Test Drive Meme #9

[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 May 24th, and apps are open June 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:
I'VE SEEN ENOUGH HENTAI TO KNOW WHERE THIS IS GOING
[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 malboro, from the Final Fantasy video game series.

These plant-like monsters are essentially comprised of long, tentacle-esque stalks- sometimes with eyes on the ends- and large, gaping mouths. Their breath can be poisonous and literally make you sick to your stomach, and- just your luck- they're carnivorous. Happy hunting!]


C O M B I N A T I O N

SCENARIO TWO: DREAM A LITTLE DREAM OF ME
[You're so tired- at least you've got a reasonably safe place to rest your head at while you recuperate, right? After all, nothing can go wrong when you're asleep.

Aaand that's where you're mistaken. For this event, all characters who fall asleep will either be Hosts or Visitors in their, or someone else's dreams. All dreams are inflicted by one of the four gods (Hope, Delight, Rage, or Fear), and will have their presence influencing the events within your dreams in order to harvest their desired emotion from you.

The sky is essentially the limit, so long as your dreams correspond with one of the four gods. Happy sleeping!

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


D E L I G H T

SCENARIO THREE: JUST SAY NO
[On your kitchen table the next morning is a blue pill. Just the one pill, along with a glass of what seems to be water. There's a note in elegant script next to the pill that merely says 'TAKE ME'.

If taken, the pill can have a variety of effects. You can hallucinate, you can get uncontrollable giggles, you can feel drunk, you can feel like colors all have textures and shapes and the world is looking at you through a kaleidoscope! The drug can have whatever effect the player desires, as long as it's pleasurable or fun.

So: do you take it? Can you hear someone who already took the drug, stumbling down the street? You, uh, might want to help them, and do be careful. There's no telling what kinds of monsters are still out there.]

Comments

ａｌａｙｎｅ ｓｔｏｎｅ ｜ ａｓｏｉａｆ

[alayne]

↝ ｆｅａｒ

[ the girl looks like a bird in flight.

donned in good cottons in purple and dark blue, the heavy fabric rustling around her ankles as she runs. it is not a gown made for such a haste but she has the sense to rustle up the fabrics as she moves. her hair is dark brown and braided, as she passes beneath a light, it gives a hint of auburn, or mayhaps your eyes simply trick you. above her cottons, a broach of silver in the shape of a mockingjay will wink at you.

she is tall and slender but a look at her will tell she is no older than ten-and-four ( for surely it is alayne stone's age. once, she heard of a silly girl named sansa stark a year younger than herself but the girl is long gone, alayne dares not think of her, especially not now.

she feels her insides burning, the need to retch becomes stronger and stronger as she moves ( but she must not, that would make her halt and when she halts they could come nearer, they would latch onto her and - )

she passes by you in her haste and looks beyond her shoulder to say only one thing - ]

we must not tarry.

↝ ｄｅｌｉｇｈｔ

[ she had never seen anything little the odd little blue thing and already, she mistrusts it. she looks at the note, runs pale fingers above the letters before lifting the pill, holding it to the light.

the color is pretty, the texture unfamiliar and alayne must wonder, how would one take this little trinket?, she looks at the glass of water next and again at the pill.

do they expect us to swallow it? ]

No.

[ no never. even drinking from a foreign cup is dangerous. in her realm, she heard of a king who choked on wine on his own wedding feast.

she will look to you and speak in an earnest, prim sort of manner: ]

You must not. It might be poison.

delight

[prespangled]

[Steve's learned not to trust things, not even the innocent looking ones. The pill kind of fits that description, it looks like medicine, and they're always in sore need of that around here. Steve has a long list of ailments himself, not that a mysterious little blue pill promises to ease any one of them.

He looks over at her for a moment, weighs her warning with thoughtful blue eyes before closing his hand around it and putting it in his pocket.]

They kinda need us, so it probably isn't poison. But you're right, that doesn't mean any good's going to come of it.

[Steve looks at her again. Her height is misleading, because she looks young. Nervous too, not that he can blame her for that.]

What's your name?

[alayne]

Poison does not have to kill.

[ it can torment, can it not? it can bring about pain and illnesses that would not lead to death but would be horrendous on their own. she tries not to think of it, the thoughts send a chill of fright through her bones.

they kinda need us, he says and alayne regards him for a short moment before asking ]

what for?

