test drive 2.0
Hi all, the other TDM was getting a bit unwieldy, so here's an overflow post! Feel free to repost starters from the old post and carry threads over, as well as make new ones. Threads here can still be considered game canon, so be sure to make decisions you don't mind carrying over later.
Otherwise, have fun, and thanks for coming! Reserves will open on November 25th, 12:01AM, so be sure to throw in a reserve if you'd like. Apps will open on December 1st, 12:01AM, and our current character cap is 90.
BASICS
The town of Chantes has been dark since ALASTAIR first arrived here with your fellow travelers in tow. The sun stopped rising, night is forever here -- at least until our brave recruits get to the bottom of the mysteries of this town. But one thing at a time, right? For now: the darkness.
Prominent town inventor Edwin Brunswick has discovered a fantastic new source of light! He’s created a lantern that will give off a magically induced bright blue light for days, no more eating through lantern supplies faster than you budgeted for! He just needs an ingredient found only in the dark, eerie forest outside the town limits. It’s a good thing you got signed up to go and find it, huh? Maybe ALASTAIR wants to break in the new recruits, or maybe you’re just lucky. But either way, better get going. Those lanterns won’t light themselves!
New Recruits: for the purposes of the TDM, new characters can assume they’re with a fresh group of ‘recruits’ on a practice mission for ALASTAIR. They’ll be given a (brief) rundown on the overall situation. Additionally, the standard locations around town are also open for your perusal.
Characters In-Game: this mission is ICly optional, but characters will be alerted to the new recruits’ arrival through their network devices. It’s in your best interest that they all make it through this!
THE INGREDIENTS
So what is this mystery ingredient, anyway? Why, fairy dust, of course!
No, just kidding, that would be trite. It’s fairy slime.
Out in the depths of the forest are nests of fairies. They’re tiny, insectoid creatures with two tiny humanoid legs and four tiny humanoid arms that want to poke, prod, and pinch anything that comes within range. And they’re quick, too! Those pretty gossamer wings aren’t just for show, they can fly about as fast as you can run. And as any child native to the town can tell you, they’re highly territorial.
Anyone who ventures into the forest is given a jar to collect the blue-shining magical goo, and cheerfully wished good luck. But it can’t be that bad, right?
THE EFFECTS
You’ve braved the fairies and delivered the fairy slime, and the spell is a success! Lanterns all over the city are brightly shining through the darkness. Edwin is very proud of himself. It’s been declared an impromptu holiday, and humans and goblins alike are out to have a good time after the day’s work is done in honor of the darkness being just a little less dark now.
But nothing ever goes just the way it was planned, does it? As it turns out, fairy slime is a little more volatile than Edwin counted on, and the blue lanterns are starting to have an odd effect in some places...
PROMPTSONE ✗ LOST IN THE DARK...
You’ve probably been in deep, dark forests before. But somehow, knowing that here the sun never rises makes it just a little deeper and darker than anticipated. Moonlight doesn’t even make it through the thick branches overhead, and if you haven’t brought a lightsource with you, chances are high you’ll be very swiftly and very hopelessly lost.
Is that quiet snap in the bushes another ALASTAIR recruit? A fairy, maybe? Or something more dangerous? It’s hard to say.
TWO ✗ FRIENDLY FAIRIES
The villagers were right: the fairies are territorial. Very territorial. You might not even realize you’re close to a nest before the fairies start to notice you there. It might start with a sharp pinch at your side, but if that doesn’t deter you, the fairies will start to mean business.
They might be small, only four inches tall at most, but there are a lot of them! A typical nest houses about 500 fairies, and none of them are happy to have house guests. Each one glows a very faint blue, though, so if you pay attention and move fast, you might be able to keep track of them. But they don’t seem bothered by the darkness, and they can easily track you right back! You can expect anything from pinching, to hair-pulling, to sharp pokes in the eyes -- and the more enterprising fairies might even try making off with any smaller belongings they can reach. Or bigger belongings. How many fairies do you think it will take to cart off the friendly animal sidekick you showed up with? They certainly seem willing to find out!
