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!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Mirror Maze:

[If one was to ask how easily does an Draenei get lost the answer would at the moment be easily. Valamia is amidst the maze and took the challenge figuring it would suffice for a distraction. If she could have figured the layout maybe she could use it as a hide-away.

Too badly she's lost and now she's fairly sure one of her reflections just stuck her tongue out at her. Her nose wrinkles at the reflection and she takes a few steps backwards. Right into another mirror.]

For the love of-. Who possibly enjoys these things?! [Cue one flustered Valamia.]

Trying to leaf:

[Nature. She can do nature. Valamia has spent far too many centuries to be outwitted by trees. Glowing trees? Seen it. There was absolutely no way she was going to get lost this time! She was going to find a hiding spot where she could plan out what to do in peace.

Until she realizes that she's passed a tree that had a rune carved in it for the fifth time. She might have dismissed it except for the fact she remembers putting that rune there in what she thought was a few short minutes ago.]

I should have known better than to trust a carnival. [a sigh] At least there's no wolves.

Do not be so very annoyed!

[The figure that comments this as she steps through is a ~~zevhra~~ zebra, or at least so she would appear from the head. Who knows what she's hiding beneath the cloak she wears? Also, zebras don't normally have their stripes glow like white illuminated by black light.]

It is a trick to be enjoyed.

[Weird zebra creature that appears, cloak and slightly glowing. Okay that's ...actually that may be normal around here for all she knows. It may be wrong but she isn't going to question it this time.]

I don't think most people would consider this an enjoyable trick. [Someone's bitter about getting beaten by a mirror maze.]

Do not be quick to take offenses
At its dabbling with your senses.
Enjoy the different perspective
That the mirrors have to give.

[Zecora takes a step over to the intersection of three mirrors -- and suddenly fifty or more zebras stretch out into the distance, all of them smiling warmly.]

[Light help her there's rhyming too. She pinches the bridge of her nose.]

You'll have to excuse me if I'm not big on things that throw off my senses.

The mirror maze is harmless fun.
Nothing can threaten until you're done.

[That may not be the most reassuring statement, but it is nonetheless true. That's why Zecora is in here, after all.]

[Call her a doubter because the arched eyebrow is her subtle sign of disbelief.]

The problem being to me "done" implies that I can go back home. Not to whatever attraction this place offers.

Ah, that is a problem indeed.
I cannot help you with that need.

[Sympathetic, the zebra moves away from the mirror conjunction, leaving only a few of her scattered here and there among the panes.]

In time I came to recognize
That it is best to compartmentalize.

[She shakes her head with a disappointed sigh.]

It may be fine but it wouldn't work for me. This world is not my home nor does my duty lay within it.

The truth is simply what you see.
You must accept reality.
I do not say you should not try
To return where your duties lie.
But until you can find that way
Do not live miserable, every day.

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stormcalling - 2016-10-05 15:53 (UTC) - Expand

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zebrarhyme_everytime - 2016-10-06 01:32 (UTC) - Expand

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stormcalling - 2016-10-07 18:33 (UTC) - Expand

[ Like Valamia, Pidge is doing her best to find her way back to where she's pretty sure she parked the lion. Or at least away from the carnival. The annoying part is when she passes the same fallen log for what must be the fifteenth time and turns only to nearly run smack into the tall alien woman. Pidge takes a hurried step back, frowning. ]

Wolves? I haven't seen any, but usually they stay away from people if I remember right...

[ She doesn't seem too put out by Valamia's appearance. It's a big universe and she's met too many aliens over the last few weeks to be too phased by them. Still, something about this one reminds her vaguely of Allura. Maybe the hair. ]

[She's a little surprised that there's a small human being rational at the moment. Not that she's going to look a gift horse in the mouth. She shrugs and waves a hand.]

I've seen wolves or creatures like them that are a bit daring. [Considering wolves had chased some merchants to a town before one never could be too careful.]

There are plenty of other creatures that could lurk around here. If we can avoid lingering any longer that would be ideal...

[ Being rational is kind of Pidge's Thing, most of the time. She bobs her head in a nod at the Draenei and glances around at the trees. ]

Yeah, I'm with you on that one. But it'd be nice if I stopped getting turned around trying to get through the trees.

[Thank the Light for other rational sentient beings. She turns to the closest tree and snaps a low hanging branch off.]

We'll mark each tree differently that we pass. If we circle around again we can assume that it can't be entirely due to us getting lost. ...Unless it's an illusion in which case we can try and deal with that in a bit.

[ Pidge nods. She pulls her diminutive Paladin blade out and carefully cuts a mark into the bark of the tree. ]

I was just thinking that. Though I don't know how you'd set up some kind of smoke-and-mirrors thing to keep people getting turned in circles. Maybe it's like the princess's room in the castle...

