dankmemes | Test Drive Meme #8

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 April 24th, and apps are open May 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: DEAD FLESH BUFFET
[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 lurking in the shadows, waiting for the perfect chance to swarm around you and chow down. This time, the Door has brought in a group of rotfiends, from the video game The Witcher.

These unpleasant-looking creatures are necrophages, meaning they feed on the flesh of the dead, and if that flesh is in short supply they are happy to add to it. Normally found in groups, they are fast and difficult to corner. What's more, when on the verge of death, they have an annoying tendency to explode into a flammable cloud of poisonous toxins. You left your torch at home, right?]

R A G E
SCENARIO TWO: MMM WHATCHA SAY
[There you were, just walking along the street, minding your own business like a good underground hell-city citizen, when all of a sudden you saw someone. It was like love at first sight - if by 'love' you mean 'deep burning hatred'. You've never wanted to kill someone so much, and why? Well, you're not really sure, but there's probably a reason! You'll just have to figure it out. Or not. Who needs a reason for murder, anyway?

Or maybe you're the one someone else has targeted. Maybe you know they're after you and you're desperately trying to watch your back. Why do they hate you? You don't even know them. Or maybe you do, maybe they're your best friend. Either way, this is a super awkward situation, and someone might end up dead. Hopefully not you!

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

H O P E

SCENARIO THREE: SCRATCH OFF
[This morning, you received a scratch ticket in the mail (who knew Hadriel even had mail?), addressed to you. The instructions are clear enough - scratch off three matching icons, and you win a prize! Sure, okay. But here's the grand prize: a one-way ticket home.

Unfortunately, try as you might, you aren't gonna win that one, but keep hoping! And hey, just think of all the other GREAT PRIZES you could win: an inflatable duck, a plastic ring to give your sweetheart, an empty can of Red Bull, a cell phone charm shaped like a strange green creature with a boner.

So what if you didn't win that ticket home? You got something almost as good: a shitty prize! Thanks, Hope!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

The words were no surprise. The Gray Man had so frequently considered himself a monster that he probably would have agreed. But the one who said them was such a surprise that he'd been struck silent. The Greywarren. His target turned strange ally. The one for which he'd sacrificed everything in order to protect. But he didn't blame Ronan for his spiteful words. He'd been the weapon that killed the boy's father. He never expected anything but animosity from that sharp tongue.

"Most people say thank you," he said as he moved closer a few steps. He dropped his gaze back to the monster, weapon trained on the thing's head. "Is there a way to properly kill these things?" So far it had been his tactic to drop them in any way he could, and running. Death didn't come easily to them.

Ronan scowled at the admonishment, purposely neglecting to say any such thing while the Gray Man moved closer. Ronan neither backed down, nor did he welcome him in deeper, maintaining eye contact as if the monster in the room with them was only a passing concern. For all that he cared about in that moment, it was.

"You're the expert."

His tone was sharp, not really offering assistance in any way. Ronan shifted aside, moving in a way that put distance between him and the monster without necessarily going to the older man's side. He didn't expect the Gray Man to protect him, nor would he thank him for it. Ronan had told him once, a long time ago, that he would never forgive him- and he fully intended on keeping that promise.

"If you drop it here, it's gonna poison us. Let's just go." He gave a halfhearted shrug. "It's not like it can follow me."

For what it was worth, The Gray Man didn't expect to be forgiven. He'd been hired to do a job and the result was a boy's father having his head bashed it. It was tragic, but he felt no more guilty for this act than the tire iron he'd used. His protecting of the boy now had little to do with the past and more to do with the present. A complicated thing that was tied up with the other people in Ronan's life. It wasn't just to keep him from Greenmantle, though that was certainly important. It wasn't even that in a strange way Ronan was important to Blue. Overshadowing every other reason, it was what Ronan and Gansey had. The sort of connection that so few found, that The Gray Man had seen so clearly with the most subtle of gestures. That and that alone was enough for him to protect this anger filled young man would would probably rather see him dead.

