test drive meme #19

[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 April 24th, and apps are open May 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: WHAT A FUNGI
[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, walking along, minding your own business, when you come upon a strange... something buried in the ground. No sooner have you noticed it then it pops out, ready to attack. This time, the Door has brought in some Mushbooms, from the Secret of Mana video game.

Mushbooms are large mushroom-shaped creatures that seem to be quite upset that you've infringed upon their territory - though who knew it was their territory to begin with? They attack unpredictably, dancing around before lashing out, and if you're not careful they might just hit you with sleeping powder. But who doesn't need a little nap sometimes?]

S O R R O W

SCENARIO TWO: SHALL WE DANCE?
[You received your invitation - now it's time to attend. Yes, it's the night of Sorrow's masquerade, and surely you're coming prepared. You've found an outfit in the shops, and maybe even a matching mask. You've learned the steps to a dance or two, or maybe you're counting on your partner teaching you.

What will you do, now that you're at the masquerade? Will you enjoy the delicate refreshments on the tables to the side, stuffing your face to avoid making eye contact? Will you make like a wallflower and watch people dance, hoping to be asked yourself? Or maybe you're the brave type, and you'll walk right up to a lovely person and ask them out on the floor. Whatever you do, the night is young - there'll be time for plenty more.

This is a mini version of the last day of our Seven Days of Hadriel event this month!]

C O N F U S I O N

SCENARIO THREE: NEW PHONE WHO DIS
[So you called your friend - you're sure you did. You opened up your phone, hit their name in your contacts list, and started chatting. Maybe you have something important to say, maybe you just wanted to shoot the shit. Only - somehow, it's not your friend. It might be a different friend, a perfect stranger, or even someone you hate. Let's hope they speak up before you say something too embarrassing, right?

Or you might be the one getting the call. You answered the phone, and someone started talking as if they knew you - as if you're a close personal friend of theirs. But who the hell is this, anyway? What are you going to do, speak up or let them keep rambling on about their latest fight with their best friend? You might even recognize their voice - wait, did they just call you sweetie? Oh shit, they definitely think they called their boyfriend. Wow, this is awkward.

The longer you wait to speak up the weirder it'll be. Unless, of course, you have no sense of shame at all and are happy to let them make a fool of themselves.]

Comments

Kettara Bloodthirst | World of Warcraft

[oldtonew]

One

[She wakes up in a great flailing rush, kicking against the ground and wheezing. She doesn't have the breath to yell, somehow, but she's not hurt - nothing is wrong except for the pounding sense of dangerdangerdanger and the blood pounding in her head. Kettara scrabbles for her axes, turning in a quick circle. She was--she was fighting. Her master had come back for her. And then---

Something.

She remembers everything going very quiet.

Weird.]

Master? Anybody?

[There's a mushroom poking out of the ground. Kettara stares at it. It wiggles. She steps back. It wiggles again. And then lunges and gets an axe through the head for its trouble.

Yeah, okay. This is weird. This is really damn weird.

Should you wander up, you'll see a very confused teenage shaman trying to communicate with the elements. She's easily six feet tall and green. With tusks.

Have fun with that.]

Two

[What fancy elvish bullshit is this?

Normally when you have a ball, you have folks in their very best clothes mingling around and having a good time.

Kettara does not do balls. She barely ever does proper pants. She is not doing pants right now. But she has managed to wrangle herself a bowtie, so that counts. Right?

Currently she's examining the cutlery at one of the tables. She's already smashed a wine glass. It was totally an accident!]

Wildcard

[Hit me!]

2.

[blessedmaiden]

[Some fancy evil weirdness- but Rydia isn't complaining about anything: she kept her normal clothes and just started asking people to dance with her (men, women, creatures with no clear gender- it's irrelevant, she's just trying to have fun!), especially those who seem to keep their distance from the others.]

Hey there! [She waves, approaching the other woman] I see someone got a fancy bowtie there, such a little neat touch...

So... would you like to join me for the next dance? It's funnier than it seems and definitely more interesting than struggling to understand what all those forks are for...

[oldtonew]

[Kettara blinks. Human....ish looking woman is approaching her. And not looking bothered by the prospect of breathing the same air as an orc. Okay.]

I dunno. That might be bad. I could step on your feet.

[She might crush a human's toes by accident.]

one

[sweariff]

[It's been Mushroom City from here as far as Bigby can travel by foot — which is apparently an impressive distance, if the way the stalactites look indicates anything meaningful. Limestone has given way to crystal, and he can see a few jagged spires of very impressive looking ones jutting from the walls. It'd almost look pretty if it wasn't so alien, and a reminder of how far away from New York he probably is. He supposes he should worry about getting lost, but that would imply he has a familiar place to get back to. The sounds and smells of people — of humans, and some that are much, much more familiar to what he's used to back in Fabletown — drift up from winding paths that lead further into the whatever network of caves he's found himself in, so he isn't quite as perturbed as he could be, all considered. At least now he knows he's not alone.

