Test Drive Meme 2

[labyrinthian_mods]

☙ Test Drive Meme

☙Gladsheim

You wake up in what looks like a cryogenic pod. There are other pods around you, some of them still sealed shut and others open with people stepping out of them like you did. There’s some technology around you but all of it is overgrown with plants. There are some panels but touching them only causes a sad whirring sound before...nothing happens.

After a moment there’s a pinging sound before a blue panel, like the one that brought you here, that pops up.

New Quest!! Make it out of Gladsheim alive! Fight your way to safety!

Then the door leaving out of this area opens up, draw your weapons and prepare to fight!

Most of the monsters seem to be some kind of small woodland creature but bigger. Be careful! In Gladsheim there are a lot of blocked corridors, locked doors and dead ends...try not to get cornered alone!

Though unlike the previous arrivals, you’re in luck, because as the door keeping the monsters out open, everyone who were brought before suddenly get a ping as a blue menu opens:

New Quest!! Rescue those lost in Gladsheim!

Anyone going into Gladsheim and successfully rescuing a new arrival gains:
1000 gold
ITEM: 10 beeswax candles. Heals status ailment BLINDNESS when lit. Each candle is one use only.
ITEM: 1 potato. HP+5 when eaten.

New arrivals...get nothing! Unless one counts the pinging sound before a blue panel pops up again. Congratulations on making it out of Gladsheim!

...following that is an unskippable tutorial teaching you how to open the menu, access your inventory, read messages and see your status! There is a grayed out selection that says ‘Guildmates’.

☙ More Merchant Caravans Arriving in Etria:

There sure have been a lot of caravans coming through Etria lately, each more well-stocked and colorful than the next, some clearly from countries wealthy enough to edge even their own flags in gold thread. At least it has been livelier and it gives you some variation in terms of NPC dialogue. (Even if these merchant NPCs only ever seem to be complaining about the weather, about how long it takes to get here and about some guy named Alian.)

A. Merchants Giving Out Weird Samples
Come one and come all to look through the wares from far and wide.
Hey you! Yes, you! Can I interest you in this lovely spider's silk robe (DEF+8, BURN RESIST+1)? Guaranteed not to burn until at least the third wear!
How about some hardtack (TP+10, HP-5), dear adventurer? At least a year old but still tasting like it was baked only two months ago!
No, no, come look at these rare golden statues (sells for 10 gold), inscribed with ancient symbols that shift in ways that could drive any sentient being mad! In a good way!

B. Inn
Maybe you haven’t yet found a guild so you’ve been staying at the Lady of the Lake. But today when you return from a hard day of adventuring, Vivian tells you all the rooms are full. There are so many merchants! It’s making so much more work for her!

She complains for a little bit before getting to the point: there is no room for you tonight. To compensate you, she offers to let you pick a piece of yellow candy from a jar as compensation. None of them are labelled but this is what’s in there:

Lemon Candy (LIGHTNING DEFENSE+2)
Banana Candy (LIGHTNING ATTACK+2)

☙ A Suspicious Spring:

A long hot day of adventuring later, the sound of running water is probably music to your ears. Or maybe you've been here long enough to never trust anything, not even the water.

The sight you come upon seems to be a bit too good to be true: a forest grotto with a waterfall splashing into a shallow pool of clean cold water, the shadows deep green and the light dappled as it filters through the trees.

What do you do?

A. Drink!
One sip and you'll feel your armor getting heavy, large and you can see the growing horror in your guildmates eyes as you shrink down to be no larger than a hand.

EFFECTS:
EVASION +10
SPEED -10
ATTACK -10
DEFENSE -10
Of course, a quiet sit of about two hours and you'll begin to grow back but you don't know that yet.

B. Bathe!
Just because you don't see monsters doesn't mean they don't like to congregate near water!

Except when you come out, dripping and trying to dry off? Nothing even remotely dangerous shows up. When it does for some reason, you always manage a critical hit. When you eat suspicious berries? You survive. You trip over something and it's a treasure chest that has actual money in it. If you try to steal from a monster, you always get something good. What gives?!

