imaginarymods: (Default)
Imaginary Island Mods ([personal profile] imaginarymods) wrote in [community profile] imaginaryooc2020-03-20 04:04 pm

Test Drive


Welcome Back, Reclaimers.
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It's still home... isn't it?


Perhaps you have, as many before you, been pulled from your universe. Perhaps you've been here a while now. Either way, the moon base is just as it always has been since it was landed gracefully by Lucas down to the land of Faerun.

Except that it isn't.

It isn't the Moon Base at all, and even if it was, you can't quite seem to recall what the Moon Base was. Faerun is the furthest thing from your mind.
You wake up on a beach feeling as though you've just gotten quite the kick in the head, your memory foggy and jostled within your soupy brain. It's a pretty beach, at least, the water kissing the shores a sparkling shade of blue, the fresh scent of sea salt on the wind, the rustling windchimes of palm leaves. It's idyllic, even with the occasional flash of static in the corner of your eye.

Wait, the what?

Is... Is the water in the distance a repeating texture? What? No, that couldn't be possible. Besides, it's so far out, you wouldn't want to go check... would you?

It looks like there's a few abandoned cabanas where the green meets the sand, and there's quite a lot of land beyond it to explore. Why not get your bearings and meet up with some friends? Assuming you recall they're your friends, anyway. You'll need the shelter when night comes, after all; temperatures drop fast when the sun drops and the ocean breeze keeps blowing.


Supplies and Status
On the island during the tutorial drive, you'll have access to your BIAS, including everything you've had on your person up until this point. During the game we'll provide instructions on how to regain your other items, but feel free to handwave it for the drive. Characters are encouraged to pick up any sort of tropical supplies you can think of for the drive, though we will provide more ideas and guidelines during gameplay!

As explained in the Q/A session, personal memories are yours to decide when your reclaimer will recall them. For the duration of the test drive and the game, memories of just how anyone got to this island, what the relic is, and where Lucretia is will not be accessible until they are revealed by reclaimer's efforts during the adventure. There will be no feeling that your personal memories have been tampered with or removed, but reclaimers might feel as though they've recovered from something physically traumatic. They will not be out of commission at all physically and may use their path actions as soon as they wake up.


Tropical Tutorial
Further inland from the beach you've woken up on, there's a few accessible areas, and the general shape of the island becomes clear. It's kind of... foot shaped. In the middle of the first portion of the island is a saltwater pond that appears to have a tacky swim-to bar set up. Just past that is a forest, and in that forest is a land bridge to the next island.

The second island seems to be oddly foot-shaped. At the ball of the foot there are some ruins, where you'll find the only other person on this island- Angus! He's made himself a little camp there, and doesn't give you any reason to suspect danger in the ruins.
It doesn't seem as though the 'toes' of the foot are too far to paddle to, but if you attempt to, you'll find yourself unable to get past the halfway point, as if there's some sort of invisible barrier. Your path actions won't be able to detect its nature; all it seems is as though it's just a part of how things are.

Speaking of the way things are, they sure seem strange. You might not remember what you ate for dinner last night, but you do recall what trees and grass look like and how doors should be attached. It looks like things might need to be debugged.


Debug Dafuq?

Harmless havoc is everywhere, even in those abandoned cabanas! Floors are ceilings! Ceilings are floors! Stairs going up lead to a lower floor, and downward ramps take you only a few rooms to the side. Static in the ocean, transparent-textured trees; it's starting to look like a hacked video game in here.

You get it by now. Things just aren't the way they're supposed to be. You've been around long enough to know what the moon base is like and This Ain't It. Perhaps you can fix it, though. Get those d20s ready or just choose-- can your Reclaimer do anything about these glitches?

Perhaps you've come across someone locked inside a cabana room-- because, well, they might be standing perfectly upright inside their room, but outside you are very certain their door is halfway into the ground. Will your rogue skills help you pick the hinges of the lock? Will your barbarian strength help you knock that door down? Or perhaps your technomancer skills can hack into that door and turn it upright?

There's no end to the possibilities with your path actions, which means no end to furthering the glitching either. Took a hard turn on that lockpicking roll? You might unlock your arm right off your shoulder. Got a little too wild with your wildshape? Wow, that dog sure has a long neck.


Café Calamari

So that saltwater pond. Weird, right? What's weirder is, there's a squid there right in the middle... and if you were on a certain mission to Lyrabar, you might even recognize this cephalopod. It seems pretty excited to see new customers, beckoning reclaimers up to its bar with its long arms. Grab a seat and chat with friends! There's plenty of room, and it doesn't seem like there's much other company to be had.... nor is there much else to visit just yet.