THREE ✗ NOT AS ADVERTISED
The newly structured lanterns do exactly as advertised, casting ghostly blue light from every streetpost in the city. But they aren’t just for show -- it turns out fairly goop is magically reactive in the strangest ways. Maybe the effects are purely physical, leaving you oddly lightheaded before you float a couple feet in the air. Maybe it makes your hair glow the same, unnatural blue.
But the fae are known for all manner of moodiness and trickery; the lights may play tricks on the mind and vision, affecting temperaments and causing illusions. Your own magic may feel like it’s on the fritz -- better start moving, or get it under control before the townsfolk notice.
FOUR ✗ CHIT CHAT
Throughout the whole of this mini-mission, old and new characters alike will have access to the network to communicate and collaborate. Fairies got you stranded up in a tree? Need some help in the city square? ALASTAIR provides a magical piece of jewelry that should help.
Remember, you get one username to identify you and one only — if you don't enter one, it will default to your real name (for example, Voldemort's would be tomriddle.) Choose wisely... or make it assfarts69, if that's your thing. More information on the network is here!
FIVE ✗ WILDCARD
Feel free to take any of these prompts and run wild with them, or come up with your own adventures around Chantes and the surrounding forests! There’s plenty of room to explore, get horribly lost in the tangled woods, and get to know your fellow recruits in the downtime. |
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thirstology2015-11-22 08:17 pm
no subject
[Lea glances at her when he thinks he hears her speak, and she immediately turns bright red.]
Did you say somethin'? [He won't press her if she balks, but he was sure he heard something. She peeks up at him from beside the tree, and he holds her gaze a moment, looking a little surprised by the question. Then he grins.] I want people to remember me, that's my dream. [He guesses that never really changed, ever since he was a kid, but... work kind of got in the way for a while there.] I want everyone I meet to remember me, because in people's memories, you can live forever, you know? So long as somebody remembers you, you're never really gone, even long, long after you're gone.
[He starts forward again, hooking his thumb in his pocket like before.]
I mean, that's what I think real immortality's about. It's not living forever, it's... leaving a mark in the time you're given.
no subject
however, the more she thought about it, the more she began to see why it might be so important for someone to want to be remembered... after all, olivia herself would love for the day to own her own performance theater, to one day be able to showcase all her dances for people who come from all over just to see her perform... in that way, she definitely wants people to walk away feeling like the experience had been memorable, something they can talk and think about for days or even years to come!
it's with that thought that she finally smiles, the warmth on her cheeks on echoed by the feeling spreading across her chest. ]
...I think I get what you mean. [ to be able to touch people's lives like that. isn't that what everyone secretly wants? to know that, at the end of the day, at the end of time, they mattered.
she straightens up a little, back the straightest its been since they met. ]
Well. I know I'll definitely remember you, Lea. After all, you're my one and only partner in slime!
[ hee hee see what she did there ]
no subject
Partner in slime, I like it. We should team up again sometime, this was actually kinda fun. [He looks ahead, squinting a little, and then gestures.] I think that's actually the treeline up ahead, so we successfully got ourselves un-lost. We are a pretty good team!
no subject
it's hard to stay huffy (not that she genuinely had been in the first place) when he points out their success, though. her eyes light up a little in relief. ]
Oh thank goodness — I thought we'd be in that forest forever...!
no subject
[They break through the treeline and into the edge of The Outskirts, and Lea remembers absently that there's a band of vigilantes they were warned about. Sheesh, bandits, vigilantes, goblins, this place has everything.]
All right, let's get this goo to that Brunswick guy and never go into that forest again. [He minces quietly through the scattered houses, a bit guarded, just in case somebody decides they look shady and tries to accost them.] I'm crashing at the Abel, you?
no subject
as they move through the streets, olivia is mindful of the shadowy figures that lurk around the corners. unlike lea, who remains alert and guarded, she makes a conscious effort to avoid even so much as glancing their way. she's got her sword, sure, and she's more than a little familiar with brigands by now, but that hardly means she wants to actually have to face them.
—is it just her imagination, or did a few of those shadows seem to move closer towards them?
hastily, nervously, she attempts to keep up the conversation going as casually as possible. ]
Oh, is that the nice Inn around the City Square? I'm there, yes... a-at least until I find something else.