EFFECTS:
LUCK +100
This effect also only lasts for two hours so take advantage of it while it’s there! Just make sure it doesn’t wear off somewhere dangerous...

☙Building Traps and Nets:

Everyone is abuzz with talk about how they’ve found shed skins of Star Fireflies in the labyrinth! These rare monsters are said to be able to grant wishes once they pupate! No chrysalis have been found on Floor 1 but everyone is beginning to prepare by making nets and traps.

A. Collection Materials
Shortly after the discovery, Napier’s Firm posted a list of required materials so she can make the tools needed. All these materials can be easily found on Floor 1 of the Yggdrasil Labyrinth. Here are the lists:

Star Net:
Spider Silk
Mandrake Branch

Star Container:
Giant Insect Eye
Sticky Sap

These items can be found as monster drops from Mandrakes and Spiders which suddenly started appearing in Floor 1. The Giant Insect Eye and Sticky Sap are rare drops. So the question now is...how lucky are you feeling?

B. Trapping the Trapper
As time goes on, someone mentions that in a far corner of Floor 1 there is a nest of Golden Spiders that leave behind rare drops more often! Those who haven’t had much luck getting Giant Insect Eyes may want to try their luck there. But beware...these Spiders are much more aggressive and if you get stuck in their web it’s impossible to escape! According to Ceft, the unique chemical properties of the thread means it can only be dissolved with human tears. Even just a drop will do! Maybe you should consider bringing an onion when you go after these creatures. (Fontayne and Vivian both will offer to sell you some onions if asked about them…but at a very inflated price.)

☙ 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 August Test Drive Meme! Please check out the 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! The TDM will double as the intro log and threads in this TDM can be considered game canon after apping if you wish!

Existing players can make their own logs using TDM prompts!

A important dated to remember are August 1, 2020, 9pm EST when Reserves open and August 8, 2020, 9pm EST when Applications open.

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. Thank you for your interest in Labyrinthian!

Comments

[illustrix]

1. No One Here Gets Out Alive

To put it mildly, Neriene was rather disconcerted by waking up in what looked to her to be a fel orc transformation chamber. At least it disengages her quickly, and the helpful blue tablet tells her she needs to fight.

Seemed easy enough, but Neriene was old enough to know that nothing ever was as easy as it looked at first glance. The Lightforged certainly did make a ruckus as she raised sword and shield and began to bash her way through the dungeon...

2.Bathing?

At least her cloak doubles as a bath towel...

Taking a quick dip out in the open was not the wisest thing she'd ever done. But it did seem that luck was with the Draenei, as she managed to dry off and armor up without mishap.

No, the mishap would come when she settled down to make food; there was an unfamiliar herb that looked for all the world like peacebloom, a common one on Azeroth, and harmless. This one, however, will give her a demon of a belly ache, unless there's some stroke of luck...

1

[unwantedtwin]

When she'd gotten the message she'd been confused. Someone is lost in Gladsheim? Who could that be?

Without further ado, she'd left town and headed out to Gladsheim again. The creatures in the labyrinths always acted a little...strange, she thought. Not like regular animals she used to see in forests when she and Granpa used to travel through them or camp in them.

Still, at least she was still pretty certain running towards the source of noise was probably the right call.

So she ran in that direction, taking a turn that she remembers making when she was fighting her way out of this place a while ago.

And then, she sees...well. Not a person, but Dust also looked a little funny it didn't mean anything. Her class can't equip weapons but that doesn't stop her at all.

Which is why this eight year old takes a running start, then jump kicks a giant bat coming up behind this woman, sending it flying back.

"Are you all right?"

...actually, can this person talk? Or is this like the other "people" in town who could only repeat the same phrases over and over?

Re: 1

[illustrix]

Neriene swung her sword, letting its momentum carry the hapless, oversized woodland critter off the end and away from her, lifting her shield to dissuade another opponent that attempted to sink its claws into her. She saw the mass of another creature fly past her, and turns to look--down. Quite far down, considering she's 7' on a good day.