Running into the creature standing in the middle of the trail is another comfort, though Bigby doesn't realize it at first. He stops in his tracks and moves off to the side to a nearby cave wall to watch her and assess what he's looking at. Troll, is the first word that comes to mind. She looks a little bit like Holly, minus the red skin. If she's a Fable, which is as likely as anything else right now, he supposes, she's not one he's ever seen before.

And what's she doing here, anyway? It almost looks like she's trying to cast some sort of spell or communicate with someone. Though who that is is anyone's guess right now.]

Is...whatever you're doing working? [Not keen on starting a fight by startling her, Bigby raises his voice from his place against the wall. His tone is light, questioning, and impartial.]

[oldtonew]

[Kettara drops her hands, elemental wind dancing around her fingers. She can feel the elements just beyond her reach, somehow muted. But not raging or sad; they don't feel like anything at all. They aren't speaking to her. They don't seem to be aware of her at all.

That's not so strange. She's a small thing in the grand scheme, a pebble in the river like her master says. But a pebble can change the course of fate under the right circumstances and the elements, more than anything, know the inner workings of the universe. They ought to be listening.

It's strange. Worrying.

She works her teeth uneasily, one hand on her axe as she turns.

It's been a long time since she's seen a human this close.]

They're not here. I can feel them, but they're too far away.

[She sticks out her chin.]

Where are we? If this is Mulgore, you're in Horde territory. The Earthen Ring might be neutral, but I'm not going to protect a human from the whole Horde.

[sweariff]

[His eyes linger on her axe — a worn, scarred looking thing, much like herself. Despite what her voice may sound like, he isn't dealing with some girl, but a warrior — and possibly one who knows how to use magic and use it well. This isn't anything new. It wasn't unusual to hear of trolls or ogres enchanting their weapons and armor when they went into battle. While Bigby never asked about it (and why would he?) he's willing to bet that the battle helm at Lily's funeral was one such example.

But everything else to come out of the girl's mouth is completely unfamiliar to Bigby. Earthen Ring, Mulgore... It's not out of the realm of possibility that she might be referring to parts of the Homeland he's never ventured to, but regardless, the chances of her knowing what Earth is let alone Fabletown have dropped to a resounding zilch, zip, zero.]

And you won't have to. [He meets her gaze. Communicating submission isn't Bigby's style, let alone how he says hello. It's an open-ended statement, too; saying flat-out that he isn't human isn't something he's in the habit of doing, even around other magical creatures. Best to let it come naturally.] If I don't know what Mulgore is, I don't think we're in it, especially since I just came from New York City. Which I bet you're not familiar with either.

[He crosses his arms.]

Right?

[oldtonew]

[Despite what the matrons liked to claim, Kettara isn't completely dense. She can read between the lines and knows that even when a thing looks human, that doesn't nessisarily make it so. Her ears twitch a little, but otherwise she doesn't react. She wonders what he is. She's not close enough to smell one way or another - the air in this place doesn't flow like it should - and maybe it wouldn't matter. If a trick is strong enough, sometimes you can't smell the difference anyway.

She eyes him up and down, then nods. Well, if he's tough enough to be alone, he'll probably survive. Which is good. Human are so delicate.]

No. I don't know that place. Did you get pulled through a portal?

[She pauses, shifting uneasily.]

I can't remember. The elements won't tell me.

[sweariff]

[Bigby eases up a little. He's so used to things going south during first meetings that it's hard to be anything but on guard, so seeing the girl look so unsure — and similarly cautious, probably used to her own fair share of confrontations even when she isn't actively looking for them — goes a long way to making him feel less wary.

And as with any time when he allows himself to open up to someone who's in a worse situation than he is (even if one would argue otherwise, right now), concern follows.]

I don't know. [He shakes his head. Full disclosure: none of this makes any goddamned sense, so his explanation is likely to fall in tow.] The last thing I remember was talking to someone. A friend. I tried to follow her when she went to leave, and then—

[He motions upwards, around them: This. Not a very reassuring situation when the only other person you've met doesn't know what's going on either.]

Maybe something's blocking you out. It might be a side-effect of whatever brought us here.

[oldtonew]

You weren't fighting?

[What Kettara knows about proper arcane magic is limited, but it tends to work in patterns like everything else. If she got pulled into a portal in the aftermath of a battle, then why couldn't it happen to a stranger as well?

Only he doesn't look like he was in a fight. So that's out.

Kettara huffs, glaring up. She doesn't recognize this place, any of it. And it smells weird. Like the idea of a place instead of the real thing. Some details are muted while others are drawn right to the surface.]

I should be able to hear them, even if I can't call my totems. I could hear them even when they were angry with us.

[She pauses.]

The Earthen Ring. You know about magic, but you don't know about them?

[sweariff]

Uh, not...presently? [At least not immediately. It's been a day since his fight with Mary in the steel building, and his bruises are still fresh; fading, but the ache is there.] Not like you were, I'll bet.

[The smell should be the least of Bigby's worries right now, so he feels somewhat silly for having it take up so much of his energy right now. The last thing he should be preoccupied with is finding a pack of cigarettes, but the torrent of scents rushing up his nose say otherwise, and the budding migraine picking and poking in the space behind his eyes feels like a preview of what's to come if he doesn't find a substitute to block it out — or get used to having what's arguably his most powerful sense unimpeded for the first time in a long, long, long time.]

