test drive meme #11

[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 July 25th, and apps are open August 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: WORKING TITLE
[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 few Working Joes, from the Alien: Isolation video game series.

Once simply androids meant for mundane jobs, working Joes have had their programming altered to isolate and eliminate threats onboard their ship- which they now believe to be Hadriel. Super strong, yet slow and plodding, an android may ask you for identification before throttling you when you don't have the right answer. They are quite sturdy and difficult to destroy without the right tools. Have fun!]


H O P E

SCENARIO TWO: BEAUTIFICATION DUTY
[The city has always looked a little drab, but now with some tools from Hope, it's up to you guys to spruce it up a bit! Your character will find themselves in a shop filled with various paints, home improvement tools, window stickers, streamers, and various other items and tools used to improve the appearance of the neighborhood.

You're encouraged to add your own little flair to the project in order to improve living standards and make Hope the happiest god in the pantheon. So, what will you do? Paint a mural? Sweep up some rubble? Install a skylight! The cave is your oyster.

This is a mini version of our Extinction v2 event this month!]


S O R R O W

SCENARIO THREE: CRY ME A RIVER
[When you wake up in the morning, something feels... off. It feels like you just watched 20 ASPCA commercials in a row and then topped it all off with the first ten minutes of Up. You're beaten down, depressed, upset by all the horrific acts and trauma in the world, and it's enough to make you want to cry.

Turn on the waterworks, because Hadriel is about to have a shortage of tissues and everyone's getting dehydrated. You might run into your neighbor crying while you're scavenging for food, or you might just find that one whole asshole in the entire movie who isn't affected.

Either way, it's time to get some hugs, some kleenex, and maybe a little bit of chocolate. Happy... crying?]

Comments

[crowboy]

[Nothing good? Those were Corbin's clothes, thanks, and when he looked down and saw someone messing with them he panicked a bit. What was he going to do if this guy made off with his clothes? Not that he was sure why he might, but he didn't have any more pants, and he wasn't going to wander around naked either.]

[So, terribly sorry Valiss, but with an angry caw the crow whose presence he had missed made a diving swoop at his head, not trying to injure him so much as drive him away, and not realizing that he didn't have any interest in the package of Corbin's belongings. Sometimes it was a bit too easy to think like a crow when he was like this, and the Crow just knew that someone was messing with it's things, and that someone needed to Go Away.]

[He climbed again after his first dive, but not far before swooping again, flapping his wings in Vallis' face and cawing angrily]

[truthtwister]

Shit!

[Valiss sprang backwards after the first dive, well away from the package, his arms up to protect his face.]

I'm not going to take it, don't worry! I'm leaving it alone.

[Why is he talking to a bird? He's not sure it'll understand him, but he hopes that backing off from the package will do the trick if words don't.]

[crowboy]

[Corbin, not really being a crow, fortunately does understand Valiss, and so when he backs off so does Corbin, perching on the package with another caw, this one with a bit less "I'm going to peck your fucking eyes out" tone to it. He clacked his beak loudly, making a shooing motion with it before hopping down and grabbing at least the jeans with his beak, dragging them somewhere he could have a bit of privacy.]

[One beady black eye stayed on Valiss, making sure that he wasn't followed. He'd probably blown any chance of the guy not figuring things out, at least if he wasn't an utter moron, but he still wasn't going to change in front of him.]

[truthtwister]

[That was definitely weird-ass crow behaviour, but Valiss turned his back momentarily- just long enough for the crow to take its attention off of him before he turned around again to see what it was doing. He saw the pant leg of the jeans disappear around a corner and he moved silently up to it, peering around the edge of the wall.]

[crowboy]

[Satisfied that he wasn't being watched for the moment, Corbin was in the process of changing back. The crow was changing, growing taller and losing feathers, revealing the sort of body that someone got from long hours of manual labor, lanky but muscled, and covered liberally with freckles. As the last feathers faded into his skin it was also apparent that Corbin was completely naked. Enjoy the view?]

Who fucks witha man's clothes? Ain't right...

[Corbin mumbled to himself as he pulled the jeans up and fastened them, turning around to see he was being watched and shouting in alarm]

What th' fuck?! Y' always gotta sneak up onna man when 'e's gettin' dressed?

[truthtwister]

[Valiss had one hand on the hilt of a dagger as he watched, because the last time he dealt with people who changed into beasts and back, there was a lot of nastiness. And rat bites.]

[But there's no immediate attack, so he keeps a relaxed pose, leaning against the wall.]

No, it's not mandatory, and in this case, it wasn't intentional. I was just curious and sneaking comes naturally.

