dankmemes | test drive meme # 39

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 December 25th, and apps are open January 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: HE MADE HIS LIST
[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 were hoping for something seasonally appropriate, right? Well, the Door doesn't know it's December, so this must be a coincidence - because this time, it's brought in the Krampus.

This creature is the opposite of Santa, and if you've been bad (and let's be real, who in Hadriel hasn't), it'll be all too happy to punish. Maybe you'll get lucky and it'll just scare the crap out of you and give you some coal... or maybe it'll decide your punishment needs to be much, much worse. Don't you wish you'd been good this year?]

R A G E

SCENARIO TWO: HADRIELITE VANDAL
[Last night everything was fine. You went to bed happy and content - well, as happy and content as you ever are. But this morning, as you stepped out of your house, something was wrong. Maybe you didn't notice it at first - maybe someone had to point it out to you. But there it was, in big bold letters: someone had painted an insult across the front of your house.

Maybe it's a rude name. Maybe an insulting comment. Maybe just a picture of a dick with an arrow pointing to it that says your name. Whatever it is, someone did it specifically to fuck with you. But who? And why? Maybe you already think you know who, and all you need to do is hunt them down. Or maybe it's time for an investigation. Or... maybe all you want to do is clean it off before someone sees.

Good luck. That paint is already dry.]

C O N F U S I O N

SCENARIO THREE: ALL FLIPPY-FLOPPY
[You didn't realize there was anything wrong, not until you saw that person you've always thought was your best friend. They seem the same as ever, it's just - you really don't understand what you saw in them anymore. They're kind of whiny, they're way less cool than you remember, and that hair? Ew.

It's not just that. You ran into your worst enemy earlier, and maybe... you were wrong about them? It really seems like they have some good points, and that annoying expression they always make actually seems kind of cute now. Maybe it's time to kiss and make up, possibly literally!

This is a mini version of our Your Best Enemy event this month.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I loved her as well. After I . . . lost my mother, she became as a mother to me. [a pause] I hope that it's not presumptuous of me to say so. [because after all, she's standing before Wynne's true son. but it's the truth. she valued Wynne's opinion of her highly and was overjoyed to finally get Wynne's blessing of her relationship with Alistair.

she watches, nerves knotting in her stomach.

and her eyes widen at the mention of what year he's from]

9:40 Dragon? What is--what has happened between our two times. [a small smile] No, not a babe, though I was but sixteen. It was quite a feat, to be commanding an army made up of those far older than I am, but Alistair asked that I serve as general and so I did.

[and Mariane would appreciate that as she has such a hard time dropping the mask of seriousness. she's always been terribly serious, even as a child, so she appreciates those who can break through it. it's a large part of the reason why she fell for Alistair]

[ Rhys had heard of what happened to the Cousland family, though it never meant much to him; it was a tragedy a world away and, as a mage, he was always dealing with his own troubles. Facing it now, though, his heart hurts a little for her. He was glad he was never born into nobility. Orlais taught him nobility was a dangerous game and it seemed Fereledan held a similar, albeit in another form of, danger. ]

You've certainly impressed all of Thedas, deservedly so. [ Before him, she did not appear to be the Hero that so many spoke of. They'd turned her from a young woman thrust into responsibility who was able to take control into someone far more fictional, far less human. You'd have thought she could breathe flames and devour Darkspawn with the way some would speak.

It was nice to see that the praises had yet to go to her head, though she did have many years ahead of her. ]

The world has gone a bit mad since 9:31. I can't say much of the political climate, though it's less than ideal, but the Circle has been disbanded. A few years back, the mages of Kirkwall rebelled, and it had a ripple effect. It's likely that this will result in war.

[ It's grim sounding but it was bound to happen. He's sure Mariane has seen what mages go through, though he knows she will never truly understand their plight. ]

I'm afraid to say the future is a mess right now and I can't be certain when it will all settle again.