"Oh! I am all right, but what are you doing here? This place is dangerous!" So much for stating the obvious, but the Draenei was more than a bit startled to find a human child here. "We had best find the way out..."

She paused for a moment. This place was just strange enough...

"Do you know the way?" It wouldn't be the first time a human youngling had gotten into mischief in her recent memory. The Light knew the Junior Explorers' League had done so in Drustvar...the most important part, however, was that they'd been retrieved safely. So long as they made it out of this place in one piece, she could rest afterward.

[unwantedtwin]

She looks up and she has crane her head quite a bit because this person...is a giant!

She shrugs. "It's fine. The giant blue beetles were tougher." Mostly because they were only weak to magic and she's not a mage class. Not that it deterred her from picking a fight.

She nods though and if she notices the pause she doesn't comment on it. Instead she points towards where she came from. "It's that way. I came from outside."

[illustrix]

Giant blue beetles. Silithid? Here? That boded ill, if silithid they were and not simply beetles like they had in Uldum...Neriene buried her grimace and nodded as the girl indicated where she had arrived from. She looked up to follow the girl's point. It seemed as if the creatures weren't coming from there. Safe enough, or so she hoped.

And besides, she was a completely normal height for a Draenei! Not that she'd point that out to the girl at the moment.

"Shall we go together, then? Safety in numbers--if you do not have anyone else to rescue, here." And if the girl did, she'd simply follow her.

"I'm Neriene, by the way. Formerly of Azeroth--this does not seem to be Azeroth at all, however."

[unwantedtwin]

She's eight, as far as she's concerned anyone who is noticeably taller than the tallest person she currently knows is a giant.

She nods, simply because it's phrased in a way that she doesn't feel like she's the one being protected. She has some pride, this one. "I didn't know if there would be anyone here but I got a quest."

And then she starts walking. She's clearly on the look out for any kind of monsters though. She hasn't been here long but she knows that...monsters can randomly appear.

"I'm A-Ting." She cocks her head a little, looking thoughtful. "Where is Azeroth?"

1

[mithrarin]

Dust was quick on good days. With the news that people were in danger and needed rescuing, he was downright lightning. Not long after the alert came through, the Sen-Mithrarin crashed through Gladsheim, barely seeming to stop.

That sent him vaulting through an open door, only to find a tall woman thwacking away at the monsters inside. So he did the only logical thing -- he leaped over her, landing behind her to cover her from a giant chipmunk-thing that wanted to take advantage of a back attack.

Re: 1

[illustrix]

...that was quite a leap, considering her height!

Neriene bashed the critter she was fighting in the face with her shield, following with a downswing of her blade--sorry, Big Bambi! Her golden eyes widened a bit, considering who she was fighting alongside.

What in the name of the Light was a Vulpera doing here??

She did not have time to inquire, as Big Bambi's...father? boyfriend? Something staglike pressed the attack on her now, and she raised her shield again to take the horn strike on it. A hammer of light coalesced in the air and dropped upon it, making it bleat in pain.

"Have you any knowledge of the way out?" she asked, plaintively.

[mithrarin]

On a good day, Dust could leap a lot higher and farther. Like all of them since he woke up here, this wasn't a good day.

"That's where I came from." His blade flicked out in two quick, sweeping strokes to cut down the monster that came his way. "It's not bad."

[illustrix]

Not bad? That certainly wasn't a glowing recommendation, and Neriene gritted her teeth. It was not as if she weren't used to fighting, but if she did not have to do it constantly, her mood would be much sweeter.

"Not bad? Is that because you and your countrymen will simply demand my surrender, or does it mean something else?" Yeah, she still thought he was a Vulpera, and thus--a member of the Horde. Considering she was a member of the Alliance, it meant that even here, while there was a chance they weren't at war--where ever here was...they likely weren't friends...

The Lightforged heaved a sigh and shook her head. "Let us figure it out once we are out. Until then, we should get. Whilst the getting is good!" Neriene was not interested in slicing through hordes of critters, unless she absolutely had to do so to escape.

[mithrarin]

"Uh." Dust slowed slightly, not quite able to charge ahead at full speed when he was so confused. "I meant the path there isn't bad. This isn't my land either. I woke up here the same as you did, just earlier."

