Test Drive Meme - July 2025
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Previous event: Log - June 2025. Next event: Log - August 2025.
The Test Drive Meme event on 2025 July 4 posted here (overflow). This was the event for July 2025.
FAQ Pages
[edit source]Full questions here
Event headings
[edit source]I. INITIATION
[edit | edit source]II. MAKE A HOUSE A HOME
[edit | edit source]A. HOUSING TOURS; HOUSEMATE HOW-TOS
[edit | edit source]B. HEARTWARMING đ HOUSEWARMING
[edit | edit source]III. WELCOME TO KELESIS
[edit | edit source]A. THE MARVELOUS KELESIAN BARRIER
[edit | edit source]B. KELESIAN LOCAL ATTRACTIONS
[edit | edit source]C. ...AND OTHER ODDITIES
[edit | edit source]X. EXTRA BACKGROUND INFO: PATHO-GEN, KARTERIA, AND KELESIS
[edit | edit source]IV. THE VELVET CLAW (JULY EDITION)
[edit | edit source]CAN WE HAVE A WORD?
[edit | edit source]BRING OUT YOUR DEAD
[edit | edit source]HOME HELP FOR THE HOPELESS (Or the Merely Inconvenienced)
[edit | edit source]V. NETWORK
[edit | edit source]
FAQ Questions
[edit source]| Information | Question | Answer |
|---|---|---|
| #1
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-07-26 |
Thank you for that. Iâm messing around with it a bit in threads. I wanted to ask - Lune has the ability to store items inside her tattoos aka what gives her access to her magic. Items canon has included in that has shown up to a grand piano but nothing bigger than that. It seems to be either weapons or instruments. Basically, Iâm asking if that will be nerfed. Or if later she will be able to summon weapon and her guitar. Iâll include them on the item list since I feel it is only fair. It wonât change my roster of items for the app. |
Hammerspace-like abilities do function in the setting, but they become more limited in the size of what they can contain, limited to what could fit within a piece of carry-on luggage (In... mass/volume, not necessarily shape, so weapons and modest instruments would fit (just not too many at one time), but not an entire piano.). Being able to store her guitar and a weapon there would work. They would pop out automatically on first arriving in the setting (which means any weapons get temporarily confiscated), but she'll be able to put them back without a problem. |
| #2
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-07-25 |
regarding the wailing terra types hear when rooted in kelesis (tighnari is doing this) if it's focused on, can anything more be learned about it or are there any consequences for getting too deep/trying too hard to find out more about it? | No... Terra-types, rooting is a suffering time! Tighnari, be careful, alright? Aside from being highly agitated and furious, it might not be so obvious at first because of the way it makes Augmented Terra-types feel when they focus on this sound: the noise is also derived from pain, just as much as it inflicts pain. If a Terra-type decides they want to try to root deeper, there is only so far that they can root before they hit concrete, impenetrable and thick. Even if they were to find a good crack somewhere, it would take a long, long time to break any of it... Should they attempt to root into the concrete any deeper despite the screaming in their head that tells them no, either by virtue of stubbornness or determination, they might be able to cause the concrete to crack some more- but at this time, it will not be breakable (for this log, anyway). They can attempt this all the way until they pass out- and if they do pass out, they might need someone to come by and help extricate them from their deep rooting, like plucking a carrot or a weed. Careful now... |
| #3
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-07-16 |
initiation question! Agnes would have a million questions the second she woke up. would she be able to get anyone to tell her more about how the surgery works? how it was developed? who preformed it? Are there medical textbooks in the hospital she could find? Anything? Please!!! She wants 5 more souls!! |
In the moment, nurses would try to get her to calm down, speed racer. They aren't the surgeon, they're just the nurses invested in her well-being! Don't hurt yourself asking all these questions! During Initiation proper, she'll get few answers. Obviously, the incision site should explain a lot; about all Patho-Gen staff here can explain is available on the appropriate section in Technology right now. They understand that it's necessary, that it's connected to the heart (usually??? unless you don't have one??), and that it houses their Natural Soul. It was developed much longer ago: approximately 25 years ago, to be exact, but it surely required lots of preparation and study to get to this state. Can she have... five more souls?! They are a bit unnerved by this question. Patho-Gen doesn't add more souls to characters, that would probably lead to madness or destabilization... One Natural Soul is enough. More would probably cause her to lose her sense of self, they imagine. No textbooks in the hospital, nor in Patho-Gen HQ, jump out for Agnes to read. Not even in the library are there any texts that demonstrate how this surgery is performed. No illustrations, no abstracts, nothing. Top secret info, these Augmenters and their application. |
| #4
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-07-16 |
