TEST DRIVE - Part 3

[stigematize]

Maybe you've been here for a while, or maybe you just got here. Either way, you're all in the same situation - you've been turned into a magical gemstone and stranded in a foreign world! And all you've been left with is the clothes on your back, stripped of all powers except one.

Clearly, you’ll just have to make the best of it.

How this works:

☆ This is a test drive for cosmographia, which means you should get a little familiar with the setting and premise.

☆ Otherwise, this is just meant to help you feel out how you may play and serves mainly as a chill interest gathering and get together kind of post! No app necessary, and you don't need to play in this post to apply - or vice versa.

☆ Everybody is welcome! There are no character limitations; pg au oc canon pigeon whatever. Just toss up a topcomment and/or jump any threads that pique your interest.

☆ This post will remain open until it begins to approach 5000 comments! Then a new test-drive post will be made.

☆ Rules-wise: Be cool to yourself and others, and keep in mind the other game rules too.

☆ If you do apply to the game and are accepted, and you want to keep the CR, you may so long as what you did isn't setting breaking and everyone involved agrees.


YOUR OPTIONS:

☆ You find yourself in the Heart of a ruined temple. There is a large glowing gem that thrums with some kind of rhythm, and jewels scattered all over the room, kept in strange bubbles. At the very least, touching the large gem will give you a standard info-dump, but some of you might be a little cautious about touching weird luminescent gems. Good thing that there are other people there too!

☆ Or perhaps you already know everything there is to know, and are there in the Heart of the Ruined Temple to greet new arrivals. Or perhaps you simply had business there already, like storing away a corrupted gem from a monster, when someone new seemingly dropped in from no where.

☆ It's Farmer's Market day in the plaza of Waverly Bay! Perhaps you're there perusing the goods and strike up conversation, or accidentally bump into someone and get to know them that way. It's a fairly standard day.

☆ There's an event! You don't really know what else to call them - missions, perhaps? But something in the temple was triggered, and the glowy Heart gem has something new to "tell" you: If you want a new power, you should try telling other people two truths and a lie. Those who you interact with must try and divine the lie from your statements.

You have no idea how something this simple will get you a power, but hey.

Comments

Kanji Tatsumi | Persona 4 Golden (CRAU) | Ocean Jasper

[topgun_textiles]

The Heart

[He spent about a minute on his knees, panting heavily and sweat on the brow. That was weird... what the hell was that? Last he remembered, he swung a fist into the giant crystal that put a weird voice in his head, a defensive - and really, understandable - reaction.

Then there was pain, as if someone sucker-punched him in the same instant, and everything burned a bright, hot red in his vision. Now he was on his knees, fighting to get his thoughts back in order.

It was an odd mix: Nothing in this place looked, smelled, or felt familiar to him, and left him more cagey. His "storybook circumstances" were hard enough to keep a leash on without being thrown somewhere else.

So he stood. Slowly. He had an inkling he knew what he was doing here, despite being told when he hit that weird crystal that he was something else entirely now, he had to rule out something that had been a thorn in his side since he'd been crowned into a position he didn't ask for and plopped into a castle that was never his.

His voice built into a roar, eyes cast out into the rest of the chamber. Someone, or something, was there.]

GET OUT HERE! I'm sick of your bullshit!



[OOC: Also from the late Mythmakers game. Kanji was made into Beast. Is anybody surprised?]

Re: Kanji Tatsumi | Persona 4 Golden (CRAU) | Ocean Jasper

[velvet_mystique]

*...Silence.*

*Not for long, though. A small figure detaches from a cluster of bubbles overhead and floats down. Stops well out of reach; Velvet's not so trusting as to put herself within swiping range, but at the very least, she can allow him to see who he's addressing.*

*...All 54cm of her. A purple notepad is currently being clutched close to her chest. Inhaling sharply, discreetly, she raises her chin and does her best to radiate a sense of serenity she doesn't actually feel.*

...Calm yourself. I am not responsible for your current circumstances. I am just as much a victim as you.

[topgun_textiles]

[It's the movement that caught his eye, and he was ready to roll. ...Until the smallest person(?) he'd ever seen came floating down. Looked like one of the faeries he'd met before, in the castle gardens.

What caught him by surprise, however, was the response. The fact that he hadn't scattered this creature, spooked it off, but rather was reprimanded by it spoke volumes. Kinda reminded him of pretty much everything he was used to since he was stuck as a storybook character. However, he can't relax, not when someone might be pulling a fast one on him. E-even a cute little thing like that...!]

...Victim? What role did Father Time put ya in?

