TEST DRIVE ∞ May 2025

[thediadem]

Test Drive ∞ May 2025

The First Collision

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Jump ⇅ :: Arrival — Panorama — Fringes — Invite Request

The Diadem is an invite-only panfandom game set in a retro-futuristic world where uprooted souls find themselves deep within an eerie wasteland of roads and highways frequently assailed by cosmic storms. Three united strongholds keep the population. Its capital is Panorama, a large metropolis at the planet's center.

Soon, you realize you aren't alone. Calling themselves fluxdrifts, the "locals" have similar stories to you, either for themselves or their ancestry. You speak to an old woman who claims she hailed from another star. You meet a young man who says his great-great-grandfather knew a strange language everybody spoke "back home." As you explore, you stumble across a coin you recognize or your sister's locket. How did it get here? What does this mean? That's for you to discover.

But first, you need to find a ride.

No invites needed to play on the TDM. Everyone's welcome! Use the Invite Request thread below to request an invite from another player.

∞ Summary ∞

IC-wise, arrivals are scattered throughout the month. Events described on the TDM are also ongoing throughout the month. If you'd rather jump right into the action, you're free to begin in media res with your character having already been on the planet for several days.

Post-impact, characters will wake up in a med tent by the Scrapyard. From there, they must accept a vehicle on loan and make the 2-hour drive to the nearest city, Panorama. If they refuse the car because they don't want the loan, they'll be in debt for medical bills instead...so just take the car. It'll come in handy.

Some things to keep in mind when bringing in your character:

• Pick an injury. At minimum, they got knocked out; at most, whatever they can recover from. Medicine is decently advanced so they'll heal faster if not painlessly.
• Decide items kept. Reasonable items on their person only: photos, keys, clothes, costumes. No pets or animal companions. Wildly out-of-place tech and personal cell phones will be damaged beyond repair.
• Select a weapon. Do this only if eligible. Guidelines about weapons and powers are on the FAQ.
• Choose a vehicle. Decide whether your character gets 2-3 options or if they're stuck with something they hate. Players can pick directly from our collection or source their own images. Anything under a similar aesthetic will work. If your character needs accommodations for driving, they can have them. Ask us for details.
• Get a phone. Characters have to obtain a phone (and a SIM card) themselves. If they've got one from home, it's damaged beyond repair. Phones are cheap. It'll only take a couple of weeks to afford one. You need to know the number before you text or call anyone. Read about phones and the Forum before you hop on it.

TDM threads can be canon if characters are accepted. Top-levels made to the TDM should be open to all.

TDM Questions? Here — Game Questions? FAQ

Setting — Taken — Reserves — Applications ::: ⇅ Top

Fluxdrift

Arrival & Introduction

Date: Throughout May

You've tumbled over a cliff. You were fighting for your life. You're on the cusp of death. You slipped in the shower. Whatever the catalyst, you struggle to cling to consciousness. As darkness overtakes you, a swirling vortex warps light and shadow in a way that defies all physics. A dark wail etches into your very bones. You couldn't describe it if you tried. You can barely comprehend what it is.

Then you open your eyes.

Through the figure's mask ©, you swear the face is grinning down at you. The tent you're in smells of antiseptic, and scratchy blankets line your cot. Injuries you've sustained have been bandaged. In the corner, you spot a MedBot that's fixed you up. Depending on the extent of your injuries, the doctor on duty might give you some painkillers before you go. Thankfully, your belongings are by the exit. Sorry if anything's damaged. Your landing was pretty rough.

You follow the figure outside. They are Yom Crook, here to lend a hand to fellow fluxdrifts like yourself. Their car's parked beside them. Actually, there are lots of cars around, but Yom Crook's stands out with its painted shark mouth. They explain they found you, unconscious, in a diffusion zone and brought you here. The nearest city is a 2-hour drive northeast. Forget about walking. You'll never make it. Also, you owe the doctor a lot of money for patching you up. But you're in luck: they've got some wheels for you and if you accept the vehicle on loan, Yom Crook will cover your medical bills. That's a good deal, right? It's not the shiniest car or motorcycle, but it'll do. If fortune favors, you'll get to choose between two or three options. Plus, if you need accommodations to drive—like adjustments to your seat height or modified controls—you'll receive all that for free.

