bondedmeme | TEST DRIVE MEME

TEST DRIVE MEME | #01 OVERFLOW

TDM #01 OVERFLOW

Wow! B&B Mods could never have anticipated our first TDM would require an overflow! We're very flattered and honored by all the interest. Please continue to have fun here, away from the captcha demons.

This is open to all players looking to join our game or simply have some fun. Play on this TDM does not equate to intent or obligation to apply to join. Players on this TDM should follow all game rules and Characters should meet all game suitability standards per our FAQ. TDM threads are considered game canon for characters who join! The Moon Pact is in power for the full duration of this TDM, putting Sun Pact characters as in service. Moon Pact bindings are presently glittering silver and Sun Pact bindings are unpolished brass. Pact and Class can both be freely player assigned and swapped at will for the purpose of the TDM.

Overseer, Awaken and Conquer

CW: Descriptions of dubiously consensual touch, choking, hallucinations, falling.

The Hands that Grasp

Consciousness wanes. From calm oblivion reaches a pair of elegant hands. Fingertips caress, trailing physical form, mapping curves and divots. Some dark or desperate compulsion leans into the comfort of this touch. The hands dig in. Clasping tight at the neck and pull downward. Down and down, through unclear space, through unclear time. Your character awakens with a start. Where they last felt those hands grasping into them, a collar now rests. Prying does not budge the solid metal, which is either of silver or of brass. Before their eyes is a pane of stained glass. Inscribed in a language all can read are the words Overseer, Awaken and Conquer.

The Glass Coffins

Overseers awaken, contained within a coffin of ornate, metal framework and glass. For some, a light push will cause the lid to swing open. For others, the enclosure may stick or prove too heavy to budge. Breaking free is an option, though mysteriously, the glass fully repairs itself within minutes of sustaining damage. Other Overseers may be present throughout the hallways, willing and able to aid in opening stubborn coffins. That is, should their unlucky inhabitants be able to get their attention through the sound dampening barrier. Overseers continually awaken, either individually or in batches, throughout the month. This will last until the day of the upcoming solstice.

The Gilded Cradle

Innumerable rows of glass coffins line the interior of a grand cathedral tower. Somehow, the name of this stained glass spire is imprinted in the mind of all Overseers. This is known as the Gilded Cradle within Absentia. Where or what is Absentia? How did they arrive here? Why are they here? The answers to such questions remain unknown. These names are as far as the foreign memory serves Overseers. The foggy corridors spiral downward, a staircase connecting floor after floor of largely unopened coffins. Many have glass too hazy to see within. The hallways are heavy with the scent of lavender tinged magic and lightning storm ozone, made visible as a thick haze in the air. Through this fog, Overseers may notice one another or they may see phantoms running by. People familiar to them. Chasing after these figments is a foolish endeavor, they will pick up speed into the thick of the fog. There, they will disappear. This can leave unsuspecting Overseers teetering on the topmost edge of a stairwell or allow their momentum to throw them over the central railing. A fall to the Cradle's ground floor isn't enough to kill an Overseer turns out, but it will injure. Beginning your journey battered is merely an added misfortune.

The Castle Constructs

When Overseers leave the Gilded Cradle, they find they're trapped within an abandoned castle. While exploring they find no other living creatures other than fellow Overseers. Throughout the halls and rooms of the castle rest Constructs. These figures are shells of either iron or brass, with a variety of gargoyle-like appearances. They stand with their wings tucked around their bodies. Littered throughout the location, their placements can often clue in to their former duties as the Castle attendants. These Constructs remain completely inert until two Overseers of the same Pact pass by. Iron Constructs react to pairs of Moon Pact members, while Brass Constructs come alive near pairs of Sun Pact members. When awakened, they unfurl and stand to a height ranging from around three-to-six foot tall. The Constructs promptly begin to carry out butler-like duties, as if they were long ago set to a schedule of operation. When presented with a task they can no longer seem to accomplish, they merely pantomime the action before moving onward. (These NPCs can be player controlled and are non-hostile unless attacked first.)