Is there anything we should know about Kartesian burial practices? Are these bodies shrouded or casketed? Is anyone attending the lowering of the body into the grave? | Karterian burial practices are variable among family preferences, and can be both shrouded or casketed. Cremation is an option; it is very expensive to do. For many families, bodies are ideally displayed, shrouded or not, for the funeral procession; then, they are buried and lowered into a grave with family present. Unfortunately, things have changed and this "ideal" cannot be fulfilled for most citizens anymore. Funerals/memorials are held; for bodies that are in good condition, Karterians prefer to hold a viewing. (Shrouding happens for those who succumb to illness especially; even if the person's appearance is fine, this is largely customary.) But after this, they have to surrender the body to their gravediggers. Prior to the arrival of the Augmented a few months ago, there were some small amount of well-paid gravediggers who would venture beyond the city's barrier for this task. These same people, if found, will show themselves to be from a poorer family; they will also be sick with arcane radiation, attempting to earn money for their family's benefit at the expense of their well-being. It was a highly-demanded job, and scarcely enough hands to perform it. With the Augmented here, now these off-site burials can be performed more readily; morgues can be unburdened, the queue of bodies finally laid to rest. In short, this is why the Augmented don't directly attend the aggrieved in this quest doled out by the Velvet Claw. The families have grieved; they cannot safely visit the grave sites, they know. It's become more normal to have loved ones buried where their graves can't be visited, given the lack of available land within the barrier. But someday, Karterians will hope they can safely venture beyond the city. |
| #5
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-07-11 |
Hi again, darlings~ Back to Kelesis but still using Gojo's cool not-quite-x-ray-vision, I'm assuming that around the city he's generally not getting much more than the same "there are structures that extend underground" that he got from the fringes (but please do tell me if I'm wrong). Anyway he'd like to specifically try to look inside one of the barrier columns. Expecting a headache, but ... is he able to perceive anything cool? Thank you! |
Gojo's multiple eyes would continue to recognize that there are structures underground, but anything above ground in Kelesis would be exactly what he would expect to find in a city. It's rather perfect like that, everything looks just as it should. (However, should he linger too long on any one area, it will have a similar effect to staring at the people for too long. Things will distort, and make less and less sense- but will snap back into 'proper' focus if he stops trying so hard. With Gojo's special eyes, he may also experience some hearty brain zaps the more he focuses.) The shops are shops, the theatres are theatres; the locals are performing at their assigned tasks with their familiar enthusiasm. The pillars themselves... to look through them does provoke headaches, a warning that this is not a good thing to put one's mind against. But the insides have the same problem as any other machinery within the city does- that it's full of things, moving and spinning and blinking on and off, but it doesn't particularly make sense, to anyone with any kind of engineering knowledge. To a random person, it might look impressive- cylinders! gears! pretty lights! lots of computer chips! more gears!- and given that it seems to be doing something, maybe all that nonsense comes together after all. Or Kelesian science follows its own rules. It's not a crime to stare at (or through) the pillars, so Gojo wouldn't face any consequence besides a headache, though. |
| #6
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-07-11 |
I close my eyes... Mods I am so sorry. Three quick questions: 1. Is Full-Shift capable of being done inside of Kelesis and, if so, how much of a reaction would there be? (I do not think this will be happening but I am juuuust double-checking.) 2. Just clarifying that further corruption does not actually allow aves to fly with their wings, though they can glide? I think I saw that on the page but wanted to be sure. And if this is the case... 2a. How badly will the citizens take it if someone tries to get to the top of some building, either by normal people-means or otherwise? (I'm blaming Johann, so you know) |
1. It should be entirely possible to Full-Shift in Kelesis! And much like their reactions to the Augmented's corrupted states, they won't find the sight alarming or disturbing (if anything, they're likely to be even more impressed). The expected consequences apply if they're Shifting for the sake of Performing A Violence, or similar illegal act, but just existing while fully Shifted does not cause concern. 2. Aves can indeed fly! In their corrupted form it's likely that they're mostly capable of gliding, or very limited flight (imagine chickens). But a Full-Shifted Aves should be able to fly, unless they're specifically based off of a flightless bird. 2a. Flying, climbing, or otherwise existing on top of buildings... the Kelesians might be a bit concerned. If it happens in the middle of town, and the character isn't doing any harm up there, just hanging out on the roof of a cafe- they're likely to leave them alone, as long as the person doesn't seem to be in trouble. Doing this in a residential area will be noticed oddly quickly, and the character will be asked to get down from there, these are private homes after all. (As a note, while Kelesis isn't a perfect circle, it is roughly circular shaped, and the 'edges' of the city are all residential. Even if one had a particularly high vantage point- such as what an Aves-type might achieve- there's nothing that looks particularly governmental anywhere.) |