[velvet_mystique]

...Father Time?

...I'm afraid I don't know who you're talking about. Whoever they are, you're unlikely to find them here. It's the Crystal Heart you'll want to blame. *With a gesture, she adds:* The gem you just punched, in fact.

[topgun_textiles]

[No. Everybody knew what role they were. If they didn't, some random passerby would matter-of-factly point out that they weren't where they belong, Beast, go back to your castle. There was no way someone wasn't aware of Father Time, or anything else to that effect. Unsure of what to make of it - and what a Crystal Heart was - he decided maybe a refresher was in order.]

...I don't- what... where the hell is this? I needta get back to the castle!

[velvet_mystique]

These are the Heart Chambers, deep within the Gem Temple of Waverly Bay. The hole you came through brought you here, transforming you along the way. You should find a gemstone of some sort embedded somewhere on your person...

*Much like the ametrine sitting serenely on her own forehead.*

[topgun_textiles]

[His hand absently went to his abdomen, covering a soft circular glow beneath the ornate fabrics covering him.]

I hit the crystal and somethin' like that popped into my head! I thought it was that stupid faerie lookin' to get me to change my mind about...

...A-about stuff.

[Okay, so maybe it wasn't his antagonist. If it wasn't her influence that pulled him through the hole, like she'd controlled him before, then who? He cast a look around the chamber.]

Shit, all those people are gonna panic if I don't get back home!

[velvet_mystique]

...Hmn. I've heard that time works quite strangely here, so they may not even notice your absence.

Regardless, now that it has you here, I doubt the Heart will let you go so easily...

[topgun_textiles]

You're talking like it's a living thing! It's a rock, that- that didn't even get a scratch on it...

[He put holes in the castle walls, shattered stone in the last world he was in. But that weird Heart, it somehow hit him back or something. Holy crap, maybe it is alive...]

M-make it send me back or somethin'! I gotta finish my stupid story so I can get back home!

[velvet_mystique]

...I'm afraid none of us can make the Heart do anything. While it does send the people it's trapped here back to their home worlds from time to time, we have no control over that. Nor do we understand the criteria it uses to determine whether or not to send anyone back... if, indeed, it's actually following one.

*Lips pressed into a thin line, she admits:* ...There's a great deal we don't understand about the Heart, unfortunately. Even those who have been trapped here for significantly longer can only theorize about what drives it.

[topgun_textiles]

[Just like nobody knew why all the faerie tale characters disappeared. Shit. What's with weird worlds and the "we dunno"s?! With an exasperated, short growl, he rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands.]

Great... why the hell would it ever be that easy, huh?

[Wait. Wait. The sudden cold spark flit in his stomach, and his hands lowered.]

Wait- how long have ya been here? Like, here here? I should go lookin' for somebody, but I wonder if you've seen 'er. She, uh-

[Okay, where should he start?]

She's short, kinda choppy blue hair, eyes match, and... uhhm... Damn it, what was she wearin' earlier-

She's kinda dressy. Kinduva rose motif?

[pishirogane]

[Well, if that voice wasn't familiar. His yelling carried easily, and she wondered what he was doing. Of course, his boiling temper was pushed further by Father Time's role.]

[Her heels clicking, she halted, startled when he called her out - no, he was calling out in general. Would he turn if left alone too long? Their powers were now confined to the gem, but even she still had some of her old magic. With slow steps, she entered the chamber.]

Kanji-kun, calm down... It's me.

[topgun_textiles]

[He'd definitely sprouted fangs, for starters. But something seemed to keep the rest of it held back, almost like some sort of door. Perhaps it had to do with the weird stone embedded in his body. Something in his mind said it - he? - was a... gem?

But that wasn't immediately at mind when Kanji fought the prickly feeling up his arms and at his face. He'd been screaming like an asshole when it was just her. He looked away, teeth grit.]

Sorry. I know the damn faerie's behind all this somehow! I thought she'd shown up again to do the... the thing, y'know?

[pishirogane]

It's fine. I assumed that much as well when I first arrived.

[But she had... been here for a while. Seems as though the gem - when she doesn't have any normal clothes on - assumes she wants to return to her Beauty garb.]

The Faerie has nothing to do with this.

[topgun_textiles]

[He was quiet a while, trying to let it all sink in. The Faerie did nothing like she had last time, trying to control him and somehow pull him into that weird hole. But then-]

...O-okay...

So where the hell are we, then? I mean, did any'a the books in the library talk about a Waverly Bay place? I don't remember any stories about people turnin' into gems.

