songerein | { test drive #02

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{ test drive #02 - november 2021 }

✵ TEST DRIVE MEME: NOVEMBER ✵
Reminder that our Test Drive Memes double as an Intro Log and threads can be carried over in-game. They are also required for samples. Note: the TDM timeframe is the start of November, after the Halloween events. Refer to the Game Info for general information and feel free to toss any TDM related questions here. Reserves are open and Applications will open on November 1st. The next application cycle won't be until March, 2022.

I. WELCOME TO SONGEREIN

Upon "arriving" into Songerein, everyone is understandably confused. The first thought would be they must be in a dream, which makes sense since the last thing they might remember doing is falling asleep or losing some form of consciousness or awareness before opening their eyes and finding themselves in the Plaza of some strange town they've never seen before. But there are a lot of other people around, some that may look familiar but others so strange that it would be impossible for their own imagination to dream up. And they're all just as confused. Fortunately, a red tapir-like creature appears and introduces itself as Solei, one of the "keepers" of this place. It offers some explanation before letting everyone explore their new "home." [Reminder: Other people aside from the characters will also appear to act as filler NPCs. Players are also free to be creative and come up with any kind of creature or animal their characters might encounter. The only limitations are they must be small to medium in size and not be overly aggressive.]

A. Magic Journals. Everyone will find a journal stylized just for them on their person somewhere and it's the primary means of communication with everyone. The only limitation is that it's text only, but images can be magically imprinted on the page from the writer's mind. Might as well give it a whirl and see who all is out there.

B. Dreamotion Abilities. Although everyone maintains most of their original abilities while in Songerein, they are also capable of using special abilities based on dreamotion energy. From having their emotions affecting the environment to utilizing new abilities entirely, it's probably something that they should start familiarizing fairly quickly. Especially since all the emotional surprise and confusion may already be affecting things, such as random glass shattering or cracks forming at one's feet.

C. Exploring Town. The town of Reverein is small but still sizable, so walking around and to see what all there is might be a good idea. The town has filled in a bit, but it's still larger than the current population and there are a few small fae and small wild critters who have made a few nests so just watch your step—or head. Some could venture out to the farmlands and beyond...just be careful.

D. Dreambucks Café. There is a certain quaint little café back in the Plaza that is known for its refreshing and unique teas and drinks. Called Dreambucks, it's staffed by friendly tea fairies and primarily serves tea and small cakes. Their teas and foods are quite special as the flavor will influence one's emotions and dreams—but in a good way! There are no harmful side effects and they are usually positive. Bolstering one's spirit; calming or relaxing nerves. The tea fairies want everyone to enjoy their time. Anyone can pick whichever table they want to take a break and meet some people. Or take a peek at what someone might be dreaming thanks to the teas.

There are three different types of teas available:

Caramel Delight. A caramel flavored tea with a few spices to add a little warmth to the taste. Just a few sips will make anyone want to find the nearest fireplace, grab a blanket, and settle in as they reminisce on happier moments.

Cranberry Cheer. A strong, flavorful cold juice that will renew one's vigor by leaps and bounds. ...And also make one leap and bound away through their day. Drinking this will inspire one to spread good tidings and festive feelings, be it left over from Halloween or some other seasonal festivity they may be familiar with. General good will to all is also an option.

Hazelnut Hot Chocolate. This warm drink can be topped with moon and star shaped marshmallows and is a perfect alternative for those who may prefer a more mellow drink. A drink of this will develop a want to share stories from nostalgic memories to riveting adventures to chilling horrors—whatever may be on their one or feel creative to make up.

Although it doesn't always happen, sometimes the drinks will be a strong enough influence that it will make the drinker daydream for a bit. Anyone nearby may notice their dream crystal lantern flicker and catch a brief glimpse of the daydream on it. Or perhaps those who want to try out their dream crystal lanterns are deliberately trying to see if their dreams are captured. Only daydreams influenced by the tea can be caught and even then it's just a brief glimpse, but it's still an interesting way to see how the dream crystal lanterns work.

Note: There is no currency in the world and everything served is free at this time. However it might not be immediately obvious and the fairies won't mind if customers repay in some way, be it helping out via cleaning and serving, giving gifts such as flowers or fruits, or something else.

II. CANDY CHAOS

Despite the dramatic events that occurred during the dreamscape and the after effects still waiting to be seen, some good things happened as a result of the Halloween festivities. Looking ahead to other holidays, a few people are trying their hand in making candies. After all, they all can't rely on the fae for everything and with new resources at their disposal, there's no excuse now.

