villagememes | test drive

test drive — autumn
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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.

Since not all setting details have been made available yet, you are welcome to invent your own general locations for this test drive. There are no living souls in Mathias Township beyond the player characters. In fact, there are no signs of life at all... We hope you enjoy your visit.

( Recommended listening: ♫ )

— the fog —

It moves in quickly and without warning, not from the waterfront but the forest, cascading through every street in a thick wave of white. The fog is not a soft blanket enveloping the town, but a heavy weight pressing down, threatening to suffocate the sky is blotted out and you can see no further than your outstretched hand.

Those outside when it rolls in are left wandering blind, stumbling toward shelter as you're unable to even see your feet beneath you, let alone any obstacles in your path. Perhaps you call out for help, hoping for another voice to guide you toward shelter or simply another living soul. Or perhaps you were lucky enough to already be inside when the fog descended, quickly closing doors and windows to keep it from creeping in. Can you hear those voices crying out? You recognize some, but the others... Are they really there at all, or are you alone here and simply beginning to finally lose your mind?

And perhaps the most important question: Do you answer?

— portents —

You wake up with an ache in your head and a cloudiness to your thoughts, your body sprawled on the ground in a location you don't remember going to. As you sit up, the world spins and start to clutch your head — to realize there's something on your hand. A symbol, a word, a streak of wet paint or ink. You don't recognize it or have any memory of how it got there...

Or how the much larger depiction came to be on the wall or the floor around them. You can see it shining wet in the glow of whatever light source is nearest, but something instinctual urges you not to touch it. If you defy that urge, it burns, a searing pain that radiates from the matching mark on your hand.

Did you do this? Or was it done to you? The person approaching may have answers — or accusations.

— past deeds —

The Town Hall stands at the center of Mathias Township, a modest two-story building that would be welcoming if not for the faded sign, chipped paint, and deafening silence. 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 your attention is a large bulletin board on the main wall, once meant to hold flyers or announcements for the community.

What it holds now is decidedly different. Tacked onto the board is a torn scrap of paper with words scrawled almost illegibly in dark red ink.

why did this happen

Upon close examination, a keen eye will realize that the ink is actually blood, though whether it is human is unknown. And beside that scrap, a symbol has been drawn in dark black marker — it resembles a feather or a branch, but you've never seen anything like it before. It scares you even as you know it is perhaps the most important thing you have ever seen in your life.

On the floor below the bulletin board are more scraps of paper scattered amongst grime and dust, most blank but some with other strange symbols scrawled in a variety of inks, perhaps matching the pens and markers scattered near the baseboard. Some are small enough that they might have once been part of the same page, creating something larger. And to the far side, a pristine stack of crisp white copy paper and an unopened box of ballpoint pens.

What do you do?

code bases by tricklet

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ The fact that he's unnerved by the symbol and doesn't know what it means is enough to convince her to trust him, at least for now. Had she not met Robbie and dealt with Ghost Rider and the Darkhold before, she might doubt that things like summoning or banishing were even possible, but as it is... Crossing her arms, she looks at him expectantly. ]

Okay then. Where do we start? [ She doesn't even hesitate, ready and willing to do whatever it takes to figure this mess out so she can find her team and get them all out of this creepy town.

I don't suppose you've seen something similar around the town? Point of reference is always good. [ He tilts his head at the symbol. ] You suppose that's a branch or a feather, luv?

[ British, so very British. John's eyebrows raise at her then. ] You're taking this rather well for being apparently kidnapped into a ghost town with occult etchings and notes written in blood. Seen a bit of the spooky life yourself?

[ She shakes her head slightly at the first question, then sighs at the others, the adrenaline finally wearing off enough to remind her that she's exhausted and feels like crap. Shifting her body weight just slightly, she squares up her footing to steady her stance — less chance of falling over that way. ]

Less spooky, more just... weird. And it's not my first time being kidnapped. [ She rolls her eyes at the ridiculously bad luck of it all and bitterly adds: ] It's not even my first time this week.

[ Lifting a hand to rub tiredly at her eyes, she gives the symbol one more good look before deciding. ] Definitely a branch.

[ He clicks his tongue at that. Damn. He was hoping it'd be something that looked vaguely familiar. Back to the old ways of discovering and reading. He places the cigarette in his mouth before taking those few steps forward to get a better look at the board.

