test drive meme # 26

[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. 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: SHAKE, RATTLE AND ROLL
[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.

This time, the monsters are a bit more transparent, as the Door will bring in a few skeletons! Skeletons often accompany the fear of death and can such be found as entry-level monsters in many different stories and games of all kinds.

Skeletons are well... skeletons.... but they move around like they're still alive. Some of them use weapons to make you fear death by killing you, which is cool for them I suppose. They're not particularly smart and they can be tricked very easily, but once they hone in on a victim they won't rest until they make everyone else just as dead as they are.]

D E L I G H T / L O V E

SCENARIO TWO: SQUAD GOALS
[Hey, look to the guy or gal to the left or right side of you. Did you guys just become best friends?
I think you did! For the next little while, you find yourself entering into these odd platonic relationships you'd never considered before. That guy who you kind of awkwardly made eye contact with at the grocery store last week? Best friends! The lady who's friends with your roommate's sister? Inseparable pals!

This event, based off of our recent event of the same name inspires you and all your weird facebook acquaintances to suddenly feel like you're best buds. You guys will share everything together, do everything together, and just generally think the world of one another. Enjoy your new and beautiful friendship!]

S O R R O W

SCENARIO THREE: INTRUSIVE THOUGHTS
[You know that voice deep in the back of your head that you generally ignore? You know, the one that tells you that you're stupid or worthless or that you should push that old lady into traffic? Well, usually you ignore them- we know you do, because you're a decent person who doesn't experience that kind of self doubt.

Now, though, all those little voices seem to have some merit. You're not sure why, but suddenly just giving into your weirdest impulses sounds like a good idea. You'll have to fight even harder to ignore them, particularly the ones that tell you to do something. What would that guy do if you just up and punched him in the face? What about if you just broke that chick's window? You'll have to find out!

Alternatively, all those thoughts about how lame you are and how you'll never succeed at anything are a bit more believable too. Hopefully you don't have too many of those- but hey, if you do then you can always drown your sorrows away at the local bar!]

Comments

[prophesiedone]

Long enough. [In a handful of months, he will have been in the caverns a year. He keeps his lightsaber out - just in case - glancing around as he leads the way.] So are you going to tell me where you got a lightsaber or - ?

[He attempts to keep his tone light and conversational, but the look he gives Kylo is anything but. While he is almost positive this isn't a Jedi, he is automatically on guard against anyone who might have the power to oppose him in combat.]

[warfares]

[ There's a pause, the kind that stretches to the point of being felt, before he answers, his tone flat: ] I built it.

[ There is perhaps a challenge in the statement as well. Injured as he is, wary as he is, if his new acquaintance wants to start anything over it he is more than ready to engage him. ]

[prophesiedone]

Impressive. [And it is. He doesn't mean that sarcastically.] Red isn't a color associated with the Jedi. Are you a Sith?

[He assumes maybe the kyber crystal in the blade is synthetic. That's common with Sith lightsabers.]

[warfares]

[ The crystal is indeed synthetic, as it happens, though it has less to do with his personal alignment as it does with the fact that organic kyber crystals have become something of a rarity after the Empire had mined most viable sources. ]

The Sith are dead. [ It's information delivered quickly, with no apparent sign of regret. The Sith had been weak in their own way, greedy in their quest for power. The galaxy did not mourn their loss and neither did he. ] As are the Jedi.

[ All but one, anywayㅡthough given Skywalker had scuttled off into self-imposed exile rather than face him, perhaps he wasn't very deserving of the title.

An answer in its way, regardless. He is both, he is neither. He's also quickly fast approaching the end of his patience, the adrenaline from his earlier fight burning its way through his system. ]

Who are you? [ Eyes cutting to the lightsaber again before settling on Anakin again, measuring. ]

[prophesiedone]

[Which makes perfect sense. The Empire was pretty greedy on resources - especially valuable ones. Anakin would have informed them about kybers at the very least. Not that he has done so yet.]

Are they? [He can almost agree with the Jedi comment, but not the Sith. Not for him at any rate.] Time doesn't function like you might think. Not here. The Jedi aren't dead for me - neither are the Sith.

[He tilts his head, meeting the other man's gaze unflinchingly.] Anakin Skywalker. And you are?

[warfares]

[ The answer brings him up short, jaw working as he fights back the immediate angry snap of: Impossible. ]

Anakin Skywalker has been dead for thirty years. [ Longer even than that, truthfully.

Still, he can see the similarities between them nowㅡAnakin favors his son more than his daughter, at least in coloring, though it's clear enough where Leia inherited her single-minded focusㅡand he scrambles to find an answer that would satisfy. ]

Kylo Ren. [ Your grandson, hangs between them, unspoken. It is far too early to get into that. ]

[prophesiedone]

[Believe it or not, he knows the feeling. But it seems like the only impossibility is him going back as of late.]

You're from far in the future, then. [Unsurprising considering the other clues, yet it is odd to hear of one's death.] Do you know how it happens?

[Hey, the universe can't blame him for asking! He is most certainly single-minded and reckless. If there is danger, you can bet he is in the thick of it.]

...Hux mentioned you. [He sighs.] He's not here anymore, but we shared a house.

[warfares]

Do you really want to know? [ Careful, now. The immediate temptation to share everything he knows, down to the smallest detail, quickly subdued by his sense of reason. Nothing he has to share is likely to be met well.

Then Hux is mentioned, and the reeling shock quickly gives way to a bitter and resentful kind of jealousy. ]

Did you know one another well?

[prophesiedone]

[It's a good question and Anakin is quiet, weighing it. He'd much rather hear about his end than Padmé's - and he already knows too much about that.]

Why not? [He has had visions of himself in the life support suit. All things considered, maybe his death is a blessing?]

Fairly well. He was easy to talk to, at least, which is something you need here when the gods play tricks on you.

[warfares]

[ His fingers flex idly at his side: ] Some might say that in knowing, the future might changeㅡand not always for the better. [ It's not a denial as much as it is a caution. ]

What did Hux tell you?

[prophesiedone]

I'd rather know so I can make the adjustments necessary. [He really isn't going to mourn himself, though. Pausing in his steps, he turns to face Kylo, arms crossed.]

Plenty. I know I have a grandson.

[warfares]

[ Dryly: ] That must have been quite the revelation.

[ He's going to murder Hux when he finds himㅡslowly and with his bare hands. ]

You're cut down by your Master, or so the story goes.

[prophesiedone]

It was. Learning I had twins was surprising too. [Hux had been a decent friend in their time together. They learned to work together, at least, even when Anakin felt like climbing the walls.]

Sidious. I wouldn't go down without taking a piece out of him too.

[warfares]

[ It would puzzle him, learning this, if only given Hux's vehement denial of the Force and everything associated with it. For all his brilliance (and Ren would give him that much, albeit begrudgingly) he lacked Tarkin's pragmatism. ]

And thus ends the glorious and short-lived reign of the Sith.

[prophesiedone]

[It's hard to deny something that turns your house upside down on a semi-regular basis. Anakin's emotions were not the most stable at first. As if they ever are.]

It was never about being a Jedi or being a Sith. Those were just titles.

[warfares]

Explain it to me, then. [ Anakin evidently had something to say on the matter, and Renㅡhis seeming indifference asideㅡappears to have nothing but time. ]

[prophesiedone]

It was about balancing the opposing sides and finding the most power that way. The Jedi rely solely on the Light side while the Sith rely on the Dark side. Both have their strengths and their weaknesses, but if one can draw from both -

[He tips his head back, expression grim.]

I heard about a Sith Lord that was even able to overcome death.

[warfares]

Mm. [ a soft, contemplative noise. ] To strike such a balance would be difficult, if not impossible.

Darth Plagueis, yes. His Master.

Evidently neither of them were able to utilize this skill to any real affect; both slain by their students.

[prophesiedone]

I thought that was what I was destined to do. [But he fears he tipped over too far on one side.] I didn't know that.

[It makes perfect sense. Sidious uses and kills whomever he likes.]

So I do slay him? Well there is some good news.

[warfares]

I'd have thought a Jedi would know better than to take a prophecy a face-value. [ Since they are so very like visions: subjective and often only making sense once they've already occurred. ]

With the help of your son.

[prophesiedone]

That's what Obi-Wan always told me. [His lips twist bitterly.] Everything is vague to them; everything needs to be meditated on and examined until everyone is absolutely sick of it.

I prefer action. [He closes his eyes.] Luke. I'm sorry he had to be part of that.

[warfares]

[ And, again, he is struck by how very surreal this conversation is; that he is speaking to his grandfather, long dead, about his discontent with the Jedi of all things.

Perhaps he is delirious from his injuries after all. ]

If I had answered your question earlier differently, had told you that I was Sith, what would you have done?