TDM!

[medietas_mods]

T E S T   D R I V E   M E M E

Welcome to Medietas and our first ever Test Drive Meme! As we approach the grand opening of the game on April 1st, we thought we’d kick things off with a little something that will get you all interacting in the new setting! And it’s one less sample you have to worry about on your application if you’re considering our little game here.

You all know what to do but if you don’t, just follow the instructions and HAVE FUN!

How To Play:

→ Comment with the character you’d like to test drive. Don’t forget to add their name and canon in the subject line.
→ Choose a scenario, or start your own!
→ Tag around!


Possible Scenarios:

1. New Arrival: You’ve just arrived on the island of Medietas, in the city of Aerilon via a … floating boat, with people you may or may not know? You can’t help but ponder what’s going on here, but the vessel seems to be approaching a harbor and when it docks, some lovely locals are standing in wait to greet you. After that they hand you a map and communications device and invite you to find your accommodations and explore.

2. Party, party!: On the evening of your first night in the city, a party is being thrown on Aerilon in honor of your arrival. Eat, mingle, dance, meet the other new arrivals! The locals put on quite the celebration!

3. Go Exploring!: There's plenty of places to explore, be it in your designated housing area, or on one of the adjoining community islands! Hike the mountains in Eurus. Sit on the beaches of Imber with a cocktail, or go swimming. Adventure in the forests of Mundus. Be careful though! Every area has it's dangers.

4. The Bells Are Ringing!: And that means a islands wide warning that something dangerous is approaching! But where the heck are they coming from? Nevermind that, the caretakers rally the children and the senior citizens while Scykal, Imber's local sea monster, emerges from the large body of water on the island.  Interesting.  He hasn't been spotted in a long time.  Help the locals defeat him!

5. Wild Card!: Choose your own scenario!

N A V I G A T I O N

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Comments

[darkestauthor]

Henry did his best to focus on the words being spoken to him but the other voice refused to be quiet. "You can hear it can't you? You might not have your dagger but he has his. Listen to it. Let it draw you in."

Gritting his teeth to concentrate on what Gold was saying, he nodded to the first part as they continued to walk but stopped when he was asked the question. "I was..." He paused, trying to rid himself of the voice that wouldn't go away. "I was in your shop." He managed. "Writing. Trying to help you."

"And you obviously failed. Can you hear it? Your failure." came the other voice.

"But I obviously didn't. You're still the Dark One, aren't you?" He winced and sighed. "I can hear it..." He mumbled the last bit and even went so far as to cover his ears when he heard the laughing though it did nothing to help.

[magicsprice]

"Henry...don't listen to it. Listen to me. Tell me, was this after our visit to the Underworld?" It had to be, because he knew with a certainty that Henry hadn't suffered the curse even while he was comatose. No, it had been his mother and then the pirate. Not his grandson.

He refused to let it do to Henry what it did to him and his mother. "I'll help you deal with this, Henry. I wasn't able to help your mother, but I promise, I'll help keep you from falling to it."

[darkestauthor]

The hands over his ears certainly didn't drown out the voice in his head but he did vaguely hear what his grandfather was saying. Removing them, he looked up at the man with a pained expression on his face, shaking his head. "No." Then his curiosity managed to win out over the darkness for a moment. "You can actually visit the Underworld?"

"Of course you can." snapped the other voice and Henry almost laughed at the fact he's annoyed it. He listened instead to what else Gold had to say, moving closer to take his hand in reassurance. "What do you mean? What happened to Mom?" So many questions, so little answers and the vision just giggled at his worry.

[magicsprice]

He took Henry's hand in both of his, though there was now apparent confusion in the older man's expression, uncertainty in the eyes studying Henry. "I don't understand. You don't remember your mother being cursed with this Darkness? I collapsed in my shop, and apparently your mother took the Darkness inside her after they removed it from me following my collapse. I don't know what you're talking about when you say you were trying to help me in my shop via writing."

There was only one way he could think of that he could be helped via writing, but it had already been proved that that method wasn't the route to go. Isaac had used his need to advert his demise to create his own story, and had in essence tricked them all. He had sought Isaac's aid in order to escape his looming death, to have a second chance, but he hadn't realized how Isaac had intended to grant it.

[darkestauthor]

Henry shook his head again, holding onto those hands to prove to himself that this version was the one to listen to. This one was real. And hopefully the other would disappear if he ignored it.

"It won't wo-rk." Came a sing-song voice but Henry spoke to those wonderfully brown eyes instead.

