vestige ooc + memes.

Bienvenido, murderfam. 🔪 Surprising no one more than myself, the Bulletin is alarmingly punctual this month. I hope you're proud of me. I'm proud of me.

As an even-numbered month, there are no events in April - just a couple of anomalies to play around with.

As a general note, my Spring quarter has just started, which seems at a glance to be done the first week of June. I'd like to think I'm getting in the swing of this school-practicum-modding-RP balance, but that also feels a lot like hubris so we'll see when May hits and The Fuckbox™ of weeks 4-8 are underway.

ANNOUNCEMENTS OF VARYING IMPORTANCE

• MOTHERFUCKIN' TEST DRIVE MEME - I bet you thought it was just a myth. A legend. A pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. But no - Test Drive #3 truly has come to pass. Tell your friends.


• NO-INVITE PERIOD - Aiming for the last half of this month. I'm going to put out a note about it with this TDM, and I've already added an April 2021 update to the FAQ section about our invite-only status.

APRIL IN VESTIGE

WEATHER.

Spring is well underway by now, with sunny skies filled with puffy white clouds and a brisk breeze cooling those who sit in that sun for too long. It sprinkles for an hour or so on 2-3 days per week, but April sees very few proper rains.

WILDLIFE.

The animal populations are acting as animals do at this time of year, with little of particular note to report. The raccoons' Baby Fever seems to have calmed down a bit, with a number of the juvenile raccoons dispersing into the forest or even off into the town where the scavenging is ripe. A small band of them take to Foodland, stealing boxes of crackers or fruits when they think nobody's looking and hiding under the check-out counters when they know they're being watched.

As for plants, a wealth of flowers have come to bloom - but that isn't entirely reassuring news. See 'Anomalies'.

RESOURCES.

In Foodland, one can find the usual assortment of groceries, along with:


• What remains of last month's seeds.


• A particularly robust assortment of chapstick, for those feeling a bit more conscious of their lips thanks to certain dreams.


• A renewed supply of camping gear - basically anything you might find in the camping section at Walmart is fair game.

ANOMALIES FOR APRIL

WAIT, ISN'T IT SUPPOSED TO BE MAY FLOWERS? VARIOUS EFFECTS, ALL MONTH

Throughout the month, in addition to various entirely harmless flowers, a number of less harmless flora seem to be popping up as well. Coming into contact with the pollen of these flowers (whether by direct touch, inhalation, or even just standing too close while the pollen is on the breeze) seems to have an effect on people... Precisely what effect depends on the flower. The following can be encountered throughout the containment zone this month:


• ASPHODELUS - ( 📷 ) This flower will cause the feeling of soul-crushing regret and guilt. What's the one thing that you regret the most? The one thing you would change if you could turn back time? It's time to have that thrown back in your face for the next twelve hours, assuming you're not exposed to this pollen again. The funny thing about it is, you're feeling even worse about it now than you ever did before, even if the issue has long since been resolved.


• BEGONIA - ( 📷 ) Suddenly you're aware that everyone is conspiring against you. Not just your enemies, but your friends and family as well. Even that raccoon over there. Look at the way it's looking at you, making those weird chittery sounds and scampering up and down that tree. It's up to something. Exposure to the begonia pollen will cause intense paranoia for up to twelve hours after initial exposure (assuming you don't come in contact with it again).


• EDELWEIß - ( 📷 ) Oh, Edelweiss. A beloved and simple flower from the Alpine region of Europe. This one will cause you to become extremely reckless, possibly to the point of death. It goes beyond developing or exacerbating a hero complex. It's like experiencing l'appel du vide for twelve hours and actually listening to it. Good luck.


• GENTIANA ANDREWSII - ( 📷 ) When's the last time you had a good night's sleep? A few days? Weeks? Prior to ever showing up here? Here, let's help with that. The pollen from Gentania andrewsii, commonly known as a closed or bottle gentian, will instantly put anyone who comes in contact with it to sleep. It doesn't matter if they're sitting, standing, driving or swimming. They will fall into a deep sleep, varying anywhere from twelve to twenty-four hours. For the duration of that time, some will have a dreamless sleep, while others will experience vivid nightmares and will only awaken after experiencing sleep paralysis.


