Test Drive: September 2019

[storyevents]

Test Drive: September 2019—

§ instructions.

Welcome to the Test Drive for Forgotten Tales! This is to help interested players test out their characters in the game's setting and see if the essence they have chosen will actually work in game play. There are a number of prompts that try to touch on the kinds of settings and scenarios the characters may encounter. So here are a few things to keep in mind while on the test drive:

• Feel free to use the current Workshop for help if you need it! Both the Workshop and the Test Drive are required for Registration.
  
  
• Participating on the Test Drive does not guarantee a spot on either Claims or Registration.
  
  
• Check the Character Roster and Essence List to see if your choices are not already taken.
  
  
• Include Character Name and Canon in the subject line, and note somewhere within the toplevel your character's essence. It can be in the subject line if you already know what it is (so ex; Character | Canon | Essence). Side note: You are free to try more than one essence if you're on the fence. Just make sure to note which one you're using for that particular prompt.
  
  
• Players are free to assume their characters have been informed of the very basics so you can skip all that if you'd like.
  
  
• Only the "In the Index" prompts of the Test Drive can be carried over in its entirety, but you can alter the story based ones as "stage play" settings within the Index if you wish to carry over that interaction as well.
  
  
• Don't forget to refer to the Game Info for how the mechanics work.
  
  
• Registration will open October 1. Claims will open September 24.

Most of all, have fun! Feel free to invite those you may think would be interested to participate in the test drive.

---

§ prompts.

¶ I. In the Index. When not out adventuring or playing character roles in stories, the Aspects will have some downtime within the Index, the central hub of the Realm of Stories. Here they can explore the city, read up on other stories, socialize with fellow would-be heroes, learn more about the essence, or even just do nothing at all. Any threads and CR made with "Index" prompts can be carried over into the game.

• A. Out in the City. Life in the Index can range from the mundane to the extraordinary depending on which area one travels to. Because it is a hodgepodge of many different stories from numerous cultures, one can never be sure what they may encounter even on an average run for groceries.
  
  
  
  1. Phantom Troll Booth. It's common knowledge that trolls enjoy their bridges and asking for unwary travelers (or in this case, average pedestrians) to pay some kind "toll" to pass over. Of course that's less of a necessity within the city itself, but there are some who like to prank people and others find bridges outside to continue their somewhat lucrative "business." There is one troll in particular, however, who has taken their "occupation" a bit far. Instead of paying to use a bridge, he offers a magical blue phone booth to instantly send a person to their desired destination. All for the "modest" fee of ten gold coins. However, instead of sending them to that location, everyone winds up in a random farmer's pig sty. Yeugh! Will a character be a victim or chase after this devious troll?
     
     
  2. Do You Know the Mutton Man? After a day or so, everyone will have heard of "Jerry the Mutton Man" and that reputation is not favorable. For whatever reason, this young hooligan is pitching out freshly made mutton and chucking it at random people on the streets while shouting, "MUTTON, FRESH MUTTON!!" before laughing and running away. It gets worse when other brats decide to join in the "Mutton" campaign. Someone better take care of this before some of the more "carnivorous" residents of the Index decide to take matters into their own hands (or paws). After all, what a waste of good mutton!
     
     
  3. Katamari Dagoosey. Old MacDonald’s golden goose has gotten loose, and while the bird is gorgeous to look, it IS a goose. And when golden geese are stressed out, they make EVERYTHING they bowl over stick to them. By the time it reaches the Index, the goose is surrounded by a story-tall conglomerate of unfortunate people, scenery, and even the odd cow. The only solution is to roll the ball through the town back to old MacDonald’s farm, where the land has an anti-sticking spell. Rolling and steering a ball THIS big, though, might be a two-person job.
  
  
• B. Essence Practice. Suddenly inheriting the abilities of another person while losing most of your own at the same time can be quite jarring. Picking a place to test out these newfound powers or even going to the Library to read up on the essence's story may help glean some clues as to what they can do.
  
  
• C. Try Out the Journal. The journals are unique to this world and the sole source of communication for everyone. Feel free to give it a try, either by sending a random message out or even a doodle.

