Test-Drive Meme - February

[thewatchers]

TEST DRIVE MEME
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With Winter Quarter in full swing, students can often be found dashing madly about the halls, with part-time jobs, classes, and other events and interests occupying much of their time.

Of course, that doesn't mean it's all work. Daybreak Academy tries to offer its students an abundance of leisure time to relax and unwind. With Valentine's Day fast approaching, romance is in the air as news of the Feast of St. Valentine and the Valentine's Ball begin to spread around campus. Already, talks of fashion and finding the right date are buzzing among the student body. With the winter months winding down, the oppressive chill of Winter is starting to loosen its grip, but there's still plenty of snow left for those who want to take one last run at Daybreak's slopes. As midterms approach, the school is as vibrant and busy as ever.

[All threads in this meme may be treated as canon should all involved characters are currently played or accepted into the game. You may use threads within the Test Drive Meme for Activity, even if the person you are threading with does not ultimately app. Current characters are welcome and encouraged to top-level on these prompts, as well as tag around normally.]


A. SECOND-HAND MARKET

Daybreak Academy has existed for several centuries. Throughout all that time, its ethos has been that of honing the abilities of deserving students, no matter what their birthright or social standing. Even still, the lavish galas befitting the riches of the school continued to have an impact, as poorer students unable to acquire proper attire were often locked out. To remedy this, Daybreak Academy began a tradition that it has upheld ever since - the Second-Hand Market. Hosted in an ever-expanding number of classrooms, the Second-Hand Market brings out all of the clothing, weapons, and other items that have been acquired, resold, or otherwise donated to the academy throughout its lifespan.

Here, any students and faculty can acquire any number of items, such as formal wear, weaponry, and other items for a fraction of the price. Most items are in decent condition, although there are some old items in disrepair that are even cheaper. They can come from just about anywhere in the world and just about any era, and you are able to exchange equivalent items, weapons and armor in both magical and mundane varieties, and formal clothing. Especially among richer students, the tradition is to donate any new clothing or items you commission for social events once the event is complete, to keep the stock current and available for the students who might need it.

With the upcoming ball, the Second-Hand Market is once again open for the first half of February. Staffed completely by students, it is frequently bustling with customers, many of whom not only buy outfits or weapons for the upcoming dance, but also spares they can use for their own projects.

B. LAST CHANCE ON THE SLOPES

With the Winter season winding down, the Arctic Slopes are entering their final months of operation for the season. For those hoping to get some skiing or snowboarding in, now will be the last chance for quite some time. As such, the lodge is full of students trying to take advantage of the last chance on the slopes. Winter has lingered this year, and the snow pack is still dense, making it perfect for one last hurrah. With the rush of students and faculty alike, the lodge is stocked with warm meals and hot chocolate to fill people's bellies after a long day on the slopes.

C. ALCHEMY MISHAP

Accidents happen, especially when you’re playing with the very essence of matter - and one just happened in the Alchemy student lab, causing a cloud of pale smoke to float all over campus. Thankfully it won’t turn anyone into a toad or kill someone.

But it does strange things to one’s vocal chords when inhaled, and unlike Helium it isn’t a one-trick pony, voices raise and lower in pitch, foreign accents, even completely different languages may start coming out of person’s mouth while they’re within in the cloud. Though that bit of an echo effect does sound pretty cool.

D. IRIS NETWORK


[Great Beast Voting]

Greetings, staff and students of Daybreak Academy!

Today, we are gathering data for a survey about the most popular great beasts. Please pick from the options below to help us gather results for our work.

What is your favourite Great Beast? Please pick from the list below.
1. Gryphon
2. Dragon
3. Chimera
4. Kirin
5. Barghest
6. Pegasus
7. Sphinx
8. Kraken


Thank you for your participation and assistance. We eagerly await your response!

[ Naturally, the results are public, with the aims of encouraging further discussion. ]

code bases by tricklet

Comments

The Second Hand Market

[nonomiya]

Chikage has no need for stuffed animals on the whole; she generally spends her money on more practical things like weapons and artifacts. She is also, however, a fourteen year old girl and sometimes an item is just too cute to pass up. Stepping up beside Jade, she picks up a worn looking rabbit with one blue button eye and threads hanging from its once-triangle nose. It was a project, and she liked those.

