forgottentales_ooc | Test Drive: October 2018

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Test Drive: October 2018

Test Drive: October 2018—

§ instructions.
Greetings and welcome to the first Test Drive for Forgotten Tales! This is to help interested players "test drive" 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 vary from casual to more task focused work. 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!
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. 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.
Don't forget to refer to the Game Info for how the mechanics work.
Feel free to join the Discord server.
Registration opens October 19th. Game starts October 21st.

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

§ notes regarding the prompts.

Setting Notes: For this Test Drive, everyone is being sent to a Draft with three nursery rhymes contained within. Each rhyme has its own section, but some elements may leak into others. In game we would have everyone sorted out in a more organized manner, but for the purpose of the Test Drive anything goes. Players can choose to do whatever they want and mix things up as they think would be fun.

Side Note: Although there is no specific "journal" prompt, players are free to incorporate the use of the journal either as something to fiddle with or to practice the "network" style of the game and communicate with others. The same is true for the Erasers. They are always ever present within the Draft, so while there is no specific prompt, players are free to incorporate them in their threads at any time.

§ prompts.

¶ I. Humpty Dumpty. For some reason, Humpty's area of the Draft looks more like something out of a Picasso painting. Many pieces are freely floating around; instead of melted clocks there are melted egg yolks hanging from twisted, barren trees; and ground itself feels unsafe. As if made of eggshells, it might even crumble away as the Aspects make their way through, so take care.

A. Humpty Dumpty Sat on a Wall. The first thing the Aspects must find is an old, questionable and very tall brick wall, and there are a few scattered about this strange space. Some are even floating in the air. Just be careful since most if not all of them are already crumbling away and will most definitely break apart if too much weight is put on it. Restoring at least one of the walls will be required before proceeding with the scene.
B. Humpty Dumpty Had a Great Fall. Here comes the fun part. Someone or something has to be Humpty and break. Now the question is who?
- i. Be One with the Egg. Someone can act as Humpty Dumpty and perch themselves on top of that wall. How will they get up there? Flying, ladder, climbing--whatever works! Once up there, they must fall off, but don't worry. At worst they may break a limb or two, but they can be healed. But something must break for this task to be considered fulfilled. It should be noted that black, broken egg pieces will appear where they landed.
- ii. Blotten Egg. What luck, there already is an egg! ...A very creepy, black, rotting, looking egg. Honestly it already looks half broken. This egg is actually a blot taking the form of old Humpty, and it refuses to fall on its own. If anything it seems to be clinging to it and oh watch out! It's throwing down rotten eggs! That may or may not be acidic, but probably don't want to find out firsthand. Aspects will need to get up there and fight the Blotten Egg to either knock it over or break it to pieces up there. Once broken, the pieces will remain to be used in the final scene.
C. All the King's Horses and All the King's Men. The easy way to fulfill this scene would be to have a few people pretend to be horses and soldiers. But while that certainly is an option, that's no fun. Instead, how about running into a "ghost" army made from the Blots? They are ghastly creatures and more than ready to attack anyone they meet. The king himself might even appear. Fortunately, despite the number the Aspects are strong enough to deal with the mob so long as they have a partner. These armies will most certainly appear once the first scene is complete, but they can be found roaming around throughout the area.
D. Couldn't Put Humpty Together Again. Finally, an attempt to fix Humpty must be made for the story to complete. The funny thing is, although there were two ways to recreate the fall scene, there is only one method that will actually close the story. And it's not healing whoever pretended to be Humpty. The Aspects must gather the broken, black egg pieces and put them together. Just sticking the shells near each other will work. But once they assemble the egg, it will suddenly grow to three times its size and will turn into a huge, hideous monster. Oozing with black ink-like fluid, this "Boss" version of Humpty Dumpty must be fought and defeated. Its shell is like steel armor, so weapons won't be effective. Heat and ice, however, will help weaken it, the heat boiling the creature from the inside and the ice making the shell more brittle to pierce. Everything will be considered done once the monster is defeated.

¶ II. Little Miss Muffet. It would seem that this part of the draft isn't as badly damaged, perhaps not completely destroyed by the Story Eater yet, and looks almost restored...or so it seems. Almost immediately after someone steps in to give the story the starting nudge, a blot version of Miss Muffet leaps to her feet and throws her bowl of curds and whey on the ground! She can't take this anymore, she won't take his anymore! At least this one doesn't appear to be hostile and there appears to be other interesting blots roaming around, so let's see what can be done.

