Test Drive Meme # 1

[hadrielmods]

Welcome to Hadriel's very first 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.

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!

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: ANYONE GOT A LIGHT?
[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. In this instance, the door has managed to grab something truly horrific, and it's definitely out for blood (and brains) tonight.

Smokers are enemies in the video game series Left 4 Dead, who use their prehensile tongues to capture unwitting people and either drag them away for consumption or hang them up to strangle them. With all of the activity of characters trying to find out what's going on and where they are, there are more than a few of them, lingering in the shadows and waiting to try strike at anyone who may be lagging behind.]


SCENARIO TWO: YOUR HEART WILL GO ON
[You awaken in a windowless room, the walls strangely curved. The door, when you try it, is quite firmly locked. No amount of force is able to break through, so it seems to be sealed by supernatural means. Next to the door stands a slender pedestal, about as big around as a large man's thigh. At the top of the pedestal is a indentation, as if something were meant to go there.

But you're not alone in this room. There are two things with you: a person and a corpse. Pinned to the body is a note: Place a heart on the pedestal to leave. Tucked neatly into the corpse's pocket is a letter opener, small and not particularly sharp.

Did you have weapons or tools on you before? You don't now. But look at it this way: what better form of bonding is there than helping a friend or stranger dig a heart out of a corpse with nothing but a letter opener and your bare hands?]


H O P E

SCENARIO THREE: HAVE YOU HAD YOUR BREAK-IN TODAY?
[You're standing outside a storefront, colored glass set into intricate designs. It's beautiful, artistic, but more importantly - there's definitely food inside. Good food, too, by the glimpses you can see through the window. In fact - wait a minute - isn't that your favorite dish in there, just waiting for you? You've been searching for food for hours, it seems, and the city is bare. Your tummy is getting awful rumbly. What luck!

You try the door. Cruelly, it is locked. The food taunts you, just out of reach.

The glass is lovely, intricate, but it's just glass. Or maybe you know how to pick locks. Or maybe there's a back way in. Or maybe some passing friend will be able to help you. There's a lot of options here, if what you really want is a mouthful of the finest... whatever it is you like.]

Comments

Gansey | The Raven Cycle

[mintly]

scenario 2

[gansey doesn't like this. he doesn't like it at all. the corpse is only dead just long enough that it's pale on top and bruised underneath from gravity pooling its blood, the letter opener isn't even remotely sharp, and there's someone else in the room with him that hasn't quite come out enough into the light to be seen. he's not squeamish, but...no, he really is kind of squeamish. but he also really doesn't want to be in this room any longer than necessary. he begins to undo the corpse's shirt, which seems invasive somehow despite the fact that this person is very, very dead, and also that he--or they--need access to its torso to actually accomplish the thing. at least it's a male corpse. this would be exponentially worse if dead breasts were involved.]

Ah, I wouldn't suppose you're any good at this kind of thing.

scenario 3

[he's hungry. really hungry, after the previous few hours. there's clearly food in the shop, and he clearly can't get to it. the glass is so beautiful, though, colors and patterns and technique he's never seen. it seems a shame to ruin a work of art that, judging by the state of the surrounding buildings, is probably rather old.

on the other hand, it's pretty stupid to remain hungry when there's clearly food there for the taking, just beyond some very pretty glass.

he studies the door, trying to figure out if there's possibly a latch or something on the inside of the door, some way to do minimal damage while still getting inside.]

Scenario 2

[casperdisaster]

[Noah isn't intentionally huddling in a dark corner. It's just that.

He's got a very reasonable thing about corpses.

And he's trying not to be sick.

There's thankfully nothing in his stomach to retch back up, not that his stomach doesn't try, it's like back when they found his Mustang, all dry heaving and nothing coming out. Everything feels weak and fuzzy at the edges. He didn't even bother to get a good look at who he was with before everything focused on the corpse and he had to run to the corner in case something DID come back up. He does recognize the voice though.]

Gansey...? T-they can't mean...

[mintly]

I think they do.