A. Candy Mining. One morning a few friendly gnomes that dwell beneath the town pop up and announce that one of the caves has changed from normal rock crystals to candy rock crystals. More strangely, once mined they change color and flavor depending on the person's emotions or their last dream is at the time the candy rock crystal is removed. Ready to create something new, various candy makers send out requests for various "flavors" to experiment. People are welcome to try and create their own kind of candy or other crafts with the new candy rock crystals as well. However, the gnomes will warn that the candy rock crystals may explode if anyone who had strong nightmares or extreme emotions touch them, even after they are extracted. So take care!

B. Cotton Candy Sheep. A new type of sheep has been discovered (or introduced? Who is to say—) roaming just outside of the farmlands and it appears their wool is made out of cotton candy. While one might be wary of eating straight off the animal, it is said the wool is not only delicious, but could actually be used in clothing if processed correctly. Of course, that still needs to be tested so who knows if it's true. For now, some would like to herd them to the corrals, however they are fast and flighty creatures, capable of hopping several tens of feet into the air and float away. The best way to lure them is to create hard candy wind chimes as they are not only attracted to the sound, but also the taste. The sweeter and crunchier, the better.

C. Trick Candy. Halloween may be over, but the idea of using candy for silly pranks is eternal. One day there will be full "joke" shops around, but for now candy will be the focus. A contest is being held for anyone to not only learn how to make candy, but devise ways for them to turn into fun pranks. Turning one's tongue a different color is too basic, how about something that could change the entire body? Or hair if that's too difficult. Those not part of the creative process will also be exposed to the end products—and failures. Some taffy rope that's decided to slither around and tie people together, a giant jawbreaker expanding to the size of a large boulder rolling down the streets, people taste testing bubble gum now floating in the air—the possibilities are endless.

III. DREAMSCAPE TUTORIAL: HAUNTED TOY HOUSE

To help everyone understand their dreamwalking abilities, the tapirs will ask anyone who is willing to gather around the Dream Swings in the Central Plaza. There anyone is invited to sit in the chairs or hammocks and focus on their dream crystal lanterns to enter a special dreamscape made just for them. Those watching might find the sight of everyone suddenly turning into a colorful ball of light and disappearing alarming, but that's just the normal process of entering a dream. When someone leaves the dream, they will briefly reappear as that light before returning to their original form. The theme for this dreamscape is Haunted Toy House with everyone stuck in a life sized doll house filled with cursed toys.

A. Feeling a bit stiff. Upon entering the dreamscape, some dreamwalkers may find themselves looking a bit like a cursed toy, so hopefully no one mistakes them as an enemy. The form can vary from a wooden doll to a plush toy and always with some kind of corruption or missing piece. A truly ghastly appearance that would scare any child and spawn nightmares. While in this form, dreamwalkers may find their abilities a bit altered to fit the form.

B. House Traps. There are numerous rooms in this strange house, and some might even feel they are in a piece of Escher artwork instead with stairs going here and there and upside down. With it being a dreamscape, the concept of gravity is certainly otherworldly here. While some rooms are harmless, others are filled with traps. Spikes shooting down from ceilings; doors sealed shut as the walls close in; floors turning into black goop or disappearing completely. It's a giant maze and one has to wonder if that giant exit sign is real or another trap (it's another trap). Best way to disarm the traps and obstacles is using one's imagination and test out those dreamotion abilities.

C. Corrupt Toys. Inhabiting the house are several toys ready to pounce on their new "visitors." Fortunately they can be beaten back easily and can be "purified" to return to their original state. All it requires is a nice "injection" of positive dreamotion energy, though how that can happen varies. A healing spell, a smack from a weapon created from positive feelings, encouraging words—the toys just feel lonely and abandoned. Playing with them may also help turn them into allies. The more toys "purified," the less corrupt the house will be in turn. However, if more become corrupted instead, things will turn into even more of a dangerous nightmare and noctaere may start appearing.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Zelda was in the middle of preparing a retort about how dreamotion was magic when, all of the sudden, the lights on Samus's armor started flashing. Zelda hurriedly scooted away from where she was sitting on the edge of the fountain, putting several feet between herself the lights that began to strobe faster and faster. She stared at Samus in panic, mind racing with frantic thoughts about shouting for help or running away before something dangerous happened. Zelda was paralyzed, unable to look away. ]

[ When Samus collapsed, all thoughts of self preservation disappeared and Zelda leapt up. She dashed over the the kneeling figure, dropping to her hands and knees on the ground and looking up at the woman behind the green visor. ]

Hey! [ Zelda suddenly realized that she didn't even know this person's name yet. ] Are you all right? Are you hurt? What happened?

[ She hadn't expected that to work. Which was why it didn't work.

Samus grunted, trying to regain some of her composure. Her left hand pressed against the ground, as she propped her right knee up, resting her arm cannon on it. Aeion came naturally to her, but she'd gone into that little experiment expecting it to be a dud. After all, she was expecting to use abilities her suit told her she lost.