A. I Don't Like ~~Spam~~ Curds and Whey! Okay, to be fair, anyone would get sick of it if they had to eat bland, poorly made cottage cheese every day. And Little Miss Muffet is throwing the tantrum of the century today. Why does she have to sit on a lumpy stool and eat lumpy food every morning just to get scared off by a mean ol' spider two bites in?! It's not fair! Mary gets to play with her little lamb and Jack gets to jump over candlesticks! Maybe giving her a break from the monotony for a few minutes will help, just make sure she goes back to the story soon.
B. Pie in the Sky. Once Muffet's calmed down enough, she'll say that she'd like to have a pie for once. And conveniently enough, there's a brick oven sitting nearby. Hopefully someone knows how to bake and can make the filling of that pie look enough like curds and whey to keep the story on track.
- i. Bigger or Better. Even if the cooking space is miraculously easy to find, ingredients are harder to come by. The farmer needs a new scythe, the smith needs a new apron before he’ll give you a scythe, the tanner needs some wine before he’ll make a new apron, and so on and so on! How far does this chain go, and how much are you grousing about it with your partner? And why does the thatcher need a diamond to rub on their elbow anyway?! Or maybe one of you has an object already on their person to end the favor chain before it gets too long!
- ii. Little Red Hen. There is a farmer nearby who will lend some flour, but she insists on you helping her grow it from seed, even if she has some pre-ground flour right behind her. Something about lazy neighbors trying to mooch off her. Don’t worry, though, it's magical wheat, so it should only take a week for it to grow! Unfortunately you don’t have that kind of time, so someone either needs to help speed things along or convince the hen to just let them have some pre-ground flour.
C. Along Came a Spider. Unfortunately, while everyone was busy soothing Miss Muffet and baking pies, some random old lady ate the spider trying to cure her fly-related indigestion! What do you do now? Try to get the old lady to cough it up? Search the grove for a new leading arachnid? Hastily don a spider costume? There are also Spider Blots that might work if captured, and like everything else here they're not overly hostile. The worst is a toy-looking spider with googly eyes that spits silly string—and it likes to tickle. Whatever you do, just hurry before that pie gets cold and Muffet starts crying again!

¶ III. Three Little Pigs. Ready to ham it up? There are no pigs to be found anywhere in this area of the Draft, not even any blot versions. So a few Aspects will need to take on the role as pigs. They can make their own little fake ears or even just tear out a piece of paper from the journal, write the word "LITTLE PIG," and pin it on their shirt for it to count. The standards aren't that high here. Anyone not a Pig or future Wolf can offer support at least, so now it's time to get to work—and there is a lot. Set in a giant, barren field, at least they don't have to travel much.

A. Construction Zone. Anyone know how to build houses? One of the first things that will need to be made are three different little homes for those acting as the pigs. In the original story, they were made of straw, sticks, and bricks, and there's plenty of material for it. Giant piles and quarries full, in fact. However, the actual material is not required. If you want to be fancy and try glass or candy or something else, that's fine, too! The houses also don't need to be the best in the world, just enough. Heck it could even be a cardboard box. Just keep in mind that at least one of these needs to be strong enough to survive the inevitable "Wolf Breath."
B. Big Bad Wolf. There are two options for the wolf. Anyone is free to be the Wolf and can freely mess with the pigs as they see fit. However, those playing as the pigs should keep their guard up. There are also Blot versions of the Wolf lurking around ready to pounce on them unawares. Beat it back if it attacks.
C. Blow You Away. For the final piece, the Wolf must "huff and puff" to try and destroy the houses. If someone actually has strong enough breath to do that, then hope they had a breath mint first. But if not, other methods can be used. Wind magic, conjure up storms...or take a large object and wreck them. The interpretation of how the Wolf goes about bringing down the houses can vary wildly, so have at it! There must be one "Pig" inside the house being attacked, but the Pig is free to flee to the next house once it is destroyed. Don't forget to say the famous lines:

"Little pig, little pig, let me come in."
"No, no, not by the hair on my chinny chin chin."
"Then I'll huff, and I'll puff, and I'll blow your house in."

