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

[vestments]

( 'frankly, that seems a little rude' is marc's default state of being, for better or worse, so here he is. it's not that he's oblivious to social norms or niceties, it's that he makes a deliberate choice to ignore them when he considers it best — and unfortunately, marc's perspective of what's best doesn't often align with anyone else's.

c'est la vie, and all that.

but there is, just for a moment, a slight sharpness in marc's expression at the immediate wry remark, there and gone before marc lifts a shoulder in a vague approximation of a shrug. he's had a very confusing life. shit happens. 'I have no choice but to' is a reasonable, if not good approach in his opinion. )

Then—. ( a beat; an inhalation of breath. it's the precursor to a sigh that doesn't come because marc is aware he's not good at this, has for years had the benefit of a reputation, even if it wasn't a good one, to introduce him and what he does without need for explanation.

he glances back to the door. it's uncertain in its own way, the sort of uncertainty that's tense and used to being disguised, before— ) Whoever's out there might do worse to you for having nothing to steal. ( his gaze drops back over jonathan as if to make a point, before returning as he adds, ) Especially if you're new. An easy target.

( in the distance, arguments can be heard, domesticity intertwined with whatever else is going on, and marc shifts his weight, debating, and then seemingly reluctantly, trace amounts of wariness— ) —Peninsula?

[kingsroads]

[ Marc doesn't have to spell out what he means by 'might do worse to you.' It's obvious enough. Upon seeing he has nothing of value, a brigand or highwayman might simply slit Strange's throat. He would simply have to fight back then. Granted, it is something he isn't particularly looking forward to, especially in a place that undoubtedly has weapons that he hasn't seen before (considering that there are so many other things he hasn't seen before, of course weapons would be on that list.)

But again. What choice does he have? Either adapt to this place and adapt to his new circumstances, or go hungry. Change or have no where to live. Adapt or die. It's aggravating, but it is what it is.

Talking about the peninsula is a welcome change, though. Strange continues, ]

Yes, the Peninsular War. The war on the Continent? Against the French and Napoleon? I served with Lord Wellington as the Army's magician. [ There's a slight hesitation in Strange's voice as he sighs, ] Please tell me you've heard of at least one of those terms.

[ It's the weariness of someone who has just now remembered that it is very likely Marc has no idea who Napoleon (or hell, what France) is to begin with. This place is exhausting. ]

[vestments]

( oh.

abruptly, realisation settles into marc's features. it's wide-eyed at first, calculating — marc has never been a man lacking in emotion, not even when he'd like to pretend otherwise, and over the years, he's come to rely on the very physical, very real mask of moon knight to hide behind. it's never entirely hidden his expressions, movements and shifts have always been visible, but it's always obscured the depths of it. of him.

here, without it, he feels exposed in a way he'll never admit to.

a quirk of his lips — acceptance — and, ) I'm familiar. ( despite the curveball of 'magician' at the end there, the nugget of information half-buried that does enough to tell marc that whatever similarities there may be, he — this man — is not from his earth's past. he doesn't point out that war has become a very different beast in the centuries that follow jonathan, instead— ) An officer?

( it's an assumption, based on accent and cadence. marc isn't intimately familiar with the uk, but familiar enough to do a more-than-passable mancunian accent when required. more familiar with their armed forces of the present day, and even more still with the sorts that wash out of the former and where some of the less scrupulous types end up — in much the same way he'd been kicked out of the corps. )

No magicians or sorcerers in the history books on the Napoleonic wars where I'm from though.

[kingsroads]

[ At Marc's question, Strange shakes his head. ] I served with the officers but magician isn't a commissioned rank.

[ Heaven knows there would be a problem if they tried to make it a commissioned rank, especially as there were only two recognized magicians during the time of the Napoleonic Wars. At least with commanders and admirals, there's a chance for someone to someone to take the position if the current admiral were to die. Less so with magicians.

Marc's next statement, however, that there were no magicians or sorcerers in the history books of his time, is rewarded with an annoyed little huff. It's hardly Marc's fault, of course! But to spend so much of his life promoting magic, championing magic, and to have someone say something like that...it's annoying. ]

In that case, I hope that there is a good answer for why that might be the case. I would loathe it was something as simple as whoever wrote the history books decided that magic was no longer respectable, quarantined to the annals of history.