But that was the trick, wasn't it. This Dreamotion energy, it could be just about anything, couldn't it? All she had to do was allow herself to believe it. Have faith and focus. ]

I'm alright. [ Her voice was a little breathless, but otherwise, she mostly regained her composure. ] Doing a little testing of my own. I think you're onto something...

[ She closed her eyes again. This time, taking a slow steady breath. Head tilted down, as she closed her eyes. Focusing once again, the lights on her suit once more strobing blue.

Activating Scan Pulse
This time, the lights went off faster. A light blue wave pulsing out of Samus, rushing over the environment, but affecting nothing. No force, no wind, no anything. Just light blue particulates floating through the air, the residuals of the blue pulse. And suddenly, Samus spoke up: ]

There are thirty-seven people around us. Majority in the cafe. Nine looking in our direction. None hostile.

Edited 2021-11-08 20:27 (UTC)

[ Worry was written clearly across Zelda's face and "I'm alright" did little to erase it. Samus sounded a little strained, and Zelda suspected that she was one of those people who would say "I'm alright" even when missing a limb. ]

[ The strobing lights made Zelda flinch when they started up again, but this time she held her ground. Her gaze flicked rapidly between Samus's face and the lights on her armor. Zelda tensed with nervous anticipation, waiting... and then gasped at the flash of blue light that pulsed from the armor. Her gaze was too slow to follow it as it lit across the plaza. ]

[ At the sound of Samus's voice, Zelda looked up at her again, incredulous this time. ] Is that what you did just now? You... counted them?

I scanned them.

[ The information was fed directly to Samus' HUD. The immediate area around her turned into quantifiable numbers for Samus to disseminate. It wasn't how the scan pulse used to work, but at the same time, scanning for environmental abnormalities wouldn't have made a lot of sense in a population center. Maybe in this dream state, the scan could serve different purposes. She would have to test it more. ]

It was a scan pulse. I use it to detect abnormalities in the areas. [ A pause, as she moved to sit on the floor. A lot less... tense. Left knee propped up, as she rested her left hand on it, finally lowering her cannon to the ground. ] ... I thought I lost it, when I arrived here. Perhaps I did, because it functions differently than I remember. Maybe in this dream, it's something entirely new.

[ Zelda sat back on her knees as Samus relaxed. There were a few things about her explanation that didn't immediately make sense to the princess. The way she explained the scan pulse was less like how someone talked about one of their abilities and more like how someone described a technological function. The technology performing the function, then, could only be Samus's armor. But how could you lose and then regain a function of technology? Unless... ]

Did you recreate it using dreamotion?

As far as I can tell, yes.

[ She hesitated to say she recreated it. It worked differently than she remembered, and she wasn't sure if that was her current needs creating a bias, or if it was a limit of this dreamotion energy. Whatever the case, she had clearly tapped into something new, something she would need to practice with. At a later time, she would need to see if she could recreate other abilities... ]

I have... abilities, that I can normally access. They require the use of a specific energy source-- something known as Aeion, which my body generates. [ A body which was sleeping, and not physically present, she reminded herself. ] In lieu of it, I tried to replace it with dreamotion. The scan pulse was my first attempt.

[ So it was dreamotion. Zelda sagged visibly. This newcomer had managed to do in minutes what Zelda hadn't been able to do for months: successfully use dreamotion energy to (more or less) the desired effect. ]

I see. [ She sounded dejected. Even her best results with dreamotion weren't as good as this. Zelda had yet to replicate any of her own magic with dreamotion and thusfar had only ever manifested Malice. The Malice was often as uncooperative as its creator and it took Zelda all the more effort to make it do what she wanted it to do.

She felt a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, like a lump had settled there. The problem wasn't dreamotion. The problem was Zelda. ]

That's wonderful! [ Zelda forced down her feelings and managed to smile for Samus. ] It seems you have quite a knack for this sort of thing.

No. It's not the same.

[ Samus was too caught up in her test to notice Zelda's dejection. Looking up to glance at the particulates floating through the air, the residuals of her pulse. Under normal circumstances, the scan would highlight areas in the immediate surroundings, feed that information directly to her HUD. Unstable terrain, hidden pockets-- irregularities in the environment.

It did not scan people. It did not scan hostility. But right now, it was. It felt less like an environmental scan, and more like... a motion tracker. Maybe both. ]

The scan pulse just detects irregularities in the environment. This is... new. It's never scanned people before, or been able to determine hostility. It's also never tracked motion like this. [ Samus lowered her gaze, staring down at the ground. Into the middle distance, almost. ] I don't know if using dreamotion instead of aeion is causing this, or if it's purely a psychological bias affecting a metaphysical environment. Either way, I'll have to practice more. I can't afford surprises in a combat scenario.

