CAN CRY: FIRST TEST DRIVE

[cancrymods]

CAN CRY: INITIAL TDM

Welcome one and all to the very first test drive meme for Can Cry! If you're unfamiliar with the game, then you can check out the interest check, FAQ, world & setting info page and the powers and abilities page to get up to speed! Since the game is still very much under construction, this is just an initial test drive for people to dip their toes into the water and see which characters they'd like to consider for the game. In order to not spoil the opening of the game for players, the TDM is not canon to Can Cry and will take place in a slightly wonky little AU just over to the left. Characters have awoken in Purgatory after their deaths and been conscripted as Executors by Rei, the sole other Executor in Purgatory. The population of dangerous spirits has gotten out of control and she needs some allies to help her keep things under control. Characters 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!

LIMBO

Limbo is the Executor's main base of operations as it is the top level of Purgatory and the one most populated by non-violent spirits. Distorted by the cognition of all the human souls here, Limbo has taken on the form of a hazy, dream-like recollection of a town. It's full of winding paths that go up, down and all around and the geometries of the town and its surroundings don't always make much sense. Stairs might lead loop back around on themselves or a door to the outside might end up leading right back indoors. It's a bit of a headache, so it's usually best not to think about it too hard. The town is mostly functional, mostly thanks to all the human souls here. Players are free to invent any additions to the town that they would like for their threads, but here are some to get you started: ⚝ Conbini: A seemingly normal Japanese convenience store, full of the sort of fare you'd expect from a cheap 24-7 convenience store. There's only four aisles and everything's a bit clustered together, but it's not overly claustrophobic. Things start getting a bit weird when you try and go to the back of the store, though – no matter how long you look, there is always just one more aisle for you to browse and the further back you go, the stranger and more abstract the items on the shelf will look. If you walk too far or turn around you will suddenly find yourself back at the first aisle in the blink of an eye as if you were rubberbanded back there. ⚝ Hotel: A so-called luxury hotel that towers over the rest of the buildings in the area. Even if you don't have a reservation, all you have to do is approach the desk and the Spectre there will apparently recognize you and hand over a key to one of the rooms. Except... you can't quite read the number? It seems to fluctuate whenever you try. Not that it matters, because the key will open any of the hundreds of doors in the building, though no one door will ever open onto the same room twice. The layout of each room is subtly off in a number of ways, with the dimensions of the room not seeming quite right no matter how you try to work it out. The decor is luxurious through and the extravagant room service is free, so it's a nice place to relax. Be warned, though – if you misplace your key, you'll find yourself lost in the mazelike halls until you eventually stumble out into the reception with no way of knowing how you got there. ⚝ Bathhouse: An enormous Grecio-Roman styled bathhouse for you to relax in after a hard day's work of dealing with Revenants. There don't seem to be any workers here that you can see, so feel free to let yourself in and make yourself at home. Interestingly, even without anyone around, you'll find the water is always adjusted to a temperature and a fragrance that's most appealing to you and drinks, towels and anything else you need will appear within reach by the side of the baths whenever it occurs to you that you might need it. When in doubt: Just get weird with it!

QUESTS

Since it's up to Executors to maintain order in Purgatory, this also means they need to resolve any issues that crop up for the Spectres occupying it. You can come up with any sort of quest you like, but here are some ideas to get you started: ⚝ A lost child will request your help in reuniting with their mother. It's a bit of a struggle for them to communicate with you as they are a freshly-awakened Spectre and it's also not entirely clear if their mother is, in fact, in Purgatory with them. Eventually, careful questioning of the child Spectre and some of the other Spectres around Limbo will lead you to a bookshop where mother and child will be reunited. Happy end! ⚝ Two Spectres are causing a ruckus in town with a screaming-in-each-other's-face tier argument. Calming them both down is going to be a task all on its own, but if you manage to, it turns out the first Spectre is missing a precious object and has accused the other of stealing it. The second Spectre insists the precious object never existed in the first place. Uh... good luck with this. ⚝ A uncommunicative and kind of creepy Spectre is accused by others in the town of being a Revenant in disguise after some of their neighbors disappear in the night. Investigate and uncover the truth! Feel free to NPC Spectres as you need for this TDM!