Take the vehicle. (And the loan.) Yom Crook assures you that you'll have six months before collectors come around. Any time you're ready to pay a part of it down, return here to the Scrapyard. You'll get a receipt and everything. Paying off the loan in six months isn't impossible, but it will take a lot of work. Just don't get too lax. There's a good chance you'll be juggling multiple loans as you try to get by.

You either know how to drive, or you'll have a bare-bones manual to get you started. Road rules are more a suggestion than enforced, so just hit the pedal and go. The car has some basic features. The built-in compass will help you navigate.

OPTIONAL PROMPTS: a flat tire; a body on the road (is it a trap?); a fender bender

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Panorama

Explore & Settle In

Conditions: Warm spring temperatures, light showers

After 2 hours on the road, you find civilization. The largest of the strongholds, Panorama is where the economy thrives. Massive power plants glowing red make it visible from a distance. The city is divided into three districts. For now, you can access the Pavilion and the Blocks. Don't worry about the Sanctum; they're not letting you in.

You only need to know two things about Panorama: 1) it's big, the size of a modern metropolis, and you'll need your car to get around; 2) anything goes as long as you don't pick a fight with the wrong person. Street smarts will get you far. Despite its geographical size, the population isn't huge. With roughly a million people in a city designed for over twice that number, Panorama is far from deserted, but nor is it overcrowded. It's a good thing. Resources are limited as it is.

The Pavilion: Free Samples

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Like any large city, Panorama features a couple of supermarkets. The stock's not as consistent as a proper supermarket. On occasion, shelves can remain cleaned out for a week or two. Regardless, the long tradition of free samples remains. If you're not already shopping, you'll notice the crowded parking lot and clusters of lines inside.

Try samples, push through the crowds as you shop, or give yourself a five-finger discount. If you're cautious, you can pocket a few small items without consequences. The Pavillion doesn't have the infrastructure for surveillance; unless someone sees you, you won't be caught. Steal from the store or pilfer someone's wallet. Maybe you even make a new friend if you bump into another fluxdrift. Or, start a fight with somebody who cut you off in the cheese line. Don't make too much of a ruckus, or you'll be thrown out.

As you look around, you'll see posters advertising temporary positions for the cash register or graveyard shifts in the warehouse. Seems they might've lost several employees recently (how'd that happen?), which is good for you! It's just a 6-week position, but it'll get you on your feet. The city has temporary positions like this all over. Permanent ones are harder to come by when you're new.

Samples include: steamed cabbage dumplings, synthetic cherry juice, cheddar cheese, and chocolate-covered alien eggs (it's crunchy and weirdly tasty). They're served in the usual throwaway paper cups with little toothpicks.

The Blocks: Power Outage

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Power's finicky in Panorama, especially in the Blocks. Saint Margery's Hospital, located in the same area, has priority for power so the first to go are the motels. Maybe you've been in your room for a couple of weeks, maybe you just got here—and by the way, every motel desk is happy to put the fee on your tab if you don't have the money upfront—but all the motels on the east side are in a blackout, leaving only the west side motels up and running.

What do you do? You have three choices:

• Risk leaving your room and head to the other side where there's power. Knock on some doors and negotiate with another to share the room. They might shut the door in your face, ask for a favor in return, or be nice enough to help you with no strings attached. There's no guarantee your unattended room will be untouched, though, and you'll be on the hook for any damages an intruder causes.
• Sit in the dark and deal. It's not the worst idea, but the TV's down, the vending machines are powered down, and with the entire place plunged into darkness, you risk getting robbed. If you struggle with defending yourself, you might want to find some trustworthy company. You can also sneak out of there and let them take your leftover pizza. It's not like you've got a ton of valuables, right? Plus, clobbering someone in the face with a frying pan sounds great until you realize you've gotta do something with the body. And what if this person's got a friend waiting?
• Get in your car and drive (or grab a friend for a road trip). If you scroll the Forum, you might notice reports on diffusion zones southward. Besides, these motels are hardly your forever home. The city can only provide so much. Why not go for a ride and see what you can find out there?

