thirstology | TEST DRIVE MEME.

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test drive meme

TEST DRIVE MEME.

A PIRATE'S LIFE FOR ME

Welcome to the Viridian Sea, a rolling body of water populated by a small number of islands and an even greater number of pirates and merchant ships. Sailing, rum, and high-seas adventure is the name of the game for this mission: after the freshly-recruited volunteers (that's you!) are welcomed into Hathaway, they are sent via controlled interdimensional rift to deal with a certain pirate ship that has been causing a certain amount of trouble.

The crew of Red Scream, a murderous band of Mako pirates, has been reaving a path of destruction through the sea, scuttling ships of merchants, civilians, and other pirate bands alike. They have also kidnapped a governor's daughter, asking an exorbitant ransom to return her at all, let alone alive.

If this wasn't enough of a reason for Hathaway to intervene, Red Scream's current goal is firmly pointed at a legendary treasure buried in a crater somewhere in the Viridian Sea. Hathaway analysts have studied the crater and found that it was definitely caused by a temporal shard cast off from the Merging. And if Red Scream gets its hands on the shard, it'll be bad news.

The crew of Little Squid has reached out to Hathaway for help reaching the treasure. The ship and crew are both small, but they are an optimistic and hardworking bunch, and are willing to equally split the treasure with Hathaway as a reward -- they just have to reach it first.

▸ PROMPTS

Your mission is simple: reach the treasure before the Mako pirates. If you have the time, you can try and save the governor's daughter -- it's not why Hathaway has been hired, but her father will likely be grateful enough to grant a reward.

ONE ▸ GOING ROGUE.
High-seas adventure not your cup of tea? The tropical islands dotting the Viridian Sea are flush with distractions, including pirate havens replete with gambling, food, and liquor. It's a hedonist's paradise -- if you can avoid displeasing the heavily-armed locals.

TWO ▸ LITTLE SQUID.
Ever been on a brig before? The crew of Little Squid are happy to show you the ropes -- literally -- and teach you how to be a master seafarer in no time. The only food on board unfortunately consists of salted meat and hard bread, but there's plenty of rum to go around.

Life on the seas is tough, especially during rough weather; unfortunately, they have no cure for seasickness, so if you're afflicted, you might want to head below decks and wait it out. But the view during calm waters is unlike anything else.

THREE ▸ RED SCREAM.
It was bound to happen: Little Squid runs smack dab into Red Scream on the race to the treasure. Board the enemy ship or wait for them to come to you, but either way, you'd better be ready for some close-quarters combat. The Mako pirates of Red Scream are humanoid sharks with teeth to match, so in addition to their cutlasses and blunderbusses, you'll want to avoid being bitten.

If fighting isn't your specialty, you could always hide below decks of Little Squid and hope you don't get noticed. Or, if you're feeling bold, you can board Red Scream and look for the governor's daughter, who is being kept in the captain's quarters -- she's about six years old and ready to fight, so get ready to have your hands full.

FOUR ▸ THE TREASURE.
Finally, Little Squid reaches the island where the treasure is. There are caves throughout the island where more standard pirate treasure is found -- gold doubloons in rotted old chests and the like -- but there's also a massive crater formed where the temporal shard plummeted to the surface. The crater is a wide hole with sheer walls, so you'd better find someone who can fly or brush up on your spelunking skills.

The further down you go into the crater, the darker it gets, but somewhere on the bottom an eerie blue light is glowing. The source is the temporal shard: make your way through a winding tunnel system to find it and retrieve it. But beware -- the shard has attracted temporal insects, ravenous, time-eating bugs that can slow or hasten the flow of time just due to their appetite. Find yourself in their presence and you'll be moving in slow motion or you'll suddenly be aged 50 years. The only way to stop the effects are to kill the bugs and retrieve the shard.

FIVE ▸ CHIT-CHAT.
It's your standard network option. Maybe you've got a little downtime and you're bored. Or maybe you got lost in the caves and you think you saw a g-g-ghost pirate. Maybe you're just trying to figure out how the hell this magical jewelry thing works! No matter what, 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 jewelcomms can be found on the devices guide.