[ her father always say, know what a man wants, for then, he will be at the tips of your fingers. that must surely be true for need. the reason would always be important.

but a part of her does fear his answer already.

she dips her chin, inclines her head in place of a bow ]

I am Alayne Stone.

[ a moment passes, her smile turns a shade rueful. ]

You are well-met.

[ an odd to say in a place and times such as those but manners must prevail. ]

[prespangled]

[She makes a good point. One of these gods here could poison them with no intention of actually killing them. He's not sure why they'd do it, but he doesn't claim to understand all the ways in which they think.]

We give them power, our emotions. They put us through different things so they can skim it off like cream.

[He says it plainly, and then thinks maybe he should've been a little more gentle about it.]

I'm Steve. [He probably should've minded his manners and told her that first too.] It's nice to meet you too. Where are you from?

[alayne]

[ cruelty for cruelty's sake. a highborn lady named sansa stark knew it very well. alayne stone is mayhaps a stranger to these parts but the thought that emotions might be someone else's power -

it does not matter if we show them or not, surely, as long as we feel them, they shall have what they wish for. even if we hate them.

and she does, already but feelings are one thing and appearances another. ]

I am from -

[ will he know? he does not seem a westeroi at all ]

I am from a realm named Westeros, my home is at the Vale.

[prespangled]

[There's nothing about him that suggests it in the slightest. He's not dressed like someone from Westeros, he doesn't sound like it either. It's all Brooklyn in his accent.

But there's recognition in his eyes when she says it.]

There's someone else from Westeros here. She never mentioned the Vale, though.

[alayne]

[ she doesn't show what his words inspire in her. for most it would be hope, comfort, mayhaps happiness. for alayne, it is fear. if she asks who, he might reply with a name such as cersei lannister or the kingslayer or -

or sansa stark's lord husband, tyrion lannister the imp.

or any such soul who might look at alayne stone and see the girl she is hiding. ]

It is a vast realm.

[ and then, carefully, quietly ( barely a whisper ): ]

Do you know her name?

fear!!

[whichend]

[ Monsters are common in this place, and Arya has grown skilled at handling them since she arrived in this cave. She's fought large bears, jelly-like monsters, and even helped with a hunting expedition in the caves. She should know, by now, what to do with these tentacled creatures.

But being pursued by one such creature is someone much stranger: a girl who looks too much like Sansa Stark to be possible. But Sansa Stark is dead, and besides, no one has no sisters. Arya should not recognize this girl.

It's easier to focus on the monster than on the apparition that is more likely a lie than anything else. When she speaks to Arya, Arya replies: ]

I shall not.

[ Then she draws Needle, and plunges it into the center of the beast. Arya is sprayed with putrid, sticky blood, but she doesn't care. She turns to face the other girl. ]

Are you hurt?

[alayne]

[ the girl who is no one is correct, of course. sansa stark had died long ago, have you not heard? mayhaps she threw herself into the ocean, mayhaps she died of her grief, from the implications of her stupidity but surely, she is dead. silly little girls do not last long in a world of monsters.

the ones here are ugly and frightening, the ones who killed sansa stark were beautiful and donned in silks and gold but they were monsters all the same.

alayne stone thinks little of it. what business does she have considering highborn girls who are long gone?

sansa stark would know this girl thought had had not seen her in years for wolves always know their pack, their kin, even after years of separation, even after they have changes names and colors.

has she heard, she wonders, that they changed sansa's colors, they did, from grey to red, they made her a lioness, can a wolf become a lion?

but alayne stone, much like the girl who is no one, has no sisters and a girl who might be the long lost lady stark must be foreign to her, she must.

still, she does wish to ask - ]

No.

[ not yet, she wants to say for surely they are coming. the girl is covered in blood and alayne wants to retch but she won't, not here and not now, now while they are still alive. ]

Where can we go?

[whichend]

[ Once the girl affirms that she is not hurt, Arya turns and begins to lead her away from the scene. It's easier to look at the road to come than to look at a girl's sister. Arya has no sisters -- she barely has this name, a title that does not quite fit, no matter how many people use it. Names, once taken, are difficult to take back. It has been months, and now, it is obvious that Arya has made very little progress on being a proper person again, rather than a faceless child. ]

I have a house here.

[ Arya replies, leading the other girl through the twisted streets of Hadriel. One foot after another. Arya does not let go of a dripping Needle. She grips it tighter when she hears his voice in her mind: how did a girl come to be surrounded by Arya Stark's things?