Like I said, I don't think it's your fault. Magic is... It can be fickle. And weak, depending on what it's up against. We don't know who brought us here, but they might purposely be doing something to keep you in the dark. I'll bet anything it's that.

[Hell, that's what he could see the Thirteenth Floor doing if they brought a group of prisoners into Fabletown. It's a pretty tactical move. At her question, Bigby shakes his head.]

Unless it's another name for one of the lands I've been to. Have you heard of Oz, or the Golden Realm? The Black Forest?

[That last one would be ideal because at least then they'd have something more in common than their shared magical heritage.]

[oldtonew]

I didn't do it.

[She did something worse, but that betrayal isn't something she'll be confiding in a human. Or something that looks like a human but somehow isn't. Kettara huffs.]

The Black Morass. But it's not a forest. Not really.

[Which tells them nothing. Kettara eyes the human a moment, then draws herself up to her full heigh, puffing out her chest.]

Kettara Bloodthirst, shaman-initiative of the Earthen Ring.

[sweariff]

Never said you did. But, uh— [He tilts his head down at her axe.] That doesn't look like it's for show. Just saying.

[Not like he cares a great deal about that sort of thing anyway. Whatever she was doing or fighting before she got here really doesn't matter much on the whole. What they were doing before is back there, and they're here and the present is more important than the past. They all have their own battles to fight somewhere. Who's he to judge anyway?

But— The Black Morass. That feels like something he should know about, it definitely sounds like it'd be in the Homelands, but...

Nope. Bigby shakes his head reluctantly. Never heard of it. This just turned another shade of complicated, but at least he seems to be on the right track to earning her attention if not her respect. Being just a teeny tiny bit on the shorter side, especially compared to her, Bigby tilts his head upward to maintain their eye contact.]

Sheriff Bigby Wolf. [And because it seems like the best thing to do, and a lot less over the top than saying nice to meet you, he offers his hand to her.]

[oldtonew]

[Kettara glances at her twin axes. Then back at the not-man. Her expression is a tad incredulous.]

Little Sister and Rising Sun are not for show!

[She's a little insulted that he'd imply that at all. He must not know many orcs.

Kettara pauses. Stares at his outstretched hand. What does he---?]

Oh. That is a human thing.

[She's very careful not to crush his hand when she takes it.]

[sweariff]

[That...could've gone better. And suddenly Bigby is very acutely aware that he's holding the hand of someone who could easily crush his into powder in a matter of seconds.

So, you know, no pressure.]

Sorry, that didn't come out right. [He shakes her hand somewhat gingerly, his grip firm enough to communicate a level of confidence, but the gesture is rather tentative. This is weird. It never, ever stops feeling weird, even when he's doing this sort of thing on his home turf with newly arrived Fables fresh from the Homelands.] I meant they looked impressive, that's all. I've never seen a shaman use anything like them before.

[Just staves and stuff like that, though his idea of a shaman is likely to be vastly different from hers.]

[oldtonew]

[Kettara puffs up. Of course they're impressive. She wouldn't walk around carrying weak weapons! She might not have a clan name to honor, but she still has to represent the Earthen Ring. And one day, if she has children of her own, she'll give them something to look up to.] Your shamans are not our shamans. Or they're weak. Sorry. But they probably are.

[She can't imagine a human - or anything that wants to look like a human - being any good at talking with the elements.]

Humans are so small. Why would you want to look like a human?

[sweariff]

[Aaaaand there it is. It was taking a little longer to come out than Bigby thought it would, and he honestly thought it was a sign he'd be dealing with someone who wasn't, yunno, a smartass, but after the reaction he got for his last comment this isn't wholly surprising. He's seen it before; every proud warrior has a flair for arrogance. That sort of assholery is a trait that crosses species boundaries pretty openly. Add being a teen on top of that and you got yourself an award winning jerkass combo.

Basically his favorite kind of person.]

You're probably right. They aren't psychic enough to assume the worst out of people they don't even know.

[Fuck it, if she wants to break his bones into a million tiny pieces, he'll find a way to deal just like he always does. His brow quirks at her next question and...truthfully, he's thrown for a bit of a loop on how to reply. Initially.]

Really? [Flat curiosity.] Ever think maybe you're just really big?

[You don't just go right up and ask someone what the hell they are. Manners.]

[oldtonew]

[Kettara huffs.]

Goblins are smaller. Even smaller than you! But they're quick and they have nice ears. Humans are so...boring.

[What? They are.]

[sweariff]

[Well, he can't argue there. Truthfully, her sentiments come from a place he can understand, because they used to be his own.]

Damn. Is that all I need to get people to take me more seriously? [He feigns curiosity as he gives the tip of one of his ears a little tug.] Either I've been going about this wrong for a long time or you have some strict standards on what makes a person interesting.

[It's kind of charming in a "humans bad, nonhumans good, fight the power, rah rah" kinda way, in part because it's a lot more innocent than the other degrees he's seen and experienced personally.]

I take it you've never met many, ah, "special" humans.