TEST DRIVE MEME #4

[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 December 25th, and apps are open January 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, 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: A FACE FIT FOR A MEME
[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 trolls, from the Dungeons and Dragons tabletop roleplay series for you meet.

These trolls have a height of nine feet and weigh up to five hundred pounds. They may be slower and less intelligent than you, but their regenerative abilities make them difficult to kill. Trolls are capable of healing nonfatal damage dealt to them and can use simple tools, like swords and knives- all the better to incapacitate you so they can roast you alive!]


SCENARIO TWO: RED SNOW
[It's cold. A layer of snow envelops the city, turning the caves into a winter wonderland. Feel free to have snowball fights, scrounge for blankets and coats (there's never enough to go around), and make snow angels! It's just like back home during the holidays, isn't it?

That is, if your home had yeti and white walkers roaming around trying to kill you. Be careful when wandering out and about, because they seem to blend in with the snow, and they definitely want a snack.

Or, uh, to raise you from the dead to murder your friends at their behest. Either way, you're dead.

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


H O P E

SCENARIO THREE: HOPE FOR THE HOLIDAYS
[You're sitting on a couch in a living room. All around you are hints of magic- the mirrors seem to flicker with moving objects and people, the fireplace crackles with light, but no heat. There's a Christmas tree in the corner with soft, glowing lights that are unattached to any sort of wires.

Underneath the tree are four presents- two of them clearly marked for you, two of them clearly marked for the other person in the room with you. Inside one of these gifts is something you badly want- a stack of cash, a magical bow, an out-of-print book- but inside the other is something a little less pleasant. There may be spiders or snakes, or the box may be empty but coated in acid. It could be a wolf in sheep's clothing- wonderful-looking fruits, rotted on the inside- or it could just be a particularly nasty smell.

You can only open one, and there's no way to know which is which. Which gift will you choose?]

Comments

ashraf salib | ragnarok online oc

[healplz]

#2

[ A tall man in ornate robes trudges through the snow like he's always been trudging through the snow. He looks unarmed save for two golden rods tipped with crosses held in a loop at his belt, and snow has started collecting in his hair and on his shoulders. He spots something flickering through the snow ahead of him, and while it's made him pause thoughtfully from his aimless forward march and try to peer ahead for a better look, he doesn't seem overly concerned. Whatever it is out there, human or otherwise, he's certain it won't be much of a threat.

He is, though, pretty cold. He's stuffed his hands into pockets of his fancy robes, but he's sadly unprepared for snow. Which is unfortunate, because he's just come from snow. Really, he should know better by now. He sighs, mostly at himself, and pulls his hands out of their pockets to rub them together. It's not worth much, but it's something. ]

If whatever is out there would like to eat me, I'd like to get this over with.

[ He calls it out to the white landscape ahead of him in general, and looks resigned to his fate. He could really use someone with a weapon around here, it would make all this go so much faster... ]

#3

[ Ashraf is more interested in the room than the presents, truth be told. The objects around them are of considerable interest, and he's currently peering into the mirror in what could be mistaken for a bizarrely interested display of vanity, if you hadn't spotted the earlier out of place flickers from it. ]

Have you ever been in this room before?

[ That's addressed to whoever his company is, though he doesn't actually look away from the mirror, and lifts a finger to tap on it. A pretty natural reaction to suddenly finding yourself in a new place with a new person and a handful of wrapped gifts, he feels. ]

two

[respired]

[Koltira finds something uncomfortably familiar in the white walkers. Their eyes burn the same blue as his do, and they have the same mindless devotion to violence that he once did (that he often still does). They attack indiscriminately, and without mercy, and the bitter chill of death rolls off of them like the winter wind itself. Yet he knows, through his sense of these things, that his opponent is not undead.

Koltira hears a man calling out nearby, near to where Koltira's presently crossing swords with one of the walkers. Byfrost sings angrily as it strikes the white walker's icy sword, as though something in the sword's crystalline formation is trying to break the blade. Runeblades are no ordinary steel, though.

Koltira calls back as he parries a swift strike to his flank, scowling at both the unsuspecting man and the relentlessness of his opponent.]

Stay where you are!

[healplz]

[ Oh. Well that doesn't sound much like a monster... maybe there's someone around with a weapon after all. Ashraf pays exactly zero attention to the suggestion of staying where he is. instead starting off in the direction of the voice. The... familiar voice, actually. There aren't many out there with that sort of a creepy reverberation to them.

