Underdeveloped (Mike: Have a plot-related fever-dream)

[KingFissure]

--Begin Game--


You load up "Underdeveloped."
There's three options. You can't pick one and who cares about settings.
(It's just text, what kind of settings would there be?)


> Select "New Game"


You start a NEW GAME.
Yeah! Let's do this!
"Welcome to UNDERDEVELOPED," a narrating voice calls from the game.
"Before we start your adventure, please enter a name for your save file. When you're ready, press start."




Ah jeese, this is pointless. You enter a random name and quickly mash start so you can get into the game.




"Welcome, AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
Wow it takes it a while to say all those As, you're regretting that decision.
Hopefully it doesn't say it too often.
"Please select your starting position. Remember! Your choice of starting character may affect the specialties of your other party members!"
Looks like you need to select a place for the game to start...

[djinn]

Top-right, seagull element. Of course. c:

[98714123340]

I agree Seagull Element

[Big Bad]

Mid-left. Bubble Element!

[stilettoHurricane]

NOOOO SEAGULL BE THE BIRD DO IT AAAAAAAH

[Airedar]

> LUCKLUCKLUCKLUCKLUCKLUCKLUCKLUCKLUCKLUCKLUCKLUCKLICKLUCKLUCKLUCKLUCKLUCKLUCKLUCKLUCKLUCK

[KingFissure]

>Select the "Seagull" Icon


Okay, you decide that the bird-shaped icon looks too tempting.
You move the selector over and press start.



"I'm sorry, AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" The narrator says.
"Based on your current game-play settings, you can only currently choose to start from one of the four basic locations. Don't worry, you'll have access to the advanced options later in the game!"
Well there goes that.

[Airedar]

> Show them your stabs.
> When it comes to rocking out, you're the best there is.
> People say you're very down to earth.
> Nothing like a boulder to get the party goin'.
> You're as stubborn as a rock.
> Pebble piss you off sometimes.
> All those rock puns are just stal(actit)e.
> It's far too sedimentary for your tastes.
> Though you must admit you lava good joke every now and then.
> You get the impression people are just trying to stonewall you over this.

[SkyKat]

Pyramid element cause that would be so freaking awesome.

[KingFissure]

> "Pebble piss you off sometimes."


By some grand scheme, you choose the upside-down pyramid shape on the bottom of the grid.

The scene shifts to show your starting character.




Your character looks dirty, as though they were homeless until they were brought to the dorm-looking room they're standing in.
Their clothes appear disheveled and long lived-in. They're covered in dirt and, in some places, soil. The character also appears very restless, as though they were woken-up during some long-needed sleep.
Glancing at their stats, you can see that they're rather low on magic at the moment, and not doing so hot health-wise either. They barely have enough money to even buy a meal.

A prompt appears; "Please select your character's name and gender."

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I absolutely loved the list of puns, Airedar. |DD

[djinn]

Felicia Mendez, female

[Big Bad]

Rita Scanlon, female

[inkwell]

Birch Holloway, female

alternately,

Prentiss Wick, male

[KingFissure]

>Prentiss Wick, Male


You are Prentiss Wick, a middle-aged man who was just pulled off the streets.
You'd made it just fine, given your abilities. Do tricks for people in the park to make some change, and make a little cave of soil to sleep in at night. It wasn't a glamorous sort of life, no, but it was better than being caught in the horrible lives normal people lived. Full of dishonesty and subterfuge.
No, you don't care for most people. And most people don't care for you. They don't like the way you tend to go off on them from any sort of instigation. But that all changed this morning. The higher ups in this magical institute heard about your abilities and were keen to take you for themselves. You're pretty suspicious about their actions, but they're providing you with better shelter and food at no cost to yourself. They just want you to do what you always do, but in their building. You're in a pretty good mood right now, so why not?
Your abilities are rather underdeveloped, but you have some basic control over earthen elements, such as the ground, rocks and probably magma if you ever came across it.

You are currently standing in one of the dorm rooms of the Institute. It was prepared for you to sleep in, but since you just got here, it still has that clean, sterile, unlived-in feeling. There's a bed, a desk, a wardrobe (which is empty, since you're wearing the only clothes you own) and a mirror hanging from the wall.

What will you do?

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Suggestion elements can range from physical actions, self-examination (mental stuff) or even meta elements such as examining stats. Plus whatever else you can think of, I dunno. XD

Also, I had to REALLY try hard to resist using "Rita Scanlon" as the name. XDD

[djinn]

> Look at your spells.

[Miraculous]

>Check inventory.

[KingFissure]

> Look at your spells

Spells? Like, a list of spells? No, you don't really have anything like that. You can mold the ground a little to make nightly shelters and you can throw rocks quite a bit easier than other people, but you don't really keep track of that kind of thing. You just do it.
The best you could probably describe it is "Manipulate Earth." Maybe tossing in a "minor" or something in there, since you can only handle so much. Not moving any mountains.
If you could do that, you'd hardly be doing tricks in the park for spare change.
Oh, you can also manipulate metal to an extent, but its so little and very unpracticed that the power is very poor.
Not that you had much use of it before, anyway.