SIX ▸ WILDCARD.
Do whatever the heck you want! Explore the jungles and waterfalls of the islands, have a party on the beach, try to befriend a dolphin. The world is your oyster.

▸ OOC NOTES

Welcome to the first test drive meme of Futurology Season 2! Because the season hasn't started yet, this test drive is meant to be a mini-mission, similar in feel to the missions we have in-game but on a much smaller scale. Since no characters currently have official specializations, we also have no specialized prompts, but plan to in the future. However, feel free to play as if your character is level 1 of whichever specialization you would like to choose. Please be aware this test drive is game canon. Questions about the game can be directed to the FAQ.

If you've been with us before, you might notice things look a little different around here. Make sure you check out the welcome page for the basic rundown of how your character joined up with Hathaway. For further information about the game, the full navigation has all the links you'll need.

Apps will reopen to the public on 6 January, with early apps for returning characters opening on 4 January. Apps will close when we reach our 60-player cap or on 15 January, whichever happens first. We hope to see you then!

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[Sieglinde can't seem to ever arrive in a world with an ocean without ending up on a boat in a storm. At least, she's two for two now, with Nalawi and now this... but she hadn't been able to help herself anyway, wanting to see the sea she'd never had a chance to see in her own world.

That she perhaps would never see. At least, not for some time, now that she has contracted with Hathaway.

But another storm had blown up to ruin her view, and though she'd unbound her feet over a year ago, she still had trouble with balance and the now rocking ship was not helping. Neither was the wind whipping her long hair into her face and blowing up her heavy skirts.

She starts at the touch of hand on shoulder, but... she's actually quite grateful for the offer, and latches on to his wrist for support more than quickly. For a tiny thing, her grip, at least, is quite tight.]

Thank you, good sir!

[Half shouted back, but. At least some of these new people were gentlemen???]

[Tommy is in equal measure both surprised and not at all surprised by her grip on his wrist. It was expected that she would grab onto him the moment he touched her, but he hadn't expected someone as small as her to have a grip that tight. Then again, adrenaline can do some surprising things.]

[He doesn't visibly react to being called good sir, but internally, he knows he's far from someone who'd normally be called good sir despite his wealth and growing political standing in his own world.]

This way, [he says at a much lower volume, potentially impossible to hear over the winds and rain.]

[But his words don't need to be heard to communicate what he said. Tommy brings her hand to his arm, making it seem almost as though they are taking a stroll rather than trying to navigate the deck of a ship in the middle of a storm. Tommy is steadier than her as he guides her, but on more violent rocks of the ship that threaten to topple someone over, Tommy has to right the two of them before pressing on.]

[Like a gentleman, he opens the door for her, allowing her to use his arm (which he extends) as a guide until she makes it over the threshold inside.]

[His words are lost in the whip of rising winds, but Sieglinde is looking up at his face, and with the combination of the movement of his lips and the way he moves her hand to his arm in a more proper position, the meaning is more than clear enough. She nods eagerly in turn, small fingers tight for balance on his sleeve. Once she had been carried everywhere in the crook of her manservant's arm, perched as if simply sitting there to give the illusion of control despite her three inch-long heels and the tight bindings beneath, but she's used to being escorted this way now that she's unbound her feet.

Unbinding then had given her the use of toes and a larger sole, a more properlike shape, but it hadn't brought back the sensation in damaged nerves and abused tendons that still arched and betrayed, or the aching prone to delicate bones broken twice over. She walks with the cautious gait of someone who must actually pay attention to where she puts her feet, gaze down but for the moments when she has to brush her hair from her face- practically from his face on occasion, its long enough that in strong gusts it whips about like a gorgon's, long ripped from the more restrained style she tended to wear it in.

She perks up at the sight of the door, though, and carefully using his arm almost like a safety railing, she manages to make it inside with a grateful sigh, transferring her hold to an actual rail in the ship before she scuttles to the side to make room for him to enter as well.]

How fiercely and quickly gales at sea can overtake a ship...

[Tommy doesn't notice much about her gait on the way to the door. He chalks most of her unsteadiness to a lack of sea legs and trying to stand on her own as much as possible even with the boat rocking about rather than a possible physical cause. In any case, most of his attention was trained on keeping them moving toward relative safety. But unlike her gait going without much notice, it's entirely possible she'll notice his hesitation before following her inside. Although he does follow her, Tommy pauses longer than merely being polite enough to let her cross the threshold first.]