[ the inn definitely beats the tents she's had to get used to while traveling with the shepherds, though she is a little reluctant about having to spend so much of her allowance on it... ]
no subject
Not the super nice one. I didn't wanna shell out for that. All I want is a bed, you know? [He snorts a laugh.] So long as it's not sleeping in a cave, I'm all right. I had to do that once, on a mission back home. I couldn't report back 'til I'd finished my job, but there was a freak snowstorm on the mountain, so I wound up having to duck into this cave to get out of the weather. It was ridiculous, I thought I was gonna wind up a popsicle.
[The shadows shift around them again, and Lea sighs as he recognizes the rather classic pattern of being surrounded. He reaches over and tugs on Olivia's cloak to get her attention, keeping his voice low.]
How're you in a fight? 'Cuz it looks like we might have one on our hands in the next thirty seconds.
no subject
—though maybe she should just be happy her "bed" this time isn't on a moving caravan. ]
F-Fight?
[ she looks up at him with wide eyes, startled despite having seen the shadows move herself. she's suddenly very aware of the heavy sword at her side, and she knows she'll be able to wield it if she needs to but...
gosh, she really hoped she wouldn't have needed to. ]
I'm... okay, I guess..............
[ not very encouraging but that's olivia ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ]
no subject
Don't worry about it. If you're not comfortable fighting, then just stay behind me, okay?
[The shadows move closer, and Lea suddenly realizes they're not human. These are goblins. ... He doesn't actually have any experience fighting goblins. Welp, time to wing it.
[The nearest cluster of goblins closes in, drawing swords and pointing them at him and Olivia, and he suddenly wishes he had a backpack or something to put the jar of fairy goo in; he has a feeling just one chakram isn't going to cut it here, and he's not even sure he can get his stupid Keyblade to cooperate.]
Humans aren't welcome here. [One of the goblins snarls throatily at them, and Lea squares his shoulders.]
We're just passing through, on our way back to the city. We don't want any trouble, okay?
Then you should not have come this way.
[Lea rolls his eyes at the childish response, stooping forward and setting his jar of fairy goo on the ground. Hopefully it won't get kicked and broken if this gets ugly--he really doesn't want to have to go and get another.]
This is the shortest route, I'm afraid. I don't have time to go the long way. So why don't you just let us pass? [He snaps his arms out and conjures his weapons in a whorl of flame and smoke, one spiked wheel in each hand, and he hooks one casually over his shoulder and regards the nearest goblin.] I'd hate to waste any more time than I have to.
no subject
stepping towards him, she reaches out with a free hand. ]
N-No, I—
[ but whatever she'd been about to say gets cut off with a sharp intake of breath, the shadows suddenly taking form in crude, unfamiliar shapes. goblins, she realizes belatedly; creatures she'd never seen before arriving here, though the word calls to mind the mischievous nuisances in the old stories she'd heard around the caravan. instantly, she is afraid, because they are the unknown, because it is dark, because they look at her and lea like they have already decided they didn't like them, and for those first few exchanges between men, all olivia can do is stand there, frozen in her fear.
when lea calls upon his weapons, olivia is startled enough to come back to the present. suddenly she feels a different kind of fear spike in her — not one for herself, but for another. holding her jar close to her chest, she stumbles forward, nearly knocking into lea in her attempt to get between the two men. ]
W-Wait, please — we don't want any trouble. We don't mean to stay, we just want to pass through, that's all...
no subject
[The goblin sneers at her, baring sharp, yellowed teeth, and brandishes his sword again.]
You humans think you can do whatever you want. This is our part of town. If we dare set foot further in, we are stoned and run out, but you... you just waltz through this place as though you own it. [The goblin exchanges glances with his comrades, and they close in a bit tighter around Olivia and Lea.] If we let that go unpunished, what sort of example will it set for the rest of you humans?
[Lea glances around, counting heads. Four, six, ten... there's about a dozen. He thinks he can probably take them, but he's a little worried about Olivia getting caught in the crossfire. Setting his jaw, he tenses his shoulders, ready to strike if they make a move.]