[Mariane was almost dragged from her family as Duncan had to invoke the Right of Conscription on her. she resented him for it for a long time, but given the looks Rendon Howe had been giving her over the past year, he likely wouldn't have given her a quick death. it took time to come to peace with what Duncan did.

she blushes] Thank you for your praises. [they haven't.

deep down, she still feels like the socially awkward, shy, melancholic young woman she was before. she doubts that will ever change, even when she's wedded and crowned queen.

she considers a moment] I'd thought that the mages deserved better, ever since visiting the Circle in Ferelden and seeing the Templars so eager to condemn all to death for the actions of a few. When I become queen, it is my intention to do something about it. And should it come to war, I will discuss matters with Alistair and see if Ferelden can give the mages safe haven.

[she worries after the mages, especially after seeing children as young as Oren being locked away with no hope of freedom and would do what she could to help them]

Alisitar will need me then more than ever. He has King Maric's blood, but he was never raised to rule. I was, even if it was only over a terynir.

[ Her words are sweet but, ultimately given what Rhys knows of her possible future, her actions or words did little to quell the rise of anger and fear. And, as a mage, Rhys knows better than to hold nobility to their words; history has taught him that they're often given freedoms when they're necessary and then locked away again when no longer needed.

He didn't doubt Mariane but he was wise enough not to hold her to those promises. ]

The mages will need all the help they can get and I believe the King and Queen of Fereldan would go a long way towards that. [ And Maric had been a child when he'd taken the throne, had he not? Rhys had read the tales of a child thrust into the war after the murder of his mother, though the Orlesians often told the tale differently. He worries Mariane may not understand what she's getting herself into but, in the end, it hardly mattered here. ]

It's nice to see the King will have someone with a bit of a political head on their shoulders. I've only heard stories of him and most of them are rather heroic and... well, others involve cheese.

[she would be greatly disappointed to hear that and resolve to try even harder. when it was time to face the Archdemon, it was her, Alistair, and two mages, one an apostate. as skilled at fighting as everyone else were, she didn't trust them to have her back as much as she did Wynne and Morrigan.

she knows nothing of the years to come]

Then I promise that the King and Queen of Ferelden will do what they can to help. [she feels that Alistair will be easy enough to convince. he, too, loved Wynne as a mother and he'd chafed at his Templar duties in the past. in fact, it was his unsuitability for those duties that had led him to become a Grey Warden]

My father and mother taught me well. And Alistair is terribly heroic. [slowly] And he does enjoy cheese, though not to distraction. He also enjoys cats, though that's best not spoken of in high Ferelden society.

[ Her promise is sweet, though he fears that it's idealistic given what he knows of the world's current state. Fereldan, he was sure, was still dealing with its own issues, not that he paid them any heed, no more than he did that of Orlais. But, still, it's a gesture he can appreciate it. The mages could always use greater voices among them, though he fears his fellow mages may radicalize.

But these aren't things he wants to put on Mariane right now, not when it was so far in her future. Instead, he raises a dark brow at her mention of Alistair's fondness for felines. ]

I feel like this may be information I could use as blackmail in the future. [ It's clear he does not mean it one bit, though it would be a ridiculous scandal, the kind the high class ladies would twitter about. ]

[she knows not to underestimate the problems facing Ferelden. she's seen enough Blighted land which had been good farmland to worry that they may be in for food shortages. and she also has heard that many Fereldans fled to the Free Marches with nothing but the clothes on their backs. and she's well aware of the fact that many people will try to take advantage of what they'll see as a green boy of a king.

she worries incessantly and tries to figure out what she could have done differently, better. nothing she does is ever quite good enough]

I'm afraid it is. None would ever let him live it down. [and that's her ides of a joke. it may be a poor one, but Alistair was always the funny one in their relationship]

[ Ferelden was a dog-loving country, from what Rhys had heard, and could only imagine the elborate conspiracies the local drunks would conjure up if they'd learned. He smiles and he touches his finger to his lips, as if sealing them. ]

No one will hear of this from my lips.

[Ferelden loves its dogs. so much so that it has two Mabari rampant as its sigil on signs and shields and banners. she nods solemnly with a hint of a smile at his words]

I appreciate your discretion.

test drive meme # 39

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(cw: rape implication, mental illness)

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