ᴛʜᴇ ᴍᴏᴅᴛᴇᴀᴍ ᴏғ ʜᴀᴅʀɪᴇʟ (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
hadrielmods) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
dankmemes2018-07-22 02:53 pm
hadrielmods) wrote in dankmemes2018-07-22 02:53 pm
Entry tags:
Test Drive Meme #34
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 July 25th, and apps are open August 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: OOZES GEOMETRICALLY
[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.
The only warning you may get is the squish slick sound of movement before a gelatinous cube is upon you. Leaving gross trails behind them and with their see-through bodies filled with the bones of those that they've dissolved in their jelly, these cubes have no real vulnerability other than their limited movement.
Gelatinous cubes are exactly what it says on the tin, giant translucent cubes of jelly whose main attack tactic seems to be cornering people in small hallways and just sort of absorbing them into its mass. They then digest all meat and flesh and leave only floating bones and various metals their victim may have been wearing stashed inside of their jiggling forms.
Maybe it's time to apologize for the last time you brought a jelly mold to a potluck.]
A L L
SCENARIO TWO: MY LOYAL SERVANTS
[Thanks for your service to the gods! In order to power each of them up, it's up to you to pick a deity you like most (or dislike least, as it were) and simply say their name in order to be influenced by them and encouraged to inspire their emotion in others!
What, you don't want to play? Too bad, accidental name calling works just as well, even if you didn't mean to incite them- you'll feel their presence pulling their chosen emotion out in you anyway. Hope you picked a good one!
This is a mini version of our In Need Of A Boat event this month.]
C O N F U S I O N
SCENARIO THREE: I MISS GPS
[Sure, you might be a little confused at being here at first, but that generally goes away within a few days. This time... well, this time, that feeling of befuddlement isn't quite going away. Roads that you take seem to disappear behind you when you turn around, your right turns are left turns on the map you're following, and you're pretty sure that everyone except for you put their shirt on backwards this morning.
Is everyone high? What they're saying makes absolutely no sense to you. You can't find your way out of a paper bag, let alone back to where you've been staying lately. Is that a dog or is it an eldritch horror coming up to lick at your calves?
During this prompt, everything will feel off and it can be very difficult to get your bearings at all. That's Confusion for you!]
mollymauk tealeaf ( critical role) ota
Do I really have to fight another one of these, by myself?
[The gelatinous cube in the Gentleman's ruins had proven itself a pain in the neck as it was, with six people and a cat on his side. Now, he's utterly alone -- and trying not to think about what that might mean, at the moment, unable to locate any of the Mighty Nein even when only looking for the ones that aren't currently kidnapped.
And isn't that appropriate, anyway? He knows where he is, or at least has an inkling of an idea of where. For all he knows, this could be the very same gelatinous cube they liquidated way back when. Although he doesn't see the point in killing the same monster twice, he can see a sort of poetic justice in the creature seeking revenge against him. He could almost appreciate its valiant efforts, if it weren't currently trying to consume him.
He draws the golden scimitar in his right hand along the back of his own neck, activating the Rite of the Dawn as his blood clings to the edge of the blade and glows a bright, shining white. He doesn't flinch; he's done this often enough, and the scars littering his body are proof of that.
And that's when he notices there's more than one gelatinous cube in this arena.]
...On second thought, let's not activate both swords, eh? It looks like we're playing the long game.
II. ALL
[Funny you should mention Hope; Molly didn't need convincing to choose a god to follow, speaking Hope's name in full confidence he knows what angle he's going with this.
So he lays out his extremely gaudy tapestry covered in religious iconography dedicated to the Platinum Dragon Bahamut across the ground near the shops, using it as a rug to set up his own wares. He's publicly shuffling his cards, showmanship very much a part of the advertising game as he awaits any random passerby. When they do, he calls out to them.]
You look like you could use some direction!
[He draws a card with a flourish.]
A quick look into your imminent future, free of charge. Well, I'll be accepting payments in the form of "a moment of your time".
III. CONFUSION
[Molly has absolutely... no recollection of where he's staying. Where he lives, now, he reminds himself, only he doesn't even really have that anymore. The feeling of reaching for memories on the tip of his tongue and being unable to find them grips him where it scares him the most; the thought that maybe Mollymauk really was just a temporary phase after all. The feeling that his memories could leave him again at any moment, and he'd have to start all over... or worse, revert back to what he was before.
That's the feeling that follows him as he tries to locate a spire -- or maybe one of those topsy turvy houses, that feels a bit like him -- that can jog his memory. Only he can't remember where any of them are at all. He keeps ending up following nonsense roads back to where he started: the edge of the ocean. The tides pull in and out as they pull him back again and again, urging him to give up.