OPTIONAL PROMPTS: clean up on aisle 3 (what is that goo?); a knock at your door but no one's there; you hear screaming or a commotion down the hall

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©

The Fringes

Quad 3: Lockdown

Conditions: Stormy, with flooding roads

Felix Bjurstrom
> Date: 125-05-17
> Time: 02:15:57

> Emergency road lights have been reported in Quadrant 3! Please, can someone go see what's there? When last we chasers investigated emergency lights, a whole truck filled with sour candy had tipped over. Our stores were stocked for weeks! Oh, be careful - reception looks bad in that zone.

Whether you end up here on your own or you were following a tip on the Forum, the outcome is the same: you come to a stop in front of a 2-story office building that's flooded several inches deep. Emergency lights from a roadblock flicker through the stormy night. Stepping out of your car, you're soaked within seconds. When you check your phone, you don't have any bars. No calls in or out.

Through the open windows, a computer awakens and displays a cheerful smile. The lights inside switch on.

Pick your scenario role below. Your thread partner doesn't need to take the opposite role! They can join you in the same scenario (i.e. trapped together). Players are also free to create a generic NPC for the other side to facilitate the thread.

After characters escape, they'll find one bottle of antibiotics in their pocket or car, whether they remember taking it or not.

A: Sealed In
As you peer through the windows, you see crates of medicine floating around. Antibiotics in the diadem are valuable. Hospitals and doctors are always buying. You can keep it for yourself or make a quick buck. Or maybe you're compelled to help somebody back in the city who's in need. Whatever the reason, you decide to take the risk and step inside.

Water splashes around your ankles. The lock buzzes behind you. If you try to break the windows, you discover they're unnaturally resistant to shattering. With the whole place locked tight, the water begins to churn. Then the computer lights up again.

Warning, it flashes in large, bold text. Quarantine in progress. Release code required for exit.

• To find the code, you'll have to search. Duck under the water, go through sopping envelopes and sticky notes or pick the locks on the filing cabinets and desk drawers. You can also try hacking the computers. Use your computer knowledge or fall back on the age-old trick of seeing who wrote down their password.
• The files, notepads, and emails start innocuous, but as you look through them, disturbing phrases jump out at you—a dark thought you've had or a cruel taunt from someone in your past. The longer you're fixed on the terrible words, the higher the water begins to rise. Only another can break you out of your trance.
• With the rising water comes fear. And the more you're afraid, the more the water also rises. You begin to see faces in the water, bobbing like balloon heads. Do you recognize them? If you move to take a closer look, they will sink back beneath the surface as if never there.
• If you manage to swallow your panic, you can eventually find a triple-laminated binder with the release code and instructions. Bad news: you need someone on the outside to punch in the 6 strange symbols in order. The instructions explain that the code panel is located at the back of the building.

Let's hope a friendly face comes along.

B: Set Free
As you peer through the windows, you see not just the crates of medicine but someone trapped inside. They look like they might be in trouble, and from your vantage point, you notice that the water is bubbling strangely. It's definitely not normal rainwater. As you watch, the water rises unnaturally, stopping and starting. It's as if the water level is responding to an external stimulus.

