Wilderlands Mods (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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wildermemes2018-02-23 05:15 pm
wildermods) wrote in wildermemes2018-02-23 05:15 pm
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TEST DRIVE ※ 1
TEST DRIVE ※ 1
The spirit of the Green needs defenders but the game of fate it must play makes it so that its plans are like a garden, always in need of careful pruning. Only certain individuals are capable of living a life of adventure -- and even many who are may not be the heroes the Wilderlands needs.
The only way for the Green to be sure is by providing a test -- and as far as tests go, this one's a doozy, because the situation is real. There are countless conflicts all over the Wilderlands that are in need of intervention, so the Green tosses you head first into one of them with no warning or explanation. During it, you may perhaps run into others like yourself, thrown in over their heads -- or into others that came before you. Either way, your only chance of getting through it is to work together with whatever other unfortunates you find.
Welcome to the wilds, hero. Good luck with that whole 'deadly peril' thing.
Once a force for good, the wizard Saruman has grown a little too big for his britches. Now he wants to be a major player in the Wilderlands and has poised himself against Sauron and the Unfinished Princess. To aid him in his aims of conquering the new world he's built an army of monsters, and through magic and sinister breeding practices he's engineered his orcs into fearsome super orcs known as Uruk-hai. From Saruman's tower fortress of Orthanc, his armies are setting out to conquer the world, plaguing the nearby lands of Gondor, Rohan, and Oz. Among Orthanc's neighbors, it is the Ents of Fangorn Forest, towering tree creatures, who have decided to descend on Orthanc itself to stop the menace once and for all.
This is where you come in. For you see, Saruman has sent out hunting parties to search for those who have been touched by the Green. For some unknown and sinister purpose, he wants you captured and brought to him. Armed with a charm that allows them to detect when they first appear in the Wilderlands, his Uruk-hai warriors are searching high and low for newcomers like yourself brought in by the Green's will. That's how some of you find yourselves captured almost as soon as you appear in the grasslands of nearby Rohan, dragged to Orthanc against your will, arriving there just in time for all hell to break loose.
Meanwhile, some of you avoid orcish capture, and are pulled in mid-battle, thrown head first into the deadly storming of Orthanc itself. Regardless of the circumstances you find yourself in when you arrive, it's certainly a wild entrance.
A. ESCAPE CAPTURE
The orcs capture you not long after you arrive in the grasslands of Rohan, surrounding you as if they were searching specifically for you. Before long your wrists are bound and they start marching you towards the fortress of their master, arguing about you the entire time.B. FIGHT THE URUK-HAI
"There's no time to kill them properly," says one. "No time for play on this trip."
"That can't be helped," says another.
"But why not kill them quick, kill them now? They’re a cursed nuisance, and we're in a hurry. Evening’s coming on, and we ought to get a move on."
"Boss's orders," say a third voice in a deep growl. "If any touched by the cursed Shikliss show up near our hunting parties, they are to be captured and brought back alive as quickly as possible."
They spend a lot of time arguing over whether to torture or kill you now (or later). Lovely. But at least you're not alone. There are other captives, like yourself, and in quiet moments, you may have a chance to talk to one another, comfort one another. And either because of infighting amongst themselves, or the chaos of battle (if you arrive at Orthanc in the middle of it being stormed), you may have a chance to break your bonds and help each other escape, too. There's a battle to be fought -- or you can make a run for the woods of Fangorn. Either way, any choice you make can't make things much worse.
A few of the Ents, glad for potential allies, are willing to briefly stop their fighting and explain the conflict you've found yourself in, one against a wizard and his deadly forces who have brought death and destruction to the nearby forest and surrounding lands.C. BE METAL
"Hrum, hoom, root and twig, very odd timing you have indeed," says Treebeard, leader of the Ents. "Arriving in the middle of a battle you barely have time to understand. Do not be hasty, that is my motto, but you have found yourselves with a hasty decision to make. We would be grateful for your aid, hasty though it may be!"
If you decide to aid them, you'll find yourself facing fearsome Uruk-hai orc warriors, dangerous siege weapons, and orcs riding terrifying, giant, wolf-like wargs. Some of you may find yourselves retaining powers from home. Others may find themselves with new magic or summoning magic weapons for the very first time. Yet others may find themselves still -- or newly -- powerless and will have to pick up what weapons they can find and hope for the best. Either way, you only have two choices: fight against Orthanc
or run for the trees. (And hope that those don't swat you, either.)
