villagemod: (Default)
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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abrightboy: (...what?)

[personal profile] abrightboy 2021-01-12 01:44 am (UTC)(link)
"If I see a Malcolm Whitly around anywhere, I'll ask him," he threw over his shoulder, pushing the door open and continuing his way outside into the snow. It crunched under his boots as he walked.
fatherlyadvice: (tXF0DhH)

[personal profile] fatherlyadvice 2021-01-12 02:06 am (UTC)(link)
“Malc— Malcolm!” His voice rose sharply, a snap of temper behind it. No, no, no. He’d proved once already today that this wasn’t the way his mind worked.

He strode out into the snow after his boy, reaching out to grab Malcom’s arm the way restraints never allowed. “You don’t get to walk away from me like that, not here.”
abrightboy: (OH NO)

[personal profile] abrightboy 2021-01-12 02:27 am (UTC)(link)
Malcolm was used to Martin jabbering at him but the hallucination never touched him. He looked at him, staring wide-eyed for a long moment before jerking out of his grasp and stumbling back several steps.

A whispered “No” escaped his lips.
fatherlyadvice: (Default)

[personal profile] fatherlyadvice 2021-01-12 02:44 am (UTC)(link)
Somehow, not the reaction Martin expected. Somehow, so much more rewarding. The shock of it kept him still for a moment. He exhaled a soft laugh, not sure whether it was the beauty or the impossibility that warmed him the most.

"I did think it was awfully visceral for a hallucination. The cold, well, blood loss, maybe but it's not, is it? This is real. You're real."

He spread his hands like a normal father welcoming his son into his arms. "My boy. The two of us, out in the world. I would say the accommodations leave a few things to be desired, but really, who am I to complain."
Edited 2021-01-12 02:52 (UTC)
abrightboy: (a little nauseated)

[personal profile] abrightboy 2021-01-12 03:15 am (UTC)(link)
Malcolm shook his head, backing away a few more steps.

"There's no 'two of us' here. You shouldn't be with everyone else."

Raylan's desire for a jail didn't seem like such an odd thing to think of anymore.

"There are only so many and you can only go so long without killing someone," he said thickly.
fatherlyadvice: (nRHKJPO)

[personal profile] fatherlyadvice 2021-01-12 03:27 am (UTC)(link)
"Ooh, yes, how many are there? With all those notes, there have to be a fair few. Are you making friends?"

That last, said with the kind of concern one might level at a first grader. Martin looked around again, tucking his hands into the pockets of his coat and taking a deep, deep breath. "My, my. It's funny, just knowing we're on the same side of the bars makes the air taste sweeter."

He focused on Malcolm again, eyes bright. "And it is a cage, isn't it. I saw your little note in there. Though I have to say 'not all the dead come back, the voices are a siren's song'? You're not usually so cryptic."
abrightboy: (presses lips)

[personal profile] abrightboy 2021-01-12 03:35 am (UTC)(link)
"I wasn't being cryptic. That note means just what it said," Malcolm retorted. "Though it would sure be something if you killed someone and they came back to kick your ass."
fatherlyadvice: (e0aSZCF)

[personal profile] fatherlyadvice 2021-01-12 03:36 am (UTC)(link)
Martin tilted his head, studying Malcolm, bemusement clear on his face. "You're serious."
abrightboy: (stares)

[personal profile] abrightboy 2021-01-12 03:42 am (UTC)(link)
"You might want to give that some consideration. Most people here have had time to make friends. Serial murder in a small community won't let you hide like you're used to."

He backed up a bit more. "And that's all the help I'm prepared to offer you. You can work the rest out like we did and from the notes on the board."
fatherlyadvice: (nRHKJPO)

[personal profile] fatherlyadvice 2021-01-12 03:51 am (UTC)(link)
Martin didn't move, even though he wanted to go after his son. He kept himself in check, let the beautiful silver fish of Malcolm Bright spin out his line.

"That's it?" Martin lifted his shoulders in a shrug, eyebrows raised. "You're just going to... leave me on my own?"
abrightboy: (he sees u)

[personal profile] abrightboy 2021-01-12 04:07 am (UTC)(link)
“As opposed to what? Holding your hand? I know in excruciating detail what happens to people who get that close to your hand. You ruin everyone you touch, in one way or another. It’s not going to be me again,” Malcolm insisted.
fatherlyadvice: (opYfAOw)

[personal profile] fatherlyadvice 2021-01-12 04:14 am (UTC)(link)
"Not holding my hand, no, I wouldn't expect it--but aren't you concerned what I might get up to without watchful eyes to follow me? There's no Mr. David here. No doors to lock the Surgeon up behind, so far as I can tell, or you would have tried taking me there already."

