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January | Test Drive Meme
Jikan Test Drive MemeMinimize
You've seen this before. The thought strikes suddenly, during whatever it is you were doing. Having an important conversation? Running away from home? Dying in the midst of a fierce battle? Where ever you are, one things is true: you're certain this isn't the first time you've lived through this. But upon realizing this, that's when it happens. Like someone hitting rewind on the VCR, you're back where you were ten minutes ago. And it happens again. And again. And again--Until finally, something is different. A door stands in front of you. Will you go through it? Nothing else seems to be working, so this might be your only chance.
Upon opening the door and heading inside, a strange feeling overwhelms you. It's comforting and warm, like being enveloped in a soft, heavy blanket. You hear a voice murmuring in your ear, but it's unintelligible.
And in the next moment, you've appeared in a laboratory, surrounded by the unfamiliar yet worried faces of people in lab coats, speaking in a foreign language that doesn't sound so foreign to you anymore.
Nanjikan Research Laboratory
There isn't much time to process what's happening before characters are ushered out of the arrival room. They're passed between a medical and a psychiatric team, checking them for injuries and psychological trauma. Their every need is met: food is offered, injuries are tended to, and questions are answered. "You're in the Eastern Kingdom of Nippon on a planet called Gaia," they explain. "You were brought here because you became aware of the timeloop... we'll explain everything."
Orientation Nanjikan Research Lab, Tokyo
Everyone is brought to a large auditorium, where dozens of other people looking similarly out of place are seated around them. The scientists and doctors from before file on stage, thoroughly explaining the situation. What they experienced back home was a timeloop. While the loops in their home worlds are smaller and likely to resolve on their own, the fact that such a small amount of time is being repeated is what makes them so dangerous for those who become aware of it. And they've been working around the clock in collaboration with the neighboring Western Kingdom, checking adjacent universes for others who've become aware. While the technical explanations may go over the heads of most, that's not the reason they were all brought together like this.
And they continue to explain: their own world was trapped in a year long loop for decades, if not longer. Through the use of an ancient form of bonding magic, they bound their world to the present flow of time, allowing it to progress past the timeloop. Or at least, that's how they thought it worked. In truth, Kizuna is very powerful reality-warping magic. And thanks to the powerful bond all refugees now share with the country of Nippon, the magic surrounding them will only continue to evolve.
Until they find the means of resuming the flow of time back in your home world, the refugees will just have to make due with this one. But not to worry, because Nippon is fully committed to taking care of everyone!
A Place to Call Home Tokyo, Kanto
Once orientation is over, characters will be allowed to choose housing in both Kyoto and Tokyo, enabling them the means of easily living between both Kingdoms if they please. These housing options will be fully paid for by the government of Nippon, with the NRL and MRU providing a stipend for food expenses in Tokyo and Kyoto respectively.
In lieu of providing transportation, all refugees will be granted an unlimited rail pass that they can use to travel all across Nippon! Thankfully, express routes connecting Tokyo and Kyoto will be running at all times of day, allowing refugees to freely travel between the Eastern and Western Kingdoms as they please. While this TDM and its prompts are focused on the Eastern Kingdom, you are welcome to have your character arrive in the Western Kingdom instead.
For those traveling through Nihonbashi, be careful not to board the train too late at night. Because on Friday nights, the Loop Line's final train of the night is a party train! Every train car is set up with its own theme and decor, with this week featuring a sexy maid cafe in the rear of the car! Dress up in a surprisingly demure maid outfit (this is 1921) and take customer orders, or have a seat and peruse the menu. There's no actual exchange of currency going on here, so it's all in good fun! The train will loop endlessly past the same station until sunrise, so hopefully they weren't planning on an early night's sleep.
Over in Little Edo, many of the shrines are offering warm cups of amazake to keep visitors warm as they offer their prayers. And of course, the start of a new year is a perfect time to receive a fortune to see just what the new year holds in store for them. But for those who are familiar with Kizuna's tendency to alter reality, they may not be surprised to find their fortune is a little too on-point, containing advice and predictions impossibly tailored to them, including personal details they may not have shared with anyone.
