livinglot | ⇨ TEST DRIVE MEME #1

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⇨ 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!

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ADMISSION FEES

[Spyro's not opposed to paying his fair share for admission. Frankly, he's just glad it's not a certain stuffy, stuck-up bear behind that ticket counter, waiting to charge him a wing and a horn to get in. Trouble is, even if he's not dealing with Money Bags, he's not sure if what he has here is enough...

He gathered up a few gems on his journey through the woods here, but it's really only a modest amount. It's all spread out on the ground in front of him now, approximately 12 absurdly large precious gemstones in colors of rich green, blue, and red. Where he comes from, things like carnival admission and such usually cost at least 100 of these bad boys, so he feels just slightly embarrassed checking to see if this pile of chump change will be enough to get him admission.

Perhaps your the clerk in charge of the admission. Or perhaps you're another newbie in line behind him, waiting for your turn at the desk. Either way, you're there as he takes his concern up with the carnival staff:]

Hey pal! Yeah, down here! Is this good enough to get me into the action, or am I going to have to come back later?

GAMER'S CIRCLE

[Alright, games! This is Spyro's kind of jam. The games here are pretty different from the ones he remembers from Dragon Shores, but that just makes them even more exciting.

He's got his eye on one of the water gun games, the kind with the moving targets that you have to blast, but he's having some difficulty figuring out the provided weapon.]

Wait... How am I supposed to use this, exactly?

[It's the trigger that's throwing him off. He's used to using turrets built with folks like him in mind, hands-free cannons and such that use magic to fire when he wants them to. Most places usually have that, or they'll at least provide a fireball powerup so that he can play with some good old fashioned fire breathing. But a regular old squirt gun? He can't get his little claws around that effectively.]

Well, I'm stumped. Any ideas, Sparx?

[He's talking to the glowing dragonfly hovering faithfully next to him.]

Bit of a trouble, mate?

[Joker isn't bewildered at all by the presence of a tiny dragon, considering what he's seen, but he does pause since there seems to be a bit of trouble. He's on his way to other things, but he has a bit of time to spare if there's a problem. Besides, keeping busy is why the Ringleader likes him so much, so he doubt she'd be inclined to complain.]

Yeah, I'm getting the sense that most of these games are designed with people with thumbs in mind. Got any suggestions?

Ha…. Yeah, it can be a bit tricky there. I think we were expectin’ some different folks ta be in the carnival for the most part, but hold on.

[He starts to reach for the walkie talkie on his belt but pauses, considering him.]

...Just ta be sure, ya are a dragon, yeah? We get some finicky folks around here, y’know how it is.

[Spyro snorts and gives his tail a little flick.] Of course I’m a dragon, you know of some other kind of creature with wings and horns like these?

[He’s just giving Joker a hard time but also, c’mon man. What else would he be.]

...Demon? Elemental spirits? Some other thing I ain’t met yet?

[Fortunately, Joker doesn’t seem to be too insulted, just laughing and shrugging.]

This place sees a whole lotta different people, mate, so I don’t take any chances.

[With that said, he flicks through a few frequencies with his thumb before finding the one he wants.]

Heyo! Could we get someone down over ta the Gamer’s Circle? We got a dragon here who doesn’t exactly have thumbs, so things are a bit tricky. Thank ya kindly~.

[Clicking it off, he tosses a lazy grin Spyro’s way.]

They’ll be here in a tick.

[He cocks his head slightly.] Who's "they", anyway?

Our very helpful workers~.

[Sliding the walkie talkie back in place, he grins at Spyro.]

Also known as the poor folks who have ta keep everythin’ runnin’ in good order. They’ll switch things out for ya so ya can use the games. If not, we can always bother ‘em some more~. I mean, they’re thankful, they really are! Keeps ‘em from gettin’ bored.

[He may or may not be mildly lying.]

[While Io had prior experience with all sorts of differently-shaped creatures even dating back to slightly before having joined the Carnival, the prospect of a dragon trying a shooting gallery is something she has still not yet had to consider. Still, it is her job to resolve this kind of problem... although her own lack of ideas that would solve it has lead to her stopping a short distance away from him.]

There must be something I can do about this...

[ Natsu's trying to mind his own business, he really is. He just wants to get into this carnival and have himself some fun, but the purple creature's attempts to get the clerk's attention also manage to grab Natsu's. Wow, not even inside and already he's seeing things he's never seen before.

Really, what in the world has scales and horns and wings like--

A dragon. A small one, a really small one, but that's definitely a dragon. Natsu doesn't even hesitate and jumps out of line straightaway, practically falling over himself. ]

Hey! You! Uh, dragon! You're a dragon, right?

