⇨ 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

Re: leaf!

[pipers_son]

[The part of him that still remembers doing this business the normal way- no magic nonsense, no hopping through other worlds, just traveling along dirt roads and taking plain money for tickets- is actually pleased that the kid seems to have had such a good time. That was the part of circus life that Joker had loved the most: letting people enjoy themselves.]

[Pity they’re short on employees. He knows that’s likely why the forest is acting like it is.]

[For now, however, he grins back to Mika.]

Yeah, the forest is tricky like that, ha, ya would’t be the first! I could… probably figure it out for ya, ha ha, but… [He makes a show of looking thoughtful, his hand coming up to his chin thoughtfully.] What if I said ya could be here for as long as ya like, and still make it back ta yer mentor on time?

[kagehira]

( Such a thoughtful expression... certainly thoughtful enough for Mika to read it as sincere. He seems to hesitate to consider the words because of it, but even so, as soon as they've worked their way through his empty head his brows draw together in an look that seems almost offended. )

Hey, if ya were just gonna try an' play a trick on me, ya didn't have to go outta yer way.

( As willing as Mika is to accept candy from a stranger, so to speak, even he knows how time works. )

Even someone as dumb as me knows ya can't stop time, an' if I don't get outta here soon, Mentor's definitely gonna give me a scoldin'.

[pipers_son]

[Innocently, he holds up his hand with the fingers spread out.]

I ain’t lyin’! I’m just sayin’ the carnival’s schedule runs… a bit different ta most times. It’s not stoppin’ time, just sorta leavin’ it be. Our owner, why, she’s a pretty talented lady, she could get ya back home no trouble at all.

In fact… Even better, she could help ya bring somethin’ back for yer mentor that I bet would make him real happy. What’s yer mentor teach, if ya don’t mind me askin’?

[kagehira]

Huh? Well Mentor said I'm not s'posed to take things from strangers, an' I don't really have anythin' to ask for. Mentor's an artist, yanno, so anythin' from a carnival probably wouldn't suit his tastes.

( Very Refined Tastes™, that unfortunately don't quite match up to Mika's own fondness for cheap stuffed toys and amateur sweets. )

He's the leader a' Valkyrie, so whenever we have a new performance comin' up, he has to teach me how to do the dances an' the songs properly. ( Here, he puffs up a little, looking tentatively proud of himself for this. ) Ever since Nazuna-nii left, I'm Mentor's only doll, after all, so I gotta work real hard to make sure Mentor's stage is perfect.

[pipers_son]

Oh, then ya must be quite the valuable fella then!

[It’s a shame he still only has his one arm, because a little bit of applause would probably go well with his impressed tone. Ah well, he manages.]

Y’know, our ringleader can give ya more than just things from the carnival. She knows kings and nobility and loads more people~. In fact, she could even help ya make sure that nothin’ goes wrong on that stage of yer mentor’s.

[kagehira]

Yer just sayin' that 'cause ya haven't seen 'em before. Mentor's stages are already perfect — he's a genius, yanno? He was called the Sovereign of Yumenosaki, an' all. We don't need any help from outsiders or nothin' anyway, since this is Valkyrie business.

( He's going to neglect to mention that the title has since been usurped, but you know, inconsequential details. He's bristling slightly on the defensive after Joker's adequately shoved his foot in his mouth with that remark anyway. It's kind of hard to get on Mika's good side while implying that Shu's capable of organizing lives that are anything but perfect, so it's easy to tell from the way his expression becomes troubled that he's having some second thoughts about this. )

Ya sound awful intent on gettin' me to see this Ringleader person, but ya haven't said a thing about gettin' outta here. Nnha, are ya really tryin' to help? When ya keep talkin' like that it kinda reminds me a' the scary stories they tell 'bout carnivals an' people disappearin' at 'em.

( Or maybe Mika just consumes too much scary media, but you know, it's fine. This could be just the way to incur a debt anyway, if Joker's so inclined. )

[pipers_son]

[Ah, wrong thing to say. Oh well. Joker doesn’t dwell on it for long. These things happen sometimes, especially when you never know who will pop up in the carnival next. At least it’s not the kind of situation where he’s almost died… again. For, what, the third time? It doesn’t matter. Hastily, he thinks of a new angle to try.]

My apologies, didn’t mean no disrespect. [He had a bow, arm crossed over his chest, for good measure.] Yer right, a course- ya would know better all about yer mentor’s business, especially as I’m afraid I’m a bit oblivious when it comes ta things outside the carnival.

Only reason I was bringin’ up my Ringleader is because we’ve been lookin’ for new workers and the like. Of course, now that I’ve talked with ya, it’s clear you’ve got the best job in the world, workin’ under yer mentor, ain’t that so?