Test Drive #16

[powersthatbe]

Welcome to the Synodiporia Test Drive Meme! Below the cuts there are two new prompts, and here are the prompts from previous test-drives, which you’re still welcome to use in this post. When you comment, be sure you specify what prompt you want to play with, and please put up your own threadstarter—it makes for a much more friendly environment that a forest of bare toplevels! OCs are especially welcome! Please take a quick look at our Directory & familiarize yourself with the concept and setting of the game before you jump in.

Our upcoming app round runs October 25th–November 1st, but for once we’re breaking with tradition and instead of an upcoming Jaunt, we have a special, upcoming, multi-week Liminal Space event called Welcome to the World Series, which heralds the end of Phase Two and the start of Phase Three of the game of Synodiporia. Having chosen their Champions in Phase Two, the mysterious entities known as the Trumps are divvying up the rest of the Travelers--and in Phase Three they’re playing for keeps.

Prompt #43 is set in an agricultural-themed liminal space—with a bit of fabrics and crafts thrown in.

Prompt #44 is set in the dreaming realm known as Questing Country. Here, with the aid of their Animal Companions, young lucid dreamers from a variety of species (crystalline Hecatites, long-lived Elves, aquatic Vodyanoi, bone-spurred and four-armed Spartoi, scaled Gorgons with their petrifying abilities and tentacled hair, and your bog-standard humans) fight together as Champions against the monsters that arise from the collective unconscious of their species… for now, anyway. At least until they grow up, burn out, or go wrong.

Prompt #43

Right now, Liminal Space is a patchwork of farmland--a literal patchwork, as the ground under the Travelers’ feet is printed fabric, sewn together as if it were a quilt. One patch has a field of lettuce, another a printed field of corn and so on and so forth. Just about every crop is represented in quilted form, including ones that aren’t exactly… standard. Or legal.

Crocheted farm animals roam atop the fields, making needle-clicking sounds whenever they open their mouths, beaks, and snouts. Here and there lie irons, face down, luckily not at all hot. If you climb on top of one, it should be possible to ride it around like a tractor.

As for the farmhouse, barn, and silo? Travelers might be able to see the plush shape of them on the horizon, but no matter how long they travel in that direction, they’ll never get any closer.


Prompt #44

Whether Fire Mushrooms from Nuclear Winter, Men-in-Black from Conspiracy Country, Plague Vectors from the Softened Caverns, Horned Masters from the Stealing Ships, or any of the manifold Nightmares that haunt Questing Country and cause it to summon its Champions, there is one thing all these enemies have in common: they arise from the fears and worries of their world.

Some of these Nightmares are seasonal.

It’s Exam Season again on Hecate, the annual time during its longer-than-Earth year when the young people of that planet take the tests that will determine both their future careers and their very right to be regarded as adults in Hecatite society--as well as the annual practice exams to ready them for it. To be young and Hecatite during Exam Season is to be in a very stressful situation, no matter your capabilities. So much is riding on the results.

So it’s really not surprising that the twenty-foot-tall Test Proctors from the Hallowed Halls of Education positively swarm from the time that the tests begin until the day the results are posted. The Proctors work to corner any young person they can find, essaying volley after volley of exam questions at them until they fail or give up or attack the Proctor--and that’s when the Proctors get nasty.

Comments

[truerevelation]

Okay, no powers... but that's cracking impressive work. Once it's gone, Kanji fires off another thread to zipline across to Shinji's side, giving a smile. "Nice work, man," he says.

[fruitknife]

"When I hit, I hit hard. You didn't do so bad yourself - nice trick with the rope thing."

Fancy powers weren't even really his thing when his Persona was an option, so Shinji's not really feeling the lack. Doesn't mean he can't admire it in others, though.

[truerevelation]

"No kiddin'... and heh. Thanks. I've had time to learn a few tricks with 'em," Kanji says with a proud sparkle in his expression.
"You dealt with these guys before?" he asks. "Been a while since I've been round here." Like the last Jaunt in these parts, he adds, psychically, just checking...

[fruitknife]

There's been one here before?

Shinji shrugs. "This exact kind of thing, not so much, but I've been in what you might call similar situations."

[truerevelation]

And that answers that. Something like a year and a half ago, yeah. Never mind their space trip...

"Gotcha." And he thinks he can guess the situations... But he's not sure how to start that conversation. Especially with more exams probably very close. "Eh, people end up here all the time less prepared."

[fruitknife]

Huh. Anything you can tell me that I'm apparently not finding out from the cute animals?

"Can't say it wasn't nice giving some version of that guy what he deserves, though. How the hell he held onto a job for so long I don't know."

