polymeme | TDM: Mega Throwback Edition!

✖ TEST DRIVE MEME

Ⅰ. ARRIVAL
You can read all about your character's arrival in the game lore.
The island you find yourself on is a tropical paradise. The hair is heavy and humid, and a thick flowering jungle encroaches on the white sandy beach. As far as mysterious islands go, it could be a lot worse! Maybe there’s a bar with some Mai Tais set up here somewhere…

As you walk towards the jungle you become aware that something is moving in the bushes. Some sort of animal, probably - maybe your mind goes to jaguars, or monkeys. What comes running out onto the beach, though, is not remotely mammalian: it’s a dinosaur.

Just a little one - it’s about the size of a small dog, running along on its hind legs. Aww, he’s kinda cute if you ignore the sharp teeth and claws! Lucky for you it’s busy chasing something else and soon darts back into the bush unless you do something to grab its attention.

Listen closely and you’ll find that sometimes you can hear sounds that are distinctly mechanical. Whatever this place is, it at least sounds like it’s inhabited by something possessing intelligence. You could definitely go and find out. Just be careful!

Or maybe you think, hey, I’ve seen this movie, I’m staying on the beach! You could, but unless you’re good at diving for fish you might have a hard time finding food.

Notes:
1. Please remember to mark threads appropriately with Content Warnings when necessary.

2. These prompts are a jumping off point - how they affect your character and their development is up to you.

3. The people on the island are normal humans unless otherwise indicated. The dinosaurs are animals and can be killed. I mean, good luck with that, but.

4. Have fun!

Ⅱ. CRETACEOUS PARK
CW: Dinosaurs! Violence, possibly against dinosaurs!

The jungle is thick and it takes a lot of effort to move through it. You’ll have to crawl under vines, climb over felled trees, and just generally pay a lot of attention to your surroundings. This is the sort of situation where having someone with you certainly makes things easier. Occasionally you will hear animals calling, and you’re bound to see some of them eventually. Maybe you’ll luck out and spot a herbivore like one of the armoured dinosaurs, just chewing on plants and not likely to attack you unless you piss it off. Maybe you spot something about your size with a decidedly less vegetarian diet and you have to decide between hiding or trying to scare it off.

Eventually in your wanderings you come across an unusual sight: a dirt road. It cuts its way through the trees and ferns, and to the south you can hear what is probably a familiar sound: engines. And shouting.

It’s getting closer.

Suddenly there are cars and motorcycles rushing down the road toward you - try not to get hit! One of the cars slows and a guy with a ragged blonde beard hangs out and tells you to get in the back. At close to the same time a truck slows and another guy tells you to climb aboard and grab a gun.

Why would you need a gun? The answer presents itself almost immediately: big daddy T-Rex is stomping its way down the road towards you.

You can escape with the first car, or pitch in and try to shoot the dinosaur with the second. Or you could try and prevent them from hurting the animal entirely, or just run off into the jungle by yourself. Better decide quickly, though. That T-Rex looks hungry.

Notes:
1. You determine your level of dino encounter! And what kind - nobody is going to get on your ass if you pick one from the Jurassic period instead of the Cretaceous. It’s a magic island for crying out loud.

Ⅲ. SETTLEMENT
CW: Kidnapping.
Whether you throw in with the humans or maybe stumble upon it by accident, you wind up at their encampment . It’s definitely the safest place to be - there are high walls around a series of small buildings mostly cobbled together from wood and tin. But there’s cots, and food. Outside the perimeter wall are tripwires and very basic motion sensors that will alert the settlement if any sizable animals are prowling around.

You’re informed that mostly the dinosaurs leave the camp alone - too much effort for not enough food.

While you’ll be welcomed the first night, as soon as morning rolls around it will be made abundantly clear that you’re going to be expected to pull your weight. Pitch in with the cooking or cleaning, or if you have some mechanical skill you can help fix up some of the rattling vehicles parked around.

From what you can gather, this is just one of a few different settlements on the island. Some of the others have small farms, and if you can drive you will be asked if you’d mind running over a delivery to one of these.

Agree, and you’ll be handed the keys to what sure looks like a 1970s era Cadillac. The mulleted gentleman who has asked this favour of you hands you a piece of paper upon which a small map is drawn, along with written directions. A note at the bottom reads, “don’t look in the tunk.” You think he means ‘trunk.’

