Test Drive Meme 1

[labyrinthian_mods]

☙ Test Drive Meme

☙ Quest:

• Quest 0.1: Star Seekers
  An ex-adventurer named Ausan Leighey seeks a company of adventurers to investigate a star which fell into the Yggdrasil Labyrinth.
  
  According to the accounts of soldiers that have gone in before, the area the star supposedly fell is known to be full of sand dunes that shift about under you. They had turned back after finding the carcass of a creature, bones picked clean.
  
  What could have done that, you wonder, even as you're suiting up because money has to come from somewhere.
  
  It's ants. Giant, acid-spitting ants. Luckily for you, it's not the rainy season so all you have to deal with is the occasional scout that may accidentally walk into you, their advance heralded by those shifting sands. Not a problem at all, for a group. A bit of a problem for some going at it solo, so make the smart choice!
  
  Will you try to use those natural ant pheromones to get through without too much fighting? Or perhaps you're just in this for the levels! Either way (probably both involving ant guts), you'll find a chunk of star at the end of your journey, half-buried in the sand.



• Quest 0.2: Napier’s Request
  Every adventurer needs good equipment! The problem is...everything is so expensive! Complaining to the store owner does nothing. She’s only an NPC after all and like any RPG NPC’s her responses are limited.
  
  But when you went to the pub, you found she’s put in a Quest:
  
  Hey, I know a lot of people have weapons or armour they’re not using anymore and they’re probably just collecting dust. How wasteful! If one of you can go collect three pieces of old equipment and bring it to me I’ll trade you something good.
  
  Sounds easy enough! But the terms of the quest means you can’t trade in your own equipment...looks like it’s time to accost some of your fellow adventurers for stuff! Do you ask nicely? Do you try to trick them?
  
  Or maybe you see an opportunity with the quest and hold a yard sale of your own old equipment.

☙ Labyrinth Encounter:
Adventurers exploring the labyrinth may encounter all sorts of events...beware, your choices may have real consequences for yourself and others travelling with you.

Rounding a corner, there is an adorable squirrel-like creature. Unlike the other creatures of the labyrinth it seems to be friendly! It tries to approach, do you…

• A. Scare it away?
  Scare the squirrel away and it runs off with a squeak...and then there’s a rumble before a giant monster squirrel crashes through the trees to attack! Oh no! The squirrel called its mom!


• B. Allow it to approach?
  Allow the squirrel to approach and it rubs up against your arm then tries to climb you like a tree. Cute! And then it steals 5000 gold from your pocket! Or if you don’t have that then whatever money you had. Oh, no! What do you do?

☙The Town of Etria:
It's been a long day of squirrels, giant ants and bartering with a stranger for that old piece of bread in their pocket because that thing was definitely still labeled as "equipment" for reasons unknown to either of you. (And had a defense buff of +10? Why?!)
Now though, your pockets are heavier with either gold or equipment because you can't have both in this town. So for your next plan, do you go to…

• A. Guild
  Ah, home sweet home. The moment you open the door you're greeted by the delicious smell of free food and perhaps your members are home already? Bond, fight over who gets to use the bathroom and its never-ending supply of hot water first, and once you're no longer crusted in ant guts, it's time for dinner!



• B. Golden Deer Pub
  That gold is weighing you down a bit too much, huh? Well, the Golden Deer Pub has you covered. A small blackboard outside lists the daily specials:
  
  Fluffy mountain pie with a field salad, 600 gold
  Dry-roasted river gar with wild rice, 650 gold
  Grave hazelnut mooncake, 500 gold
  Water, 50 gold
  
  And, of course, the owner Fontayne being… himself, means that your order also comes with a side order of a joke. Dinner and a show! Hey, ever heard the joke about the FOE and the tree? You have? Want to hear it again? And then again? He's an NPC, they're not known for their imagination. Or free thought. At least the food, while expensive, is delicious and hey, you never know who you'll meet here. Maybe someone who has deeper pockets and won't mind covering your meal. Perhaps someone looking for more members for their guild, or to join a guild so they can finally stop sleeping in the corner of Napier's shop.