"Neither of my mothers have been cursed by this Darkness. After...After defeating Isaac's plan, I became the Author. You'd gone off after hurting Regina and...and...and once we were back in Storybrooke, the Apprentice gave me a new bottle of ink to document the happy endings. I went...I went to your shop to document yours with Belle but instead you were dying. So instead, I wrote the darkness out of you and into me. The next thing I knew, I was on that boat and here with you." And that other you.

It was clear that that explanation had taken a lot of effort for Henry. The vision kept making him loose his train of thought but he kept his eyes on Gold's, keeping everything else blocked out but those eyes and the story he had to tell.

[magicsprice]

If anything the explanation just increased his confusion. Something was most definitely wrong here.

"That can't be..you weren't there while I was dying. Just Belle. Your mother took in the Darkness that was removed in order to save my heart and life after I'd collapsed. I only recently reacquired it after your mother was freed of it."

[darkestauthor]

"I don't understand it either. But that is what I remember." He said, slowly and carefully.

"Of course that's what you remember. That's what happened. He's obviously lying to you. Or maybe he's not even the man you think he is. How could he be if he doesn't remember the truth?"

Henry hated how the vision had a point. He hummed a little, trying to drown it out but instead just sounded like he was in pain. "You'll have to believe me some time. You can't both be right."

And that was the final straw. Henry tore himself away from Gold and turned towards the vision. "I know. Alright? I know. So just shut the hell up and let us sort it out!"

[magicsprice]

"Henry! Don't listen to it. It may sound sensible, but it only has its best interests in mind. It wants you upset and angry so it can trick you into falling into the trap of embracing the Darkness and the power it offers. It uses your own fears and insecurities against you, twists words to trick you into believing whatever it says is true. I don't know why things are different, why this has happened... but let me help you."

This may not be the grandson he knows so well, not really. But like hell is he going to stand back and let any version of his boy's son be consumed by the Darkness when he could possibly help him.

"I've spent almost three centuries dealing with it. I know well its tricks and lies. Please, focus on me. Listen to me, not the Darkness."

[darkestauthor]

"You know he plays with words himself." The vision was already trying to pull Henry away with his words. "Who says he doesn't have his own best interests in mind rather than yours?"

Henry didn't know what to do. The Darkness was making sense but at the same time, so was his grandfather. He sunk to his knees, his hands clutching his head again because it all felt like the biggest headache ever. "Can you make it go away?" He asked, muffled from his hands. "Please. Just make it go away."

[magicsprice]

He wished he could make it vanish, but he could only try to offer a distraction. Perhaps he could try to give Henry that light in the Dark, as Belle had for him so long ago. He stepped close to Henry and reached to grab the boy by the arm to pull him up to his feet.

"I can only try. Follow me. Don't look at it. Pretend it doesn't exist."

[darkestauthor]

Henry stood again, leaning into Gold and nodding. "It's really hard when it won't shut up." But he did his best not to look in that direction, staying close to Gold.

"Do you have one you're ignoring?" He couldn't help but ask. Despite the topic, if he continued to talk to Gold, it might be enough of a distraction.

[magicsprice]

"Fortunately, not at the moment." Thankfully, neither Nimue or Zoso had made a reappearance upon his taking back the Darkness. Either they were destroyed with Excalibur or his heart and his will not to fall again was keeping them at bay. Time would tell him which it was perhaps.

"I know all about them though, they really do not approve of their hosts having anything they love or care about around. Having loved ones gives you strength to fight against their influence, thus they try to make certain you end up driving them away."

He moved his hand from Henry's arm to his hand, grasping hold of it as he picked a direction leading away from the docks seemingly at random and headed them in that direction. The destination wasn't as important as the journey itself if it managed to give Henry a few moments of peace.

[darkestauthor]

"I suppose that's why you lost Dad in the first place, right? Because the Darkness was driving him away?" He hated to bring it up and he usually wouldn't but it was the first thing he thought of and he didn't want to dig too deeply for a topic. Plus, if he could learn how Rumplestiltskin had been able to keep the Darkness at bay for hundreds of years, maybe he could too.

"Am I going to look like the descriptions of you in the book? All scaly and...well...like a crocodile?" It would be half cool and half weird and he was glad that the vision hadn't said anything for a short time.