[He hates being below deck. The darkness broken only by light from lanterns, the dampness in the air and the occasional creaking of wooden beams all feel all too familiar. But he swallows whatever...discomfort it inspires and steps inside behind her, taking a moment to pull against the winds and shut the door.]

Fortunately that means it will likely be over just as quickly, [he says only once it's securely latched.] That might be a better time for you to explore the deck, eh?

[Sieglinde has grown up in the dark, nearly alone in a candle-lit manor of creaking wood and groaning stone, and so the belowdeck is at least familiar in that sense- though the cramped feeling and toss of the ship itself is hardly welcome. She clasps the wooden railing tightly to keep herself standing, squares her stance and locks her knees beneath her damp, heavy skirts, shivering slightly despite herself.]

I should certainly hope so!

[The wind still howls outside, but at least the door is shut and bolted, which she breaths a sigh of relief for.]

I must apologize, sir. It was not my intent to inconvenience anyone else, merely to observe the sea...

[If it weren't already soaked, Tommy would be at least a mild form of gentleman and offer her his coat to warm up. But it would just be adding more cold rainwater in the end, so he makes no move towards offering it to her. At least he says,]

No. [He removes his flat cap. It managed to keep his head mostly dry, but he still pushes some of his bangs back out of his face and back into some semblance of order.] No, it wasn't any trouble at all.

[Tommy puts his hat in his coat pocket. He reaches into another pocket for his cigarette case and lighter. He hasn't thought much about his lighter since he purchased it (there had been a small amount of pride that day), but he's grateful it in place of the matches he's used for the majority of his life. No doubt they'd be useless by now.]

You'll probably wont to change into something dryer.

[Tommy nods down the hallway as he pulls out a cigarette.]

[Well, that was a relief, at least, however small. Rebreaking her feet had been something Sieglinde once hoped would make her less of a burden, less in need of help... but that had been naive of her, she knew that now. Even if the job she'd done of resetting had been better, if she'd used magic to heal them... she was still small, still physically weak compared to... most everyone in ALASTAIR, now in Hathaway, and she hadn't ever really stopped being a burden in some ways, because their missions had not stopped involving violence in some form.

But at least he said it was no trouble.]

Ah, of course-

[And points out something rational, which she can't help but agree with, but still, it seems rude to not even introduce herself, or thank him in turn, though it also seems ridiculous to stay and do so dripping on the floor, so her emerald gaze flicks between the hall down where her bunk was and back to him, falling to the cigarette with a flash of an idea.]

Will you be... here? I mean, could you wait here? Or return here?

[Anxious to perform socially, she trips over her words, still a bit awkward with new meetings.]

Can't very well have a smoke out there right now, can I?

[His tone isn't severe, but it also doesn't particularly match that he means the question more as a joke than anything else either. It sounds more statement of fact instead, but that's par for the course these days with Tommy. He adopts a lighter tone when speaking to his son, but anyone else? Not so much. And even with Charlie, it's not all that sincere.]

[He puts the cigarette between his lips and lights it, lighter disappearing back into his pocket as he take the cigarette out again and blows the smoke away from her slightly.]

Go on. I'll still be here when you get back.

[It might be an indication that her standards for politeness have slipped far from where they'd been two years ago, fresh from thinking herself a lord over her own village, that she considers it quite nice he goes to the consideration to blow the smoke away from her. Maybe slipped... really far.

But she nods and takes it as her cue, hobbling off using the railing down the out of sight, to change out of her wet clothes into a similar dress, even still the same color, dry off and wrestle her knee-length hair into a sloppy braid, dig through her pack and manage to find what she's looking for, coming back a few minutes later with a pep in her step and a bottle of... pills? in her hand.

She's been practicing her introductions, so... rocking boat notwithstanding, she dips into a shaky curtsy.]

I apologize for keeping you waiting. My name is Sieglinde Sullivan, the Green Witch.

[Better late than never, right?]