He's halfway through wading into deeper waters when he realizes what he's doing and bodily recoils from it, dragging himself free of the water as if he had Nott's fear of it. It's not that he's afraid of the water. He just doesn't know why he keeps coming back to it. What if it's some memory trying to kickstart itself?
Mollymauk crawls out of the edge of the ebbing tide with a cough and a splutter of water. Gods, he really is doing his best impression of each of the rest of the Mighty Nein now, isn't he?]
II
All right, I'm game. But if you just say that I'll continue to be in Hadriel fighting off monsters and dealing with weird shit, I'm not going to talk to you anymore.
no subject
Come now, don't sell your destiny so short. If I thought your future might be as boring as that, I wouldn't bother to call you over.
[He continues shuffling, looking this woman over. She's ready and willing, which is more than can be said for some, but she's skeptical. Many are. This will be fun.]
no subject
So how does this work? Do I pick a card or does one of them show up in my pocket?
no subject
These aren't magic tricks. No sleight of hand or illusion magic, here. It's only divination, focusing on the magic words: either your question, or in the case of a simple look at your near future, your name.
And I pick the cards. But first! I'll need your name, won't I?
no subject
My name's Cashmere, and you're in luck because I've been told my name is as close to magic words as you can get.
no subject
That is a pretty magical name. I'm only disappointed you told me, because now it's much too late to change my name to Cashmere. Alright then. Down to business.
[He shuffles through more cards until he's satisfied, picking cards from the top of the deck easily... and just the ones he wants, somehow.]
First, a look at your past. My my, that's the King, isn't it?
[First clue that these are not grandma's tarot cards.]
You're a natural born leader. You don't wait for destiny to come calling; you find it of your own will.
The present: Earth. You may feel rooted to the ground in some way, but your sensibility is currently your best friend.
And, last but not least, the future. Ah! The night fairy, Serendipity. A fateful encounter is on the horizon, but this shows that it will turn the tides for you. I would look for faces you're unfamiliar with -- probably not mine, of course -- to find a new connection that will bring you success in what you seek.
no subject
An unfamiliar face, but not yours. Well, I'll have to keep an eye out for this life-changing mystery person. Got any hints about what form they might take when guiding me to my destiny?
no subject
[Ah, but there she goes, wanting more. That could mean he's done well. He taps his chin thoughtfully, looking at the Serendipity card in his hand.]
Often, the Serendipity card comes when one door has closed for you, heralding a new door's open. This person may take the place of someone you've lost contact with for whatever reason. Unfortunately, the cards don't get much more specific than that. You're the King; your path is yours to rule.
(no subject)
(no subject)
I (Fear)
She doesn't know how to fight them so she's just running around, escorting people out where she can.
She doesn't hear all of Molly's exclamation, but she does hear "by myself" and heads for the voice. She gets there just in time to see the blade.]
...What's that gonna do?
no subject
He taps the side of the golden sword.]
See the glow, dear? Magic. This enchanted sword was gifted to me by a surprisingly docile necromancer who just wanted to see the circus, but with no coin to speak of. Point is, it'll do just fine against gelatin, not that it needs the extra help.
[He thinks about that for a moment.]
...You know what? You're right. Both might be better. Let's do both. I'll probably live to regret it later, but I've also said that before.
[And he activates the second, ever so slightly less ostentatiously decorated sword in much the same way as the first, leaving behind an identical radiant glow on the blade. ]
no subject
She also doesn't know if she believes this story, but she's not going to call him out on it.]
I mean, blades don't seem to do much. What kind of magic is on that? [Does it make them explode? Jo would be jealous of that.]
no subject
[He winks at her, and then strikes the slow moving cube of gelatin with two swipes from two glowing scimitars, causing it to blubber a bit. It doesn't seem to be doing more damage, but really, it's hard to tell what works against these things.]
Speaking from experience, these things get plenty done to them by blades, bolts, even staffs and fists if you're getting desperate and don't mind the numbing feeling in your extremities. It may not look like it, but they thrive on your uncertainty. Magic only adds a little extra on top.
[Another flourishing strike before the monster can attack, then darting back away from it before it can strike back. Its slowness works against it, here, though it's not like Molly is well armored.]
It's radiant magic, at any rate, if you're that curious.
no subject
How do you kill them? Just keep cutting?
no subject
[The cube approaches him slowly, coming up into his face, and he slashes at it twice before it manages to toss some ooze at him, burning his arm. He hisses, but just backs off a bit.]
They're slow, but if you happen to have magic that keeps them from moving at all they won't be able to surprise and engulf you. Unfortunately, I seem to have left my wizard at home.
no subject
Holy shit, they can attack. Are you okay?
no subject
[He laughs a bit.]
Not to worry. Just a little acid burn. I might feel it in the morning, but I'm no stranger to a little pain.
[You know, seeing as he just cut into his own skin just to activate his magic.]
The only real danger is getting engulfed. Though they're so slow they'd usually have to get the drop on you for that. Or you'd have to be a complete idiot and go charging into it.
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
II
[No, Caedra needs no direction, thanks. She's quite content doing things as they come to her, with no interest in any supposed future beyond her own basic goal of getting the fuck out of this city, and the Abyss' goals of laying waste to the rest of the multiverse. So excuse her when she sounds a little put off by the suggestion that a fancy tiefling with cards can tell her what the future holds. She's seen these games, she knows it's all nonsense and wordplay and not true divination.
But still she lingers, still she asks, because a tiefling would have caught her eye before. This one is new. And she studies him for a moment, as if a visual inspection would tell her anything useful at all.]
Where do you hail from, boy?
no subject
He doesn't look intimidated, though, his grin just widening in the way any conman worth their salt would look at a particularly tough customer. It's not uncommon that he's met with people who aren't a fan of how he flaunts his tiefling heritage, so really, it's no skin off his back.]
Little town called Trostenwald, in the Dwendalian Empire. Not sure if that means much to you, miss. It's known for its fine ale and finer performers.
[Easiest lies are the ones based on truth. There's certainly a Trostenwald known for its ale, and there certainly have been performers named Mollymauk Tealeaf at that town before.
He continues shuffling his cards, undeterred.]
I don't need the cards to tell me you're a special one, but they certainly don't hurt.
no subject
[She'll just... conveniently ignore the 'special' comment. Coming from some people they mean flattery. From others, they find an exceptionally passive-aggressive way to use the word. Hard to say which it is with him just yet.]
You've only just arrived though, haven't you. Tell me, what are your first impressions of this place?
[Look, she'll humor him enough to have a neutral conversation. She has no special love for tieflings, they're still mortals and more often than not the distant descendants of some enemy or another, but at least they're not yet another dreaded boring human.]
no subject
So I have, so I have. If you're looking to fill out some comment cards in my honor, well, I'd say this place has some pretty interesting people so far.
The ocean's quite nice, too. Trostenwald was close to the Ustaloch, but that was a simple lake, not a big, wide ocean. Amazing what a large body of water does to the senses. I can see why those I've met from the Menagerie Coast were such fans.
[This, actually, is only tangentially a lie. He really is a fan of the people and the oceans, having not been so close to the beach before. Even if it's a rocky beach, he's impressed by the size of it. It intimidates and offers peace in equal measure.]
My impressions of the local gods are a little more vague, though. Can't say I've been able to glean much of them, but then, isn't that just the way of things with gods?
[The pendant of Bahamut shines around his neck. He's very aware of it right now, with how much less necessary it is to adapt to the approved Dwendalian religions. But then, the tapestry his deck is currently spread out on is just a big idol to the Platinum Dragon as well, isn't it? It probably wouldn't be a bad thing to keep up the ruse, since he's got all he needs for it already and all.]
no subject
Oh, they're not gods. Or if they are, they're very minor ones, and incompetent at their best. Think of them more as ... hm. Sorcerers who never quite learned correctly what their powers even do. They're like children, really, in that regard. They never do quite seem to understand what step to take next or how to even do it.
[Terrified children at that, always fearing the constructs that hunt them. She would pity the people who truly think they are on a godlike level of power if she cared enough to. Gods as she knows them ought to be unable to be killed by what amounts to a small army of metallic golems.]
no subject
Still, the more she lets on about her perspective, the more information he has to work off of for any potential Hopeful card reading.]
You're not the first I've heard claim they're not gods, but you're the first I've heard make such colorful comparisons about them. I'm sure you'd know how to impersonate divinity much better than they do, then?
no subject
[One. One is enough to know. Especially trying to raise a half-demon in a world full of mortals. As much as she loves her son, as much as she wouldn't mind having more some day, boy oh boy can they be a nightmare.]
I try not to have too many direct dealings with the divine, in any case. It usually ends poorly for anyone but themselves.
no subject
[Flattery doesn't necessarily get you everywhere, but it can't hurt. And she's absolutely speaking from history with divinity. That may not necessarily be saying much, considering Molly's two years old and has already made friends with a fallen angel, but they are speaking specifically on gods right now. Which worries him, a bit.
Jester's playfulness about the Traveler aside, he can't imagine actually dealing with a god of the type back home. Divinity is sort of beyond his natural ken.]
I've known clerics to benefit from their general involvement before, but I get the impression there are no clerics of Rage or what-have-you around. Seems like that one would end poorly, especially if what you say is true.
[Nope, definitely not directly working for Hope right now, what would make you think that?]
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)