[truerevelation]

"No kidding. I think that applies on any planet," he says with a chuckle. "The worst ones end up sticking around..."

You haven't had one say 'hi' yet? Man. They're usually pretty quick showing up. Welcome to Questing Country, I guess. It's a dream world. Folks come here to fight the nightmares from any number of worlds.

[fruitknife]

"Almost let one of his students die because he was more worried about her bullies' reputations than the fact she hadn't turned up to school in a week and a half." And that's only the beginning of Ekoda's bullshit, but it's definitely the worst of it.

Not a one. Shinji almost sounds irritated by that, as much as tone can be determined over the network, but that could be the lack of explanation as much as the lack of cuteness. So it is basically like Shadows. Huh.

[truerevelation]

"He ... he what?" Kanji tenses up, a grinding snarling sound coming from the back of his throat. "Crackin' hell no... And I thought I knew some asshole ones. Even they were just the apathetic sort, not ... that."

Huh. ...Any powers show up at all? He's wondering...
And that confirms that. And... This school. Gekkoukan High?

[fruitknife]

"Ekoda likes blaming other people for his own fuck-ups. One of many reasons I never bothered with his class." When he bothered with school at all, but that's another matter entirely.

Not that I've noticed. You've heard of it?

That Gekkoukan has a little renown isn't so much of a surprise, but that this kid could put it into context with Shadows... interesting.

[truerevelation]

"Tch. Don't blame ya," Kanji says with a snort and an idle rub at his head. "That ain't something I'd wanna deal with either."

A thing or two. Kinda complicated. But you ain't the only guy from around there.

[fruitknife]

"Enough about his sorry ass. There any more of these assholes around?" If so, they need taking out, even if it might not be as satisfying as demolishing Rock Ekoda.

No? Who else is around?

[truerevelation]

Kanji nods. Yeah, he can definitely get behind that plan. "Think I saw one of 'em heading in that direction-" he gestures off across a series of floating bridges. "C'mon."

At the moment, Minako Arisato.

[fruitknife]

Shinji nods, and follows the kid's lead. There's ass that needs kicking and they're both well suited to it--

...wait. Oh yeah? And he actually smiles, small but genuine, at the thought of seeing someone he had no reason to believe he'd ever see again. Well, isn't that something.

[truerevelation]

Kanji gives a smile right back. Dunno if she's nearby, I could check, but... I think you guys'll have a chance to talk soon enough.

Now, this is promising... There could still be some timeline nonsense here. No point ruling that out yet. But...
Timeline nonsense is for later.

"There it is!"
And if one of them might have gone un-noticed... a Champion isn't going to. Kanji can almost feel a chill down his spine at the sight of the thing, some instinctive memory of Kei's rearing its head.
It turns towards them, striding over, barking questions.

[fruitknife]

I hope so. Been a while since I had the chance. And since he was still disentangling himself from the damn hospital, he didn't even get the proper goodbye everyone else did.

When the proctor zeros in on Kanji, Shinji just nods, and waits until it's close enough to kneecap it. Kid's probably on his own for the questions, but he can at least keep the time he has to deal with 'em a little shorter.

[truerevelation]

At least this one picked questions he can answer.

"...Star collapses under its own mass, neutron star, black hole, three times the mass'f Earth's sun or twice Hecate's, and your dumb ass!" Kanji finishes, going in again with a volley of wires.

[fruitknife]

The responses get a snort of amusement out of Shinji while he does his own work on the proctor. "Astronomy nut, huh?"

[truerevelation]

He chuckles slightly before getting back to work, pointedly wrapping the thing's mouth up. "Eh, sorta. Had a crash course when I was travellin' once... ain't something I get a chance to do a lot of."

[fruitknife]

"That so? Well, at least it's coming in handy now." Traveling as in more of this crap?

At least once the proctor's been shut up, finishing it off is easy enough.

[truerevelation]

"Never know when something's gonna, right?" Yeah. You got it.

Kanji steps back, folds his arms, and gives Shinji a grin and a nod.

[fruitknife]

"Guess not. I wouldn't've been ready for those questions, I can say that much." Stars are nice and all, but the night sky isn't really Shinji's strong point.

[truerevelation]

"Heh, you were ready for 'em in the way that counts round here," Kanji says with a laugh.

[fruitknife]

Shinji snorts. "Not too different from Shadows at all. Can't say I've run into many of those that talk, though."

If they did, they'd probably be just as single-minded in their conversation topics.

[truerevelation]

Kanji scratches a crystal and sighs. "Eh... it's a long story, but ... yeah. They exist."