[magicsprice]

"After a fashion, yes. It played on my fears and insecurities, and when it came time to leave with Bae...I was too afraid to go. I let go of him and clung to the dagger that was keeping me from falling into the portal, because I was too scared of the unknown and of going back to the crippled coward I was before." Of course, what he hadn't realized until much later was he'd never stopped being a coward, he may have been capable of fixing his leg, but finding actual courage was something it had taken him centuries to do.

He sighed softly, then chuckled softly in a wry manner at Henry's last questions. "I was like that partially due to the manner in which I gained the curse I suspect. You... took it without killing anyone. Thus I believe as long as you don't give in to it, if you refuse to embrace it, then you won't change. It will seek to get you to use the power, the magic, because it wants you to get a taste for it. Because once you get a taste of it, of how easy it is to use, how empowering it is...then it is much easier to fall into its trap."

[darkestauthor]

"I've never actually heard you talk about that before. I guess I've just never asked because I know it's a painful subject for you despite my own curiosity. I find Dad hard to think about sometimes myself because of how much I miss him." He would love to know more about the man who had become the Dark One for his son but he would never want to hurt someone just to sate his curiosity.

You could just take the knowledge. came the vision but Henry found that easy to ignore as he listened to Gold's answer to his other questions.

"I'm not gonna lie, Grandpa. I have wondered what it would be like to have magic. When I was younger, I hated it. I only saw the dark things like Mom casting the curse. But as I got older, and spent more time in your shop, I realised it can be used for good things. But that doesn't mean I want to embrace pure darkness. Can you really use dark magic to do good things?"

"Of course you can. Let me show you. Let me guide you." Again with the voice and again, Henry managed to ignore it. At least while he waited for his grandfather's response.

[magicsprice]

"Perhaps I can tell you more about him while we're here. I can share any number of stories from when he was just a lad. It does hurt to remember that he's gone, but we can still speak of the past. Of the good times, and let you get to know him better in this way."

He paused as he considered the question. In a sense, the answer to that was obviously yes. After all, despite the bad decisions he'd made over the years. He had done good things. His intentions may have not always been the best, but he has helped people over the years just as much as he's harmed them. Another quiet sigh escaped.

"I won't lie. You can do good things with dark magic, but you can also do bad things with light magic as well. It's a tricky slope using magic. Magic is addicting, and it can be costly. You can use it to do wonderful things, to save lives, to end wars. I thought I could turn the power the Darkness toward good, to do good things with it. I ended the war that threatened all the lives of the children from the Frontlands. However, I lost my way. I listened to the voice and I fell into its trap.. and people went from hailing me as a hero, to fearing me and considering me a monstrous villain."

[darkestauthor]

"I'd really like that. I barely got to know him as Neal, let alone as Baelfire. I'd appreciate anything you're willing to share about him." He squeezed the man's hand, showing he was there for comfort as well as stories. Gold was the only connection he had to that boy after all.

"All magic comes with a price. It's like the town's motto. But the thing I've always wondered about magic is, how do you know what the price is? And is it worth the risk if you don't know it? If I could turn this Darkness into a force for good, is it worth the risk that I could be corrupted in the process? Is that the price or is there a balance that can be struck?" It was a lot of questions and a lot of unknowns. But Henry felt confident that if anyone knew the answers, it would be Rumplestiltskin.

[magicsprice]

"That's the tricky thing when it comes to magic. You don't always realize the price to be paid until after you've done it. Just look at what happened when I brought magic to Storybrooke. The price of my bringing magic there resulted in a barrier that worked just as well as Regina's during the curse to keep us trapped inside the town. My summoning the Wraith to deal with Regina resulted in sending Emma and Snow to another world. Not all magic has a price that is as cut and dry as other pieces of it. I lost Bae not just twice.. but three times due to magic."

A tired almost sardonic laugh escaped him and he shook his head slightly. "You would think I would have sworn off it when I had the chance...but as I said, it can be addicting. I thought I had nothing more to lose and that I'd be able to save my grandson more grief if I took it back. So here I am, back to being cursed with it. Perhaps my price for that is having to have come here, so that I could help you."

[darkestauthor]

"That's why I've always hated it. It's too unpredictable. Even more so that any other regular action with cause and effect. Magic itself is unpredictable and has it's own laws. Despite the fact I think we've broken them all during the time between the curse being broken and now." He chuckled at that idea. Breaking the laws of magic.

"It's why I'm stuck in the dilemma I am. Wanting to do good with something that has the potential for bad." He smiled at his grandfather's conclusion. "Yeah. Perhaps. I don't know what I would have done without you." Except he does know. And he doesn't want to think about it. The giggle off to his right was proof of that.