The Squid appears to be manning a tourist-trap of a swim-to bar, though occasionally you might catch him having to upright a recently-reversed roof. While you can order anything from Bender's menu from this Squid, it would seem he doesn't notice some of the dishes are not quite what they were before; a completely inedible salad made of die-cut paper leaves, a donut that's actually just milk-sweetened rice pressed in a donut shape, a cup of coffee that doesn't pour out no matter how many times you try to drink from it.


This Tree has Bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S



Just past the saltwater pond is a forest with trees unlike you've seen in Faerun so far. While coconut palms grow to the outer cliffs and near the beach, the more inland one goes, other bright-yellow-green trees grow, as well as bold red-flowered trees. Each of these trees seems to bear a different tropical fruit-- mangoes, bananas, guava, breadfruits, starfruit. There's even pretty bushes full of hibiscus.

But just like the areas you've been to so far, things are a little out of whack. You're pretty sure hibiscuses aren't supposed to grow made of glass, and that fruits generally aren't hollow, air-filled, and bouncy. You're definitely sure tree bark shouldn't be the gray-and-white checkerboard of a transparent digital canvas. For whatever reason, though, the bananas seem to be perfect. There's probably a joke in here, somewhere.

Of course, no one's around to stop you from trying to pluck these fruits! You might even be successful in doing so, if your hand would just stop clipping through some of them. If you manage to pick one, why not take a bite? They might be strengthening… or might dull your powers altogether. Maybe they'll grant low-level fire breath (try not to aim it at the trees) or generate more static than usual. Not feeling brave enough to test out any mystery effects? Take a fruit or two back to Chef Squid-- he might cook them up into something more palatable (and with fewer status effects).


Where's the Fire, Angus?

There is one other familiar face around the island. It looks like Angus has set up camp near the ruins, but just like the other things on the island, it seems glitched in such a way you can't get anywhere near his tent. What's up with that?

Every once in a while you might catch young him running to and fro, excusing himself from chatter with a "sorry, I'm on very important business, sir!" or a "Pardon me, m'am!" and hurrying away to talk to… a tree? Or a building? Or to puzzle over a bench that's buried half-way diagonally into the ground. "This just isn't how it's supposed to be," you might overhear Angus say, and perhaps if you listen long enough you'll catch him having a one-sided conversation with one of these glitched structures. "Sir, I know you're just trying to help," he'll say, "but have you ever seen a tree before?"

No matter what you say, it appears Angus can't be distracted from whoever he seems to be keeping up with. It might feel a bit lonely now; he's the only non-Reclaimer member of the Bureau left around. Leon, Bender, Davenport, and most importantly, Lucretia, can't be found or magically detected anywhere on the island.


Ruined Adventure

Just past Angus's impenetrable camp is an assortment of strange stone ruins. They seem to be different floors dug deep into the ground in an expanse a bit larger than a football field, rubble and dirt covering the bottom. There are rising towers within the stone-walled pit, but despite its desolate nature, there don't appear to be any monsters in it quite yet.

What you will discover, if you decide to enter, are well preserved and brightly-colored murals. Each of the murals, if you study them enough, depicts how to perform different path actions! Though it would appear those path actions are performed by... little animals? Weird.

Unfortunately, some of the murals seem to show static, or are depicted out of order. Maybe you can debug these too, and use them as a guide for re-learning path actions-- or try them in the steps shown. Who knows what'll happen.

Those path actions could come in handy down there, as in the desolate corners of the ruined city spawn low-level monsters. They're not quite threatening enough to most reclaimers, but they'll be great practice for getting back into the swing of things. And hey, meat.

A Note from your Navigators

Welcome, Island-dwellers! We'd like for you to take this test drive as an opportunity to go as wild as you like. Want to roll your own d20s to determine how good or bad debugging goes? Go right ahead! Want to create a new meal to order from the Squid Bar? Get cookin'! The Tutorial Test Drive will not be mandatory for application, nor will the events that transpire be canon or remembered during the actual adventure.

code bases by tricklet
eudaimonikos: (I got dreams of my own)

[personal profile] eudaimonikos 2020-04-01 03:29 am (UTC)(link)
Oh, do we?

[...well, this casts things in a slightly different light. He'd sort of assumed that he'd just...remember, once he came across something to remind him.]

I'm not...sure. [Looking her over more closely, he notices her bracer, and lifts his arm to display his own.] We do both have these.
aceso: (034)

[personal profile] aceso 2020-04-01 03:34 am (UTC)(link)
[ Her eyes light up and she lifts her arm to examine hers. ]

We do. What are these? I hope like hell we aren't in some kind of cult.
eudaimonikos: (meno)

[personal profile] eudaimonikos 2020-04-01 03:38 am (UTC)(link)
Well, we aren't dressed the same otherwise. Cults do robes and things, don't they?

