test drive meme #1

[historiadores]

TDM #1

LA LLEGADA

The Museum of Art and History is the largest and oldest in Llave, and contains a grand collection spanning from the time the first humans landed on its shores to the modern day. The building encircles an open courtyard where an art installation sits amidst many of the plants important to the settlers of Llave. Behind the museum is a wide, shallow field of hard-packed dirt lined by large stones, the petroglyphs on their surface worn by time—the earliest known playing field in all of the Caribbean. And further out are the areas where excavations are ongoing, uncovering the pottery, jewelry and artifacts of the ancestors.

After awakening, things move quickly. The museum is closed, and the characters ushered into the courtyard to wait. Any needing emergency medical attention are kept in one of the air conditioned galleries until the paramedics arrive. A group of women with a military bearing take charge of the situation; identified as the Bajari Bara, they question the healthy and able. They cede authority only to the Prime Minister when she arrives. Two more of their group flank the nation's leader, though they step aside when she begins to walk among the new arrivals to speak with them.

Each side has many questions and few answers. Characters are informed they are in Llave. It's October 2020. And efforts will be made to return them to their homes. But how they came to be here and why remain mysteries…as does how they’ll find their way back.

A hurricane shelter nearby is activated for use by the recent arrivals. There, characters are provided with food and clothing, a cot and other basic supplies. No one is allowed out, but through the windows they can see the lush green of the their surroundings. At night, coquí sing them to sleep. Those taken to a hospital will remain there until they are discharged. Each patient is allowed one visitor to stay with them overnight.

Over the next several days, all characters undergo physical and mental evaluations; are provided with their first immunizations; have the next legal steps explained to them; and are taught about Llave. Every character, regardless of age, has a caseworker who checks in with them daily. None have been arrested, they are assured. But they must also complete the quarantine process. To enforce quarantine, at both the hospital and the shelter, the Bajari Bara guard every entrance and exit.

Welcome to Llave.

EL AREYTO

As luck would have it, around the time quarantine ends, all of Llave is in the midst of celebration. Today is the Day of Heroes, celebrated every last weekend in October, which this year happens to fall on the eve of All Saints’ Day. So when the new arrivals venture out for the first time, Nona, the capital, welcomes them with color and music.

The people of Llave have a special love for music and dance, and it shows. All day, groups gather to play, and many more to dance. The songs center around heroes of Llave with the chief of these being Nuna, a beloved figure who is said to have led her people here to freedom. Those performing wear traditional clothes: guayaberas, long circle skirts, palm hats and headwraps, all brightly colored.

From early morning, artisans have set up under tents tables laden with goods. Clothing, jewelry, musical instruments, paintings, and more made from leather and wood, seashells and fish scales, aluminum and copper. Many create right at the table. Most popular are those working on cemís: sculptural objects, said to house the spirits of ancestors. Many carry them as amulets especially on this the eve to the days of the dead.

The food is equally rich and one of the cooks takes an interest in the new arrivals. Those who eat his food find their mood changing depending on what they ate. The tostones he prepared while speaking of his childhood home in Santa Cecilia bring on feelings of joy and contentment. The alcapurrias fried while arguing with a customer about last night’s wrestling match cause those who eat them to feel irritated. And the casabe, a flatbread made of cassava, that he explains he learned to make from his wife who passed, induces a profound nostalgia for lost loves. His wife, recognizable from the photo he keeps on the wall, sits beside those most affected and comforts them until the melancholy passes.

More dead can be found. An old man in a fine guayabera recalls composing the lyrics to a particular song. He points out the man playing the congas and proudly says his great-grandson will soon outplay him. When characters look back to the old man, he’s gone. Those with a sense for it will recognize many dead walking among the living. These next few days honor and celebrate the departed, and the dead have seized the rare opportunity to join the festivities once more.

For those who prefer the sea, the impossibly blue waters of the Caribbean are just a short walk away. Cobblestone and concrete paths line La Bahía de Nona. On one of the larger rock outcroppings jutting into the bay sits a silver-white dog. If called, he will trot over. Up close, one can see his color is due to the sand and salt that has collected on its coat. Though he allows himself to be petted, he does not step off the rocks. A passerby comments that the dog has been waiting for his master to return. How long? The man shrugs. When he was a boy, the dog was keeping watch; now he’s forty-three, and the dog is still there.

EL TRAVIESO

Or perhaps the characters were more distracted by how clean the water was, how clear. Enough so that the sight of a bottle bobbing in the waves seems offensively out of place. Anyone who chooses to snag it out of the water will find it’s a corked bottle of rum, apparently empty.

From a nearby restaurant, someone yells and waves their hands—too late. By uncorking it, they have freed the bacoo. Immediately, everyone backs away. Two cross themselves.

Only one stays long enough to warn, “You have to trick it back into the bottle. It likes milk and bananas. Don’t ask it for anything.”

Turn around, and the bacoo is there.

Short and rugged with large eyes, long arms and legs, covered in unkempt hair and its fingers and toes ending in claws, the bacoo is a strange little creature. Stranger still, it can grant any wish—so long as it is kept appeased with a steady diet of milk and bananas.