| #7
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-07-08 |
Question: if Harry pops in for a visit is he able to hear the singing? Lately he's been avoiding direct Katalyth exposure in favor of trying to communicate with it from a distance. | If you would like, Harry can also be treated to the sound of Katalyth radio (and the Carnival Dirge variant that occurs within Kelesis). Since he's also a Katalyth-listener in his own particular way, he could also have tuned into this particular 'channel' of unfortunate comprehension and connection. How much and where it affects him is entirely up to you (at least the Kelesis voices say nice things...). |
| #8
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-07-08 |
helloooo Octavian wants to break into the kitchen at the Valentia. This is just during regular mealtime hours. Dedue will... Follow him in there. What will they find? Is it staffed by people or Servitons? How would they react to them barging in? Also, is the kitchen ever available for Augmented to use? |
Yes! The kitchen at the Valentia is available for Augmented to use... but some of it is in a state: it was damaged a couple months ago, though it's undergoing gradual repairs. It's purely the good-will of the staff of the Valentia that they'll still permit anyone to use it at all. Staff of the kitchen prefer that Augmented use the kitchen during off-hours, but they'll tolerate a person or two among their midst if they behave. Hey, at least this means they can supervise these unruly Augmented Ones, right? That being said, the majority of all cooks are actual people at the Valentia. Robots just haven't managed to nail the cooking duties yet, unless it's flipping burgers. Kitchen staff will disapprove of this "breaking in" nonsense, and will be like to outline the rules of the kitchen: mind your space, keep things tidy, if you break something you're out, don't take more food than you need, and leave staff be. (They will be immensely relieved if these individuals have yet to develop any physical traits of animals; it's tidier than a furry Carnivora trying to cook in their kitchen, which just seems wrong.) |
| #9
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-07-08 |
Thank you for all your hard work, mods! I do have one question just in case I wanted to mess around a little bit on this TDM. Lu Guang has an ability related to photos/closed circuit cameras. If he's concentrating on a photo ( could be digital or physical ), he can view the events up to 12 hours after the photo has been taken. 1. Would the ability even work or; 2. What would he even be able to see - whether it's events or just severely glitching out? |
I take it that this is a sort of precognition-related ability, just that it's contingent on the use of a camera and being able to see the photo. When it comes to characters who have precognitive abilities, especially ones with limits imposed on them, we allow them with some wiggle room for malfunction, generally speaking. Under normal circumstances (read: in Karteria proper, or anywhere other than Kelesis), such a power could function as normal (unless it would somehow break the setting; in such a case, it might fail somehow). If it's involving another player character, we expect permission to be obtained beforehand. Communication is key! What would Lu Guang be able to see? As outlined above, the power will function normally under most circumstances. In Kelesis... well, regular footage/photos are already strange, and attempting to divine the future based on such media would cause severe, immediate headaches and brain zapsâa massive discouragement. If Lu Guang is somehow able to press onward, there won't be anything particularly astonishing aside from the usual glitching and found-footage-esque view of the city... but it'll feel like something has prodded and probed his brain! The headache was a warning, and the result is that he'll feel rightly stirred up and discombobulated for a few hours. |
| #10
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-07-07 |
Regarding magical items and weapons for new characters: how does the system of retrieving an item/weapon work? Is there a slip that is given to characters using the tdm or do the items/weapons show up unannounced later? I've looked through a what I could find for answers, but I might also be blind if this has been answered somewhere before ;; Thank you mods! |
The way items are eventually returned to characters is by way of helpful ServiTons, who will hand-deliver any enchanted swords or magical keepsakes to their respective owners at the Valentia. They will arrive at character's doors and drop these items off. However, for the duration of the TDM, we prefer that these items not be returned in case we decide to have Patho-Gen confiscate the item, either because the item's too dangerous or because they're simply interested in it. (Whether they take it or not will be negotiated upon acceptance, of course!) |
