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Magisteria TDM #2

Welcome to the second official test drive meme for Magisteria! The TDM is game canon. Characters who do not app will simply disappear.
Notes:
* The magic/tech aspect of the game is not significant to TDM play. Any character can participate in the level of magic or technology used as TDM play.
* Content notes: Some spice throughout the prompts, though nothing one is obligated to engage with. The final section contains adult-centric prompts, including SUBSTANCES and SEXY FARE. They have been explicitly marked.
* Most of the island is not yet open to Otherworlders. High Rise Village and Eden 6 are, some of Agriculture is, and Market, but Sacred Nexus, the Grove, and all districts for the Institutions, are currently off limits. The settings will play a role in the metaplot.
Current players are highly encouraged to participate in the TDM. Those who do so will receive an extra reward for the month. 🎁 Those who show especial incentive in tagging new people might receive especially nice rewards and upgrades to previous gifts!
In one moment, you find yourself before a portal radiant with light, a tree of life that blazes with fire and the brilliant hues of some great, potent energy which you feel surrounding you and infusing your body. Your vision fills with colors brighter than any you have known. Should you close your eyes, you even see colors in the darkness. In another moment, or perhaps many moments later (for you feel that time is waxing and waning), you are standing within what appears to be a station. There is not too much feeling of upheaval. Whatever you were doing before is simply on hold; instinctively, you know that, and instinctively, you feel a pull towards this place. There are others with you: a group of people, newly arriving.
This time around, things are a little different for newly arriving Otherworlders: first of all, you encounter your guide immediately... and possibly others, with her.
"Welcome once more, Otherworlders. You'll want to watch the projection that Minister Brennam prepared for the last group."
Meet Seraphine Nova: the first native who greeted the original Otherworlder group. Only this time, she is likely not alone, but accompanied by fellow Otherworlders, including possibly even others whom the new arrivals might know.
That's right; the OG Otherworlders have been roped into participating in the Magisteria Welcoming Committee. People from the first wave of arrivals are expected to help the newbies find their way around, get them settled in, and, once they're on the train, hand out the drinks.
I. An Enchanted AR Icebreaker

You're on a monorail train in the Business District of a city of the distant future. Your guide explains to your group that the first priority is to have you all acquainted with your aXess Link device. She explains that it can be shaped like anything – a phone, a watch. It’s a bit of a techno-magical device: the sort of cross-magisteria blending which can sometimes happen on smaller items. The fact is that pretty much everyone in the city needs one, so they’re ubiquitous and subsidized as necessary for accessibility.
Along the ride, your guide informs you of some team-building activities which have been prepared to get you all acquainted with your new technology and with one another. She explains that she did not design these, but those who did so intended them to be creative:
📱 a) Fuck/Marry/Kill, Magisteria Ver The CyberCharm application has once again returned to the aXess Link. Only this time, it seems to have been modified a bit, and not necessarily for the best UX. Rather than a ❤️ or an ❌, users have three options: FUCK/MARRY/KILL. Users of the application will face forced honesty questions for each profile: each user will list someone for the three categories, as well as a secret confession.
Users will find that these categories will be automatically filled in by the AI if they don't answer these questions -- and the Magisteria algorithms may or may not have a good sense of these new Otherworlders' tastes. (Or, being algorithms, they may operate on a No Wrong Answers policy.)
Participation in the activity is theoretically optional -- after all, confessions wouldn't be everyone's cup of tea, but the app seems unusually glitchy today -- strange for a world of technology as advanced as this, perhaps? It's almost like it is really trying to pry some answers out of Otherworlders, or like it's determined to make everyone get to know one another through this strange game, even if it has to insert answers in places.
[Answers can be posted in comments and will count for network threading.]
*If questioned about the dubiousness of this activity or what purpose something like this could possibly serve as an icebreaker, Seraphine Nova will admit that certain activities might actually be meant to incite discomfort or test reactions in Otherworlders Something something "the trials ahead" and she will continue to insist there's only so much she's aware of, either.
