⇨ Test Drive Meme: EDEN (Rescued Captives)

[ringleaders]

WELCOME TO THE SHOW!↴ Or, more specifically, Lost Carnival's test drive meme! We've changed a lot this time around and have introduced a whole new method of entering the game. Before we get started, let's lay down some details: You can (and should) read the plot FAQ here. Reserves and Applications are currently OPEN. This round, new characters will be entering as rescued captives. Initially stolen away into this world by the leader of Eden, they will be rescued by current characters as part of an in-game event. You can apply as a newcomer or as a "veteran" character who has been in the carnival for up to three years. In the case of veteran characters, you will need to come up with an explanation of why they haven't been around the carnival recently. They will arrive in the carnival grounds with no entry log necessary. TDM threads can be used as game canon after the fact if both characters are accepted, the players agree to it, and it makes any sense contextually. CURRENT SCENARIO↴ ⇨ GARDEN OF EDEN ⇦ Eden is a magical, almost idyllic realm created by a powerful nephalem, with the specific purpose of finding a way to craft the perfect mortal soul. Above ground there are beautiful forest, gardens, and architecture that is otherworldly in its splendor. You, however, don't get to see most of that, because you have been brought to its underground prison, locked away like a zoo animal to be studied by the locals. This is extra weird because everyone living in Eden is some kind of uplifted animal - the beings attending to you are a diverse assortment of species, all with the ability to talk and apparently bend reality. The underground garden you're being kept in doesn't look like a prison at first. Despite its lack of natural light, it's well decorated with plant life and various water features, its trees growing enough fruit to sustain you indefinitely. But there's no way out. It's just you and the other captives, and occasionally one of Eden's beasts coming in to check on you, or drag someone out to be examined. It's like being abducted by UFOs if the UFOs were talking animals, and the spaceship was a magical realm. You may have noticed by now that, eventually, individual test subjects stop being returned to the garden. You could imagine this is because they've been released, but realistically, you suspect it's something much worse. ► THE MIRROR: The first thing you remember of your stay in Eden is seeing a mirror, its pristine silver surface being all that you can focus on. You don't know how you got there, only that the reflection seems to reach inside of you and pull something out, as if it's splitting you in half to create your mirror image. Eventually, you lose consciousness, and wake up in the garden prison. It took you a while to get the chance to talk to any of the animals, and they are disinclined to give you anything but the most basic of information - what to eat, where to sleep. They don't seem to want to get attached. ► THE GARDENS: There's not much to do in the garden, besides lounge around and maybe speak with your fellow captives. They have more information for you than any of the animals will - some of them are human, but some of them are obviously alien, telling tales of different worlds far beyond your experience. The lights dim at night and brighten in the day, but there's no outdoors to be seen. There are cushions and blankets laying on the grass for you to sleep on, but there are no beds. No one who has gotten violent towards the animals that attend to you has come back after being hauled off. ► SOMETHING MISSING: Since the moment you've arrived, no magic or powers you had previously have worked. More than that, you feel like something inside of you is missing - like some part of your soul never came back from being split into that mirror you saw. Maybe that's an abstract idea for you, maybe you don't believe in souls. Yet, now it's an instinctive feeling that is hard to put out of your mind. What did they take from you? Can you get it back? ► WILD CARD: Want to try some threads with the assumption that your character is already with the carnival? 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 run the obstacle course? Hang out in the Backyard? Choose whatever appeals! These prompts will be considered non-canon, unless you are applying as a veteran. Recruits from this month will be signing on with the carnival in an entry log that will be posted around the start of August. You can view the in-game calendar here. ENTRY STATUS↴ Approved characters will arrive as part of an in-game event log which will cover their rescue. TDM threads are meant to be pre-rescue circumstances, and current players will be tagging in as NPCs or other captured characters. Characters rescued from Eden can have been imprisoned in the gardens for anywhere from a single day to up to three months. Good luck keeping track, though, there's no clocks down here. Characters rescued from the gardens will be mostly depowered at the time, but will get their powers back by the end of the event. Characters will be imprisoned with only the clothes on their back. All items will have been confiscated, but can potentially be retrieved in the event log.

