TEST DRIVE MEME #6

[ringleaders]

WELCOME TO THE SHOW!↴ Or, more specifically, Lost Carnival's test drive meme! This is an opportunity to try out your characters in the setting before you apply, or to put together samples for characters you've never played before. There are going to be options for both new arrivals and veteran characters. Before we get started, let's lay down some details: You can read the full premise here. Reserves and Applications are both currently OPEN. You can apply as a newcomer or as a "veteran" character who has been in the carnival for up to three years. In the case of veteran characters, you will need to come up with an explanation of why they haven't been around the carnival recently. TDM threads can be used as game canon after the fact if both characters are accepted and the players agree to it. If you are interested in additional IC and OOC plot responsibilities, consider applying for a Supervisor position. Treasurer, and Wardrobe Manager are currently open. More roles that currently need filling are listed here! NEW RECRUITS↴ You gotta start somewhere, right? These prompts are for characters who are arriving in the carnival for the first time, and who are destined to sign a contract. How they go about that is up to you, but in the meantime they can enjoy the sights and sounds of something truly out of this world. Visitors to the carnival comes from many different worlds today, as the ringmaster casts out her recruitment lures. Will you become her most recent hire? ► ADMISSION FEES: After crossing into the carnival's realm and passing through the trees, most visitors will find themselves at the front gate - though not all choose to enter that way. If they enter legitimately, however, they will have to pass by a clerk who will trade admission and tickets for various attractions and rides in exchange for "anything of value." What is of value may seem highly subjective, and so some may struggle to produce payment at first, though in actuality the carnival will take anything from mundane currency to items of purely sentimental value. ► MIRROR MAZE: The mirror maze (pictured above) is a big attraction in the carnival, and stretches much further on the inside than it looks like it will on the outside. It's hard to get through, and what's more, after you've been in there for a while your reflections will start gaining a mind of their own - mostly in order to taunt and distract you with personal information. They don't know everything you know, but they know more than they should, and their mind games can be pretty hit or miss. ► GAMER'S CIRCLE: Almost all of the game booths are organized in a large ring around the Cookhouse, called Gamer's Circle. Your can play just about any carnival game you can imagine here, for a variety of prizes sometimes traditional, exotic, or outright magical. Dart tossing? Got it. That game with the water guns? Got it. Most of these booths are currently manned by humanoid spirits who look like they are made of smoke. If they can trick you into earning debt, they will. ► NOT YOUR WHEELHOUSE: Sometimes, even magical ferris wheels get stuck. The carnival's particular wheel is enchanted to create a particular out of this world experience - as you pass along the top, you feel as if they are so close to the sky that you can interact with the stars like baubles hanging above your head. Of course, the novelty probably wears off when the wheel is broken and you've been stuck enjoying the light show with some stranger for the last half hour. How are you going to pass the time? ► TRYING TO LEAF: No matter where you came from, you seemingly emerged from a forest. Obviously, to get back home you should be able to go back in the same direction, right? It turns out you can't. Worse, trying too hard to get through the wood will result in you getting lost, or turned back to the carnival. The trees here are not normal, and are varying levels of alien, including things like trees with glowing fruit or orange flowers that constantly burn like candles. ► WILD CARD: Anything else you can imagine in this setting! There are a lot of possibilities and you're free to explore them. Check out the rest of the game info or the locations page for additional inspiration. Want to make a starter with your character experiencing their first theoretical change? Go for it! VETERAN WORKERS↴ These prompts are tailored to the carnival's existing employees, the veterans. Odds are they've been here from somewhere between a few months and three years already, and know their way around the block. For them, this is just business as usual - and depending on their attitude towards their job, they may or may not contribute to a few people accidentally getting themselves a contract. Whatever you do, though, don't warn visitors away from the carnival - the ringmaster hates losing business like that. ► DO YOUR WORK: This one's pretty simple - just have your character doing whatever you'd like to have their job be! There is a big list of ideas over here, and you could use this to try things out with a character you intend to be a new arrival, as well. ► WILL O' WISPS: The ringmaster's will o' wisps have gotten free, and she's asked that everyone keep and eye out and help her reclaim them regardless of their official jobs. Wisps are small creatures that burn both hot and cold and comes in a few different variations of the same basic theme. Handling them physically (or psionically, or magically, for that matter) is difficult due to their near intangible nature. Touching and being around them can result in confusion and a sensation similar to being comfortably drunk. ► BREAK TIME: Whatever you were doing, it's break time! It's time for you to relax however you see fit. Do you enjoy some of the carnival attractions yourself, or is that old by now? Do you hang out in the Cookhouse to get a snack? Do you take a nap? Yolo, baby! ► RIDDLE GAME: For a bit of fun, the ringmaster has left a variety of locked chests around the worker areas of the carnival, each with instructions and a riddle written on their lids. The chest will accept three guesses from each worker before refusing to respond to them any further. If you guess the right answer, the chest will open and you will be rewarded with some manner of fun magical knick knack. If you've run out of guesses, maybe you can conspire with someone else and promise to split the prize? ► CAPTURE THE... EGG?: The Ringmaster likes to keep things exciting for her employees, and this time she's devices a game that mixes an Easter egg hunt with capture the flag. She's hidden various metallic "eggs" around the carnival that chime like bells when people get near, and divided participants into three teams (red, blue, yellow of course.) The carnival has been divided into three zones, and the objective is to gather as many eggs as possible for your team (three points for gold, two for silver, one for copper.) However, when you are in a zone that doesn't belong to your team, if they can snatch off your team flag they can take you to "jail" and confiscate any eggs you may be holding for their team. When in doubt, bullshit the rules! This is a prompt, after all. ► WILD CARD: Anything else you can imagine in this setting! There are a lot of possibilities and you're free to explore them. Check out the rest of the game info or the locations page for additional inspiration. Want to do a performance? Hang out in the Backyard? Choose whatever appeals!

