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The Village Mod ([personal profile] villagemod) wrote in [community profile] villagememes2020-11-19 10:10 pm
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test drive — winter



WINTER TEST DRIVE

Welcome to the test drive and thank you for your interest in The Village. This test drive is not game canon but will allow players the opportunity to experiment with game mechanics, the setting, and the flexibility of choice allowed by this game. The following prompts are examples of typical situations characters might face in the game. At least one thread from the TDM is required as part of the game's application process.

The setting details and locations are still being unveiled in the game, so prospective players are welcome to play with established locations or create their own within the general setting of Mathias.

( Recommended listening: )





INTO THE ENDLESS

Winter has arrived in Mathias. Snow falls steadily, big puffy flakes that pile up quickly in drifts as the wind blows them around town. The trees in the forest are covered in it, the branches bending under the weight and shaking when the piles fall from them to the forest floor. The roofs of buildings become solid white and drifts form in doorways as the wind tries to rush inside anywhere it can.

New arrivals wake in the forest, with its winding paths twisting back on themselves as they branch in either direction. It isn't safe to stray from the path, there is a menacing fog that waits just a few yards inward in any direction, but for now, there is nothing impeding movement along those snow-covered paths that cut through the trees. Continue stumbling in one direction and you'll reach the small town, coming out near the mishmash of quaint houses that nestle beside crumbling ruins that used to be homes. But choose the other and you'll seem to stumble on forever, huddling against the wind until there seems to be a clearing up ahead—

And then nothing. The earth opens up before you in a ravine so deep that the bottom cannot be seen. The other side can be seen, tantalizingly out of reach, and there is the sense that safety is just beyond, if only you could get there. But with that sensation is also the knowledge that if you stay here, you will die. The edge seems unsteady, like getting too close would set it crumbling and send you tumbling into that dark endless nothing that waits below...


BODIES WITHOUT SOULS

Benedict Books is nestled quaintly on the square surrounding Mathias's Town Hall, a thick layer of dirt covering the front windows. Looking through those windows provides a much different view than looking directly into the shop through the doorway — vague shapes and forms of figures seem to be inside, though no details can be determined through the streaks of grime. Flickers that resemble flashlights can be seen passing along the windows from time to time, and on occasion there is even a muffled tapping sound that comes from behind the glass, as if someone is trying to get your attention. The same distorted figures can be seen looking through the windows from the inside outward, but moving from one side or the other reveals... nothing. There is nothing there, and perhaps it is all in your imagination.

A portrait hangs at the front of the store to illustrate the namesake of the little shop... that may, in fact, not be so little. Dust covers everything in sight and detritus litters the wooden floor, as if someone left the door open and allowed half the forest inside.

The books are mostly familiar titles from the 1990s and earlier, but close examination will reveal that key details seem to have been changed. They fill shelves in neat lines along the walls and rows in between, the building almost seeming to stretch on forever until, finally, a small office can be seen tucked away in the back. A glance back toward the front door gives the impression that the room isn't that big, after all. Strange that you previously thought so.

Prying the door open is the only way to get inside the small office; the hinges have rusted and are caked with dirt and grime. Search as you might, there are no interesting bits of information to be found here beyond a few inventory lists on the little desk. There is, however, a green and gold safe in the corner that, no matter how many times one turns the dial, simply clicks and clicks. Scratches around the safe indicate that someone tried to get in at one point, though there's no indication as to whether they succeeded.


THE END APPROACHES

Standing at the center of Mathias, the town hall is a modest two-story building that would be welcoming if not for the faded sign, chipped paint, and deafening silence within its empty halls. It's a typical government building, with a reception desk at the front and rows of identical offices within, the names half faded from each door. But what catches the attention is a large bulletin board on the main wall beside the reception desk, once meant to hold flyers or announcements for the community.