[ Then, as if she just realized something: ]

--I'm sorry if I worried you earlier, when I tested it. I'm used to figuring these things out on my own. I don't usually have others around me that aren't trying to kill me, or working a job with me.

Edited 2021-11-20 17:57 (UTC)

[ Zelda was grateful that Samus didn't seem to notice the lapse in the princess's countenance. It was selfish and rude to feel disappointed in light of Samus's accomplishment of using dreamotion so soon after arriving. Better to put those thoughts aside and focus on what Samus was saying.

The princess nodded along with Samus's breakdown of her dreamotion scan pulse. It wasn't too difficult to follow what she was saying, even though some of the terminology was unfamiliar to Zelda. But before Zelda could offer her own thoughts on the subject, Samus suddenly changed topics. ]

Ah, [ Zelda was caught off guard for a moment and awkwardly accepted the unexpected apology. ] It's all right. I may have overreacted a little. [ She gave Samus an apologetic look. ] I am quite the opposite, I'm afraid; I'm not accustomed to being on my own for very long.

[ I'm not accustomed to being on my own for very long.

Samus wasn't sure why, but she didn't like hearing that. Something about the way she said it rubbed Samus the wrong way, although she needed a moment to put together why. Maybe it was the knowledge that she'd been here for two months, figuring out her 'magic' on her own. Maybe it was how helpful she'd already been, despite the fact that she'd asked for nothing in return. Samus couldn't pin it, but she knew she didn't like it. ]

... My name is Samus.

[ She said it without thinking. But even after a second of thinking about it, she realized she should've introduced herself anyway. She wasn't sure why this girl being lonely bothered Samus so much, but Samus knew how to help with that. Make sure she knew she wasn't on her own anymore. ]

[ Another abrupt shift in the conversation, but this time it sounded like it was as unexpected for Samus as it was for Zelda. It was a little bit awkward, in a way that again reminded Zelda of Link. Solitude, even when one was just alone in a crowd, seemed to take its toll on one's conversation skills. It used to bother Zelda, before she got to know Link, but now she found something rather sweet about it. ]

I'm Zelda. [ There's a little bit of an extra pause at the end, where she stopped herself from adding "Princess of Hyrule" after her name. Zelda wasn't hiding her royal heritage from the other dreamwalkers, but it was an intentional omission. Not sharing her title meant not needing to explain her failure to perform her royal duty. ] It's a pleasure to meet you.

[ Samus nodded in acknowledgement. A moment of silence following that, as she realized that she had pretty much derailed the original conversation. Between Zelda's implied loneliness, and Samus' dreamotion experiments, she'd almost forgotten that the original point of all this was to get a tour and learn more about the town. Thankfully, her visor made it impossible for Zelda (or anyone) to read her expressions.

Which of course meant that she was just. Staring at Zelda intently, silently. A few seconds of silence, until eventually, the brightness of the visor faded. The green pane becoming translucent, and showing that there was, in fact, a real face behind the helmet. Even if all that was visible were her blue eyes, and a tuft of blonde hair. All through a green lens, making the colors hard to make out. ]

I interrupted your tour.

[ Zelda looked a little surprised when the brightness unexpectedly faded from Samus's visor and Zelda was able to see through it for the first time. On the other side of the visor was a feminine face with light skin, eyes, and hair. It was difficult to tell through the green-tint what color her hair and eyes were, but she looked young. Maybe not as young as Zelda (who didn't count her decades sealed away as part of her age), but younger than the princess expected. Samus carried herself with the same air as Urbosa, but she didn't look nearly as old.

Zelda's surprise was momentary, fading into a genuine smile. It was nice to see the face of the person she was interacting with. (Zelda particularly disliked communicating with people through the journals for that reason.) ]

That is quite all right. [ Zelda pushed herself to her feet. ] There's still plenty more to see, if you would like to continue.

[ Samus nodded, her cheeks nudging up as she looked at Zelda. Even if her mouth was impossible to see, it wasn't hard to assume that she was most likely smiling under her ventilator mask. Samus usually made it a point to keep her visor lit, if only because she was used to being on guard at all times. But right now, that wasn't necessary.

Zelda's smile made it obvious she'd made the right choice. ]

I would.

[ Zelda caught that glimmer of a soft expression from Samus as she stood. It made a pleasant warm feeling flutter inside her, one that Zelda had only felt flickers of since the Calamity.

From the plaza, Zelda lead Samus over the bridge that spanned the river to the other half of the town. She brought her through the marketplace, where a few shops and stalls were popping up here and there amidst the ruins. She pointed out the farmland beyond the city, and the tops of trees just visible beyond the farms. That forest---the Wildlands, as it was called---ringed all the way around Reverein, and the Wastelands lay in another ring beyond that. It was late in the day when Zelda brought Samus to the residential district, which grew not far from the plaza. It was there that they parted. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

{ test drive #02 - november 2021 }

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