Arya says little after that -- further proof that she is not Arya Stark. Arya Stark was talkative, and made friends easily, even with strangers. This Arya is distant. Even so, Arya still leads the girl to her home, and gestures at a table. The kitchen is full of all sorts of strange devices, and the walls are charred. There was a fire here, a while ago. Arya sets some bread and salt on the table. ]

You ought to eat.

[alayne]

[ sansa stark had seen this sword. it is as familiar and as strange as the girl who wields it. arya stark had brought it to winterfell from king's landing, her lord father had allowed it. sansa had mocked her and her sister called her stupid.

she was right, sansa stark was a stupid little girl with pretty, shallow dreams that shattered to pretty, choking dust.

alayne stone knows better.

sansa stark, foolish as she was, would have made faces at the food offered to her, would have missed her roasted duck and lemon cakes but alayne stone is not a highborn lady with pretty gowns that glitter in the sun. she is a baseborn girl from the vale and she cuts into the bread, covers it in salt and eats a small portion.

alayne stone still has sansa's pristine manner of handling food but not her arrogance. ]

thank you.

[ she wants to ask, she ought to ask. ]

Will they come inside?

[whichend]

[ It would be easier if the girl was rude. If she ate with her mouth open. Anything. The girl eats like Sansa Stark, speaks like Sansa Stark, and apart from the hair, is as beautiful as Arya's sister -- no, not her sister, she has none -- was.

Was. If Arya can remember the was, she'll be fine. She busies herself with getting the blood off her hands and sword. ]

They may.

[ Arya has always been blunt, and even now, she hasn't changed in that way. ]

But you needn't worry about the monsters in this place. I can handle them. The gods are more dangerous.

[ Arya finally looks the other girl in the eye, her expression serious and solemn. ]

But there is no avoiding the tricks they play.

[alayne]

The city has its own gods?

[ an odd thought. the seven did not help sansa stark or her lady mother and the old gods could not see into the south, could not help lady sansa's lord father when the boy king has taken his head.

and now the boy king is dead and sansa's stark kin is gone except for the girl who hosts alayne under her roof ]

What manner of tricks?

[ she looks, all of the sudden, younger than she feels. this feels like a tale of horror, the scary kinds old nan would tell them that would frighten sansa for days ]

fear;

[scarletcast]

[ Alayne is a beacon with that fear and Wanda feels it spread. She's afraid too, but they are not like this. Run. It is in every line. Forward. Away. ]

This way.

[alayne]

[ the girl who came before her, sansa stark, had wanted to do nothing but run, run until there will be no more world to run across, until she will happen upon the free cities or any such place in which her name will be foreign, in which she will be, if for a few moments, safe.

alayne stone was comfortable in her seat at the eyrie, the vale has been her home, has it not? it is where her lord father resided and she liked it well enough.

sansa stark never quite got the chance the run free, not since they have taken her direwolf and then her lord father but alayne runs until she happens upon the girl.

the girl with the striking eyes and the odd accent that still curved nicely around the words and alayne followed her without another word. ]

Where can we hide?

[scarletcast]

[ if she looked closely, she would feel Alayne-Sansa, and a third who smells like death and the wet soil of a forest after the rain. Wanda is tasting that ocean of fear where it crashes on the shoreline of her own. These creatures are disgusting. ]

If we hide, they find us.

[ She would prefer to, but there is never any other choice. ]

Wheb they come, stay behind me.

[alayne]

You have no sword.

[ she feels a bit of a fool to speak such to her. mayhaps there are other means to rid themselves of these beasts - plants but she cannot imagine doing anything but cutting them through and the girl seems only that much older than alayne herself.

and yet, there is an odd sort of confidence to her that makes alayne obey, nod her head as she speaks ]

How shall you fight them?

[scarletcast]

[ Odd though the comment is, Wanda smiles. Like a fairytale little girls grow up with: knights have swords, and armour too. She feels like something with teeth that glint in the sunlight, leathery wings. Scales, for skin. She is not quite a monster, but the humanness in her lives alongside something else. ]

Like this.