What it holds now is decidedly different. Tacked onto the board are scraps of paper covered in an assortment of handwriting styles — requests for supplies should anyone find them, pieces of information shared in the hopes of someone understanding the strange symbols and mathematical equations, notes about those missing or recently deceased. And over the center of the board, tacked on top of other papers, is a map discolored with age. Mathias Township can be read in the corner, a stretch of forest displayed beneath it, but everything else has been smeared to illegibility with red... ink? Upon close examination, a keen eye will realize that the ink is actually blood, though whether it is human is unknown. And scrawled across that forest, nearly covering the illustration of a clearing and a large house within, are the words

he is coming

A number of tarnished metal pushpins are scattered around the edges of the board, waiting for future messages to be shared, and a stack of pristine white paper and pile of cheap ballpoint pens rest on one of three chairs beside the board. The chairs are clearly meant for those waiting for meetings and are covered in the same layer of grime as everything else in the building — everything except the pens, paper, and bulletin board.


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klebrige: (pic#13894574)

peter parker | mcu | will match format!

[personal profile] klebrige 2020-11-22 01:34 am (UTC)(link)
the endless;
[ Where he took a wrong turn, he doesn't know, but he feels as though he's been walking for hours. Peter Parker has never been much of the rural type, growing up in the heart of Queens, but he's no stranger to difficult terrain. As he walks, he can't help but wonder if this is some strange fever dream, if going dusty back home was some wild magic trick that knocked you clean out until someone reversed the spell. He's seen stranger things, but he hadn't expected to open his eyes and be here.

(He thought he was dying, but maybe not, after all).

The wind is brutal, and even though the path ahead of him looks straight, he can't make out where it's leading. Looking behind him does nothing either, his own footprints starting to fill in with new snow dropping from the heavy branches overhead. But he looks over his shoulder anyway, and it all happens in slow-motion.

The ground caves underfoot, the snow cracking, the cold earth splintering and his stomach drops sickly into the deep of his cut. ]
Whoa! [ He throws himself forward, scrambling for purchase, fingers digging into plush snow, feet kicking and sliding in prickly, icy mud. He skids to a stop the moment his fingers sink into the dirt, but it's so cold. And when he looks back, he's left hanging at the edge of the ravine, sticking to frigid, damp earth, and slowly sliding. ] H-Hey! Can anyone hear me? [ The ravine echoes his voice back to him and he tries again to pull himself up, to no avail. ]
bodies without souls;
[ The book shop is the first building where he sees movement and, for a brief moment, feels a rush of relief that he's not alone in this place. Peter knows better and can feel the way his senses rankle the closer he gets to the building, but he leans in to peer through the dusty windows. He even knocks, and when the light and movement inside disappears, he stills. ]

What the—? Hey! Hey, wait!

[ He hurries to the door and pulls it open, wincing as the knob crashes against the siding, but he freezes in the doorway. The place is empty. The smell of dust and mold and something else on the air sticking in his throat, and he turns to cough against his elbow. ] Hello? I swear I just saw...

[ Peter steps inside and wanders past one shelf of books, reaching to pick one off the shelf, turning it this way and that. But he whirls when he hears the tapping, seeing nothing but his own finger prints left on the glass from before. Everything in him tells him to run. ] Is anyone there? [ Foolishly, he keeps the book raised in one hand, as though it might make the most ideal weapon for this situation, and walks slowly through the rows of books. ]

Uh, my name's Peter, and I'm pretty sure I'm lost. I just need some directions and I'll be out before you know it, I swear...
wildcard/ooc;
( peter's from the end of avengers: infinity war! feel free to find peter anywhere your character might be, or throw him into any spooky/dangerous situation. i'm happy to write other starters! i'm easy! hmu, reply here or pm me for anything. )
fika: (pic#14400869)

bodies without souls!!

[personal profile] fika 2020-11-22 02:26 am (UTC)(link)
[ creepy shit in mathias was starting to be commonplace. and walking through the little streets that have been revealed to them - a quickly forming habit. the cold clouds his breath, and he stares into the overcast sky with a bleary lack of enthusiasm.

it's a scarce population, so any flicker of movement catches five's attention quickly. especially when it is accompanied by the cacophony of a racket the kid makes in trying to enter the bookshop, thin windows rattling as a door swings open with a creak.

five lets out a long sigh. he shouldn't be on any proverbial welcoming committee, but the quicker the new guy gets his answers, the better for all. that's what he reasons, anyway.

a blink, and five stands at the shop's threshold, hands shoved into coat pockets from the winter chill.
] Yeah, you and everyone else in this town, pal.
klebrige: (pic#13890374)

[personal profile] klebrige 2020-11-22 03:02 am (UTC)(link)
[ There's something that shifts on the air and at first, Peter chalks it up to the dreary wind outside, rattling the windows or the door. Something prickles down his spine a fraction of a second before the guy speaks and he whirls, book raised as thought ready to throw it.