[It could be separated by gender? But they aren't even similar - she's in pretty normal clothes, and he's in a full suit.]

If we are, I'm obviously the cult leader.
eudaimonikos: (naturalism)

[personal profile] eudaimonikos 2020-04-01 03:41 am (UTC)(link)
Just look at that thing! It's horrible!

[He seems entirely more upset than this really warrants at all, but also entirely earnest about it. Frankly, he isn't sure why, he just - who would even want to - ?]
aceso: (021)

[personal profile] aceso 2020-04-01 03:44 am (UTC)(link)
Do I even want to know why you think that?

[ If he has cult leader vibes... maaaaybe she should find another stretch of beach to contemplate just what the heck is going on here. ]
akash: (12)

[personal profile] akash 2020-04-01 03:46 am (UTC)(link)
If I were at home it'd be easy. [It comes out without thought, accompanied by a half-shrugging what can you do? gesture. She can't remember everything she's capable of, but she's confident this would be a simple matter if only she weren't here.

She eyes her bracer for a moment. And then, suddenly:]
I think I have an idea.

[But, first...

Her eyebrows furrow as she looks up at Christine, hands on her hips as she confronts the problem of how to safely get her down here. Something else that would be laughably easy back home.]
You think you could tie the rope from your BIAS to that banister and climb it down here?
eudaimonikos: (no exit)

[personal profile] eudaimonikos 2020-04-01 03:50 am (UTC)(link)
I'm the oldest, and I'm dressed the best.

[He grins. Aside from those two points, it's possible that he has a fairly decent sense of himself despite the amnesia, and that is the sort of thing he would've done.]

But then again, I don't remember anything either. So if I am, I can't be very good at it. [Surely a cult leader ought to just fleece his flock for all they're worth and run off with the cash, right? Not also drink the amnesia kool-aid?]
shellfishnature: (be the sunlight in my every day)

[personal profile] shellfishnature 2020-04-01 03:53 am (UTC)(link)
What thing?

[She literally hasn't even registered the squid as strange. Only after a moment of pause to take in the sight of it running the tiki bar does she continue:] The squid? Please. I've seen far more fearsome beasts.
aceso: (032)

[personal profile] aceso 2020-04-01 03:56 am (UTC)(link)
[ Christine doesn't ask why it'd be easier for her at home, because it looks like her new partner in crime here is formulating a plan. And when that plan comes out, Christine looks a bit surprised, but then nods slowly. ]

Yeah, I think I could.

[ At least she has enough memories back to know what her BIAS is. She takes out the rope and quickly makes a knot around the wood, giving it a few good yanks. ]

That'll hold.

[ She's a nurse so she knows several kinds of knots used in surgeries, but a rope is a lot thicker than what she's used before. ]

Okay, better stand clear in case I don't have a graceful landing. But I think my Dancer skills could help here.
eudaimonikos: (philosophical fragments)

[personal profile] eudaimonikos 2020-04-01 03:59 am (UTC)(link)
[Fearsome? Is that what he's feeling, fear? He takes a moment to consider that, but...no. Not exactly.]

So what? It's disgusting. Why would anyone even want to go near that?
aceso: (075)

[personal profile] aceso 2020-04-01 04:00 am (UTC)(link)
True.

[ She sounds amused. ]

Okay, that scenario's out, then. But we both have... magic, right? So maybe magic brought us here and made us forget?
eudaimonikos: (and in the end if I don't)

[personal profile] eudaimonikos 2020-04-01 04:04 am (UTC)(link)
Unless I bought my own religious bullshit? But I really don't feel religious...

[Even if he has amnesia he wouldn't have developed a new agnostic personality out of nowhere, he thinks? So yeah, let's dismiss that.]

That sounds like something magic could do. Maybe ours, maybe someone else's.
akash: (13)

[personal profile] akash 2020-04-01 04:08 am (UTC)(link)
[Korra laughs in response to that warning, folding her arms and grinning up at Christine.] Ha! Don't worry about that. I can catch you if you fall.

[She's pretty confident about that too, but it's not some mysterious missing ability from home. She's just built like a brick shithouse and she's strong as hell.

That said, she holds her arms out and shifts her feet apart, adjusting her stance to hold just in case she does need to catch her fellow Reclaimer.]
Whenever you're ready.
aceso: (040)

[personal profile] aceso 2020-04-01 04:10 am (UTC)(link)
Yeah. Which sadly isn't helping us get our memories back. We should probably explore more and see what we have to work with here.

