TEST DRIVE.

[futurologists]

test drive Firstly, thank you for your interest! Secondly, since the game hasn't begun and therefore characters haven't actually gone to a world yet, this test drive is going to be a little different. It's intended to be presented as a mini-mission of sorts, on a much smaller scale and timeframe than a real mission in-game but with a somewhat similar feel. Because of this, if you join the game, you're allowed to count this as game canon, so make sure you make choices you want to follow your character into the game! You know how this works, so go forth and have fun, and don't forget to reserve! BASICS Anwick might have been a beautiful town once. It's hard to tell now, since most of the buildings are scorched and crumbling, but they do resemble some rural modern-day buildings. Likewise, the people don't appear to be living too much in the past; several are carrying intimidating guns. For years, Anwick has been terrorized by dragons, living in fear of the next attack. Not anymore. The people have just ended a bloody battle. Several people limp towards the outskirts of town, holding their bleeding wounds or new burns. In the center of town lies a slain dragon, the last full-grown one left in the world. To be honest, it looks like they've already taken care of their own problem. A monotonous voice comes through your communication device to explain. You aren't here to help the townspeople; you're here for the dragons. The one motionless on the ground may have been the last adult, but it certainly wasn't the last dragon. Her children are located in a nearby cave, alone and orphaned. They're the ones you need to protect. WYRMLINGS The wyrmlings are still growing up, only the size of a small dog. Each has a slightly different appearance, but all of them have at least a few bright copper scales. They're beautiful, and they look a little bit harmless... at least, until they notice you. These dragons have never been exposed to humans before. Or anyone outside of their family, for that matter. They're small and scared, and they don't know any other way to protect themselves than to attack. Luckily, because of their tiny size, they can't do much more than small burns at a time — but make no mistake, it still hurts like hell. The cave they're located in is pitch-black and labyrinthine. Every footstep echoes throughout it if you aren't light enough on your feet. It'll be difficult to navigate if you don't MacGyver yourself a torch or other form of lighting. Cell phones will work decently, at least until their battery dies, but you don't want to get stuck deep within the cave with no light. If you do manage to get through the cave and rescue some without getting burned to a crisp, the trouble's not over yet. You'll have to find a safe place to stash them until they can be relocated; the townspeople aren't done with their dragon-slaying yet, after all. Walk into town with one in tow, and you're putting a target on your back. (Of course, this doesn't mean you can't do it.) PROMPTS ONE ✗ GOING ROGUE Not feeling too obedient? Maybe you're ignoring the orders and helping the wounded people in town instead... or just coming to gawk. Maybe you're coming to slay the wyrmlings yourself. Whatever it is, at least try to be sneaky about it. TWO ✗ THE DRAGON'S CAVE Try to navigate the cave, fail to navigate the cave and get lost, or try to take the wyrmlings without getting barbecued. Somehow, you get the feeling that you aren't alone. Those footsteps are probably just your imagination... or they could be townspeople coming to kill you and the dragons. Of course, they could also be an ally, but you'd better hope you don't find out. THREE ✗ HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON You've gotten the dragon(s) to a secure campsite out of town, but the fun's not over yet. They're kind of freaking out a little. Some of them are still spitting fire. Even the less aggressive ones are crying shrilly, bound to attract townspeople or at least annoy everyone nearby. It can't be too hard to calm them down; they're basically scaly, fire-breathing babies, right? FOUR ✗ NIGHT TIME It's been a long day, and now it's time for the crew to sleep. Get to know your tentmates, try to ignore them, pray that they don't want to bring along a wyrmling to cuddle... or maybe you've been put on night watch with a few others, in which case you'd better find a way to pass the time until your shift's over. FIVE ✗ CHIT CHAT Network option! Maybe you've got a little downtime and you're bored. Or maybe you're frantically asking the rest of the team how bad a dragon bite is. 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 network is here! SIX ✗ WILDCARD Do whatever the hell you want. Explore the ashes of the burned city, try to run as far away from this crap as possible, or try to teach a wyrmling tricks. The world is your oyster.

Comments

the dragonborn | the elder scrolls: skyrim

[khsneak]

going (just a little bit) rogue.

[You're here for the dragons, they told S'zah, and she had to laugh.

And after she was through laughing—really, it was all so ridiculous, she half-wished they told her with a bellyful of mead so she could process it properly—she decided to set out and do what she was explicitly told not to: reveal herself to the townsfolk and inspect the fallen dragon.

It didn't look like anything special. Well, maybe it did to those who'd never seen a dragon before, but to S'zah's eyes, it's just an ordinary corpse with ordinary bones and ordinary scales that would probably fetch a decent price on the market if she could just get bit closer and get these other people out of the way...]

