test drive meme # 36

[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 September 24th, and apps are open October 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: GET YOUR RED CAPE READY
[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.

You don't want to ride them- someone already tried that. Near you is a horselike beast, one without any fur or skin or anything that might make it more palatable. It's a Nuckelavee, a Nordic mythological creature which terrorizes the Northern Isles.

This demonic creature seems to embody that of a man merged with a horse- but not in the cute centaurian way. They are natural swimmers and emerge from the deep to drag their prey down into the water with them- so terrible that even the scent of their breath can sap you of all will to live. Better hold your own breath and look out!]

L O V E

SCENARIO TWO: GET YOU SOME
[You don't know where you are or where you're going- or what you're even doing in this strange city on the ocean- but you do know that you need someone by your side to make it better. Even if you don't know them, even if you hate them, there's something comforting to having another person so close to you.

Closer.

Physical contact with another person seems to put your mind completely at ease, erasing all of your worries and doing better for your mind than a hundred meditation sessions. So it's time to get friendly, even if you're not really that friendly of a person in the first place.

This is a mini version of our A Little Touchy Feely event this month.]

SCENARIO THREE: 15 MINUTES LATE WITH
[Good news! Love has decided that since other liquids seem to be all the rage amongst you humans and they somehow learned about Earth agricultural crops, they've decided to open up a coffee shop!

Here's the space to live out all of your coffee shop AUs in a Hadriel setting! With a storm brewing over the island and a merry pink glowcloud somehow creating caffeinated drinks on the spot when you order them, get ready to tuck in and get nice and cozy for a few minutes.

But uh-oh! Your name is misspelled! Or it's someone else's name entirely, but it's your drink. Or something about your order is wrong- whatever the case, Confusion definitely wouldn't just stand around and let Love have their fun. Somehow, everything is wrong in this poor coffeeshop... what are you going to do about it?]

Comments

Disreputable Dog | The Old Kingdom

[standformyself]

i.
[The Dog took a deep breath, scenting the air. New and exciting smells tantalized her nostrils and she sucked in, before snorting back out. In a sense, it was almost too much and she wanted to bark and run and chase her tail all at the same time. New corners to mark! New scents to smell! New people to greet! New adventures to see! She could not help but quiver in excitement and her tail wagged furiously side to side. Yes, her tale in the old story was done and Lirael would write the rest herself, but that didn’t mean that a new chapter had not started for the Dog.

Starting off at a brisk trot, the Dog decided that first and foremost, she needed to find a bone. After that, why, the perfect place to bury the bone! And then, why, perhaps she would start marking some corners… There did seem to be very many corners to mark and if she wanted to get them all, why, she would need to start soon.

Nose to the ground, she started off, tail still helicoptering back and forth as she moved along. Yet, the hackles of her fur started to rise, and the Dog came to a halt. She lifted her face from the ground, a new and completely unfamiliar smell entering the air. It tasted like no magic that she had seen before, which was why she regarded it. Something new already.]

You're not a bone, and you don't look particularly friendly.

[There was a low growl in her voice, and something deeper in her voice. And oops, there was someone there. The Dog froze for a moment, looking quite like a hunting dog with one front leg poised upward. She blinked, once, twice, as her eyes settled on the stranger nearby, before...]

Woof?

[It's believable, right?]

iii.

The Dirge.

[It had been the tantalizing aroma that had driven the Dog indoor to the shop, and surprisingly enough, she had been able to ordered a drink. Three sugars and two creams, and a bone on the side? No bone? Hm, very well, just the cup then. Yet one pointed ear it currently pricked upward as paws that were somehow longer and leaner than your typical dog's hold the cup.]

I don't look like a dirge, do I? Why, I'm quite full of life. And I much prefer being disreputable.

[Whether a talking 'dog' was normal or not for the stranger was beyond the point, as the medium sized black and tan mutt is indeed talking to you.]



[ooc; will match any format]

i

[theweakhavepurpose]

That's the least convincing 'woof' ever.

[While he's startled that a dog is talking, he's not taking it as poorly as he could have. After all, while the Judges back home couldn't talk, they could understand human speech and respond to it, so this was really just the next step. ]

Maybe try bork. Or boof.

[standformyself]

[Tail wag, tail wag?

Of course her true bark can actually be far worse than her bite, but the Dog doesn't see any need for that, yet. No point in going and making things take a walk, especially when she is the one that currently wants to go for a walk.