Comments

Queen Elsa | Frozen | Veteran/Treasurer possibly?

[handwringing]

[Feel free to respond with action tags!]

A: Return (closed to vets/characters apped prior to Celebration)

A young woman has arrived at the carnival, though she seems rather familiar with the place. She looks human, or like she was at one time, but now her skin nearly translucent blue, like thick ice, peppered with darker blue gemstones. Her eyes have no pupils or whites to speak of, but are instead solid dark blue, and appear to be faceted up close. Snowflakes trail behind the train of her dress, and patches of ice glitter behind her footsteps before melting away.

Elsa doesn't know what's happened, but she knows something has gone wrong. There's a depressive feeling hanging over the Carnival that she doesn't like.

When she sees someone she doesn't know but is obviously from a Carnival worker, she comes up to them, gesturing around at the Carnival grounds with a hand. "I'm sorry, but it seems like I've missed a bit of... excitement?"

When she sees someone she does know, she's much less polite, hurrying up with more urgency. "What happened!?"

B: Do Your Job

The Treasurer's "office" only exists when Elsa wants it to. Right now, it's off to the side of the supervisor grove, a little hut made of ice. Usually she likes to make the outside a bit more ornamental, but she's so behind on work that it's just thrown together right now.

If someone comes in, they'll find Elsa bent over a desk of ice, writing figures on a scroll with a pen and inkwell. It's absurdly oldschool, but it's how she works. When she hears someone walk in, she looks up, a bit surprised.

"Ah, were you looking for me?" She waves a hand, and a small chair made of ice sprouts out of the ground in front of her desk. "Have a seat."

C: Taking a Break

Elsa really shouldn't get any chocolate.

She shouldn't, but it smells so good, and it's right there. She can't help but gravitate that way. Within a minute, she has a plate full of desserts, and she's reaching for another when her hand bumps into another's.

"Oh! Excuse me."

At least she doesn't panic when people touch her hands anymore.

[OOC: since I'm looking to app Elsa as a veteran, if you want to work out established CR you can contact me at dandywonderous or PM this journal.]

a!