🧋 b) Refreshments Seraphine Nova informs you that her family owns a coffee shop, The Bean and Berry. They even have discounts for newly arriving Otherworlders. Today, everyone on the ride gets a glass of Clari-tea. An enhanced version of a traditional chai: beyond having a lovely, spiced-sweet flavour, it can promote relaxation, stress reduction, and mental clarity. Some use it to combat anxiety, even having it recommended by their doctors for some psychological conditions.
To enhance the drink, adult passengers have the option of adding a chaser: a splash of something boozy but surprisingly sweet, it leaves the tongue tingling - a tingle that then suffuses the body, making every touch dance across the nervous system. It can even be something of an aphrodisiac, or at least encourage a light euphoria that predisposes one to such moods, and thus perfect for pre-gaming before any evening partying.
There's also a pastry option: hexberry danish. But Otherworlders will want to be cautioned: hexberries can have some notable effects.
[See "flora/fauna" at the end for information on Variable Hexberries.]
🃏 d) Wildcard
These prompts are just ideas. Feel free to make your own mini-games or engage with other activities during the ride!
II. The World Of Tomorrow: Exterior

Soon, the train arrives at its destination. Centrally located in High Rise Village, this is Evergreen Terrace, a luxury apartment complex. Otherworlders are informed that many of the district's elite, both techies and magic users, live within these apartments. They serve a thriving, hybrid community.
The apartments feature a series of buildings consisting of terraces of windows overflowing with greenery and pink bougainvillea. The buildings are bright alabaster white, and should you ask about their composition, you will be informed that there are magic-infused crystals within the architecture. The city sprawls around the apartments, but the greenery throughout and around purifies the air.
💧 a) Waters of Seeing

The apartment complex is encircled by artificial ponds and streams of running water. The water itself is crystal clear and sparkles in a manner that may give Otherworlders the distinctive impression of enchantment, even if they are not magically attuned individuals. There are signs indicating that Otherworlders are responsible for whatever they see, should they gaze at these waters.
If you look for very long, you may see a vision from home, perhaps someone you care for. Or you may see a memory, a glimpse of your past. Should another stand beside you, they just may see your memory, as well. Or the reverse: you might find yourself gazing into another’s past.
🐟 c) The Tetra War Rages On Otherworlders from the first group are already familiar with some of the... scenery around Evergreen Terrace, such as the lotus flowers and the fish. However, this time around, the scene is a different one. The pink lotus flowers are still present, but there's no longer a sense of enchantment. They are ordinary flowers. And the fish...
... well, there are signs around the ponds with messages like "CAREFUL: INVASIVE SPECIES CONTAINMENT IN PROGRESS". Dealing with the cryptocarp and the near-figmentary tetras (NFTs) is an ongoing process at Evergreen Terrace, and there may even be evidence of destruction of some sort as local mages and tech types are repairing the turf and the ponds.
If newbies want to know what's up with the Great Tetra Takedown, they are encouraged to ask more recent arrivals (who are, in turn, encouraged to fill them in ASAP). Both sets of Otherworlders will continue to be encouraged to help natives dispatch of the fish, whether by relocation or more aggressive means.
The fish themselves? Far from being easy targets, the tetras and cryptocarp have been rapidly multiplying. Feeling the threat, the fish have stubbornly locked into their Magisterian magical power of Imaginary Financial Numbers and are now rapidly replicating themselves -- so a single tetra might suddenly turn into three, including when they're shot or cut apart.
Otherworlders can defeat the Imaginary Financial Numbers power by using Synthesis to enhance their magic or tech... but the question is whether one would use their special Otherworlder hack for an activity like this. If they do, some of the fish, like classical video game enemies, will drop coins upon death. Some will even turn into bags of golden coins on defeat: better get those turned into virtual currency on the aXess Link!
The coin-dropping, coin-transformation cryptocarp and tetras are those who bloodstreams have been entirely modified by whatever Shady Financial Attribute has modified their evolution in the first place. Others will turn into regular dead fish who can be cooked/eaten.
II. The World Of Tomorrow: Interior
🕯️a) A Light Greeting Waterfalls of light cascade down from the ceiling within the lobby of the apartments. There are people eagerly stepping beneath them, and should you do so, you will find that the light imparts a sense of deep pleasure and inner peace. Sounds within are ambient, voices musical, and you may feel attuned to this space. It’s like the feeling of being near a beach, warm and tropical-tinged: the sense of embarking on a new adventure. That said, there are signs cautioning that standing beneath these pleasant lights for too long could reduce inhibition(s), an effect which could potentially last for the duration of the night.