But another snort as she blows air out of her muzzle.]

I don't know what not dogs you're used to being around, but boof sounds ridiculous.

[theweakhavepurpose]

Well you have to use them for their intended purpose.

Boof is the sound dogs make when they're alarmed but too lazy to do anything about it. Bork bork bork is for alerting people, and bark is for attention.

There's also awoo and ruff.

You've got options.

[This is someone who knows too much about dogs.]

[standformyself]

It sounds like perhaps you should make the dog noises and I'll do the talking.

[Tongue lagging to the side. The Dog does quite enjoy this form though. It offers many benefits, like chasing rabbits and digging holes. Unfortunately, bones for said holes and rabbits seem to be lacking at the moment.

It's not death though. That much the Dog knows for certain.]

[theweakhavepurpose]

Only if I also get to be the dog. How about you be the Deputy and go back to the cult, and I be the dog and go dig some holes in the beach?

[He'd much rather be a dog. Being a human sucked.]

[standformyself]

Do I get to have a badge? I think it would look rather fetching on my chest, like the khaki breastplate I once had.

[For all of five seconds. She hadn't been the best at pretending to be a real dog, speaking out of turn, quite literally. It had been fun though.

Yet her head cocks slightly to the side, contemplating.]

You are deputy of a cult? And do you have a proper dig technique? That is very important.

[theweakhavepurpose]

I'm not the deputy of a cult, I'm a deputy and there is a cult. Two separate things.

[Though her version is closer to the truth.]

Well I have a pretty great shovel if that's what you mean.

i.

[wordofa]

[ Not a stranger, precisely, though Nick would say he hadn't come off too well in all his previous and brief encounters with the Dog.

Talking animals, too, are something he would have denied outright a year ago. (Their anatomy not being sufficiently developed to accommodate language, et cetera et cetera.) But a scientist must be able to derive new hypotheses from new data. And formulate new questions, like so: ]

Did you really just "woof" at me?

[standformyself]

[It could be argued whether because she barks like a dog, and walks like a dog, and chases rabbits like a dog, that she is a dog. The answer to that? Well, you wouldn't get one from the Dog but rather run around in circles chasing one's proverbial tail until you were too dizzy to recall the first question.

Those pointed ears perk and her tongue lolls out.]

Deeper. More of a woof.

[wordofa]

[ This is all probably a joke in which he doesn't understand the punchline, Nick thinks. ]

Ah yes. An important distinction.

[ His response is in good humor, probably because he hasn't yet spotted the terrible monster. ]

[standformyself]

Very much so. We can't get our barks confused.

[And, her hackles are rising again. Teeth are baring as she bristles up, staring at something behind him. Whatever it is, it doesn't smell like anything magical that she knows.

Which is both intriguing and puzzling.]

Watch yourself.

[wordofa]

What?

[ Nick can sense magic, now, but usually only when it smacks itself across his face. But he can see the way the Dog's fur is standing on end, and quickly turns around, backing up toward the Dog as he spots the terrifying nuckalavee. He doesn't recognize it either, but assumes the Dog must, because magical creatures must all take tea together or something. Whatever the case, it's clear by his body language and his rapidly paling face that he's looking to the Dog for guidance. ]

What should I do?

[ He isn't a coward, but his last plan to deal with something like this was "feed it my own blood." He'd rather admit his ignorance than muck it up colossally again, though this is not precisely the Sayre way. ]

[standformyself]

[Perhaps he might notice that the Dog has grown somewhat in height, lips curling back to show those sharp white teeth. Like a literal hound on a scent, her gaze doesn't waiver as the other creature lurks there. Her Mistress, she knows, does have a fondness for this boy, and perhaps the Dog might as well.

Or she just likes being disreputable in her actions.

Yet it is a sharp bark that does come, a true bark from deep within her chest, completely unlike the one from before. It's laced with power, enough that the creature does quiver, halting all movement. Whether it strains or not, it is a losing battle, and it slinks back off, away from them.

Perhaps Nick has watched the creature, or maybe he's watched the Dog, but she's back to her medium size again, tongue lolling off to one side of her mouth as her ears perk up.]

Very rude, trying to interrupt.

1

[postcog]

[ Lirael wasn't looking for corners to mark. More like trying to figure just how are these things moving around, without much success. There's all kinds of strange magic going on right now. ]

That's the nicest thing you've ever said to me, you know?

[ Hugs incoming. ]

[standformyself]

[Those pointed ears perk up, twisting before her head follows route, that voice as familiar to her as the pads of her paws. She'd sent the boy boack, knowing that Lirael would need him, given that her own time with her mistress was over.

And yet-]

I've done plenty of nice things. I always let you know where I've gone so you can sniff the corner.

[But Lirael will only get a few minutes before the Dog starts wiggling in her grasp to escape, seeking to steal a wet sloppy kiss over her cheek in the process.]

[postcog]

[ She knows those minutes are likely to hours for the Dog, so Lirael is very appreciative of the honor. Once the Dog is free and half her face is slimy, Lirael leans back, half squatting and half sitting. ]

And I keep telling you, I'm not worthy of such attentions.

[ She takes a moment to give her loyal friend a longing look, almost as she feared she would be gone by the time she blinked. ]

The currents of Death have strange destinations, don't they?

[standformyself]

You're more than worthy, Mistress.

[That seriousness entering in to her voice and her features as she speaks. She's not that shy wisp of a girl, but a young woman with a destiny, and a family, all her own.

Yet Lirael can blink as much as she pleases. The form does not waiver or change, although as she sits on her haunches, her tail does shift back and forth, thudding lightly on the ground. Where ever here is, the Dog knows that neither of them should be here, which is a page out of her own book. How rude.]

This is no place I have ever seen before.

[themogget]

[A white cat is lying on the counter, next to a half-empty espresso cup of milk (lightly spiced with something, he thinks, but milk is milk and he's not feeling so capricious as to knock it to the floor) with the word 'meggit' scribbled across the side.

Meggit Mogget doesn't appear to care very much.]

I thought I smelled wet dog. [He says, moving his head and yawning as the tiny bell at his neck gently rings.] You might have bathed before you came in here.

[standformyself]

[Those ears perk up, and look, those legs are growing a little so that the Dog can rest her chin on the counter. Be prepared for a small huff of air that is exhaled, although she's not going to a tongue to the face, yet, or steal the rest of whatever his drink is.]

I don't do baths.

[Because swimming doesn't count at all. Baths tend to involve soap and all sorts of horrible torture. She doesn't need to smell like roses. Yuck.]

[themogget]

[Mogget is woefully prepared, and lazily bats a paw at the head just in handy reach of him. He keeps his claws in... this time.]

Evidently. [He purrs, levelling his attention on the dog for a few moments more before he yawns again, a show of sharp white teeth and a small pink tongue, and rolls up gracefully onto his feet.

Mogget walks the length of the counter, snaking his way between cups and jugs and bottles, and jumps down to the floor. As he walks beneath the Disreputable Dog's head, he flicks the tip of his tail against her nose.]

What are you doing in here?

[standformyself]

[Her eyes trace his movements with a keen interest, watching as he weaves his way over the counter and down. There is a nip toward the tail, although whether she intends to actually get it or not isn't entirely certain. Yet her mouth does move just as quickly away, lest little claws come toward her nose.]

I could ask you the same thing. Few mice, although there are some tasty fish. In the water.

[themogget]

I've seen them. [Oh yes, he's seen them, but they are... as the Dog says... in the water.]

I haven't yet found a willing angler to draw some to shore for me.

[Mogget sits down, the little silver bell at his neck jingling again when he scratches under the collar with one rear paw. Someone near to him yawns widely, but doesn't connect their sudden weariness with the soft tinkling of Ranna.]

You could do it for me.

[standformyself]

[No doubt they make a strange sight, and yet at the same time, not. The Dog fully knows that Mogget isn't one for water, that he doesn't like plunking his head right in, opening his eyes, and moving around in it. It is quite fun, if the Dog does say so.]

I could. The question is, if I will.

[The Dog's not dumb. She knows full well that if she ever does go 'snorkeling' for fish, she'll have to keep an eye out. Mogget can move quick, when he wants to.]

[themogget]

[Mogget levels a steady green gaze on the Dog, then brings a paw up to clean it with a quite deliberate slowness.]

That is a question. We both know the answer, don't we. [Sigh! The cat stands, the small bell at his neck tinkling its gentle, somniferous peal once more, and with his tail standing straight up in the air he puts a little more distance between himself and the Dog.]

Do what you will, if you believe you'll enjoy yourself in the doing so. [Isn't that, after all, just what she does?] This is a place of overly willing hands, and I'm just a cat.