TEST DRIVE #2

[thecrossingmods]

TDM #2

Welcome to The Desert, wayward souls.
It's good to see you again.

The TDM is game canon and will be active FEB—APR. For further details about the setting, please reference our current setting page. All the information there is fair game for this TDM.

arrival

— BENEATH THE RIVER ( NEW CHARACTERS ONLY )
CW: claustrophobia, being buried alive
If your journey is starting here, you begin as all others have, and all others will: in The River.

You awake in the dark and the damp, with pressure all around you. In this case, however, it isn't water that surrounds you— but earth. Specifically, it is mud made from the sand of the desert and the standing water of the sparkling white salt flat that The River has become, and it behaves like quicksand. It has you here, and it doesn't want to let go.

You aren't in any direct danger; you may or may not notice that you don't need to breathe down here (or at all). But that may be difficult to appreciate in the moment: immediately on waking, you are seized by what was perhaps your last memory— or, at least, the somatic feeling of it. Panic, terror, pain; or (depending on the circumstances) maybe peace, or relief. It is the moment of your death as told by your body's visceral, emotional response, and it won't stop until you pull yourself out of the mud.

You are close to the surface. Even a bit of lucky thrashing might be enough for you to break through the sludge, and crack the shell of salt above. But The River will not release you easily; it will continue to suck you back down until you are able to fully pry yourself free— or someone else is able to lend you a hand.

— BEYOND THE RIVER ( EXISTING CHARACTERS ONLY )
If you arrived here from the Cavern, you'll find that the cave you came from opens up onto a rocky cliff face, not unlike the one you may have found yourself settled in before The Crossing. From here you can see the sprawl of the Desert ahead of you: the Oasis tucked against the base of the cliffs, the endless dunes, and the wide, white expanse of The River — though it hardly looks like one now.

There is no city to be found among these cliffs, though. They are steep and rocky, with dry, loose sand making finding and keeping traction difficult. There is a narrow, winding path to the Oasis below, but it will take time to hike, and the sun is already hot and oppressive above you.

Theoretically, there's a more direct route... if you're feeling bold. The cliffs are covered in jutting striations (as if, say, carved by a massive river, or maybe a River) that make halfway decent handholds and footholds for anyone hoping to climb their way down instead.

Just don't change your mind too much. If you turn back, you may find that the path behind has become impassable or now leads somewhere else entirely. You don't ever see it happening, but it's almost as if the cliffs are rearranging themselves whenever your back is turned.

shelter from the storm

— THE OASIS
The Oasis, as well as the rest of the surrounding Desert, is bustling with life. (Or do plants and animals have a Journey they need to complete, too?) It's a green, if not lush, patch surrounding a small lake of fresh water, partially shielded by the arms of the cliffs from the winds blowing across the dunes.

There are creatures besides you making their homes here: from small, skittering mammals to circling scavengers. If you look closely, though, you'll find it's a bit of a mishmash, as if an ecosystem appeared rather than developed... and, depending on where you're from, some of it might even be recognizable to you.

Those of you that came from the Cavern might appreciate the return of natural light, though you might be disappointed to discover that day and night don't always arrive at the cadences you might expect them to... In fact, they don't seem to follow any recognizable or even trackable pattern at all. Some noon suns stretch on forever; some sunsets speed run straight into dry, cold night.

If that were all the unpredictability the Desert had to offer, it might be tolerable enough... but the weather proves to be just as erratic. One day is clear and bright, with wide-open skies; the next brings dust clouds and lightning storms rolling in from the dunes. (And when today might be half as long as yesterday, those swings add up.)

Luckily for all of you, there have evidently been others here before you, just like in the Cavern. There is a collection of shelters lining the Oasis, no more than huts designed to keep everyone within as cool as possible. There's less space than there was in the Subterranean City, but that means some things are easier to find... The huts are decorated just like the city was before it, as if in layers with the odd familiar trinket from your home stashed in a drawer or under a mattress.

shifting sands

— THE DUNES
The Ferryman is holding vigil at The River, as they always are. They have positioned themselves (and their Lantern) so that their Light casts over the Oasis— but that aura can only cast so far.