[ Red around her fingers — there is one around the corner. The energy tears through the tentacles serving as legs, and it screams before Wanda moves both her hands and flings it into a crumbling wall. ]

[alayne]

[ the girl smiles and it is not the terrible sort of smile, not the one dipped in mockery and maliciousness. she does not tease or scold alayne for being stupid. instead, she weave magic between her fingers, for it must be magic.

alayne stone has heard talk of magicians and priests donned in red in the free cities but to see it is something else entirely, her eyes widen as the magic tears through the air.

she looks at the girl. ]

We must hide, they will tire you before long.

fear

[cetos]

[ they cannot be deep ones, asha greyjoy assures herself. tentacles do not make a kraken. only salt. these creatures are of the earth, swift and hideous and stinking. asha almost retches, but she'll not show weakness. she has seen far worse sights than this. men devoured by water and fire. this shrubbery shouldn't trouble her.

but it cuts her all the same, in her attempts to hack at its many hands. a brave warrior fights deadly battles. and a wise warrior knows when to wield caution over bravery.

alayne reminds her to be sage. so though she appears more rock than bird (in the grey-blue salted leather of the her people, weathered by long days in northern snow, a once golden kraken faded to a bronze smudge on her breast), asha moves, keeping a hand fast on her dirk but focusing on escape, not battle. ]

Aye. [ a closer look at alayne. a girl, surely. and while asha judges no woman for donning a dress, she immediately notes the difficulty of running in billowing garments. ] Say if your dress catches.

[ and i'll cut you free. it is not sentimental. well, not terribly. there's nothing to be reaped from a girl's death. ]

[alayne]

[ the kraken of greyjoy, alayne thinks and at once, she feels as if her breath is caught in her throat. the girl who came before, sansa stark, had known a greyjoy boy, theon greyjoy who had been robb's friend. theon greyjoy who brought the ocean into winterfell and burned her brothers and betrayed his king.

if the girl knew of sansa stark, will she burn her too? krakens do not belong in the north, but that is a foolish thought, foolish because thoughts like that could lead a girl to a swift death.

alayne stone's broach is a silver mockingjay, not a direwolf and her hair is dark and not tully auburn and the girl wishes to help her.

why mind silly little sansa stark who this girl would have hated? she has little reason to hate a baseborn girl from the vale. ]

Yes.

[ the girl holds a dirk as a man would, as a knight would and alayne runs, looks over her shoulder to make certain she is alright.

( if she isn't, how can she hope to help her? ) ]

inside. we must find someplace.

[cetos]

[ at first, the mockingbird signifies nothing to asha, whose knowledge of westeros and its houses originates from her nuncle's books. no house has such a sigil in the histories. few have birds, truly. yet it seems familiar... house arryn's is a bird, is it not? and some riverlords have ravens, but those are no songbirds.

dimly, she recalls a jape in her father's council. a derision of some king's landing lordling.

these are thoughts for a quieter time. refocusing, asha scans the area, of the same mind as alayne. the buildings are decrepit, not like to protect against this creature. but perhaps if they move quickly — evasion, not fortification, may be their hope.

with a sudden surge of movement, like her house's namesake, she grips alayne's arm and veers right, easily forcing a crooked, wooden door open with her weight. in seconds, she slams the door shut, one hand anchored on the wood to hold it in place and the other still clutching her dirk. why wood when the trees hate her so.

if the house is a home, its residents are away. ]

[alayne]

[ she startles easy, the girl does but she does not draw her hand away, lets the girl lead her into a house. shall they not be cross with us? two girls on their own?

but the girl does have a dirk and luckily, the place is empty. alayne tries not to touch anything that does not belong to her, only moving about a wooden table towards the girl ]

Mayhaps if we lean this against the door?

[cetos]

[ asha nods and moves to assist alayne, shifting the table into place. so this girl is clever. useful, given that she has thrown her lot in with the child, at least temporarily.

that isn't to say she relaxes. in fact, asha faces the door once again, calm and steady as a rock in a storm. she'll not die by vines in her back, cowering in some home. ]

[ a quick glance over her shoulder, eyebrows raised. ] You're a Southroner, aren't you?

[ southron folk like their birds. pretty things. singing things. mockingbirds. ]

[alayne]

[ alayne in the meantime, looks at the windows. we ought to lean something against those too, she thinks before looking around the room for anything that could help in keeping the beasts ( flora, demons ) away. it feels like waiting for death. she remembers sansa stark cowering near cersei lannister as stannis baratheon who they named traitor came to take king's landing.

this girl will not die by drinking poison, she thinks. she is not the queen reagent in her silks and summerwine.

she is safer here in this crumbling wooden house than sansa had been in the red keep. ]

I am but a baseborn girl. My lord Father seat's is in the Eyrie.