[ And because exploring means doing something productive which means there won't be time to freak out over being on a random island without her memories and a bracer on her arm. ]
aceso: (010)

[personal profile] aceso 2020-04-01 04:20 am (UTC)(link)
[ Christine grips the rope tight in both hands and gives her a look over her shoulder. Though fleeting, it could be read as doubt. Sure, this person seems to have a ton of confidence, but if Christine drops from this height, can she really do anything besides be a body to crush?

Well, here goes. Christine pushes out and immediately grunts at having to hold her weight by her arms. Her feet struggle for purchase on the rope, but by the time she gets them locked around, she remembers that this isn't a gym class rope with the helpful knots tied in them. So she carefully starts to descend, breathing hard because she's never been incredibly athletic when it comes to upper body strength.

In fact, when she's about eight feet from the ground, she looks down, nods to Korra, and says: ]


Gonna jump the rest of the way. Stand clear.

[ Because her poor arms can't take it anymore. And without further ago, she lets go and lands in a crouch with a hand splayed on the ground for balance. She looks a bit surprised at the dismount. ]

Okay, yeah. I remembered that Dancer path action correctly, I guess. Really glad I didn't crack my skull open there.
eudaimonikos: (you're out in the world)

[personal profile] eudaimonikos 2020-04-01 03:22 pm (UTC)(link)
[Michael nods.]

Makes sense.

[He looks around for a second, and then turns to walk at a more normal pace along the beach in the way he was already headed. It makes sense to him to check out the entire perimeter first.

(It has not fully occurred to him that she meant "we, together".)]
aceso: (061)

[personal profile] aceso 2020-04-01 04:38 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Thankfully Christine has a take charge attitude herself, and she falls in step with him almost immediately. He can't ditch her that easily! ]

Okay, so let's see if there are any clues.

[ Clues? What clues? She's trying to think up a few. ]

Like... boats or a portal.
shellfishnature: (meet me beneath my balcony and say)

[personal profile] shellfishnature 2020-04-01 05:23 pm (UTC)(link)
[The corners of Ruto's mouth twist down at the description.] It's just a squid. I'm sure I just saw it wash its tentacles before slicing that fruit. [Little hard to say, since it's just in the water by default, but.]
eudaimonikos: (a treatise of human nature)

[personal profile] eudaimonikos 2020-04-01 05:36 pm (UTC)(link)
Wide range of options.

[He's a little surprised that she's coming with, but it doesn't bother him. Maybe this will actually be nicer than doing it alone!]

Maybe there's more of us. If we were in a cult. [or just in general, y'know]
eudaimonikos: (means-end analysis)

[personal profile] eudaimonikos 2020-04-01 05:56 pm (UTC)(link)
In the squid water?

[Washing anything doesn't count if you wash it in SQUID WATER]
akash: (14)

[personal profile] akash 2020-04-01 06:14 pm (UTC)(link)
[Korra keeps her position while Christine climbs down, undeterred by the mild doubt she's met with. She can see that the other woman is struggling a bit with the climbing process, and she's not gonna run the risk of letting her fall!

Once she's down far enough, though, she seems to have an idea of her own. Evaluating their positions, Korra nods and steps aside, confident that she can still intervene if need be.

But thankfully she doesn't need to! She smiles, impressed, folding her arms and tilting her head with the as she shifts her weight slightly.]
Yeah, me too. Nice moves.

My idea's...not as graceful. [Barbarians. Not the picture of grace.] But I think it'll work.
shellfishnature: (I'll never recreate the Time that flies)

[personal profile] shellfishnature 2020-04-01 06:18 pm (UTC)(link)
[Hm.

She folds her arms and levels Michael with a critical look.]
Do you have some problem with things that live underwater?
aceso: (054)

[personal profile] aceso 2020-04-02 01:36 am (UTC)(link)
I know, but I'm still pretty new to magic, so cut me some slack.

[ At least she's coming up with ideas! ]

There has to be. I feel like there were. I just... can't remember who. Or what they look like right now.
aceso: (009)

[personal profile] aceso 2020-04-02 01:40 am (UTC)(link)
Thanks.

[ Her success gives her a much needed boost of confidence in this whole confusing situation. She turns to look up at the door before returning her attention back to the young woman. ]

I'm Christine, by the way. [ Introductions sort of got lost amidst the weird, messed up room. ] What's your idea?
eudaimonikos: (fear and trembling)

[personal profile] eudaimonikos 2020-04-02 02:43 am (UTC)(link)
Do you feel like we're supposed to be going somewhere in particular?

[Because he still does. Even if it's two separate points.]

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