[but keeping noah from a complete freakout is more immediately important. he puts the letter opener down and comes over to noah, huddled in the shadows, wraps an am gently around him from behind, across his chest instead of his stomach, just in case.]

You're still alive, Noah. I've got you.

[casperdisaster]

[Noah continues to shake in Gansey's arms for a little while longer before he finally calms. This is pathetic. He's pathetic, unable to keep it together like this. He's got to get control of himself, if only for long enough to... to do what they need to do to get out of here.]

I'm okay. I'll be okay.

[mintly]

You don't have to be okay.

[the words are, as always, painfully sincere, and he strokes noah's hair back off his clammy forehead, rocking noah gently until the shaking stops.]

I can do it, you can stay over here.

[casperdisaster]

Y-you should have to.

[The protest comes out more like a weak, sick moan than the determination he was hoping to have. Gansey shouldn't have to cut a corpse open to get the heart out of it, and even that is only because Gansey took the time to try and calm Noah first. He can't stop shaking, even when he's as close to calm as he's going to get. He feels like he's got to throw up again but there's nothing in his stomach.]

[mintly]

Hush now, Noah. It'll be all right. The more quickly I manage this, the faster we'll be out of here and away from it, all right?

[his voice is soothing in noah's ear, his arm still snug around noah's chest. he's not going to let go until noah agrees, even though that means more time in the room with the corpse.]

3

[worldofshit]

[ After making his way out of the room with the corpse, Nick felt saturated in dead guy and general vibes of uncomfortable, strange creepy filth. He had no idea where he was, how he got here, or who had trapped him in that room. He also felt tired, traumatizd from how long it took to more or less rinse bloody corpse gunk off his hand, and according to his stomach - despite everything - he was hungry.

He had to wipe away a small dribble of drool forming at the edges of his mouth. Nick took one last look at it all through the glass, the pulled the pin out of his hair. ]

Well, it doesn't look like there is anyone in there waiting to kill us, and if there is, I dunno. But I'm really hungry.

[ So he begins fiddling with the hair pin and the lock on the door, something that looks very natural for him. ]

[mintly]

Oh, a lockpick. That's useful. Always meant to learn how to do that.

[he sounds oddly sincere about it, as though lockpicking might be an interesting hobby to take up.]

It doesn't seem like there's anybody anywhere, except us. A cave filled with the ruins of a long-abandoned civilization gives me decidedly mixed feelings.

2

[whichend]

[ Arya hates being told she's not good enough for something. She's not too small, too young, or too female. She has a bite, and she'll make sure you know about it.

A few years on the run and some practice killing people helps too, of course.

She takes one look at the corpse, frowns, and draws a small, thin sword. Someone has to do the dirty work, and she's not afraid. And even if she was, she wouldn't tell some stupid boy. ]

I'm better than you. Just watch.

[ And to make a point, she starts slicing through the man's chest. ]

[mintly]

[gansey had been asking whether she was any good at things like dismembering corpses, so to find out that she is saves him the trouble.]

I would hope you're better than me, I've never cut open a corpse before.

[from his expression, he'd prefer it remain that way.]

[whichend]

Then I'm much better.

[ He doesn't look like anyone who's cut up a corpse before. He looks like some soft prince from King's Landing, or maybe the Reach.

She makes a circular incision around where the heart should be. She's no surgeon, but it gets the job done. The next part's going to be trickier, though. She doesn't want to reach in and grab the heart, but she doesn't think the other boy wants to, either. ]

You owe me.

[ She might as well use this to her advantage. Wincing, she plunges her hand into the corpse chest. Disgusting. ]

[mintly]

[gansey just watches with a sort of horrified fascination as the girl digs her way into the corpse's chest and plunges her hand in there.

his voice comes out soft and slightly stunned.]

The veins and arteries connected to the heart are pretty tough, and so is the membrane around it. Might want to cut them first.

[whichend]

[ She turns her head towards him and gives him a slight nod of approval. At least he's good for something. She removes her hand and makes the incisions as directed. ]

And then I'm good to pull it out? You seem to know a lot about this subject.

[mintly]

I've...

