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

[What does that mean? It's vaguely threatening, and Kadin's eyes flick to the side, a quick glance over at his tail. If he grabbed the goat with his arms on his way backwards towards the fence he could probably make it over before this guy could catch him. Kadin doesn't see wings, but on the other hand he might breathe fire or something.

Well...he'll keep the idea of escaping on the back burner as a 'Plan B'. For now, the man is right. Kadin bows his head, genuine regret in his voice. He's fallen so far so quickly. A killer, a liar and a thief. He should be ashamed. His tail loosens around the goat, and he shimmies off of it, letting it slump gently to the ground.]

I'm sorry. The truth is I'm very, very hungry.

[Ginko's brow furrows as he looks Kadin over. Well, with that body, he guesses it shouldn't be too surprising that he'd go after an entire goat. ...Though Ginko doesn't much want to think about how he might go about eating it, especially if he was desperate enough to just grab it like this.]

...We do have food here, you know. That's specifically meant to be eaten, that is.

[Kadin glances up at Ginko, a pained sort of look on his face.]

I can't- [No that's not right, he can eat food for humans it just doesn't work right, and in his current state he's not sure it would do any good.] I need to eat like this, all at once.

[And of course there's his other problem.]

And I have no money.

[Or anything else actually. He makes a gesture, open palms facing Ginko. He doesn't even have a shirt on his back.]

[The more Kadin explains, the more concerned Ginko looks.

This... might have been more or less unavoidable. Which could well be why Kadin was brought here to begin with.

Dammit.

He sighs and rubs at the back of his neck, his mouth twisting with frustration.]

...'Course you don't. Look, I'm sorry for the position you've ended up in, but there's not really a way around it. You've got a debt now.

[Kadin actually perks up at the mention of a debt. That phrasing sounds like he was going to be offered an alternative way to pay for the goat, which he is more than willing to do. And if he was going to effectively pay for the damages he's caused, maybe he would even be allowed...

Kadin shifts slightly back towards his kill.]

Does this mean I can eat the goat?

[...Huh. Interesting. Most indebted visitors at least seem interested in knowing what they're expected to do in return.]

...Sure. I don't see why not.

[Kadin slumps in relief a little bit, then turns and slides over to the dead goat. He heaves it up in his arms, then brings in his tail to coil around it again. When his tail is successfully holding it upright he glances back at Ginko a little nervously.]

Uh you might want to turn around...

[...You know, he would be confused if it weren't for the fact that this guy is apparently about to eat an entire goat, and however that works it sounds like it might not be something he wants to see.

Even if he's sort of curious.]

Uh... yeah, sure. [He turns away, tucking his hands into his pockets and resisting whatever impulse he may have to go ahead and look.]

[Whatever sounds are made by a human torso stretching wide enough to engulf a whole goat via the mouth cannot possibly be pleasant. There's the innocuous sounds of scales shifting against each other, and general noises of movement, but then there's the far more alarming popping, cracking and creaking of bone and sinew moving to accommodate something large.

The process is not quick either. Even after the strange organic sounds stop, there's more shifting as Kadin works on his meal.

He's pretty self-conscious about this whole process. He's glad that Ginko cooperated and turned away, he's painfully aware of just how much time this is taking. As soon as the hooves get past his mouth he rehinges his jaw with another sharp pop, struggling to get at least this head and neck back to a position where they can work as normal.]

I'm almost done, really. I'll just tell you when it gets into the...tail part instead of y'know. The top half.

[However technically inaccurate the word 'half' has always been to describe his human portion.]

[That... sure is a sound. Fortunately, as much as it makes Ginko kind of curious, it's also distressing enough that he decides that, yeah, he really should not look after all.

He nods when Kadin speaks up.] Take your time. [Despite how it may sound, it's not actually intended as sarcasm or anything like that.]

⇨ TEST DRIVE MEME #1

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