There will be one house left standing that the Wolf cannot break, and if there isn't... Well, just going to have to keep building one until you do. Or the Wolf cheats and doesn't put much effort into it. Choice is yours!
D. Take the Pig Out. Because the "brick" house (or whatever the last house is made of) cannot be destroyed, the Wolf must find another way to get to the pigs! Use wiles, ask them out on a date, or just do a good ol' fashioned break in. This is where the ending is more open. Will the wolf succeed in luring the pig out? Will there be a forbidden romance?? Or will the pigs bake the Wolf in their oven instead? Oh the possibilities...

¶ IV. Mix it up. This is the "wildcard" prompt. Take any elements of these three stories and mash them together! Want to play as the Big Bad Wolf and blow Humpty Dumpty off that wall? Or maybe it's a Little Pig bothering Miss Muffet. Maybe instead of "curds and whey" you have a little tea party instead. Or maybe you just want to explore around and beat up hostile blots and Erasers. Anything goes, so just have fun with it!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Hey. Professor?

[Alfyn stands there, axe sunk tip-first into the ground so he can lean on it and survey the damage. Cyrus won't have any problem finding him, since he's using the lean to get riiiiiight in the path of his magnifying glass and highly intense scrutiny.]

I know you said you were interested in improvin' your cooking skills and all, but if you wanted this many eggs for breakfast I could've helped a little.

[Alfyn Greengrass is not here to help anyone's focus. Particularly not any previously unparalleled focus.]

[He lowers the glass as he straightens up, giving the younger man an easy smile.]

As much as I appreciate the offer, I'm afraid now is not the time— though I may well take you up on it later.

[After all, if anyone is going to be patient enough to help him improve his cooking skills, it would be Alfyn— though even he may not be patient enough to get Cyrus to turn that unparalleled focus to whatever is on the stove rather than what he'd prefer to be reading.]

I'm looking for whatever fragments of this unfortunate egg fellow may have been scattered about— perhaps you'd be willing to lend a hand?

They really weren't kiddin' when they said a living egg fell apart, huh?

[They've fought...pretty animate eggs before, but this is something else. Alfyn gingerly picks up a bit of shell, holding it out for Cyrus's inspection.]

'Course I'll help. That's what I'm here for. But you don't expect me to believe we'll really be able to put this egg fella together? Even if we had all the pieces...well, have you ever cracked an egg before?

Well, I don't imagine we'll be gluing him back together piece-by-piece.

[Though that would be quite the challenge.]

Given the magic of this place, I'll imagine we'll have some aid. [As for that last bit— he turns scarlet for a moment, clearing his throat.] Ah, I've cracked a fair few, yes, but— never managed much more than that.

[They always get burned to a crisp because he gets distracted by his reading material.]

[Yeah, Cyrus wasn't usually the one up and making breakfast on the road or anything. Alfyn runs a hand (the one without any egg in it) through his hair.]

Well, unless you've got some kind of eggcellent spell in there somewhere, Professor, the whole pile of shells is just gonna stay...shells.

[He's so ready to just grin until his eyes close from the force of it? Once Cyrus picks up on the joke. Then he puts his axe back so he can use his hands and eyes without worrying about hitting any fragile scholars with a heavy weapon.]

Time to get to work!

[The truly amazing thing is that, while he searches for the egg shells, the tree roots seem to shift around him specifically to reveal what he's looking for. Alfyn's whistling a little and eventually picks up a bit of grass to chew, and seems quite unaware this is happening - his armful of eggshell bits just seems like all kinds of good luck!]

[Alfyn's humor is far from lost on him, fortunately, and he laughs openly rather than being embarrassed by his own lack of ability in the kitchen. He may not have a spell in mind, but he thinks Alfyn may be on the right track— given that everyone who's been brought here has been given new abilities of some kind, there has to be something that will get the job done.]

No doubt we'll manage something. Either way, your aid is much appreciated.

[As they go about collecting, Cyrus notes that while he seems able to look right through things to see what might be hidden behind or beneath, the very trees themselves seem to be making way for Alfyn to do his work. He lets out a thoughtful hm, pausing in his own efforts as he watches his friend continue on.]

Remarkable. How are you managing that?

[Alfyn may be taking a leaf out of Cyrus's book with his general state of oblivion here.]

It's just bending down and picking up eggshells. Ain't that hard, really. [And he sounds a little confused, like maybe Cyrus expected him to do something else, or he's not getting it right, here.

Or worse!]

Are you having trouble doin' that, Professor? Your back's not bothering you or anything like that? I can have a look, if you think...?

[He lets the sentence fall off there, holding out his empty hand toward Cyrus with concern in his smile.]

No, no— nothing like that, though it's very kind of you to offer.

