Test Drive Meme #4: Season of Ripening

[royaldecreemods]

TEST DRIVE MEME

Welcome to the Royal Decree Test Drive Meme!

If you're new here – hi, hello, welcome! This is your chance to give your potential character a little test run and see how they might fit into the world of Rosavelle. You can find all the relevant info over on our Navigation Page, so take a peek if you need to get caught up on the setting, rules, or just want to gnaw on the worldbuilding a bit.

This TDM is non-canon to the game overall, but feel free to treat individual threads or CR as canon between characters if everyone involved agrees. We've included some prompts and locations below to help spark ideas, but as always, feel free to go off-script and go ham!

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The shift in weather Ripening brings to Rosavelle is impossible to ignore. The air grows heavy and thick with humidity that clings to basically everything and unlike the passing showers of earlier seasons, rain now arrives in frequent and stormy bursts - sudden downpours that sweep through the streets and canals with little warning, soaking everything in their path. It rarely rains without pause, but clear skies offer little relief. As the weeks pass, the rising heat turns each shower into lingering mugginess, leaving the whole island feeling stifling. Hope you enjoy being overhheated and damp all the time!!!

It's not all doom and gloom, thankfully. True to the season’s name, fruits begin to swell and sweeten on their branches, with the first harvests ready by midseason - a sure sign that Ripening is well underway.

By now you've likely found your footing in the ebb and flow of island life and you know how things go around here: when someone needs a little warmth, a little effort, or a little magic, the people of Rosavelle come together - and that includes you!

PROMPTS

Honey Downpour

The beekeepers of Primavain are in a panic: the relentless rain has driven their hives into overproduction and now thick, golden honey is starting to pour from the combs in a tremendous waste of hard work and delicious treats! The bees themselves are docile (if a bit reluctant to exit their homes), but the situation is rapidly getting out of hand. Volunteers are needed to help harvest excess honey, redirect curious crowds and maybe convince a few stubborn bees to relocate. Or, if you're less helpful, you could always sample a bit… purely for quality control purposes, of course.

The Drip-Drop Duel

Somewhere in the Castle Grounds, an extremely niche and equally petty disagreement has escalated. Two scholars, both convinced they have perfected the superior rain-deflection Bloomcraft, have taken to demonstrating their work in increasingly dramatic fashion. And now there’s a localized "dueling" ground where rain refuses to fall normally, instead redirecting itself in arcs, spirals, or suspiciously targeted torrents. Spectators are gathering, bets are being placed, and volunteers are being roped in to test the limits of each spell. Step in to assist, sabotage, or simply survive the increasingly creative ways water is being weaponized.

Puddle Predictions

Something odd is happening in the streets of Bellvine Hill: certain rain puddles have started reflecting things that aren't actually there. A clear sky where there should be clouds, a stranger standing just behind you when you’re quite certain you’re alone or fleeting glimpses of moments that haven’t happened yet but will do in just a few moments. Naturally, this has drawn a crowd. Some are treating it like a game, trying to find the strangest reflections, while others are attempting to interpret what they see. Pair up to compare visions, test which puddles are the most reliable (if any) or dare each other to act on what you glimpse. It’s probably harmless. Probably.

Runoff Relay

With the heavy rains feeding into the canals, the water flow through Marelys has picked up speed, carrying with it all sorts of debris from upriver-driftwood, stray fishing gear, and the occasional very confused fish. The dockhands have organized a cooperative effort to intercept anything useful before it's swept out to sea, forming a chain of volunteers along the canal's edge to catch, grab, and pass things along. It's efficient! It's practical! It's also turned into a slightly competitive relay, with different teams trying to outdo each other in speed and quantity. The victor doesn't seem to get anything more than bragging rights, but isn't that what competition is really about at the end of the day?

Canal Critter Convoy

The rising waters have displaced more than just goods - small canal creatures have started turning up in all the wrong places. Tiny fish in fountains, curious crustaceans in market stalls and at least one very indignant waterbird refusing to vacate a bakery doorway. A coordinated effort is underway to gently relocate these wayward critters back to their proper habitats. You can help catch and carry them, guide them along flooded pathways, or simply keep them calm (easier said than done) until more help arrives.

Leaky Greenhouse Blues

The Everbloom's Greenhouse is not supposed to leak. It is, in fact, famously not supposed to leak. And yet, with the relentless rains of Ripening bearing down on the glasswork overhead, a series of suspicious drips have begun appearing in the most inconvenient places possible. Now the gardeners alike scrambling to catch the leaks before delicate plants get overwatered (or worse, offended). Volunteers are welcome to help patch things up, hold buckets in increasingly awkward positions, or attempt to soothe particularly dramatic flora that have decided this is a personal slight. Just try not to track mud everywhere - some of these plants hold grudges.

The Overripe Affair

The Season of Ripening means abundance but someone may have gotten a little too enthusiastic. A Primavain orchard has produced fruit so perfectly ripe that it's started to… burst. Not rot, not spoil - just gently (and sometimes not so gently) popping open under the pressure, releasing sticky-sweet juice and an almost intoxicating fragrance into the air. It's drawing crowds, insects, and more than a few opportunistic snackers, and the orchard keeper is at their wit's end. Help harvest the fruit before it explodes, find creative ways to contain the mess, or just brave the chaos and see how many you can catch mid-pop. Fair warning: you will get sticky. There is no avoiding it.

(CODE)

Comments

[uncommonsense]

Isn't it obvious? We can just borrow one from a store. They're sure to have one around there somewhere.

[ "borrow", which doesn't necessarily mean permission! that shouldn't be an issue! ]

[holigay]

[ Oh, of course! Right. They'll just.... borrow....

..... "Borrow" .... ]

Um...! [ Noelle is obviously hesitating now, glancing about, wringing her hands. ] But how are we... going to ask...?

I-I'm sure they won't mind! But, you know... we still should.... right?

[uncommonsense]

That's one way, I guess.

[ SIIIIIGH!! ]

Let's just go up and ask. Be upfront and say we're having a crab problem.

[holigay]

[ The downside to this plan is, of course... Finding a shop owner. Looks like they're all out doing their own. Things. During the flooding rains. Who'd've guessed? ]

U-Um.....



Maybe the crab will go away on its own?

[uncommonsense]

Maybe!

[ alright, so she doesn't really want to be implicated... works for her! ]

Keep an eye on it for me, would you? [ and she's going to run off! at least, to find a store with an owner that's a little more preoccupied. she'll be back soon! ]

[holigay]

[ By the time Haruhi makes it back, she'll find Noelle in another stalemate with the crab. This time, Noelle is picking up shells and lightly tossing them at the crab, trying to annoy it into moving.

Then the crab lunges towards her, Noelle shrieks, and then she falls right on her butt.

Right in front of Haruhi. ]

O-Oh! H... hi.....

[uncommonsense]

[ oh dang! she was too late, noelle was got by the crab... or, maybe not. okay, her turn...! haruhi plants the brush-side of her newly acquired broom on the ground. ]

Alright, Mr. Crab! Let's see you deal with this!

[ ...and she doesn't really attack, but she kinda nudges the brush side towards the crab. maybe it'll snip the bristles, but she's hoping it'll get clamped onto it? yeah, this was probably not a good idea. ]