test drive — winter

[villagemod]

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: ♫ )

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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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Comments

[lovescold]

"All right." That must mean that whoever else is here must have been displaced as well. "Where are you from, if I may ask?" She smiles at his gesture, deciding that she likes him, even though they just met. It feels safe enough to admit that; he seems friendly, and a little friendliness is more than welcome. Elsa doesn't usually blush, but there might be just the barest hint of something pink creeping onto her cheeks. "Well- I think that it's safe to say that I don't often meet tall dashing mysterious..." What was that word he used? "Men in trenchcoats."

But then she raises an eyebrow because now that she's thinking about it, he is rather mysterious, and he's a stranger besides. "I'm not in the habit of speaking to those sorts of people either." Meaning she intends to be a little wary going forward, as she should have been from the start.

"That's it? That's your explanation?" He doesn't owe her one, but "magic" could mean a lot of things.

"Oh, I don't think you have to worry about that. Not that I suppose you would, but I assure you, my head will not be spinning either now or in a day or two." And if it is, it won't be because of little magic tricks. or so she says

[hellblaze]

"Liverpool, England. Although I was knocking around London, then later the southern side of the States." His head cants to the side. "Something tells me though you're a bit too... proper to know what that all means."

Time displacement isn't new. Goddamn multiverse.

"Most people stop being strangers after a day in this town." He motions for her to follow him. "Yes, it is my explanation. I've been studying magic for years."

He takes her into the larger meeting room of the Town Hall. A gesture to the two chairs pulled up to the table that council members would sit at to give addresses. He takes his seat behind it, feet popped up on the table. Then, he waits for the white haired woman to take a seat across from him.

"That's good. Most people here can't believe magic even exists. So, you're doing better than most."

[lovescold]

Elsa just shakes her head, because she's never heard of any of those places before. "I don't know where those places are." But she puts her hands firmly on her hips and just gives him a pointed look. "Why don't you try me? Arendelle might be a kingdom, but you really can't judge a person based on how they look." Take Hans for instance; he might have looked like a handsome prince, but a storybook charmer, he was not. He was more like a snake dressed up as a prince.

"Well, I haven't been studying magic, but-" She eyes him a second time, as if wondering how much she ought to divulge. "I've been around magic for about as long as I can remember." She'd say that she's lived with magic her whole life, but maybe that's being too open too soon in the conversation.

"I'd be foolish to say I don't believe that magic exists, considering- Well, considering that I was born having powers."

So much for keeping quiet about that.

[hellblaze]

"Oh, it's not how you look, luv. I like the hair." He gestures to the long white locks. "It's the posture, the way you talk. Your chin is a bit higher than the others here. Though, you're not entirely thinking you're above us. Something tells me you got a lick of empathy. Might be because you let a bloke like me actually help you."

There is a nod to what she says. Lucky her, he supposes. He didn't find magic and the world until he was fourteen. Smoking, drinking, that bit he knew thanks to Good Ol' Dad. Magic though... that came from Annie. At least one good thing she left him with. Too bad he hadn't left anything good with her.

"Most magic you're born with. Just depends on if it manifests and when." John takes the whole conversation with stride. "I'm guessing you do a bit more than get your hand stuck to walls."

[lovescold]

"Well, thank you, that's very nice of you." It's only polite to respond to the compliment, but she falls silent again as he continues laying out his opinion of her. Truthfully, she's heard worse, and honestly, she's just glad he's not calling her a monster. "I'm not. I'm not above anyone, because I'm just a person, same as you." Except, well, there's the whole magic spirit thing, but she's determined to not let that change things.

"From what I understand, my- gift, if you want to call it that, happened because my parents helped each other during a time when tensions were high, but they worked together and eventually got married." And the gift passed to her from her mother, at least if she's understanding things correctly. "And yes, I do far more than just that. Ordinarily, that is."

She doesn't want to draw too much attention to the fact that her powers aren't acting as they should, but something about John tells her he's more than a little perceptive and he'll probably work that out sooner or later.

[hellblaze]

Someone either has had the humble stick handed to them early in life, or, it's the strangest sort of high society John has ever run into. Probably the latter, knowing his luck. Which was running at about an all time low of forty percent most days in Mathias.

"Ah, the gift of magical love. Brilliant that must be." John clicks his tongue slightly and leaves it at that. If only love did solve all problems. He would of been an outstanding citizen by now. "Mathias has gotten to you too, eh? My magic doesn't work like it ought to. Spells miscast, sometimes they don't even go off. Most the time it just drains me near dry."

A pause, then, he smiles just a bit.

"Though we can't stop trying. Not when it's apart of us like it is."