A hungry bacoo will pelt walls with stones, move objects, keep its owner up at night, and otherwise wreak havoc until it is fed. A shapeshifter, they can be difficult to locate, much less trap. And a starving bacoo will turn vicious and its pranks malicious.

Best find a way to trick it into the bottle. Fast.

---

OOC NOTES

This TDM covers from mid-to-end of October. The first prompt lasts approximately two weeks; the second, a day. For now, all characters are restricted to Nona. Any attempting to leave will be gently, but firmly escorted back.

The TDM will also double as the first IC post of the game. Threads between any two or more characters who were all apped and approved will be considered game canon. As such, actions characters take in this TDM will impact the game once it opens. How characters behave will shape the inhabitants’ first impressions of them. Make it count.

Questions regarding this TDM can be asked below, while questions regarding the game at large should be directed to the FAQ.

Thank you for your interest and we hope to have you join!

NAVIGATION • IC COMM • OOC COMM • MEME COMM

Comments

[singlelogbridge]

El Areyto

[It has taken some time, but Wei Wuxian is adjusting.

There are learning curves and pitfalls, and already he's lost sleep wandering the area they're allowed and learning from observation every moment that he can manage, but still he feels overwhelmed with the newness of it all. It's exhilarating. It's a welcome distraction. This world offers wonders he wouldn't have imagined.

He still feels half mad with his need to return to his world and find out if there is anything left to protect, but when he considers it too deeply, he finds he teeters dangerously over the edge of the half attached to that madness. (That should worry him, but it only makes him numb. He's already gone too far, what should it matter now? At least where his is in this place, no one else can fall victim to his mistakes.)

So he doesn't put it out of his mind, but he multitasks.

Today that means wandering whatever festival is taking place and learning whatever he can. He isn't expecting the ghosts. He certainly isn't expecting their brightness and beauty, a far cry from hungry corpses and the bitter dead that have been his companions for so long. It's enough to make the whispers in his head go silent for the day.

After a while of people watching, and indulging in listening to the occasional song, he pulls his flute out of his robe and begins to play along with a man on a stringed instrument he hasn't seen before. He doesn't know music like this, but he's proficient enough to match the tune and his fingers play without calling up any spirits or resentful energies.

In another time, he'd have called it fun. Here and now, it's a rest for his mind and one that's sorely needed.

Please feel free to come and watch him play, throw things at him when he hits a bad note, or join his playing.]

El Travieso

[For reasons that are not his fault (that's a lie, everything is his fault) Wei Wuxian is looking for a banana. The problem is, he has no idea what a banana is. He might be walking around fixing people with a charming smile and asking.

Someone please tell him what a banana is. He knows it's a food, he's not an idiot, he even suspects it's a fruit, it's just he has never seen one in his life send help.]

Ah, excuse me? [Take pity, he's pretty sure he just cursed himself and he really doesn't need the extra curse on his life.]

el travieso

[inkings]

Yeah?

[ in wei wuxian's face, a seventeen-year-old girl with long purple hair wearing an outfit cobbled together from everything purple, black and green among the clothes they were given and artfully torn and painted until she felt comfortable.

this isn't an additional curse, but it sure might be a hex on him. ]

[singlelogbridge]

[He blinks for a moment, startled by her look, but then he adapts and shoots her a charming smile with only the slightest nervous edge to it.]

I was wondering if you could help me? I'm afraid I'm not familiar with some of the local crop. Do you know where I can find a banana?

[Also do you know what a banana is??? He is 90% sure it is a fruit. ]

[inkings]

[ o…kay. weird request, but she has heard weirder. ]

I'm gonna guess a fruit vendor?

[ they're called supermarkets now, mal. ]

[singlelogbridge]

[He gives her a friendly nod because yeah that makes sense and also confirms his fruit theory, but also...]

Okay, second question. Would you happen to know what a banana is? I... might need some help identifying one at the vendor if you could be so kind? It's actually more important than you might think.

[inkings]

Got an abrupt hankering, did you?

[ well. she has the time. she rises from the bench. ]

Sure. Let's go.

[singlelogbridge]

[He visibly sags with relief, his smile growing friendlier.]

Thank you, I'll owe you one. And it's probably better you not know the details. [As he says that, his eyes dart suddenly over his shoulder and he jumps a little, but when nothing appears in his wake, his shoulders relax and he turns back to Mal.]

I'm Wei Wuxian.

[inkings]

[inkings]

Yeah, zero questions here. Um, let's try this way.

[ she points down a random way and starts off. a parasol in her hand pops open to safeguard her (sunblock slathered because she ain't a fool) fair skin.

both the parasol and her (artfully distressed and paint spattered) maxi dress are as purple as her hair because when mal commits she commits. ]

I'm Mal, [ she offers over her shoulder. ]

[singlelogbridge]

Mal. [He tests the name in his mouth, so different from what he's used to, and finds that he loves it.]

A pretty name. [As they walk, his eyes take occasional glances at her hair, even prettier than her name and he ponders.]

