Test Drive Meme #3

[hadrielmods]

Welcome to Hadriel's test drive, and thank you again for your interest in the game! As always, our reserves page is here, and our applications page is here! Reserves open November 24th, and apps are open December 1st.

Two quick points here as well:

1. Any thread made in Hadriel's test drive will be accepted as the sole Action Log sample in the application.
2. All threads made in the test drive can be considered game canon!

Test drives will be broken up into specific god mini-events, during which your characters can see how well they fare under the watchful eye of one of the gods. Choose wisely or just simply pick 'em all, and have fun!

F E A R

SCENARIO ONE: GIMME A HUG
[The Door brings in all that is chaotic and evil in the world. This may include you, may include the person next to you... and may include the monster behind you.

Watch out as you explore the streets of Hadriel, because you're not alone, and there's always something on the rooftops watching and waiting for the perfect opportunity to separate you from your group and tear you into pieces. This time, the Door has brought in a large slithering beast for you meet.

This Titanoboa is not the friendliest of snakes. Over fifty feet long, it requires quite a lot of meals in order to keep going, and it seems to be most interested in making you one of them. A giant anaconda, this is a constrictor rather than a venomous snake - but don't worry. It's got teeth, too, in case it needs to do a touch of nibbling. We're sure you'll get along just fine.]


SCENARIO TWO: THE DOCTOR IS IN
[You awaken on an operating table. How did you get here? What's going on? You don't remember checking into a hospital or seeing a doctor, and when you try to get up you quickly discover that your hands and legs are secured tightly to the table, the straps digging into your skin.

Next to the table is a tray of gleaming steel surgical instruments, their sharp blades glittering as the overhead light flickers. They seem to be the only clean thing in the room, as you begin to realize that the walls of this operating room are moldy and stained, and there's something dripping from the ceiling. This may not be a legitimate hospital at all.

There are footsteps outside the door. It could be a friend - or not. Will you call for help? Try to free yourself? Lay back and wait for the doctor to arrive?]


H O P E

SCENARIO THREE: HOPESGIVING
[You find yourself in a kitschy, brightly lit, utterly pleasant gift shop. Lining the shelves are all manner of stuffed animals, inspirational figurines, greeting cards, and delightful ornaments. Some even look familiar, like something you might have seen before.

The door isn't locked. You can just leave, if you want. But on a pedestal where the registers should be is a globe of glittering light, and within it, a picture of the person you care for most in the world. Carved on the pedestal are the words Bring someone hope, and you will bring them happiness.

Of course, you aren't alone in there. Will you find something on the shelves to show to your companion, something that might bring them hope? Or maybe you brought something from home. Or maybe you don't care at all, and just want to smash everything in there. It's all up to you.

This is a simplified version of this month's Hope event.]

Comments

[respired]

[Koltira shakes his head, reaching to take the dragonhawk back.]

Enough.

[Koltira felt the same impulses as she did, thought the same kind of thoughts. That anxiety ran through him, too; he had pressed his nail to the toy's belly, after all. Some part of him wants to sully this place; to reduce it to so much rubble and dust. But to resist those desires was to defy their former captor, to enforce their own identity. It's an active choice, and not one Koltira always makes correctly, either. It's a fight--even for the small things.

He reaches to take the dragonhawk back.]

[leprotto]

[Anything that makes her happy? The sheer absurdity has Triela turning her head a little at that, and she's about to pull a face, when...

...

?!?]

Sir?! [Now she blushes hot and awkward, not knowing what to make of the situation at all — is this normal? Do grown-ups do stuff like this to kids all the time? They're so weird! This is so weird! And Triela's not sure that pink suits her... She's used to darker colors, or whites and creams, nothing vibrant. No, there's not much that's vibrant about her, she'd say... Flowers, too, are a novelty. Fai's able to successfully set the headband on her head, but steam is practically coming out of her ears for how hard she's blushing. She'd be angry if the great audacity of the situation hadn't shocked her so wholly.]

Uh... Mister? What are you... Don't play around!

[Triela fumbles, scrambling to get the headband back off of her head, though she holds it in her hands and looks down at it, biting her lip.]

