TDM #1

[beautifuldreamermods]

TDM #1

Welcome one and all to the very first test drive meme for Beautiful Dreamer! If you're unfamiliar with the game, then you can check out the navigation to get yourself up to speed on all the relevant info pages then check out the AU Planning meme to see what juicy ideas your fellow players are cooking up!

In order to not spoil the opening of the game for players, the overall TDM is not canon to Beautiful Dreamer though players are free to treat individual CR/threads on this post as canon to their characters if both players are happy to do so.

Dreamers on the TDM will have access to all of their starter powers as outlined on the powers page as well as two unique abiliites to play around with as you please.

Some prompts and location details have been provided below for you to play around with but please feel free to go hog wild and have fun!

YUMEMIGAOKA

It's a busy day just like any other in a town as big and bustling as Yumemigaoka. With the last days of winter finally at everyone's backs, spring has begun blooming in earnest and the cheery seasonal energy is pretty infectious. A number of events are taking place around the city, so why not take the time to look around and have fun?



⧖ The Tsubaki Department Store is beginning to hype up their upcoming Golden Week extravaganza with a number of small sales and promotions. Maybe this year you'll finally be able to snag that air fryer you've been eyeing?!

⧖ It's cherry blossom viewing season! Hina Flower Gardens are holding a free event with a number of special seasonal goodies and some absolutely beautiful scenery to take in.

⧖ Moon Bunny Market are organising a stamp rally all around the neighborhood, with prizes on the line if you manage to collect them all. Just find the right stalls and speak to the right people and you could win a tasty prize!

Of course, life doesn't grind to a halt just because it's nice and sunny outside. Now the city is getting busier and more touristy, the folks who keep things running are starting to get some pressure put on them! And if you happen to be a student, end of term exams are starting to loom on the horizon, with particular pressure put on those just about to graduate their respective schools... Not to mention with spring coming around, allergies are running riot!

Let's just hope you're not feeling too stressed. After all, with all this energy running rampant and regular life starting to really push down on everyone, who knows what those negative feelings could spawn...?!

THE DREAM SPHERE

The Dream Sphere might be a very different kind of place to Yumemigaoka but that doesn't mean it's any less busy. Spring has sprung over on this side, too, with iridescent flowers and colorful trees growing right out of the streets and buildings all over the Slumbering City and the sky above turning a particularly pretty shade of pale pink to match.

That makes it especially bizarre that it appears to be snowing all over the Dream Sphere, no matter where you go but on closer inspection this snow is actually cherry blossom petals raining endlessly down from the sky. How pretty! Of course, for those of you with allergies, maybe it's just rubbing salt on the wound. Your nose isn't itching, is it? Achoo!

Pretty or not though, if you're on this side then you've got work to do! With the Waking World starting to gear back up after winter, some of the associated stress is starting to funnel into the Dream Sphere and cause no small manner of trouble. Torments and Nightmares won't hunt themselves so be sure to properly scout out all the available locations of the Dream Sphere you can access just in case - maybe you'll find a new teammate to work with while you're out there!

In particular, it looks like trouble can be found...


⧖ In the Vale of Sorrow, it's still raining and pouring despite the change of season and that combined with the dusting of petals across everything has turned navigating the place into a real task, even for a fully prepared Dreamer. The ground is even more of a wet and soggy mulch than before and to make matters worse, a group of particularly nasty Torments are gathering and seem to be made out of bristling vines and piercing brambles... they're unusually quick and vicious even for Torments so you better act fast and deal with them ASAP!

⧖ In the Reverie Necropolis, the season of spring hardly seems to have touched the place. If the sky has changed at all, it's hidden behind the bone white clouds that hang low and every single petal that touches the ground immediately shrivels and dies once it lands. Once you actually enter the labyrinth, frantic whispers can be heard and the scratching of disembodied pencils scribbling over papers can be heard echoing up and down all the halls. The vibes are absolutely rancid, is what I'm saying – made even worse by the fact that when you stumble into one of the open caverns, you come across a Nightmare just about to manifest?! Better hope you're not alone, because you'll need some good strong teamwork to keep things from escalating any further!

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Comments

[discretion]

[It seems as though there are three of these quick-moving, brambling Torments still darting about. One dives at them, bouncing off the golden shield.]

--Thanks. I think I've got my wits about me now.

[He takes a breath, readying his sword.]

All the years of fencing lessons won't go to waste!

[darcangel]

[ He fences! They shall discuss that later. Right now they must keep these Torments from harming anyone. ]

That is the spirit. As long as you believe in yourself and act sensibly, there is no enemy you cannot defeat.