[kingsroads]

Jonathan 'fish scales and mirrored eyes' Strange counts as obviously a Carnival worker. He had been walking around the Carnival trying to find Joker but Elsa's question stops him in his tracks, distracting him from what he was doing as he gives her a once-over. Obviously she's from the Carnival but she's definitely someone he's never seen before.

"You should probably count yourself lucky you missed it," he can't help but remark with a small little frown. "During our last visit, members of the Carnival were kidnapped and turned into vampires. We rescued most of them, of course, but some of those poor souls are still vampiric."

[handwringing]

"Vampires..."

The way he says it, it sounds like he wasn't here for the last vampire attack (and Elsa doesn't remember ever seeing him, at that time), but she wonders if that means he just doesn't know, or it was different vampires this time. Still, the whole thing bodes ill.

Elsa tries to keep any apprehension off her face, though she steels herself for the worst. "Were there any casualties?"

[kingsroads]

"There were," Strange murmurs, with a little frown. "We managed to save most of the Carnival that had been taken, but they still remain turned. And Miss Nakimani--"

There's a pause as Strange debates how best to say this. There's no easy way to say 'sorry, this person that you know is probably mad dead' so he pauses for a moment before settling on, "I'm afraid the Nightrunner is one of the casualties."

[handwringing]

"Mari..."

Elsa wasn't particularly close to the Nightrider, but still, it's hard to learn that someone she knew is now probably dead, or, perhaps, worse.

Still, it wouldn't do to languish on the point for too long, especially when talking to a newer recruit. She schools her features into a mostly impassive look of sympathy.

"I'm sorry to hear about that. But I'm glad for those who we were able to save."

She wonders how many people are now vampires. She'll have to get the full details from someone - Sans would probably be best to hunt down, but he has a habit of making himself scarce unless he wants to be found.

Well, unless Sans is a vampire now. Might as well ask. "What about the Warden? And the other supervisors?"

[kingsroads]

Could Sans even become a vampire in the first place? The Warden didn't have any blood, but perhaps the magic of vampirism could move past that little problem. Although, come to think of it, the Psionic wasn't a vampire either and he certainly must have different blood than the more human members of the Carnival.

Sorry Elsa, Strange just stars into space for a moment as he mulls over vampirism before realizing oh wait, she asked a question, he probably should actually answer that.

"Oh! Terribly sorry, you asked a question. To the best of my knowledge, Joker was the only supervisor turned. Of course, I could be wrong, I don't encounter a few of the supervisors on a regular basis."

[handwringing]

That is actually a good question. How does becoming a vampire work, exactly? Luckily for Elsa, she's never been through it.

She waits with a facade of patience as Strange seems to ponder whatever he is pondering, and is about to speak when he seems to remember she's there. She frowns at his answer.

"Joker too... Alright." So that's one person she knows dead (probably), and one turned into a vampire. It's not as bad as it could be, but it's certainly not what she expected to return to.

Maybe she should have, though. Though the Carnival hadn't been particularly dangerous before (relative to most places), ever since their first deadly run-in with the vampires, she's felt like it could happen again.

"Thank you for telling me."

[kingsroads]

"You're welcome," Strange responds, with a little nod. And then, sighing slightly, he continues. "I wish I could have given better news." After all, Elsa's obviously a veteran. To be gone for a while only to come back and hear surprise, some of your friends have been turned into vampires and one of them is dead...he can only imagine how hard that must be for her.

"But I can at least introduce myself. I am Strange, one of the magicians of the Carnival," said as he gives Elsa a small nod. Since, after all, they haven't met yet. He's a gentleman, the least he could do is introduce himself.

[handwringing]

Right, it is a bit rude that she's gone this long without introducing herself, as well. She nods back in response.

"I'm Elsa, the treasurer here."

If he's a magician, that means he's not under her jurisdiction; come to think of it, she has absolutely no idea who is part of her staff now. There was another treasurer before she got bumped into the job, but so many people have come and gone, both before and after she went away on some errands for the Ringmaster, she'll have to learn who everyone is and their jobs all over again.