1.

[levelthreehooligan]

Pinya could follow the trail of destruction as easily as she could read Eorzean, and apparently someone had decided to just become a Bulwark onto the rest of the dungeon. She wasn't going to complain.

Still, she kept an eye out, for even the best of Tanks can make mistakes.

There-

An Arrow flies straight past Neriene, striking one of the Yarzon-like creatures directly in the eye and preventing it from reaching the horned woman.

"I have you," she calls, not taking her eyes off the monsters at all.

Re: 1.

[illustrix]

Nor was she the best of tanks--normally, healing was the job that the Draenei undertook; but she'd found herself with a sword and shield, and she'd had enough practice tanking at least that she could fake it until she made it.

Or not. Then again, the hunter had only helped. Neriene hucked her shield at the stricken yarzon, drawing its attention towards her.

"You know what to do!" Clearly! Neriene isn't about to insult the other woman--she'd keep the beast's attention on her, and let the other pick it off. So far, things were going so good. At least that was her opinion!

Re: 1.

[levelthreehooligan]

Damn straight, Pinya thinks as she grins, loosing another shot at an approaching... giant squirrel? Interesting.

"Fen!" She calls, pointing at another trying to take advantage of the ruckus to slip underneath Neriene's defence. A black blur whooshes by and there's a bark, a crunch, and a dull thud as another squirrel hits the wall at the side, unmoving.

Scout ahead, show us where to go, Fen, She thinks at him before realizing that there's no network here-

She's about to repeat it out loud, but then Fen turns, nods, and races off ahead. Huh, seems like at least that stuck.

"Follow the Wolf, my friend! He'll lead us out."

Re: 1.

[illustrix]

A clever wolf? A hunter pet? That makes...a good deal of sense, truly. She'd known enough of both in her time that it doesn't truly surprise her. In truth, she's grateful, and gives the wolf's owner a nod.

"In truth, I admit I'd rather be a bit better prepared before delving here more seriously." Though Neriene had definitely been serious enough in her endeavors so far.

For all that she's tall and heavy (especially in all that armor), the Draenei can move quickly enough when she feels like it--and getting the heck out of Gladsheim is motivation enough!

Sorry i'm late!

[levelthreehooligan]

Pinya just smiles as they work together in tandem; it's nice to know that other people can hold their own, not that she had any doubt - They usually can when they've been 'chosen'.

"You and me both," she says between shots. "There's always something at the end of places like this."

They make their way out steadily, Fenrir's nose catching the scent of fresh air and the outside, and slowly but surely they manage to get closer to the exit.

2

[chronull]

Leon recognized this woman: she was one of the people who arrived with him and she had just charged straight ahead as if it were nothing new. He had created gods of the battlefield, but he'd never seen anything quite like that.

It seemed as though she was through with fighting for now, content with preparing something to eat. While earlier he would have admitted that her strange looks had caught and held his gaze, that was not the case here. He was focused on the herb in her hand. His expression was quite neutral as he watched her, but he made no attempt to hide as he examined what she was doing.

He hadn't quite made up his mind if he wished to speak up: it would likely be on her to ask what was going on.

Re: 2

[illustrix]

Neriene was aware of the strange fellow's observation. It made the rune riding her brows dip as she furrowed them--she wasn't certain why she demanded such scrutiny, unless he'd never seen a Draenei or a Lightforged in the past--which, she had to admit, might be likely.

It didn't make her feel any less uneasy. She lifted her gaze and narrowed golden eyes at him.

"Must you really be skulking there like some sort of warlock? What are you waiting for?" It made her take a closer look at what she was doing, and she put the plant down--it was not peacebloom, as she'd first thought, nor was she certain what it actually was. Better safe than sorry--she didn't need a case of the turkey trots or worse if she consumed something wrong, whether she could cleanse herself of toxins or not!

Re: 2

[chronull]

Leon's gaze flitted from the herb in her hands to her face, noting her expression. He was still enough, just stiff enough, that there was an almost unreal quality about him. A touch of something crossed his face as she chose not to risk the herb - was it the faintest trace of disappointment?

