⇨ TEST DRIVE MEME #1

[ringleaders]

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!

Comments

[fourthscribe]

[Managed to get it up to ten high--not bad at all!]

[Dropping the eleventh into her hand and tossing it over at Sans's skull by a more mundane fashion, Tanyuu slithers over with a frown and arched brow, judging him hard enough that there might as well be golden halls around them both right now.]

Good morning, Sans. Did you have a nice nap?

[Oh yeah, he's definitely getting the 'child did you seriously just break all my good china' tone.]

[osteothropy]

[It plops off of his skull with barely any reaction, falling into his lap with the others. He looks sort of sleepy but that's about it. Times is still snoozing at his feet.]

Longer than I thought. Last time I checked it was more afternoon-ish.

[fourthscribe]

Since--?!

[Has he been here all night?! Tanyuu sighs gustily and pinches the bridge of her nose, praying she's wrong about this...]

Sans, what day was it when you went to sleep?

[osteothropy]

[He winks.]

It was about a half hour ago. Ya really shouldn't believe all the hype, Tanyuu. A guy can only nap so hard.

[fourthscribe]

With you, sometimes I wonder.

[She sighs and shakes her head, casting a glance around the area and waving off a mushi that drifts a bit too close.]

I assume you've heard the Ringmaster's request about the will 'o wisps by now. You didn't happen to see any when you have been awake, have you?

[osteothropy]

Nah.

[If he'd seen them he could have grabbed them pretty trivially, he thinks, but he hasn't really been going out of his way.]

But, like everybody keeps telling me, I have more important things I should be keeping my eye on.

[fourthscribe]

And I can see how well you're keeping up at that.

[Her highest set of eyes roll upward in exasperation, though it's hard to tell with the coloration. Why are the two supervisors in charge of keeping this carnival safe so irresponsible?!]

Well, if you do see any let someone know if it's not in arm's reach. I already lost track of one earlier in the backyard.

[osteothropy]

[On another day that comment wouldn't bother him, but today it's been building up. His flash of annoyance is characteristically hard to spot, though.]

Sometimes it's what you don't see what counts.

[Though his petulance right there might be a good sign of it too, though his tone is as casual as ever and his grin is still absolutely present.]

[fourthscribe]

[It might be difficult to stop, but Tanyuu is more observant than most. So when that hint of a whine comes through she gives Sans a considering look before deciding to let the matter drop. She's had the privilege of seeing him in action once before, even if only briefly--it's not like he's completely incompetent.]

[Just more contrary than a wet cat at times.]

I suppose that's true. Especially for some more than others.

[Tanyuu bends down and gives...is this Times or Roman? She can never tell these dogs apart. But either way it receives a pat on the head.]

Where are the other two? Patrolling, or...?