[While she's gone, Tommy leans against the nearby wall and smokes his cigarette. He waits until she's out of his sight before resting his head against it as well with his eyes closed. He's still for the most part, only occasionally blowing smoke up towards the ceiling, but he needs to make himself not think too hard about the little details of his surroundings in the relative silence. At a particularly loud crash of thunder, he feels himself twitch, muscle memory trying to pull him off the wall and into a trench that doesn't exist.]

[He hears her coming back and straightens back out like nothing ever was.]

[Curtsying the way she does is a bit outdated in Tommy's world. Well, except for being in the presence of the royals, Tommy supposes. There they thrive on traditions and rituals that wouldn't make any sense in any other context. So, he can only assume it's either a thriving custom in her world or it's a child's attempt at formality. Regardless, he doesn't return anything like that in kind.]

Thomas Shelby. [of Shelby Company, Ltd. and the Peaky Blinders. But neither of those things matter much here, so they don't merit mention. Certainly not to a girl her age.] It's a pleasure, Miss Sullivan.

[Considering it's a move she was taught in anticipation of possibly meeting a Queen... well, there were very few Queens here, but she only knows this and the peculiar handshake, and that seems altogether too casual to her. She straightens up from her curtsy with the assistance of the railing, blinking up at him a bit more curiously than before now that she isn't damp with rain.]

Are you... English, Master Shelby?

[Having served in ALASTAIR had made her experienced enough with their translators to know when they were being used or not, and he was definitively speaking English, an accent close enough to the British she had learned the language from, and his clothes were more familiar than some she had encountered on her travels, from different years and different lands.

Of course, knowing this group, it could be anything, but. No harm in asking, was there?]

No.

[Tommy glances away.]

[That does happen to be a bit of a touchy subject with Tommy, though not for him. He's not the least bit ashamed of his heritage even if his connection with it waxes and wanes. But it does tend to be a problem for others.]

No, [he repeats,] but I am from Birmingham. Small Heath, to be exact.

[Tommy doesn't expect that a child would necessarily start hurling slurs at him, but that doesn't mean she would keep the information to herself necessarily. It would likely only be a matter of time before that information would reach someone who would take it upon themselves to try and weaponize it against Tommy. And that's really the bottom line. He's not interested in making friends, but he's equally not interested in working with someone who makes it their mission to make things more difficult for him.]

[Sieglinde doesn't seem to be surprised to be wrong, at any rate- she has never been to England, so she is hardly an expert. Hopeful, she still asks when she encounters it, but she has mistaken several Americans, a Canadian, and an Italian by now. Sebastian had taught her some of the country's history, and so perhaps he was... Irish? Scottish? Or... what was the other? Welsh?

But he doesn't volunteer it, and though she cocks her head slightly... she doesn't ask, in case it be a sensitive topic, and instead puts a hand on her own chest.]

I have heard of Birmingham! Perhaps your world and mine own are similar.

[And that was an oddly precious commodity in a place like this.]

Myself, I am told that my lands belong to the modern country of Germany, now- in Bavaria. Have you knowledge of such a place?

[Tommy flicks the ashes off the end of his cigarette.]

I've heard of it, [he confirms before taking another drag of his cigarette.] Been in a bit of trouble since the war.

[Tommy tries to keep himself out of politics as much as possible given what happened the last time he became too involved. As the head of an import/export company though, it's important for him to keep his ear to the ground for strife even without business dealings in that part of the continent. The last time trouble arose there, it dragged the whole bloody world into it and who's to say it won't happen again? Better not to be caught off-guard in that instance.]

[Though she had learned long ago not to trust another world's version of events, learned that worlds could be almost strikingly similar in all aspects but one event or one aspect... she still can't help but be curious, a bit hopeful.

If not a bit afraid to ask. His clothing was not so unfamiliar to her, from what her guests had drawn to describe what people wore in London. She had learned that beyond her village, that tensions were high, that the British Queen suspected Germany of manufacturing weaponry.

The poison gas she had helped produce. But it was... surely not the same world, after all. Just because it had the same countries-]

... which war?

[Tommy goes still and stares at her a moment as though he doesn't understand the question. He doesn't hold any wildly unfair expectation that someone who isn't from his world -- no matter what the similarities might be -- should know every detail of what has transpired in his world. Hell, he doesn't expect that everyone here knows extensive history of their own worlds. But there's something about how she asks the question that strikes him as odd.]