Comments

[naturalsakura]

This guy definitely reminds her someone she herself knows. Maybe it is the way he talks. It is very proper and oddly pleasing. And then there is the aura that just seems to exude from him. Very high class, super posh, princely...? Ah, that's right! He reminds her of Tamaki. In the host club, Tamaki always talks like that. Haruhi laughs lightly. "Uh, you're welcome? It really isn't a problem. Helping people seems to be my source of entertainment currently. And you seem nice enough."

Oh! He wants her name? "My name is Haruhi. Haruhi Fujioka." She bowed respectfully. "It's nice to meet you."

[sunderings]

Ah! He grins, enthused by his companion's laugh; by their easy cadence and bearing.

"So the name of my savior is Haruhi." With an artful flourish of wrist, he beckons the other man (?) closer, so that they might both be able to recline comfortably atop Sion's carefully curated agglomeration of cushions. Several box pillows, each encased in wefted brocade, are flanked by cylindrical counterparts to form something of a bounded line; a private space amid the gardens where all is visible to the eyes of others. "While I would much prefer our meeting to have been under a different circumstance, I cannot deny that I am grateful to have made a friend in the here and now."

The present, where bonds were vital if they were to ever make it past the ivory atrium of the garden's gilded ceiling.

"My name is Sion, Sion Astal." He mirrors Haruhi's bow of head, somewhat curious of the gesture. "And this..." Upon raising the half-braided bundle of sweet grass in his hands for inspection, he gives pause (!!) as though he were considering something heavily. "...I believe it is a herb for flavoring confections, but I suppose I cannot be certain. Though it bears similarities to the plant I am familiar with, who is to say it is not something wildly different in this realm?"

Canting his head to the side, he wears a gently bemused expression.

"At the very least, it does not appear to be poisonous."

[naturalsakura]

Savior? Well, she wouldn't go and say that. If she were one of the girls that often attended the host club, she would have certainly been floundering over this guy. But this is Haruhi. The unfortunate person who knocked over an expensive vase in previously mentioned host club and often finds herself in weird situations.

Not as weird as being captured in a human zoo but..weird enough, maybe.

Haruhi follows the long haired man's lead. She found his bed (if you could even call them that since it was just pillows and sheets) to be quite impressive. Hers is just two pillows and a cover. "I know what you mean. A lot of people are still on edge." And they also disappear but maybe it was bet not to say that aloud right now.

Sion was his name then. Foreign. She silently wonders if it is an American name. Maybe French? She wish she could ask Tamaki. Actually, no, it is for the best that he isn't here as he'd probably embarrass her. Haruhi tilts her head to the side ever so slightly as she observes the braided plant in his hands.

She gives him a worried look. "I hope you didn't eat in or anything to see if it was poisonous." She says. "Though, what are you planning on making with it?"

[sunderings]

"A length of twine to begin with, I think." With a breezy hum, he taps a forefinger against his chin, making a quiet study of Haruhi (Haruhi who, with a rounded curve of jaw and a boyish crop of hair, remains an androgynous mystery to him) as they observe his (yet unfinished!) work of craftsmanship. "And if it should prove to be strong enough, perhaps a rope? If the fibers can hold weight enough, the construction of a tree-swing may prove to be an immediate necessity."

He will not, of course, reveal his furtive intent—to do as much would be tantamount to inviting harm to come to Haruhi, and if punishment should be meted out for his actions, it will fall upon his shoulders alone. This vow, he has made to himself, and he will see to it that it is upheld, even if Haruhi's countenance (their curiosity; their willingness to help) suggests to him a rebellious spirit, not yet without hope.

Instead, he maintains the pretense of being wholly carefree, and truth be told, it not so difficult a thing, for...

How many times, had he wished to return some idyllic place, where he might laugh freely with friends without worry or care? Were he to close his eyes, he could call the faces of a sleepy-headed man and a peerless beauty to mind, and imagine that the world he had always wanted to create for them would begin right here.