☙ Extra
Got something in mind? Want to play with the setting more? The sky's the limit, so feel free and make up your own prompts to play with!

Welcome to Labyrinthian’s first Test Drive Meme! Please check out the FAQ, extended FAQ and rules as you test your characters out. The setting is yours to play with, so be creative and have a good time with it!

An important date to remember is July 4, 2020 at 9pm EST is when Reserves will open and Applications will open on July 11, 2020 at 9pm EST. There will be reserves for this app round, so please make sure to have that in before you apply. As a side note, TDM threads are not canon, so please feel free to assume established CR for the sake of the TDM if it will make threading or showing off your character's voice easier.

If you have any questions about the TDM, feel free to ask us here. If there are any other questions, you can catch us via PM, the FAQ or the contact page. You are of course welcome to use prompts from the previous test drives as well. Thank you for your interest in Labyrinthian!

Comments

QUESTIONS

[labyrinthian_mods]

Shen Qingqiu - Scum Villain's Self-Saving System

[softheartedshizun]

Quest 0.1: Star Seekers

[Taking up quests was natural, it was a given. Though, he would rather not take on a quest or trigger an event. But, what else could he do? So, despite his better judgments, he stood at the entrance to what he can only think of as Ant Hell. Didn't every game have an ant nest of giant ants? He felt like this was a given these days, also, it was the place you always died a lot! This was an aggro nightmare! What was he doing alone!?

So, despite being a mage class he found himself sitting by wondering what to do. In the end, he made a large sign with LFP (Looking for Party) written on it while reading a book.]

Quest 0.2: Napier’s Request

[Shen Qingqiu had been fortunate to have clothing that fit his new alignment, and though he could not use his word, he had no intention of getting rid of it. This however made obtaining useless gear a bit difficult. This was so stupid! He should be able to go out and grind away on useless beginner gear and then turn that all in! Why make him trade!?]

If anyone would like, I have an idea on how to handle this.

[He needed at least one other person for his potential plan to even have a chance.]

Allow it to approach?

[What an odd animal to be in a labyrinth. But, he didn't have the heart to chase it away, it was quite cute in fact! As it scurried up his robes he wanted to reach out and petit, but then it grabbed his coin purse and started to run off.]

Fuck!

Wait! Stop!

[That was all of his money! Give it back! These sorts of events were the worst!]

The Town of Etria

[He didn't make it to a guild or a pub. Instead, he sat outside somewhere vaguely near the Golden Deer Pup trying to figure out what he should do next. Joining a guild would be the best option, but which guild? And was it a thing of job guilds and then player guilds? What if he advertised looking for a guild? But he didn't want to just join any guild that invites him first, that might be a sign of no standards. But at the same time, a generous guild that tries to help newbies was always a good type of guild to join.

...

THE CHOICES!]

I never thought I would have missed Miss System....

[He can't learn a whole new system! Even if it shared proper information and wasn't out to get him!]

Wildecard!

[Have an idea you want to throw at him? Go for it! Shen Qingqiu is a modern transmigrator who spent all of his time on the internet reading web novels, so he's very trope savvy on these sorts of things.]

[unwantedtwin]

[Here is a nine year old child...a bit scrawny because she's had a rough three years but otherwise she looks healthy otherwise.

She's also looking pointedly at that sign because.......what is LFP? But her curiosity is short lived because it doesn't matter that much.

Instead she looks up at him, dressed like a combat class that doesn't carry weapons because her fists are her weapons.]

Hey. [She says with basically 0 manners at all.] Are you strong?

[softheartedshizun]

[Who was this small child!? And why was there a small child dressed as a combat class!?

He also felt called out. Don't call him out! Strong. Is he strong? Of course-

Not! He was some low-level mage, those were never strong until practically max level cap!