THE UNDERSIDE OF LIMBO

Though it's the most peaceful level of Purgatory, Limbo is not without its dangers. Directly below Limbo is what's known as the Underside, a darkness cast by the city above where Revenants and malicious spirits linger. It appears as a dark, mirror-reversed version of Limbo, though the geography is much more twisted and confusing. If left unchecked, Revenents from the Underside would attack the town and consume any number of Spectres. It's up to the Executors to head down there and see to them! This is a general prompt for combat-oriented testing, to allow characters to experiment with their new powers as Executors! Because of that, and because combat will function slightly differently in-game, this section is pretty loosey goosey. Like previous posts, you are free to invent locations and NPC Revenants to make things more fun and exciting! Because Revenants will function in a unique way in-game, players are encouraged to invent their own Revenants to fight for this TDM. If you would like some ideas for what sort of Revenants to battle, you can check out this video to see what sort of enemies exist in the original game, but beware that it does contain spoilers for Crystar.

Comments

cardia beckford | code:realize | sloth, envy, lust

[alcahest]

I. LIMBO: CONBINI

[ Cardia is something of an oddity. she will always strike other people as slightly unnatural; her face is perfectly symmetrical, and with her often blank expression, she somehow looks more like a doll than a real human being. it can be surprising to see her move because she looks so doll-like. so seeing her wander around the conbini, it's hard to figure out what exactly she's doing or if you should approach her.

eventually, she picks up a bag of chips, and puts it back down with a despondent sigh. ]

None of this seems familiar...

II. QUESTS: LOST CHILD

[ the child Spectre takes a long time to communicate even the basics of their situation, but Cardia stays still, crouched down to their height, and listens patiently until it finally becomes clear that they're looking for their mother. and after several more pointed questions yield no further details from them, she decides that she'll just do things the long way.

when she stands up, the Spectre reaches for her hand, and she flinches away. her own reaction seems to surprise her. ]

Oh... I'm sorry. You can hold my hand if you'd like. [ she offers her hand with some hesitation and a very slight furrow to her brow. once they're hand-in-hand, she nods, determined. ] We'll just keep walking until we find her.

[ is that her entire plan??? ]

III. UNDERSIDE

[ she's not sure about fighting yet, so when a group of other Executors head to the Underside to trim back the Revenant population, Cardia tags along, but she doesn't head off into battle just yet. instead, she stays near the place where they entered, and she decides to practise where it's quiet. her Executor outfit is beautiful and elaborate, though it does make her look even more like a doll, as if someone else dressed her just to look at. similarly decorative-looking is the weapon she's holding: a lance shaped like the long hand of a clock, adorned with gears and other clockwork. it's all very steampunk.

she seems to be trying to figure out how best to wield the lance. there's the faintest hint of puzzlement on her otherwise blank face. ]

Hm... Maybe like this...? [ she turns the lance around to change her grip on its shaft — and only then notices she's swung this huge, sharp weapon around in close proximity to another person. you might have had to duck under it to keep yourself from being clobbered. ] —Oh, I'm sorry!

IV. WILDCARD

[ anything else! feel free to pick a different setting prompt and throw something at me. ]

I

[guffawsungraciously]

[...finally, someone else says it, what the hell is with these weird shiny bags. though, like, even aside from that.]

I can't tell if they're supposed to be or if they're some sort of absurd art piece.

[he holds up a bag of Depression-Flavored Cheety-Os.]

[alcahest]

[ she smiles at that, though it's a subtle change in expression. ]

I think it would be even stranger as art than it is as food. [ she considers the name, and then suggests, hesitantly: ] Should we try it...?

[guffawsungraciously]

Oh, absolutely. But, even so...

[He ponders the bag critically for a moment before shrugging.]

Well, I doubt this specific thing will make us any deader. Why not give it a go?

[He tears the top open and looks inside. They’re sort of wiggly, crunchy looking circles with holes in the middle. The color is hard to pin down, but it could perhaps be described as sadness.]

...hm.

iii

[emberserker]

Watch where you're going!

[Anna's got a polearm herself, holding a tall halberd with a grimace.]

You're going to end up impaling the wrong person.