• The glass is soundproof. You can't hear what the person inside is saying, so you'll have to communicate with each other another way. Try charades, typing on your phone, or whatever you think of. Eventually, you determine that they're stuck and that you need to enter some sort of code onto a pad located—according to your trapped partner—at the back of the building.
• Around the back, shadows swallow your surroundings. The panel must be pried open, but a slippery substance makes it hard to get a good grip. Each time the substance touches you, you grow uneasy. You swear you see eyes watching you, though when you turn around, nothing's there.
• You can't seem to keep the instructions in your mind. And those symbols...they burn into your retinas. Through them, you glimpse an incomprehensibly massive figure unfurling in the darkness, pulsing as if in a deep sleep. When you snap back to reality, you realize you've injured yourself, slicing your hand on a sharp edge or a bruise you can't remember getting.
• Once you manage to release the doors, the water inside the office drains upward into the sky as though sucked out by a giant hose. The darkness spreads. Get out of there fast before the shadows drag you or your partner into the void.

Of course, you don't have to help anyone. You can leave the individual there, make a deal, or outright extort them. But remember, you're not the only person on these roads. You might want to play your cards carefully, even if altruism isn't your first instinct.

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Comments

pavillion!

[kingsroads]

[ Jonathan Strange is many things. An immensely powerful magician who's reshaped the laws of magic itself, bringing magic back to his England. Someone who's not used to this time and place—his posture is a little too stiff, his expression a bit too wary, his clothes really damn Regency. Super fucking cursed in a way that Mr. Sorcerer Supreme would be able to notice (though good news, that curse isn't here!)

But the main thing he is at the moment is hungry. He's getting some dumplings for himself (they're dumplings, it's the same across all realms, this is good solid perfectly serviceable food) when he spots Stephen Strange doubling over.

Something odd is happening here. But Jonathan 'magically sensitive but hasn't exactly figured out how to name that feeling and also just a dumb clueless man at times' Strange can't put a name to what that oddity is. Whatever it is, he'll push through it. He always does. Besides, odd feelings in the back of one's mind should be ignored when there's a more visible problem, such as a person in distress. So, he does what he thinks is best: put a hand on Stephen's back to offer support. ]

Come now, let's get you sat down somewhere and then get a glass of water.

[ And given the opportunity, he'll gently try to lead him towards the nearest bench. ]

this'll be an awfully strange thread

[elriche]

( ooc: i'm not canon-familiar, but i read the wikipedia summary to get a better sense of the curse (lmao MAN faeries are dicks). anyway! erring on the side of super vague, but just lemme know if i get anything wrong or go too far! )

[ Stephen feels the hand at his back and immediately stiffens. Bony lumps in the fabric writhe under the man's hand – judder, flap in a panicked frenzy, a mass of bird wings trapped under polyester–

He shoves away from the man, stumbles a couple feet until something hits his calf – slightly higher than it should be, angling toward digitrade, lopsided compared to his other side. He turns, realizes that in his state of discombobulation, the man guided him to a bench.

Something goes dry in his too-deep mouth. This man, the shopkeeper, others by the side of the road on his way here – even as he grasps for filaments of the power he normally possesses, strangers have tried to reach out to him. Help him.

They assume it's something he needs. Something that won't consume them whole. In a broken universe, there at least was nothing left for him to destroy. ]

Sorry. [ The word comes out tight, distorted, and not just because of the half-forked tongue in his mouth. He winces, inhales and cricks his neck with concentration. The wings along his back go still; the keratin threatening to burst from the toe of his shoe slowly ebbs away from hoof to foot. His legs even out. He realizes his hand's taken grip of the edge of the bench as he lets out a sharp breath and opens goat-slit eyes that fade back to tired blue.

He appraises the guy. A little overdressed for the venue, a little awkward, though the latter could be due to the nature of what he just witnessed. There's something else, too – a trace, just along his edges. Something dark. ]

Got the water covered. [ Stephen waves his hand, takes hold of a clear glass of water as it apparates into his palm. He takes a generous swig, other hand still gripping the bench as he raises a tired brow at the man. ] Could offer you something stronger, if you need it.

