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

Fluxdrive; on the road

[focuslights]

[she's gotten the 8-track back home to work on the tape deck set up in the car, and the ride so far had gone off without a hitch for the first hour-long leg. she'd shut her own music off for awhile to see what sort of radio stations this place had or drive in silence to settle in with her own thoughts. it's a bit lonely being on the road all alone...but she's kind of been on her own these past few weeks anyway, hasn't she? just kept cooped up with only herself, Mok, and his lackeys keeping an eye on her to make sure she didn't sneak out.

but before that, road trips were a lot less lonely. Omar, Dizzy and Stretch made sure of it.

but after an hour or so, the medicine she had taken for her injuries was already beginning to dry up, her arm aching terrible. so she'll take a break, pull off on the side of the road, maybe for a half hour or so, sitting on the hood of her car staring out across the horizon, music blaring with her windows rolled down, stretching her arm as she waits for the painkillers she swallowed dry to kick in.

but maybe to a passer by she looks like a damsel in need of some help, or a lady out of luck with a stalled car.]

[exarched]

[ She does appear to be out of sorts, at least in comparison to the bleak landscape that stretches between the Scrapyard and the city beyond. Though there have apparently been several like him moving from point A to point B, the road itself has been largely uninhibited by both man or car. So when there's a spark of color to the side, he slows down.

Well...slows down as best as he can. In truth, G'raha has never piloted a vehicle quite like this before, but he's managing decently. Even if stopping is a little jerky and he really needs to learn to drive a stick shift.

He rolls down the window, getting a full blast of the music. His ears flatten a bit on the top of his head instinctively as he tries to call out above it. ]

--Miss? Are you alright?

[eyesite]

( sometimes, he just drives, though it’s not as often as he might prefer. he has very little to his name but debt and this car that had given it to him, and putting pointless miles on it does little more than put him further into the red. he tries to make them purposeful—ventures to specific places where rumors of a diffusion zone that might very well be profitable, trips for scavenging for supplies, and the like. mostly, he drives to clear his head. panorama is loud. and it’s not just the noise-noise filling his ears, but also the psychic pressure of so many unique, disparate individuals clustered in the same place. he’d been so accustomed to the overwhelming mental pressure from the Eye’s Knowing that he felt rather ill-equipped fro the opposite—a conspicuous vacuum of knowledge of people, places, and events that it had never had the opportunity to observe and collect. it’s almost worse, really. he keeps having to fight off random spikes of “hunger” in casual conversation, suppressing the urge to poke and pry and compel all the details he was missing out of people. it’s just… too much, so he gets out. he hasn’t thought to turn on music or the radio, far too appreciative of the quiet.

curiosities off by the side of the road aren’t uncommon—he’s seen enough piles of rubbish, skeletal buildings, and abandoned husks of vehicles that it would take something a little more attention-grabbing to get him to consider to stop. the electric shrill and growl of music is one, and angel sitting on the hood of her car is another; combined, they’re enough for the station wagon to slow and pull off the side of the road a short distance ahead of her. john turns off the car, steps out of it, and glances down the road in either direction before approaching. )

If you are stranded out in the middle of nowhere, I’d say you’re taking it rather well.

( his voice, dry and English, takes on an affectation of wry humor. no, he doesn’t get the sense that her car has stalled, so he supposes that just makes him… curious. hm. isn’t this what he’d left the city trying to avoid?

there have been plenty of times where he’d found himself doing exactly what it was he tried to avoid. )

Enjoying the scenery? ( there’s basically fuck-all in every direction… )

[focuslights]

[Angel hasn't exactly been in this place all that long, but she's used to the song and dance of taking a long road trip across deserted and desolate lands. that's just the basic landscape of where she's from. so one second you're alone, with nobody but you, your car, and your thoughts to keep you company, and the next second some fellow drifter stops by to either offer a helping hand or make trouble.

with this guy, she can tell it's the former.

she had been laying down on the hood of her car when this stranger's car pulls over, and she props herself up on her good arm to get a look at him. the music dies down and transitions onto the next track. it's one of her own songs, a bit less loud and raucous and easier to talk over.]

In a way I am stranded, but my car is working just fine. [in reference to this whole strange scenario she's found herself in. she's stuck in debt, stuck in a world completely new and foreign to her, stuck without friends or familiar faces.

but free enough to move around.] The scenery isn't all that bad, honestly.

You're from the city, aren't you?

[given the direction he's coming from is the direction she's headed in.]