| #11
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-07-07 |
so characters wouldn't have any prior knowledge of an item being brought with them if it were being kept for further interest? Toji has an array of dangerous magical weapons and I would love for one to be brought with him but kept by the Patho-Gen. The reason I ask is because how Toji would respond to the world would change depending on if he knows that weapon exists in the city and/or is being kept from him! thank you again :3!! | That's right: characters have no prior knowledge that they have arrived with the item. If Patho-Gen takes it, characters won't even know it was there to begin with! |
| #12
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-07-07 |
Hi mods. :D Not particularly TDM-specific, but Gojo's Project of the Month ... So I've had this one in my back pocket for a while. He was just so busy with his other projects that I postponed it. And this idea was actually the reason I nerfed his Six Eyes down to 30 feet (which is crippling for what he's used to), because it's too powerful if he can do this at a greater range. As you've noticed in this thread, Gojo has recruited Johann's help for a project. The plan is to find a nice spot leaning against a wall on the exterior of Patho-Gen HQ. He's been in and around the building enough times (all those helpful visits to coordinate things like the teleportation panels) to have a pretty good idea of where the public areas and non-public areas are, so he'll install himself against a wall that he thinks ... might be interesting. To any observer, he will seem to be waiting to meet up with his lover. He'll just kind of be hanging out, checking his syntrofos for the time every so often. Seems that whoever he's meeting is running late! And once his lover shows up, well, they just chat and flirt for a bit before moving along. Guess they weren't in any hurry to head out to whatever destination for their date. But what he's actually doing is using the Six Eyes to snoop. The nerfed description of the Six Eyes I put on the app is "can see through walls or other obstacles within 30 feet" in any direction (so he'll also be looking up and down a floor or two). No audio, so he's expecting to see mostly boring labs and offices and that most of the useful information will be reading any interesting files or computer screens. It's a headache for him to read this way, but he can do it. He will additionally be limited to only being able to read open files. A closed book or file with the pages all pressed together would be too difficult for him to parse individual pages. If this works out reasonably well for him, he intends to repeat it a few times in different locations around the Patho-Gen building. (Johann's so hard to contact by device, after all! May as well set up pre-arranged meetings, and Patho-Gen is such a convenient central location for them to meet up.) Once or twice a week for a few weeks to get pretty thorough coverage of the different restricted areas of the building, up and down a floor or two. He has reason to go inside the building, after all, even if it's just a quick visit to provide updates on his current projects. (He's not the most forthcoming about his discoveries or the discoveries of his teams, but since he pretty regularly has been working with Patho-Gen to help fund and coordinate the exploration efforts, he's got to have contacts there who he's been updating with broad details of the regions they've explored and he'll be checking in on things like 'are the teleportation panels satisfactory where they are? did you want any more of those somewhere? any other regions you especially wanted my teams to check out?' Things like that with whatever contacts he already has there.) And then he'll just ... kind of hang out in the hallway near there, again with the 'checking the time' routine until Johann shows up, they flirt for a bit, then leave. Does he spot or read anything interesting in these efforts? Thank you, darling mods! |
Well well well, Gojo. 30 feet may yield something, even if it's not much. The stunt with Johann works, at least, in keeping people from being particularly suspicious. What is there to be suspicious of, anyway? Generally speaking, Patho-Gen employees do not know what powers Gojo possesses, so they aren't disturbed by this behavior even if they walk around the perimeter of the buildingĂąâŹâand they do, sometimes, during a lunch break or a call on their Syntrofos. They're not particularly paranoid about Gojo hanging around... But Johann sometimes gets some Patho-Gen employees to pay attention to whatever they're doing. While Johann is strangely not memorable in appearance, some of them can at least recall that this was one of the Augmented who behaved with more than violence toward some Patho-Gen staff. The most this small handful of employees do at this point is keep a wary eye on the two, and otherwise mind their distance, unless they were to see something unsettling. We shall give you three different things he finds by doing this that can happen on three separate occasions. There are rolls involved off screen to determine the chance of finding anything.