[ He wouldn't be surprised if his name were to eventually fade away...but magic itself? That, he cannot stand. ]

[vestments]

( marc pauses for one beat, then two, then three, attention shifting towards the door again. pensive. tense. listening. there's some kind of commotion down the hall, maybe a floor up? it's hard to tell in these kind of buildings, the pipework always means that sounds travel weirdly, what sounds close might not be, and so after a distracted moment, his attention returns to jonathan.

not an officer, but he doesn't exactly sound as if he was picked up off the streets, marc thinks. says something about the perception of sorcerers? (magicians.) something to wonder, something that's not important.

he shifts his weight, drawing a foot across the floor. it's not soundless, but that's a deliberate choice. with his training — marines, cia, mercenary — it could be, but he doesn't want it to be. doesn't need it to be. there's no shouting or screaming in this hallway, nothing in nearby rooms, and though there's a part of him that says he should leave, should check on the rest of the motel, another part says that remaining here will give him an advantage for when they reach here, and then he'll make them pay—. )

No. ( an abrupt answer to jonathan's not-question. ) I work with several sorcerers. ( —well. 'work with' isn't quite the truth. stephen detests him, and it's only through stephen's wife's fondness that marc is tolerated, and marc doesn't think that wong holds a particularly favourable opinion of him, as much as he's willing to entertain marc when needs require. ) One was a surgeon before—. ( he gestures with a hand, tight, restrained, as if to say 'you know', entirely because marc doesn't actually 'you know' and can't quite fill in the blanks of how stephen strange went from surgeon to sorcerer.

he settles on, ) Awareness, ( as a belated answer to jonathan's 'why'. )

[kingsroads]

[ Blissfully unaware of the commotion down the hall and Marc's distracted moment, Strange is perfectly happy to keep yammering on. Because a surgeon! That sounds like it would be damned useful. He had plenty of things to do in the peninsula, but if he managed to craft together a spell to mend wounds or staunch bleeding...perhaps the war could have ended quicker.

He'd have liked that. Everything lasted a bit too long in the end. ]

It's a pity your surgeon isn't here. I'd love to pick his brain about certain things. I have a theory that one's upbringing relates just as much to one's style of magic as one's personality and learning. For instance, I ran an estate, so my magic is more jack of all trades than a specialized scholar.

[ And he was desperate for attention, so his magic is a bit showy. But that's a thought that has only crossed Strange's mind once or twice—he'd prefer not to dwell on it. ]

[vestments]

( up until now, jonathan's propensity for chatting had escaped marc's notice — it'd managed to come across as the regular push and pull of conversation, but the way that he takes what marc has said and runs with it has marc realising, quite abruptly, that's not the case.

he doesn't quite look startled by jonathan's response, but there is an edge of bewilderment, a kind of bemusement that marc would normally hide beneath his mask — the literal one, white, with a crescent moon on the forehead, that matches his suit — but is ill-prepared to find a way to disguise now. his silence likely comes across as less judgemental, less deliberate, and more true to what it is: a man recalibrating, working out where to go from here.

for the briefest of moments, unkind as it may be, marc wonders if that same theory extends to any other occupation for jonathan. he considers throwing out selective details of self for jonathan to decide if it's an opinion he really, truly wants to commit to — part ego, part curiosity, part theatrics.

instead— ) You might think. ( cold and thin, the sort of remark that implies marc's given the concept — nature versus nurture — a broad kind of consideration. his father had been a kind, gentle man. exceptional. marc was nothing of the sort. his upbringing, everything elias had sought to instil in him, marc had thrown away.

when facing death for the first time — real, final — he'd chosen to sell out everything, his history, his heritage, his people for a promise of indulging violence. his father would never have done that. didn't raise him to do that, and yet he'd been nothing but a disappointment in that respect. marc was and is violent, rough, ugly. elias— the best man marc has ever met.

jonathan, then, has marc's entire attention. )

Never held true for me and my chosen occupation.

( inclinations. )