[pishirogane]

It's... not part of any of the fairytale narratives. In fact, Waverly Bay is not within Father Time's jurisdiction. We've been brought to another world again, but by the Heart Gem here.

[topgun_textiles]

[He'd been hoping this was just another part of Father Time's world. He'd hoped he could just use his influence or something to get them back and put this place behind them, but somehow they'd been yanked to another place entirely.

With a sigh, after a full minute, his shoulders went slack. He suddenly looked so tired, something he seldomly allowed to be seen.]

Damn it... and all that other stuff carried over, too. I still feel that weird, pissed-off ball in my gut from that faerie.

[Which meant that, unless the faerie was here, he may never be cured of his curse, even if the Heart Gem sent him home. How was he going to explain to his mom that he kind of turns into a weird monster sometimes?]

Not to mention this freakin' thing!

[He reached for his shirt collar and tugged it down. Embedded beneath was an odd stone, reminiscent of the moon, blending silver and darkest violet in its spots and flecks.]

[pishirogane]

You're not alone in that. I still feel my magic...

[And just the general... different from a normal human. She had a Persona before, but this wasn't because of them.]

[Stepping closer when he revealed his gem, Naoto looked up at him still.]

It's your gem. Apparently, everyone the Heart Gem summons here is bestowed one. [And to show him, she raised her hand, showing him more clearly the gem embedded on the back, its stone appearing as though a small forest was trapped inside fog.]

[topgun_textiles]

[So it was true. Something the big crystal planted in his head said the gem was them, too. That the gem must never be damaged, but they can heal if something happens.

But right now, he drew closer and wanted a better look at the gem on her hand.]

Whoa, that's a real gem just sittin' in your hand. It's-

[He stood taller and made a face at his chest, where the jasper was brightening. He gave it a firm pat with a hand, as if he were stifling a hiccup. Slowly, it died down. Was that good, or was that bad? How the hell should he know?]

Uh... guess we figure all this shit out now, too.

[pishirogane]

[Naoto held, letting him observe the precious stone now on her hand. She would have to take care of it.]

[Once he had his look, she lowered her hand, and watched as he pat himself. Odd, it caused the gem to dim... and the fangs were gone.]

That's right. The Heart Gem tells us the basics, but there's plenty to learn from the others here.

[topgun_textiles]

[It was a weird sensation, feeling that poking in your mouth. Some days when he riles up, he almost bites his tongue. But he'd grown used to feeling them recede, and when the gem quieted, so too did the... anger? Yeah, the anger. But there was a building calming feeling deep inside somehow, one that settled as the light died down.

Kanji needed to think about that, too.]

Well, I'm ready to get outta here first before any'a that can get figured out.

[His eyes searched the cavern.]

As pretty as it is, a guy starts feelin' a little claustrophobic.

[myriades]

[He hung around the Temple a lot, just in case newcomers showed up and needed a helping hand.

But the sudden rush of rage assulting his Empathy makes him rock back like someone hit him. He had his power mostly under control, but powerful emotions still sometimes activated it without him willingly doing so. So he had to find the source, if just to save his pounding head.

He certainly didn't expect Kanji. In a very nice costume.]

K-kanji! It's me!

[And while he's in casual clothing and has a yellow gem in his throat, it certainly IS Yu. He's holding the side of his head in one hand, the opposite eye barely open as he resists the desire to screw them both shut in pain the closer he gets to Kanji's raging emotions]

[topgun_textiles]

[Kanji'd be lying if he said the outfit wasn't nice, but he wasn't sure if he pulled off the tunic, half-cape, pants and boots. Hell, he didn't really pull off the circlet.

It's the name that caught him off-guard, stopping his voice in its tracks, eyebrow furrowed in confusion. It wasn't until he'd lifted his head and watched a goddamn sight for sore eyes come out of the woodwork that his body language melted right into that familiar slouch.]

...Senpai?

[The body language was weird. He looked like he was in pain. Absently, one of Kanji's hands lifted to his mouth, masking the brief flash of pronounced canines.]

The hell're you doin' here?!

[myriades]

I could ask you the same. I've been here for... awhile, but I doubt that makes much sense to you.

...though with the outfit, maybe not.

[Kanji wouldn't be the first person he's talked to that was somewhere else before Waverly Bay]

[topgun_textiles]

Outfit? ...Oh, uh, that. Long story.

[He swallowed, and quickly ran his tongue against his teeth. Lower, lower... that's it. He needed to count down from ten, as was suggested, and push down that 'Beast' part of his head.]

Tch... Guess it's a stretch to hope that hole would'a taken me back home.