¶ II. London Bridge is Falling Down. A classic nursery rhyme with rather dark roots, the Aspects will find themselves facing the bridge in a strange, chaotic state of constantly breaking apart and crumbling. Only the ends appear to remain stable, but that could change at any second.
There are no real roles here, so they are tasked with eliminating the Erasers trying to tear the bridge—and thus the rhyme itself—and stabilize the environment. Just mind the weather. For a lot of the time it will be raining, but there will be occasional patches of sun.

• A. Falling Down, Falling Down. There are numerous reasons for the bridge breaking apart, from the Erasers physically attacking it to the ground itself shaking from constant earthquakes to the pitch black water rising up to slam into the brittle stones. But what's even more pressing is the fact that there are people trying to cross through. Apparently the bridge is actually a functioning one and it's the only way the people who live within this rhyme can leave. While the knights of the Index are valiantly trying their best, many of these people need help trying to cross over and fending off the attacking Erasers.
  
  
• B. Build It Up with Iron Bars, Gold, and Silver. Although stone and wood is available, the key materials they need to use in rebuilding the bridge are iron, gold, and silver. There are plenty of iron bars scattered around to grab and try to fit into place, but the gold and silver have to be found underwater. As to how these all fit, there are workers on the scene who will do that for them, but for the most part they look like puzzle pieces with the bridge's original "outline" just barely visible. Find the place and stick it in.
  
  
• C. My Fair Lady. In the middle of it all, there are sightings of an eerie, ghostly woman dressed in white that appears at random spots of the bridge. From the distance she looks harmless and some believe her to a kind of faerie queen... But in reality, the "lady" is a fearsome wight and will attack all who come near. Those who use their abilities from their Essences will be able to do more damage than just plain weapons.

¶ III. Scene Snippets. The following prompts are various scenes styled similarly to those designed for the campaigns. Two characters are randomly assigned a role and must "act out" the scene. It can be assumed they are given the basics, but they are free to act however they wish. There is no real script or set direction, and they will have full access to their Essence abilities. Roles are not gender limited, so go wild. You are also free to create your own scenes or play within the general setting of the provided stories, even if they are not specified. Everything here is just a "guideline" and characters can act and behave however they would if dumped into the setting.

• A. Anansi Wins the World's Stories. The Aspects are dropped in the middle of a thick rainforest to help recreate one of the Storyteller's favorites: how Anansi the Spider—trickster hero of the Ashanti people—won the world's stories from the sky god Nyame. In order to do so, they have to recreate a few of the spiders' impossible tasks: one Aspect will play Anansi, while their partner will either double team with them to make the task a bit less impossible, or play as Anansi's hapless opponent.
  
  
  1. Rope a Dope. Anansi's first task is capturing the gigantic but vain Onini the Python. Anansi and Onini need to argue over whether the snake is shorter or longer than a fallen palm tree before Onini allows himself to be measured, giving Anansi an opportunity to tie him to the branch "to keep him straight." Hopefully the web shooters in Anansi's costume won't gum up... or accidentally tie up the wrong target...
     
     
  2. Cat's in the Cradle. Here the Aspects will team up as the spider god in order to catch Osebo the Leopard, who thanks to the Story Eater's doing has been transformed into a VERY large, VERY feral Blot monster. The tricksters will have to work fast to build a pit trap lined with spider silk netting for the beast… and someone MIGHT need to serve as bait… Once Osebo falls into the pit, however, all the Aspects need to do is volley insults at it in order to make it thrash and tangle itself even more. That webbing should hold just fine, right?
     
     
  3. Hey! Listen! Anansi's last opponent is very different from the rest. While Onini and Osebo rely on their physical might, Mmoatia the Fairy is small but armed with a hair trigger temper and the power to turn invisible. BUT instead of a weakness for yam paste and good manners, this Blot of Mmoatia is attracted to lost travelers, doing her best to "guide" them back to her lair with her dulcet voice. While one Aspect plays Anansi and tries to guide their partner through the jungle, the other one will play Anansi's "puppet" and do their best to follow Anansi and disobey Mmoatia enough that the fairy will get mad and dive at them. What the fairy DOESN'T know is that the puppet's costume will also include a nice, sticky layer of gum paste, and if all goes right the fairy will tar baby herself to the puppet. Careful, though, she has a pretty good right hook.
  