"What do you think of this one?"

[atomicultimatum]

Jade thinks that the rabbit is absolutely adorable.

"Very cute, well loved by whoever had it last." She says with a nod of her head, picking out one herself that looked like a white dog, yet when she squeezed it around the middle it barked. While the toy itself looked to be in good condition, the bark itself was... rough, softer than it should be.

She squeezed it again.

[nonomiya]

Chikage nods in agreement. She gently cradles the rabbit in the crook of her arm. One superfluous purchase can't hurt. When Jade picks up the adorable dog, its bark is quiet and sounds almost forlorn to Chikage.

"I could fix that for you, if you wanted."

She's quite good with mechanical things.

"Maybe throw in an extra little compartment near the batteries too, for keeping a stash of small scrolls of rune spells for a rainy day."

[atomicultimatum]

"You would do that?" Seriously? "Um..." She makes sure to buy the dog first and then check how much she still has. She... isn't quite sure if it's a lot or not, still. "What do you want? For doing that?"

[nonomiya]

"Of course. A girl can never be too prepared. It's no trouble."

She pays for her rabbit as well before addressing Jade's second question.

"Nothing at all. I don't charge for things like that. It's more of a hobby for me. I only take payment for commissioning weapons, and honestly, even then it's usually a sum of material costs."

[atomicultimatum]

"Oh." Well, this was different.

"Should I give him to you now?" Oh look, she's already given the toy a gender.

[nonomiya]

"No rush. I'm in [insert dorm room]. You can bring him by at your leisure."

She places her rabbit, whom she has already named Mathilda, in her bag. She's not particularly good at making new friends, so she wants this to go a little less business-like.

"I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Chikage. I've been here for three years. Are you new?"

That wasn't much different in tone, unfortunately.

[atomicultimatum]

"Yeah!" Jade has no professionalism bone in her body so they should balance out, maybe, "Well, sort of. I've been here a couple moons- months now but I've been busy."

"And I'm Jade." She adds as she sort of half hugs half cradles the stuffed dog to her chest like its the most precious thing ever. She thinks she might call him Becquerel.

[nonomiya]

"It's very nice to meet you, Jade."

Her smile is genuine, if rare.

"Moons-months, you said? I'm unfamiliar with the term."

Thus, she was also curious about it.

[atomicultimatum]

"Oh. Ah, no sorry. I was correcting myself." Oops, "I... sometimes I use terms that confuse people, so I have to learn to use the correct ones."

[nonomiya]

"Oh, I see," she's a bit flustered at having not caught on that it was merely a slip.

She looks away for a moment to compose herself, before turning back to Jade.

"Are you adequately prepared for the ball? I have plenty of anti-daemon spray you're welcome to stock up on. It also affects vampires."

[atomicultimatum]

“I don’t have any but. Maybe I could have one? Or two?” Jade is more embarrassed from having made the slip in the first place. It’s fine though. Maybe. She doesn’t do it often enough, she thinks, now that’s it’s a problem. Or maybe she does but no one has said anything. Oh well. That’ll be something for another time, probably.

[nonomiya]

Chikage fishes around in her bag, past her new dress and rabbit, and other items she's purchased at the market over the last hour. At the bottom of the bag, she has three small aerosol cans. She grabs one and pulls it out for Jade.

"I make it myself. My father's concoction, really. It only works to incapacitate daemons for a time, of course, it's not lethal."

She hands Jade the can. Her label is home-made and rustic, scrawled in fancy cursive. It reads 'Nonomiya's Patented Anti-Daemon Spray! A Quick Fix When You Need It!' in French. No one has ever accused Chikage of being witty.

"It works on vampires, too," she adds as an afterthought, recalling the moon comment, "but lycanthropes are safe. If you find it useful, I have larger cans in my room."

[atomicultimatum]

Jade takes the can and grins, "Thank you very much." She may or may not use it, but it's nice to have in her stash of things in her room, at least. Just in case the need ever comes up.