🎨 b) Art-Shaming Other things have changed since the earlier Otherworlders arrived at Evergreen Terrace, too. In particular, the art installations from the first arrival now seem a bit quieter, and many of them have signs affixed in front of them, such as:
"I pretend to be a serene woodland but really I'm a party animal"
"I'm supposed to beautify walls, not walk them"
"I'm worth a million, but I act like a two-cent mischief maker"
"Officially a high-class installation, unofficially a high-energy instigator"
"They programmed me to inspire, but I just aspire to entertain"
The art installations are indeed far more passive this time around, though when Otherworlders' attention is divided, they still tend to try to sneak around. Otherworlders can help with this rather silly problem by using 🪄 basic magic to encourage a calm aura in the art installations. Tech PCs can simply modify the art installations, changing their state from an active to a passive one by tweaking their interior. These are very simple challenges that even low level techies/mages can do.
🎉 c) Job Applications

PCs can meet people with fellow backgrounds/interests and possibly starting seeking opportunities together, and this prompt can also be used to initiate planning for longterm opportunities for those who do app (i.e. mods can work with players to make these happen). Answers can be serious or shitposty, of course.
There's another area where things differ this time around: the whole apartment crew is present. Malik Patel, the concierge, Ava Nguyen, the head of the maintenance department, and Atlas, the AI caretaker, are all accounted for. It's been an eventful month at Evergreen Terrace, one might say.
Atlas: Well, I think I've been successful enough with the art installations for the time being. The robots, however, have begun whispering amongst themselves and calling me names. "Rutting dog of late stage capitalism." Slander! Simply because I think there are times and places for such a ruckus and we're on the clock!
Ava: Sometimes, Atlas, you have to be a little more carrot than stick.
Malik: I agree with that, as long as the carrot isn't one of Ava's muffins. One minute I was at the desk, taking a bite. The next I was floating, growing, shrinking, turning blue, turning translucent, and then I look up to see a Woofaloomp floating above me, covered in glitter and butterflies and smelling like hashbrowns. I guess it was an Experience and I'm a guy who is all about those, but not one I'm keen to redo anytime soon.
Ava: Guess the takeaway is I need to test my recipes more as I go.
... anyway, hello, Otherworlders. We're the crew here. Don't hesitate to let us know if you need anything. Sorry, but as you might've noticed, we've had a bit of a hectic month here at the complex.
🌆 D) Rooms with a View

Some common themes include Neo-Tokyo Metropolis, Nature Fusion, Steampunk Retrofuturism, and Synthetic Dreamscape.
Not only can these rooms assume different appearances, but they are immersive enough to provide full sensory experiences. From the scent of metal to the feeling of sun-infused warmth touched with the coolness of a recent rain shower, the sensations are realistic and evocative.
Otherworlders are encouraged to explore. You may settle in, pick a theme, or personalize your room with your own imaginative design choices. There are also communal areas, and Otherworlders can congregate and interact in the hopes of finding prospective roommates. Why not come out and meet your neighbors? After all, you can make the currency in your virtual account last longer if you share a place . . .
When the evening descends, everyone is encouraged to explore the night life of the Entertainment District.
III. The Eternal City: Entertainment District

Also colloquially referred to as Neon Heaven by the locals, Eden 6 is broadly comprised of two different zones:
🌹Red Rose Quarters – adult centers
🍏 a) Green Apple ExplorationThese quarters house most restaurants, except those with notable bars or alcoholic beverage menus. Coffee and pastry shops are well-represented. There are plenty of magic-themed attractions, as well as general techie hangouts. One popular shop is named Fairy Dust: it’s a shop for potion and alchemy products, as well as magical toys of sorts to entertain children, and fun little spells. The highlight of the Green Apple Quarters, however, are certainly the gaming centers and arcades.