The Lantern's Light might not be quite so obvious here as it was down in the Cavern, drowned out as it is by the desert sun, but you can still feel when you approach the edge of its protection, the way the sense of comfort and safety wanes. Beyond it are the rolling dunes of the Desert, where wraiths gather in great numbers.

Those who have been paying close attention will recognize that these are not the same wraiths you encountered in the Cavern. Or, at least, none of the wraiths you encountered in the Cavern are represented here.

These wraiths are not the violent, wailing beasts encountered by some during The Crossing. They are just the same as the wraiths originally found in the Cavern: silent, insubstantial, and always watching. The ones who have found the Oasis prowl the edge of the boundary; the others wander the dunes as if lost. Or, perhaps, searching.

If you, yourself, wander the dunes, you'll find them at best difficult to navigate— or, at worst, impossible. You may be swallowed by a sand storm, or lose sight of your landmarks when descending into a valley between the dunes. You might find yourself somewhere you never expected to be... Or, you might just need to send a message out to the others for help finding your way home.

code

Comments

[blindluck]

I'm from a different Earth, actually. [He can provide that much direct clarification as to the world situation he's talking about.] But even if you've only been unsealed for three months, it should be easy to tell the difference. Was the sky polluted and red? Of course, there are some places where it's starting to turn blue again, so how about the cities? Are they mostly rubble? It would be hard to miss the aftereffects of The Biggest, Most Awful, Most Tragic Event in Human History.

[He'll address the cyborg thing later.]

[spaghettimonster]

[The ruined alternate world backstory, well, a skeleton's poker face can be pretty good without all those pesky muscles to give micro-expressions. But in another feat of not being a human skeleton, his eyebrows rise with each additional (clearly capitalized) adjective of The Event.]

That sounds unspeakably bad. At least a factor of three in badness. I suppose you might be onto something after all! The sky was only red around sunrise and sunset, and only polluted near pollution factories... And the cities I visited were not so rubbly.

[Not that he visited many personally, but with modern advancements in computing technology there'd been a lot of video calls and live rivers and other photographic evidences of more of the surface. Some rubble, yes, but nothing so superlative inspiring.]

[blindluck]

[Nagito looks more satisfied now, and less condescending.] There, you understand now, right? If you want to be useful to the group, it's important that everybody is on the same page about these things.

[Nobody has assigned Nagito the role of making sure people are useful, but nobody has to.]

[spaghettimonster]

'Useful' to the group...

[Rather than respond to the claims that he understands now, the skeleton looks back down at himself, where the drying mud is starting to flake off, but not so much so that the weight of it isn't clearly showcasing that rip in his shirt. Somehow his battle body is damaged, but his bones behind it... no sign of injury. And yet, checking his neck again - yes, that seems scarred.]

So we are dead. But... there's things... we need to work together, to do?

[blindluck]

We all have to do something called the Crossing, where we travel to other locations. When I arrived, we were in some caverns, not a desert. [Nagito seems to have settled down for now.] We're all traveling together, and learning about this afterlife, so we should all work together, right?

Papyrus used Passive Aggressive Friendship Quest?

[spaghettimonster]

So we should! Especially in the face of such mysterious travel-based mysteries...

[Given how enthusiastically this Earthen alien cyborg wanted to play conversational one-upskeletonship about who knows what and how most tragic their respective homes are, the skeleton can't quite tell if this is a gambit for showing off some more.

How would teamwork be needed for mystery solving, when people could walk around looking, touching, and tasting their environments to learn from them? Maybe it's 'help' more in the form of social encouragement, nudges to keep going, like he's done with Sans for years... Or, more difficulties like that clinging mud and the lingering shock of death? (Easier to think of the quicksand than the question of whether he's left his dust for his brother to find. Easier to find something else to focus on.)]

I'm so glad you're recognizing the powers of friendship, and teamwork!

[Not that he said anything about them being friends, just to 'work together', but the simplest way for - the skeleton - to win any incoming conversational gambits is to befriend each other and render such competitions nearly moot.]

