TEST DRIVE MEME

[morrowmods]

test drive meme

Welcome to the opening test drive of goodmorrow! If you're just getting here, you can find our game premise here and our full navigation here.

It's a new game, but you don't have to play a newbie! This game has a mechanic that allows people to app characters who aren't new to the setting. Please check over on our application guidelines for more information about how it works. We've also got a summary of World Events that occurred prior to this TDM, so your oldbie can have some things to reference.

Thank you for playing! We're excited to have you.

arrivals | forbidden knowledge | ooc notes

the summoning

Arrivals There is always a buzz around the time of a summoning ritual. Will there be dozens? Or will this time only yield a handful? Will the stakes become dramatic enough for there to be a glimpse of one of the Old Ones, and the chance to partake in their incomprehensible greatness? The ones who believe consider it a day of hope and new beginnings. However, there are much more mundane concerns for the skeptics. Summoning means that there will be a whole new group of displaced folks who'll need to be oriented. They'll come hurting and confused, squirming with the bone-deep pain of travel and weary after hours of hearing about how they've been Chosen to herald the approach of the Old Ones. People will be here seeking help, and most of the native townsfolk only understand how to preach at newcomers. The new arrivals will likely need help from more experienced expats who better understand where they're coming from.

dessicated and unremarkable

Forbidden Knowledge Even after the end of the summoning ritual, many kept their eyes watching the sky. There is always the risk of summoning more than just a new batch of novitiates. When pulling things from other worlds, chances are high that something else might tag along.

A few hours after the end of the introductory sermon, scraps of paper start to blow down from the sky. They travel on the breeze and seem to get into everything. They land on roofs and float through open windows. They get tangled in tree branches and end up underfoot on walking paths. Page after page delicately makes its way to the earth.

It must be wisdom from the cosmos! The rumor sweeps its way across town in hushed whispers. The gossips are saying that the elders want the pages collected, so that they can properly archive and study them. They promise a handsome reward to those who can gather enough to fill a tome, but that seems somehow less attractive, even as something to wish about. Whether deliberately hunting out the pages or accidentally encountering them in everyday life, it will soon be obvious that these are pages full of something best left unseen.

Some of the manuscript pages seem mundane enough. The words seem strangely familiar, as if they might be legible if one focuses on them hard enough. It's just a matter of figuring out handwriting or deciphering a dialect. It must be. A page might prove so engrossing that it leaves a person in an enthralled state, silently locked in a quest to understand something that looks so comprehensible only for it to veer off into the uncanny. This lock might leave them tremendously suggestible to any words spoken around them, their minds struggling and desperate enough to latch on to anything comprehensible at all.

Other pages seem less similar to human writing and will likely create less of a hold on those with the misfortune to view them. The pages covered in glyphs and arcane symbols feel almost empowering their foreignness, almost as if one might simply let the experience wash over them and let it run through them. Those unlucky enough to state too long at one of those pages might find themselves overwhelmed by instances of magical outbursts. It feels like a strange sort of sneeze as the arcane energy suddenly sparks a small thunderbolt into existence, or turns a bushel of hay into a solid block of iron. The effects are seemingly random, but wear off on their own in a few minutes. It's probably fine. What kind of damage could be done in such a short time?

This might be a relief to the illiterate members of the community, if it wasn't for the leathery pages. More parchment than paper in texture, these pages seem to carry something ominous in the rough fibers of their material. When touched without protective gloves, these pages force their handler to feel a glimpse of unspeakable suffering. It comes from a place beyond pain, lighting parts of the mind that were never intended for use. Screaming might be a way to express it, but more often it manifests in an expression of extreme emotion. Hysterical mania seems nice until it doesn't end and keeps a person up at night unable to stop laughing. Murderous rage might be inconvenient for the other members of the village. Whatever the emotion is, it's gone far beyond any normal limitation and will stay that way for the next several hours.

Enjoy the hunt, Revelbrooke. Try not to end up with too many papercuts.

ooc notes

Thanks for checking out this setting! If you have questions, feel free to direct them to the first thread below.

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Comments

[wovensecrets]

Maybe not, if you aren't their master. But if they came from somewhere, maybe there's a librarian who's lost control of their filing system?

[ She's all for keeping the situation humorous if it distracts from other issues. ]

[nethereseorb]

[ Oh the nerd, that does cause Gale a chuckle; finding the humor in such an anecdote coming from his erstwhile companion. He sees a page flickering in the wind and after carefully skirting around the blackhole, he follows it and finally manages to grasp it between his fingers though he is careful to hold it out carefully.