[ You know, after seeing. That. ]

eyyyyyyy

[kingsroads]

( ooc: fairies are just SUPER dicks, man. I'll chuck in a bit more in the ooc flavortext as needed just so Stephen can fully realize "oh this guy is FUCKED up"~ )

[ Underneath his hand, Jonathan can feel this man's skin ripple. Something shifts underneath his hand. Idly, he thinks of a bird trapped in the curtains, flailing and struggling to free itself. He saw something like that back home in Shropshire. He's certain the vast majority of England saw something like that when he returned magic to his world, bringing it back on the wings of ravens—even a magical emissary could get caught up in the drapes. Jonathan has never felt a bird struggling in fabric, only seen it, but he imagines this is how it would feel.

Jonathan isn't sure why that thought leapt to his head. Why when looking at this man, his first instinct is that of an animal. He stumbles like one, at least. There isn't much difference between the stumbling walk of a drunkard or a newborn foal—though this man doesn't have a hint of alcohol on his breath.

If Norrell were here, he would implore Jonathan to leave this obviously unwell man alone. Call for a doctor then go away. This is not your business. Don't seek trouble—and this man, whoever he is, is very obviously trouble. Something happened, even if Jonathan can't exactly place what it was. Something happened and it feels dangerous. Feral. Wild. But there's something enticing about this man, something he just can't place but piques his interest all the same. Besides, Norrell isn't here. And Jonathan Strange has never met a metaphorical hornet's nest that he couldn't hit with a big stick.

He should be scared. He absolutely isn't.

At Stephen's request, Jonathan lets out a small chuckle. ] If I am to have something stronger, I'd prefer it to be at my club, over a game of billiards...though I have come to understand that the idea of a gentleman's club means something quite different in this time.

[ He is married (sort of), thank you very much, and doesn't have interest in that.

Jonathan sits down on the bench, next to Stephen, with the confidence of someone who absolutely hasn't realized just how full of demons the other magician is. The curse that threatens to overtake him creeps on the edges, lingering closely, a cold darkness that smells of wood and forest and rot, with unfamiliar stars shining in the sky beyond them. It feels old. This is a remarkable contrast to Jonathan's own magic, shining brightly as if to blind someone, bright and shiny, new and powerful. This is a man who has moved entire cities before, who has changed the shape of magic itself in his own world, who's just sitting on a bench and making a joke about gentleman's clubs like this is a totally normal occurrence.

It also is a curse and a magic that other people absolutely aren't seeing—Jonathan is certainly getting an odd look or two but again: this man is Regency core. ]

You're the one I should offer something to in the first place! You are ill, are you not?

[ Is that what that feeling is? ]

sorry for the wait, was appin'!

[elriche]

[ In this time. Stephen thinks back to the man in the tricorn hat in the hallway just a couple of days ago. Not too far off from the style this guy is wearing, and possibly even closer in terms of the century he hails from – assuming it's an Earth century, with typical chronological progression. If Stephen's learned anything from the Watcher, it's that within the wide swaths of the multiverse, anything is possible. No assumptions should be taken for granted.

Which might help explain the guy's gregarious cheer as he ambles over and plops down. Stephen's eyes follow him, as he remains hunched over the bench, bony fingers gripping the backrest just a little too tightly. He takes a sip from his conjured water glass as the man comports himself like the second sister's love interest in a Jane Austen novel.

Or... maybe Bram Stoker. Stephen's perception has been so dulled in this place, the oceans inside him so volatile and unruly, that only now in this moment of respite does he begin to perceive a fuller picture. There's something more to this man, and maybe even more to the more – two opposing forces, one sparking between atoms, the other one consuming them. ]

I'm fine. Just... getting a handle on things. [ On myself. He slowly rounds the bench, eases himself into a seat next to the other guy – or, rather, on the opposite end of the same bench, with calculated empty space between them. Stephen takes another sip, frowns, gestures the glass and its liquid back into thin air, like he's annoyed he needed it in the first place. After a beat–

Okay, fine. He'll bite. ]

What is that? Around you.

no worries!!