But, despite his complaints and offense, his expression was rather neutral, looking as if he were gauging her to decide on an answer.]

What do you think?

napier

[oceanicbutterfly]

[A... bunny girl? steps forward.]

What's your idea?

[Karen honestly isn't expecting much, but it'll cost her zero en to listen to his idea even if it's stupid.]

[softheartedshizun]

We all go and gather as much starting gear as possible, then we trade it with each other. That way the gear we turn in, was not our gear, but gear from others.

[It felt perfect.]

The Town of Etria

[kiranerysds9]

[A woman walks by. She looks to be about his age. She has short brown hair. She looks at him sitting there.]

Hello. What is 'Miss System?'

[softheartedshizun]

[Don’t ask him that! It’s too complicated to explain and he would look crazy!

Though considering how he arrived, was it really that crazy? He thought about it for a moment before deciding to answer genuinely.]

An interface system not unlike this worlds. But with a more cheeky attitude and unhelpful and unreasonable demands.

A-Ting | Song of the Sky Walkers

[unwantedtwin]

i: Quest 0.1 a

[She has no idea what anyone would want a fallen star. But her expression steadily went from confused-disinterest to active-interest when the rumour of giant ants were brought up.

Those sounded strong!

And so, this nine year old little girl immediately volunteers.]

I'll go!

[If no one tries to stop her she'll hop right off the bar stool to run off into the labyrinth. Someone please stop her.]

ii: Quest 0.1 b

[Or maybe you're already in the labyrinth when this child crashes down from a tree to land a kick on an ant. Then she pushes off from it, flips in the air and lands on the ground lightly beside you.

The ant, understandably, is standing back up, hissing at her...and you too since you're so close. That hit did a decent amount of damage but the ant is far from beaten.]

Tch. These things are tougher than they look. [Then this small child turns to you with a frown.] Can you fight? If not then get out of here already.

[...she means well.]


iii: Allow it to approach

[She is very much a feral child who will fight anyone who looks remotely like they'd be strong...but she's not a bully. So when a small creature approaches her she even crouches down for it...

...only for it to steal her money!] Hey!

[Then she ran after it without a care for the fact that she's running further into the dungeon.]

ii

[protectthecastle]

[Veronica is dressed in a lot of heavy armour, her head just peeking out from the top of it, hair coiled up in the world's worst facsimile of a tidy bun. She is not good at doing things for herself.

But what she can do right now with the knowledge innate to her class is to plant the end of her spear into the soil.]

I can fight. I... will fight.

[But... she goes through her options... then with a swoop of the spear she shouts:]

Increase! Defense!

[She has no idea what that actually is supposed to do but her voice rings out through the dunes, thankfully not scaring any ants but hey, at least they begin to feel stronger?]

[unwantedtwin]

[She sees the messy hair but as a child who had run around in the wilderness with her grandfather she's hardly going to judge.

She's not so sure about the shouting but upon hearing it, she feels her body fill with energy that reminds her of the techniques her big brother had taught her.

She clenches her hands into fists and falls into a fighting stance.]

We need to take it out before it can call for more help.

[Then she launches herself forward to punch the ant in the face. Because that's what you do.

It retaliates by biting her but oddly...it doesn't hurt as much as when it happened earlier when she fought a different ant. What was it the lady had said? Increase defense?

She shoves the ant's head against the ground. She's strong for a child her age, but she really isn't as strong with her cultivation sealed and she can't use her weight to her advantage here. So it's down to her arm strength.]

Can you make my attacks stronger?

i

[touchsensors]

Wait a minute-lun!

[Lala gets up to run after her. You can't go alone! You are baby!

Lala herself is also somewhat baby but don't tell her that.]

Lala Hagoromo 💖 Star Twinkle Precure

[touchsensors]

1. Squirrel: all of the above?

Oyo! That's mine-lun!

[Small squirrel creature has very quickly downgraded itself from "potential friend" to "enemy." Lala feels bad about attacking something so cute, but it seems pretty earned in this case, so with a shout of "Lun!" she casts Lightning to stop it in its tracks.