[crowboy]

[Corbin sighed, but it was kind of huffy sounding]

[And alright, so he notices the man is good looking, and he kind of wishes he had a shirt just about then]

Could ya at leas' han' me mah shirt? Mos' folks'd 'pologize for walkin' in on someun in ther vuln'rables.

[He's not uncomfortable that the attractive man is just... leaning there. Nope]

[truthtwister]

[Valiss tosses the shirt over, covering his interest with an apologetic nod.]

Sorry. I was just curious- I haven't met a lot of crows with a taste for clothes and last time I met things that went from animal to human it got... complicated.

[And murdery. And his stuff got stolen.]

[crowboy]

[Corbin tugs the shirt on, feeling a bit more comfortable]

Well I ain't a crow, not in th' strictest sense a th' word.

[But he's looking at Valiss with a bit of suspicion, "complicated" when it came to humans and "monsters" usually ended in fights.]

What kinda "complicated" if'n ya don' mind ma askin'. An' I ain't a 'thing,' I'm a werecrow.

[It feels weird saying it, even if Valiss wasn't the first person here he'd told his secret to. If he wasn't more careful, it wasn't going to be a secret for very long]

[truthtwister]

My friends and I had a serious disagreement with a pack of wererats. They were being naughty while we were just trying to enjoy some street theatre.

[And by naughty he means murdering innocents. He's not sorry about fighting them.]

If you don't intend to interrupt my cultural enrichment, I'm sure we can be friends.

[crowboy]

Well, s'long as they're the ones as started it...

[It seems like if he'd been the one that started it he wouldn't mind starting shit with Corbin now that he knew what he was. And since he was a lot more armed than one shirtless teenager.]

[So Corbin finally smiles and shakes his head]

Nah, I'll be happy t' let ya enjoy all th' theeter ya wan', pr'vided ya can find any.

[There was not much in the way of cultural enrichment around Hadriel after all]

[truthtwister]

I like finishing fights more than starting them.

[This is not true, strictly speaking, but it's true at the moment and that's good enough for Valiss. Also, it sounds cool. He likes sounding cool.]

I've noticed this place isn't much for culture. Makes me wonder what all the paint and streamers are for.

[crowboy]

[It does sound cool, and Corbin can't help but smile a bit bigger. Damn, this guy sounded cool]

[The mention of the paint and streamers makes him snort]

Yeah, th' gods as say they're in charge here, or least one of 'em, wants the place nice 'n' perttied up cause... I dunno, he didn' much say why, he jes' asked us t' do it.

[From his tone he doesn't think too much of this particular god]

He calls 'imself Hope, but far's I c'n tell, that's mos'ly jes' cause he Hopes we're gonna do stuff for 'im.

[truthtwister]

Gods.

[That seems like both an expletive and a sigh of exasperation with the general concept of deities.]

Well, I'm sure it's nice for him to have aspirations. You want to help me with my painting?

[crowboy]

[Corbin had never been big on religion before now, but he's really not that enthusiastic about the deity he's met here so far]

Asp'rations is great, but that ain't much help 'gainst somethin' that's tryin' t' eat yur face.

[He shrugs]

If'n ya want mah help then sure. I was gonna work on somethin' anyway, so I'll hes have t' mess up what yer doin' instead.

[He's joking, he's really not a bad artist at all. But he doesn't mind helping out]

M' name's Corbin, what's yers?

[truthtwister]

[What is that accent? Valiss has never heard anything like it before. It's... a little strange on his ears, though it would be rude to comment.]

Oh, you won't mess it up. It's all kind of spur of the moment.

[He offers a hand- thin and elegant, with a few callouses.]

Valiss Truthteller. It's a pleasure.

I sometimes ask myself what is Corbin's accent too, Valiss

[crowboy]

[Corbin wouldn't have thought it rude to ask, though he might have expressed some surprise that he had never heard anything like Corbin's accent. How sad for Valiss.]

Good. Ah like spur ah the moment.

[Spur of the moment meant lots of room for improvising, and Corbin was all for improvising]

[His own hand is thin, his fingers long, but not what anyone would call elegant, not when it's work roughened with callouses and his nails are kept so short. Corbin has the strange thought pop into his head that Valiss' hands are as nice looking as the rest of him. But instead of following it up he just smiled, because whatever else he was, Valiss seemed nice.]

Pleasure's all mine.

[He did make sure to grab his slingshot and the bag of metal shot he kept with him, even if he felt severely outclassed in the weapons department, being near someone carrying quite that much deadly metal.]

Where's this paintin' ah yers? 'm awful curious t' see it.