Hope this whets ya appetite! Luckily no more bad rolls meant that Patho-Gen didn't continue to get after Gojo and co, either. |
| #13
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-07-07 |
Hello hello, mods! When people leave Kelesis after undergoing their temporary heightened Corruption, what happens to those bits and pieces? Say you're a rabbit type whose ears didn't come in yet, in the example given. Do those...recede once they head out and back to Karteria? Pop off? Stay for a certain amount of time? Thank you! |
Once they're outside the barrier, all those bits and pieces will fade away, as though they've never been there. If a character is paying close attention, they might notice the transitional period- as once-solid ears become hazier, even translucent. If one were to put their hand through a disappearing body-part, it would feel like touching very thick mist. Otherwise, the transition happens rather quickly- so if they'd been walking on altered legs, they might find themselves tripping as their balance abruptly changes. This 'switching over' is overall painless, though may be a touch disorienting. In short: these bits and pieces are only temporarily there... for now. But they're a tease of what's to come. Don't get too comfortable without them, because they'll come back in a matter of months! |
| #14
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-07-07 |
Forgot to ask this last month, but: Water/soil/flora samples surrounding Kelesis - anything particularly high or low on the arcane radiation scale or otherwise notable in that realm? |
The arcane radiation levels in the areas directly around Kelesis are similar to those found around Karteria. A roughly consistent, pervasive amount, without too many dips or peaks. There's plenty of Katalyth to be seen, but no massive formations of it, nor places where it's failed to grow. The local flora/fauna has its occasional visible mutation, and when dissected, everything will show the same hints of mutable behavior after death. As in Karteria, there's no Katalyth visibly growing within Kelesis itself. |
| #15
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-07-07 |
Can spectral types cast an Illusion of Normalcy on their own person if they don't like how their corruption looks while inside the barrier? Will it come effortlessly or will they strain/will it distort after a while? And can spectral types make effective physical clones of themselves with illusions? Will they think/see/feel perceive anything from them or will they act like a separate entity? Will they be in character or will the misbehave/glitch out after awhile? Edited 2025-07-06 10:43 am (local)
|
1. The casting and creation of the illusion should come naturally, practically effortless- but it's up to the player how tedious its maintenance becomes. Maybe the glamour stays perfectly in place. Maybe it regularly requires a bit of fine-tuning if the Spectral gets too distracted. Maybe it starts glitching out the longer it's up, and needs to be re-cast in order to look right. (Rebooting the spectral...) Really, it's down to whatever's most interesting at the time. 2. Spectrals can create convincing- at a glance- clones of themselves, but they will still not pass muster if they're prodded, and will dissolve away. While they're around, the Spectral might gain a general sense of what's happening around them, but nothing as concrete as having multiple new sets of them-shaped eyes. The illusion clones might behave generally as desired, but in a simpler sort of way. And similar to being touched, being questioned too much will cause their behavior to become more erratic, their ability to stay in-character falling apart. |
| #16
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-07-06 |
Yeah, I was thinking he would start as errand boy and have to stick to that for a while. Itâs a good spot to demonstrate he is willing to learn the laws and obey them. (Including dress code.) definitely a slow, slow burn kind of thing. A small way to earn good will. Anyway, the soul sight. If she tried to focus on the reflections or determine what is reflections. Could she do that or is that nighty night time? |
She could probably begin to get some proper sense of it- though it would become more and more painful, the longer she stuck to it at once. It's likely to eventually result in her passing out- or at least a serious migraine creating all its own exciting lights- but it's not impossible if she's stubborn. While it'd be harder to track the activity as a whole this way, she could probably discern at least a couple 'genuine' souls here and there, beyond all the reflections. They're not even doing anything suspicious; though small, they're behaving in similar ways to what she'd see in Karteria. With all the obfuscation streaking everything else blurry, it'd not be possible to tell if they're all like that, or to get a sense of their numbers. But there's definitely some real activity under there. |
| #17
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-07-05 |