You can only see if them after you've seen your first death on the battlefield -- or if you've already seen someone die back home. Though intimidating, these skeletal, flying horses are not evil, but they are beings of death and that means they've flocked here because of the dying. At heart, they're noble creatures, though, willing to help those in need, and can seat two at a time.D. SAVE SPROUTLINGS
If you and one of your new allies needs to try to make a run for it, they'll fly you away from the battlefield. Or if you want to look like you're something straight out of a heavy metal album cover, you and that same ally can ride a thestral and attack your enemies from the air.
Saruman hasn't only been experimenting on orcs. He's kidnapped some very young and innocent spirits of the Green to explore the Green's power through painful experimentation. In the chaos of battle, these sproutlings have managed to escape, but because they're not much more than children, they need help getting free of the battle before they're killed. Characters may find these tree spirits (mostly young leaf spirits known as koroks) running for their lives and struggling to get free of the battlefield. Someone needs to get them to safety in the arms of the Ents; your characters might be their only chance.E. SURVIVE THE FLOOD
The Ents are going all out in this battle, and that means the nearby dam has seen its last days. As water comes rushing into the flat plains around Orthanc, you'll have to find a way to survive the flood. Fortunately, that's a lot easier to do with a new friend. Perhaps you'll find flotsam you can help each other cling to until the water dies down, or maybe you can help each other climb a friendly Ent and chill on its shoulders until the threat has passed. The more unlucky among you may have to help each other fight and climb your way up through the wood and metal walkways of the orcs' many war machines and battlements; only at the top are you guaranteed a way to keep above the deadly currents.F. SMOKE SOME DANK KUSH
It's over. The battle has been won, most of the orcs are dead, and Orthanc has been swamped. The only way to stay dry now is to sit on top of abandoned war machines or buildings. There's a cluster of them around some kind of supply storehouse. Sitting up top on that storehouse are two strange, curly-haired young men - they look fully grown and yet are the size of children, have furry feet, and seem quite content where they are, sitting and eating and smoking their pipes. They're too far to have a conversation with, and those currents are still a little too dangerous for your character to risk trying to get over there, but at the very least, the two are trying to be helpful.G. FREESTYLE
Rather than just keeping everything for themselves, in between eating and smoking their pipes they keep climbing down into the storehouse. Each time they do they come back up with sacks and small barrels, and toss them out to the other people in the buildings around them that are sitting on their various perches. (For such tiny people, they have surprisingly good throwing arms.)
In those sacks and barrels are small supplies of food and beer and wine -- and also small bags of some kind of tobacco and rolling papers. The leaf smells sweet and a little...herbal. Due to some interesting magical interbreeding of flora, Halfling pipeweed isn't just a form of Nicotiana like it once was. They now cultivate entirely new strains of "pipeweed" and mix it in with the old. As a result, if your character partakes they may find themselves, er... mellowing out a little bit. It's not enough to get them high but it is enough to make them relax and feel a little less high strung and a little more like themselves, after all that stress.
It also makes that food look extra appetizing. But hey, it's pretty appetizing on its own after that fight, even if your character decides not to smoke.
There are other things to do during all the chaos. Perhaps when things die down, you tromp through the swamped wreckage, scavenging for things that may help you in this brand new world. Or maybe you decide to fight alongside the dark forces and have to deal with the aftermath of choosing the losing side. The choice is yours!
✦ This TDM is locked to beta round invitees only. The game will be open to everyone in April, but it's undergoing a beta test round with a short plot to test out the power systems. For this first round, the game is invite-only, locked to individuals who've had access to see an invite announcement from the head mod. This is because if the powers system needs tweaks to balance it better, the mods may have to ask players to revise and resubmit powers. So the mods are starting with a group they know will be comfortable with that. After this TDM, future TDMS will be open to everyone.
✦ Potential players can use this as a standard test drive and may use these threads as their log samples. However, at least one post in their thread must fit the requirements for apps, both in length (200 words) and in quality. If you do plan on using a thread as a sample, please make sure the writing throughout your threads is a good example of your writing skills and has some solid examples of the character's voice.
✦ Potential players can opt to keep these threads as game canon when they app in, or start over fresh, based on preference. The magic bringing them to the game universe can fog their memories, if players don't want their character to remember TDM threads when introing into the game.
✦ Apps for beta round invitees open: 3/1/18
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