He turned to walk with Ronan. Well, less with him and more as if they simply happened to be going in the same direction at the same time.

"They're not the usual sort," he commented, not outright asking or saying it. But Ronan knew the things that came out of Cabeswater and the caves beneath it far better than anyone else. The Gray Man had dealt with the nasty creatures that tried to escape through the opening at the farm. He'd heard of the things on the Fourth. The magic there seemed to prefer sleeker things. Things with feathers and claws and scales. Nothing like the shambling flesh piles he'd been seeing here.

"No shit, Sherlock."

Ronan's annoyance was compounded by the fact that they were indeed moving in the same direction, which kept him in the Gray Man's presence for longer than he would have preferred- though, to tell the truth, any time spent in the Gray Man's presence was longer than he would have preferred. His acidic tone reflected this of course, nowhere near gentle, and as much as Ronan would have liked to leave the fucker for dead, he was certain that Blue and Gansey would have other ideas.

Unfortunately, Blue and Gansey were not present.

"I didn't need your help back there, and I don't need it now," he remarked, frigid. "If you think you're going to win me over with that shit, you can fuck right off. I'm leaving the arena- you can follow me or die here. If you follow me, then you take off as soon as we're clear. Got it?"

Seventeen or not, Ronan had a tone of authority. Though the Gray Man was likely immune to such a thing- particularly coming from a teenager like him- there's no room for hesitation or second guessing in his ultimatum. Ronan Lynch could hold a grudge like nobody else, and for the man that robbed him of his entire world- yeah, he wasn't going to be particularly keen on becoming friends.

It was absolutely certain that Blue would disagree with Ronan's desire for the Gray Man's death. But that might have something to do with the past few months without her mother and his quiet presence in her life, among other things. But he hardly blamed Ronan's emotions. He'd already explained it and himself. He'd been a weapon, nothing more. He did not expect Ronan's forgiveness or acceptance. While The Gray Man had been more or less indifferent at the time, as of late that had been shifting. Things rearranging themselves inside him as parts of him remembered how to feel things again. Not just things like happiness and love, though that was how it started. But regret, sadness and guilt found their way in.

Perhaps that was why he stayed so close. He didn't want to think of it, but it was possible his protecting Ronan had more to do with those things he hadn't felt in such a long time than they did to do with the boy's friends.

"Understood." It wasn't the word of someone bowing authority, but rather someone who would have done such a thing no matter what was said. After dealing with the likes of his brother, or Greenmantle, Ronan's authority fell a little short, even if it was impressive.

Ronan nodded shortly to prove that he at least recognized that the Gray Man approved of the deal he'd offered. Although they weren't likely to get along or even remotely tolerate one another (admittedly, this came more from Ronan's side than it did the Gray Man's- a grudge was a terrible thing to let go to waste, after all), Ronan had difficulty arguing the fact that two people were better than one down here, particularly when one of those two people is a hit man.

Sure, Gray could've stabbed him in the back, finished off the Lynch family for good, brought everything back full circle, but Ronan doubted it. Despite his coldness, he was well aware of the fact that Niall Lynch had been a name and an assignment, nothing more. It didn't take the hurt away. It didn't do anything but make him wonder how many other worlds this man had destroyed, with no guilt and no awareness. It also meant that Ronan knew that Gray had no reason to kill him at this point in time. So that was- something, anyway.

"You're not in fucking Kansas anymore," he finally murmured, kicking a little at a stone on the ground. It clattered down the hall, too loud, but Ronan paid it no mind. "You've had to figure that out by now. It's a murderous shitfest here but nobody can leave, and now you're stuck in Torturetown too, so- you know, that's a bright side."

Test Drive Meme #8

Yaaay!

c:

Don't mind me, just spilling all my emotions about brothers everywhere

they are good emotions to have!

Please forgive any contradictions, TRK shifted some of my assumptions

no worries at all! new canon does that c: