test drive meme # 25

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 October 25th, and apps are open November 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: THEY'RE GOOD DOGS BRENT
[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.

It looks like this time the Door is going for something very literally evil. This time, you get to play with some hell hounds, from various exciting places but in this case the Forgotten Realms tabletop setting.

Hell hounds are dog-shaped creatures, but you know... just a little bigger than normal. Or maybe a lot. They've also got glowing red eyes and smoke coming out of their mouths, because of course they do. They like to hunt in packs, and particularly enjoy surrounding a vulnerable target and breathing fire at it. Or biting. Whatever works! Yay, dogs!]

D E L I G H T

SCENARIO TWO: A SONG IN YOUR HEART
[It's a beautiful day, a beautiful morning, and on a day like this, all you want to do is sing! Okay, maybe you don't normally, but you sure do today. It seems like every moment calls for a new song, every little bump in the road can be paved over by singing about it. Even if you're upset or sad - well, a ballad is sure to make you feel better!

So let it all out, sing your heart out, and maybe throw in a dance number or two. Or maybe someone else is singing to you - a love confession? A song of thanks for all you've done? A catchy little ditty about how annoying it is that you always use up all the hot water? The sky's the limit!

Then again, maybe you're the one person not singing. Maybe you've managed to resist the urge, and think everyone else is absolutely bonkers. Go ahead, stare at them in horror as they serenade you. We're sure they won't be offended!]

C O M B I N A T I O N

SCENARIO THREE: BRING ME A DREAM
[You fell into a deep sleep the moment you laid your head down tonight - even if you don't usually sleep. And now you're dreaming, as would be expected. But this dream seems more vivid in some way, suffused with emotion. It could be a frightening dream, an angry one, a sad one. One full of hope, or a dream of the one you love, or a happy memory. Maybe it's just a confusing or calming dream - but whatever it is, it's soaking in that particular emotion.

And you aren't the only one there. Someone's come to visit your dream - they could be a stranger or a friend, or even an enemy. You can't shut them out, and you can't choose who they are. They'll be there with you in that dream, experiencing it. Unless, of course, you're the visitor, and you're in someone else's dream. Enjoy the show, if you can.

This is a mini version of our Dreamwalker event this month.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I don't have any plans on hitting you.

[Unless he gives her a reason to. But really, he seems okay. Beverly is growing more and more certain. Matter of fact, not exactly warm and fuzzy, but he's competent and capable and he saved her.

She likes him.]

Got it. You're the boss, boss.

Just saying.

[He's been clocked in the face enough times already and has the scars to show for it. But she's solid so far. Taking things as they come, working with it. That's good. That'll keep her alive. Calmly, Ephemera puts his helmet back on.]

C'mon, kid.

[It's not that far of a walk.]

Yeah.

[She's coming. Quickly too. No desire at all to stay here, not with those monster dogs around. And she certainly doesn't want to get left behind. If she's learned nothing else, it's that there's strength to be found in numbers.]

Hey. Ephemera?

[So far, so good. No monsters lunging out of the shadows. Ephemera keeps his good eye on the sight-lines just in case.]

What?

You said people got yanked from all sorts of places here. That means someone or something is doing the yanking, right? Who is it? What do they want?

[She's thinking, she can't help it.]

Why would they grab a teenager and a soldier-not-an-astronaut? [Where's the common ground there. The clown wanted to eat kids, and kids only. So what's the deal with this place?]

[Smart kid, isn't she? Ephemera nods slowly.]

Check your pockets. There's a phone. It'll explain some stuff.

[He's not good at this sort of thing. The theoretical bits.]

They call themselves gods. I know. But they eat--emotion. Somehow. So. It brings in things that feel.

[A phone? This teenager from the 1980s doesn't know how that can work, but she reaches into her pocket anyway, pulling out the smartphone and frowning at it.]

This is a phone? [But she's a kid. She's played video games. It only takes her a couple seconds to get it turned on, starting to thumb through it. She's still walking along with him though, listening.

There's a soft, startled little sound that catches in her throat, like she choked on her breath when he says that. Eat emotion.] ...the feed on emotions? The... the thing back home. It was like that. But It should be gone... we... [But then the vision she had when she was lost in the lights.]

Yeah.

[Ephemera tenses at the noise she makes, but doesn't comment. This place is insane. What sort of reaction is she supposed to have?]

It's a big universe, kid. Lots of bad shit.

[Beverly takes a breath and nods, frowning. Okay. Big universe. Lots of bad shit. Things that are like that clown? Fine.]

Yeah. Fine. We beat it once. We can beat it again. If we have to.

[She's young, but she's determined.]

Yeah?

[Ephemera hums under his breath. She's a fighter, then. Just like he thought.]

How'd you do it? Maybe it'd work again.

The thing back home, It was a little different. It only came after kids, and it only wanted our fear. I think we only managed to beat it when we got over being afraid of it, and when we fought together. I think if it hadn't been all of us, it wouldn't have worked. It would've killed us.

[A frown now, as she considers.]

We had to find It, where It lived. Down in the sewers.

[Is he believing this? Adults have a tendency to dismiss children as having wild imaginations. So Beverly sounds just a bit wary as she relays the information.]

[Ephemera hums again, considering the information. He doesn't have any reason not to trust it.] Each god eats a different emotion. Fear, Hope, Sorrow. Couple others. It might work, if you cornered them one at a time.

[Maybe. He doesn't like having so little intelligence.]

Worth a shot looking underground. There's pipes and shit. They have to go somewhere.

There's that many of them?

[Man. One of that clown was more than enough. But Beverly is honestly a little comforted that Ephemera seems to be taking her seriously here.]

Yeah. It took us a while to find where It lived. But once we did... [Things got a bit more intense honestly.]

Yeah.

[And the Null. Ephemera decides not to bring that one up yet. There's time still. Better not overwhelm the kid. She seems like a trooper so far, but she's young. She doesn't deserve to carry all that weight.]

How come nobody else dealt with it?

[Kids shouldn't be fighting. Not like that.]

Only you guys could see it, or something?

I think It hid from adults. They didn't really seem to notice anything. Even the one time my bathroom got covered in blood -- my father couldn't see it. Only me and my friends could. And only kids were going kissing. I think It only fed on children. It killed my friend Bill's little brother.

[They were really on their own, throughout the whole thing.]

We were on our own, but It had to be stopped.

Hnn. Good to know.

[Doesn't sound like Beverly's monster is the same as the gods, but the underground angle might be something to explore. Ephemera isn't sure if there are tunnels under the city or anything like that, but they've got hot water. It's got to come from somewhere.]

Sorry about your friend.

test drive meme # 25

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