• GLOXINIA - ( 📷 ) This flower can have one of two main effects, depending on how it is that you're exposed to the pollen. If you touch the pollen with your hands (picking the flower, holding onto it in order to reach in to smell it, etc.), you'll discover ~5-10 minutes later that you're quite allergic to it, and your hand + everything you've touched with that hand since begins to redden and burn like a terrible rash. But some might argue that this is the preferable option, because if you receive the pollen via airborne exposure, you'll find yourself either blinded or deafened instead. Don't worry - both the loss of senses and the burning rash are entirely temporary, wearing off in anywhere from 2-6 hours.


• POPPIES - ( 📷 ) I mean, what do you expect from poppies? This shit gets you high. There's a low but persistent level of opium in the pollen of these bad boys, so buckle up.
  

That's it! Expect the Catch-All Log tomorrow, and I'm also going to wait to Plurk about the TDM until tomorrow too so that I have more brainpower to write a note about the no-invite apps. Otherwise, have a good April!

The starting point for this Test Drive Meme may be familiar to some: A very tall and elaborate labyrinth.

At its core, the labyrinth is just as it was in March's event, but with a few key differences:


• FOG - A fog fills the maze, sparse in places and thick enough to obscure visibility in others.


• NO EXIT PORTAL - There is no exit building in the courtyard. Instead, there is simply a jagged hole in the ground - and a deep one. Any light dropped down the hole fades from view before it hits the ground. Anyone pushed into the hole (or anyone who jumps in voluntarily - I'm not here to judge) blacks out abruptly and wakes up elsewhere in the maze, forced to reorient themselves anew.


• MONSTER FREQUENCY - The monsters listed in the March event are still present, but less frequent now that they're no longer the only alarming feature within the twists and turns of the maze. They seem to avoid any anomalies within the maze (see below).


• ENDLESS(?) - In contrast with the March labyrinth and its clearly-defined borders, this one doesn't seem to end... Nor does it seem entirely consistent in measuring distance traveled. You could walk for the better part of a day in one direction, then turn around and within five minutes encounter a landmark you passed that morning. Or perhaps you leave the courtyard, travel for six hours, then enter the courtyard again from the opposite side. Are their two courtyards? Did you get turned around? It's a mystery.


• ANOMALIES - Throughout the foggy hedge-labyrinth, there are a few different anomaly types that one can encounter. Some feel like a simple break in the maze, while others feel like you've stepped entirely out from one dream and into another.
  
Upon arriving, everyone wakes up somewhere within the maze itself, some sporting headaches and sore limbs as if from an especially rough sleep, others still bearing the wounds they brought from home, while others still awaken feeling enviably refreshed and ready to go. The drop-downs below will describe the possible anomalies! Everything else not specified above or below can be assumed to exist as described in the March event.

ANOMALY TYPE 1 ► YOU KNOW THE PLACE

The fog has been especially thick for a minute or so, but for one reason or another, you've ventured on. Maybe you're fleeing a beast, or searching for some shred of hope in this endless foliage hell.

What you find is something different altogether.

After a few more steps, the fog seems to clear a bit, revealing a weathered stone arch covered in some manner of ivy. You didn't think you were anywhere near the end of the maze - in truth, you were starting to wonder if there was an end at all. But sure enough, through this very archway lies-... well, it's a bit hard to discern, but it's certainly not more twisting pathways.

Make your way through the archway, and things become a bit more clear. Clear and familiar. You've found yourself in a place of great emotional weight to you personally - perhaps your greatest regret occurred here, or your most traumatic childhood memory. The place is empty now, a bit broken-down and still cloaked in a light fog, as if it hasn't seen visitors in quite a while. But as you approach, you find that the old memories or feelings are stirred up almost as vividly as they were when they were created. Some particularly unfortunate souls will find themselves reliving it, gripped with visions of the prior events - or perhaps they see the place as it now exists but feel all of the pain or anger or guilt they felt at the time, seemingly without cause.