He pushes through the snow, unhooking those twin golden rods from his belt before he goes, to keep them ready in one hand. He can see some sort of fight ahead, and there's another flicker of movement to his right, but he's far more interested in the former.

Ashraf blinks when he can finally make out a shape through the flurry, and his blink turns quickly into a surprised smile. ]

Koltira? That's handy of you to show up! [ He strides forward with much more purpose, throwing out a hand to call down a blessing on the man, followed as usual by a spell for speed. ]

[respired]

[At first, Koltira's angry that this stranger disobeyed his call, but it doesn't interfere with his fight. But then the stranger says his name, speaks as though they're old friends, and Koltira's so distracted that the walker has a chance to close in.]

Damn--

[Koltira hisses as the walker's unnatural sword bites into his side, cutting through his armor and searing the flesh below with a cold so fierce it burns. Gritting his teeth, Koltira lifts his clenched fist and the walker lifts with it, choking suddenly, clutching at his throat. While Koltira has the walker suspended, he strikes, cutting the thing's head cleanly off of his body.]

[healplz]

[ Ashraf winces as the blade bites into Koltira's side. Not at the injury itself, but because he knows Koltira is better than allowing that to happen. He must have distracted him. He waits patiently as Koltira finishes the creature, standing back ten paces or so. When its head goes flying, he points with a nod back over his shoulder. ]

There's another back there, from the look of it. Would you like me to heal you first, or after?

[ With anyone else he wouldn't ask, they'd be healed already. But Ashraf remembers keenly what his healing magic does to Koltira's body; he doubts if he'd ever inflict that without permission. ]

[respired]

Heal me?

[Dark blood drips from Koltira's wound, filling the new cracks in his armor, spilling onto the snow. Koltira covers the injury with one palm, testing its depth, finding that he suffered much more than a glancing blow.]

What are you that you can offer such a thing, stranger?

[He does have the look of a priest ... or a mage? Koltira narrows his eyes. The near whiteout of the snowfall makes the man difficult to examine properly.]

[healplz]

[ Most of his attention had been on whatever it is back there, and Koltira's words take a second or two to really make sense. Then the good humor fades from his face as his attention focuses fully onto Koltira again. Stranger. He's no stranger to being forgotten, half of the Exsilium locals had forgotten his name through changes made in time over the course of his stay there. But he's never been forgotten by another Transport. ]

You don't know me. [ He's skipped straight through disbelief and settled until unhappy resignation, complete with a small smile. ] That must have been odd then, me knowing your name like that.

[ He can hear the crunching footsteps as the next white walker approaches him, but he doesn't even look back. ]

I'm a high priest, though. Skilled enough to fix that right up, [ he gestures with the tip of a rod to Koltira's side ] if you're willing to sit through the healing.

[respired]

[Koltira shakes his head, still unbalanced by this man's apparent familiarity. He hears the walker, too.]

There isn't time. Get behind me!

[Koltira brandishes Byfrost at the new attacker, which appears before them as though he were previously invisible. The walker wastes little time with preamble, lunging for Koltira with another mysterious, crystalline sword.]

[healplz]

[ Well, that's a bit dramatic of him, but Ashraf will be the first to agree that the best place to be is the opposite side of Koltira from whatever wants to kill them. So he just shrugs and obligingly sidesteps, letting the fight start. And while he's at it he casts another spell, this time on the white walker, to slow its movements. He could give Koltira a shield as well, but... ah, it's just one enemy, and he'll be healing him anyway. If he gets hurt again, there's not much harm done. ]

Well, hurry up with this one, then. [ Probably redundant advice, but he gives it anyway. There's an unpleasant conversation ahead, he'd rather get to it sooner than later. ]

[respired]

[Koltira doesn't waste time. He'd been having some slight trouble with these creatures, due to their affinity for frost magic--and subsequent immunity--but he's learned, now. So instead of chains or frigid blasts, Koltira activates the plague runes on his sword. When he strikes, the wound he leaves behind festers, eating through whatever magic binds the white walker's body together.

As it collapses with a hot hiss, Koltira turns back to Ashraf.]

Come, then. Do your magic.

[He doesn't relish the prospect of holy healing, but neither can he deny its effectiveness.]

[healplz]

[ Ashraf watches impassively, looking very much like someone who has seen this move in use more than once. And nearly as soon as Koltira turns back toward him, he throws out a hand to focus a healing spell on him. This is always unpleasant business, and another thing to get over with. The green light that looks so soothing on anyone else washes over Koltira to stitch his body whole again; Ashraf has come to think of it as searing green rather than soothing green on him. ]

[respired]

[Koltira clenches his jaw as the magic does its bloody work. He can feel his skin and shredded muscles knitting together, and more importantly he can feel his body's resistance, how it fights against restoration. The pain is much worse than the wound itself, but he knows it's necessary, so he just bites the inside of his cheek and bears it.

