Test Drive Meme #34

[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 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!]

Comments

[uncharisma]

Just an odd human, then. Interesting.

[Molly's insightful, but doesn't actually care what she is enough to wonder if she's lying. His indifference helps her in this instance.

Also, he literally lived and sat at meals with a fiend despite having the uncanny ability to track fiends, so like, Molly just does not care to figure out what people are until they start turning people into husks at his carnival and not a moment before.]

I don't suppose you would happen to have latent seer powers, would you? I only ask so I know who's going to try to show me up at my own game.

[He shuffles his cards once more, meaningfully.]

[abyssalarcana]

Seer powers?

[She laughs a little, acting bashful, then smiles conspiratorially at him.]

You know, it's funny - I wouldn't say that I do, but every now and then I have these dreams that feel like they might be someone else's, but that I'm in them and can control them. I'm sure it's nothing, though. Dreams are strange like that. And luckily for you, I can't say I've seen any cards in them.

[uncharisma]

[He laughs, at that. He's not sure he believes her or, if he does, that it's "seer powers" manifesting themselves, but it's a fun story, and that's what matters. The strange, unsuspecting seer with her strange, unexpected dreams.]

Controlling someone else's dreams! Now that's impressive. I certainly can't do that. I just follow the hands of fate and let them pick the cards through me. One past, one present, one future. Not quite what you describe, which you're right, is lucky for me.

[abyssalarcana]

So you believe in fate? Or is it all for show? There's someone here who reads cards sometimes, tries to tell the future with them, but - I have to say I don't believe they could possibly have any real meaning to the outside universe. Cards like that only have meaning if you give it to them yourself.

[A rather diplomatic way of putting it, but he seems amicable enough. The very idea of fate being universal and identifiable is, of course, bullshit. Perhaps some individuals have their paths laid out for them for a while, when the gods demand it. But those gods themselves are subject to the chaos that is the heart of the multiverse, and for them to pretend otherwise is pure ego.]

[uncharisma]

Now if it were all for show, it'd be bad for business, wouldn't it? ... Not that there's much business to be had, without coin to speak of.

[He shrugs.]

I believe there's a lot to the world we don't understand, and any small guidance we can find in our cruel, short lives is something we desperately need.

[Probably the most honest he's been so far, even if he's talking about his cards, which he specifically cheats to get the reading he wants. Whoops.]

[abyssalarcana]

Then perhaps it's wiser to seek knowledge from creatures that live far longer, hm? Or perhaps you already do, if you believe those cards are in turn guided by your dragon god.

[But what do gods care for cards, anyway? Perhaps for a true god, unlike the creatures here who play them, it's trivial to focus on millions of followers at once and guide them all with diviners' tricks, but it seems like a lot of wasted attention.]

But I can tell you want to read my future and that's really the only reason you're keeping me in conversation, hm? Go ahead. Let's see what nonsense you can craft with them.

[uncharisma]

I'd call even an elf's life unfairly short, as very few manage to make it to a comfortable death of old age. But the wisdom that comes with longevity is partially why I follow the god I do, yes.

[Even if his true god isn't the Platinum Dragon. He's still a surprisingly faithful person, despite building up an extravagant falsehood about who he follows.]

But come now, give yourself some credit. The reading is certainly not the only reason we're still talking; you're plenty charming on your own merit.

[But the go ahead is enough for him. He takes a moment to consider the deck, shuffles a little bit more, then holds the deck of cards up in his palm.]

You can draw the cards, if you wish, seer.

[This is a power move only to himself; if she happens to choose the cards he doesn't expect, he can probably still force something sufficiently convincing and, especially, hopeful out of the meanings. But she doesn't know how much he cheats, so she can't even appreciate his efforts. It's just fun, okay.]

[abyssalarcana]

[Hopefully this little game will turn out better than Tucker's silly parlor tricks. Caedra eyes the cards, then selects a few from various parts of the deck. Not true randomness, sadly, but it doesn't much matter anyway. If he's at all good at whatever little game he's trying to make of this, he'll find a way to craft some story out of them. She can't wait for it to be well off the mark from reality.]

So. Tell me then, what's my prize?

[uncharisma]

[He turns over the first card. Let's hope these random cards can be wrangled into something that works for his purposes.]

First, your past: the Sphinx. A woman of riddles and intelligence. You've been able to overcome obstacles in the past that others may not have been able to manage. You take calculated risks, and your journey thus far gives you confidence.

[He flips the second card.]

Your present is the Black Cat. A symbol of superstition, but this card's not so unlucky. Rather, it tells me you currently have a mystery in your life, but the Sphinx indicates this isn't the first time. You may find luck on your side here, in fact.

As for your future...

[And, finally, the last card is revealed.]

The woodland fairy Hindrance.

[Gods. If he could let himself wince now, he would. That's not what he'd wanted at all. Maybe he can manage to make this sound like good fortune.]

You have something ahead that will delay your goals. This is only temporary, and the Sphinx tells me you're not so easily discouraged. However, when this card appears, it indicates that trying another approach than your usual fare will bring you even greater success in attaining what you want than you have in the past.

[Hopefully that does it. Risk/reward, right?]

[abyssalarcana]

[She watches, but loses interest with each card. Yes, this is exactly the sort of nonsense she expected. Vague generalities that anyone who has ever lived could identify with if they so wished. She likes to think she knows better.]

Right. So I've overcome obstacles, I have a mystery in my life, and the future looks like it brings challenges. Just like every other person.

[She gives a dry laugh and manages to hold herself back from throwing all of his cards into disarray the way she had done with Edgar. Prestidigitation is not the most subtle of spells when one is trying to pretend to play along.]

This is why I tend not to believe the superstitious nonsense my people tried to burden me with. But I suppose I knew that going into this, so I can't fault you. I hope you find someone more gullible to play your little game with. The cards are quite pretty though.

[She shrugs, gives a smile anyway. No hard feelings, right? Just a devil-horned boy trying to put the universe into some sort of order, as they tend to do. Disgusting creature.]

[uncharisma]

[Rather than take offense, Molly bursts out laughing.]

Well, I don't know you well enough to point to specifics! Half the reading is how you interpret your cards. You know yourself better than I do, certainly. The cards wouldn't work if their general meaning couldn't change for each person.

[Still, he grins at her.]

Even so, you don't have to believe in them, of course. Generally, people are paying me to read their fortunes, so they're much more open to applying the cards to their lives. Being willing to part with silver usually means as much.

[He's a little disappointed his ploy at stirring up hope didn't work, but honestly, the more he talked to her the less he figured she'd go for it anyway.]

[abyssalarcana]

Well, a real diviner would probably argue that his judgments were accurate and not based on interpretation, right?

[But it's not like she cares, just laughs it off. It's a gimmick, nothing more.]

With no silver, you'll have to find some other way to con people for your little fortune-telling act. Have fun.

[Clearly it's not her thing, and so she shrugs him off as she turns to leave.]

[uncharisma]

[He shrugs. He knows he's not going to convince her, so he doesn't bother. It's not like he truly believes in his "gift", anyway.

As she leaves, he calls out,]

Lovely meeting you, regardless!