Starting this month, the dorms in Yoshiwara will be going under some pretty extensive renovations, as improved heating and even cooling systems are added to the rooms. Unfortunately, while renovations are going on, refugees will need to swap rooms or even room together in larger groups while each room is gradually outfitted with the new system. And seeing as some dorm rooms are already roughly the size of a fancy closet, they'd better be prepared to get up-close and personal with their fellow refugees! Or maybe just sleep on a futon in the common area. At the very least, it'll be less cramped.
NRL Time Refugee Support Network
Once they've received their housing assignment, all refugees will be given small handheld devices called magi-tech communicators, or magi-comms for short. They're heavier than a conventional smartphone would be, but far sturdier, and powered by the ambient magic that flows through the city. Now available with limited sepia-tone color, and video cameras! They don't need to be charged, but they won't work outside of cities at all. Upon booting it up, they'll find a message linking them to a special channel for refugees.
#nrl_time_refugee_support - online
Use the following code for your top-level if you'd like! This is how network communication will look for characters in the game until more advanced magi-tech comms become available for characters.
Frozen In Time
With New Year celebrations kicking off, the people of Tokyo have been flocking to the many temple and shrines located throughout the city. One such temple isn't accustomed to regular visits by tourists, and yet this year, it's become the most popular for rather unconventional reasons.
Located in the rural Nerima Ward, Genshima-dera is a long-neglected temple almost entirely forgotten by time, and for a very specific reason. Twenty years prior, it famously burnt down in a blaze that took out much of the lush Shakuji park sounding it. And yet the moment the clock struck midnight on the evening of the 24th, it suddenly reappeared as if it had been waiting untouched for these past few decades, completely overgrown and falling into decay.
Ordinarily this would be chalked up to a time surge, but if that were the case, the temple would simply look as it did twenty years ago. The sheer oddity of it all has been attracting many curious tourists, with even the NRL suggesting it may be an important object of study in the future.
Not enough to draw you in? Don't worry, there's plenty else to do in Nerima!
Time Less Traveled By Nerima, Tokyo
The temple itself is a rather curious thing, and in no time, local groups began arranging guided tours for a low price. In addition to the sheer amount of overgrowth outside the main temple entrance, the inside has begun to fall into decay, with a few sunken ceilings and windows blown out by storms over the years. But the real thing of interest is how everything inside looks exactly as it was the day before the blaze, with some objects littered around as if they were suddenly dropped in a hurry by the former occupants.
But this temple is hiding a peculiar secret, and one that only the refugees will discover. Upon viewing the enshrined statue in the center of the temple, a bodhisattva that has been covered by a tattered cloth, the refugees will exit only to discover that they've been transported to an alternate version of Tokyo. This version is entirely devoid of people, and appears to have fallen into an advanced state of decay. Nature has reclaimed many buildings, and exploring any of the ruins in the surrounding neighborhood will reveal them to be just like the temple: everyday objects left in disarray as if the people who were once holding them abruptly disappeared.
Thankfully, they won't be here forever, and there are a number of ways to return to the Tokyo they came from. Returning to the shrine and offering a prayer to the statue will allow them to return upon leaving the temple once more. Entering any train station will abruptly return them to that station in the present day, with seemingly no one noticing their reappearance as if they had been there all along. Or, should they bond with whomever they become trapped with in this alternate timeline, the power of their kizuna bond will suddenly snap them back to reality after around an hour of wandering.
But what happened exactly? While the NRL won't be able to say definitively one way or the other, they believe these special time surges are a side effect of the original time loop, and recommend against attempting to recreate the phenomenon for their own safety.
Hover!!! on Ice Nerima, Tokyo
But spooky temples aren't the only thing drawing crowds to Nerima. The Shakuji River is one of many that passes through Tokyo, and with the recent cold snap, the river has unexpectedly frozen over, creating what some now call Tokyo's longest ice rink.