Woah!

[Startled, Spyro leans back a little at the sudden appearance. He’s not offended by the question though; he actually gets this kind of thing a lot, even back in his own world.]

Sure am. [He cocks his head.] Why, who wants to know?

[ Oh man oh man oh man oh man oh man a dragon a REAL DRAGON. Natsu could just about burst with excitement. Thankfully, he doesn't. Instead he asks his question. ]

Me! Dude, you wouldn't happen to know any other dragons would you? Maybe a red one with fire powers?

[ Please say yes. Please say yes. ]

Well sure I know plenty of other dragons, I'm from the Dragon Realms. Most of the ones I know are either really old and crotchety or they're still just babies, though... And I'm pretty sure all of them can breathe fire.

[A lot of them are red, too.]

You got a name or something else to go off of?

[Easel had it in mind to see if he could challenge someone to a shoot-off. You know - just for funsies! And... maybe to do his part to cajole someone into participating in a game that they'll forget to pay for, because why not. He worked for the actual devil before he came to the carnival; he's not terribly picky about what ends he's serving.

Anyway! Whatever his goals, he's not-meanly amused and interested when he sees a little dragon struggling with a water pistol at one of the games he thought he'd look for "opponents" near, and he doesn't hesitate to walk on over, stand next to the fellow.]

Y'all need a hand, there, partner?

[His voice is buoyant, but on the thin side - just inviting engagement rather than trying to seem as if he's trying to make some kind of sell.]

Eh, more like I need some thumbs, actually.

[(rimshot)]

Why, you got something mind?

[Let it never be said that Jacky M. Faber doesn't pull her own share. Outside of the tents, she much prefers drumming up interest--it appeals to the showman in her, what can she say--but when there's a job to be done, she'll do it. And even if it ain't her money, there's something satisfying about collecting it all the same.

She's seen a lot in her near-year here at the carnival, so she greets the small little dragon with her sunniest grin.] Well good sir, we do pride ourselves here on being fair, so I'm sure--

[Spying the literal pile of shimmering gems the size of the fists of some sailors she's known, Jacky finds herself choking on her own spit, her eyes going wide. 'We could buy a fleet with that, we could,' Little Mary whispers in her mind, and for the first time in a long time Jacky is tempted to listen to the little gutter rat. Oh, surely the Ringmaster wouldn't miss one, would she? It would be like a tip! A reward for excellent service!

Stuck in moral dilemma, she neglects to actually answer the little guy's question.]

[Ohhhh no no no. He knows that look. He's seen it a million times on Moneybag's face whenever treasure is involved.

Spyro's tail swishes over the ground behind him, as he sits back on his haunches and frowns.]

Hey. Lady. You gonna be alright?

Eh?

[Shaking herself (and perhaps wiping away a spot of drool), Jacky made sure the grin she flashed was extra cheery to make up the lack.] Ah, yes! Sorry, my thoughts got the better of me for a moment there! Woolgathering, you know.

Now, let us see... [Eyeing the pile of gems, she found her gaze straying to the few green ones. Oh, but she did love emeralds...

...on second thought, best not to tempt it. Rubbing the constellation on her face, Jacky pointed at one of the red ones--and sighed just a little under her breath at the loss. Goodbye, oh fleet of brigantines. Goodbye sloops, cutters, and schooners. Hello, responsibility; you were not missed.] For one of those beauties, you'll get yourself admission to the grounds and twenty tickets.

I think you'll agree that's awful fair.

Wow, seriously? 20 tickets? Heck, that sounds more than fair to me.

[He forks over the requisite gem, and Sparx zips forward to snatch up the remainder.]

[Ratchet stands to one side, arms crossed watching this fiasco impatiently for a full ten minutes. Or at least what he would claim was ten minutes, it was actually probably less than two. Which should tell you something about how closely he’s paying attention.]

You just shoot it.

[He finally butts in with an exasperated huff and a mimed hand-gesture of shooting a gun. It’s not rocket science.]

[Wow Ratchet check your OPPOSABLE DIGIT PRIVILEGE.

Spyro's still frowning at the device when he says offhandedly:] Yeah, thanks, I'd figured that much out for myself. But y'know, feel free to get back to me if you come up with any other bright suggestions for how a guy who doesn't have thumbs is supposed to work one of these things.

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⇨ TEST DRIVE MEME #1

Spyro | Spyro the Dragon | Newbie

Gamer's Circle

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Games

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