singillppl | December 2023 Test Drive Meme

Entry tags:

December 2023 Test Drive Meme

DECEMBER 2023 TDM

PROMPT ONE — ARRIVAL: METHUSELAH'S FEAST: A new group of arrivals find themselves lost in the frozen wilds and vulnerable to the dangers of nature. With luck, they make it to the town of Milton, and to a friendly face offering food, warmth and shelter — not to mention the fact they are not the first to come here.

PROMPT TWO — MISTY FALLS CAVE: The Interlopers go out in search of a hidden cave in the mountains found by Methuselah, which may still contain the hidden stash of a doomsday prepper. However, they get a little more than they bargained for when they venture inside.

PROMPT THREE — SERPENT'S BREATH: Interlopers investigate the mysterious cause of whatever is killing and poisoning the wildlife and vegetation of the area — and discover a supernatural creature is behind it.

ARRIVAL: METHUSELAH'S FEAST

WHEN: Mid-Decmber.
WHERE: Milton, Milton Outskirts.
CONTENT WARNINGS: potential animal attacks, potential injuries, potential cold injuries/hyperthermia risk.

'You are the Interloper. You are not part of nature’s design.'

It’s the last thing you hear. A dark, deep voice. Impossibly ancient. You feel afraid. Maybe you’re dreaming, maybe you’re wide awake. You saw the lights, and then your world went dark. But you hear it in the blackness, you won’t forget those words.

You awaken. You are not where you were before. It’s different for everyone, there doesn’t seem to be much of a pattern in where you find yourself. You may open your eyes to find yourself in a cold, dim and dank cabin. The air is stale, dust hangs in the rays of weak sunlight that shine through the tiny windows. Someone lived here once, but they aren’t to be found. You look around, it seems like no one has been here in a long time. The fire is cold, the dishes in the sink are pretty mouldy. It is quiet. The wood creaks around you. Or perhaps you may awaken to find yourself shivering in the yawning maw of a cave, the freezing stone below you. Or maybe you’re unfortunate enough to sit up to find yourself lying in the snow, in the middle of the wilderness. Snow lies thick around you. It’s freezing out. You haven’t felt a cold like this before in your entire life. Cruel and biting. You have no idea where you are, and what’s worse — you are completely alone.

You may feel different, too. Any powers or magics you may have feel... absent. Disconnected. Things that may not have affected you previously now do. Something in you has changed.

You know you can’t stay where you are. You’ll need to move, try to work out where you are and how you came to be here. So you walk, head out into the unknown, in hope of finding a trail or a road. You’ll find one soon enough. It’s here you may find someone else in the same boat as yourself, equally freezing and confused. You’ll both need to keep going. It won’t be easy. You hear howls of wolves around you, and the terrain is difficult: slips and falls are likely. You’re completely vulnerable out here in the open.

It’s possible you may come across someone here. Another fellow Interloper, out hunting or gathering. They’ll likely offer help and get you into town. However, for the unlucky ones who don’t come across anyone, you’ll carry on until you see it: the lazy trail of smoke rising in the air. Fire. Not just one, but several. Civilisation…?

Follow it, and soon enough the way you’ve taken will certainly become a path or road. Unfolding before you in the mountainous forests, you’ll see the most welcome of sights: a small mining town tucked up in the valley. Battered, rusted road signs will direct to “MILTON, POP. 947”. You’re almost there, you keep going, and it looks like other people have had the same idea as you. In fact, you’ll hear the muffled sounds of life. People. In The town!

As you head into the outskirts and further into town, you’ll find it’s a little easier to walk but the cold has gripped you hard. You’ll find the buildings, both shops and homes, some are dark and lifeless, some of them are boarded up, some of them are occupied. People are going about their business, or stood watching from their tiny porches of their small, timber homes. For a town this big, there doesn’t seem to be many people.

Towards the center of town, you’ll find the building from which the biggest of the smoke trail rises: a school-house of sorts, or some kind of community hall. Perhaps both. You’ll find more and more people all drawn to this place, each and every one of them in the same position as yourself (and your companion, if you’ve found one). Some are in worse states than others: some are bloodied, nursing bite wounds or cuts; others might have some other kind of injury sustained in the journey here from falls. Others may look as if they could faint from the cold at any second.