Ah, indeed, very fascinating, S'zah knows. But she has been sent on official business, you see, so vacating the premises would be for the best, yes?

[...and if you happen to be in the way, you're getting shooed elsewhere. Even another world away, a thief's a thief.]

how to train your dragon.

[What a hassle meandering through that cave had been! Even for a seasoned adventurer, S'zah stumbled once or twice on her way in and more than that on her way out. But she'd successfully managed to scoop up a few wrymlings in her arms, and has established a makeshift base for herself a few miles ahead. She sets them down and lines them up like soldiers and points with an insistent claw at them:]

Listen to S'zah! Fire, no good! Singing S'zah's fur, bad! Biting S'zah's tail, also bad!

[Damn, for all that Dragonborn business, this should've been easier. The dragons just tilt their heads and chirp noisily. S'zah sighs.]

S'zah could use some help here... someone? Anyone?

night time.

[S'zah is less than happy about the tent situation. Really, she's less than happy about the situation in general, but cozying up close with strangers? ...alright, that part wasn't so bad, but she still didn't like the lack of space available nor the snot-nosed buffoon snoring next to her, drooling all over her fur.

So S'zah sneaks out of her sleeping bag and decides to try her luck outside for whoever's available. Spying an easy target, she grins to herself and sidles on over, purposely brushing hips with the other person and putting on her most pleasant airs.]

Hello, traveler! S'zah has been feeling awfully lonely tonight. Perhaps she can lie with you, instead? ♥

[Her most pleasant airs, that is, while she tries to slip her tail around to pickpocket them.]

chit-chat.

[S'zah has selected the username "ratofriften" for reasons known only to herself.]

S'zah cannot be the only one to have dealt with dragons before. Who among us is also special, like S'zah?

night time

[ahanalyzing]

[What the fuck is talking to her right now.]

What are you.

[Not a pocket to be found on the monstrosity of a uniform she's wearing; tough luck. She doesn't notice it's going on though.]

[khsneak]

[Definitely not a Pokémon, don't even start with that donkey dung.]

S'zah is S'zah. What are you?

[Other than a failed mark, that is. The tail retreats before it can get in too much trouble.]

[ahanalyzing]

[Are you sure you're not a mightyena.]

Designation...unsatisfactory.

S'zah...unknown. I've never heard of a...S'zah. Elaborate.

[khsneak]

[How do you get hyena out of cat. Courtney pls.]

S'zah is Khajiit. Like cat that walks on two legs, but smart and speaks language. There are others, too, both like S'zah and not.

[ahanalyzing]

Understood.

[So not a Mightyena.

This is the part where she'd take notes or something, but she can't. So she just stares intently at her new...........conversational partner.]

Courtney.

[Her name, that is.]

[khsneak]

[This is, without a doubt, the weirdest introduction S'zah has ever had. Except that time she nearly got her head chopped off and a dragon almost killed everyone and the nearest Imperial had dragged her to safety while the entire world was set ablaze around them.

...alright, maybe she's had weirder. Still, should she offer a hand? Apologize?]

Ah. Courtney. Yes. Very good name. Very nice.

[No, clearly now is the time to stand there awkwardly with her new conversational partner and fidget. Excellent.]

[ahanalyzing]

The dragons.

[She continues without missing a beat; is it awkward? She can't tell, since people are usually like this around her, so isn't this just...normal.

no]

Irritating. Anything...do you know anything about them?

[khsneak]

[Nodding vigorously!]

Yes! S'zah knows much! S'zah has a secret, in fact. Courtney must promise not to tell.

[ahanalyzing]

[There's a delay before she responds, because she's actually considering whether or not she can make that promise.

If she couldn't, she's the type of person who'd straight up tell you she can't. Surprisingly trustworthy, in that regard.]

Understood. Following information designated...sensitive. Private.

Continue.

[khsneak]

S'zah is

[...

...

...]

DRAGONBORN!!!

[...that's it, that was the big secret.]

[ahanalyzing]

[OH MY GOSH S'ZAH THE DRAGONBORN THAT IS ABSOLUTELY--]

Meaningless.

Born of dragons. Conceived from...lived among...insufficient data. Elaborate.

[A beat.]

Is it important or something?

[khsneak]

Yes, yes! S'zah speaks their tongue!

[Never mind the fact that she'd been struggling to train her own set of scaly triplets earlier. It's time for bragging rights!]

S'zah has the blood of a dragon running through her veins. It is very rare and very, very important. It makes S'zah special.

[ahanalyzing]

[So a Persian and a Dragonite loved each other very much...

No, no, that's stupid. Still, she leans forward and stares all the more intently.]

Dragon...Khajiit...

[A beat; she tilts her head left and right, looking her over in a way not unlike a doctor would a patient.