[eyesite]

( it’s not that her intuition is wrong. john hadn’t stopped to cause trouble, and he’s more likely to offer help, but… well, one can never be too cautious with eldritch agents such as the Archivist—while it’s not typically in his purview to kill or inflict bodily harm (neither had much value to the Eye, after all), there are still other trespasses and greater horrors that can be inflicted either wittingly or not. he feels moderately convinced he’s in control of himself and his faculties. but when someone comes by certain qualities of their patron so naturally, it can be hard to puzzle out whether or not that sense of curiosity and desire to pry for more and deeper details was innate or the subtle pressuring of something beyond yourself. or both.

yes, harm and death meant fairly little to the Eye—the former could provide only limited sustenance, and the latter was actively contrary to its desires. it preferred to mindlessly amass knowledge and secrets, finding most satisfying those that detailed unique and personal experiences of fear and trauma.

fortunately, john is resolute in avoiding such unseemly topics during a casual (ish?) meeting like this. for now, at least. )

Ha. ( he acknowledges the answer with a single, dry laugh. ah, but aren’t they all, aren’t they all?

he stops his approach several feet away from the front fender of her car, respecting that boundary of space. he slips his hands into his pockets, casting his gaze around the desolate landscape. there are actually several landmarks, albeit distant ones, that he feels he almost recognizes, but… one thing he’s learned in his own traveling over the past week or so is that things tend to move around out here. rather maddening, for one who wanted to try to get a better lay of the land, but still useful to know and keep in mind.

two seem to stay in place no matter what: Panorama at his back, and the scrapyard at hers. based on that information alone, he starts to get the sense that she might be newly adapting to their situation as “fluxdrifts” in this place. )

Only as much as any of us are “from” that city. ( two can play at that game with their answers (sorry, angel). ) Trying to decide if you’re going to head there yourself? ( a beat. ) There aren’t exactly many other options.

[focuslights]

[Angel's always erred on the side of trusting someone, until they give her reason not to, at least.

she hops off the hood of her car, clearly favouring one side as she leans through the open window to lower her music slightly. maybe she should turn it off, since she is keen on talking to someone to get more of an idea of the kind of situation she's in, but the sound is an anchor of familiarity.

when she turns back around to face him, her smile is friendly, amused by his response. so he's like her, and the others she ran into back at the yard. this is shaping up to be a small world after all.]

I've got no choice in the matter. It's the place to be, isn't it? [she shrugs and crosses her arms, leaning against the Camaro.

the outfit she came with wasn't made for the elements, but the jacket she managed to nab is zipped up and staving off the elements for now.] I'm not sure how you wound up here, but for me it was a pretty rough start.

Just waiting for my pain meds to kick back in before I finish my trip.

[eyesite]

( such a predisposition is something he’d regard as overly generous, if he were being charitable himself. his more cynical side would be quick to label it closer to “foolish,” though that’s just his own predisposition. paranoia, while certainly not exclusive to it, finds sound placement within the domain of the Eye; there had been some time when he had lived in an extended, inflamed state of it, driven half-mad by how the trickery of one of the Spiral’s creatures felt for all the world like debris caught painfully in one’s eye. he had managed to recover the ability to trust, but he did so sparingly—as if it were some precious, finite resource. that he’s so willing to approach and chat with strangers in this world has less to do with the concept of “trust” and more to do with his own warped sense of self-preservation (or lack thereof).

he doesn’t glean any sense of looming potential danger from angel, however. what she seems to grapple with now is the sudden existential question posed to everyone pulled into this place as “fluxdrifts” from their own universes of origin. truth be told, he has precious little help to offer on that front, adopting a “day to day” approach to it himself.

john can tell as soon as she gets to her feet that she’s injured, or at the very least recovering from one; if he is one thing, it is “observant.” )

By default. As I said, it is one of the only ones.

( apparently there are other cities to the north and south that maintain their position in the landscape, but most people seem to gravitate to Panorama. it’s partially by necessity. even if one were possessed of the intention to rough it out in the wilderness, it was dangerous in ways beyond the elements, any lack of supplies, or whatever bandits might come across them. with the world’s strange impermanence and the diffusion zones that can crop up, staying in the strongholds end up being, as angel said, not much of a choice one gets to make.

a “rough start” was certainly a way to put it. ) Let’s just say that the doctors and I were both pleasantly surprised that I managed to pull through.

( most people don’t walk off being stabbed in the heart, after all…

he shifts his attention to her, however, and there’s a sort of pressure as he does so; it elicits the sort of prickling sensation one gets when they feel they’re being watched. it lasts for just a moment, and then he blinks, nodding as if he confirmed something to himself. ) Fortunately, it looks as though it’s been realigned properly, so it shouldn’t trouble you for that much longer.