The door opens, and you’re greeted by the gnarled, wizened face of an elderly man, dressed in thick furs. He has a kind face. He smiles warmly, and with pity, ushering you in with haste.

“Ah, even more, still. Just as I thought.” he muses. “I wonder if this is perhaps the new status quo. I am Methuselah. I welcome you Newcomer, although I’m sorry for how you’ve come to find yourself here. You are not the only one, the lights are changing things. They bring more of you every so often. Come. Mother Nature has not been kind to you, but there are plenty here to help.”

The room is dim, lit only by natural daylight through the windows. A roaring fire sits at one end of the huge hall. It crackles, bright and cheerful…. and warm. Even as big as this place is, the room is pleasantly warm. You’ll also find basic cots set up down one side of the hall, places to rest for a moment and get your bearings, or just trying to recover from the cold. Down the other side are tables and chairs, and long tables with food, drinks and bottled water similar to one might find at a soup kitchen. Once again, Methuselah offers a feast, aided by some of the other Interlopers.

There are canisters with hot herbal teas and coffee, along with soup and stew and trays of charred deer and rabbit meats, plus grilled fish. There's also things like instant mashed potatoes, and tinned vegetables. It’s very basic, but it’s hot and filling. A feast, although newcomers will note from others who have been here some time that this particular feast is less bountiful this time.

Methuselah will continue to busy himself, still; there is plenty to do. He will fetch blankets, tend to wounds, serve food and drinks. He does not have much time to talk. More and more people seem to be coming in from the cold. He will not stop to sit and rest until everyone is seen to, taking up a place by the fire to gaze silently into its flames. He is troubled, thoughtful.

He will encourage newcomers to get warm and eat, and when they are ready to — they can explore the time and find one of the many empty homes to call their own. He will not speak much, but perhaps you might be able to get some answers from those fellow arrivals who’ve been in this place for some time now.

However, he will speak of something important, and will gladly share with others: “I have been looking for something for you all. There was once a townsfolk I knew of: Matthew. A suspicious, paranoid old miner who was interested in Prepping. He often spoke of the world coming to an end and strived to survive it. He often spoke of a cache hidden in the mountains, where he collected things of value. I have found the place, a hidden cave, but I am unable to get through, myself.”

… Well, he is an old man, after all.

“There are signs outside, so it is promising it is still intact. Perhaps the cache is still there. It might provide something useful for your growing numbers.”

MISTY FALLS CAVE

WHEN: Mid-month, onwards.
WHERE: Milton Outskirts.
CONTENT WARNINGS: booby traps; claustrophobic situations; potential injury/maiming; potential hyperthermic situations; exploration horror;

Methuselah gives directions to those willing to check out the lead for the old prepper cache. Following the river up from Milton Basin will lead to rugged, difficult pathways up towards Misty Falls — a waterfall, the river source itself. Most of the river is completely frozen with the freezing temperatures, but it is not completely so the closer to the source you go. Misty Falls is certainly idyllic, or it would be perhaps on a fine summer’s day — good for a nice hike. But the place looks desolate in the eternal winter cursing the Northern Territories.

The half-frozen waterfall is a din of sound, but the water itself is incredibly fresh and cooling for those hot and tired from the hike up. Those paying attention might notice a small space between the water and rock, big enough to squeeze through to get behind the waterfall itself. In the small space, the entrance to a small cave can be found. There are faded handmade signs, all in the same hand, reading ‘DANGER KEEP OUT’ and it isn’t too far of a stretch to wonder if perhaps this might be the secret stash of the old miner that Methuselah spoke of.

Venturing into the cave will not be an easy task. It seems the old miner was keen to keep any trespassers out, and most of this comes down to the cave itself. The walls of the cave quickly narrow, with only enough space to walk in single file. Jutting stone will easily make those stumble and trip. Occasionally the cave’s passage becomes narrower, meaning one might have to stoop or even crawl to carry on through. Here and there, the uneven floor dips, and your feet will find themselves in shin-deep frigid water. It’s slow-going, even if the actual passage itself isn’t incredibly long.

But perhaps the worst of all is the pressing darkness. A darkness so black even with lanterns switched off, one’s eyes cannot adjust to it. It is smothering, pressing. The air is stale and damp, you feel small — and the cave itself still presses in on you. The miner also kept a few tricks up his sleeve in order to keep out intruders. There are dead-ends, making it easy to get lost. Trip wires are hidden in the darkness, causing small man-made cave-ins to fall upon unsuspecting heads.

