Test Drive #1

[felldenmods]

Welcome to the August test drive—our first in fellden! We're so excited to have you with us.

A few things of note:

✦ Test drive threads can be considered game-canon if you choose. They're essentially in a shared dreamscape and take place between your character leaving their world, and arriving in the audience hall with their faction leader.
✦ Reserves are open and will continue to be until 11:59 PM UTC on Tuesday, August 20th; they are not necessary to apply! They're valid for the first four days of the application cycle.
✦ Applications will open at 12:01 AM UTC on the 21st, and remain open until 11:59 PM UTC on the 27th. The IC & OOC intro logs will be posted two days later.
✦ Questions? We have a FAQ that's chock full of good information! If they are test drive specific, we have a top level thread below that allows for OOC questions to be posted.
✦ The network is available to use! No matter where your character is, their compass either arrived on their person or available in the Gods Wood. Please feel free to include a network post in your top-levels! Once opened, the compass will display instructions on use, such as using voice-commands to activate it. (Apologies for missing including this on the initial test drive!)

All set?

Perfect! Welcome to Fellden.

AS THE MOON RISES. You’ll find yourself just outside the Temple doors, which will be locked if you try to open them. A little rude, keeping you out after bringing you all this way. The thing is, you can hear a lot of commotion in the distance, and smoke rising from the center of a district; you may want to check that out. Where there’s smoke, there’s fire! Except the smoke is not at all something to be concerned over. Instead, people are gathered near a large bonfire in the decorated city square, drinking and carousing, singing songs of celebration; Moon saviors have arrived! War winners! The residents of the city laugh and sing and dance in pairs throughout the square, grateful for those who have come to aid them. Their merriment doesn’t dwindle as the sun begins to set on the horizon, twin moons rising in its place. When you (and other new arrivals) are finally noticed by the revelers, do not expect to be left alone! Flower crowns will be deposited upon your heads, food and drink placed into your hands, while live musicians play loud enough for the dead to hear. You’ll be invited to dance, to drinking games, and offered food and flowers and other items of value. Some may cry when they look into your face, thanking you for becoming their champions during this long and exhaustive war. Hopefully you’re here to enjoy the festivities. Sneaking off is just fine, too, but don’t expect to be let go of quietly; the people of the Moon Temple are so happy to see you! Enjoy the celebration while it lasts long into the night.

THE SETTING STARS. Unlike the Temple, your arrival to the Court of Stars is met with a rather somber greeting, however expressions are relieved, despite any emotional guard that may be up. A gathering of knights, weary from a skirmish along the border they're returning from, pat you on the back and lead you through an open air courtyard. All the gathered people of the Emperor's Court look up from their tasks, giving the passing Otherworlders a knowing nod. There's gratitude in their eyes, but that's all the welcome you'll receive: your presence is appreciated, but growing an attachment is another heartache for those that care so deeply for their faction fellows. The silence is broken when a high-ranking member of the guard gives the proclamation: "Our heroes have arrived! Court defenders, world travelers! Help has come from the far lands to aid us in our battles for our Emperor, for all of Fellden!" From there, the few knights that have not yet departed will lead you through the Court's castle, a brief tour of the most important areas (dining hall, housing wing, guard barracks, and the throne room) is given before they instruct you to rest, because the real excitement begins when the sun falls behind the horizon. Left to drift, you can explore the castle, or venture out to the surrounding city as it prepares for the celebration the Starfolk have in store for the returned soldiers and, now, the new arrivals. You'll be invited to the party that spreads across the entire Court city, drawn into large circle dances, and will find that the locals become more at ease and welcoming the longer you spend with them.

WELCOME TO THE GODS WOOD. Between one blink and the next, your eyesight has seemingly been stolen from you. Or, perhaps it’s more likely that something is covering your eyes? Yes, that’s definitely a blindfold tied around the back of your head, although quite the mystery as to how it came to be there. You vaguely remember a wolf that may or may not have spoken to you, but the blindfold is certainly a new addition to the situation. Once removed, you’ll find yourself in the thick of the woods, with no path or directional indicators in sight. The moon is obscured by the tree line, and the stars above do nothing to light your path; seems like removing the blindfold wasn’t as helpful as you may have thought. As your eyes adjust to the darkness, it’s obvious that you are not alone in this; other people are removing their blindfolds just as you are, staring blearily into the dark of the forest with a similar lack of understanding to how they came to be here. Thankfully, you’ll find some nearby travel packs with self-lighting torches, a few rations, and your faction-provided communicator. The compass, unfortunately, remains broken, which means you’ll have to find your way out of the woods without it. Hopefully your sense of direction is passable! Whether you team up with others, or go your separate way is entirely up to you, but you must find your way out, and the fog rolling in is not going to be of any assistance. This is a Dropping, and the Gods Wood is not kind to loiterers.

DRAWN TO THE COASTLINE. Needing an escape from the hectic energy that greeted you in your faction, an empathetic bystander pointed you in the direction of a nearby transport mirror, which you either stepped into without stating a destination, or didn't give one with enough clarity for the mirror to understand. Spitting you out on the beach just outside Kyst, it doesn't seem keen to let you back the way you came; temperamental teleportation magic. As the largest trade city in all of Fellden, there is no shortage of things to do here! Shopping with what coin was hoisted upon you before your departure, mapping out the city itself to memorize the in's and out's, enjoying a drink on the house at a local tavern where you can get into a mean game of cards with some faction soldiers, or even meeting someone else that seems to have stumbled into this world just as you did. Perhaps you're more keen to the outdoors, rather than the bustle of a large city, wandering away from the city just far enough to find a stretch of pristine beach and inviting crystal clear waters of the ocean; the salty air fills your lungs while the rays of the midday sun are almost blinding against the swath of bright white sand that meets the crashing waves. Regardless of what you decide to do, or where you end up, you're in the closest thing to No Man's Land you can get; enjoy your time fraternizing with the enemy, make some new friends in this neutral land, or stick with those from your own faction to get a lay of the land.

