livinglot | ⇨ TEST DRIVE MEME #1

WELCOME TO THE SHOW!↴

Or, more specifically, Lost Carnival's first 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 open October 5th at 12:01AM EST.
Applications open October 7th at 12:01AM EST.
You can apply as a newcomer or as a "veteran" character who has been in the carnival for up to three years.
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.
Supervisor applications will start being processed a few days after apps open, and will be selected on a competitive basis. If you want a supervisor position, it is best to submit your application as close to the beginning of the application cycle as possible. If you don't get chosen for your desired supervisor position, you will be given time to rework your application to be a regular veteran, or to apply for a supervisor position that is not yet taken.
Lost Carnival could use some additional moderation assistance! If you are interested, please let us know 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.

► 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.

► NOT YOUR WHEELHOUSE (NEW): 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?

► 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?

► 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!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Well, it seems she's not in trouble... that's a relief, but she still feels a little badly about the experience.

"I'm Medli..." The Rito girl takes a polite bow, and then realizes that she's far from home. Perhaps a namedrop is appropriate. "... of Dragon Roost Island."

Hinawa feels bad for making Medli feel bad. Infinite bad feels loop.

"Medli, that's a lovely name." She smiles. "I live on an island, too, but mine is called Nowhere. I can't say I've heard of Dragon Roost."

Medli blushes, and scratches the back of her head. "Thank you, ma'am..."

She then looks thoughtful. "Nowhere Island? Hmm... I don't think I've heard the postmen mention it before, but then again that's not my duty, so I don't hear much of what they say..."

Okay, Medli, you're getting off-track. Focus on the original problem! "You wanted to get out of this maze, right? I think I know a way!"

"Oh, you do? That's wonderful!" Hinawa claps her hands together. "I'm afraid I've gotten all turned around, if you could show me the way I'd be grateful!"

"Yes! My mentor once told me that if you ever get lost, keep your hand on the wall and follow it until you're out!" Medli beamed at the memory. "A-and if that doesn't work, we try the other wall. But anyway, let's try... this one first!" The girl turns with her back to Hinawa, and plants her hand on the left wall. "This is the way I was going when you saw me, after all."

"Aha! That's a good trick to remember." Hinawa nods. "All right, let's head this way, then."

She stays behind Medli, her hands hovering just behind the girl. She's fairly certain there's nothing dangerous in here, but it never hurts to be prepared. She chances a glance at the mirrors and her reflection winks at her again. "It might be best to keep looking straight ahead while we're at it..."

Medli, (un?)fortunately, hadn't been in long enough to see the mirror's trickery yet. Beginning to walk, she glances back at Hinawa. "Why is that, ma'am?"

Medli's reflection removes her hand from the real one's in the meanwhile.

Hinawa sees what you did there, reflection.

"I don't want to frighten you, dear, but I think someone may still be trying to play a trick on us." She says in a hushed tone.

"A trick? I think this maze is supposed to... be..."

It's at this point she notices Hinawa's reflection is in a different pose than the real one

and Medli's own reflection runs ahead and out of sight.

"... u-um! Yes, let's move forward!" She's unsettled, but does her best to keep a level head, and picks up the pace a little bit.

Hinawa reaches down and takes Medli's hand. "I don't think they realize this joke is no longer funny!"

It's just a trick of the light, She tries to tell herself. She has to stay calm, for Medli's sake. "Let's show them that we can find our way out despite their tricks, hmm?"

"Right!" The Rito pressed on, one hand on the wall and the other in Hinawa's.

As she moved, though, one of her reflections, though remaining in step with the real deal, spoke. Don't you have something else you need to be doing?

And Medli just freezes in place, staring slack-jawed at the reflection. "W-what..."

You know. Your duties. Or did you think you could just leave it all behind without consequences?

Hinawa almost runs ahead, but stops when she feels Medli's arm pull. She looks back to see the girl has stopped.

"Medli? Are you all right?"

For a moment, there's silence. She was imagining things, right?

What would the chieftain think of you walking away from Prince Komali and the great Valoo?

... darn. Her reflection had a point. She'd just wandered into a wooded area without a second thought, and she didn't know the way back.

If there's a way back at all.

Medli squints her eyes shut for a moment, then looks ahead, her face betraying her distress. "... I'm fine. You're right, we really need to get out of here!"

And now Mom is worried. They had to get out of here, for Medli's sake. She squeezed her hand.

"Let's go. Don't look back, okay?"

The Rito girl nods, doing her best to ignore the taunts of her double behind the glass. She resumes her powerwalk, turning corners and navigating back out of dead ends as they went.

It takes some time, but eventually: "Hey, I think I can see the outside down this way!"

Hinawa looks ahead and can see a sliver of light. "I see it! Hurry!"

She doesn't feel like she's in danger, but there's an oppressive sense of unease in the air, and her concern for this poor girl is compounding her need to get out of here.

The sliver of light grows larger until the exit comes into full view. Finally, sunlight! Er, moonlight? What times it is here, anyway?

You can leave this maze. But you can't run away from your duty.

"... I know."

Stepping into the gentle light of the moon, Medli lets out a sigh of relief. "Thank you for your help, ma'am! I'm really glad that's over with. I owe you!"

⇨ TEST DRIVE MEME #1

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