"I was warned against those herbs by someone else. I was interested in its effects." His voice was very detached, the implication that he was going to simply let her eat it and watch her suffer through it.

It was perhaps by her new found luck that he didn't care enough to stay out of sight to avoid suspicion.

[illustrix]

The Lightforged's lips thinned, though she made no moves to take offense. Her nose wrinkled and she shook her head.

"Pity, I suppose that you will have to wait until someone else has the misfortune of partaking of it." Since Neriene doubted he'd do it himself. Nor was she about to cram it down his throat--though the thought did cross her mind.

She might have to pray to the Light for forgiveness, later, but only time would tell if she actually did that. Though she might have managed her own suffering; Neriene did seem to still have some healing power...

[chronull]

He imagined that she acted with more grace with respect that he was about to knowingly let her walk into a world of discomfort without so much as a warning, but he also didn’t care. She was also correct that he wasn’t about to try it himself. He never tried his own creation — a good thing too, considering the withdrawal effects.

“There will be others, I’m sure. People have the unique tendency to try things blindly.” His demeanor was quite bland, but there was a sense of firm belief in his statement. He was very confident he would see the effects of it before they went away.

1

[fightcreamsundae]

Siobahn followed the tall weird goat lady as she left the beginning area. She was really strong! The way she could just deflect some of these critters' attacks with her shield, the way she swung her sword - she sure was a paladin, alright! Siobahn decided it might be worth sticking around her while they went through because there were so many of these awful little critters that she knew she could easily be overrun.

...And overrun she ended up being, as one such critter sprung her from behind, throwing her off balance and chittering for some friends to come over and help defeat this irritating cat thing that had swiped at them earlier.

"M-ma'am! A little help!?" One critter launched at her and Siobahn put her hands up to protect her neck and face. "PLEASE!"

[illustrix]

For an answer, nothing but: WHAM!

The critters, hapless as they were? The tallest threatening one had just taken a shield lob to the face, even as the crest was winging its way back to Neriene. She'd dispatched the ones she'd been fighting, and even now was stomping her way over to Siobahn, a determined look upon her face that boded ill for her opponents. Golden eyes blazing, she used her shield to bash another in the face, even as she stood over the Miqo'te, giving her a chance to catch her breath.

"Overwhelming the young is hardly fair," she stated. "How about you try me on for size and see how you like it?"

[fightcreamsundae]

Siobahn winced at the WHAM as the shield struck the critter. The sound was loud and left her ears ringing, but she wasn't ungrateful. Just a little surprised. The giant goat woman started to stomp her way over towards her to scatter the critters and Siobahn was impressed - not that it was hard to impress her.

The critters backed up as the Draenei hovered over her, Siobahn managing to get a few deep breaths to recenter herself. Something like this always threw her off her game, and having a chance to center herself was very helpful. When Neri backed up a little, Siobahn hopped up and took her stance excitedly.

"Thank you ma'am!" She grinned and hit her fists together excitedly. "Shall we take care of these guys?" Her tail went from angry swishing to excited twitching as she bounced up and down, keeping light on her feet. The critters were looking quite a bit less confident, but still pretty vicious nonetheless.

[illustrix]

"You are quite welcome!" Neriene laughed. She couldn't help but be vaguely amused, and the catlike girl certainly had her charm. "And yes, I think we shall! I at least would like to get out of here!" At least, for the moment. The Draenei glared at the massing monsters, catching the shield as it returned to her, and baring her teeth a little--revealing she was one of those Draenei who also had fangs. Not all of them did--she was just lucky, perhaps.

"Just remember to duck behind me if they threaten you overmuch. I know you can probably punish them just fine, but it is no good if I end up having to carry you out, hey?" Really, the Lightforged would prefer if she didn't have to do such a thing...

That said, the paladin strode forward, bashing an overlarge and also-befanged mouse in the face with her shield, then stabbing at it with her sword. Neriene certainly wasn't wasting any time, now that she'd made up her mind--or had it made up for her, by virtue of having a companion!