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

Ahn Lee | He Is Psychometric | Open

[jeobchog]

i. running is a victory

❰ this is not, when ahn opens his eyes, what he'd expected to see. what, exactly, he'd expected to see, he's not sure, just... not this. he's unfamiliar with kidnapping protocol, but it seems like someone would want to... be there to make demands, or something, when he woke up. not just leave him alone in the woods.

well, shoddy kidnapping or not, he needs to figure out a way out of the woods. that's priority one.

ahn eyes the people around him as he shoves his sleeve up his arm, trying to determine if anyone's paying attention to him — and then puts his hand on the trunk of a tree, closes his eyes, and waits.

and waits.

and — ❱

What...?

❰ he opens his eyes, blinking at the tree in confusion. he hasn't ever failed to get a reading before. not on anything but seong-mo, and seong-mo is a special case — there should at least be a memory of an animal dying here, or something, if nothing else. maybe he just hasn't gotten enough contact?

ahn rolls up his other sleeve and wraps his arms around the tree, pressing the side of his face to the bark —

still nothing. ❱

Lips are most sensitive, ❰ he mutters, staring at the tree very seriously... and then he puckers his lips and begins moving in. ❱

ii. wildcard

❰ ooc: in a bit of a rush so this is the only prompt i had time for! if you'd like something on the beach or in the court of stars, or have any questions, feel free to pm me at this journal or pp me at vervains, and if you have your own idea, feel free to hit me with it! ❱

i. slides on in

[duramente]

[Inho knows just as much as Ahn does about this whole situation (kidnapping?? why??? inho has no money??), but that doesn't stop him from crossing his arms and sending his Judgey(tm) eyes at the other boy anyway. if he let ignorance stop him from judging, then he'd never get to do Anything. that's his life policy.]

What the hell are you doing?

[inho asks, even though it should really be obvious, but look, he's going to give Ahn the benefit of the doubt -- maybe he's in mid-swoon or something and about to knock his head against bark because he's feeling faint...........]

how do you do, fellow drama

[jeobchog]

❰ okay so maybe he didn't check well enough to see if anyone was watching him. ahn freezes with his lips centimeters from the tree, staring forward like maybe being completely still will make this interaction he's about to have not happen.

no dice. ❱

I'm... talking to the tree. Really close.

❰ because that's more normal than kissing it to get a better psychometric read on it, surely. ahn turns back around, eyeing the interloper, and rapidly turns around and starts walking toward him, hand outstretched. ❱

Let me touch you really quick, I have to check something.

in a state of awe that we exist tbh

[duramente]

[ahn please!! why this

Inho sort of freezes in place, momentarily caught off guard by the rapid way Ahn is suddenly looming towards him, then]

Don't you dare.

[he just thrusts out a DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT finger, surely stretching out his hand when trying to avoid contact is the best way to go]

You just touched that tree! I don't want tree -- germs or whatever, just don't come any closer.

[WAVES HIS HAND AROUND IN FRONT OF HIM!!!]

these are a lot more tags than i was expecting tbh

[jeobchog]

❰ because he's a disaster human tbh

and yes, thank you for holding out your hand, because ahn is just going to lunge and grab it and hold on for dear life for about three seconds. no amount of flailing or jerking him around will get him to let go for those three seconds, which he spends with his eyes scrunched shut tight, waiting for a vision.

a vision that never comes. ❱

What...?

❰ he finally drops inho's hand, staring at his own in naked shock. ❱

Did I lost it...? Or are you like hyung?

we all came out of the woodwork for ahn

[duramente]

[#when ahn drops ur hand before u can engage in fruitless fisticuffs

Inho looks like he can't decide whether or not to smack Ahn just out of principle alone, raising his hand and running it through his hair instead]

Hyung? Hey, if I was your hyung, then I'd have hit you already.

[for the diSRESPECT! he's disgruntled, but he picks up on Ahn's shock -- and even if he has no idea why, it at least seems like Ahn isn't like some pervert looking to start trouble... he guesses. still,]

You can't go around touching people! Are people trees, huh? What, just because a tree can't hit back, you don't think a person can? Do you need someone to knock some sense into you?

[not a hyung but will stand here and scold like one]

running is a victory—

[duande]

[ have one cultivator perched on top of a branch in the same tree ahn seems intent on molesting.

xue yang has been rummaging through the travel pack left for them when he notices one of the strangely dressed men approach his resting place. he keeps silent throughout most of his antics, wanting to know what he's up to.

—but it reaches a point where the peculiarity of the man's actions become a little too much for him and he bursts out laughing. sorry, he can't take it anymore. ]

Lips are surely the most sensitive, but I don't think it will make a difference to this tree.