Best not to touch naughty pages with anything short of 'gingerly'. ]

Ah, if only we were caught in a library-- I could do with a filing system, or books to organize. There is this library from the world where I live, called Candlekeep and there are a some instances of magic there, so perhaps I should not be so surprised by this.. [ And then he points at another page that rolls past the other like a tumbleweed in the desert ] Quick! Grab that before it escapes!

[wovensecrets]

Oh-? [ There's humor in the encounter for her, and he's piqued her interest somewhat, so she doesn't even mind the suggestion for the moment, even if it means some careful navigation on her part to skirt closer to the danger. She doesn't have quite the boost to her skillset that she once had to work with, but she's still quite agile, able to nimbly grasp at the corner of the flyaway page before it becomes condemned to the darkness, and springing back. It gives her something of a chance to assess more of what feels off, and she doesn't like that, so she focuses on his words instead as she presents him with the page. ]

Ah - here. I have to say a magical library sounds like it would have plenty of interesting stories.

[nethereseorb]

Have you ever been so absorbed into a book? Well think of it quite literally.

[ He had been in some of the more secret parts of Candlekeep, had even been allowed to enter a book by the Keepers of the books. Very fascinating, but also? Dangerous ] I can assure you that the real possibility of being stuck in a book can be quite harrowing. [ He takes the page and then adds it to a little stack that is neat and organized, the bindings there embossed in leather of which could be inserted pages. ]

I can imagine there are several bindings laying around.. though we'll focus on this.

[wovensecrets]

Ah, right...

[ Just like that, he has himself a helper. Far better results than her just being left to her own devices. Already, she's being mindful of the pathing of a nearby page, preparing to intercept it.

She considers the experience he describes. She hasn't had the chance, she thinks, a vague scraping of a recollection of having books taken from her hands abruptly if there was work waiting, which she shoves aside in an instant - but she'd seen others caught up in study. Unwilling to be disturbed. ]

Though if it is much like being caught in another world with no immediate way out... that isn't too different from where we are now. Except we didn't open this book.

[nethereseorb]

I cannot imagine that this was a place I would've choosen, perhaps my own taste in books are more escapist as opposed to being jousted into a world that is much similar to mine own.

[ The good thing about Gale Dekarios was that he would provide any assistance he could, and would appreciate any assiduous efforts. One did not have to be perfect at anything, he certainly was not (one only had to listen to his singing); but neither was it a race as there was always something for pages to get caught against. As walls could not form words (we hope), all inanimate objects were not in any danger of forming the spells written on the page.

As they worked, he would take each page that Archnemon would give to him and place it carefully one on top of the other.

The vicinity around them was starting to considerably clear up, only then he allowed himself a rest, and finally the luxury of the exchange of names. ] I just realized I have been unpardonably rude, I am Gale. [ Felt a bit useless to introduce himself as the Wizard of Waterdeep, since this person likely did not even know what or where the place was. ]

[wovensecrets]

Mm.

[ She had been so caught up in the calming activity of busywork that his introduction takes her mildly off guard, as though there were any art to cautiously gathering potentially incendiary paper if she so much glanced at it the wrong way.

Now she was left with figuring out just what people would ordinarily respond with in this situation. Not doing too well on the insight. Usually she never gave her name unless she was in a more dramatic position to have to reveal it, but this... was new. She would need to buy herself more time to decide on that. He hadn't yet proved (too) aggravating to be around. That was something. ]

Is that so...? I didn't consider it an issue of rudeness, when there was a goal to accomplish.

[nethereseorb]

[ Just give him time to go on a tangent, there was plenty of time to get underneath Archnemon's skin with his tangents and quantifications. However at this point of time, there were perhaps a few times for pleasantries as there seemed to be a subtle difference now in the pages, i.e that most of them in the direct area were contained.

If Gale Dekarios had to do a rough accounting, it would number perhaps 25 that they had managed to curtail? The villagers here should rather thank them for saving them from a bit of grief. ]

Well, my mother did raise a gentleman-- however necessity meant that I did not make the introduction until after.. [ And then he tapped the book rather lightly and with a wry smile on his face. ]

Business before acquaintance-making.

[wovensecrets]

Right, right.

[ Business first, but usually, there was no further acquaintance making to be had, for her. For that matter, there was no mother to have instilled such a value in her either, but there'd certainly been another to hold her to certain standards of work before all else.