[blindluck]

You don't think that sounds cheesy? [Nagito doesn't sound like he's admonishing the skeleton again; rather, he's used to people rolling their eyes at him whenever he says something like that, and isn't really used to hearing it from someone else. Of course, he's not going to make any presumptions about friendship.] But yes, teamwork is the goal. There's too much space for any one person to cover, and the Crossings can be--kind of stressful on your own.

[spaghettimonster]

Only the type of cheese that's good for you, having calcium in it. [There's still enough mud on the skeleton that it might be unclear he's clad in a makeshift superhero costume of sorts, with a logo on the chest and a capelet scarf and everything. His face is better cleaned off, and gives no sign that cheesiness bothers him, at least in the context of 'friendship and teamwork' - he does briefly look surprised and accomplished, like he's winning a conversational gambit of his own already.]

But, space to cover... Don't tell me, are we searching this entire place for, uh, people like us? [Waking in the dirt, or river, or whatever else is past the cliffs... Actually, doing a slow spin to take in the sights of the landscape gives him pause. The horizon is too low, even for the surface. The lands by the underground - by Mount Ebott, another name he remembers easily - had been hillier than this.]

[blindluck]

Finding people like us isn't a problem--everyone comes out of the River. [Of course, the River is a salt flat right now, unfortunately.] And we're all staying in the oasis, so it shouldn't take you long to meet the others. Of course, I don't know how they'll react to a skeleton... [Maybe some of them expect that sort of thing, though.] We're looking for anything that tells us more about our situation and the people who might have been here before us. You can find a lot of odds and ends just looking around!

[spaghettimonster]

[The skeleton gives that re-congealing hole in the salt-encrusted mud he was pulled from a skeptical look, like he's unsure everyone in the River is actually getting out without the help of a search party. He had to bolster himself to keep going a few times, and he knows there's monsters out there who need even more bolstering than him. Sure, he would have gotten out without the helping hand eventually, but would everyone...?

But even through the unpleasant mental image - of someone like Sans or Dr. Alphys choosing to languish in the mud - he doesn't miss everything the cyborg alien(?) says. He's happy to drop it, in favor of the notion of the mysteries of the afterlife.]

I'm... sure I can do a calm and reasonable introduction with everyone, no matter how they react. [Time as ambassador has at least somewhat practiced him in it.] But what's this about, our situation? This afterlife travel troupe... is also a scavenger hunt?

[blindluck]

Well, I prefer the term investigation, but I suppose scavenger hunt isn't that far off... [Nagito did spend a significant amount of time carrying around a lot of miscellaneous paperwork until Sunny got a backpack to put it in.] We've only really just started, so there are a lot more questions than answers. We don't know where we're going, exactly, and some of the groups that went through before us might not be gone. Ferryman-san doesn't seem to answer questions directly, and of course there's the matter of how many memories we might have to give up.

[There are so many questions! Nagito doesn't seem to emphasize any of them in particular, no matter how alarming some of those things may be in comparison to others.]

[spaghettimonster]

...Memories.

[Oh, there were other little correctiony conversational turns and details about the whole situation that he'll need to think about and learn about soon, probably. But one detail in particular stands out, draws... the skeleton's full attention.]

[blindluck]

Oh, yes! [Nagito says, smiling as if this wasn't a potential issue.] We go from place to place, and you can travel with or without Ferryman-san. To travel with them, you have to give up a memory, but nothing can attack you. You can go without them, too, but if you get attacked, you'll lose memories anyway. At least, that's what we know about the process so far.

[spaghettimonster]

[Even more details that carry even more concerning questionings, like that aside about whether things would be attacking them, well worth getting back to - but the skeleton remains focused on the big question that's been haunting him since the mud.]

And... do we... start with all our memories?

[blindluck]

[Nagito's gaze sharpens.] I want to say yes, but that's a pretty pointed question. Did you forget something already?

you ever get a couple days into a TDM and go "boy I sure hope I remembered the premise right" ?