(But Sion Astal has never once been so kind, not to himself.)

"Here," he starts, extending the half-finished to Haruhi, "if you braid, I'll hold. It is a much easier task, with tension on the other end."

And then, in humorous afterthought: "But if you would rather I taste-test for poison first, let me know. Who knows, after all? It may be a pleasant alternative to our bountiful supply of fruit."

[naturalsakura]

A tree swing? "That sounds fun. Entertainment made by your own hands." She honestly hasn't been on a swing in ages so she is definitely happy to help with this. She is especially excited about the idea of the finished product. "What's the plan for a seat, though? Are we going to use the same material?" She asks, curious.

Being handed the unfinished end, Haruhi gives him a firm nod. "Alright then." She used to braid her hair all the time when she was younger. Braiding sweet grass couldn't be any different, right? Haruhi settles comfortably on the bed, focusing some of her attention on the braiding and the other with talking to Sion, only occasionally glancing down at her work. Multitasking is a specialty of hers.

"Aw, come on. Don't say things like that. I'm sure you have people you have to return to, after all." Haruhi smiles. "Besides, I don't think they'd leave anything poisonous here. Unless they intend for us to go full on Battle Royale which I hope would not be the case."

[sealeopard]

"None of us could be so careless!"

It is a loud and bold proclamation that Nuri the leopard seal barges into this exchange with... bringing along with the usual clipboard and pen, but also a cup filled with some sort of icy drink. Don't wonder how this is possible with flippers. Magic.

"You! ... One of you! Drink and tell me what you think."

Because such a demand from such a rough-sounding voice coming out a maw full of predatory teeth totally doesn't sound ominous or anything.

[sunderings]

"Battle Royale?" He echoes, golden eyes made keen with intrigue at the turn of phrase, but before there is chance enough for Sion to press further inquiry (could it be a popular colloquialism—and a dangerous one, at that!—in a world far away?), a third party (!!) barrels onto the scene with a thunderous boom of voice. And while Sion does not startle, his response is instantaneous: in a precise economy of motion, he shifts to place Haruhi behind him, such that he might stand as a bulwark against...!

A creature of such immense size and distinctive coloration that it could only be a leopard seal.

Funny, that Sion (who has waged a campaign against an entire continent, and has combated all manners of monsters and Gods) should have been laid so low as to be powerless in the face of an enchanted-clip-board bearing beast. It is a fleeting, abstract notion, but in comparison to being imprisoned in Eden, he wonders if the quiet of that other realm (that dreary place of grey) would not be preferable to this.

"My apologies." Though the tension in shoulders abates, he remains vigilant. "You have been careless only with your application of grace and tact."

Particularly, the astounding lack thereof.

"I will partake," he answers without hesitation (and so too sparing Haruhi from making a choice)," though I would ask a favor of you, first."

[naturalsakura]

Haruhi would not dare admit that she was actually surprised by the sudden presence. But the look of surprise on her face was quite obvious. She glanced towards the sudden new variety of animal that made it's presence known and she squinted slightly. Things like this really made her think that this was all a dream. Like...it felt so much like a dream. How was it even able to hold a clipboard? Was that some sort of garden magic too?

She peers at the creature from behind Sion over his shoulder. He really expected one of them to drink that?

"No way. No idiot would actually--"

Goddamn it, Sion. She leaned over and whispered, still keeping her eye on the creature. No one really knows what to expect from them. "Sion-san, you're not actually going to do it are you?" She hoped that he would answer a no.

[sealeopard]

The blubbery beast almost seems to narrow their beady little eyes at the two and then snorts with presumably disdain. Thankfully, it has taken more than mere insults for the animals to think there's reason to drag previous captives off to who knows where.

"A favor? You are lucky you have this chance to enjoy a product of my genius!" And yet for reasons exclusive to himself and himself alone, the seal mulls over the request.

"... Perhaps I can personally allow such an indulgence- if it is appropriately small. But I make no promises to any of you Peoples."