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livinglot2016-09-29 10:38 am
ringleaders) wrote in livinglot2016-09-29 10:38 am
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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:
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! |
Gamer's Circle
But as he wanders further he finds one area where people are failing even more consistently. There's almost no near misses, and the grumbles of frustration and annoyance are louder here than anywhere else. Most strangely, the game runners look almost as confused as the patrons. Something else was afoot here, and Matthew, as always, was curious.
The magic he's used to seeing back home is bigger, flashier, destructive bouts of elemental power, but shadow magic exists there too and it doesn't take too long for him to find the rather unlikely source. A child getting up to no good and having some fun. He's hardly one to put a stop to someone pulling a prank, but there's an opportunity here that the kid is missing out on. Matthew weaves through the crowd and puts himself next to the boy, leaning casually on the side of a stall.]
You know, if I could tip the scales, I'd be messing with the game runners, not their marks.
no subject
[And he's not that soft. His magic here is actually pretty weak, especially compared to the level they were at... when evil started creeping into the land where he came from. But the boy expected that too. He floats himself into the air and crosses his arms behind his purple-haired head.]
But a break for now sounds good. Can't have people getting wise.
[
Definitely a lost soul unsure of their purpose for being pulled to this realm.]no subject
[Matthew raises an eyebrow at the levitation, but otherwise doesn't comment.]
I'm not talking about charity, I'm suggesting a partnership.
[He extends his hand now that the kid is conveniently at roughly the same height as him.]
There are prizes to be won here.
no subject
[He peers at the man, not suspicious but still caught off guard by the gesture. Also the last time Shadow felt like he had a real partner, they betrayed him, nearly killed him.
And yet because of the princess's words, he helped him and the other heroes.]If what's in it for me is a share of whatever they're offering at this carnival, then I don't see the appeal.
[All he's seen so far is plushes and other toys.]
no subject
Fair point. The stakes are rather lower than I'm used to dealing with too. But there is a certain sense of satisfaction that comes from cheating a cheater.
[Matthew's attention has shifted subtly. Before he was less interested in the boy, and more interested in what he could do, but now his guarded answers have piqued Matthew's curiosity in their own right. Someone who harassed people for fun, but then passed up the chance to do the same while winning something, (even something of such negligible value). It's an interesting stance to take and Matthew's favorite puzzles have always been the hearts and minds of his fellow men.]
no subject
True, that's another good point. And something I'm familiar with.
[It's not that complicated in Shadow's perspective. He's able to harass both the players and the game runners at once by meddling with the odds even more against their favor. And he's just not interested in spending the same effort on winning something of low value... What's he supposed to do with a toy?
Or maybe the boy's just being too sour for his own good. These games are probably a good example of how people in the light world normally have their fun. And he hasn't given this carnival much chance yet to bring him that sort of feeling.]