[lovescold]

Perhaps it's a bit of both. Something about growing up staying behind closed doors and only in her bedroom makes it rather hard to put on airs. She tries her best to appear confident and as a ruler would appear, but inside, she's usually just a bundle of nerves.

"I certainly can't argue with the results in this case," she replies with a slight smile. Neither can she complain about what happened between herself and her sister, when she was in danger. Love can't solve all problems, but it can do some things, and miraculously too at that. "I suppose so. I should be able to create ice formations and snow, and manipulate both of those as well. But whenever I try, either something unexpected happens, or like you said, I find myself completely drained."

It's unsettling to say the least.

"Exactly." It's surprisingly nice to have found someone who understands where she's coming from and how she's feeling, having her powers altered. "To try and not use them would feel like not using my right hand. I'm glad that you understand what that's like, although I'm sorry your powers don't work the way they should either. I'm not happy about that." Just in case there was any confusion about what she was saying.

[hellblaze]

"Only snow and ice? Means you must get pretty creative with what you can do. When Mathias isn't suckin' you dry."

Which doesn't sound nearly as fun as it should.

"Seems like the town - or whatever is controlling it - wouldn't want us to have it too easy. Make all the friends and dumb choices you'd like! But, no whiskey, and no proper working magic. Might as well of just kicked me in the bollocks and thrown me face down in the gutter."

[lovescold]

"There is a lot that you can do with snow and ice. I- Well, I certainly acted without thinking, but I did manage to make an entire castle out of just ice." She smiles and shakes her head a little ruefully. "I don't think it would be smart to attempt that now. Imagine what people passing by would say." Even if she could do it without potentially passing out or accidentally causing someone harm, she likes to think she grew out of that rebellious phase.

"I'm sorry. It must be very hard for you." At least, she assumes he's upset by the whole thing, if the tone and feeling of his words are anything to go by. "I wish that there was something I could do to bring everyone's magic back."

But she's out of her element here, and her control over magic only extends so far. "I don't believe I can communicate with the elemental spirits from home anymore, considering I don't even know where this Mathias is truly located." She supposes it's too far away to even try.

[hellblaze]

"A castle? Impressive. No wonder Mathias has decided to mess with your magic." John is impressed. It takes quite a bit of magic and energy to pull off any spell. The bigger the spell? The more it takes. Seems like their little snow queen has a bit more to her than he thought.

A shrug. "It's annoying, but, I've had worse in my life."

It's true, but, he isn't going to drop that on her pretty little head.

"What about communicating with the ones here?"

[lovescold]

"You might not find it so impressive when I tell you that I built it after running away from my kingdom and accidentally freezing the entire fjord and setting off a magical winter." She does preen just a little bit when she realizes he really is impressed. It feels wrong to do so, because that remains one of her biggest regrets and her biggest mistakes, but the recognition is still nice.

And then she laughs, noting that she feels like she can relax a little bit around him. Not too much, but enough. "If I could make you a castle, would you want one?" She's lived in a castle for most of her life, until recently, so it's not as appealing to her as it might be to someone who isn't used to that sort of life.

And, well, she's never been all that good at reading people, but there is something about him that suggests he's been through a lot. "I'm sorry. And now you're stuck here too."

It's probably strange to worry about someone she's just met, but she can't turn off that feeling so easily.

"I could try, yes. But they reached out to me first, and I don't know if they'll answer even if I did reach out to them." It's something she hasn't thought much about until just this moment, and now she has more questions than answers.

[hellblaze]

An eyebrow raised at that. "That all came from little you?"

That was impressive. Also, dangerous. A surge of magical power that could cause the freezing of everything around her? It might of been for the best her powers got a bit of a muzzle here in Mathias. Then again, it was equally as dangerous. Who was to say it wouldn't spread out again like that?

He shrugged. No point in going on about the tragic life of John Constantine. No one subscribed to hear it anyways.

"Might as well give it a shot. Who knows might come knocking back?"

[lovescold]

Now she just twined her fingers together nervously, because this still was something she wasn't very good at talking about or admitting, but he'd already put the pieces together, so saying it wasn't true wouldn't have done any good anyway. "Um, yes. There's- Well, there's a lot I can do with my powers, which is why a lot of people used to be afraid of me."

And she figured there always would be, because people didn't like things they couldn't understand. She was thinking the same things as John was, incidentally. The last thing she wanted was to cause another accident like the one she'd done back at home.

And the funny thing was, if he chose to talk about his life, the least she could do would be to listen.

"Isn't that a problem, though? I don't know what would come knocking back, and it could be something dangerous."