Locked In

CW: Survival themes, food insecurity, exchanging sex for goods and services.

The Kitchen

The kitchen of Absentia is vast, meant to accommodate for a castle population in the hundreds. Long abandoned, any food reserves have turned to dust or rot. All that remains are a series of strange machines, humming with dull magic. Only operable by the castles resident Constructs, hungry Overseers would be advantaged to activate the inactive Constructs scattered nearby. Once occupying the kitchen, Constructs are more likely to provide a meager serving of food to Overseers who have used magic recently or who hold Influence. (Characters playing this TDM with no canon powers may presume they hold (1) Influence for this and subsequent prompts.)

The Hall of Overseers

To the west of the Gilded Cradle there lies a long, rectangular housing structure, framing a vast courtyard. Rain from the storm overhead patters down constantly. Rooms for Overseers line the open air hallways overlooking the nature within the central outdoor space. At this time, those of the Moon Pact enjoy the lower floors of the indoor sections, with luxurious accommodations. These include private rooms with a fireplace, claw foot baths with clean running water, a variety of furniture, and a plush bed. The upper level indoor rooms are for the Overseers presently in service, the Sun Pact. These rooms are all shared and scarcely furnished. Hammocks and bunk beds are provided to house three or four Overseers per cramped room. These upper location hallways have shared bathroom spaces and no private amenities provided. Overseer names are engraved upon the door frame of their assigned rooms. There is no access given to rooms without this engraving. Overseers need to be invited in to rooms they do not own or share. (Rooms are fully self assigned by Players and can change freely between threads. Pact is likewise self assigned, but should match the room type described above. Moon Pact characters are free to invite Sun Pact characters into their rooms, and visa-versa.)

The Hands that Feed

As Overseers settle in, they find resources are thin and accessible castle space highly limited. There is no exit from the castle at this time. Trying to fly out over the top of Hall of Overseers courtyard results in perpetually being turned around by the Storm until exhausted. Overseers who try to smash windows or break through the architecture find their magic or strength immediately drained. Teleportation leads back to where one attempted to leave from. The trap feels inescapable. This inevitably creates an air of frustration and futility within the awakened Overseer ranks. All there is to do is to make do.

➤Attentive characters will discover quickly that Constructs bring extra rations as room service to those in Power. This at first appears exclusive to the Moon Pact within the Hall of Overseers. The Constructs do this when Overseers have sex in the luxury of the lower floor rooms. However, the Constructs range of understanding is a bit impaired, so fucking in the courtyard also works to call food and drink, regardless of Pact alignment.

➤For those seeking a more direct approach to acquiring extra rations, there's always robbery. The Constructs are not highly fortified. Their routes from the kitchen to the Hall of Overseers are easy enough to intercept. They do resist Overseers who attempt to steal from them, defending the food if attacked. Overseers who damage Constructs find they simply curl back into their wings, where they become both immobile and invulnerable from further damage. They will repair themselves in time and do not... appear... to hold a grudge. The Overseers whose meals were hijacked might, though.

The Courtyard

The courtyard at the center of the Hall of Overseers is a public space with five distinct sections. At the center, there is an ornate fountain that serves as the most reliable, public spot for clean drinking water. The fountain depicts the three Classes, though all of them are partially destroyed. The Ruler has their hands broken off, the Dragon is missing its head, and the pegasus shaped Herald has a hole in its chest. Grimly, the water flows from each of these missing pieces into the pool below. This space is open and visible to all, especially from the higher rooms of the Hall. This central location serves well as a social hub and meet up point for Overseers to congregate, though it is perpetually raining here.