This is great đ ty mods! For our science folks who have been studying Katalyth and getting strange side effects, are the voices/song muffled when they're behind the Kelesis barrier the same way they are within the Karterian one? |
Strangely, the voices/sounds the Katalyth-listeners are tuning into remains properly audible within Kelesis. And yet, there's some sort of filtering effect going on, as it sounds distinctly different. Rather than a dirge, it's rather lively, closer to carnival music. Weirdly, it would be the same tunes that they'd already been hearing, but played in a major key, turned into something that wouldn't be out of place at a fairground. (Occasionally discordant at times, before righting itself.) And while the voices are still there, they're only saying nice, encouraging things. (Or things that sound like speech, that have the inflection and cadence and everything spot on, but the words are nonsensical.) |
| #18
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-07-05 |
Couple of questions here! -Momo is poking around the few Kelesian bookstores/libraries to see if they have writing on the conflict with Lupe (so he can compare it to what Karteria has written) - would he find anything? -Given the...[gestures at the situation with focusing in on Kelesian individuals], if Momo tried putting on a comedy show with an audience participation element, would that actually be possible to do? -Not TDM-specific, but: Momo's been trying to form connections in and get involved with Karterian entertainment over the last few months. Would it be feasible at this point to have gotten the TV talk show (for more helping to humanise the Augmented along with cultural sharing between Karteria and everyone's worlds) idea he bounced off Mettaton off the ground, or at least progressed on it? With radio being more accessible, he would've begun engaging with that already and focusing more in on it this month, so if a proof of concept is necessary that's a route he's willing to go down. Edited (revise stop getting the city names mixed up challenge impossible mode) 2025-07-04 03:04 pm (local)
|
1. War with LupĂȘ? Hmm... Kelesian citizens aren't sure about what this is. There is no texts they know of, and no texts to be found, not at first. After about a week, however, a few will show themselves! They're more like tabloids. Karteria and LupĂȘ fought... but it was so quick that Kelesis only learned of it as soon as it was all over! Their sister city says it's because LupĂȘ struck first, and their retaliation was swift, their weapon of choice being their Augmented Folks. LupĂȘ had no comment save for the ravenous spread of Katalyth across islands... And obviously they were too gone to comment. Ultimately, accounts are... Blurry. Kelesis doesn't seem to know what's going on. It seems to be leeching a little bit from Karteria's perception of what happened, but they seem blindsided by the eventâand citizens themselves are only vaguely aware of it, lamenting the lost lives of LupĂȘlias and the Karterian Augmented Ones. 2. It would actually be possible to do! It might be that if he were singling out a specific person in the audience, that they would fade back, while someone else would enthusiastically take their place. But he would have his participation. Kelesians are even more likely to find this kind of participation-feature entertaining and fun than Karterians who are a generally more reserved bunch. 3. It is possible that Momo would get his chance to be on TV, given all his work in setting himself up on radio (And generally being well-liked by Karterians, not giving anyone any trouble.). He is palatable (despite the buggy parts), he is friendly, he has a face for television (and no one else has cratered the Augmented's reputation to counter all those things)... Momo can get his chance. |
| #19
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-07-05 |
A quick question, to which I apologize for: Stelle is actively going to be digging through any trash disposal units in Kelesis; is there anything weird about them at all (i.e: there's literally nothing in them, anything strange can be found in them, etc)? |
Absolutely nothing to apologize for- and Stelle will find nothing too unusual in the various trash cans in Kelesis. They contain: trash. Empty bottles, cardboard, bits of food, wrappings, basically anything you'd expect to find in a trash can would be there. What is somewhat odd, is that no one is ever seen emptying them, or rummaging about in them (besides Stelle, perhaps). Additionally, while trash certainly enters them, they never become full. There's always space for something more. Were a character to deliberately test this, and attempt to toss infinite trash within it, it would still never become full. (And yet, were someone to enter the trash container themselves, they would find nothing remarkable about it. This is likely to garner some concern from the Kelesians, who would ask if everything's okay.) |
| #20
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-07-05 |