[ She's thinking aloud, talking half to Valamaia and half to herself and she turns to start making her way through the trees again. ]

[She can appreciate thinking aloud. Valamia is reaching up, idly snapping a small part of a different branch from each tree. She would mark them another way but now with two different methods she hopes it will be easier to keep track of where they're going.]

A bored Mage could probably pull something like this off. In which case that would mean we need to find them and well...I can't imagine that would be easy given our situation.

[As if to answer:]

Who would not?

[Where did that voice come from? It clearly wasn't hers... but it clearly belonged to someone nearby. Valamia will hear the sound of footsteps approaching, or rather claws clicking about. It's more than a little ominous and the culprit in question probably intended it that way.]

Who would not, other than a pitiful simpleton who could not even solve the simplest of riddles? Surely not you.

[That escalated to outright mockery pretty quickly. This was not a friend lurking amongst the mirrors.]

[Then there's this asshole. Valamia should consider exercising her patience in this matter. A flick of her tail and the slight tilt of her, horns more pointed towards his direction, aren't much of a friendly indicator.]

I see this place attracts real charmers. [Sarcasm thy name is Vala.]

Don't you have a child to be frighten now instead? Maybe another whelp to play with.

[Then there's this asshole, who it makes it a point to pointlessly circle around and around, still offering nothing more than the vaguest idea of where he might be. His laughter proves shrill and loud and echoing in the chamber, bouncing off the mirrors like a banshee's call.]

Why frighten them when I could frighten you? Although I am certain you'd claim to the contrary.

[Finally, the taunting face appears in one of the mirrors. Half-man, half-dragon, all obnoxious.]

You are among the more interesting specimens I've seen. I suspect you hail from a world very far from here, hm?

[If it's because she's too stubborn or it isn't the scream of demons, her reaction to the laughter is the twitch of her left eye. Valamia was entirely too old for such antics and with her arms defiantly crossed she simply decided to wait for him to show before responding. The corner of her mouth turns up to a grin. Whatever he was, which she had decided by now to simply stop asking people about it, didn't matter much to her. His attitude was another story.]

Oh I'm from some little planet that you've never heard of. [She rolls her eyes.] I would say that I have all day but I don't want to waste my time with rude youngsters.

[Gilgamesh seems to take some amusement from this, as there's a pause on his end followed by quiet laughter.]

I am five thousand years young, by standard measure. Would you still accuse me of childishness?

[Bluntly:] Yes. Now that we've established that you are far too young to be harassing your elders would you start playing nice?

[Her tone hasn't reached annoyed yet but whatever tolerance she has for nonsense is starting to wear thin. The heavy and dramatic sigh she ends her question with being testament to it.]

[At first, silence reigns, and perhaps faint hope sets in that she may have been left alone. But after those moments pass, Gilgamesh steps through one of the mirrors to greet her properly. He's very tall, even more so than a draenei, with legs a bit like hers but draconic features overtaking everything else.

The malice in his eyes that had been present in the reflections is gone, replaced by vibrant amusement.]

I could.

[Emphasis on could. She has his curiosity, anyway, which means any abject violence has been stalled for now.]

What sort of "elder" are you to chide me so? Who could say they have seen further than the great Gilgamesh?

[Finally her annoyance shows himself. She may have wandered off if he kept her waiting any longer. What may have been a form of surprise manifests in one quirked brow and another flick of her tail. Idly she considers going over and headbutting him but pride in her horns keeps her from acting. As he calls himself great she can't help but snicker at it. It vaguely reminds her, in essence, of quite a few people she had run into during her life. The amusement overrides any questions or concerns she has over her draconic company. To her he was ultimately a person not unlike anyone else. Maybe more annoying.]

If you want my exact age I have no idea. [a tiny shrug] Allow me to put it this way, even if you were of my race I could easily be a grandmother to one so young. As for what I've seen I will sum it up as plenty of worlds and people.

Then I shall respect your station.

[For whatever respect even meant to someone like Gilgamesh, as he'd already demonstrated a sincere lack of it. He had left much of his former culture behind, but an "elder" was still very much an individual to be heeded in his eyes. Besides, she's so striking in appearance he can't help but be fascinated by her.

Note: this was not a good thing.]

I know the way out. Follow me.

[...maybe following this man wasn't the best idea, either, but considering he'd appeared out of nowhere, maybe he really does have some idea of what he's doing.]

⇨ TEST DRIVE MEME #1

Valamia| WoW OC | newbie

Maaaaze

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Trying to leaf

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mirror maze!

I...I'm sorry...

as am I, friend

face in hands forever

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