➤Heralds and Dragons experience their first urge to transform within the Courtyard. They are able to resist it, if their willpower is sufficiently high, but the compulsion is strong. Dragons feel a need to shed their skin, to fly and be free. There is not much room for multiple, large dragons to do either of these things. Mind your wings! Heralds begin to feel territorial, wishing to reinvigorate the long dead space. Heralds are able to terraform within the confines of garden planters as they see fit, but they may find them destroyed by Dragons or usurped by other Heralds. Miniature territory disputes may serve as practice for times ahead. Rulers can hear mysterious whispers throughout the Courtyard, but especially nearby the fountain. If they acknowledge these whispers aloud, they will get a response. Those Rulers who listen closely can hear the mocking words "you're not leaving this time."

The other four quadrants surrounding the central fountain are overgrown and wild, contrasting the initially desolate central area. These spaces are each themed to a different season; spring, summer, fall, and winter. Once Overseers enter one of the gated in spaces, the area within appears larger than the outside barrier suggests. The temperature varies wildly between each, though the Storm over head remains consistent. Each contains a singular hideaway which the Constructs will bring food to. These shield Overseers from outside view, but may turn out to be in hot demand. Mind yourselves if trying to sneak into one of these spots for privacy, they may already be taken! (Each hideaway may be customized at player discretion to suit their threads. A single piece of furniture for leisure may be present, like a lounge or hammock. Some ideas for natural spaces would be hidden behind a waterfall, beneath a canopy of trees, a frosty cave, or an alcove hidden by fallen leaves.)

➤Starting a week into June, there is a new development within the courtyard.

Grief Hath Mates

Class Scenarios

Note: The following prompts are available for all Players, though abilities should always match up with a character's present Class! Class for characters on the TDM can change between threads, but should not change mid-thread. This fully locks down upon acceptance to the game. Characters are presently "unstable" in their Pact and Class assignments, so all threads can remain canon, even if they contradict Pact or Class assigned later on. Any changes made to shared setting environments below are temporary, so feel free to play with destructive and creation powers as specified.

RULERS

➤Rulers who attempt to speak to the Constructs will find they are reacted to in a way the Dragons and Heralds are not. Constructs do not speak back, but they are more attentive towards Rulers regardless of their Influence level. If asked where something is, Constructs will dutifully guide the Ruler to the location in question if it exists. Sometimes, Constructs will open up previously locked doors. None of these lead outside, but they offer some new clues to how the castle once operated in the past. Rulers can open up additional rooms to explore such as a drawing room, a music room, a wine cellar, and a smoking room. These rooms all have basic supplies for their given activity, including aged wine and cigars in the latter two respectively. Rulers with clever tongues or manipulative sensibilities can convince the Constructs to leave them “in charge” of a room. This grants the Ruler a key to the door they can leverage as they please. (Players can play their Ruler as if they hold exclusive control of a room, but this is not imposed TDM-wide. Multiple Rulers can each claim the same type room, no player actually holds full IC/OOC control.)

DRAGONS

➤Dragons are going to be the first to snap under such cramped conditions. Their natural urges are to spread out and fly, not be stuck within a castle. The more volatile Dragons will find their natural instinct is to go Berserk. Berserk mode can be engaged in either their humanoid or Dragon form, though Dragons can only transform at this time within the confines of the Courtyard. If Dragons are causing trouble in the Courtyard, luring or forcing them out of the Courtyard at large forces a Dragon to return to their humanoid form. Getting in fights may not be productive, but it might provide some enrichment to Overseers wishing to challenge each other or keep the peace. (Reminder: Dragons, regardless of form, are especially durable and may prove difficult to subdue! Rulers are best suited to this task, given they have a natural advantage over Dragons. Heralds can make their own attempts, it is simply more risky for them given how fragile they are.) Dragons of more even temperaments can make themselves productive by using relevant elemental magic around the castle. The castle interior is lit only by the dull glow of the sun or moon, which are often dulled by the cloud cover overhead. Providing temperature control or lighting could be a great ease to their own mental state, as well as benefit their fellow Overseers.