“Package is in the trunk,” this gentleman confirms. “Don’t open it, sunlight’ll mess it all up.”

With that he sends you on your merry way. Best to take along a buddy for safety!

Partway through your journey you will come to realise that whatever is in the trunk is making a banging noise. You can ignore it and keep driving, passing the keys off to the people at the farming settlement, or you can pull over and investigate.

If you choose the second option, you’ll find that your ‘package’ is a person. Not a human one - this person has scales and huge, bulging eyes above small nostrils. They’re bound hand and foot and gagged, staring up at you with terror.

Well, jeez. Now what?

Notes:
1. If you open the trunk and discover the Crazy Frog-esque figure within you can continue on to the settlement and deliver him as promised. If you choose the former, the people at both settlements will be angry and turn on you unless you can spin a very convincing lie about your prisoner escaping.

2. If you choose to free your froggy friend, they will indicate that you should follow them through the jungle to their home.

3. If you skip the delivery mission, you can still stay at the camp. It’s very bare bones, but there’s food and cots and bathrooms at least.

Ⅳ. REPTILIANS
Whether it’s because you’re led there, or because you find it by accident, you find yourself in a village - the houses are smooth stone, curving elegantly under sprawling vines and beautiful blooming flowers.

Upon your arrival several humanoid lizard people emerge from their homes and watch you, silent. One of them, stooped and wizened with age, moves to stand directly in front of you. When they speak, you realise that you can’t hear them with your ears; they communicate through telepathy.

You are welcome to stay in our village if you pass our Test of Bravery.

You’re half expecting that they’ll make you fight a velociraptor or something, but no - this village elder leads you and your companion both to the center of the village where there are several large flat stones ringed around one much larger stone. You’re both instructed to sit. More of the reptilian people approach, watching you.

Tell us a story of your bravery, the elder tells you.

You’ll have to dig into your memories to find a moment where you think you acted bravely, and then you’ll have to tell everyone assembled about it. You might be tempted to embellish a little bit, or to outright lie.

But if you do…

The moment you start fudging the truth, a different memory will play out just above the large center stone like a hologram. This memory paints you much more poorly: it's one of your most cowardly moments. Definitely not what you wanted to share with a village full of people.

When either your story or your memory is finished, the village elder will look at you with their strange eyes and pronounce whether or not you’re allowed to stay.

Notes:
1. Whether or not you are allowed to stay is not based entirely on how brave you were - how you react to having to share (willingly or not) these stories also plays a part. For example, if you ran away from a fight but in the present you don’t try to justify it with bullshit reasons, you will still be invited to stay.

2. The Reptilian village is a blend of nature and advanced technology. Frankly, it’s a nicer place to stay than the human settlements. They have a lot more creature comforts, like nice deep baths and soft beds.

Greetings, prospective Travelers! Welcome to the POLYMYTHOS test drive meme and thank you for your interest in our game! We invite you to use this TDM to explore but one of many, many islands within the Endless Isles; use it as an opportunity to introduce and familiarize yourself with the game, form connections with other characters, and just have some fun. (Perhaps while also getting some solid samples together for your application! Apps are always open!)

Use the prompts provided below as-is or feel free to write your own set within the environment detailed in each. You're even welcome to access the network via your character's ScryWatch. While there will be some inevitable changes, TDMs may count as game canon and some islands may be revisited in the future. Be mindful of your surroundings -- you never know how you and your fellow Travelers might affect this place in the long run.

Network · Logs · OOC · Memes · Plurk

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ loki rolls his eyes. ]

Never heard of it.

[ Peter's lips go tight in a sardonic smile. Again, he doesn't know why expected any recognition there. ]

It's, ah. It's the largest borough of New York. On Earth. —By square footage, I mean. I think Brooklyn technically has more people, but yeah. Queens. New York City. Earth.

[ mutters something under his breath that sounds like everyone is from new york these days. ]

Yes. I'm familiar with Earth at least.

Oh. Have you ever been there?

I have. I put the King of the Gods in an old home there long ago.

It had a good Yelp review.

[ what the fuuuuuuuuuck? ]

Well. That's... good. It's important to take care of the elderly.

Yes, I think so too.

So... What's Asgard like?

[ He had no idea it was a real place before just now. ]

[ his expression flickers for a moment. ]

Golden. It was the first light, the evenstar of the universe. It shone brightly and the weather was always peaceful there. Green and lush, with its mountains, lakes and waterfalls that fell off the edge of the world.

