doingtheuglycry | CAN CRY: FIRST TEST DRIVE

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ They've been dealing with a swarm of chompy Revenants today, with bites just as nasty as their barks and though Rei's usually pretty good at not getting herself hurt in a fight (and uh, you'd hope so, considering she's supposed to be the one who knows what she's doing), she's taken a bite or two herself. Nothing exceptionally bad, but definitely worth healing up, so she heads on over to Ardyn. ]

Sorry to be such a bother... I don't usually get myself into trouble like this.

[ She's trying to play it cool, but she's obviously a little embarrassed. ]

That's quite all right, my dear. There are none of us perfect.

[He smiles, soft, small, and reaches out to her. When he lays hands on her, his brow furrows in concentration. Little by little, the bites heal themselves.]

There now--how does that feel?

[ Rei keeps herself still, not wanting to disturb his concentration. She's never actually seen healing down here in Limbo so she watches with open interest as her wound knits itself back together. When he's done, she takes a moment to stretch her arm out and confirm for herself – no pain, no mess. ]

Much better now, thank you. That's a really useful power to have when we're going up against Remnants – we're lucky to have you.

[It does tire him out--gives him some aches in the same places she was injured. But it wouldn't do to let that show, would it? People might suggest he not use the power granted to him... So he smiles again, with a little sigh to hide the twinge.]

I very much doubt luck has anything to do with it.

You do?

[ That apparently catches her off guard. And here Rei was willing to just take it at face value. ]

Well... what makes you think that?

Hm... It seems presumptuous to assume it is by luck and random chance that Executors such as ourselves have gathered here, in this place and this time.

[Fate? Destiny? Were these things he had believed in, before, to feel so certain that luck played little part in it?]

Really? I would've thought it'd be the other way around for something like that. Wouldn't it be more presumptions to assume you were important enough for fate to pay attention to you?

[ There's nothing argumentative in her tone, despite her words – rather, she sounds earnestly curious. ]

One does not seek out fate. It comes to thee, arriving on time, never in a hurry nor taking it too slowly.

I suppose at the end of the day it's a twist to an age-old question. Why me? Why any of us? Why you, for instance, rather than any of the other lost souls going about their li--their afterlives?

I really wish I knew. I wonder, sometimes, if maybe this was supposed to be someone else's job and we're just... the backups. Just substituting for the real thing until someone better comes along.

[ She can't decide if that sounds like a relief or not. ]

CAN CRY: FIRST TEST DRIVE

Underside

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