

I imagine! [ Brows rising a bit, Magnus smiles at both Aida and Kimba, gesturing a little with his hands as he goes on speaking. ] From what I can tell so far, it shouldn't be difficult for him to fend for himself here. [ Strange and alien as this environment may be and as traumatic as the circumstances of their arrival, Magnus doesn't seem too thrown. Outwardly, anyhow. ]

You could say we met through work! I'm definitely not a soldier, but adventurer? I could wear that hat. [ He could wear a lot of hats. Very stylish. ] I'm Magnus, by the way. It's very nice to meet you!

[ailindor]

I certainly hope not. Although he and I are both quite good at taking care of ourselves. [ Hopefully this place won't change that... ] So long as there's food to be had here, we'll be alright.

[ Her feed jostles quite a bit as her daemon launches itself off her arm and flies about for a moment before coming to settle on the top of a bush. Aida, an amused smile still on her face, makes her way towards it after muttering quietly to Kimba to stay put. ]

Well met, Magnus! I'm Aida. [ Her smile widens in a friendly sort of way. ] Are there many others from your world here, or is it just you and your husband?

[lacquers]

[ Magnus glances around demonstratively, as if to say he thinks that an environment this diverse should hopefully have the food they need. Other resources, too.

Well, he hopes. Optimism, right? ] I guess it would behoove us to do some exploring with that in mind, wouldn't it? I'm sure we have people with very different backgrounds present. Some of those may not include a wide range of survival skills.

[ He shrugs lightly. It's just a guess. ]

And it's a pleasure, Aida! [ His smile grows to match. ] I don't believe he and I are the only ones from our world who are here, no. But we have friends from other worlds who have arrived as well.

[ailindor]

At the very least, I hope all of them are willing to lend a hand if necessary, even if they aren't quite used to this. [ Aida's not the most skilled adventurer, admittedly, but she's got enough experience at this point that she feels confident in her ability to make do with the situation she's presented with. She distinctly remembers how troublesome it was when she first set out, however, so she won't blame people for fumbling.

It's the lack of effort that will bother her.

A slight look of surprise passes across her face, eyebrows lifting. ] Other worlds? I've heard of people traversing between planes, but not worlds... Are you all magic users?