[ Past tense. Peter may not know much about Norse myths, but he's observant enough to get the sense that something must have happened to Asgard, something that Loki probably doesn't want to talk about.

So, change of subject is go! ]

Um. How long have you been here, then?

[ a loose shrug. ]

A few months. Or longer. I don't keep a strict track of time.

Right. I can imagine that months would start to lose their significance after a few hundred years.

[ That is, assuming that this is the same Loki from Norse mythology. ]

[ hmm, so he did notice. why the strange responses earlier then? ]

Time has more meaning for mortals.

[ The strange responses were because this is his first time being any immortal godlike being, okay? Cut him some slack. ]

Yeah, yeah, I can see how it would. And even for us, time can seem to fly by without us noticing.

That is the weight of it.

Yeah...

[ Feeling the conversation fade into a lull, Peter taps his fingers on his thigh, needing an outlet for his nervous energy. He looks down and sees a rock that looks pretty flat, and bends down to pick it up, turning it over in his hands. ]

I guess as far as purgatories go, a tropical island isn't bad.

[ Deeming the rock sufficiently flat, Peter winds up and tosses it for a skip. ]

[ a strange boy. or man, on the cusp of it. ]

This is only one island. We visit many others and they're all different.

Yeah?

[ Peter looks up from where he's already looking for another rock. ]

Which one's been your favorite so far?

[ loki pauses, mulling it over. ]

I did like the one with the malls. If only for the chance to purchase new clothing.

[ Peter laughs, skipping another stone. This one is less successful and lands in the water with a PLUNK! ]

Hah.. So the god of mischief is a mallrat? Didn't see that one coming.

The God of Mischief is many things, but the one thing he is not, is underdressed.

Alright, alright... I didn't mean to besmirch your reputation or anything.

[ Loki is fun, once Peter gets over the whole 'immortal ancient god' thing. ]

I honestly don't know much about Asgard or the other Norse gods, so.. If I say anything offensive, just tell me to shut up.

[ his lips twitch at the corners. ]

It would take a lot more than that to be offensive. And it hardly matters these days. We're myths to you.

Well yeah, sure, but... You're clearly not a myth, you're— [ He gestures to Loki's, well, everything. ] You're right there.

That does not make me less of a myth. Once you're gone, I imagine I will seem like nothing more like a dream.

[ something to be forgotten. a footnote in the fabric of greater stories. ]

(no subject)

threeterparker - 2022-01-24 11:47 (UTC) - Expand

dothelokimotion - 2022-01-24 11:53 (UTC) - Expand

threeterparker - 2022-01-24 11:55 (UTC) - Expand

dothelokimotion - 2022-01-24 12:27 (UTC) - Expand

threeterparker - 2022-01-24 12:36 (UTC) - Expand

dothelokimotion - 2022-01-24 12:46 (UTC) - Expand

threeterparker - 2022-01-24 12:48 (UTC) - Expand

dothelokimotion - 2022-01-24 12:56 (UTC) - Expand

threeterparker - 2022-01-24 12:58 (UTC) - Expand

dothelokimotion - 2022-01-25 00:55 (UTC) - Expand

threeterparker - 2022-01-25 17:34 (UTC) - Expand

dothelokimotion - 2022-01-26 00:17 (UTC) - Expand

threeterparker - 2022-01-26 00:22 (UTC) - Expand

dothelokimotion - 2022-01-26 00:25 (UTC) - Expand

threeterparker - 2022-01-26 00:30 (UTC) - Expand

dothelokimotion - 2022-01-26 00:36 (UTC) - Expand

threeterparker - 2022-01-26 00:42 (UTC) - Expand

dothelokimotion - 2022-01-26 00:46 (UTC) - Expand

threeterparker - 2022-01-26 00:55 (UTC) - Expand

dothelokimotion - 2022-01-26 00:56 (UTC) - Expand

threeterparker - 2022-01-26 00:58 (UTC) - Expand

dothelokimotion - 2022-01-26 01:01 (UTC) - Expand

threeterparker - 2022-01-26 01:05 (UTC) - Expand

dothelokimotion - 2022-01-26 01:07 (UTC) - Expand

threeterparker - 2022-01-26 01:10 (UTC) - Expand

dothelokimotion - 2022-01-26 01:16 (UTC) - Expand

threeterparker - 2022-01-26 01:22 (UTC) - Expand