graveyardsmash | JANUARY/FEBRUARY TEST DRIVE

TDM: JANUARY/FEBRUARY

Welcome to the Ryslig Test Drive Meme! Below are a few prompts to get you started, but you may make up any prompt you desire! Please take a look at the navigation page for rules, setting information, and links to reserves and apps. Have fun!

SCENARIO ONE

You wake up on the beach thoroughly drenched, with your mouth full of sand. The salt water is making all the cuts and scrapes on your skin sting and the sand isn't helping. The air is slightly humid, ruining any feeling of refreshment you might have gotten from your dip in the ocean.

There are lights in the distance, but the unfriendly scent of gunpowder fills the air. If you're lucky, you're alone. If not - you might find yourself staring up into a pair of monstrous eyes or down the barrel of a local's shotgun.

SCENARIO TWO

So you've just arrived, and already some of the natives are trying to get on your good side with offers of food, shelter and other luxuries in return for hoping you don't eat them. They even have some helpful pamphlets to share with you. "How To Deal With Changes", "Alternatives to Human Flesh", "What to Expect When You're Expecting (to turn into a monster)" are all on the more informative end of the scale. There's even some detailing certain monsters, and the changes they go through. Some of these seem to have been passed down from one monster to the next.

Among these however, are some... not so helpful ones. "Bunnyipyips And You", "Axe Thief Axehounds," and "So you're becoming a Fur Bearing Trout" among others. Sometimes they have marks on them from previous readers saying they're lies, or pointing out good "jokes."

Then there are the people who aren't happy to see you at all. Glares and silent, judging stares if you're lucky, torches and pitchforks attempting to drive you out of the town if you're not. You may need a friend to help you.

SCENARIO THREE

"Seek us out," the voice whispers in your head, and before you have time to question it you've found yourself in someplace entirely alien.

Maybe it's the Fog God's ghostly town of Dyster, where exultant followers dance around bonfires and sing their praises to the skies above. Maybe it's the Fourth God's arcade, with small robots wheeling about amidst the lights and colors of old pinball machines.

Only one thing is certain: you are not alone, in this sacred place.

SCENARIO FOUR

The time has come and you've found yourself becoming a monster. Is the change instant, or gradual? Are you familiar enough with monsters to know what's happening, or is it a complete shock? Feel free to pick any monster type for this prompt, but note that you may not get the same one in game.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

In a sense... I suppose.

[ Does it count if you're still free to move around a peninsula? Probably.

Their head flicks up, clicking at the question and gesturing to the fog that surrounds them. In horse form, those wings are even larger, stretching a bit. ]

Look around you. She's everywhere... If you want to speak to her all you need to do is Pray.

[ Even Fran knows that's not nearly enough. ]

But if you want to speak to her properly... You'll need to travel to Dyster. Two days walk north-east.

Uh-huh. She's everywhere. The magic fog can hear me and grant my wishes. Sure.

Which way's north-east? [She lives in a city. Orienting herself from geographic clues is not her forte.]

Mhm....

[ Hearing yes, listening and granting wishes?... Unlikely. ]

That way. [ Their hooves shuffle in the sand, pointing their whole body in the right direction and tipping their head back. ] But- If you head into the city first, there should be some people who can help out with supplies and warmer clothes.

[ Please don't wander into the middle of Ryslig with nothing in winter. Fran won't stop you, but still... ]

[She considers this for a moment. There's no denying it's tempting to ignore the weird horse-monster, and just start walking. After all, fuck it, she's tough. She can make it through a bit of snow.]

[In the end, though, common sense wins out (for a change). She sighs, her fingers tapping impatiently on the battered fibreglass of the helmet under her arm, and nods.]

All right. Fine.

Thanks, I guess.

[ The horse lets out a sigh-whinny of relief. With that done, they resolve to shift back into their 'humanoid' form, with all the clicking and shifting she saw before, but in reverse. At some point their clothes seem to merge out of them. ]

Ugh- Alright... Vandare's over there, towards the lighthouse.
If you look for a Depot called 'Liewen Labs' and explain you're new, they'll probably give you what you need, and a network machine.

[...Yep. Yep, that's still horrifying. She looks away, hoping her nausea at the sight isn't too obvious, hoping that she just looks like she's getting a sense of where she's being directed.]

Got it.

Network machine? You mean, like, a modem?

Uh-...

[ Fran blinks, slightly unfamiliar with the word and technology in general. Their hands shift to make a sortof vague laptop shape in the air instead. ]

It's a box with a screen, you can type on it and talk to the other monsters here. [ Now they're mimicking typing in the air. ] I don't know if you have something like that in your world.

[ Yes, Most people do Fran. ]

[The flat look she gives him says... pretty much exactly that. Yes. Obviously.]

You mean a computer? Yeah, I've heard of them once or twice.

[ Right, that's another thing they were called. The kelpie gives a sheepish nod in return. ]

Y-Yeah! Those.
Did you want some company to the city? It's a long walk, unless you sneak onto the bus.

[No. No, she doesn't want company to the city. She doesn't want company anywhere. She wants everyone to just leave her alone.]

[...But also, it does look like a long walk, and she still doesn't know anything about this place, so, much as she hates to admit it, having a local guide might be worth something.]

Depends. How much talking are you gonna want to do?

[ Hmmm. Based on her temperament so far... ]

I don't mind some quiet. Though I figured you'd have more questions too.

I mean...

I guess I do, yeah. But if you've got computers, you've probably got Google, right? Wouldn't want to get all my answers from one person.

Google?... Not that I know of.

But asking other folks on the network isn't a bad idea!

Jesus. Back to the middle ages, I guess.

[She sighs, irritated.]

Fine, I guess that's it, then. Give me the rundown. What the fuck is this place?

[ Their head tips to one side, gesturing for her to follow towards the town or bus stops. ]

It's a place... or a world? Called Ryslig. We're pretty sure the Fog god brings us here to give us a 'better life'... Whether or not you agree is a different case.

It's a decently big peninsula, but we can't leave it either. The mountains are unpassable, and the sea can't be crossed. Every arrival that comes here, well...

[ Sucks being the bearer of bad news. ]

Eventually starts to change. Into some form of creature, like I did.
Not always the same creature. Some turn into werewolves, or merfolk, and so on... I turned into a kelpie.

But the changes don't happen until your second month at least!

[She stops dead in her tracks, and her lips are pressed together so tightly that they've gone white. She looks like she's just been struck.]

[After a long moment, she looks at him. Her expression is hard, but there's no hiding the flare of panic in her eyes.]

Fuck off. Nobody's doing that to me again. No.

[Two months? She's got two months to find out who's doing this and break both their legs. At least.]

How do I stop it?

[ Fran didn't walk too much further, this part they're used to. Though it's hard not to wince a little at the cursing. Their expression answers the question before their words do. ]

I don't know... None of us have been able to.

But you're not the only one, and we can help you prepare for it.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY TEST DRIVE

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