Vendors have set up booths around the river's edge for renting ice skates, with some offering lessons to those with no skating experience. And there's good motivation to learn, too! Anyone who can skate from one end of the frozen section of the river to the other in less than an hour will win one of a dozen available prizes based on a lottery system. These prizes range from a small cash reward, to a bottle of high-quality locally brewed sake, and even a luxury stay at the Ice Princess Hotel in Sapporo later this month. Skaters will be allowed to attempt the run as many times as they like for as many opportunities to win as possible.
Of course, with such luxurious rewards on the line, some have taken to sneaky measures in order to take advantage of those who want to win big. For a higher fee, steam-powered hover skates can be rented from one vendor at the end of the river. Unlike traditional ice skates, these ones use steady air pressure to keep the wearer elevated an inch off the ground, allowing for constant hovering. These frictionless skates propel the wearer at high speeds, while also allowing for higher jumps using brief puffs of steam.
But if you're going to use these to cheat, be warned: they're not actually meant for ice skating. The effects are simply more pronounced on ice, but they function just the same on solid ground. The only difference is that wearing them on ice means you can't risk staying in one place for too long, because the hot steam pushed out by the skates may cause the ice beneath your feet to melt. Try not to fall in, the water is freezing!
Howling Winds Nerima, Tokyo
Amidst all the fun, some may wonder just how exactly a large river managed to freeze solid when others are still running just fine. It's certainly been cold, but it's not like there's a snowstorm afoot.
It's not until tourists have flooded the area that someone is finally able to pinpoint the cause: a pack of crystal hounds have somehow made their way down from the north. These beasts feed on crystal flowers as cubs, causing icy protrusions to grow out of their body. In addition to added defense, this lowers their natural body temperature, allowing them to withstand the harsh climate of Hokkaido's Everfrost. And in rare cases, should enough crystal accumulate in their body, they become harbingers of winter, drastically lowering the temperature of their surroundings.
And of course, given these are giant wolves that chew on solid crystal as pups, it goes without saying that they're fairly dangerous. As such, the Hanzaki Hunter Clan is tasked with clearing out the crystal hounds. The crystals that grow on their bones are a valuable resource for producing magi-tech, but even so, they'll make every attempt possible to safely transport as many as they can back to the north.
But with so much ground to cover, they'll need all the help they can get. Those who volunteer to assist with the efforts will be given small crystal shards that fell from the backs of the roaming hounds. These crystals will glow once a hound is near, making it easy to track them. But be warned: these are not ordinary creatures. While the smaller hounds are roughly the size of a large wolf, the ones responsible for the rapid freezing of the river will stand over six feet tall, and the chance of encountering them in a pack is high. Only experienced fighters will be given the crystals to track them, while others will be warmed to avoid the Tokyo Outskirts lest they risk running into one.
OOC Notes
Welcome to Jikan's January TDM! The TDM is considered game canon, and also serves as the intro log! That said, whether you choose to carry threads over to the game or not is up to you!
• Current players are more than welcome to top-level, or take prompts from the TDM and use for their own logs! This may change in the future depending on how busy TDMs become.
• CRAU characters may start regaining their CRAU memories one month after the TDM. However, vague feelings of familiarity are allowed between previous game CR! For more on this, please read the FAQ!
• You do not need to sign-up for housing! Choose whichever style you prefer. Roommates can be chosen by the characters or can be random. If you want to switch housing later, your character has the option of moving at the beginning of each month.
• The Friday Night Loop Line is a consistent part of the setting, so feel free to utilize the special menu for threads in the future whenever you'd like!
• Characters are welcome to purchase the hover skates instead of just renting them, but keep in mind, they would be too expensive to buy unless your character has a steady job!
• Feel free to get creative with the rewards from the skating competition! All characters are welcome to win a stay in Sapporo, with more details on this planned for January's event.
• Crystal hounds are very strong animals, and prone to violence if threatened. While their bite and claws are the most dangerous aspect to watch out for, the crystals in their body can also cause instantaneous drops in temperature around them, well below the point of freezing. This effect will grow stronger during battle, and may linger around their body after death.
Please leave any questions about the TDM prompts in the thread below! General game questions can be directed to the FAQ!
Apps are always open!
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