fellmemes | Test Drive #1

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Beautiful ladies have no business tolerating his conversation. This one in particular has become the architect of both their misfortune, because now she's spurred him on — and he's squinting, tipping his head to the side, canine-like, to investigate the dance.

Look here, now, he can't make a fool of himself. Both their honour depends on Lir's ability to not self-immolate into sputtering or silence. ]

Do you think so? You suppose?

[ Because the pattern of steps is dissolving too quickly to map each one out, and the hops aren't especially high, nor particularly well choreographed — but then, these are peasant folk, not soldiers, and a little variety peppers the sport. ]

I've heard... [ No. There's a truth buried beneath that tongue's slip. ] I've read there are steps, and learned people know them. I've read new dances come from the great cities each season, when they bring in the music scores.

[ She's had far worse conversations. This one, however, gives her a simple amusement as she shrugs at his comments. ]

That's all dancing really is, isn't it? Learned steps to music. Anyone can do it if they wanted.

[ She's seen plenty of peasants and servants dance in the streets and roads. She always thought it was harder to be the singer than the dancer. ]

But some, better than others. A few, far better than most.

[ The dancing masters, the bards, the performers. The scant few actors of the travelling theatre who reached as far as Hagsgate, only to find their revels scorned and their arts doubted and repelled.

They, and perhaps these men and women before Lir's searching eyes, set in their way more by cunning and enthusiasm than true learning. It occurs to him, heartbeats too late, to offer his hand to the side, just short of touch again. ]

Would you like to try?

[ Two disasters offset each other, says no one, no one at all, not ever. ]

[ She opens her mouth in surprise, speechless for a moment before shaking her head. The offer is kind but she hasn't danced in a long time. ]

I must regretfully decline. You are very kind to offer but I am not as skilled as I once was at the steps.

[ That and the steps she learned - so many years ago it seems - are different from those in front of her. ]

Whatever skill you lost, I'm certain, surpasses anything I once might have had.

[ All the same, there's the twig of his hand, dropping. A gentleman soldier knows better than to intrude, and a lady's word is his edict. He suspects she might well have taken pity on him: if she were to dance, she'd have excelled, and he would have fumbled and tripped on air. ]

But we're tired. If... you are as I am, then we're tired.

[ A... guest of the land, enjoying the trickles of its hospitality. His mouth pulls in a generous line, wider by the heartbeat. ]

I suppose they didn't expect that.

[ Her expression softens at his words, wanting to comment that he's being far too hard on himself. She's certain he must have some kind of skill to be here. Why else would they have brought him here?

But instead, she responds to the latter statement. She doesn't know him all that well to make such comments. ]

What? For us to be tired?

Yes.

[ Feasts are a second-day welcome, a proper marathon of dance athletics and learned courtesies. It's a deeper call on personal resources than many a man can spare, so fresh into visiting a new world. ]

This is... livelier hospitality than some travellers care for. [ And hastily: ] But not all. It's well received, I'm certain. And welcome.

[ No point in questioning their hosts, none in the slightest. ]

Unlike... the rest of their demands.

[ She watches him as he speaks, eyes glancing between him and the other people around them, some standing off to the side, others indulging in the merriment as it continues on. ]

You do not approve of their request for help?

[ It's less of a question since Sansa has her assumptions but she tries to phrase it that way, giving Lir the chance to continue to speak his peace. ]

[ He pauses, less for fright of her, than because some part of him, physically, acknowledges that a man must have his reasons, and they should be righteous. His mouth stings from all the words that would open it without cause. He hesitates. ]

I think there is a weapon for every hand. But not a hand for every weapon.

[ And there are riddles too, though not all are spoken by dark-hooded strangers. Life is a wealth of things that must arrive to the people who seek them, else they are futile. ]

Heroism is a trade. [ But he's given that speech before, and all ears closed to words then. There's hardly a better audience for it now. ] It suits some more than others. And there's no fault in that.

[ She smiles at that, soft and understanding. She's no fighter, either. Not in the sense Jon and Arya are. But it's because of those experiences she feels she can respond with: ]

I agree. But I also know it takes all kinds of people to win a war. Not just fighters. Not just heroes.

Heroes aren't only combatants.

[ He corrects, gentle enough to keep the words from souring, his voice from gaining impatience. Before them, the sea of people is splitting again, opening the way for new, fresh-faced and light-footed contenders.

How often do they dance and dine here, if the mere arrival of dubious guests is enough to break out their finest hospitality? How often is there joy?

If these are their manners — ah, but where are his? ]

I'm Lir. [ The afterthought: his hand, coming up again, this time to wave his greeting. ] I should have said so, earlier. Good evening.

I know that very well, too.

[ How many people did she know that weren't fighters and yet still played a key role in the victories they had. She wouldn't consider herself either. She was just a girl that wanted her home and family back and wanted what was best for that home. ]

I am Sansa Stark. Good evening, Lir.

Well met and fair fortune.

[ The classical greeting, made cumbersome by the realisation that whatever benchmark had given the measure of their luck, it may have tipped over on its head, when they crossed into a new dimension. No matter. The local culture might have changed, but a gentleman's manners need not. ]

Though our luck has been strange, we should still thank it.

[ And he nods again, this time neatly earnest. ]

I've lived to meet you. [ A beautiful girl in a beautiful city, with the beautiful promise of a heroic fate to come. This was the vision once, only dreamed by another man. ] The world has poorer gains than a new friend. Should you need my arm, it's here to help. I know some paths are made harder for women to walk.

Test Drive #1

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