He manages to stop himself when he sees a kid. Definitely younger than him, but he's not sure by how much. Either way his whole body slackens and he lets out a wheeze of relief. ]


Jeez—

[ He drops the book with a thud, the hardbacked cover splintering, but better that than bludgeon a kid to death. ]

I didn't even hear you come in. I... there were people in here before, I swear. Did you see them, too?
fika: (pic#14331217)

[personal profile] fika 2020-11-22 09:26 pm (UTC)(link)
[ you know, he's already had a magnet thrown at his head. a book was a logical next step.

he doesn't flinch though - just pivots on the ball of his foot, a spring to his knees as he gets ready to jump out of the way. the action easily flows into a casual step forward when there's no fiction-turned-projectile being chucked in his direction.

he hates to admit that sometimes, looking like he's barely in middle school is a weird sort of advantage.
]

No, [ he frowns, more or less sure. ] This place plays a lot of tricks on you. Welcome to Mathias.
klebrige: ([ spider ] excuse me)

[personal profile] klebrige 2020-11-23 04:11 am (UTC)(link)
Mathias? What is this place?

[ Because asking where seems like a moot point, considering he's just managed to wake up in the middle of the woods. The place looks virtually abandoned, and seeing as this kid's the first person he's seen the whole time, well. He better pace himself. ]

Did you just wake up in the forest, too? The theory of Interdimensional travel is awesome, and if that's what happened here then that just breaks every idea we've ever had about the way space and time work the mathematical level, but I was just on some crazy planet in the middle of space and this place looks a little like home. Uh, Earth, I mean.
hellblaze: <lj user="synthnights">. (blazer 🔥 so you gotta fire up.)

➝ bodies without souls.

[personal profile] hellblaze 2020-11-22 03:00 am (UTC)(link)
[ Continuing with his appearing almost from nowhere and scaring anyone he might find (not entirely on purpose)...

John Constantine steps around one of the bookshelves. He had his own book in hand, as soon as he heard the voices. He makes a tch sound and lowers the book at the sight of the kid. Maybe not a kid, but younger than him. Therefore a kid. ]


Bloody hell, kid. [ He sighs and gives the most annoyed expression he can. ] Good luck with directions in this place. You won't find a way out of this town.
Edited (HOLY COW I can't html, I'm so sorry...) 2020-11-22 03:01 (UTC)
klebrige: (pic#13890717)

omg that html life i feel you np np

[personal profile] klebrige 2020-11-22 03:18 am (UTC)(link)
[ The fact that there's no one around when he's sure he saw some movement in here is still incredibly creepy. The taps on the windows, the slow creak of a door as though moved by the wind and he's almost convinced he's alone when he catches movement round one of the bookshelves.

He practically launches the book out of reflex, but luckily, he narrowly misses, the dusty hardback slamming into the wall just to the right of the guy. This grimy place won't mind a hole in the drywall, right? Right? ]


Whoa, sorry! Where did you come from? [ But that doesn't mean he doesn't keep his distance, one hand outstretched in the space between them. ] I can see through the books on the shelves and you were definitely not there two seconds ago, man.

[ Maybe his spider-sense is malfunctioning, but he's sure he would have heard the door... ]
hellblaze: <lj user="synthnights">. (orly 🔥 but will you trust me.)

it has betrayed me.... say allo to uncle john constantine tho hi lol

[personal profile] hellblaze 2020-11-22 04:26 am (UTC)(link)
[ He slowly turns to look at the book that just went sailing past his head. Christ. This kid could of killed him! A bit dramatic, but, that's John for you. ]

The other side of the bookcase. [ Obviously. ] You'll get used to it. Mathias doesn't operate like normal reality.
klebrige: ([ spider ] pondering)

and have a spastic spider kid! hello!