Without another word, she goes to retrieve her money.

...

What's that loud stomping sound?]

2. Golden Deer Pub

[Somehow she made it back with a decent amount of money, so now it's time to eat, and Lala is...

...eyeing her food suspiciously. She ordered the mooncake on someone's recommendation, but now that it's here it looks like she doesn't think it's that appetizing. Or really, she's not even sure what it is.]

Is this a rock from the river-lun?

2

[protectthecastle]

[Veronica had gone for the gar, not because she had a lot of money but mostly because she just really wanted to know what it tasted like? The fish is similar to the river fish she sometimes had back home so she's very interested to see what she assumes must be the mooncake.

Huh. It really does look like a rock??]

....Surely not?

[But the person running the establishment was also charging them a lot for plain old water for some reason. Was water not freely had???]

I wonder what it looks like on the inside?

1. Squirrel

[kiranerysds9]

[Kira hears the shout. She rounds the corner and sees Lala shoot a squirrel-like creature with lightning. Interesting trick. She also hears the loud stomping sound. Without preamble, she asks...]

Uh-oh. What is that sound?

Kira Nerys | Deep Space Nine

[kiranerysds9]

1. Quest One
[Kira reads the notice. A star? In a labyrinth? Near here? It cannot be a true star. Kira thinks for a moment, then she speaks.]

Maybe it’s a meteor, or something like that. Sand dunes don’t sound so bad. What could have picked the bones off a carcass, though?

I’m going to accept this quest. Is anyone else coming? I’m leaving now, so decide quickly.

[She stands up and pats her side to make sure her gun is still there. She begins walking toward the door. This should be fun. Care to join her?]

2. Labyrinth Encounter
[Kira rounds the corner. She has seen squirrel-like creatures before. She is not from Earth, but she has been there. There are also similar creatures on other planets and on the holodeck. She allows it to approach.]

Hey, there little fellow.

[It climbs up her arm. The creature’s paws tickle, so she tries not to laugh to hard. She does not want to scare the little thing. It is adorable… It just stole her money!]

Hey! Get back here! You thieving little guttersnipe!

[She goes running after the creature. A little help here?]


3. Golden Deer Pub
[Kira needs a drink and, perhaps, some food. She heads for the Golden Deer Pub. It is not Quark's, but it is her only option for such things. She skips the alcohol, for now, and buys a glass of Water and a Grave Hazelnut Mooncake.]

This stuff is expensive.

[She is not talking to anyone specifically. She finds a seat and begins eating and drinking.]

I wonder what’s in this. It’s not bad. Oh, hello. Would you like to join me?

[She notices you and smiles invitingly. Fontayne is approaching, so that may have something to do with her sudden invitation. She does not want to talk to him… again.]

2

[unwantedtwin]

[Probably, someone would consider her being too young to be in the labyrinth on her own.

But really, no one caught her running off into the labyrinth so their opinions are moot.

She's found it's easier to ambush enemies from above which is why she was sitting in a tree when she heard that kerfuffle. She peers over the branch and...ah. It's a woman...chasing a squirrel? She isn't sure why but it sounds like someone had stolen something...?

If her grandfather were here, he'd definitely try to help. So she does too.

She doesn't hesitate to jump down from above, landing on in a run alongside the woman.]

Do you need help? I can try to cut it off in front.

3

[protectthecastle]

[Veronica had gone to make more gold before coming back, intending to try at least a bit of everything today. She has the fluffy mountain pie which seems to be piled much too high?

When she's beckoned though, she comes over with a bright smile, not thinking for a moment that someone might be tired of hearing Fontayne's joke for the fifteenth time. She still thinks it's funny and can't help but be encouraging despite the fact that NPCs technically can't be encouraged.]

I would love to. How is the mooncake?