[kingsroads]

[ At that gesture, Jonathan's eyes light up. He is certainly not so poor a magician that he can't tell when magic is being cast. And that, the vanishing of the glass and liquid, was absolutely magic. After dealing with cars and electricity and 'debit cards,' to see something that makes perfect sense is so reassuring. And magic makes sense. Magic is his life.

So, Jonathan looks over at Stephen with a wide grin on his face and a manic intensity in his eyes. ]

I suspect what you're seeing is magic. I am not as magically sensitive to see magic itself manifest, though I know it can—a dear friend of mine could spot curses and enchantments. He wandered into my dream once, that was how we met after all—

[ It's very obvious that one of the benefits of the modern century that Jonathan Strange should take part in is a Ritalin prescription. He's obviously about to go on a tear about said friend of his, when something reminds him to steer back to the conversation. He looks at Stephen with a wide smile, the smile of someone who is totally oblivious to the fact that the other man can spot the fact that he is remarkably cursed before, ]

Though it is rude to ramble on like this without introducing myself. I am Jonathan Strange.

[elriche]

[ The guy's off to the races again, giving an enthusiastic, almost shockingly open account to a complete stranger that – at least in part – maybe explains how he somehow ended up this cursed in the first place. Not necessarily because he's irritating – although talking about your dreams wouldn't be Stephen's first choice for an opener – but because a poker face tends to be an asset when dealing with interdimensional beings. Stephen would know.

Then – the name. ]

That's... funny. [ Stephen's eyes narrow slightly, like he's just had some big cosmic joke played on him. He looks the guy over – a little more sharply this time, at more than just the anachronistic outerwear, tries to pinpoint anything that might look familiar in his features. Nothing, although that doesn't mean much in the grand scheme of the multiverse.

Just a coincidence. Probably. ]

Dr. Stephen Strange, [ he replies after a beat, extending a (thankfully human) hand against his better judgment. Jonathan will find it clammy and cold – almost unnaturally so – but at least friendly in the firmness of its grip. ] And yeah, magic. The real cursed kind. Although... sounds like you're not exactly shocked about that.

[ If there's anything Stephen can't have enough of right now – or ever – it's knowledge. If the guy's going to ramble without a filter, he'll let him. ]

[kingsroads]

[ Oh! Well that's delightful! Jonathan perks up a little bit at the last name. He gives Stephen another once-over, taking in his attire (futuristic? Maybe? It's odd, but there are a few aspects here and there that suggest something beyond Jonathan's time) before lightly teasing, ]

If you are some future relation of mine, you must be a distant one. My wife and I have never had children.

[ It's an odd way to phrase that, considering that Jonathan looks like he's in his late thirties—if his wife was the same age, children aren't entirely out of the equation, yet he's saying it like it's a sure thing.

There's a moment before the conversation continues, though. 'The real cursed kind.' Well, that explains the odd feeling Jonathan has about this man. Idly, he wonders just how much of his own curse Stephen is picking up on. ] The curse is separate to the magic. I have been a magician for over ten years, cursed for only a year or so.

[ He thinks. Maybe. ]

Is yours different?

[elriche]

[ At least the other guy's more excited than suspicious about the... strange coincidence. Stephen doesn't miss the style appraisal – not the first weird look from another fluxdrift today, maybe not even the third – and makes a mental note to conjure something a little more toned down next time he heads out of his motel. He picks out the "children" comment in the barrage of information – sure, okay, he could tell Jonathan there's still time (or maybe not, given the statistics on his expected lifespan, and the fact Stephen doesn't particularly want a great-great-great-grandfather among the general fluxdrift population)–

Then the meat of the conversation. Stephen's focus intensifies. I have been a magician for over ten years. Which means Jonathan's brand of magic is one that requires study, just like Stephen's own. ]

Oh– [ I meant your magic – your curse, Stephen almost replies to the question, before stopping short. What Jonathan just saw – a stranger writhing, transforming in uneven parts, transmogrified by some unknown, grotesque power – it'd be natural to assume it was something forced upon an unsuspecting victim, unwanted, an unfathomable malediction from demons unknown. Not something pursued, consumed, earned through focused conquest. Something done with premeditated research, systematic repetition, the desired culmination of a hellbent plan.

