Test Drive #21

[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 than 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 September 16th–26th. Our next Jaunt will be Night Falls on Yensid, a fantasy Jaunt taking place in a formerly magic kingdom whose history went awry when other Travelers failed to properly complete a previous Jaunt there, one of the many forgotten Jaunts from before Synodiporia properly began as a Dreamwidth game. There will be no Walkabout run alongside this Jaunt.

Prompt #55 takes place in a punishment Liminal Space for a Jaunt that the Travelers failed to solve.
Prompt #56 takes place during the first Jaunt the Travelers made to the Kingdom of Yensid, during its Golden Age.

#55

It’s difficult to make out the shape of this Liminal Space, at first, thanks to the decor; it’s somehow both pitch black and eye-searingly bright at the same time, the pulsing rainbow patterns cutting through the darkness making it all but impossible to properly judge distance. The truly persistent, or those who manage to abuse Liminal ‘down is relative’ gravity without hitting a pitfall for long enough, may eventually determine that it seems to be a giant egg. More so than many iterations of Liminal Space, it’s completely closed off.

Unfortunately, that’s going to be very difficult indeed to figure out. It’s not just the impossible coloration that makes navigation difficult; there’s a terrible storm raging, and the whipping winds and cracking thunder make it all too easy to stumble into a pitfall by accident. And those pitfalls don’t exactly want to let go of anyone they ensnare, either. Errant Travelers may find themselves supporting an impossibly heavy overhead weight, or pushing a boulder eternally uphill, or trying to catch an ever-lowering drink of water, or pouring water into a tub riddled with gaping cracks, or any number of other seemingly endless, pointless tasks. They can be escaped with help from another Traveler, or one person can be released from the task when another stumbles in.

The only respite from this - the colors, the storm, the punishments - is in the form of Travelers’ created spaces, but those are as difficult to get to right now as everything else. Good luck.

#56

It's a chaotic time for the Kingdom of Yensid. The Amulet of Yensid, that fabled magical artifact that must be rejoined each lunar year so that the kingdom's three races can continue their peaceful magical coexistence, has gone missing. Two-thirds of it, the humans' fragment and the Forest Folk's fragment, are nowhere to be found. The capital city is just as bustling as ever despite this, with reptilian Stonefolk flitting from place to place in their usual parkour-like fashion, small animal-like Forest Folk hawking various potions and crafts, and humans making all sorts of deals.

There's an undercurrent of urgency to the day's business. Small groups of three or four of various species move through the city with enchanted mirrors, dowsing rods, fishing lures, and all other manner of magical items designed to aid in the act of finding something, but so far, no one's turned up anything solid yet. A few of the stronger magicked items are leading their owners out towards the foreboding Birdlime Mountains, but that's the most promising lead anyone has.

Comments

[runawaystory]

The silence gets a little uncomfortable as they're led to their seats. Rosalie's never been very good at welcoming new Travelers into the fold. The longer her time with them goes on, the less she can muster up the energy for the whole song and dance. It doesn't help that her own experience with the Travelers isn't quite typical, too.

[smokeandcarbs]

Jean is used to long silences, but he can also sense other's moods fairly quickly. He sits down and gives her a tiny apologetic smile.

"Two beers and no more questions, I promise. Except...maybe..." he glances at the menu on the wall. "Roasted pork or eel pie?"

[runawaystory]

Rosalie smiles back a little more easily. "I'll take the eel."

[smokeandcarbs]

"Oh, one of the intrepid ones."

He orders eel for the two of them. It tastes as exciting as it sounds.

[runawaystory]

"Hey, there's good eating on those things," she says easily.

While they eat and drink, Rosalie seems somewhat distracted, listening in on the conversations going on around them.

[smokeandcarbs]

Jean doesn't drink finishes his beer, for he is the most lightweight drinker this tavern will ever see, but he savors each little bit of his eel pie as if it was the last one.

"Huh, that was much better than I expected."

Meanwhile, he's attention to whatever she is paying attention to, trying to figure out what it is.

[runawaystory]

"It's pretty good," she agrees. She does finish her beer, which probably isn't great but is decent and a nice pairing with the pie.

Mostly she seems interested in ambient conversation. What people seem to be worried about, any news about attempts to find the amulet, that sort of thing. Just getting the lay of the land.

[smokeandcarbs]

Jean joins her, more out of interest and habit than practical reasons. He was told he has scarily good hearing. Like a bird.

Apparently the searchers haven't found their precious item yet.

"Do you mind?" he asks, flipping his cigarette case open. One of the best things about backward worlds is the lack of non-smoking restricted areas. Besides, he has always thought that nicotine improves eavesdropping.

[runawaystory]

"Hmm? Oh, no. Be my guest." Rosalie grew up in the 1930s. The idea that anyone might have to ask before lighting up is still a new one to her.

[smokeandcarbs]

Old people clearly know what's best for everyone. Being a polite fellow most of the time, Jean brings out his dearest lighter and offers her cigarettes as well.

"I hope they find it soon, otherwise we'll have no choice but order desserts."

He's secretly proud of himself, actually. Today he was a responsible adult and didn't order the dessert before the main dishes.