🛹 b) Skyracing This is an activity which both children and adults participate in, often in different forms. Throughout the all-ages districts, young people can often be seen riding in the air on skateboards. But there are also other kinds of flying craft, some which are more like aerocycles, as well as hoverboards. Some of the latter are more prominent among the older set, with some races even having a hardcore adrenaline junkie component. Those take place primarily around The Fountain, the superclub which is on the border between Apple and Rose. There, skyracing is especially popular around the sunset and early evening hours.
Beings glimpsed in the evening sky can include sylphs and zephyrs, though sighting them is not entirely common.
IV. Entertainment District: Adults-Only 🚫

Otherworlders will find that the denizens of Magisteria’s Entertainment district maintain complex attitudes around nightlife. On the one hand, they are big believers in the protection and demarcation of adult sexuality. They’re very anti-criminalization of substances and big on legalization in principle. Perhaps not surprising for the people of a futuristic city. But even in Magisteria, there’s some sense that what happens in Neon Heaven, under the cover of night, stays there, and the usage of certain inducements to pleasure is not, as a rule, spoken of in the pristine offices of High Rise Village.
While the city emphasizes age restrictions, there are also plenty of people around the adult-centric establishments, none very hard to find, who will, for a small price, help teens who are on the older side (15+) access some of these establishments, especially the ones focused on pleasures of an AR-centric nature. After all, teens will find ways to explore things, and if it’s AR, it’s probably fine, right?

a) The Neon Oracle
Set in a towering skyscraper in the heart of a bustling cyberpunk city, The Neon Oracle dominates the skyline with its glowing neon lights and holographic displays. The casino is known for its blending of ancient magic with futuristic technology. There are gaming tables, slot machines, a VIP lounge with exquisite drinks for the ambitious, and of course, everything is enhanced by technology and magic. Augmentations and enchantments abound.
🃏 There are poker and blackjack tables. Players can play enhanced poker with magical effects, such as cards that randomly change to wild cards or cards which whisper about other teams and try to coordinate with the players. Enchanted cards, as it were.
🎲Magical Dice Roll: The magical dice can roll six positive outcomes or six negative outcomes. RNG:
1. 🌈 Rainbow Aura: This effect grants the player "Shield Tokens" that prevent any loss of credits for the next 10 minutes of play, effectively making them immune to negative outcomes in that time frame.
2. 🔒 Mana Lock: Negates the next positive RNG
3.🎁 Treasure Chest: When this prize is unlocked, the player receives one of the following items, selected randomly:
High Level Protective Armor/Shielding and/or Neural Circuitry Enhancement
A Mysterious Key
Arcane Blueprint (An Equally Mysterious Blueprint)
4. 🌪️ Chaos Twister: Previous winnings are blown away by a brief magical whirlwind
5. 🌀 Time Warp: The player can redo a negative roll at any point in the game.
6. 🌑 Eclipse Curse: Darkens your fortunes by turning the next prize invisible
7. 🎰 Jackpot Spin: Spinning this exclusive wheel can yield one of the following major prizes:
Luxury Vehicle: A high-speed, advanced-tech vehicle usable in various game modes.
Resort Pass: A voucher for luxury accommodations in the game's virtual world resort, offering unique interactions and bonuses.
8. 💥 Elemental Backlash:
9. 💥 Elemental Burst: Multiplies the player's previous win by 3
10. 🕸️ Web of Stasis: Makes you unable to collect the next reward roll
11. ❓ Mystery Effect: Triggers one of several random but highly beneficial effects:
Instant Win Cash: A large sum of credits added directly to the player's account.
Legendary Companion: A powerful NPC ally joins the player for a limited time, assisting in various game challenges.
12. 🔄 Reversal of Fortune: Reverses your fortunes by taking away the equivalent of your last prize won.
Players are encouraged to play for best of three or five rounds for the actual prizes.
Players can of course make up their own games for the casino! Slot machines with magical effects involving unicorns or fae companions, special AR creatures, cyborgs and AI -- the imagination is really the limit for the fantasy/cyberpunk casino and its indulgences.
b) Water Gardens ”Water garden” is the codename for Verve hotspots. Verve is a substance specific to Magisteria and its Entertainment district. It’s really the major drug of note, the biggest if not nearly-only game in town, mostly because of how intense its effects are.