Marnie | Pokemon Sw/Sh

[960]

Quest 0.1

"I don't think you're gonna take them on all alone, Morpeko. I don't even think I'll be enough help with this." Marnie shoulders her bow awkwardly, speaking to the eager rodent currently resting on her other shoulder. Any familiar with the world she came from might recognize it as a pokemon, but in a world such as this Morpeko didn't likely look too out of place.

After initially venturing out just the two of them, Marnie had returned to town with one goal in mind-finding a party to make it past the dungeons and to that fallen star. If it was anything like a Wishing Star, she could understand the value-and even if it weren't, well, somebody was willing to pay for it.

Golden Deer Pub

"Don't you know any other jokes?" Apparently the idea of an 'NPC' still didn't make much sense to Marnie, who had now heard that same stupid joke three times. At least he'd served her something a little more interesting than what they had back at the guild hall-Morpeko was dining on the gar while Marnie herself enjoyed the mountain pie and the rice side from her companion's dish. Looking up as the door opened, she squinted slightly before warning the newest entrance to the pub.

"Don't ask him anythin' about the tree. Or the FOE. Or really much of anythin' at all, really, if you can help it."

Golden Deer Pub

[unwantedtwin]

The newest entrance is a nine year old child who is covered in some bruises and cuts--thankfully closed. The idea of potions hasn't quite sunk in with this one yet...and at any rate, she's run around with worse injuries.

A-Ting blinked as she hopped up onto the chair. "Why not?" She has to stretch to grab the menu but she just manages it. "Does he get angry?" She sounds curious more than she sounds angry.

quest

[touchsensors]

Morpeko and Lala would seem to have something in common, in terms of not looking out of place. On most Earths, Lala would stand out, but here she's just another pointy-eared Warlock with colorful hair. Marnie might not even notice her.

At least, until Lala speaks up. "Oyo. Did you bring a monster back with you-lun?"

Quest: Did someone say "party"?

[kiranerysds9]

[A woman with short brown hair and a gun walks up to Marnie as she enters town. It is okay, her gun is holstered.]

Take on who? Help with what? I'm interested.

Dust | Dust: An Elysian Tail

[mithrarin]

0.1

Not counting Fidget or Ahrah, Dust was used to going it alone -- because no one else could do this sort of thing back where he came from. The quest, then, found him dodging the acid-spit of a scout ant far less comfortably than he liked. This -- reborn body, or whatever it was, was so slow and weak!

Teeth clenched and fingers tight on the Blade of Ahrah's grip, Dust crouched behind a small dune and pondered his options. "I think we might be in trouble," he said to the sword, in a quiet voice that nonetheless carried as clearly as a shouted word.

Guild Sweet Guild

You ever have one of those days where someone stops you, asks what guild you're in, and when you say you don't have one, declares you a member of their own guild and shoves you towards the door?

Dust just did. And it only got weirder from here.

Dust had spent essentially none of his short life indoors, and not one second of it enjoying things such as dinner on a table, hot running water, or a bed. His life was one of constant movement, traveling back and forth across Falana to the end. What he saw in front of him accorded with none of that.

"This... has to be a mistake," he said out loud, one hand on the door jamb like he couldn't bring himself to move, in or out. "I don't belong here."

Guild Sweet Guild

[unwantedtwin]

Here is a child who had basically all but been shoved towards this door. Honestly, she was perfectly fine sleeping outside since she'd travelled with her grandfather for years.

Still, she was a lot less uncomfortable than him considering the way she'd been sitting on a stool, kicking her legs.

"I don't think any of us belong here." She means, of course, this town and this world. She hops off, and walks towards him with her head cocked. "Who are you?"

Quests are the best

[kiranerysds9]

[A woman with short brown hair and a very serious expression walks up to him. She crouches behind the sand dune as well, once she sees what is on the other side. She seems to have a knack for getting into trouble, or being around when other people are in trouble.]

Hi, my name's Kira Nerys. Can I help with whatever trouble you're in?

[She pulls out a gun, casually, as if she is used to doing so. That might be helpful, right?]