The expression on Martin Whitly's face can only really be called soft. "Even if you're not... having a moment, thinking the dead come back to life, don't you think I would find it interesting? Killing someone I've already put under the knife once before?"
abrightboy: (defiant)

[personal profile] abrightboy 2021-01-12 07:36 pm (UTC)(link)
"There's no jail here, Dr Whitly," Malcolm admitted, clenching his hand against his psychogenic tremor. "But there are members of law enforcement and enough buildings and material around to make one if they think they really need it to protect people. I don't know what sort of game they're playing, setting a wolf loose in the henhouse but nobody will tolerate... your proclivities."
fatherlyadvice: (e0aSZCF)

[personal profile] fatherlyadvice 2021-01-12 07:51 pm (UTC)(link)
“And knowing no one will put up with my proclivities, that’s enough for you now, is it.” He tucks his hands into the pockets of his coat. “You’ll be able to live with yourself, when even one person turns up dead with familiar modus operandi.”

He rocks back and forth on his heels in the snow. “I was right about one thing when I thought you were imaginary. You can’t walk away from me here.”
abrightboy: (considers ruefully)

[personal profile] abrightboy 2021-01-12 07:54 pm (UTC)(link)
"We'll see about that."

He knew one thing: he intended to leave this meeting and immediately warn as many people as he could find that this man was here and what he was capable of.

He also had no intention of leading him to where he lived or the other people there.

"If you need somewhere to shelter, there's a room in the lighthouse," he said, pointing towards the path. "If you stay there and mind your own business, I won't recommend any further... mitigation of you."
fatherlyadvice: (nRHKJPO)

[personal profile] fatherlyadvice 2021-01-12 07:58 pm (UTC)(link)
"There are plenty of places for me to shelter, Malcolm." Patience. Patience. New scenario, new rules to learn. "And I'm sure all of them are more hospitable than a room in a lighthouse."

He took a slow step forward. "What if I offered you a deal?"
abrightboy: (over the shoulder)

[personal profile] abrightboy 2021-01-12 08:01 pm (UTC)(link)
Malcolm watched him warily, his eyes narrowing a little.

"What sort of a deal?"

Part of him was screaming at him not to even hear this out, but. Part of him knew his options were limited.
fatherlyadvice: (e0aSZCF)

[personal profile] fatherlyadvice 2021-01-12 08:05 pm (UTC)(link)
"You said there are law enforcement officials here. Any I would know? Your lovely lady friend, perhaps?"

He took another step, reveling in the fact that there was no tether here to stop him.
abrightboy: (presses lips)

[personal profile] abrightboy 2021-01-12 08:06 pm (UTC)(link)
"Nobody you'd know. There's a US Marshal, though. Since you're technically a fugitive right now," Malcolm pointed out.
fatherlyadvice: (nRHKJPO)

[personal profile] fatherlyadvice 2021-01-12 08:13 pm (UTC)(link)
"Technically. And technically you attempted to murder me before I woke up here, even if you were hoping to thread the needle, as it were. I don't like getting hung up on technicalities."

Martin smiled at his son. Took another step, then another, slowly, like a man approaching a wounded animal, not wanting to scare it off. "You choose three people. No matter what else happens, no matter what my proclivities may incite, those three people are off-limits."
abrightboy: (a little nauseated)

[personal profile] abrightboy 2021-01-12 08:17 pm (UTC)(link)
Malcolm shook his head, backing up again.

"If I agree to that, it's like tacit permission for you to harm anyone else."
fatherlyadvice: (e0aSZCF)

[personal profile] fatherlyadvice 2021-01-12 08:19 pm (UTC)(link)
Martin stopped. "So there's no one here you would particularly miss, if they didn't come back? That seems unlike you."
abrightboy: (tries to understand)

[personal profile] abrightboy 2021-01-12 08:21 pm (UTC)(link)
"I didn't say that. But giving you a 'who not to kill' list feels like throwing everyone else to the wolves. And it also feels like it could easily turn into a 'who exactly to kill' list. You've always encouraged my social isolation. Made it easier for you to manipulate me," Malcolm pointed out.
fatherlyadvice: (nRHKJPO)

[personal profile] fatherlyadvice 2021-01-12 08:25 pm (UTC)(link)
"The wolves are already here, my boy. That people have come back means people have already died." He shrugged. "Who knows? I could be one of the next poor unfortunates. Doesn't exactly incline me toward restraint."
abrightboy: (sounds weird)

[personal profile] abrightboy 2021-01-13 12:08 am (UTC)(link)
"I feel like, if you were worried about that, you'd seem a little bit... worried," Malcolm shot back. "They were killed by the environment. I'm sure your narcissistic survival instincts will see you through safely, even if it means throwing everyone else under the bus. Including me."

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