hey hey! regarding the Odd Shit going down if augmented watch/follow kelesians too long, could any of this be captured on film by the syntrofos? if someone happened to time a snapshot very well when they witnessed a person distorting or clipping through a building, what would the syntrofos show in terms of picture/film? | Oh, that's interesting... Should anyone get the timing just right (or record a length of it at a distance), the Syntrofos will be able to capture the bizarre behavior. Except, rather than what the character originally saw themself, it will be wrong in different ways. Still glitchy. It will be very distorted, but it won't be the same as what they remember. It's not necessarily (and probably isn't), actually gory, but would be alarming as anything to witness in real life. Bodies aren't supposed to wriggle that way, squirming into the floor. Walls aren't supposed to drift, faces aren't meant to disappear, that's not how embraces work, etc. The visual quality will also be worse than anything the Syntrofos usually captures. In poor lighting conditions it might be hard to make out much of anything (though given the brightness of the days and the city, it's more likely to end up blown out). A real 'found footage' kind of aesthetic. |
| #21
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-07-05 |
Couple of questions! - if Lune asked the Kelesisians about their barrier. How much could they tell her? - Kaeya has been getting more involved with efforts for city services. Would it be possible to snag a steady job (over time) in studying the laws and regulations/assisting lawyers. Even if itâs just being their errand guy. Something. He will make it pretty known he wants to understand and respect their ways. - back to Lune. The soul sight. If passively observed for a while in Kateria or Kelesis, are there differences in the number of lights and the behavior of the lights? |
1. They would mostly talk about how lovely the pillars that create it is; if tourism were ever a thing these days (maybe the Augmented are reviving the concept), they would definitely be something they would encourage visitors to look at! The way the light hits the glasswork at different times of day is really something! The barrier they produce can't be seen, so at least there's something to admire. How does it work? None of them are engineers or magicians- at least not any who've worked on the barrier project. They might know someone who knows someone... but they're just not possible to track down. Too busy; the important thing is that the pillars are pretty- or rather, it works, right? 2. Kaeya might be able to get some reliable work doing errands- as the thought of an Augmented doing real lawyering is something any firm would find absurd, at the moment. (It's something of a high-middle, upper class sort of career, frequently connected to the government- groups that have the least tolerance towards the Augmented.) But he might find some firm willing to take him on for basic tasks- and over time, he might work his way a little up the appropriate food chain. 3. The soul sight within Karteria looks and 'feels' how one would expect. There's people, they have souls, and to concentrate on it, it would look like a city that's full of them, ambling about. Trying to do the same thing in Kelesis is uncomfortable, produces headaches if stared at for too long. There's lights there, but they're moving unusually, looking like reflections off of reflections. They're also smaller, underneath it all, if she managed to concentrate for long enough past the discomfort and increasing dizziness of it. Their behavior is harder to judge, as the reflective quality of it has everything darting around unnaturally. |
| #22
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-07-05 |
Are the previously augmented there for the.... intensified welcome speech? Or just the new folks? | Old Augmented can certainly be around for the new arrivals at Initiation- and for the oddly evolving speech. They're even encouraged to help out the new Augmented, to be there for them especially in these early days- as they'd be better equipped to handle questions over what to expect (and who knows, maybe they'll catch a familiar face). So yes they can certainly be on hand. |
| #23
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-07-05 |
By Its Cover! If he spends hours reading and researching (or in any other libraries) what might he come up with regarding; - Kelesian barriers - history on LupĂȘ / the original augmented's involvement in Kelesis? - history of Kelesis, in general |