She turns over ideas in her mind quickly, for something she did not think she'd have to truly face except for long discarded thoughts. But those were hardly necessary and didn't matter, and anyway she needed some kind of bandage to cover the void that was her - lack of self. Something she'd have to remember, anyway. If it doesn't stick the landing. Who knew, with names? Thinking... but clearly, she's just focused on the result of their combined handiwork and not just deciding something important on the spot because she just wasn't about to explain the Digital World to a human. Not yet, anyway. ]

Well, it would be rude of me to keep a 'gentleman' waiting for too long, yes? Then, you may call me... hm. "Kaori."

[nethereseorb]

Very well then Kaori, I would like to thank you for your endeavors to assist, I could not have done it without you.

[ He probably could've but it would've been less of an experience, with him collecting page by the light of his own self and with those words consistently stopping him to tempt him into reading-- those a longer and more arduous process. ] Because of our teamwork, we have this book almost entirely filled up with spells that by their very nature are created to cause any manner of havoc.

[ It was the wielder, of course it was the wielder who decided that-- it was not the spells fault but those that they fell into the hands of; after all what was spells but merely words on a paper, unuttered. ]

[wovensecrets]

Is that so?

[ She almost didn't know how to parse that. Praise of course, was certainly nice to receive and frankly it had been a while since she'd last been able to receive any of it no matter how she chased it, almost to the point where it almost seemed too good, even if it were coming from a practical stranger whose level of sincerity she'd yet to fully determine. It shouldn't have mattered, odd that the simplicity of it should even brighten an otherwise less than pleasant mood which had almost felt as though it might be perpetual otherwise. She did appreciate a sense of teamwork. Who knew? ]

I admit, it is difficult not to be curious about the sort of havoc they might hold had we not acted so carefully--ah, but you've schooled them after all, Mister Gale.

[nethereseorb]

[ Teamwork, such as him and his own companions prized; with a common and shared goal-- he was finding that most things were possible. But of course now there was other matters to talk about, and he felt like he could talk to Kaori about this.. well this strange new world that they were now a part of. ]

I agree with you completely, curiousity is certainly a beguiling thing, though I am also interested in how this world would come back from such a thing. But there are a few book leaves scattered here and there, so perhaps while there will be havoc, it will not be insurmountable.

[ A clear of his throat. ] Perhaps for now we have evened the playing field of this strange place. [ A single beat passes before he continues as he gestures to all around them- ] What do you make of our situation?

[wovensecrets]

It might not be the first time it's happened, it had to have escaped from somewhere.

[ Or let in from another world, much like themselves. While she considers his question. There's a whole lot to downplay about things, but framing it more as a report would be better to do than relying on her own feelings about it, from her perspective. ]

Which part? There's an awful lot of factors to consider.

[nethereseorb]

I suppose we could discuss the cult and the summoning of the Old Ones; in my world we have something called the Absolute, however that is an ill-disguised attempt to turn the entire of the world into mindflayers-- what do you think the main objective is? There has to be something, correct?

[ He was still hesitant about the worship and would rather not when it came to shove; but it was true that when one approached this subject, there would be a great deal of personal conjecture. ]

I am finding it hard to know exactly how to approach aside from a distinct distance.

[wovensecrets]

Oh?

[ Mindflayers, that was a new one. She frowns slightly, trying to recall anything she might have overheard before trying to get away from the crowds of priests. There was not thinking about things; but there were less rules here. Or perhaps, all new ones. ]

Ah, my consideration is... it might not be that different an objective for those wanting to control a world in that way, right? We were brought here because they think we are to be useful enough for their Old Ones, after all. Even so, we would have to learn about what that really means... and not just what they say.

[ And if that runs out... she knows how that story goes too. ]

So... what is it that you wish to prioritize, Mister Gale? Maybe that will help you decide.

[nethereseorb]

Well, I am not one for excessive violence.

[ If he could logic his way out of a conundrum, he would. Much easier to do so than take the path where things could be construed as a constant state of attack; not to mention he'd already seen these villagers children, the devout followers had children and peace should be prioritized. He would have to mention this to Astarion however, for he knew that Astarion would likely barge right in. ]

So perhaps it is best to prioritize knowledge for right now-- ask the right questions and see what comes up and hope that they are answers that we are able to deal with, yes.

[wovensecrets]

Right.

[ She knew someone who thrived on asking too many questions, but they were usually the annoying type. In this situation, there wasn't too much to know to start with, so maybe there was an advantage to having that sort of person around. ]

Though you still want to be careful, in case they find curiosity a threat. They've had more time to build their religion before dragging us along into their plans, whatever they may be, after all.