[She hesitated asking. Not a long hesitation, no, but noticeable all the same. It hints that she might know something, but the specifics are lost upon Tommy without more context.]

The Great War is how it's known.

[There was nothing great about it though. Not a goddamn thing. But Tommy doesn't let emotion creep into his voice. He says it flatly. As though it's a meaningless thing, giving it away as the exact opposite of it. He stirs back to life taking the last drag from his cigarette and puts it out with the bottom of his shoe.]

[The Great War.

Sieglinde had served with ALASTAIR for two years before she agreed to join Hathaway. She has spoken to many people who came from worlds that claimed to be from years beyond her own, but... none of those people were historians. None of them really knew specifics, nothing beyond what was apparently common knowledge in a "future" she can't be sure will be her own.

But that doesn't stop a dark, creeping want to know.]

... what year?

[She forgets to add the more polite "if I may ask" she had meant to.]

[She forgets the "if I my ask," but Tommy doesn't seem to particularly care or mind as the now extinguished cigarette disappears into his pocket temporarily. He'll discard it once he's above deck again.]

1925, nearly '26.

[But it hardly makes much of a difference to those who were there. Even now, some of them talk about it like it was only weeks or a couple of years ago. Then there are those who are still go back there the second they hear a car engine backfire or they find themselves surrounded in a tight space. Tommy thinks that will always be the case until the last of them is lowered into his grave.]

War's been over just over seven years now.

1925...

[She doesn't quite realize that she's whisper echoed the answer he gives, blinking somewhat in shock. If their worlds were the same, and who knew... how old would she be then, if she survived that long? If the snow moon had passed...]

It is 1889, last I knew. I...

[There's a bit of a subtle panic rising in her, a sense of guilt she hasn't been able to shake that makes her unable to look at him directly, knuckles tightening on the banister railing. It had been easy to put that sort of emotion aside when almost everyone she spoke to hailed from other worlds or spiritual realms, but. An Englishman-]

I had heard that there were some tensions, but... a war...

[Maybe in her world it wouldn't happen. Maybe it would be different.]

[She is a child now, but if the war is to come to her world, she will be more of an adult than Tommy was when he left for the war; it seems possible, if not likely that she will lose a husband or, more likely, sons before the war's end. Despite their countries standing on opposite sides of the conflict, he feels sorry for her in the distant and vague way that he feels sorry for all the mothers and who received the bodies or shells of their men and boys. He wouldn't wish that grief on a child's future regardless of her nationality.]

[At the same time, however, he can't exactly instill false hope in her that her world may never experience the same as his did. If there are rising tensions, it may still be only a matter of time for her.]

I wouldn't worry yourself about it now.

[It's the best thing he can say. It's out of her control and still a ways yet in the future for her. Even if the knowledge or the possibility is a burden, she doesn't need to bear it now.]

[Of course.

Now.. she can do nothing. She is here, with Hathaway, and if the flow of time was kind... she would be back in her world eventually. If she didn't die on these missions, if she didn't lose her way in the process of following curiosity down a cosmic rabbithole... she would go back, and take with it the medicine she had developed over her two years in ALASTAIR. The medicine that could ease the breathing and soothe the boils of those unfortunate enough to inhale the gas she'd been conned into creating where her parents had failed.

But it's been some time since she's allowed herself to think about SuLIN. About what she had done. About the truth of the world she lied almost constantly about to her fellow recruits because the falsehood came out easier and was questioned less. It was easier to just be the Green Witch, but-

It seems so very real and full of consequences, speaking with this man, in a way she had not prepared for.]

Of course... there is- There is little point to it in a place like this...

[But there's no changing that she is surely more shaken by his words than a child ought to be by the idea of a war in a distant future on a distant world, and she doesn't know how to recover from that, anxiously staring down at her feet for a moment, the item in her hand she had brought forgotten.]

Thank you again, for the escort.

[With a hasty curtsy... she beats an awkward retreat back into the bowels of the ship.]

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TEST DRIVE MEME.

i.

sorry for the delay! been out of town + holidays

No prob! Welcome back!

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wraps this up so in favor of potential new things?!