Comments

[faithfixesyou]

[A slightly bemused upturn of Book's lips never leaves his face. Like he's just waiting for the man to remember himself and.. there we go. Book lets his hand drop, but he nods in acknowledgement of the name.]

"Good to meet you."

"But I'll agree with you in spirit," [Book straightens himself up slightly.] "I'm not one to run towards heroism, either. If they were aiming for one, I'm afraid they've gotten the wrong man."

[He raises a hand, glancing at the walls, the decor, the architecture, a quick scan of everything around them that is raising even more alarm bells that something is very wrong. His brow deepens in a furrow.]

"I can tell you this isn't the same planet I was just on. And it might be bigger than that." [Book jabs his chin towards one of the knights, as subtly as he can.] "Who wastes that much metal on body armor?"

[freeatlast]

[The concept of these new surroundings being anything other than some sort of fever dream does give Crowley pause. It isn't as if he doesn't understand how loose reality can be at times, but to hear someone else say it ('isn't the same planet', really) helps to drive home the point that something most certainly peculiar is going on.

Either that or the world actually did end and this is some sort of eternal punishment. That's always a good option too.

His eyes follow the man's subtle gesture, a single thin brow raising as he observes the gaggle of knights as they talk amongst themselves.]

Think you might have hit the nail on the head with that one. [He nods distractedly.] Like something right out of the fourteenth century here, and that's not a good thing. Question is: why? I suppose that's the rub that's on everyone's mind.

[faithfixesyou]

[Somehow he feels better and worse at the same time that someone agrees that they are completely on another planet. This is no Haven. No Persephone. Not even..]

"The 'why' is the one question they've answered. They want a war. And they've found a way to not use their own people for it." [A bitter taste rolling over his tongue with the words.]

"This isn't even.. Earth." [The name of the planet is spoken with some reverence, as if Book is daring to call upon some mythical force. A place that doesn't exist.] "It's too.. clean, too beautiful."

[Plows right on ahead as if the words he just said were common knowledge, and couldn't have an effect on the man he's speaking to.]

"So are we outside of the universe entirely?"

[freeatlast]

[He pulls a face, expression caught between annoyance and disgust, because if there’s one thing that Crowley has had enough of for a while, it’s wars. Especially wars where, if the knights are to be believed, the fate of the world hangs in the balance of things. It’s armaggeddon all over again, he’s not a fan.]

I can tell you that it isn’t the south side of London, that’s for sure. Not that I’d ever call that ‘beautiful’.

[It’s easier to default to sarcasm when he’s feeling disconcerted, because that way he doesn’t have to acknowledge his own discomfort. War, no Earth, all of it really does make things sound like things had ended somehow.]

I think it’s going to depend on what you call ‘the universe’. I mean, this isn’t a quick little jaunt up to Alpha Centuri, this is….there’s too much going on here, it doesn’t make a lick of sense. Especially the whole war thing.

[He doesn’t like it, not one bit.]

You fight a war with your own people, not subcontract it out to people who may or may not just tell you to go fuck yourself.

[faithfixesyou]

[There's something so familiar about the manic energy pouring off of Crowley, something that draws Book in to it. He gestures with his hands as he speaks.] "The. Well, the 'Verse." [Who doesn't know what he means by that? He struggles for a moment to figure out a definition.]

"Strictly speaking, it's a galaxy, but the mapped, inhabited space. Humanity lucked on something outside of Earth we could colonize. It'd take generations more to find another one. But this isn't the same at all. It's-" [The resource usage, the cultural touchstones, it's all so different.]

"Established." [Book finally finds the word that has been eluding him, with a snap of his fingers.] "These people are established. They've been here a while. This isn't a new colony, they aren't still terraforming, they've put down long-term roots. Long enough for a conflict to break out."

[And then Book falls silent, head tilted slightly to the right. So, if he's right. Then what does that tell them?]

".. But that doesn't explain why they need us. Why they'd risk using us. We could just," [And he finishes his statement by gesturing to Crowley, indicating the end of his last statement, rather than repeating the sentiment.]

[freeatlast]

Mapped, inhabited space, huh. Well I’ll tell you right now, you and I definitely come from different parts, because right now? Humankind is just talking about making a nice little trip over to Mars, and as far as I know there aren’t any super secret little colonies anywhere. I mean give it a few years and maybe that’ll be a thing, but I wouldn’t hold my breath.

[That’s such a mind-boggling thing to think about, space travel. Not because it’s not possible, humans had already proven that they could almost handle it back in the sixties, but something as involved as colonizing other worlds? They definitely hadn’t gotten to that point, which Crowley supposed wasn’t too bad of a thing. It was nice to still have little pockets of quiet and privacy, after all.

He ponders over it for a bit, a thoughtful look falling over his features as Book continues talking. He does try to pay attention, but really his thoughts are still caught up in the idea of humans pushing out into the rest of the know universe.]

I would, however, bet on something crazy going down here. I mean, who’s ever heard of getting yanked away from home to be conscripted into some army that looks like it’s right out of the middle ages?

[He pauses for a moment.]

And really, I’m thinking it’s probably best that we do just tell them to fuck themselves. Who wants to be a part of a war anyways? Not me, I’ll tell you that.

[Oh the irony.]