HERALDS

➤While cooked rice, dried meat, and pickled vegetables are largely what is being provided, there is a distinct lack of fruit or alcohol coming out of the kitchen. Heralds may find themselves especially desperate for these. Within the courtyard only, they can flex their newly found Class abilities to rapidly influence nature. Heralds may find themselves having vivid daydreams about their favorite fresh fruits from home. These fantasies manifest, growing the imagined fruits from nearby vines, bushes, and trees. This can happen deliberately or entirely by accident. However, due to the imperfect nature of both memory and imagination, these fruits are never fully accurate recreations. The taste and quality of the fruit end up heavily influenced by a Herald’s own subjective experience and are prone to exaggeration. Any fruit from any world is allowed, these simply cannot cause any magical effects. Devious Heralds which imagine poisonous fruits can injure, but not kill fellow Overseers. Such produce can be used to make alcohol by those with the knowledge and wherewithal to do so. Any manner of food is in demand and Heralds have this to provide. Replenishing energy though sex is always an option to help produce more or better resources of this kind.

OOC Info

What is Overflow posting Etiquette?

If you have a Top Level post on the Original TDM, then feel free to repost it in full or with new prompts below! Reply to your own, new top level with carry over threads, rather than create new top levels for each carry over thread. For COMPLETELY new Top Levels (or those reposted from page 4 of the last TDM post), we will have a Directory below exclusively for finding those. Players who posted their TL link on the previous Top Level Directory are welcome to edit a link to their overflow into their previous directory post.

Can I reserve my character before applying?

If you want to claim a character spot in advance of applications opening, our Reserves Page opens on the 10th of June, through to the 15th. This is not required for application, but highly recommended even for original or obscure characters. Reserving provides an instant-pass through 1st month game Activity Check! It also provides Moderation with an idea of incoming player numbers!

How do I apply to join the game?

Head over to our Application Page. These open up on June 15th and close on the 20th. The game officially opens on the 21st of June, barring any unexpected delays.

Is there an OOC space I can discuss potential plans?

Take a look at our Enable-me-Please for OOC discussions and plotting!

(CODE)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Thank God I'm not a picky eater, [he says in the exact tones of someone who is definitely a picky eater. It's not so much what the food is but how much, and given this strange feast of mostly smashed rice and root bits, well - who knows.]

And thank you, you've been very helpful, we'll take it from here, [this part is to Perry, and once the construct has regarded them in silence for a beat and then turned to clank somewhere else, Palamedes adds,] I'm ready as I'll ever be to chew on bark.

[Or whatever that is. He pivots to head back the way they came.]

Are you really going to make me beg?

[ Lio quirks an eyebrow up. ]

I can wait till we're back in the bedroom if you prefer.

[ How's that for dignity. Maybe he's tired. Maybe he's every bit as sick of the meager rations alternating with an uninspired variety of fruit. He's certainly over a life in this castle that not one person here asked for. So please excuse him if he blows of some steam with a bad joke or two. ]

[The joke isn't so bad that he doesn't laugh, holding up the plate of rice-and-roots a bit, like, he's carrying this! He simply could not beg here, in this hallway.]

I'll show you mine if you show me yours.

[Weird ghost-adjacent stories, of course. It's only fair.]

Fair enough. [ A smirk. ] I'm what's known as a Burnish in my world.

[ It's easier to share that here, where there's no one else to know what that means, or the prejudices it so often carried. Freeing in a way too.

He points to the plate, full of its sorry mix of food. If Palamedes is going to demand, nay, beg for a demonstration, he might as well make good use of it. ]

Give me that and I'll show you.

[The part of Palamedes that's overly concerned with linguistics immediately wonders, Why "-ish"? Why the suffix that implies the adjacent or the partial? —but he contains himself. He has to literally bite his lip to stop himself from immediately asking the Dork Questions, but he does resist.

He hands over the plate. It's not like it's very appetizing, so,]

If you need more, Perry probably hasn't gotten too far.

[ Palamedes is about to learn the suffix is an abnormal example of an agentive one. Probably because Burner was already a word with unfortunate implications.