[Of course that would be Alfyn's concern, but Cyrus shakes his head even as he approaches, gesturing back towards the tree that the apothecary had briefly turned his back to.]

There— that eggshell on the ground. Humor me and bend to pick it up? Only this time, watch the roots.

[That part is important.]

Whoops! Guess I missed one.

[Alfyn crouches to grab this eggshell piece, too, grinning.] Pardon me! [Yes, he is talking to the tree, but the big grin says he's just doing it as some humor for himself and Cyrus.

He plucks the eggshell out as the roots gently shift aside to make the doing of it easier; when he stands back up he's got some confusion mixed in to the good mood all over his face.]

Must be some kinda tree there. ...Think we should go in case we make it mad?

[He doesn't know a thing at all in the world about regular trees that can move on their own. There're tree monsters like that, sure, they've all faced 'em, nothing his axe can't handle after a good swing or two, and Cyrus is a walking bonfire with a library on the side...]

Actually, I don't think it's the tree at all. None of them have moved for me, and yet they seem to have no trouble making way for you.

[Of course, they've seen plenty of monstrous trees in their travels, but this is something altogether different, he thinks. There's no aggression here, no malice.]

Alfyn, I believe it's you that's making them move.

What? Me?

[He points to himself with the eggshell and looks over at the tree. Then at Cyrus. He's not quite smiling, now, the corners of his mouth turning into more of a confused bare grimace.]

I don't know how? I mean...well, it ain't as if I've got some kind of special spell or salve or anything I'm using? If you want the truth, I'm not doing anything, besides a little good old hard work.

You may not be doing it intentionally, but it's your presence that seems to inspire the roots to move. See here—

[And he'll go on to approach the next tree with a shell beneath it, reaching down to claim the blackened fragment, but the root does little to make his life easier, staying firm as Cyrus tries to carefully pull the shell out from beneath it without breaking it further.

He leaves it where it is, gesturing for Alfyn to try the same.]

It doesn't care to assist me, but I hypothesize that if you were to approach, it would feel inclined to oblige you.

[That's a forty-leaf string of words there. Alfyn looks...uncertain, at best, but he crouches by the roots of the tree and plucks the eggshell free with ease.]

Shucks. [He's holding it, which is proof enough, and the roots gently settle back into place once his hand is withdrawn.] There it goes again. Thanks, I guess!

[That was to the tree. It's making his job easier, after all, and anybody doing that more than deserves proper thanks for it!]

D'you also have some kinda hypothesis about why that's happening? [He adds the eggshell and several others to Cyrus's pile. In his growing concern, he doesn't quite realize they've essentially found them all.]

[Apologies, Alfyn, this is the only way he knows how to be.

He gives a genuine smile as he sees Alfyn try once more, only to be met with the same results as before— his theory is as good as proven!]

I imagine it has something to do with your Essence.

[Much like Cyrus can now see through things while looking with the intent to search— he certainly couldn't do that before now. He, too, is so focused on the topic of conversation that he doesn't quite take notice of the fact that his basket of eggshells has grown nearly as full as it's going to.]

What is your Essence, by the by?

[A bit preoccupied with the way the nearest tree also shifts its roots around so as not to allow for him to accidentally trip or anything, Alfyn looks up with only half the question in his mind.]

Can't seem to find my satchel, actually, but the best one's grape essence, or at least I think so. Best thing for helpin' you get healed up fast.

[That's— frankly, it's quite endearing.]

Not quite what I meant, I'm afraid. Not that sort of essence, but rather the Essence of a particular characters— the Storyteller has assigned one to each of us.

Oh! Right! ...I'm not exactly sure where I'd go to find that out. Guess I messed up there.

[The egg basket is starting to do one heck of a glow and vibrate sort of thing; Alfyn, not touching it, misses that detail too.]

I was pretty preoccupied with getting an axe I could use. Never know when you're gonna run into trouble.

I'd hardly say that— though I believe if you take the time to peruse your journal, you'll find something with regards to what role you're meant to play in this place.

[Cyrus, naturally, had spent his first house in this place poring over and experimenting with the journal and magic quill— he knows what his passions are.]

Very practical of you, however. You're quite right— you never know what you might come across, here or anywhere else.

[He's too focused on Alfyn himself to notice that the glow is now growing brighter, the shaking becoming more violent. Unbeknownst to either of them, the shells begin to take shape...]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Test Drive: October 2018

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