It might be safer, saner to give up and turn back. But persevering will see the cave opening up once more, this time widening into a room. The place is fashioned into some crude shelter. There is furniture, lanterns to be lit.

With more light, the miner’s stash is revealed: the painstaking, time-costing work of a paranoid old recluse. Crates of non-perishable foods, MREs, and bottled water. Medicines and basic medical supplies, flares and tools.

A perfect supply of survival goods, ripe for the taking.

SERPENT'S BREATH

WHEN: Throughout the month.
WHERE: The entirety of the Milton area.
CONTENT WARNINGS: mentions of dead animals; malevolent creature; snakes/serpents; poison/airborne toxins; potential poisonings; potential burn injuries; potential (temporary) blinding.

It’s noticed in different ways: perhaps a trail of dead animals stands before you, each one with no particular injury other than what appears to be burned hides and flesh — it is as if the wildlife simply dropped dead, for the most part. Perhaps you notice huge, tunnel-like grooves in the deepest parts of the snow, a few feet in width — as if something long and thick had made its way through to clear a path. More worryingly for some, they might notice trails of rot: destroyed trees, decaying plant life, as if the very earth itself has been scorched in the wake of something passing through, leaving nothing but destruction and devastation.

Something is destroying the flora and fauna of the world. There seems to be no pattern, simply the random trails all over the place. There appears to be no other tracks, other than the long, smooth tunnel-like pathways. Whatever it is, it must be stopped. Resources are so precious in this world, if the beast is allowed to continue then all who live here will soon starve due to lack of animals to hunt and plants to gather.

Following the tunnels is a sure-way to hunt the beast down, although these paths will lead far from town. It is best to go prepared. But soon enough, you may come across the slumbering beast, curled up on the snow or coiled underneath some jutting space of stone along the mountains. You’ll hear and smell it before you see it: the long grumbling snores as it sleeps, and the putrid stench of rot. Everything in you tells you to flee, much like when an animal senses something toxic, or poisoning.

You press on, finally stumbling across the beast: a long, serpent-like dragon, with tremendous horns and fangs, coloured with muted grey scales and huge, glowing, flamed eyes.

The element of surprise will work in your favour to try and kill the beast, but it will give up a good fight. It will take several rounds of fights with it before it will finally be taken down permanently. It moves quickly, with scales like steel. Its eyes and mouth are its weakest spots, as is the soft underbelly of its body — fire will work well on harming this beast, especially with a well aimed shot into its mouth.

Its open mouth is where it holds its most powerful weapon. Not the fangs, no. The very reason why the air smells of rot, why the wildlife lay dead, why the earth decays at your feet: its breath. The beast’s breath is highly toxic, it will burn the skin of those it comes into contact with. Breathing in the fumes will poison those who breathe it in, and will cause a weakening, sickly illness. The breath may even temporarily blind.

These injuries are not fatal, and will heal with time and the basic medical attention available in the world. Victims will require rest for at least a week, depending on how severe the blast of the serpent’s breath. But killing the best will ensure its havoc is brought to an end.

FAQs

ARRIVAL: METHUSELAH'S FEAST

1. Arrival threads can be treated as game canon.

2. Items characters have brought from home can be found either strewn around them when they awaken, or in the community hall — as if someone left them out for them to collect. Methuselah will not know how they got there, and will be quite bemused by the happenings.

3. Reminder that all characters are now depowered upon arrival. They can choose not to notice it at first, or can immediately sense something is different about them.

4. If asked any personal questions, Methuselah will smile and say "Oh, you don't want to know about an old man like me. But I have lived all over in these parts for all my life." He will be more concerned with trying to help Newcomers, and is genuinely concerned for them and their well-being. Other Interlopers will say much of the same — there's little to know about him.

5. More information about Milton can be found here.

MISTY FALLS CAVE

1. Tools found would be basic survival/camping tools one might expect: knives, hand axes, rope, handsaws, torches, batteries, etc.

SERPENT'S BREATH

1. The Stoor Worm, or Mester Stoor Worm, was a gigantic evil sea serpent of Orcadian folklore, capable of contaminating plants and destroying animals and humans with its putrid breath. Assipattle, the youngest son of a local farmer, defeated the creature by flinging still-burning peat into its mouth. As it died its teeth fell out to become the islands of Orkney, Shetland and the Faroes, and its body became Iceland.