Verve creates feelings of euphoria and bliss. The drug also enhances sensory perception, making colors more vibrant, sounds more vivid, and textures more pronounced. Users feel more connected to their surroundings. Other effects include: heightened energy levels and excitement, a creativity boost, heightened empathy and a desire to connect with others, mood regulation and increased feelings of relaxation, the potential for lucid dreams, time dilation – in which moments feel elongated, and sensory merging, in which synesthetic effects occur. While under the influence of Verve, you may see music or taste colors.
There’s also the aphrodisiac effect, which can be quite potent, particularly if one is otherwise savoring the pleasures of their environs.
Most users partake of Verve by having it mingled with their alcoholic beverages. Shots for cocktails come at a small fee. It brightens drinks with luminous colours and enhances the taste with its own, so there’s no question of anyone partaking of it accidentally or without their knowledge.
Some clubs and gathering spots have Verve misting stations outside or small fountains spraying droplets of mist into the air, so patrons can indulge before even entering, priming their mood for intense indulgences and the full sensory brilliance of the neon city.
no subject
He looks away towards the bed instead. The bed, if it can even be called that, looks decidedly... uncomfortable. Is it as hard as it looks?
But more importantly, his gaze slides back to Crowley. Something has been bothering him about the demon's behaviour since he arrived. Crowley always seemed a little... high strung whenever Rhea'li talked to him, so his current comparative quiet seems rather out of place.
Stepping closer to Crowley, Rhea'li's brow knits in concern. Certainly, he had agreed to a hook-up but Crowley is his friend, too. "Are you alright?" He's not sure if he ought to voice that Crowley seems unusually quiet. Subdued, even. With how many questions Crowley had asked about basic interaction with people, he wonders if... "You seem... are you nervous?"
no subject
“I’m fine.” Oh, go and call attention to it. “Er. You— could… say that, yeah. I don’t quite… know what I’m meant to do now.” It’s not like he’s going to be able to hide his total lack of experience.
no subject
Hm, how should he play this? He's not accustomed to thinking so much and certainly not when laying with another. But he would like Crowley to enjoy himself and he suspects he'll need to soothe Crowley's nerves somehow for that to happen.
"It's alright. We shall take it slow, then." His smile is small and sincere. While his own preferences are decidedly in the opposite direction, this isn't really about him. "Ask as many questions as you like. If at any point you wish to stop, you need only speak it, yes?"
He points to the uncomfortable looking bed.
"Now sit. What is your knowledge of what's involved in sleeping with another?"
no subject
"I know how sex works." On a theoretical basis. He sits down anyway, leaned back on his hands and sprawled in a way that suggests he has slightly too many joints. "You don't have to-- be... careful." He'll be fine. He's fine. "I don't know the... social, er, procedure? is all."
no subject
"Is that so?"
His tail flicks in amusement before his smile draws wider into a grin. Suddenly he's very close, one knee digging into the edge of the bed (and he's relieved that the bed isn't actually stone) as he leans over Crowley.
"I'm afraid the social procedures are as myriad as there are people. But for many, it begins with this."
And without further warning, he leans down to kiss Crowley.
no subject
When Rhea’li kisses him, he makes a startled noise and almost tips over backwards before he grabs onto the miqo’te’s shirt to stabilize himself. His head goes blank. What he does now he has no precedent for. This isn’t a desperate plea, this is just… a kiss. Having fun with a friend. It isn’t earth shatteringly important.
He was right that kissing seemed like it would be nice, anyway.
no subject
When Rhea'li breaks away, he doesn't draw back, instead staying in Crowley's space. "And more like than not," he grins down at the demon, "at some point clothes are divested."
no subject
“Right,” Crowley says, breathless and dazed, then blinks and shakes himself. “Right. I, er, was going to ask if you had a preference. In terms of— what’s under the clothes.”
no subject
His hand flys up to his mouth to hide what must be an excited grin and his quickness of breath. Crowley isn't exactly his type (Crowley doesn't look like he could crush his head between his thighs, for example) but with the possibility that he's a shape changer...
(How is it that he knows so many who can do that?)
