goodmeme | TEST DRIVE MEME

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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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Lae'zel is ready to strike, and Gale knows she is going to do so and he is about ready to turn away when suddenly the voice erupts into a cacophony of begging and pleading, because let us face it-- Lae'zel was really that intimidating; he did not bother to check to see if there was a spoiled mark on those pants, Gale didn't want to know.

But the pleas were enough that he broken just a little bit, which was fine by him. He was actually relying on the cowardice of the common man and voila, it paid off. ]

The library, it's in the Grand Library.. books on the Old Ones-- all of it, but I don't have access, I can't even g-get you access.. I'm just a neophyte here to shepherd the 'Promised Ones', nothing more.

[ Gale stops and then turns around. ]

And where is this library?

[Although there is an explanation that begins, Lae'zel's decided it's kind of useless when they don't know their way terribly well. They can barely string a proper sentence while she's standing there looming.]

Pathetic. Take us there at once. But know that if you should stray, I will introduce you to your own insides without hesitation.

[Lae'zel gives the individual a "gentle" shove, which echoes a yelp before they properly start moving. She gives a short head nod to Gale to follow with her. Maybe there's a bit of gratitude in there for his assistance, but she'll never say so.]

[ Honestly, Gale knows that the best way that Lae'zel can show her approval is by not talking at all; she was not predisposed toward flattery and if she spoke it was usually to show her unrelenting derision.

No, he was good with the nod and he would accept that with nary a word against it. ]

I suggest that you listen to her, I have the pleasure of her acquaintance and she never speaks that which she does not mean.

[ The Neophyte lets out a half-strangled noise that is in no way indicative of fear whatsoever. However he does start walking fairly fast but not so fast that they cannot follow, just fast enough to convey that he wants to get this over with as soon as possible. ]

Ah, I do love a good library break-in.

[She is careful to keep an eye on their captive for any unwanted or unexpected movements as they follow. But tries to fall back enough to get out of immediate ear shot.]

Do you truly believe a simple library will hold what we seek?

[A few quiet steps while she checks if their captive is listening.]

Because if so, then the others here are truly fools. I doubt it will be so easy.

Well it is as good a place to start; a library, a study.. anything with desks that store things in them. Cultists are very rarely on the brighter side, you've seen the Absolute's followers-- blind faith makes one a bit reckless. We could always check, but if you have a better option on how best to proceed I am willing to listen.

[ It would be a start, and what other leads did they have? He would defer of course, as Lae'zel's thinking was less circuitous than his own.

Wordy Wizard Weakness, it was a point of hubris as well as a marked ailment and there was years upon years of substantiating proof in the fact that more often than not Wizards took each other out-- and not in the romantic 'to a library' sort of way. ]

Edited 2023-10-10 20:28 (UTC)

[A scowl crosses her face when their captive looks behind toward them. The trespass is quickly corrected before Lae'zel continues.]

No. I merely doubt we are the first to try, even by force. We would do well to be wary so that we succeed where others have failed.

[It's a cultist village that's intact while pulling in others against their will without repercussions from their unwilling guests. Something's not right.].

[ the skills of intimidation that Lae'zel possessed were a sight to behold, not the tactics that he would've used however Lae'zel would also not have tried to convince Tav to consume the additional tadpoles either which Gale woud've done, because hurbis and wizards go hand in hand like two best friends heading to a tea party, if that tea party were in hell. ]

I cannot imagine we are the first, but at the very least we can scope out where he will lead us and then we will improvise from there. If we need to come back later, so be it. Certainly, I am not adverse such endeavors-- though he may have to be persuaded to keep this quiet.

[ Reconnaissance in approximately 20 words more than was necessary. ]

Persuasion does not guarantee silence.

[If you know what I mean.]

[ Ominious, completely and utterly ominious. He looks in the direction of the Neophyte to see if he's heard exactly what was spoken by Lae'zel. The only indication that he may have heard was a brief head tilt as if he wanted to look over his shoulder but dare not. Instead the pace quickened infinitesimally

Their intimidation specialist really was rather good at her job, he had to applaud her that. ] Well, Lae'zel, you are clearly very good at what you do.

[ Finally they were lead to the courtyard and quietly directed toward a large house which the poor man managed to spit out. ] This is the archives, but there's no access there save for the Mavens. I swear I have no access to it-- please don't.

[She makes a mental note of their surroundings as well as this large house and courtyard. It seems unremarkable to her.]

What do you think, Gale? Do we let him live? Or merely cut out his tongue.

[The man is a shaking, sputtering sad little mess.]

I-I won't! I wouldn't! Please...

[ While Gale preferred persuasion to get things done, he was not above some intimidation tactics (not by him, never by him.. there was not a single intimidation bone in his body-- Lae'zel knew that and so did Gale, all told.) and with the way that the man stuttered with the abject fear of-- the Elder Ones? in his voice, it made it prime opportunity to sneak into the following. ]

I suppose the tongue could be saved if, oh I do not know-- the best way to enter this archive in a manner most subterfuge was provided. After all information a tongue can provide, for continued use for the tongue. I am sure that Lae'zel would agree that is a fair exchange.

[ The light clicked on in the man's eyes and then there was a blurting out of a single word ]

There is a r-root cellar where deliveries are made! That is.. all I can tell you.. f-f-for the Elder's sake, I need my tongue.

[ Naturally for proselytzing.. and licking boots. ]

I can concur, I am rather fond of my tongue as well-- [ He looks to Lae'zel, he has determined that is sufficient, however he defers final verdict for the Githyanki. ]

TEST DRIVE MEME

rolled for the poor thing with a disadvantage, rolled an 8

Wonderful~ Teamwork makes the dream work

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