1. That's some dull reading Brickston is after! Even if he scrounged thoroughly through the decorated bookstore (and the few small libraries that exist), there wouldn't be any sort of serious literature about the barrier, or how it functions. There would be magazine articles though, which primarily feature lovely artistic photos of its pillars. The focus is definitely on its aesthetic appeal, with only footnotes about how it's saving everyone's lives by existing. 2. LupĂȘ isn't covered well at all in Kelesian literature- but the same could be said about most serious topics. It's mentioned as one of the islands of Pathos, as far away from their island of Eparsis as it's possible to be. It's more questions than answers, wild hypotheticals on the type of foods they have, or the music they listen to. After a few weeks, some articles will turn up about LupĂȘ's war with Karteria, as noted here. The original Augmented's presence in Kelesis wasn't much of a major event in their eyes. There's some older periodicals which give mention to them- and much like the Kelesian's view of them today, is focused more on their charm factor, and less on why they're there. There's interviews on what it's like to have feathers and claws, there's monstrous glamour shots. There's not really anything on what they're doing there. 3. Kelesian history... to go through the shelves, it'd be possible to get the impression that it just doesn't have one. Apart from some basic facts (It's on the island of Eparsis, it's the largest settlement, it has friendly relations with Karteria on the neighboring island of Orexis), there's nothing that couldn't have already been read about in Karteria. There's nothing about how it was founded, even as part of some idealized mythology. There's more on current trends, current fashions, treatises on the lovely weather, and their sparkling waterfront. Anything that tries to be serious or methodical ends up becoming unreasonably poetic and metaphorical instead. The situation with arcane radiation is written like a story- and not even a deliberately sensationalized one, but as a simple storybook tale with a happy ending (The Kelesian barrier! No more information on how it functions here either, it's merely a plot device that means everyone is safe now.). |
| #24
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-07-05 |
Kelesis-Arthropoda question! Once Hubert learns to tune out the ambient emotion and focuses on the perpetual movement/frustration emanating from the underground, what would happen if he shifted and burrowed towards the source of it? Or towards it in general, if it's ubiquitously sourced? Edit for second question: The Kelesians insist the radiation filtering is near perfect. Hubert's chitin turns blue in the presence of arcane radiation outside of direct light. Does he ever glow inside the Kelesis barrier? Edited (added second question) 2025-07-04 07:29 pm (local)
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It certainly is possible to dig down down down, and to get notably closer to it- but to go down far enough (several meters in places), he'll hit concrete. It looks to be very hard to bore through, and while Kelesians will tolerate Hubert digging around in their city (so long as he's not doing it in the middle of a shop, or right on the street), this is starting to get quite disruptive, and he'd be asked to stop. It would be very clear that there's some sort of created structure underground though. And given the spread of the emotions/movement underground, it is expansive. Digging outside Kelesis won't have anyone stop him, but he also won't hit on anything. (Could he tunnel in the long way? Possibly, but it would be rough going, and would take quite a bit of time to return to where the emotions and activity are.) As for Hubert's glowing... he would. But rather than merely blue, Hubert would also find himself glowing in an assortment of fine colors, bright and cheerful. He could be strobing rainbow. |
| #25
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-07-04 |
Initiation question: If a character wears armor, like, almost all the time in daily life, will they wake up in their armor, will it be on the table in a sack at orientation, or will it be waiting for them in their room at the Valentia? | Good question! We're not going to necessarily count their armor as an item slot (unless you want it to count) if it's just boring old armor that they wear in their canon art and whatnot. They can either wake up with it on, or Patho-Gen could have politely taken it off and either hand-delivered it to their room, or left it in a sack for them to haul themselves. ALSO up to you, whichever sounds most fun for you. |
| #26
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-07-04 |
what's the food like in Kelesis? and is it more expensive than Kartarian food? i have been checking the event and the locations page but i might have missed the mention of it. thanks! | You're right, it isn't yet listed anywhere. Kelesian food is about the same cost as food in Karteriaâ that is, it's quite expensive. However, it doesn't seem to be in any shortage ... Kelesian cuisine borrows plentifully from Karterian cuisine in some ways, but they favor more flavor and don't care much for jello, casseroles, or weird astronaut food business. Seafood is popular! They enjoy lots of plant-based dishes and there is a prolific street food scene. The foods may borrow more inspo from Spanish, Mexican, Filipino, and Mediterranean cuisine, but the food may just surprise anyone: a food you've been craving might just show up! No matter what sort, no matter how exotic! ... It might require some substitutions, but they'll try their best. ...The dish won't survive past city limits. Circumstances have it that someone will knock it out of your hands before you get that far. What happens in Kelesis, stays in Kelesis. |