  
• B. Create Your Own! No need to limit to what we provide. If there's a particular story, scene, or even setting that you think would be fun, go for it! You can even use the story your character's essence is from. Other options are any of the scenes and settings from our previous campaigns and side stories.

¶ IV. Mix it up. This is the "wildcard" prompt. Feel free to take any of these prompts and make them more of your own, or pull from an entirely different story. As mentioned you're free to use any of our previous stories or other events. Just have fun with it!

Comments

Gobo Fraggle | Fraggle Rock | Hermes (Greek mythology)

[gobetween]

A. Mutton Man
[While he'd agreed to come here, it was certainly a shock to find himself somewhere so... different from his home. The terror in the streets wasn't exactly making it any easier. So, random person, you're just in time to see this little... creature absolutely BOWLED over by a flying package of mutton. It'd be almost comical if the bundle hadn't been nearly half his size (though when you're a foot and a half tall, that's not a hard bar to cross).

As such, he's definitely dazed and is also most likely going to need help. Catch whoever was responsible? Or help him pick up his things- because that pack he'd been wearing certainly went wild at the strike -and get the meat juice off his clothing. Either way, he was at least one hell of a target....]


B. Essence Practice
[Okay. If there was one thing he could deal with, it's new things.

...No he can't, but he can sure TRY.

One might just find the little fuzzy Fraggle in whatever quiet corner he could get for himself, looking down at a set of golden anklets that're sporting a pair of wings each.]

Okay, they said these should be able to fly, so...

[He concentrates, eyes shutting tight- the wings glow- and he begins lifting off the ground! The jubilant feeling is unfortunately short-lived when they suddenly take off, and if they hadn't been clasped around his ankles they surely would've lost him. As it is Gobo finds himself flung across the way with a guttural yell, straight for the head, midsection, or whatever else of some poor unfortunate soul nearby.

Hope you can catch. Or duck.]


C. Custom - Fish Out of Water
[You know, he'd heard a LOT about the world beyond Fraggle Rock- "Outer Space" to Fraggles -from his uncle, a renowned traveller of the whole universe. But none of his postcards had said anything about this, and between the flying meat (people EAT that??) and troubles getting the hang of his new powers, he's feeling extremely out of place.

Thankfully his home at least seemed to be cave-like and somewhat underground- unknown to him, but thanks to Hermes' whole beginnings -so this is where he's going to hole himself up. All is not lost for conversation, however. Even though he's feeling quite, well, scared, his curiosity is sitting on equal ground and so he's at least remaining near the entrance, if in the shadows of the opened door. He's knowable by two things: one, his tail is trailed out into the light, and there's no missing the brilliantly fuschia poofball on the end of it; and two, he's playing a small melody on a lyre. The guitar had always been his instrument of choice, but this wasn't so different (at least it still had strings...?), especially with Essence knowledge.

So even if you don't see his tail the music may catch your ear, an instrumental piece that's somehow hopeful and pensive all in one, just what he was feeling.]


D. Wildcard
[Anything goes! Or feel free to hit me up at zumidotexe to plot specifics]

Mutton Man

[sonrises]

[Varian is still angry about everything that happened back home, but he's not so angry that he can't recognize that this isn't Corona, where he feels the people turned their back on him. So, when he sees the little being get hit, he channels his anger into the idea of what's just. Which... Really, was part of his problem back home, too.

He shouts after the mutton-throwers as he rushes to crouch down by the brightly colored little guy.]

Really? You couldn't find someone your own size?

[And then, though he's not going to draw attention to it, he starts working on gathering the items that flew from the pack.]

[gobetween]

[Gobo, if nothing else, isn't knocked out by the flying meat, just knocked for a loop. So he comes around easily enough and sits up, a hand going to his head.]

Oogh... What even happened?

[sonrises]

Someone threw some meat at you. There's been a lot of meat-throwing here lately, don't ask me why.

Are you going to be okay?

