test drive meme #17

[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 February 22nd, and apps are open March 1st. Please remember that there is an app cap of 20 apps.

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, either through handwaving or through a shared mental experience while coming through the Door!

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: SHOOTING HOOPS
[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.

There you are, calmly exploring this super cool cave city, when all of a sudden you see something roll toward you. What could that possibly be? Why, it seems the Door has brought in some hoop snakes, which are definitely real.

Hoop snakes are poisonous and aggressive reptiles, able to pursue fleeing prey by grasping their tail in their jaws and rolling after them like a wheel. Wow, so efficient! Hard to get away from, though, and kind of... terrifying? If you want to get away, you better be a fast runner. Or maybe you should climb something. Good luck!]

S O R R O W

SCENARIO TWO: YOU GOT THE BLUES
[You woke up this morning on the wrong side of the bed. Not the angry side - the sad side. Somehow, everything just seems to be going wrong, and you don't know why. You were out of milk for your cereal, the fruit you picked just yesterday is already going bad, and instead of getting frustrated all you want to do is feel sorry for yourself.

Even the good things aren't going too well. Maybe your friend just told you your hair looks nice today - doesn't that mean it looks bad the rest of the time? Probably. They've just been too nice to tell you. And your crush smiled at you - that probably means they know about your feelings and are getting ready to let you down easy. That's the only explanation.

No matter what happens, your mind is giving you the worst, most depressing interpretation. You can try to fight it and be aggressively upbeat - or maybe you just want to cry on somebody's shoulder. Yeah. That sounds good right about now.]

D E L I G H T

SCENARIO THREE: PUCKER UP
[For once, Hadriel looks rather lovely, all covered in snow and seasonal! Sure, it's not quite the right season anymore, but who really knows what month it is? Not the residents, and certainly not the gods. But for whatever reason, Delight has decided there should be snow on the ground and ugly sweaters in the shops.

And, of course, mistletoe. On your wanderings around the city, you may find yourself under the mistletoe with a friend or a stranger or even an enemy. Regardless of who they are and how you really feel about them, the mistletoe will give you a gentle compulsion to plant a kiss right on those appealing lips of theirs. You can resist if you want - it won't force you - but don't you kind of want to go for it?

This is a mini version of our Kissmas event this month!]

Comments

[surgent]

[ The Outsider knows about gifts, though it's rare for him to give them freely. The only people that get them are the ones that can either change the world with just a push or destroy it, one or the other. Those that bring change and good and go against their baser instincts are the ones that hold the most interest for him.

Like Delilah and Daud, if only for a moment.

Like Corvo.

Like Emily.

He disappears in a haze of smoke only to reappear closer, feet nearly touching the ground but not quite. This close, there's a faint smell of salt and tide, his dark clothes damp. He crosses his arms as he gazes at the now useless sprig. ]

An enchanted piece of greenery, one that compels intimacy. [ He felt it. He knows she felt it, too. He lifts his head a little higher, almost as if he were talking down to the deities, not Emily. ] These gods try very hard to get what they need.

[honores]

[ After she found a rune, while living at the Hound Pits, she'd had dreams about the Outsider. Nightmares. Even now, she still isn't sure how much of it was the entity himself and how much was fabrication.

Compels intimacy? Her frown becomes more pronounced, almost disapproving. Hope, Fear, Sorrow, Confusion, Rage, Tranquility, Delight. Delight, she supposes, must have done this. Who else would try and coax out such a... specific reaction from the population?

Preserve them if ever there appears a good called Lust. ]

Apparently they do. [ If this particular effort can be considered their having 'tried hard.'

Emily gazes down at the mistletoe for another moment, then crushes it underfoot for good measure. There's a silence, one that she breaks after careful consideration. ]

I never really thought there were gods. [ She states, looking to him, with the understanding that he had been the only apparent such creature in their own world. What do you make of all this? ]

[surgent]

[ Everyone dreams of the Void at one point or another in their life, dreams of a young man with eyes as black as the darkness they breathe in, but rarely do they see him more than just once. People are, and have been for so very long, dull. He could tell them their futures because so rarely do they stray from the paths that they believe exist.

They do right, they do wrong.