I've never seen hair like yours, Mal. Are you an immortal goddess? [There's a playful lilt to his voice, though the question is half sincere. Where he's from, only an immortal would have such a look, though he's been here long enough to gather that's probably not the case here. Doesn't mean he's going to pass up the opportunity to compare a pretty girl to an immortal. It's been a long time since he's been able to flirt with anyone.]

[inkings]

[ first sieglinde grabbing her hair like it was a toy, now this. if evie was turning heads before, here, with her blue hair, she'd be snapping necks. the picture is probably more amusing than it should be to the future queen of auradon, but hey. not like she's in auradon anymore. ]

Shockingly close on both counts, but no. Try again.

[singlelogbridge]

[He looks pleased and intrigued by the guessing game and makes a show of thinking about it hard, tapping a finger against his chin.]

A fairy then? You aren't a beautiful ghost because that one I would know, and I've never seen a demon with hair as lovely as yours.

[inkings]

[ surprise prompts a laugh out of her. ]

All right, settle down. I'm helping you find a fruit, not granting you three blessings.

[ a pause.

she makes a little moue. ]

You did guess right.

[singlelogbridge]

[He holds his hands up in the universal mock salute of surrender, his eyes only a little wider with her answer and his smile just as boyish.]

Mmm, the help is truly appreciated nonetheless. I'm also in need of milk, though I am in fact fully aware of what milk is. [He lets out a soft chuckle and then gives her another searching look.]

If it isn't too rude to ask, what kind of fairy are you Mal? I would guess a lotus blossom or a violet from your hair, but I wouldn't want to presume.

el travieso.

[broadswords]

[ The market is always his favourite haunt, of any place, the herbs first, the fruits next. Nicky has no designs on anything at the moment — just going for a walk. Cataloguing the streets, the houses. For Andy, for Yusuf. And for Nile. ]

[ He turns when addressed, raising an eyebrow. ]

Yes? Can I help you?

[singlelogbridge]

[Wei Wuxian's answering smile is as bright as it is sheepish and he gives the man a tiny wave before letting his hand drop back down to his side.]

Yes! Hi, uh. I was wondering if you could tell me what a banana is? So far I have gathered that it is food, likely of the fruit and vegetable variety. It is surprisingly important, I promise.

[broadswords]

[ Nicky blinks at him. ]

A banana?

[ — certainly, he could explain texture or culinary use, even its useful properties in providing potassium, but what is a banana is not a usual question. ]

It is a yellow fruit. Wait, it's easier to show you. Come with me.

[singlelogbridge]

[Oh thank goodness, he didn't want to have to explain that he might need help knowing what they look like. With a sigh of relief followed immediately by a bright grin, Wei Wuxian readily begins to follow.]

Thank you, you might actually be saving my life! [Probably not, but it was a possibility. With his luck with curses, it wouldn't be shocking. As they walk, he offers Nicky a casual bow and greeting, long having realized that it was not the custom of pretty much anyone else here, but unable to shake the long ingrained habit.]

I'm Wei Wuxian, may I ask your name?

[He's also long stopped introducing himself by both courtesy and birth name as it seemed only to confuse everyone.]

[broadswords]

[ Nicky recognises it — it's been a long time, and the centuries shift and bring old things back, but it's an anchor. He returns the bow, and smiles faintly. ]

Nicholas Smith.

[ Nicolo di Genova is now only something that belongs to five people. He's put it away. ]

It is a pleasure to meet you. Where are you from?

[singlelogbridge]

[His eyes widen in delight at the return, the first he's received here, and he perks up further, his interest piqued.]

A pleasure as well, Nicholas Smith. I've found no one here familiar with it, but I'm from the Yunmeng province of China. And you?

[broadswords]

I am from Genova, [ and after 1861, there's another qualifier, ] in Italy.

[ His memory for places is adequate — borders drawn, redrawn, territories conquered, moving between two powers. Nicky frowns in thought. ]

It's... towards the south? Mountainous area?

[singlelogbridge]

[Wei Wuxian shrugs with a smile, shaking his head.]

Maybe you can show me on a map, I'm not so familiar with the names I've heard, but perhaps I'd recognize the area. Not anywhere I've been though, I'm sure of that.

[Then, brighter, curiosity in his voice] what is it like?

[broadswords]

Ah — no, I meant where you are from.

[ He's showing himself his age, having walked to nearly every corner and having no memory of how the names have changed. In the year Andy told them they'd need a break, he had travelled. As far east as they could go and onwards. ]

Genova is a port.

[singlelogbridge]

Oh! [His grin softens to a smile and he shakes his head.]

That sounds like Gusu, though it isn't South. Yunmeng is a lake province, surrounded by lotus lakes. It is east, but not coastal like Gusu.

But a port city! It must have been very adventurous growing up there!

[broadswords]

I am very fond of lotuses... I envy you, having lakes of them.

[ What a sight, another thing to return to, when there's the chance, and now that Nile too has to see the world. ]

Quite. My uncle was a sailor.

[ Nicky learnt to walk and climb on the masts and deck of a ship; to see from a crow's nest, to wake up and dawn and race down to the old harbour. ]

What about you?