The sad limpid mix of pickled beets, carrots, and cauliflower all wilt with a kind of translucent quality that speaks to months, if not years of fermentation. Focusing on them, he flicks a hand over the plate and the vegetables burst with flames he quickly dials down low enough to steam off some of the excess liquid and add a pleasant char. Fire is the original spice after all.

As he cooks, he explains. ]

It's like a parasite that forms a symbiotic relationship with humans. It feeds on our life energy and converts it to an exothermic one, which we can control, like you see here. [ That's the best he understands it anyway in the limited time he'd had to digest the new information just before arriving here. ]

[Never before has a vegetable cooking been this intriguing, which isn't something Palamedes ever anticipated thinking. He leans towards the plate just so, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose like that will zoom in on the cooking veggies even further. Ooh! And perhaps even ahh!]

Thalergetic fission, almost. That's what I would call it, I mean, if I were originating the terminology. Someone could write an excellent paper about the process.

[He looks up from the plate.]

How do you... acquire it? I'm guessing at verbs.

Close. [ He's surprised Palamedes picks up on it so fast. ] They propagate through the energy of fusion rather than fission. And we communicate through a rudimentary electromagnetic field.

[ It might be difficult to see, set to such a low temperature. But the light shines cold on the spectrum rather than the typical warmth expected. If he wants a closer look, Lio will slide the plate a bit closer. Not his responsibility to make sure curious minds don't get burned. ]

They... resonate with people who experience abnormally strong emotions. Anger most often, but it can be anything. Fear. Despair. Even love.

Lucky guess! [One he's very pleased with himself about, giving a satisfied little hum as he does indeed peer another fraction closer at the plate-sized spectacle.] But I wouldn't have guessed electromagnetism, so net zero.

[He clasps his hands behind his back, definitely not because he's tempted to stick a finger in the flame. That would be juvenile on top of stupid.]

I think emotional resonance is some of the strongest stuff in the universe. In my experience, strong enough emotions can leave a sort of energy residue behind that sticks to things—objects, places. People. The symbiotic relationship you've described sounds like the next logical step to me.

[A beat, then:] Can I try a vegetable?

[ Oh, he knows that look. Shared by children everywhere who sit entranced before the campfire or the burning stovetop. Technically, he could adjust the flame so others could touch it, but that seems strangely intimate. Especially with someone he's only just met.

With a flick of his wrist, he does give the fire one final burst, sealing in that maillard reaction before its finally snuffed out. It looks more appetizing than when they started, but not by much. Since Palamedes asked, Lio gestures for him to go first. ]

What is your experience exactly? You're the first person here who's recognized any part of this. [ Not that he suddenly thinks the other man comes from his world. He wouldn't need to explain half of this if he did. But Lio regards him with interest, expectantly. ]

So? I showed you mine.

[Palamedes plucks a piece of cauliflower off the plate - it offends his delicate palate the least - and holds it up to squint at it before taking a tiny bite. It's kind of middling to unpleasant like all the food here, but the heat and the browning do help.

So, fair's fair:] I'm a necromancer. No resurrections, no zombies. I was born an adept, so the necromancy is part and parcel of me, but we work in life energies not dissimilar to yours. Thalergy—I mentioned the thalergetic fission—is the life energy, whereas thanergy is the "death energy," or the energy produced by cell death.

[He pops the rest of the cauliflower in his mouth, making a face as he chews.]

It's better than it would have been. —But there you have it. That's mine, in brief.

[ Lio listens intently and from the way his eyes light up, it even seems like he's following, more or less. The broad strokes of it at the very least.

And it gives him a reason to ignore their meal for a little while longer. Maybe it's time to commit to the fruit diet instead. ]

It sounds like we'd have an awful lot to learn from you. Our lives exist in a constant state of burning and regeneration. We live longer, we can heal more easily but we're always at risk of burning ourselves out, so to speak. And when that happens, we don't leave behind any remains like a normal human body.