2. It is possible the harvest the beast once it is killed, particularly for its fangs and skin. The skin/scales will provide ample protection to try to use it for armouring themselves. The fangs would provide useful for crafting knives or weapons.

3. It is... technically possible to eat the meat of the beast. Care should be taken in butchering, however. And it is not advised to eat the head.

TALES FROM THE NORTHERN TERRITORIES NEWSLETTER

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

( arrival - cw: blood, brief mention of period-typical homophobia )

[ Waking up on your back in the snow is already not the most pleasant of sensations - and perhaps only less so when you've heard some odd voice only a moment before, and got stabbed in the back only a moment before that. It means the man sits up with a jolt of adrenaline before he even realises the rest of his situation. The cold grips him almost instantly, a familiar sensation at this point, but somehow much more intense in this moment-- or maybe that's just because everything suddenly feels a little more intense, from the way his limbs feel like they're suddenly moving much more easily to the spot of dark blood he can see in the snow where he was lying only a moment ago. The man has absolutely no idea where he is - one may assume the afterlife, but the only way for a man who likes men to just live life in his time was always to not really ponder too hard whether or not that really exists at all times - or what's going on, but all he knows is that he doesn't feel like he's dying.

And he'll take that, in the midst of all the confusion. Especially with how long it's been since he hasn't felt like he was getting way too close to actively dying.

Mercifully he does find his coat in the snow, but even after dusting the snow off that and putting it on, it still feels much too cold out here. All he can do is move, even if he's got no clue where he's going, gratefully latching on to the first sign of a trail he spots out in the woods.

Maybe it's out here in the forest that you run into him, or he runs into you. It's hard to tell if he's even a person rather than a ghost at first out here in the snow, tall and thin, not even saying a word as he stares directly at you. The moment you two make eye contact, his posture shifts into something incredibly defensive, like there's no trust to be given away here, while his facial expression is mostly just hard to read. It's only after a moment of awkward staring that he asks: ]

Where is this?

[ Maybe you have no clue either, making this a real fun totally not awkward conversation. Or maybe you do know, and you can help? He doesn't look like he's actively dying of scurvy anymore, sure, but that doesn't mean he looks like he's doing amazing out here in the cold either.

Or maybe you don't find him until the man wanders into town. Probably looking worse than he did back out in the forest, considering the cold he had to move through to get to town in the first place. You may notice something a little awkward about the man's walk, like he isn't really sure how to use his limbs - look, you try having them scurvy-ridden for a long time and then getting used to having flexible limbs again and not look like you're the awkward human incarnation of Bambi - but he's hobbling into town all the same.

He's definitely looking like a popsicle of a man though. That coat clearly isn't helping him much. Maybe you're nice enough to lend him a hand before he straight up collapses onto the streets? ]

( methuselah's feast - cw: blood )

[ The man can definitely be found at the feast later on. Maybe it's the cold that feels like it's got into his limbs all over again, but rather than sitting down at the table, it seems like he's made himself a spot to sit down on the ground in front of the fire instead. There's a plate on his lap that's been filled with food, and the man definitely seems to be digging into it like he hasn't eaten properly for weeks.

Is it the most dignified of sights? No, but honestly, he really doesn't care right now. He's getting to be warm and not hungry - and also, you know, alive - so he's not going to ask for much more.

It's a sight most people could probably ignore, given the sheer amount of people around here eating, but the fact that the back of the man's shirt - now visible since his coat has been discarded and folded up next to him - is absolutely covered with dark blood. It seems mostly dried up, but it doesn't exactly look old. (Though it does perhaps look a little gross, like it's not exactly a healthy blood colour right there.)

Despite the way the man seems to enjoy the warmth of the fire and the food though, there does seem to be more vigilance than one might expect, his head snapping up to look at you the moment he hears footsteps. There's a moment of awkward staring, and for a moment it seems like the man might not speak up at all, but then he does. ]

Is something wrong?

[ Please, no bad news. He's had a rough day. Week. Month. A rough few years, actually-- ]

( misty falls cave )

[ Later in the month, perhaps having adjusted some to this place, he does trek out towards the cave, like he's unsure of whether anyone will bother to actually share the cache after finding it, and determined to secure his own part of it.