"I'm usually a bit busy, but I'll try to come see your show sometime."

A

[thevictoriandetective]

"Yes, it was decidedly not-boring around here for awhile," Sherlock said, without looking up as he was inspecting a mark in the mud. He seemed very interested in an ordinary-looking patch of dirt, but his attention was turned when he saw--and felt, rather, ice. "Vampires have a tendency to do that."

Sherlock Holmes was a consulting (and probably the greatest) detective in his world. He was also, due to the Carnival, more snake than man. He was covered in bright green scales, sporting clawed, webbed hands, and his face was mostly snake-like, snout and all. Even his blue eyes, still retaining their original bright color, were slitted and reptilian.

Which meant he was also cold-blooded and became lethargic around anything cold.

"Who are you? I've never seen you before."

A forked tongue flicked out in distaste. Cold. Ugh.

[handwringing]

Vampires. Of course. Elsa curses her own poor timing, but there's nothing that can be done about it now - not without turning back time, but that could create a whole separate mess of problems.

She wonders what this man was so intently focused on dirt for, but when your younger sister is in love with a man obsessed with ice, you come to overlook some odd behaviors.

That he might not really appreciate her natural cold atmosphere hasn't dawned on her yet.

"I'm Elsa, the treasurer. And you must be... relatively new."

[thevictoriandetective]

"Relatively," Sherlock said, straightening his posture, and looking her over. "I've never seen you before."

He sounds slightly suspicious, but that's just his nature. His gaze is keen, like he's trying to read her life story from just her appearance, attempting to glean any clues he could from the ordinary details that most people would ignore.

[handwringing]

"I've been away, collecting on debts for the Ringmaster."

It took awhile - the fae and otherworldly beings she had to deal with weren't easily persuaded into giving up what they owed. But in the end, her mission was successful. Knowing what she knows now, though, she can't think it was that worthy an endeavor.

He might notice that though she stands with good posture, she's started to rub her hands together slightly with anxious energy. She doesn't like what she's heard about the vampires, but she's not sure Sherlock is who she should discuss it with.

"You must have been recruited since then... Are you a performer?"

[thevictoriandetective]

"A performer? Ah, no," he said, he wouldn't have actually minded being a musician of some kind if it really came down to it, but there was no way he could play a violin with these claws.

"I'm on patrol."

A pause.

"My name is Sherlock Holmes. Back home, I'm a consulting detective." He notes her posture, her mannerisms, but it didn't take a detective to see she had a tendency to become anxious. Was it the mention about vampires, he wondered?

[handwringing]

"So you work for the Warden."

She supposes he could also work for the Nightrider, whoever that is now. But she guesses he works for Sans, as he's wandering around inside the Carnival. It's difficult, having to put names with faces and jobs all over again; due to limited contact with people for most of her life growing up, it's not a skill she's fully developed, even if it's vital for a queen such as herself. Not that she's a queen here - titles mean nothing once you join the carnival.

"It's nice to meet you, Mr. Holmes. I've never met a consulting detective before. Have you solved many cases?"

[thevictoriandetective]

"Yes."

He didn't like working for anyone, but there wasn't really another way to say it. A slight grimace as he said so.

Still, he wasn't entirely a jerk. And he liked to show off.

"Nice to meet you. Yes, I have, in fact, back home. A lot of people have heard of me and the cases I've...me and my partner, John Watson, have solved."

[handwringing]

Clearly, he doesn't like that at all. Not everyone takes to being part of the carnival structure immediately, after all. Someone who's used to being their own boss, even less so.

Elsa, though, wasn't one of those people; it's a bit nice, not being the one ultimately responsible for everything.

"So you're very famous. I'm guessing you didn't leave all that to come to the Carnival by choice."

A!

[osteothropy]

It's not surprising to be asked the question. After all, Sans still has his wrists and neck wrapped up in bandages, the bones that escape the fabric still tinged a sickly blue, like bruises. Of course, he's not expecting to see Elsa period, so her suddenly being there causes his brain to sputter out momentarily.