[ He speaks of these morbid details with the frankness of someone who accepts it as a fact of life, figuring anyone in the necromancy line of work would be similarly comfortable. ]

Despite years of research, we still don't understand it very well.

[ But what he's just described sounds like it holds a way to look for some of those answers. He'd never thought of it before like the push and pull of life and death. ]

So there are papers about it.

[And he would love to read them, alas! Either way, he takes all of these details in with the excited intrigue of a researcher, nodding as he processes his initial thoughts about it.]

I'm surprised you live longer, actually. One would think that a symbiote that thrives on your life energy would shorten the lifespan, so if it's the opposite, the symbiotic relationship must be incredibly unique. I'd love to crack that nut.

[So it shouldn't be a surprise when he adds,] I'm a scholar as well as a necromancer. We haven't figured out every possibility that necromancy has to offer yet, either. Most of the time, I find the unknowns encouraging.

And almost no chance of finding them here.

[ Alas. Lio may not be a researcher in the strictest sense, but he is intimately concerned with all matters related to people like him. And he was connected with the right people who could put this information to use, for the right cause. ]

If I remember the data right, it does all average out. But if we don't burn out, the potential is there for the regeneration to support a long life.

[ He doesn't point out that they might have trouble finding willing candidates for that kind of research. It's a touchy subject, still hitting just a bit too close to home. ]

"An investment in knowledge pays the best interest." How would you study it, though?

That makes sense. I'd still love to pick it apart to learn all the details, though.

[It sounds, and he doesn't like the parallel so he's privately relieved that it isn't the exact same, but it sounds like the second-soul internal furnace of immortality that Lyctorhood requires, only even more imperfect. Of course, a symbiote with its own opportunity to thrive is objectively the opposite of the furnace soul; another relief.

So the first step for study would be to stop projecting his preconceived notions onto this, but what he says instead is:]

Actually? I'd have to come up with a few experiments to push the host-symbiote relationship to its limits. Sustained flame production at its peak power level. I don't practice egregious waste of life, though, [he's not that kind of necromancer] so obviously there would be safety constraints.

[ If Lio looks uneasy, it's because this hits surprisingly close to the kinds of experiments that were typically conducted on Burnish, only concerned with power levels and output. Those researchers treated the Burnish as less than human, finding them little more than a nuisance that could repay their debt for the damage they'd done as a source of energy.

However, Palamedes has shown none of those arrogant inclinations, so he wants to give him the benefit of the doubt. One that could still be taken away. ]

With... proper safety protocols in place, I could see that yielding good results.

[ His attention falls on the forgotten plate still between them. He pokes at a carrot, then decides against it. ]

We'd need to find far better resources than the likes of what's been provided thus far.

[The uneasiness isn't hard to catch, and Palamedes holds his hands up briefly, like - all theoretically speaking, of course.]

Right. And I'm not suggesting we start pushing the envelope immediately, or at all. Most of my own research has been in the name of medical advancements, so I've got a vested interest in maximizing safety.

[The implication that Lio would have to volunteer to be the sole subject just kind of hangs in the air, and Palamedes really isn't keen on pushing a near-complete stranger into something like this just for the sake of writing some notes about it. He's a scholar, not a mad scientist.]

And—let me know if I overstep, alright? You're making faces at the carrots.

[ That's encouraging to hear, though of course he could just be lying to say whatever a potential victim might want to hear. Lio considers himself a decent judge of character after having to tiptoe around so many awful people for so long, so he isn't getting any of those vibes now.

He withdraws his hand. ]

Was I? ...My distaste for the carrots doesn't have much to do with the topic at hand.

[ It's not entirely false, and he's sure the other man would agree, having actually eaten one of the vegetables. Still, the way he pushes on to other topics is of note. ]

I doubt Perry gets paid enough to help with this particular quest. Seems there's not much more to learn in hanging around here.

[ So much for the camp out. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

TEST DRIVE MEME | #01 OVERFLOW

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