When it's done, he fixes his gaze on Ashraf.]

My thanks, priest.

[healplz]

[ Ashraf meets that gaze directly, inscrutable as it ever is. He has a faint memory of complaining about that once, that pupils in icy, glowing eyes were hard to track; he seems to remember there was also drinking involved. The thought of it almost makes him smile, but of course he doesn't. Recently he's seen a lot of that impassive stare; he'd done a bad job by Koltira, and he wonders if maybe it isn't a blessing that only one of them remembers it. ]

Ashraf. Ashraf Salib.

[ He steps forward, losing some of his solemnity as he re-hooks the golden rods back to his belt and takes to rubbing his hands again for warmth. ]

Now, do you happen to know where we are? I'm almost as lost as I am cold, and what I'm really asking is if you know the way to the nearest warm building.

#2

[jackoboyce]

[It's too bad that the thing tracking him is a patient creature. At first, all that Ashraf is going to spot is the flickering of a dark shadow behind buildings and trees as he walks.

Even after he calls out, nothing seems willing to jump out straight away.

It's only a little later that it begins to start tracking him in earnest. It is very tall and massively built, with dark, wiry hair covering its hunched body and dusted in snow. Red and black rags still cling to it in places, and it seems to be leaving a light skimming of red as it trails behind the man. It's one of those things that people might misinterpret as a monstrous wolf, but it's not nearly as pretty.

The next time that Ashraf catches sight of it, it gives a low, gut-rumblingly sonorous growl and stalks fully out of hiding. Ahsraf might be looking for warmth, but this thing is looking for its next meal.]

[healplz]

[ His call worked a little less well than hoped, which means a few things. One, that it isn't a person out there — or at least not one that means him well. Two, that it isn't a completely mindless beast, to be goaded into an attack by a loud sound. Whatever this is has some strategy. That could be good or very bad.

Then — there. He's finally gotten a firm look at whatever this is (and those rags don't escape his attention, not at all). He stands his ground, doing nothing more than studying it curiously. ]

Finally decided to come out, did you? [ When he moves, it's just to unhook that pair of golden rods at his belt. It doesn't hold them out though, just keeps the two of them held together in his right hand, at his side. ] Do you talk?

[ Just in case, you know. Never hurts to check. ]

[jackoboyce]

[There's somewhere in the back of Boyce's mind that does speak, but even if he wanted to (and this is a rare instance when he would want to) he can't for multiple reasons.

The first is a disconnect between mind and actions. The second is a lack of working parts for the job, as given example by the louder, more intentional growl he gives off in response.

The wolfman begins to stalk in a semi-circle around the human, eyes never leaving Ashraf's. Unlike their usual dark hue, tonight they're bloody red to match the sticky remnants of his earlier transformation. If he were a mindless beast, he could probably overrun the man in a matter of seconds, but the beast sees an opportunity to back its prey into one of the buildings on this lonely, empty street, and it still displays Boyce's careful planning, if nothing else.]

[healplz]

[ Still no answer. That would have been too much to hope for. Still, though, those shreds of clothing... it would be one thing if it looked like the shredded remains of a meal, but this honestly seems like clothing the creature had burst out of. It's a little worrisome.

Ashraf refuses to back up, standing right where he is as the creature stalks forward. He does lift his free hand though, gesturing absently through the air. A shimmering light surrounds him and fades out again, but leaves an invisible shield behind. It will go with him where ever he turns for the next little while, shielding any blows.

And, for good measure, he gestures again, but this time toward his new friend. It's a spell to discrease speed, to make one feel slow and sluggish. Ashraf's smile is almost apologetic. ]

If you're looking for dinner here, you're going to have a tough time of it. I'd really recommend some wild animal out there instead.

[jackoboyce]

[Before his encounter with this particular change, Boyce has never seen proper magic in play, so he is of no help to the creature watching the gestures and shimmers coming off of its prey. Seeing Ashraf hold his ground, it begins its charge, but partway through that awkward gallumph through spraying snow the slowing spell hits and it finds itself dragging forward.

It tries to shake its head, but even that is difficult, slow, ungainly.

Still, it is determined, so rather than continue forward full-tilt, it eventually regathers itself to continue to tighten its spiral around the man. It might be an imposed slow, but it's one that the beast can understand and work with, even if it is practically salivating with the need to dig its teeth in.]

