Test Drive Meme #7

[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 March 25th, and apps are open April 1st.

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: HOW UNUSUAL
[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.

Watch out as you explore the streets of Hadriel, because you're not alone, and there's always something on the rooftops watching and waiting for the perfect opportunity to separate you from your group and tear you into pieces. This time, the Door has brought in a few Rodents Of Unusual Size, from the film/book Princess Bride.

These large creatures are about the size of a large dog and can be stoked into a frenzy once they smell blood. They typically hide in the shadows and wait for an opportune moment to leap out of the dark and strike at you. Though they can sometimes look like overlarge puppets, take no doubt that these monsters are very much alive, and they love the taste of flesh.]

H O P E
SCENARIO TWO: MIRROR, MIRROR
[While exploring, you might be surprised to come across a pristine mirror in this underground city. It could be lying in your path, it could have been dropped into your bag by a mysterious someone, or it could find you some other way, but it will be there. This is no ordinary mirror, however- upon looking inside of it, the glass will show you a vision of a future that you hope for more than anything.

Regardless of what you want, the mirror shows visions that you believe are possible so that you can adequately hope for it- whether or not they actually are isn't really anyone's concern. Feel free to hide in a corner and stare for hours, throw it away, or try to peek at as many other mirrors as you want- we won't stop you!

This is a mini version of our Hopeful Future event this month!]


R A G E

SCENARIO THREE: PAY 2 WIN
[How cool are carnival booths? Super cool, right? And luckily, the grand prize in this one is something you've always wanted. It could be a briefcase of enough money to make all your troubles go away, that sacred amulet you've been questing after, or something a little less concrete- the approval of someone you want to like you, a curse upon someone you don't like, general freedom... the choices are endless.

And all you have to do to win it is play a game or two.

Something strange seems to be happening, though. Each time you finish a round of the game, the prize requirements just get a little higher, just stretch a little more out of reach. Play again, we're sure you'll get it this time! No? Well, you've definitely got it next time.

Get fed up and smash the booth for the prize? Well buddy, now you're disqualified, and tampering with the booth sets that thing you want most up in flames. Sorry, bud. Better luck next time! And look, there's another booth right behind you...]

Comments

[retiredfromhell]

[ Damen is a smart man.

Though for the moment, it would seem the carefully packed away emotions have been summarily forgotten, as Lucifer slips into his more affable mannerisms. Well, affable with a side of impossible.

His dark eyes sharpen as Damen opens up a line that could allow the fallen angel to shift the conversation back towards himself. But just as quickly the large man offers another conversational route and as luck would have it, perhaps for them both, Lucifer takes that one instead. ]

Invasion? Maker? You raise excellent points. How do you believe these visions have come to pass then, hmmm?

[ As he tossed out questions with casual ease, Lucifer turned and moved towards Damen. If his motions were more of a stalking action, it was only because Damen offered a curious distraction to further distance himself from whatever had been beneath his heel. ]

[barbarus]

[ Damen's eyes track Lucifer the way he might watch an opposing soldier, though there's no apparent hostility in his movements. It's only that Damen doesn't know him, and there's little about this place that makes him feel at peace.

Besides that, it's a question he can't answer. It doesn't make sense to him that creatures he's never met could have knowledge of his intimate desires. Even the men in his company could not have known this kind of detail, for all that they might guess at, and draw their own conclusions, about his relationship with Laurent. The mirror could have been drawn straight out of Damen's heart, and he doesn't know how that could be done.

Nor, in fact, can he imagine how the mirror could hold a moving image at all - that, too, is a source of disbelief for him. If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he wouldn't have believed it, and having seen it with his own eyes, he still struggles. ]

They could come only from one who knows me as well as I know myself. I don't know how. I mean to find that out when I discover who.

[ Dark eyes meet Lucifer's, wary and hinting at an edge of anger. ]

It's clear you like it no more than I. What is your name, stranger?

[retiredfromhell]

[ If being watched with a wary, calculating eye in any ways discomforted Lucifer, it didn't show on his face. The truth was, he was more than used to being studied, the way Damen studied him now; it was as natural as breathing.

He continued his own stalk, veering slightly to the left as he began to circle Damen. If the man moved to keep him in his direct line of sight or held his ground and allowed Lucifer to pace around him, either reaction was expected and allowed for as his eyes swept up and down the man's length. ]

Don't you? [ He asked, lips twisting slightly in an expression that was half amused, half ... something old and tired. ] Does your world not posses beings who are recorded as knowing your heart before even you yourself are aware? Beings unto whom you are expected to praise, given nothing but faith in their omnipotence to go by?

[ His circling complete, Lucifer stopped and pushed his hands into the pockets of his expensive slacks. His lips twitched as he acknowledged the charge that he had not appreciated the exposure any more than Damen. Beyond that, he gave nothing more about his own feeling away. Instead, the half grin turned into a wide smile and he tilted his head slightly to the side. ]

Lucifer. Lucifer Morningstar.

[barbarus]

[ Either that name means nothing to Damen, or he's very good at hiding that it does. He acknowledges it only with a nod, and a brief sound of interest. ]

I am Damianos, of Akielos.

[ Will that mean anything here? He has no idea. This is no country, no land, that he recognises. It looks like a cave, but it's like no cave Damen has ever experienced, and though he has tried, he has yet to find any passage that seems to lead towards the ground. It's a strange world, where trees grow beneath the rock, and an entire system of life seems to exist without trouble.

He feels that he is very far from home. ]

My people know of gods, if that is what you're asking. We have temples and sacred places, and Augurs who divine the will of the gods with bones.

[ Then he glances back at his mirror, and with a dark look, turns his head to look at Lucifer. He has otherwise kept still; it doesn't bother him to be circled, at least for now. ]

But our gods do not intervene like this. They do not routinely appear to mortal men, or gift them with mirrors that show their heart. This is not something they would do.

[ Damen, personally, spends little time thinking of the gods. He's more interested in the workings of men than in the divine.

Perhaps that's an error. ]