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

[Anna, or "Obstacle," raises her axe and scans the cave.]

We've got to see what she can do. You fan out! Surround her!

[And with that, she moves forward and charges at Rei.]

With Obstacle charging in, Rei lifts her sword to defend herself – but just as she does so, one of La Luna's summons hits her for a glancing blow and it throws off her aim. With her sword off-kilter, Obstacle strikes Rei, dealing the first blow.

Gasping in surprise, Rei rallies herself and swings her blade to knock Obstacle away. The hit connects but just barely and knocks Obstacle's axe aside.

[He had no issue going with Obstacle's 'plan', taking off to the side and as soon as blows start being exchanged he summons his own weapon- a massive bone lance, and with a feral smirk jumps and launches it at Rei like a javelin.

Thanks to his super strength it sure is coming in fast and hot and is likely to cause some spread damage even if he misses.

Uh, sorry Obstacle hope you see it coming and move. F]

[Annnnnnnnd there they go. La Luna keeps her distance, taking off to the other side as she coils her whip taunt - her summons rear back, before flying back in, still intending to be a general pain. But considering their squishyness, they'll be poofing away after this attempt.

Since Lion is launching his weapon, she decides to try to give it a better chance of hitting and give Obstacle a chance to ollie out - lashing out her whip to try to bind Rei in place. Pls don't maul each other guys -]

[Obstacle seethes and moves to retrieve her axe, thankfully managing to dodge Lion. She isn't striking at Rei this turn, but she does seem to be setting up a spell -- and indeed fire appears in the air behind Rei, not doing much of anything. Wait, is it there to try and evaporate some of the water?

Though the battle is rapidly turning into a bit of a clusterfuck, Rei has enough presence of mind to keep her sword at the ready, and with Obstacle no longer in her face she can lash out to knock La Luna's whip aside. Thanks to that, she's able to avoid taking Lion's attack directly, but she does take a glancing blow from the spread damage.

Growing obviously frustrated with being crowded, Rei thrusts her sword down into the water and a barrage of razor-sharp ice crystals come shooting out of the water in all directions. Obstacle avoids the hit thanks to her fire, but Lion and La Luna both take glancing blows.

[He snarls, taking the attack with a hiss- with his limited depth perception and range of sight his ability to dodge is generally not great. But he can still guess at what Obstacle is planning.

So he will give her cover and keep Rei focused on him and depend on La Luna to give him cover. So with a bellow he grabs the shards of ice, snapping them off in his bare hands (and not caring if they tear into his palms cuz yolo) charging into melee range with Rei, swinging her own attack back into her face to try and give himself a chance to snap up his weapon and continue the pressure.]

[The hit gets a wince and a stumble, but as always La Luna remains stone-faced and eerily calm - taking note of what Obstacle is up to. At least one of them has some sort of elemental spell...

And is Lion... attacking Rei with her own ice shards, yep he is. But she'll add on the pressure too, sharply pulling her whip back and using the momentum to strike out at Rei, aiming for her sword arm. Wanting to try to grant Lion enough time to snap up his weapon, especially since she can't resummon her shadow goons just yet for distractions.]

[Obstacle keeps the flame going, all the while moving back towards Rei to strike with her axe again.]

You can't dodge all of us, can you?

Rei's small and that means she's quick but even she's pressed to keep three Executors off her back. She swings her sword and is able to knock Lion's attack aside just barely but she gives him the window of opportunity to reclaim his weapon.

The distraction is enough, however, to allow both Obstacle and La Luna to land their blows which knocks Rei to the ground and sends her sword flying.

For a moment it looks as though she might be down for the count, but then–

"That's enough!"
With a splash, Rei slams both of her hands into the water and a wall of razor sharp ice spikes burst out of the lake surrounding her. The intended attack misses La Luna and Lion but deals glancing damage on Obstacle and tosses all three Executors back.

In the commotion, Rei regains her weapon and climbs back to her feet.

Edited 2020-07-04 16:46 (UTC)

[When Rei fell he couldn't stop a sharp smirk from crossing his face, thinking they had the advantage- but that damned ice keeps coming to her aid and with a curse, he rolls back to his feet- at least he got his weapon back.

He's not sure how far along Obstacle is on her plan, but if she keeps getting tossed around it would only take longer. So he looks to La Luna:]

We have to remove her from the water!

[He spins his lance and with all his strength swings it at the spikes, intending to mow them down like a reaper to wheat- intending to give the girls a clear shot at her]

[La Luna winces again as she's knocked back, pushing herself back onto her feet quickly - steadying her footing, before her attention turns to Lion. Coiling her whip tight in her hands once more, hissing out a sigh as she readies herself.]

Easier said than done, but lets try.

[First, it's getting to Rei. As Lion mows the spikes down, La Luna twists her wrist and lashes her whip - intending to grab Rei and pull. Even just to get her off balance for a moment, hoping that Obstacle has enough time to finish her plan.]

[Obstacle flies back, but manages to land on her feet and keep a grip on her axe. She stays in a defensive position, holding it forward.]

You think you can do what you like!?

[And with that, the flames she cast flare out around the cave arena, easy enough to dodge but still numerous enough to cause a hazard.]

Lion's lance smashes clean through the ice, both throwing her off balance and giving the other Executors a clean shot at her. Thanks to that, La Luna's attack strikes home and Rei is yanked almost completely off her feet by the whip.

With Rei off-balance, she's completely unprepared for Obstacle's attack – it's a direct hit! Rei cries out in shock, but whatever else she has to say is lost in the roar of flames.

... And that's a wrap! The Executors have managed to land a total of five or more blows on Rei which means that thanks to the real super power of teamwork, the Executors have won their first combat test!

"I can't believe I lost so easily..."
Executors have the option now of going for a second round and experimenting with the system some more, or retiring here and waiting for the formal writeup on Plurk.

Thank you so much for your participation!

CAN CRY: FIRST TEST DRIVE

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