Seems like he's not the only one who had the plan though. Even if you didn't come to the cave together, perhaps the man runs into you while you're also in the middle of trying to make your way around. While you're in the middle of attempting to squeeze yourself through one of the more narrow passages, actually, the kind of place where people have to wait and take turns.

After watching you struggle for a moment, he finally speaks up with: ]

Are you managing there?

[ If it wasn't for the carefully neutral tone of voice and look on his face, you'd think he was side-eyeing here.

(He's totally side-eyeing. Please, Billy, we aren't all built like a stick bug.) ]

( wildcard )

[ I'm also completely up for wildcards! Or if you want a personalized starter, let me know, I can always whip something up that might work better..

I'm also not particularly attached to any style of RP, so if you'd rather do prose, just reply in prose and I'll match! ]

[ Look, Hickey's not an idiot. If that Methusalah chap is going to keep offering food, Hickey's going to keep showing up to eat. He'll help a little, offering whatever rabbit he's managed to hunt because he's just so nice that way. He's just so nice and caring and helpful. You should trust him.

He's working on some deer, eating a strip of the charred meat with his fingers, looking around at all the various new arrivals, when he spots a familiar mop of curly hair. And it just...takes Hickey a moment.

Of course it could be Billy. Don't be stupid, others have shown up here. Goodsir's dead. Jopson...hell, he's probably dead, he wasn't looking the best before arrival. Of course another dead man would arrive. It could have easily been Billy. It could have always been Billy.

Still. There's something about this that's entirely unexpected. Hickey doesn't know if this is an accident, a coincidence, or if the gods of this land were actually listening to him when he cursed the fact that none of the men here were his men every time a new sailor showed up (because of course the gods of this land would listen to him. Why wouldn't they?)

He watches Billy for a moment, deciding what to do, before he decides that no matter what, he should at least do something. For now, just do. He'll see where it goes later. So he walks over towards Billy, gives him a little nod and his best 'look at me, I'm so innocent, I didn't just stab you' sort of smile, and sits down on the ground next to him. ]

Finally. A friendly face.

[ Honestly, to any third party watching it'd probably be a pretty normal sight here. Just two people who know each other from a place before this one seeing each other again - especially with Hickey's best innocence look, and with the way Billy himself doesn't even do as much as wince at the other appearing like that. There's no fear, despite this clearly being the person who stabbed him in the back. After all, Billy isn't an idiot. He couldn't see the other during the moment itself, but the hold would've been enough to tell, even if logic by itself wouldn't have done the job.

And yet he sits there so calmly. A reaction that would only make sense to anyone who doesn't have any of the context here. But Billy knows that if the other was planning on stabbing him again, he would've done so already, so what reason is there to be scared?

Not to mention that he knows Hickey. He knows Cornelius. More so than most people, he'd say. There's absolutely nothing surprising to Billy of all people that the other would act like this after what happened, and after getting dragged to who-even-knows-what-the-hell-this-place-is.

He takes stock of the other's face for a moment, the other's expression, and then Billy just looks back down at his plate of food instead, picking at it with his fingers without actually shoving another bite into his mouth just yet. ]

Is it friendly?

[ It's definitely him being petty, showing in all the little signs Hickey would probably recognize easier about him than most people.

(Pettiness, clearly the most proportionate reaction to stabbing.) ]

[ Yeah, that is absolute pettiness. The problem is, Hickey's not entirely sure what sort of Billy Gibson branded pettiness this is. He looks rough, so it must be sometime after they walked out. Does he know? Does Billy know what happened? Can he remember the knife in his back, Hickey holding him still as he plunged in that knife, the knife which still lingers in his coat pocket? ]

Course it's friendly, [ Hickey says with an easy casualness, like this is two friends shooting the shit and not an aggressively tense reunion. ] I've always been friendly to you, Billy. I've always cared.

[ As if to prove that, Hickey takes some of his meat and places it on Billy's plate. See? Look at him. He's nice. He's always been nice. ]

william gibson | the terror (amc)

methuselah's feast!

no subject

no subject

arrival - in the forest

no subject

no subject

methuselah's feast

no subject

no subject

methusaleh's feast

no subject

no subject

arrival — into town!

no subject

no subject

Cave

cw: talk of (accidental) shooting

no subject

Misty falls cave

no subject