[spaghettimonster]

[He doesn't wince at that sharp gaze, too used to dealing with sudden interrogative stares from others, but his face does go a little more skeletal blank.] I'm sure I've forgotten loads of things. My first steps... my first word... My first disliked food...

nagito just doesn't know about the first tolls yet you're safe

[blindluck]

[Nagito sighs. The condescension is back in an instant.] Something you expect to remember, I mean.

maybe they can both learn things together, and feel that human emotion of friendship =]

[spaghettimonster]

[The blankness cracks a little, with something a little annoyed, a little bleak with worry, and something that teeters on denial in the cracks.]

Glad we're asking the questions we mean, now. For expected rememberings... It could just be shock. I've been through something stressful very recently, I hear shock happens in cases like that.

[It could just be shock. He hasn't had the time to sit and go through a listing of everyone he knows, or all his personal history. Not in full enough detail to know if there's any other gaps. He hasn't had very long to recuperate from the shock of dying, not with not-drowning in mud for however long, and then going directly into a conversation. It's just... his own name is a really notable gap. And he doesn't want to just admit it, if there's any chance they're mistaken and it'll come back as he recovers.]

sounds fake

[blindluck]

I suppose that's true. [Between however the skeleton died and having to dig his way out of a mud pit, that would put anyone on the back foot. Of course, the last time he'd met someone who thought they lost their memory out of shock, it had been--significantly more complicated.

But that doesn't mean that's the situation here, necessarily.]

Well, then you should probably get cleaned up. You'll feel more like yourself when you're not covered in all that mud, I'm sure. [At least, Nagito certainly would.] There's a lake in the oasis you can use.

[spaghettimonster]

Yes, I'm sure you're right about that! A good shower, or oasis lake bath, could surely only help out here. [A good step to feeling more like himself... whoever 'himself' might be.

...Which is an absurd and melodramatic thought, of course he knows who himself is! The Great -- Skeleton! Almost a member of the Royal Guard, now the even more prestigious Ambassador of monsterkind. Brother of Sans, who everyone knows, friend and sorta mentee of Undyne, friend-of-friend with Doctor Alphys, and her former-majesty Toriel, and Flowey, and Frisk - even with a little surprise murdering at the end there. A very cool and artistic skeleton who knows the importance of self worth and talking yourself up to be the best you that you can be and then some! He knows himself!!! Even with that one little (big) piece missing.... For now. Until he's asked to give up something else...

He shivers, the mud only partially muffling the rattle of the motion, and makes a throat-clearing noise, ready to get a move on away from here and these thoughts.] A-Anyway! This 'Oasis'... I've never seen one myself, but if I remember right... Those are lakes with trees and plants around, aren't they?

[blindluck]

Right. And it's the place in the desert you're least likely to get lost! [That might just be an issue for Nagito, who has wandered into the dunes multiple times.] There are shelters there, as well, though you might have to share.

[spaghettimonster]

I... hadn't considered the need for shelter or not getting lost, yet. I suppose the mud here is a bit of an environmental hazard... Are there, uh, other concerns? Besides the 'investigation.'

[He can offer the maybe-alien's preferred phrasing for it, rather than scavenger hunt, in the search for context here.]

[blindluck]

It's very easy to get turned around in the desert! [Nagito states this like it's some sort of fun fact.] And, ah, the sky doesn't exactly behave here. Day and night go by much more quickly than they should, and sometimes at different rates. So it can be a little confusing.

[spaghettimonster]

And when the dance of celestial objects was already a bit confusing... Looking to the 'sun' to decide when it's day, or night. [The skeleton shakes his head, pronouncing the word 'sun' like he's heard it in passing a few times, but not had much pressing need to refer to it before.] A warning well-given, and received. Especially since, I seem to have misplaced my phone when I died...

[He checks a few places across his outfit, including tucked in his scarf-capelet or up inside his shirt, to no avail. That's a shame. Some form of identification probably would have had his name, and with it surely sparked recollection.]

[blindluck]

That happens to everyone. Not just your phone, but everything you might have been carrying. Except for your clothes, luckily! [Nagito still hasn't seen anyone show up naked.] Which means you'll need towels. I've found some I can let you borrow. Don't worry, I'm good at cleaning.