Being looked at by someone he knows, but that still hadn't know about this, manages to make him feel overly exposed all over again.

"Hey Elsa," he says, trying to keep it level, though his voice wavers slightly anyway. "Been a hell of a week."

[handwringing]

He looks awful, and Elsa's brow creases with worry. She's not used to Sans sounding... almost fragile, like this. The fact that he didn't even bother with a pun this time just adds to the alarm bells.

Whatever happened, she should have come back sooner. Even if she couldn't have prevented it (and she doubts she could, if the other supervisors together couldn't), at least she would have a better understanding of what happened, and how to help.

But there's no time for survivor's guilt right now. She has to do what she can in the aftermath.

"...Maybe we should go to my trailer and you can tell me about it." Instead of standing out in the middle of the carnival. The trailer she's claimed as hers is already back the way she likes it, that is, mostly frozen over by a few inches of ice.

[osteothropy]

Technically he did actually pun, but it was a sad pun that doesn't work without context. Maybe she'll understand and appreciate it later. Either way, though, he doesn't seem very invested in a reaction to it.

He debates her proposal for a moment, and then shrugs a shoulder, trying to minimize how uneasy he looks. Someone is going to have to explain it, right?

"Sure. I guess I got a front row seat."

[handwringing]

That kind of pun is even worse, but right now, without context, she can't say anything about it.

She knows he isn't happy about this, and she feels like maybe she shouldn't even ask. But she wants to know, and feels like it will be better for all the other supervisors if she's already up to speed; she hates making him relive whatever happened, though.

"Alright."

She leads him back to the trailer, largely silently. Once inside, she offers him a seat at her small table, then waves her hand, creating small snowmen. They chatter to each other as they go to make tea, protected from the heat of the stove by the ever-present bitter chill of Elsa's trailer.

"I already know the vampires returned," she says slowly, remembering what Strange told her earlier. "And I know that Mari... didn't make it back. But that's all."

[osteothropy]

One way they can get along easily is that Sans doesn't notice the cold, either. One of the benefits to not having flesh, he guesses. He watches the snowmen walk off with dull fascination, and then glances distracted back to Elsa when she explains what she knows.

"Bunch of us got turned this time," he explains, bluntly. "Newbies, mostly. Tried to stop 'em, but all of the supervisors ended up getting captured, too. Kind of caught us off guard, I guess."

[handwringing]

That is convenient; warming up the trailer to a temperature comfortable for most humans takes awhile. Besides being a skeleton, Elsa knows Sans comes from a snowy place - he certainly had more than enough jokes ready to go when they first met. She didn't appreciate it back then, but a lot has changed in two years. She would much rather be listening to another joke than having this conversation.

"You were captured and then taken somewhere." She just assumes that must have been the case. "Is that where you... were hurt?"

She hesitates on the last two words, not sure how much Sans really wants to tell her. He can answer the question with as much or little information as he wants to.

[osteothropy]

For a second that catches him off guard, wondering how she knows he was hurt. Is it that obvious? But then he remembers the bandages on his neck and wrists, and he turtles down into the fabric of his hoodie a little.

"Yeah."

He stares at the table, trying to figure out where he's going with this. There are so many more details he could add, but none of them are really necessary.

"It's iron poisoning. Makes it do you can't do magic, which turns out to be a problem if you're​ ninety five percent made out of it."

[handwringing]

She couldn't help but notice when she first saw him. The bandages were a giveaway.

For a moment, the ice behind Elsa cracks and splinters along the trailer wall. It even seems to turn gold, though perhaps that was just the reflection of the carnival lights outside. Her train ripples in an unfelt wind before Elsa takes a deep breath through her nose and breathes back out through her lips.

"Sorry." For what part? Not being here, too? For Sans getting hurt, or making him talk about it? For the new recruits getting turned into vampires? For letting her anger catching her off guard? It's hard to find something more specific to say than that, though it's a paltry offering.

"Is... is there anything that can be done for that?"