[healplz]

[ That's bought him some time, good. Not that he really needed it. Ashraf is still a few minutes more, considering the creature a little longer... and then the buildings behind him. You know, maybe that is a good idea. He doesn't really want to kill it, not with that clothing giving hi so much pause, but chasing this thing off would probably just have it running into someone else.

So, after a few seconds of thought, he turns on his heel and strides away, toward the nearest building. He's sure he'll hear it coming if it tries to charge him, but even if not he has his shield. He's not worried. ]

[jackoboyce]

[Until that slowing spell wears off, the creature is not making a run at anything. It does, however, snap a few hair-tingling, guttural barks after the man, like he's trying to goad him along.

It's still trying to push itself, too, digging into the ground with over-long arms as it strains against the imposed limits on its body. Rather than follow Ashraf in through the door, which is much too small for the creature, it seeks to flank him by thrusting itself through the nearby window. It doesn't seem to notice the damage it does to itself by stomping across shards of glass, but the moment that it feels some give to its binds it is going to seek a way to close the distance and pin the healer in this much smaller space.]

[healplz]

[ Ashraf doesn't take long to take stock of the building interior, not with the thing still so close on his trail. He knows that slowing spell won't last for much longer, either. So what does he have -- a closed, abandoned restaurant, it looks like. He can work with that. He darts to the kitchen, moving faster now that they're enclosed together, and... yes, there. A walk in fridge. This is better than he might've hoped for.

Ashraf smiles to himself, glancing back over his shoulder to check on the progress of the beast as he nears the solid steel door. ]

[jackoboyce]

[Seconds tick by as the creature that was once Boyce bulldozes through chairs stacked on tables. Slowed or not, there is still a lot of force behind each movement, so splinters fly behind Ashraf as he dodges into the kitchen. The creature's snarling--slowed but still very loud and very real--creates a menacing baseline that ought to have the healer counting down moments before that last spell wears off.

The last few moments wear on the creature as it shakes its imposed sluggishness off. Ashraf is front and center in its bloody sights. The sound of its snarl jams all together and picks up speed just as its mass does, and, bloody claws digging into the tiles and leaving deep, raking tracks in its wake, the wolfman surges with arms wide and snout agape to rip the human into several decidedly less pretty pieces.]

[healplz]

[ This almost reminds him of home. Keeping just ahead of a slavering monster, slowed just enough and not a single bit more, pulling it along, making sure it doesn't give up and charge off elsewhere... it's almost a feeling of nostalgia. Ashraf is nearly smiling when he makes it to the fridge door, pulls it open, and darts inside, away from those claws. The door will swing shut, left to its own devices, but he's sure the creature is close enough not to let that happen with it locked outside.

Ashraf stands at the center of the darkened fridge, waiting. The slowing spell should have completely worn off by now — his shield too, not even needed despite it all. That's fine. Now he does smile, peaceful and ready. ]

[jackoboyce]

[The fond smile should not have escaped the monster's attention--it wouldn't have with Boyce, who by this point would probably have been sweating profusely and disappearing behind the nearest tree like an offput Bigfoot--but it does, and now that it is free of its slowing spell, it digs its claws in around the edges of the swinging door and gives a mighty heave to rip it off of its hinges.

At least it doesn't charge mindlessly in after the human, recognizing that it has it cornered. Holding onto the fridge door absently, it drags it to one side with a nails-on-chalkboard scratch of bent metal on industrial floor tiles, then gives a whuff as it bends to peer in after Ashraf. The growl brewing at a low level in the back of its throat mounts again, and the creature takes a swipe in with an outlandishly long and brutishly strong arm.]

[healplz]

[ His smile flickers out as the beast, rather than do something polite like join him in the walk-in fridge while leaving the door intact, just rips it off its hinges. He lets his breath out in a huff, looking distinctly annoyed. ]

You just had to break it, didn't you? This was perfect. [ He's gesturing as he speaks, and that reaching swipe catches his left arm. He's dragged forward a little at the force of it, and blood instantly springs forth to stain his nice, white sleeves, and Ashraf just sighs again. (After a quick wince. That wasn't painless.) ] Come on, then, while I work out something else...

[ He backs away, deeper into the fridge. There's really nothing more in here, just a ventilation system that probably won't be much help, and stacks of frozen, unidentifiable foods. Well, it's not all unidentifiable. There's what looks to be a whole, bagged, frozen chicken to his right, and he eyes it thoughtfully as he backs toward it. Maybe it's hungry above violent? It could be worth a try... ]