[personal profile] klebrige 2020-11-22 05:20 am (UTC)(link)
Yeah, it's just... [ ... Obviously. The guy rounded the corner like he'd been there the whole time, but either the cold's gone to his head or this guy's pulling his leg, but either way, he decides not to argue the point. ]

Wait, sorry, you said normal reality? [ That, however, gets his attention. After all, he has no idea how he ended up in this place or why he's here, so maybe the guy has information. ] That definitely implies that this is an alternate reality, then, and while I don't really know how I ended up here, that's just a theory, how... that's insane. Well, awesome, too, but... I need to get back home.
hellblaze: <user site="insanejournal.com" user="frakkingcylon">. (annoyed 🔥 arms wide open.)

dc and marvel universes collidin no big deal!

[personal profile] hellblaze 2020-11-22 06:16 am (UTC)(link)
[ John does pop a bit of magic here and there... just not this time. Maybe next time, Spidey. ]

Most of us are from different realities, kid. You'll ah, catch up on that soon. [ John makes a vague gesture to the library. ] Well, most people tend to just wander in. The first of us showed up at the bloody beach down the road.

We all need to get back home.
klebrige: ([ spider ] feelin myself)

yassss comic world collisions are the best

[personal profile] klebrige 2020-11-23 04:17 am (UTC)(link)
Whoa, seriously? That blows the theory of the initial singularity out of the water if we have multiple, concurrent realities following—

[ He catches himself, eyes following the gesture to the library. Ah, right. He's surrounded with information and he hadn't even opened his eyes enough to really see it. He'd been too confused by the utter lack of people. ] Uh, right. Sorry. I woke up in the middle of a forest.

[ He looks around for the first time and really takes in the titles of the books on the shelves. ] You said 'us'. How many people are here? Wherever this is.
hellblaze: <lj user="synthnights">. (crew 🔥 another day comes crashing in.)

yissss -- sorry for the delay! work :(

[personal profile] hellblaze 2020-11-24 07:58 am (UTC)(link)
Christ, you're a science geek. Ritchie would of loved you.

[ John sighs and rolls his eyes. Well, he can figure a few people in the town that will be glad for some rational explanations. Magic only goes so far. ]

Forest. How much fog was there?

[ He doesn't like the fog. ]

Fifteen or so. Welcome to Mathias Township, kid.
endlessflask: (Default)

the endless;

[personal profile] endlessflask 2020-11-22 04:42 am (UTC)(link)
[ As it happens, Peter isn't the only one wandering the forest. The difference is that Eliot is doing it with purpose, scrounging up plants and roots that are buried beneath the snow. He's getting pretty good at this foraging thing and almost regrets not doing more plant based magic courses at school. Hindsight is, of course, twenty-twenty.

He's in the middle of pulling up a stubborn weed when he hears the voice cry out. Eliot thinks at first it's the fog playing tricks again, sending voices that aren't really there, trying to lure you in. But this one seems to carry on the wind differently than those, from a direction decidedly not where the fog is.
]

Hey - [ He calls back, hoping the person can hear him. ] I'm here - I'm coming for you.
klebrige: ([ spider ] excuse me)

[personal profile] klebrige 2020-11-22 05:28 am (UTC)(link)
The ground's soggy on the edge. It caved, like a sinkhole or something, so watch out!

[ Usually, Peter could rely on the tech his suit has, but it's been non-functional since his arrival, acting only as just that— a suit. He tries again to pull himself up, grunting when a chunk he's lodged his foot into gives away. Thankfully, suit or not, he's sticky, but the cold air and the bite of the snow make his fingers ache, starting to numb out.

With a heave he's able to get one arm up on the edge, bare hand scrambling for a patch of dead grass tipped in frost. Waking up in the cold and wandering aimlessly has made it hard to focus, and he should have seen the ravine, should have felt the soggy, unsteady ground underfoot, but he didn't. If his webshooters would work, this would be much, much simpler. ]


And let's just say it's a long, long way down... [ Hindsight, there might not be anyone coming at all, because he's sure he hears a laugh on the wind, coming from deep in the fog. Is he losing his mind? ]
endlessflask: (Default)

[personal profile] endlessflask 2020-11-23 03:56 am (UTC)(link)
[ Eliot gets there as soon as he can, but he slows at the words of warning. And, great, it's another teenager. Not that there's anything wrong with teenagers, but Eliot doesn't like the thought of kids running around here when things are so fucked up. ]

I'll try not to let you fall.