This isn't really my sort of thing...

[This might be the weirdest adult she's met yet.]

Hey... Why don't you get something for yourself if you want to take something so badly?

[howlingblast]

[Well, technically, he has one wrist untied. But he's not going to push it, not with Koltira threatening to strangle him right then and there. Part of him rises up to the challenge. He would love to tell him do it, finish it then but he is fairly sure he would actually lose to this elf. That isn't the fight he wants.

It's in his face, though-- in the way his lip curls, his lip-ring catching on a tusk. Just a soft growl, barely audible. He always wants a fight, but not here, not now. Not smart. They should get to safety first.

He yields, maybe not by admitting so, but he averts eye contact and drops his free arm to the table.]

[howlingblast]

I like that idea.

[He rolls his shoulder a few times, making sure his throwing arm is up to par. Then he winds back and throws. It doesn't even make an arc, just explodes into glassy sparkly bits as it hits the wall.

He leans forward discerningly. Satisfied, he reaches over and takes another glass animal off the shelf. He tosses it in his hand once or twice, then offers it to Sev.]

Your turn.

[howlingblast]

[Despite his threats earlier, he doesn't attack her. Not even with her back exposed. When he's finally free, he goes straight to the swords placed carelessly on a side table and grabs them. He inspects each one with intense, almost obsessive scrutiny before reattaching them to his belt.]

I prefer a more direct approach. Always have.

[He flicks away the last bit of ice on his armor so it doesn't encumber his movement.]

It is not easy to subdue me. [He snarls to himself, still pissed off that he got one-upped by some fool who wouldn't even give him a PROPER FIGHT.] Dealing with our captors won't be easy.

[themightykamina]

The kind of idiot whose only idea of monarchy is a dude called the Spiral King, duh. But hey, whatever the hell a queen is isn't the point here. The point is, she's not letting him out. Who does that?? He's even being nice about it! "Why? Are you kidding? You're human, right?! Come on, help me out here! Don't leave me hanging!" He looks mildly outraged. Who would leave anyone strapped to a table like this? It's just not cool.

[bekommen]

Nick snickers at that - you're human, right? Not exactly. Not anymore. Sure, she looks human still - in this form.

But she doesn't always.

She takes a few sauntering steps forward, closer to the dim source of light. "You don't look like you're hanging," she says, smirk spreading across her face. "Looks to me like what you are is strapped down." Clearly this is an important distinction to make.

[themightykamina]

She'd be cute, if she weren't so scary-looking. Especially when she smiles like that. Suddenly, he's really sure he doesn't wanna be strapped to this table anymore. Craning his head towards the tray next to him, he throws his weight that direction. Maybe this table isn't glued to the floor. Maybe he can get one of those sharp things and get himself out before she gets any ideas. Shudder. "Hanging, strapped, whatever! The point is, a man's not meant to be tied down like this! I'm a free spirit, come on!" Maybe the wheedling tone can cover some of his outrage. Maybe.

[cowed]

[ his ears flatten back. while technically true, he'd rather not talk at length while pinned to a wall. ]

If you let go.

[bekommen]

"Oh for fuck's sake." Nick sighs loudly and rolls her eyes. "Hasn't anyone ever told that whining is incredibly unattractive?" She marches over to the table and starts fussing with undoing the straps. The sooner she gets this over with, the sooner this guy will shut the fuck up. Maybe.

[themightykamina]

"That wasn't whining! I never whine. It was just convincing you to do the right thing, and get me the hell out of here!" Thankfully he manages to restrain the comment until she's got at least one of his arms free. Just in case she changes her mind. "I mean, damn, really, that's pretty cold of you, thinking about leaving me stuck here waiting for whatever grabbed me to come back." And there's one leg, and the other, and...up he hops off the table, all six feet and change of him, adjusting his belt and immediately looking for...something, in the corners of the room. Under chairs, in what few cabinets there are.

"You see a sword over there anywhere?"

suuure

[casperdisaster]

Um, no, I died and got a new body...

Vampires like drink blood to stay alive. They aren't real though.

[Unlike ghosts, which clearly are.]