[ She hefts her own sword. ] Come, let us go boldly!

[ CHARGE! ]

[discretion]

Right!

[Emboldened by her words, Franz jolts forward, slicing one of the Torments in half as it springs at them!]

[darcangel]

[ Oh, well done indeed! Dreamer La Pucelle will have to do her part, as well!

She plunges into the thick(et) of Torments, slashing and whacking. He might see some moves reminiscent of saber fights in fencing, though her sword is definitely on the...large side....for that....

.....No, that one feinted! ]

Behind you-!

[discretion]

[Franz barely clears a barb, and it slashes at him - leaving a bit of diaphanous fabric and feather from his hat in wake of the movement before he runs it through.]

Thanks!

[Wait. He didn't totally clear it. There's a cut on his cheek, bleeding.]

[darcangel]

[ No, it grazed him! La Pucelle is glad the damage was not worse, but if these Torments are so persistent, defeating them one at a time is not the soundest option. The best way to handle being outnumbered is - ]

Have you a wide-scale attack?

[ To try and clear out some more herself, she switches her grip to two-handed on the hilt, and the blade glows, sheathed in a golden light shaped like a cross. Which she then uses to mow down several Torments at a time, like she's wielding a holy claymore or something. ]

[discretion]

I'm not really sure, this is only my second time--

[He almost gets bowled over by one of the other Torments, managing to slash it through as he attempts to get away.]

I - I have to announce it or something, right? How's this work?

[darcangel]

If it is your finishing attack, you must. The words should well within your heart.

[ La Pucelle hits a few more out of the park, so to say. ]

For other attacks you need merely concentrate.

[discretion]

My - my heart? I don't know what you're talking abou--

[Franz fends off another attack with a swiping motion. He seems nervous, faltering.]

That - that sounds awfully - sparkly - and embarrassing!

[darcangel]

There is more shame in neglecting to fight.

[ She covers him with a golden shield while he gets his footing, physically and hopefully emotionally as well. She's got your back, buddy. ]

Now go! Go! Strike boldly!!

[ SHE BELIEVES IN YOU SO MUCH ]

[discretion]

Right -- right!

[Franz lifts his sword, and a wave of seafoam green swells behind him with foam like pearls. He cries out, loudly, a simple mantra:]

I HAVE TO DO THIS!

[The wave crests and crashes forward, nothing more than a fragrant mist around the Dreamers from the shield's protection, but rushing to sweep the last of the enemies away!

[darcangel]

[ La Pucelle waits until she's certain the danger has passed to react, or to drop her shield, but once she does she is walking up to the other Dreamer to clap him on the back of the shoulder. ]

You see? You were capable - and greatly so! That is a marvelous power.

[discretion]

[Dreamer Baron rubs the back of his neck, laughing.] Ah, yeah, that wasn't so bad... thank you for the help.

[darcangel]

The pleasure was mine.

[ La Pucelle tucks her sword beneath one arm and offers the other hand to shake. ]

I am Dreamer La Pucelle. Well met, sir!

[discretion]

[Franz gives a fairly firm, confident handshake back, though he nearly sinks into a bow behind that gesture. Dreamer La Pucelle has him raising an eyebrow.] And I am Dreamer Baron. Enchanté.

[darcangel]

[ Oh....Oh, could he ---

La Pucelle switches to French. ] Might you also speak French, monsieur? It is twice as good to meet you if so. It is my father's language, and I have very few chances to speak it.

[discretion]

[Franz immediately switches to French as well, smiling in light bemusement.] It's my native tongue, in fact. One might even scorn me by calling me Parisian. Though, ah - [He glances around.] I suppose it means very little, here of all places.

[darcangel]

Anything that matters to someone has meaning. If you love your city, then that is enough; and if you do not, then I shall love it for you, though I have only heard of it from family.

[ She's been to France, but the d'Arcs sort of kept to themselves. Biggest fish in a small pond and liked it that way. Whereas Jeannette had wanted to visit Notre-Dame so badly, and prayed very hard for it when it burned....She is following the reconstruction avidly. Such a beautiful, sacred space.

...And there is one more. beautiful thing. in Paris. That she cares for. ]

....May I ask one more question?

[discretion]

[Franz chuckles and says:] She has her good and bad days, the city. I can't say I mind being somewhere a little different, where everyone has different priorities.

[He tilts his head.] What is your question?

[darcangel]

....The Boulevard de...Saint-Germain.

[ She's uh. She's blushing, when she says the name. But she's looking at him with big, hopeful eyes. ]

Is it as marvelous as rumor has it.....?