Emily grew up to be interesting, to be a fascinating young woman, but it is of no surprise to the Outsider. Her family tree has the rare golden fruit and he's visited them more than he's visited any other line; offered his gift to them more than to others. One day that line will wither, just as he will. ]

A god is just a word, young Empress. They are as much of a god as we allow them to be. [ The Outsider isn't impressed with the displays of power he's seen. Any may have the power to change or manipulate, but does that make them a god? He flickers from the area again, floating near a window further away, one leg crossed over the other. ]

And no god is allowed to exist for eternity. [ Not even the Outsider will last forever. One day, too, he will fall to the Void and something else shall take his place. Perhaps, then, he will feel peace. ]

[honores]

[ She isn't sure that she agrees, but it's difficult to argue with the knowledge of an apparently-ageless being. They have power without your Mark or witchcraft, she thinks ruefully, but, then... they may have the latter. What does she know of this world and its magic?

Does he find them amusing? Interesting? Her eyes follow him as he vanishes and reappears. ]

Did you come here of your own will?

[ Hopefully, it's a subtle way of asking whether or not they were able to bring him here like the rest of them, rather than him flitting through space the way that he does without effort. ]

[surgent]

[ It is the slight twitch of his lips and pull of his dark brows that answers her question before he can even say it out loud. He manages to keep his lips thinned out, to keep the frown from lasting a moment longer. This whole situation is brand new, exciting if it weren't so so very wrong. He cannot hear the whales here. The Void feels different here, a dream of a dream of a dream, and he cannot hear the songs of the whale.

He flashes away again, closer to her this time, behind her. ]

No more than you came of your own. [ His voice takes on a dark quality, like the color of his eyes and disappears he does again, smoke and ink whisking him away so that he leans against the nearby wall. ] These gods have had no choice in our arrival, either.

[ That's not him being only a little petty, though it's difficult to tell by the bland way he states it. Look, he's better, ok. :| He could kidnap way more people if he wanted to and his homeworld is so much cooler. He's got whales. ]

[honores]

[ He vanishes and somehow she knows he'll be behind her before he is, though there is still the prickle of gooseflesh at the back of her neck after. Emily swallows, turning slowly, never enjoying the feeling of someone at her back or watching her (both of which he seems to be fond of doing). ]

You think so? [ They say the Door is responsible, whatever it is. The Outsider may be the key to understanding it all, to unraveling the city's many mysteries and returning home to her mission. ] What do you make of all this?

[ His take may be the only one that matters, given his abilities. Given his experiences.

Out of nowhere, she thinks of the heart. Emily tenses. ]

Will the Door impede your marks?

[surgent]

[ Unlike their own world, the future here is far more difficult one for the Outsider to determine. It is a tree with so many branches it blots out the sky for miles and miles, years and years. There are many answers to her question but none of them will help her much, satisfy her or him. He tilts his head, dropping his gaze to her wrapped hand that hides away his mark. Smart to hide it. The abbey does like to hack down those with such a thing on them. ]

As long as I am here, you should have no issues with the Mark. [ He answers first, never blinking. She will find no shrines, no runes, but her powers gifted should work perfectly normally. He can feel every time she uses it but that's how it's always been; only so many people have been gifted. She'll just have to be careful with her energy. ] And what do I make of it, dear Empress? [ There's a pause, heavy. This place could be an adventure but the Outsider is finding that he does not enjoy being far from the Void—his world's Void. ] We are here with no choice, just as lives begin and end. There is no way back, yet, but secrets live in the heart of this place.

[ Again, he disappears, reappearing above her, kneeling down to watch her. ] Will you find them, Emily?

Can you? [ His dark eyes narrow, something playful behind them. It's difficult to tell but he may be goading her. No, it's pretty obvious he's goading her. Girl, find the way home so he can get back. This is neat but surprisingly uncomfortable. ]

[honores]

[ Good. She can manage without the abilities - she has for almost all of her life - but they certainly help. They were indispensable in Karnaca, and will surely be the same here, in this place beyond her empire. ... Of course, Karnaca had been so foreign and unknown to her at first that it may as well have been a different world, even if it was under her reign. ]

I'll try. [ She has no other choice. Now that Delilah has been dealt with, there is a lot to do, things that ought to have been done ages ago, but that she was too blind to see. Emily has grown a great deal since the coup. ] I'll do everything I can.

[ The young empress isn't about to be taken from her city a second time, not after all she'd managed. ]

I may find some allies here who can help. [ If black market shopkeepers in shadowed alleys could provide her with aid, she imagines that anyone could. ] If there is anything within my power to do to bring us back, then I'll do it.

[ "If" being the key word. ]

[surgent]

You have an empire to save. [ He says, knowing she has no choice but to fight to find a way back home, back to her Lord Protector of a father, back to destroy Delilah's schemes. ]

But be careful who you ally with. You'll find that allies here do not always remain so. The gods here seem to enjoy turning people against one another. Forcibly.

[ He gets it, personally, humanity can be boring. But all this intervention these deities do? It seems unnecessary. ]