>Check Inventory

Ha! That's a laugh. You have very little on your person.
You have about 10 Servos ($10) in change, a nearly-empty bottle of rum and all the soil you could ever want to have accidentally fall in your pockets. Other than that, all you have are your clothes; a long-sleeved shirt and simple pair of trousers under a long coat and scarf, to keep out the chill. You also wear a dirty and nearly formless hat over your dark, matted hair. You might have some fleas around, but you haven't been itchy for a while, so probably not.
You don't carry a weapon. Mostly because nobody wants to mess with the dirty homeless guy who can pull a club of rock out of the ground as he sees fit.

[98714123340]

Use your Minor Manipulate Earth to clean yourself. Also realize you never tried to do this before.

[djinn]

> Inspect Surroundings

[KingFissure]

>Manipulate Earth to Clean Yourself

Not a problem. With a flick of your arm, all the dirt and soil clinging to your body is a pile on the floor in front of you.
Of course, its not a proper cleaning. You still smell kind of funny and your hair is still a matted mess.
But there's no dirt on you, that's for sure.



>Realize you've never tried this before

That's true, but then again, you've been on the streets for a while. It's never been an issue for you to clean yourself so.
But you want to make a good impression on these people, and getting all the dirt off is a good start.

>Inspect surroundings

You're in a decently-sized bedroom. It's not, like, huge, but there's some walking space.
In one corner, there is a twin-sized bed with pressed, freshly-clean sheets and a light blue blanket. There's two pillows with matching light blue cases.
You're still pretty sleepy, it looks inviting.
A nightstand sits next to the bed. It's just a small round table just below the mattress-height of the bed. There's nothing on it.
In the adjacent corner, there is a wooden desk. It has a flat surface and three empty drawers. It doesn't look like it's been used. You're probably supposed to use it for business or whatever. Not that you have many plans for that.
In the opposite corner of the desk is a standing wardrobe. There's a few nicks in it, as though its been used before. But the "damage" is minimal. Inside are a few drawers in the bottom half, and a rod for hanging clothes at the top. Of course, the previous owner appears to have taken everything out of it, and it remains invitingly open for any clothes you want to put in it.
In the final corner, there is a door leading to the hallway outside. It's still very early in the morning, so there's no sounds of footsteps outside.
Oh, and there's now a pile of dirt in the middle of the floor next to you.

[Whimbrel]

>Does sleeping have any statistical benefits, such as restoring health or mana?

>What do you know about the magical institute?

>Have you eaten yet? Is there a place to wash up?

[Miraculous]

>Make mental note to clean up that dirt pile when MP isn't so limited.

>Head out into the corridor to explore your new surroundings.

[98714123340]

Should there be some sort of caution? It might be best to have some sort of earth on you in case you need to defend yourself if your not in your element.

[djinn]

> Put pile of dirt back in your pocket with your hands. Can't waste that MP, and can't go wandering around without a weapon.

[KingFissure]

>Does sleeping have any statistical benefits?

"Yes," the narrator says. "Having characters rest can restore their HP and MP, but it may also affect their Magical Aperture. At your current level, one hour of sleep will heal 20% HP and MP."

>Have you eaten yet?

Not in a while. You had a rather plain sandwich and soup from a soup-kitchen yesterday afternoon. You expect your diet to change, though, now that you're here.

>Is there a place to wash up?

You were told of a shared washroom down the hallway. You don't really have any qualms about sharing a bathroom. It's a great improvement over doing it in a public fountain or lake.

>What do you know about the magical institute?

Not too much, you didn't really pay attention until just recently. It's a rather large complex of buildings in the city were all the people with a lot of magical ability learn to do magic, or do it better. Or just work there. You originally thought that people would just come here and try to get in, but it seems they'll come looking for people with great ability too so that no other organization does.
Sometimes they appear to be a great asset to the city, helping people out and all that noise (that's how they found you. Someone specializing in Life Magic noticed you at one of the soup-kitchens).
Though, you've been suspicious of them, too. Too many buildings and people around here for everything to be the sunshine and rainbows. You've tried to tell people about it, but nobody really cares. A few paranoid theorists have talked to you about it, but they seem too crazy to really care about. But even still, you're suspicious.

> Put pile of dirt back in your pocket with your hands.



Those sour thoughts of the Magical Institute have dipped your VISION into the black, slightly. You're a little worried, now, why they've brought you here.
To play it safe, you grab a decent amount of the dirt you flung off yourself and stick it in your pockets, in case you need a weapon.
You just use your hands, since you feel your magical ability is waning with the little sleep you've had. Gotta save that in case you need a weapon.

>Head out into the corridor to explore your new surroundings.

You step outside the door to your room. There's a long hallway outside, dotted with doors on either side. At each end, the hallway meets two hallways heading perpendicular to the one you're on, there's stairs on either end heading up and down. There's windows at either end. You can make out the dark blue of the pre-dawn sky.



Now that you're standing out in the hall, you can hear foot steps in one of the other hallways. But still a great distance away. It makes you feel a little apprehensive.