The next comments make him look at her with an eyebrow raised. Then, a chuckle. ] Good to know someone else lives a bit of a dangerous life.

Branches can mean many different things. Usually a peace sign, but, I don't quite buy that. Not when a whole bloody town disappears--or dies. [ A streak of smoke leaves his lips. Though, he's nice enough not to do it in her direction. ] God used a dove to show Noah the end of the flood and that there was land somewhere.

[ A bit of a dangerous life? Sure, random stranger, you could put it like that. It's a wild understatement of her actual life, but it's not like he really needs to know that.

She listens to his commentary on what meaning might be behind the symbol but doesn't make it through without adding her own two cents. After growing up in a Catholic orphanage, she'd rather not have to think about everything she learned there and subsequently blocked out. ] Yeah, after being an asshole and drowning everything first.

[ Comparing dangerous lifestyles, that's how you bond right there. ]

You won't hear me disagreeing, luv. I tend not to like how the Almighty decides to do things. [ A small shrug. Manny isn't nagging at him yet, so, the angel must be throwing a tantrum somewhere. How typical of the feathery lot. ] Still, symbols have power. You use them to invoke a feeling - a reaction. And this reaction...

[ He gives a small shake of his head. Not good. He doesn't like the idea something can send a shiver of fear right down his spine by just looking at it. He looks evil in the face every day - why would a symbol do this? ]

Maybe a warning sign.

[ That sort of bonding is best saved for when they can do it over drinks. Lots and lots of drinks. ]

Yeah, I'm not a big fan of the reaction I'm having to this particular symbol. [ She crosses her arms and glares at the offending branch or feather or whatever it actually is. The thing is scary, and the fact that she's scared of a drawing after everything she's faced? That's what she finds truly unsettling. ] But this is far from my area of expertise.

[ Time to find the local bar and raid the stash at some point. ]

I'd be worried if you did. [ There's a grin on his face. Oh, look at him, thinking he's funny. ] Good thing you've got someone like me here. We just need the reference point. Maybe the town's got some old history on spooky scribbles. Underground cults. That sort of thing.

[ She doesn't share his amusement. Perhaps if they'd been dealing with something more in her wheelhouse, she'd have found the energy to joke around and be a big cavalier about the situation. No, she absolutely would have, aliens are old hat for her. This stuff though? Even her encounters with Ghost Rider and the Darkhold hadn't prepared her for this. ]

Cults? We're dealing with cults? Great. [ Can you hear the bitterness in her voice, Weird British Dude? Take a guess at how done she is with all of this already. ] Just what I wanted to add to my resume.

Cult, wankers using symbols they don't know or understand that open doors, folklore, Mothman. Could be any of them. [ He does raise an eyebrow at her tone. Huh. Either someone isn't adjusted to the occult or she's had a bad run in with it. ] I don't suppose that resume of yours would also include getting to know the Heavenly host or the bastards of Hell.

[ John's hands slide into his pockets. Virgin to the world of the occult. These situations usually don't go well for him. ] I'm all ears if you've got an alternative idea. Crashing another gathering of a bunch of wankers trying to summon a demon or whatnot is something I'd rather avoid if I can.

[ Mothman? Wait, is that real? Conspiracy her had always laughed at those reports. She might have asked if he hadn't followed up with mentions of Heaven and Hell. Great, so they were talking legitimately freaky cults like out of horror movies and not just... Well. Hydra-type.

Tilting her head back to let out what feels like one of the biggest sighs of her life, she wonders if this is payback for them having beaten everything they'd come up against in the past. Some sort of weird karmic law requiring that she now face some seriously Weird Shit that she is not equipped to handle. ]

My theories would inevitably involve aliens because that's what's on my resume, but this stuff doesn't match any species I've encountered. [ She looks back down at the papers littering the floor with their weird little symbols and shakes her head. ] Even the one cult I do have experience with involved aliens and another planet, and this definitely isn't them.

Well, aliens can be a broad term. But, probably best if you don't rule out the possibility. [ He grins at her. He's taking her entirely seriously. ] I suppose they wanted to summon something from the great beyond Earth?

[ He's had the thought that maybe this symbol is involved in some ritual. Maybe a symbol for initiates to speak through? Could even be a territorial marking. Too many possibilities and not enough concrete evidence around to point him in one way or another. ]

Those aliens of yours... they didn't happen to use spooky scribbles, did they?

test drive — autumn

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