[jeobchog]

❰ ......ah. when he was looking around to make sure no one was watching him, ahn did not, unfortunately, look up. he looks up now, lips still puckered, eyes wide, and blinks a couple times at the man in the tree, what. who does that. sure ahn was about to kiss it but he had a reason, okay, who just sits in trees?

he takes a step back, brushing bits of bark off the front of his shirt like somehow that will salvage this whole situation, and shrugs. ahn has not, notably, made eye contact with the man since he realised he was there ❱

It was for an experiment. You wouldn't understand.

❰ a thought occurs to him, and now he makes eye contact, looking up at weird tree dude and pointing at him. ❱

Hey! We've just met, so it's customary to shake hands and exchange names, right? Can I shake your hand for three seconds?

[duande]

[ don't try to turn this back around on him. plenty of people sit in trees! can't say the same for ones who go around trying to make out with them though. what a pervert. he is even acting the part, refusing to meet his gaze. is he embarrassed that he got caught or is he trying to hide something? like his shame

well, it doesn't matter. he won't judge him too harshly for his weird fetish.

it's none of his business anyway. ]

I'm not attracted to plants, so of course I don't understand! [ it's said with a hearty laugh as he moves away from the trunk of the tree and swings his legs over the edge of the branch to stare down at him better. ] Haha, why would I let you shake my hand? I've never heard of this custom before. You're making it up, aren't you? [ he leans forward slightly. ] So, you're not solely a tree pervert, but just a pervert in general.

[jeobchog]

❰ definitely hiding his shame tbh ❱

I'm not attracted to plants! I like girls! ❰ he's very adamant about this. either he has a specific girl in mind or the psychometrist doth protest too much. who's to say? ❱

I'm not making it up! It's just foreign. Haven't you ever met a foreigner? ❰ spoken, hands on hips, scowling up the tree, as though ahn himself has ever met a foreigner in his life, but look, he's watched movies. this is a thing, he knows it is. ❱ I'm not a pervert, I'm trying to figure something out.

[duande]

[ nobody was questioning whether you liked women or not, tree pervert. ]

Haha, you're all strange to me! [ no offense. ] What are you trying to figure out?

[ he is making zero moves to get out of the tree to shake his hand. ]

i

[cowared]

[ Well this is certain a sight to see, at least as much as the Nian can see right now. In his time when gods and supernatural creatures roamed the planet far more freely than they do now, it wasn't that uncommon to find humans coupling with species outside of their own, but he's fairly certain he's never seen anyone try to hook up with a tree before.

At the very least, not a tree that was so inanimate.

He's quiet from his position several feet away, near a different, unsmooched cluster of trees, but as Ahn moves in for a kiss he finally speaks up. ]

Ah, so there are people like that here.

[ No judgement in his tone, just mild wonder. ]

[jeobchog]

❰ oh. oh no. ahn's lips unpucker as he turns, slowly, to face the speaker, eyes wide. how did he miss this person? he back away from the tree quickly, shaking his head and waving his hands vigorously in a "NO NO NO" gesture. ❱

I'm not like that!

❰ not that ahn knows what that is, but he at least knows it's bad. ❱

I need to figure something out, and lips are the most sensitive — I tried fingertips but it didn't —

❰ he's just digging this hole deeper and deeper, isn't he. ❱

[cowared]

[ He sure is. The Nian nods his head in what seems like it might be understanding, but is clearly just acceptance of an even deeper misunderstanding that's forming right now. ]

I don't think this tree is the kind that would feel anything from that.

[ As opposed to the type that... would? ]

[shinnamonbot]

[ How does a robotic A.I. interact with a world when he couldn't hook into a nearby signal? He looks to see what the humans around him are doing! Although in this case, he was trying and failing to understand what this human was doing. He understood skinship, making out, kissing and porn. He had a large database filled with the information he downloaded before So Bong yelled at him that it was too perverted (maybe it had been the sample he showed her? she seemed okay with the demonstration) but trees was not included in the sampling.

Maybe he just needed to ask?

Would the human get mad? Mother did tell him that asking was fine, but that was before, and he knew that the various levels of 'fine' depended on the humans he was talking to. This was a new human so he did not know them enough to judge their reaction and have a response but still. Well. He would never learn if he didn't ask. ]

Is this a new porn?

[yuseless]

Uhhhhh.....

[he does know that's a tree he's about to mack on, right?]

Hey man, you good?

[one thing's for sure- Yusuke needs to get himself some of whatever drug this guy is on.]