[gobetween]

Meat? [He glanced down, then made a face and quickly shoved it off him, scooting back at the same moment. With a soft "Blech" he started wiping his hands on his shirt.]

Yeah, I think I'll be okay. Nothing's broken, at least.

[sonrises]

Good. [A beat.] Do you... Not know what meat is?

[gobetween]

Yeah, I know.

[His- snout? -scrunched up a bit as he stood up, still wiping himself off, even though he couldn't have been that dirty.]

I just don't like it, and don't really eat it. Someone's really just throwing it around??

[sonrises]

I don't know why, but yes.

[Okay, he went this far distracted enough not to ask what the heck he's talking to, but now that the meat thing has come up, Pandora's Box has been opened.]

What are you, anyway?

[gobetween]

A Fraggle.

[Like that answers it.

With Varian having already begun the task, Gobo decides to help him in picking up his things, putting them all back in the proper pockets of his backpack.]

B (1/2)

[ricebird]

[You know, with the flying mutton lately, you'd think Kotori would be a little more alert while walking from the library, having grabbed a coal-roasted sweet potato from a street vendor, carefully biting into the piping hot treat. Mm! Toasted on the outside, but still fluffy and sweet on the inside, so perfect! It's been so long since she's had a perfect sweet potato...]

2/2

[ricebird]

[Aaaaand then suddenly a big orange shape hurtles towards her out of the corner of her eye.]

GAH!

[VERY thankfully she sees it JUST in time to duck, and only the puff on Gobo's tail grazes her as she ducks. That's the good news. What's the bad news?]

[gobetween]

[The bad news, at least for Gobo's end of things, is that without Kotori in the way he's free and in the clear to-

**WHAM**

...run right into the nearest wall. He hangs comically there for a moment, then sliiiiides down and lands in a heap on the ground, eyes spiraling.]

[ricebird]

AH!

[She has NO idea what this creature is, but she runs over as it slides down, keeping a tight hold of her sweet potato as she kneels beside him.]

Oh my gosh, are you okay?!

[Kotori, what do you think?]

[gobetween]

[Thankfully it isn't long before he comes around, sitting up and shaking his head quickly, then putting up both hands to stop it from spinning.]

Y-yeah, I think so. I guess these things don't really have a "stop" yet!

[ricebird]

Yeah, sometimes magic here can be like that.

[Is he a new aspect then?]

Are you sure you're okay? That looked like it hurt a lot...

[gobetween]

I'll be fine, thanks! [Ever the optimist- sort of -he manages a smile.] I've been thumped by worse things than runnin' into a wall.

[ricebird]

[A soft sigh. If he's sure...]

I'm glad... Are... you a new aspect, then?

[gobetween]

Yeah, I guess I am. I'm pretty new to this whole city anyway.

My name's Gobo, Gobo Fraggle.

[kawkaw]

[Having headed out to find a place away from wandering eyes, Crane was doing a bit of training as himself when he caught the sound of music. Curious, he looked around, his footsteps light as he walked carefully while following the sound.]

[gobetween]

[Gobo's music continued on, completely unaware he was being "stalked" at the moment. He picked his fingers across the strings, eyes closed as he let the melody wrap around him, tail and one foot lightly keeping the tempo.]

[kawkaw]

[He's still following the music, but when he stands where it sounds like the music is coming from, all he sees is the fluff of purple, and no one else around.]

...Hello?

[gobetween]

[The music stopped with an awkward discordant twang, and the poofball splayed out in all directions before he abruptly pulled his tail back inside.]

...Hi?

[kawkaw]

Oh, uh...sorry. I didn't mean to startle you.

[...whatever it was. It didn't seem like the humans that he'd seen around, but it also didn't seem like anything he was familiar with.]

I'd just heard some music and was trying to find the source. [And maybe make sure he wasn't being attacked by an enemy.] Was that you?

[gobetween]

Er- yeah. Yeah! That music was me.

[As if to demonstrate, he rang a scale across the strings.]

I was just practicing.

[kawkaw]

[Crane's talons drum the earth a bit, not sure how he felt talking to a hole in the ground. But he didn't want to force the other out either.]

Could I hear a bit more? It was actually very nice.