His hand falls away from his face after he regains his (normally unflappable) composure. He tries but fails to not sound too eager, "You can change your form?"
no subject
"I can, yeah. Easiest in general is to be all--snakey, since I was sort of cursed with that when I Fell, but I can do other things too." He pauses to illustrate, and his head turns into that of an enormous black snake, then back again. "Bit hard to talk like that, though. Could do scales, I guess. And angels and demons don’t come by default with the, er— equipment. Got to make an Effort to produce it. So it could be, yknow, whatever. Penis, vagina, pseudo penis, hemipenes, cloaca… ovipositor… probably rather not do an ovipositor, makes me think of my ex boss, the Lord of the Flies." He wrinkles his nose a bit. Bloody Beelzebub getting to run off in weird Buddy Holly-themed bliss with fucking Gabriel. (Why didn't his angel want to run away with him, but Gabriel of all fucking arseholes was willing to throw over everything for a demon he hated five years ago?) "And I've been being... man-style for a few centuries now, mostly, except when I was nannying, but I've done woman plenty too. So." He gestures vaguely. "Preference?"
no subject
When Crowley asks for his preference, Rhea'li reaches out to grasp one of Crowley's shoulders. Though he is tempted by the opportunity to indulge in some of his idle fantasies, he remains steadfast.
"If 'tis your first time," everything about Crowley's behaviour does sound very much like one who lacks practical experience, "then mayhap you ought to stick with... equipment you are most familiar with for now. The more unusual types can be a future adventure, yes?"
no subject
no subject
He can't help but duck his head in slight embarrassment. It isn't as though he doesn't get excited about the usual equipment... he just likes the novelty of new things and this sort of thing had always been relegated to fantasy, not reality. He lets out a quiet huff, easily convinced in this matter at least.
"Alright, alright," he says, shaking his head with a wry smile. "If hemipenes is what you've had the most, then that is my preference."
out here googling snake dicks like what *do* we have going on here other than 'two'
Right. He was doing things, not thinking about them. Slightly nervously, he shrugs off his jacket and leans in to kiss Rhea'li again. With fangs in his own mouth, because it seems like fun. Nonvenomous ones.
lmaooo
But Crowley can't simply tempt him with equipment he's never seen before without showing it to him! So when they break away, Rhea'li reaches for Crowley's belt, intent on undoing it and the other fastenings of his trousers so he can reveal the hemipenes beneath.
I am aware it has been two months hi
When his trousers are unfastened, he shifts himself to help pull them down, because what is revealed is... a swollen, lightly scaled slit. "They're, er. Inside," he manages, slightly breathlessly. A pair of hemipenes covered in somewhat soft cartilage spikes.
Rhea'li blueballed for 2 months :')
"Is that so...?" he murmurs, kneeling between Crowley's legs. Fingers lightly running along the edge of the scaled slit, he presses them gently against the swelling. "How shall I coax them out, I wonder?"
Leaning down, he presses his lips against Crowley's slit, kissing it as deeply as he had kissed Crowley on the mouth earlier, tongue gliding over scaled flesh before sliding inside.
no subject
Crowley's breathing rapidly grows ragged, and a hand desperate for something to hold into finds a grip in Rhea'li's hair. The twin heads of his hemipenes are starting to press the opening concealing them open, leaving them even more available to Rhea'li's tongue.
no subject
With Crowley's hand in his hair, Rhea'li acts on his urge to lick a long line from the bottom of Crowley's slit up to the top with the flat of his tongue, feeling a pair of protrusions slip past the opening. It's obvious what's happening and so Rhea'li shifts his position so his mouth envelops both heads of Crowley's semi-revealed hemipenes as he slides his tongue between them, silently appreciating the sensation of the cartilage spikes while he slips a hand into his own pants.
no subject
The hemipenes are swelling tot heir full size rapidly, and at the same speed Crowley is losing the plot, the world narrowed down to fuck that feels good. His fingers may have tightened in Rhea'li's hair, but he hardly notices.
no subject
...But he has no intention of putting out his jaw from this, so he reluctantly lifts his mouth off the hemipenes -- although not without the flat of his tongue licking up along their underside -- before going down again on just one, letting his cheek rub against the other. He still has one free hand, however, and he's never one to have idle fingers. So Rhea'li slips them into Crowley's slit, listening for Crowley's reaction when he strokes him inside.