test drive meme

[vellamods]

TDM

Hello, and welcome to Vella's TDM! As a reminder, this game is invite-only and open to anyone on the mods' timelines: Coco amplitude , Avery daintily , and/or Amber twistingkage ! Friends of friends are welcome to participate, in case we do end up having slots available (please see the Reserves page for more information) -- however, the mods' Plurk lists will be given priority.

A Mysterious Gift

Good morning! Today’s shaping up to be a bright, sunny day on the island. The weather is balmy but not too hot, and there’s a gentle, cool breeze. It’s as idyllic and perfect as you could want… but there seems to be something being carried by the wind. It won’t take you long to notice because it’s so out of place - it’s bright and colorful and definitely not something normal. It’s a balloon floating towards the island at a leisurely pace, and hanging from the balloon is what looks to be a… wrapped present? It’s a white box with a red ribbon, and it doesn’t seem to be weighing down the balloon at all. How odd...

If you happen to be armed with a slingshot, you can use it to pop the balloon. When the balloon is popped, the present will fall to the ground - but be careful where you’re shooting! There’s a river running through the island, and your gift could easily end up swept away if it falls just above the water… And if you don’t have a slingshot, feel free to get creative! Or you can make one and be ready for the next mysterious package - because there will be one just a few minutes later, drifting along.

Should you choose to unwrap the present, one of two things will happen: Maybe you'll get something small in size but no less valuable: a shiny, pristine crown that looks like it might cost a fortune. Whether or not you take care of it is up to you, but hey, you run this island now! (Not really.) Alternatively, you might get a very large red double sofa; when you unwrap the present, it suddenly springs out and lands with a loud thunk onto the ground. Pray that it doesn't smash your toes! How something so big squeezed inside a box so small is a mystery, but hey...congrats?


Gotta Catch 'em All (cw: Scorpions)

The island has tons of natural resources. There are the apple fruit trees dotted around the island and plenty of flowers that you can see up on the cliffs, but beyond that are the rivers threading through the island and the beaches themselves. They seem to be filled to bursting with fish - you can see their dark shadows in the water clear as day, and the fish seem to come in a variety of sizes. Make yourself a fishing pole and go for it! The fish are not only good for cooking and eating, but you can also sell them off for bells. Or keep them as pets, that’s fine too.

But if you’re not a fan of fishing, there’s still plenty to catch. The island is also completely filled with… Well. Bugs. The island is filled with bugs. Butterflies flutter around, and you can get some bells for selling them off...and don't count out the dragonflies, grasshoppers, and mantises, either! You'll need a bug net to nab these critters, but once they're yours, you're free to do what you'd like with them.

When it gets dark, though, be careful! That’s when scorpions come out, and they’re known for their sting. They're far and few between, but when you find them, try not to panic. If you don't have your net out, they'll leave you alone and stay at the edges of your general vicinity. If you bring your net out, though, they'll raise their legs and shake their tails defensively at you. Get too close too fast, and they'll chase after you. They're fast.


Henry's Quest

Henry the frog has been living on the island with you, and today he has a request! He wants to make some hedges to put around his house (or maybe he just wants to tidy up the island), and for that he needs weeds. Twenty of them, in fact. More is fine, but less is just unacceptable. If you choose to accept the task, he’ll give you a reward for helping him: ten iron nuggets! It’s all he has though, so whether you choose to do this solo or with some friends, you’re only getting ten iron nuggets total. Still, while it’s not exactly a rare resource, it’s certainly a limited one, so you may find the reward enticing. Or perhaps you just want to help him out of sheer kindness. Whatever the reason may be, it’s time to get to work.

The island has plenty of weeds, so it shouldn’t be too hard to pick the ones you need. If someone happens to be plucking in the same spot as you, maybe you can work together! After all, more hands means more weeding, which means you can all make Henry happy even faster.

For those who are less teamwork-oriented, you’re free to do this solo, but where’s the fun in that? … Ah, you’re thinking of hogging all of the nuggets for yourself, aren’t you? Well in that case, maybe you should consider sabotaging the competition...though do you really want to draw the ire of the people you’ll be spending at least the next few weeks with?

(OOC Note: We will not be NPCing Henry on this TDM.)


Winding Down

Another day at the island has come and gone. The night sky is clear and the stars are out -- the perfect way to wind down after a day’s worth of hard work. Someone - maybe you! - has built a campfire on the beach, and it’s as good a time as any to get to know the people you’re living with. You’re stuck here, after all.

Sit around, chat, maybe tell some spooky (or not so spooky) stories. Enjoy yourself! You’ve got many more days ahead of you, but for tonight you can just rest and enjoy the peace of the island you now get to call home.




Taken / FAQ / Locations / Full Nav

Comments

[thezekeinator]

Oh, people fell off.

[Zeke scowls rather fiercely. Don't ask how many times that happened to him.]

But everyone floated in the Cloud Sea, so you just had to swim around and find someplace to climb back on. Not much to do the crushing inside Titans...

[turntoashes]

[He almost snickers at that scowl. Sounds like someone had that happen a lot. But that comment about crushing is enough to keep him from snickering.]

Well, I'm pretty sure this is regular land. The only people who've fallen off anything are the ones who aren't paying attention and land in the river.

[thezekeinator]

Hey, people can fall in the river for other reasons!

[Guess who'd had that happen a few times already.]

[turntoashes]

Yeah? Like what?

[thezekeinator]

[One feather-finger points proudly upwards.] Like if the thick log they're walking over suddenly gives way and turns!

[turntoashes]

[. . .]

Why would you walk over the logs, though? We have bridges.

[thezekeinator]

Well not everywhere! [Ah--] Is what I'm sure a person who walked over a log would say.

[turntoashes]

Uh-huh.

[He's reminded Galo.]

Maybe we just need to build more bridges then.

[thezekeinator]

Might be a suitable long-term plan. Gathering is one thing, but architecture feels a bit strange with -- everything. [Like being a bird. What's up with that anyway?]

[turntoashes]

Yeah, true. I'm still not sure how twenty weeds made a hedge....

[thezekeinator]

Masterfully, when I did it! [Yeah, he gets it.] And what a strange currency.

[turntoashes]

The "bells" too. Is it just me, or do they look like regular leaves?

[thezekeinator]

It's not just you. Strike me if I can see a difference, but there must be one.

[turntoashes]

If I were a worse person, I'd take a leaf from a tree and see if anyone would notice the difference.

[thezekeinator]

That's when you'd find out they have a jail just for counterfeiters or something. [Zeke waves a wing idly.] Besides, nothing wrong with doing honest work.

[turntoashes]

Oh, I agree. But maybe they should make their money not look like leaves.

[thezekeinator]

Maybe there's a reason for it! Sacred tradition! Tribute to a long-forgotten leader. Maybe the currency system was designed by an herbivore.

[turntoashes]

Why would an herbivore make their money something they eat?

[Seriously.]

[thezekeinator]

Saves them the trouble of going out to market. Soon as you get paid you have lunch.

[What about that doesn't make sense?]

[turntoashes]

[. . .]

That's...not how that works.

[thezekeinator]

How do you figure?

[turntoashes]

Because if you eat your money, you can't buy other things.

[thezekeinator]

But if you only eat the money that you'd use to buy food, you've just saved yourself time and effort! Which as we all know is money.

[turntoashes]

And clothes? Shoes? Rent?

[thezekeinator]

You don't eat that part of the money, of course!