If...that comparison even works for someone from Skyrim.]

How? Interspecies breeding seems...messy.

[If they aren't Pokemon.

A dragon and a Khajiit makes no sense but a skitty and a wailord seems perfectly fine.]

[khsneak]

[Interspecies breeding? Oh, dear. Some wires had gotten crossed here. Better clarify that.]

It is more like magic, S'zah has been told. To be chosen. To be destined. ...it is complicated, S'zah acknowledges, but it is fact.

[ahanalyzing]

[Oh, the face she is making.

Or, well, she finally is making an expression for the first time in this conversation. It goes from blank to...annoyed.]

Magic.

[Repeats it once, as if trying it out.]

Worthless. Magic...defines processes or acts yet to be understood...a word of the ignorant.

Magic doesn't exist.

[oh boy here we go]

[khsneak]

[S'zah holds up her hand. It glows. She grins.]

Courtney was saying?

dreggins.

[gnostalgia]

[ some feet away (possibly dozens), sitting up on a ledge somewhere, is roxy and her two tiny wyrmlings. they're far from comfortable around her (they're pressed together like two terrified terriers, trembling and wrapping their tails around each other), but they've at least stopped screaming into the dusky sky.

and yeah, roxy's giggling at the sight of this cat-like creature trying to control these baby dragons. she can't help it. this whole fuckin' scene is so goddamn unreal — and roxy lalonde knows a thing or two about "goddamn unreal". ]

Imma letcha in on a little secret, [ roxy finally calls out, scooping up her two babies and leaping down from the ledge like it's no big deal. thank the unholy horrorterrors that live in the great void for god-tier powers, making it super easy for roxy to just.

glide right down.

and land like it's no big deal.

(meanwhile the two dragons in her arms are even more tightly wound. they don't like being held.) ] They're kinna like cats.

[khsneak]

[S'zah may have scorned most of her people's ways, but in others, she was a Khajiit through and through. And as Khajiit, both her hearing and her sight were exceptional. As a thief, her senses are razor sharp. S'zah knows she's not alone long before Roxy ever approaches.

S'zah glowers over her shoulder when she offers her helpful advice, but despite all her bragging as Dragonborn, she can't deny she's fallen short on the dragon angle. S'zah was built to kill dragons, not cuddle them.

Still, there's one point that bears correcting.]

Dragon is not at all like cat. Khajiit is like cat. Cat is cat.

[...that probably just confused the matter even more. But S'zah looks damn serious about it.]

[gnostalgia]

Notice please that I said "kinda" like cats. Shit's hella clear that dragons ain't exactly like cats.

[ but omg. roxy's basically stumbled across a walking, talking cat-person??? this is almost as cool as coming up on wizards in all their long-beardy glory. as she gets closer to s'zah, the grin on her face gets wider and wider and her excitement is almost palpable.

yeah, she's not v subtle at all. roxy's just gonna dance around s'zah for a few moments (she has ears and a TAIL) before she finally comes to a halt. ]

Give 'em a treat! Or two or three. Spoil 'em a little! Then they'll prolly listen to you.

[ cats never listen to anybody, but food at least makes them pliable to listen to suggestions. ]

[khsneak]

[Goodness, she's rambunctious. And noisy. But S'zah's used to hanging around the likes of Nords, so it's more familiar than bothersome. She adapts to the invasion of space easily enough and looks to her expectantly once she's through doing... whatever she's doing. Right.]

Give S'zah this treat, then. Or two or three.

[She holds out her walking, talking cat-person hand expectantly. What, did she expect S'zah to tap into her personal stock for these runts? No way.]

[gnostalgia]

UhhhHHm, you gotta mouse?

[ or two or three. ]

That'll throw a little butter on their muffins and get 'em to likin you.

[khsneak]

S'zah will not catch mouse! S'zah is above such drudgery!

[Then again... S'zah glances back to the group, growing increasingly feisty without food, and makes a snap decision.]

Noisy girl will help S'zah catch mouse. This one clearly has better technique to speak so boastfully.

[gnostalgia]

Roxy!

[ she replies with a cheery little grin, gently sliding her hand down the spine of both of her babies, and surprisingly, she feels them slowly start to relax. it'll take them some time, but eventually they will understand she's not here to hurt them.

still, her expression shifts: ]

I 'unno how good I'm gonna be at catchin that shit, but... I prolly got a dead cat in my sylladex?

[ that's not weird, right? ]

oh no a kahjit. chit-chat. un: swan.

[dreamcatcher]

( "ratofriften", huh? well... that's a hell of a name... probably not any worse than bonedurmom or ninjas37 of modern times, though. )

I have.
it was full grown and angry, not much like these dragons.