[ He can't promise to actually save the kid, because Eliot doesn't really know if that's possible. But he can try.

He edges closer, mindful of slipping on anything. If there was ever a time for his magic to work properly, this would be it, but Eliot isn't very hopeful. He grabs on to a tree, thankful for being so tall because it allows him to reach a little further.
]

Can you reach my hand?
klebrige: ([ spider ] over sideways)

[personal profile] klebrige 2020-11-23 04:23 am (UTC)(link)
[ Strangely enough, the man's honesty is almost more comforting than any promise of rescue. Peter's survived some nasty falls in his time, and even if he does slip, he might be able to cling to the side of the ravine on the way down. It's not really an option he wants to consider right now, though. ]

I think I can.

[ He kicks up off one foot to try and pull himself up on the slick ledge. Lifting one hand seems like a dangerous gamble, considering he's barely stuck to the ground as it is, but he has to take a chance, especially since someone's here to help.

And with one more attempt to push off the wall he reaches for Eliot's hand with a grunt of effort, cold-numbed fingers grazing the mans and holding on for dear life. But the motion means he loses traction, feet sliding an inch, his other hand digging viciously into the ground to hold on as he tries to dig his toes in again. ]
There's so much ice.
enduresurvive: (explain)

bodies without souls

[personal profile] enduresurvive 2020-11-23 01:11 am (UTC)(link)
Book shops aren't really Ellie's thing, but this place doesn't have a lot of options. Besides, it's worth checking everywhere to see if there's any sort of clue as to who the fuck trapped them all here and how the fuck they managed to do it.

She's already in the bookshop when Peter crashes through the door. Her first instinct had been to hide, not engage. Yeah, she has a knife, but it's not a gun and people here can do goddamn magic so she's not about to take her chances if she doesn't have to.

She hears tapping, too, but...it doesn't seem to be coming from where Peter is. Well, that's fan-fucking-tastic, isn't it? She steels herself, because she has no idea what to expect from this kid. Then, she slides out from behind a shelf, one hand close to the knife in her back pocket just in case. She's not really a threatening person, though, and she's not threatening Peter. She's just wary.

"Good luck getting much of anything by way of directions," she says. "If there was an easy way outta here, none of us would stick around."
klebrige: ([ spider ] shit)

[personal profile] klebrige 2020-11-23 04:36 am (UTC)(link)
Something begins to creep its way up his spine the moment he steps in the door, and he's not sure if it's leftover from the blistering cold outside or if his senses have picked up on something else, but he doesn't have time to stand and figure it out. The book shop offers a reprieve from the biting wind and the low temperatures, and even as he wanders through the shelves, he flexes his fingers, trying to will some warmth back into them.

But the feeing persists, the nagging warning in the back of his head. The Peter Tingle, May called it. But he can't think of May right now, can't think of home. Not when he catches movement in his periphery. He whirls on one foot, the book still raised in one hand, though what it will do in an actual fight, he doesn't know.

It's difficult to hide the relief in his expression when he sees a real person for the first time. Slowly, in an attempt to make peace, he lowers the book to an empty space on a shelf beside him.

"You startled me," he breathes out a nervous laugh, but stays wary himself, keeping a fair distance from her. "Are you from here? I just woke up in the forest, and I swear I saw more people in here through the windows..."
enduresurvive: (explain)

[personal profile] enduresurvive 2020-11-25 03:38 am (UTC)(link)
Ellie actually laughs at that.

"You gonna chuck that book at me?" she asks through her laughter. It's maybe a little mean, and she doesn't really mean it that way, but it's just how she deals. Everything is shitty and she figures she's no exception. But then he lowers his book, and she does take enough chance to move her hand away from her knife pocket and hold both of them up.

"Don't worry, dude, I'm not gonna fight you without a reason." That isn't to say she wouldn't or couldn't, and that's clear in her words, but...she's not here to pick a fight with someone, especially a kid who doesn't appear particularly dangerous. But then, neither does she. She knows appearances aren't everything.

"No one's from here. I mean, no one here is from here. You woke up in...in the woods? It was the beach for everyone I know."