[he looks the girl over. 'watched a lot of medical documentaries and went through high school biology' is probably not going to be a helpful explanation here.]

...studied it a bit. And have a few knowledgeable acquaintances.

3

[unknowable]

[He's having more or less the same thoughts as Gansey. A rumbling stomach, food locked behind intricately patterned glass, a locked door. The easiest and most obvious option is the pile of rubble not too far from them - one launched piece of stone would be enough to get them inside, Adam thinks. But it seems like a waste.]

Maybe there's another entrance.

[mintly]

Maybe. I didn't walk all the way around to see. Don't most shops and restaurants have a back door?

[bless adam's practicality. gansey straightens up, glancing toward adam before he makes any move to round the building. every little echoing sound made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. better to not wander alone.]

[unknowable]

[Adam's not comfortable with any of this, either. He's already been chased by monsters, so wherever they are, however they got here - it's no better than the last place. He's back to being wary, on edge, always cautious.]

We might as well check. It'd be a waste to break it if there's another way in.

[He leads them down the small alley between this building and the next. It's clean, mostly empty save for a few pieces of rubble.]

[mintly]

[gansey follows adam, falling into step just behind him. the walls of the building are weirdly smooth, so much so that he almost misses the seam as they walk by.]

Hey, Adam.

[it's not much like any practical door that gansey's seen before, but upon inspection there's definitely a very door-ish shape in the wall, nearly lying flat with the rest of the building, its corners rounded instead of square.

he pushes on it, and it feels like there's just the smallest bit of give. when he puts his shoulder into it, the stone slides inward an inch or two before stopping.]

Maybe this is our back door.

[unknowable]

It's something, at least.

[He runs his palms across the stone, looking for a catch of some sort. A button, a handle maybe. But there's nothing, and so Adam frowns a bit and puts his weight against his hands, pressing at the wall - door - whatever it is. It budges again, but only a little, not moving in more than another inch.]

Maybe it's blocked. Try pushing on it at the same time as me.

[mintly]

All right. On three.

[he gives the count, and their combined weight makes the door slide back just enough that they can see a crack of light around it. then it moves just an inch toward adam, leaving a slightly bigger gap on gansey's side. it's enough to get fingers in, at least.

so, basically, the weirdest sliding door ever? maybe?]

Okay...do you feel like we're in a puzzle game? I'm beginning to feel like we're in a puzzle game.

[but he gets his fingers in there anyway, bending down to leave enough room for adam to help him pull.]

Scenario 3

[fuwatokurage]

[Clear is actually more entranced by the glass than he is of what's inside. While he likes to eat and tasting things is fun, he doesn't have the basic human need. But he sure does like pretty, shiny, glass things.]

This is amaaaaazing!

[He's not so quiet about his enthusiasm of the glass art as he touches it with his gloved hands.]

[mintly]

[...very enthusiastic man in gloves and gas mask. okay. gansey guesses that after box, he's seen weirder things. maybe. he'll guess that, at very least. it doesn't stop the startle at clear's outburst, but he doesn't move away.]

It's very pretty. I wish I could figure out how to get the door open so that I could get at the food inside without ruining it.

[fuwatokurage]

Hm? There's food inside?

[He looks passed the glass and into the building. He sees Aoba's grandmother's special homemade donuts, which was strange because why would they be there sitting and steaming in a serving basket?

His hands smooth over the glass before they drop to his sides.]

It would be a shame if we broke the glass. It is so pretty. [His stare lingers on the shining glass until he breaks his gaze and looks at the teenager.]

If you are hungry, I will try to get us inside.

[He moves over to the door.]

Would you like me to help you?

2

[dure]

... man, do I look like I wanna poke that guy?

[ poke might be a bit too kind as to what they're supposed to do with him, but in any case, kuroo's looking like he's trying very hard not to puke. he sighs. ]

I'll, uh, hold the knife for you. [ god he wants to go home. ] And we can use his shirt to mop up the ... um .... debris.

[ or whatever guts that are gonna spill out of that corpse while they're busy trying to take the heart out. ]