Good Morrow mods ([personal profile] morrowmods) wrote in [community profile] goodmeme2023-10-06 06:18 pm
Entry tags:

TEST DRIVE MEME

test drive meme
Welcome to the opening test drive of [community profile] 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.

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.

reflectionless: (029)

[personal profile] reflectionless 2023-10-08 12:14 am (UTC)(link)
Three years?

[Sorry, he's going to get to each and every detail of this and likely be dramatically infuriated by all of them. That first though.]

I saw you hours ago, at most. [But looking at her now, he frowns. She's not actually lying, is she?] Three years, well, I'm certain you've missed me terribly in all that time.

[Who wouldn't. He refocuses, frowning as he tries to let all this sink in.] I have no intention of dying any time soon, nor of worshiping any gods -- old or new. It's hardly my thing. No offense, dear. Your Lady seems [Terrifying? Domineering?] ...lovely.
shadowfells: (bg3080723-83)

[personal profile] shadowfells 2023-10-08 12:26 am (UTC)(link)
[ Shadowheart's expression falls at the mention of Lady Shar, a crack in her mask. She looks down at her feet for a moment and it probably tells Astarion all he needs to know about the reality of the situation here.

When she pulls herself back together, there is no mention of her Goddess. ]


You don't have to worship them if you don't want to, but you'll never get your powers back if you don't. If the tadpole still works, I haven't seen any indication of it. So...

[ she gives him an appraising look over ]

Maybe be careful with the sun.
reflectionless: (018)

[personal profile] reflectionless 2023-10-08 12:42 am (UTC)(link)
[Well, still Shadowheart then, if that's a bit of a weak spot in her metaphoric armor. Interesting. But yes, there is a sinking feeling in his stomach as the fact that the cleric is indeed serious about being trapped here.

It's when she mentions that the tadpole that Astarion's entire demeanor shifts. Eyes widen and even if it ought not be possible, he turns even more pale.]


...no. No it must still be doing something I am still...

[He is still his own person, and if anyone threatens that he will rip them and everything they have ever loved to shreds with his bare hands.

He forces himself to take a breath that he does not technically physically need and straightens up.]


So if you've been here for years already, surely you have set up something of a life, yes? Perhaps a place you might invite a dear companion back to while we sort this out?

[Just going to. Invite himself over.]
shadowfells: (bg3080723-85)

[personal profile] shadowfells 2023-10-08 12:49 am (UTC)(link)
[ Shadowheart does feel bad for him, for the way he frets over it. But she's long come to terms with this place. His problems can't catch him with him any more than hers can catch up with her. She's been inviting her problems in for three years now. But not once have they accepted ]

Sure, I'll invite you over. You're welcome to stay with me if you want. Novitiates are expected to study, though. And it'll reflect badly on me if you don't at least try.

[ But there's something about the way that she says "try" that clearly means "pretend." ]

The housing is better than what you'd have otherwise.
reflectionless: (027)

[personal profile] reflectionless 2023-10-08 12:56 am (UTC)(link)
[There's a faint easing to the line of tension in his shoulders at that response.]

I've done my share of studies in the past. One does not become a magistrate through charm alone.

[A pause and he adds, quieter, the flippant tone dropped from his voice for a moment as he speaks, a rare genuine,] Thank you. I would appreciate that, very much.
shadowfells: (bg3080723-76)

[personal profile] shadowfells 2023-10-08 01:01 am (UTC)(link)
[ The shift in tone surprises her and she becomes a little softer for it too. It seems that even three years of hardship haven't totally iced her over. She gives him an apologetic smile, for the circumstance. For the place they're in. For the future they're going to have to deal with.

And then, for both their sakes, she laughs: ]


Don't thank me yet. I'm going to put you on chore duty. Which would you prefer, Astarion, milking goats or picking crops?
reflectionless: (002)

[personal profile] reflectionless 2023-10-08 01:56 am (UTC)(link)
[The immediate look of affront at the mere idea of being asked to milk a goat or labor in the fields is likely comical to everyone but Astarion who may be living his worst nightmare here. He recovers in the next moment and shakes his head with a chuckle of his own.]

I'm touched you'd trust me with the goats.

[Hells knew he'd eaten far worse.]
shadowfells: (bg3080723-68)

[personal profile] shadowfells 2023-10-08 04:10 am (UTC)(link)
If you eat my goats, I won't have cheese.

[ Yes, this is the life she's leading now. She's taking this very seriously. There's little in the way of hope here. But you know what there is? Goat cheese. ]

I cannot be liable for any decisions I might make if I don't have goat cheese.
Edited 2023-10-08 04:13 (UTC)
reflectionless: (009)

[personal profile] reflectionless 2023-10-08 04:44 am (UTC)(link)
[An amused snort of breath, and he ducked his head.]

Duly noted. I've manners enough not to want to get between my gracious hostess and her cheese.

[Gods forbid, really.]

I'd like to know more about this place, if you're willing to tell. I do hate feeling unprepared.