[bekommen]

"You were whining like a fucking child." She does have half a mind to just stop and let him deal with the rest of it, just to make a point, but finds herself continuing to undo the restraints anyway, until they're all undone and she's looking him over, sizing him up. He's taller than her, but not by much.

"Yeah, sure, a sword. Over in the corner, by the horse-drawn carriage and the windmill." Who carries a sword anymore?

[miscreant]

[She doesn't resist his attempts to take the toy, but slips her nails to cut the tread she had been messing with. There's only a sliver of satisfaction when she can spot stuffing poking out of the side.

Her exhale is soft.]

I think it may be best if I depart.

[miscreant]

You are not in a position to be bargaining, cultist.

[The urge to tighten her grip is rapidly winning out over her desire to get information, displayed by how her fingers shift across his neck.]

Start talking.

[cowed]

We were friends.

[ he spits the answer out rather hastily once her fingers twitch. it's not entirely accurate, but she's not exactly giving him the opportunity to figure out a better descriptor. ]

[miscreant]

[Seviilia can't stop herself from scoffing, but his paniced answer gets her to drop him.]

Oh, I'm delighted to hear this explanation.

[themightykamina]

The clueless look he gives her should be evidence enough that he has no idea what the hell she's talking about. Windmill...Horse...what even are these things. "What corner?" Come on, lady, work with him just a little.

As he turns, he spots a tiny corner of bright orange sticking out from under the edge of the table he'd been strapped to. He's on it in a flash, and what he pulls out is a slightly ragged cape that gets fastened around his bare shoulders with a flourish. "There, that's more like it! Halfway there!"

[bekommen]

Once again, Nick rolls her eyes at him, exhaling a sharp breath through her teeth. Exactly how dumb is this guy, anyway? "No, I haven't seen your damn sword." And fine, she'll ask: "Who actually still carries a fucking sword? Are you from the Dark Ages or something?"

The cape just earns him a disapproving stare. "Halfway to looking like a complete moron, sure."

[peoplediewhenikillthem]

Who are you trying to convince? [ Shiki asks as she steps over the ice, letting it crunch beneath the heel of her thick boots as she joins him at his side.

It isn't as if she needs to be told he's a difficult one. Other women in her position may feel like a child standing beside him, but she knew children didn't walk with monsters. Only monsters would join their brethren. ]

We were captured so we have to handle it accordingly.

[themightykamina]

"The kind of guy who doesn't go around in weird places unarmed! What's your deal, anyway, Queenie? Why're you hanging around here?"

She can look at him like that all she wants. His cape is badass, and he knows it. Like he'd throw away the symbol of Team Dai-Gurren! Moving past her, he looks around in this corner, finally shouting in triumph as he finds his sword buried under a pile of rags covered in something he really doesn't wanna be thinking about. Standing again, he shoves the scabbard through his belt, moving for the door.

"You just gonna stand there or what? Let's get out of here!"

[closerift]

If Corypheus hadn't been seen to a way that I'm hoping is permanent, we might also have something to worry about.

[ But, since they'd defeated him, she can rest a little more easily. Never mind that she's seen a phantom Corypheus since then, in Hadriel. ]

I knew Varric would only bring on allies with fantastic ideas. [ She smirks, deeply grateful for Hawke's presence at the moment and, really, for his easy acceptance of her identity. ] Though, not inside, I think. The fire hazard might be a bit much.

[cowed]

[ ah-- well, it's an improvement. he coughs, rubbing his neck to will away the lingering cold from her hands. ]

That's about the extent of it. [ which is to say: he has no idea how to elaborate without opening about six cans of worms that are better off closed. his eyes flick towards the door again, as always. ] Do you really think this is the best room for stories? Seeing as neither of us know where we are or who brought us here--

[ he pauses, taking a moment to breathe deep while he still can. ] Unless you enjoyed being on that table.

[toochromeforthisshit]

You can do that? I didn't get a new one!

[Well that's not fair! What'd you do that he didn't.]

Who would drink blood? Aqua-Cola is for drinking, blood is for spilling!

[casperdisaster]

... I don't want to know what Aqua-Cola is, do I?