(If the weighty emotion or memory is more positive - a place of great joy, love, or hope - then the above still applies, but at the end it's tainted by a sort of sadness. Wistfulness, nostalgia, or some other manner of emotion which appropriately captures the despair or melancholy of such a place of joy now crumbling away in ruin. In fact, it seems a bit more ruined now than it did when you arrived...)

Each archway contains only one such place at a time, so anyone who wanders in after you will find you in this place so dear to your heart. With any luck, they won't relive the memories or feelings right along with you... But in the labyrinth, luck is rarely on your side.

ANOMALY TYPE 2 ► THE MEET-CUTE

This archway is very much the same as the one above, but this one at first glance seems only to travel through the brick wall from one path to the next. Seen through a foggy haze, it's entirely too easy for the faintest shimmer across the gap to escape your notice... At least until you've passed through it and found yourself not on the next path as the illusory barrier made you believe, but in an oppressive and unbroken darkness that not even those with sharper night-senses can discern proper shapes in.

A quiet sound nearby lets you know that you aren't alone. Is it man or monster? Now might be the time to ask - if only it were so easy. As soon as you go to speak (or even just mouth-breathe, really), you'll find that you're unable to open your mouth. No... Lifting a hand to investigate, you'll find that the truth is quite a bit more concerning. You don't seem to have a mouth anymore at all.

Don't worry! This, like all things in life and death, is entirely temporary. Once both you and the other person have made your way through the exit (a similar archway which leads back into the maze), you'll find your mouth once again where you left it.

But the journey isn't quite so easy as it sounds. Throughout the room, hall, caves, or wherever else you've ended up (it varies by the occasion) lie all manner of perils - knives which jab out of holes in the wall, flames which briefly illuminate your corner of the room they shoot up just in front of the weight-sensing pad on which you've stepped... Y'know, typical Trap-Infested Cave With Treasure At The End shit, but it's in the dark with a similarly mouthless person you may or may not know, and the treasure is 'getting the fuck out'.

At least you'll have a story to tell the grandkids.

ANOMALY TYPE 3 ► HAPPY BIRTHDAY! YOU'RE A DISASTER

Once more for good measure: A stone archway. An unsuspecting you. A seemingly-innocuous hedge-lined path on the other side. But just for a change of pace, this one doesn't fling you down memory lane or into a dark and booby-trapped meet-and-greet.

This one just plain knocks you out.

You wake up right where you last recall being - the barrier-shimmering sky above, the foliage looming oppressively high to your left and your right - but something is very very different. You feel it right away, but you can't quite put your finger on what... At least not yet.

But it won't keep you waiting long. Within two or three minutes of your awakening, that 'something' makes itself quite apparent: You now have a brand new power or ability, and it's mostly or entirely out of your control.

Good luck, godspeed, and try not to kill anyone.

MOD NOTES + CONTINUITY

• This TDM takes place in a shared dream for all participants, so as not to interrupt in-game continuity. Characters already in-game may experience this dream at literally any time between now and the next TDM, and new characters who TDM here will have this dream as their vivid introductory experience, which they're free to remember/not remember upon joining the actual game. Players of current Vestige characters, feel free to fudge when your characters experience this nightmare and/or when something inspires them to remember it.


• In Anomaly Type 2, you're welcome to fully improvise whatever room shape and/or traps and dangers your characters encounter. Go nuts. (Also, while we're talking about it - characters still retain vocal chords and mouth cavities, and are still able to hum/grunt. It's just like someone took the Clone tool and photoshopped more cheek where their mouth is supposed to be.)


• In Anomaly Type 3, you are literally just 100% free to decide what power you want to inflict on your character and those around them. If you're at a loss, ask the Discord for ideas!


• Unless otherwise specified, characters arrive with all powers intact and carrying all items that they had with them on their canonpoint.


• Vestige will be lifting its invite-only rule on a trial basis beginning on April 15th! Folks without direct invites are welcome to TDM in the meantime, but no-invite applications won't be accepted until the 15th.
• I recommend checking out our New Player Guide (specifically the 'for characters' drop-down) or the FAQ before you TDM, even though this isn't set in the Containment Zone proper.


• Feel free to hop into our Discord server if you aren't there already! You're welcome even if you aren't in the game just yet.