So instead, Stephen leans back on the bench. He feigns relaxation and forces a smile. Shrugs.]

It's... complicated. [ A beat. Stephen knows he'll have to provide some crumbs of his own if he wants the the guy to keep talking with wild abandon – which, to his great chagrin, he does. ] Magic's not exactly common where I come from – didn't even know it existed until I... needed to look for it. Learned a fair bit of spellwork since then, [ understatement, ] and as for the curse – mostly from run-ins with mystic beings, [ misleading. ] Turns out using their power is a double-edged sword, [ willfully underplaying, ] though those days are mostly over for me. [ An appalling, audacious lie – to himself. ]

[kingsroads]

[ 'Didn't even know it existed.' Well then. That is vastly different from Jonathan's world, where magic does exist and it is common knowledge but, him and Norrell excepted, people simply do not cast it. Magic for Jonathan is like knowing how to use a trebuchet or conquer a kingdom. It happened. It existed. People could do it. People know about it as well. But if you asked a random person on the street how to do it, they wouldn't have the slightest idea of where to start.

Besides, it's 'mystic beings' that interest Jonathan. His eyes widen a little bit at those words. Though they don't widen with caution: they widen with pure, unbridled excitement.

This is 100% a man who also would get himself stuffed full of demons if it meant he could access cool new magic. ]

When you say 'mystic beings', are there any in particular you are thinking of? Though I am certain my realm has more, the only ones I have interacted with are fairies.

oh my god why are stranges liKE THIS

[elriche]

[ Something glints in Jonathan's eyes, somewhere along the thread of Stephen's elaboration. It might have gotten past some – those who had never felt drawn by whispers of knowledge, who had never followed its promises like a sailor to a siren, into darkness and over the edge of the Earth. Maybe that's the true curse here, and the common link between them.

Are there any in particular you are thinking of?

Stephen remembers his time in darkness, cloistered from cycles of night and day, so fixated that even centuries passed by with little notice. He remembers faces and feathers, tongues and scales, feels them twist within wet muscle under his skin. Glimpses of sense-memory – a red-eyed bat in a deep lava cave, hordes of blue birds across the surface of a sun. A dragon worshipped by men draped in silver and gold, a shark swimming fathoms deep, leaving clouds of shimmering blood in the sand. Flashes of others, a thousand, thousand strong, points of color like paint on canvas, distorted, smeared together to something ugly and dark. ]

A few. [ Stephen knows he's being evasive to the point of frustration – but also that Jonathan's appetite is the kind better left hungry. ] Some were "fairies," though that covers a pretty broad spectrum – and not all of them pretty. Though I'm guessing you already know that, judging from the whole "cursed" thing – unless you really pissed off someone at the local... [ he pauses, smiles at the guy's earlier reference, ] gentlemen's club.

two men who approach magic like "fuck it #yolo"

[kingsroads]

[ Jonathan lets out a small chuckle at the mention of 'gentlemen's club.' There's a wry little smile on his face as he shrugs and muses, ] Oh, I am certain I have 'pissed off someone' at my club.

[ This is the first time in his life this man has said 'pissed off someone' and it SHOWS. ]

But none of them could curse me. Magic is slowly returning to England—before I left, there were only a handful of magicians, none of them powerful enough to curse me like this.

[ Well, Norrell might be powerful enough. But at least in Jonathan's mind, there is absolutely no way Gilbert Norrell would think of cursing him. Even when they were on the outs, cursing someone required more chutzpah, more incentive than Norrell ever did. ]

So yes—my curse was caused by a fairy.