Fellden Mods (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
felldenmods) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
fellmemes2019-08-14 11:26 am
felldenmods) wrote in fellmemes2019-08-14 11:26 am
Entry tags:
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:
Perfect! Welcome to Fellden.
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.All set?
✦ 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!)
Perfect! Welcome to Fellden.
 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. |
 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. |
 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. |
 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. |
no subject
This is precisely when we ought to start making promises. If this was a story anyhow.
[There's enough humor to that to indicate she doesn't think this is a story in the least. She gave up on fairy tales and the like a long time ago, thank you.]
no subject
[She says it sarcastically, but there's a glimmer of truth to it anyway. Between what the wolf said and their current situation, maybe this is more of a story than either of them really wants to believe.
Besides. Heroes save their worlds, right? If they're here to do that, then. They should haved asked Snow.]
Something with a decent ending.
no subject
[There's definite levity to her tone despite the two of them picking their way through this unknown forest. She acts like the situation of just traversing through strange and weird lands is old hat which... yeah.
This place is definitely more serious than the Underground but the principle still stands. Now her tone takes on an airy, fantastical and thoroughly over-dramatized tone.]
A heroic fairytale where the brave young maiden learns to hold her own and in doing so triumphs over adversity.
[A beat and then she gives Lightning this sardonic half-grin.]
It certainly makes for a good story, you're right about that.
no subject
With a half-amused huff, she shakes her head. When did something so basic turn into a fairytale?]
Aren't the good ones the ones you can actually believe happened? [She glances sidelong at Sarah, head tilted just so.] Sounds like this one could be one of those.
[She doesn't know about triumphing over adversity, but holding her own? That sounds doable.]
no subject
It depends on what you like in a story honestly. Some people love hearing about daring feats they could never do themselves or imagine being real. And then some like much more realistic fantasy either involving typical situations touched by magic or outcomes they could see happening in real life, like you said.
[She shrugs a shoulder there, her pack rustling at the movement.]
When it comes to stories, it's all about your preferences. Because in the end all stories are colored by our desires.
no subject
What a night this is turning out to be.]
So what you're saying is, if this is anything like a story, we should go for what we want and make our own ending. [A pensive little "huh" escapes her.] Sounds like a plan.
[What would you do to save your world? Anything.]
no subject
Exactly. If I've learned anything so far in life? It's that we all have a path we really want to follow and if circumstances work out, we should try to follow it to our heart's content. And make our very own endings.
[She huffs out an amused sound.]
I'm Sarah Williams by the way.
no subject
[She's not the nice to meet you type, sadly, but these circumstances don't really call for that sort of thing anyway. She opens her mouth to say something else only to come to a dead stop and stare out into the dark.]
Do you hear that?
[Even in the silence of the woods it's quiet. Faint, in the distance: the quiet burbling of a stream. Running water.]
no subject
And then there it is, the soft lapping of a stream against unseen rocks and embankments. Her brows shoot up and she gives Lightning a momentarily wide-eyed look.]
Sounds like at least a hint of a way out to me.
no subject
Sounds like our best shot. [Not like they have any other options to take. Aligning herself to the sound, she moves forward.] Stay close. We might just make it out of here tonight after all.
no subject
Unlit torch in hand waiting for while light is needed, Sarah follows close by as the pair make their way through the darkened woods all while angling their steps towards the sounds of that softly lapping stream.
Something about it doesn't sit completely well with Sarah though. It also feels like they're going further into the forest rather than out of it. And while she can reason finding a stream might mean going further in to some extent, she wonders if that isn't a mistake to begin with.
Surely if anything rules over these forests like Jareth with the Labyrinth, it can't be half as tricky... well. Maybe? Unless there's some sort of fae out here too. That would be her luck, honestly.]
no subject
Depending on how big this forest is, that may be the difference between life and death. Thankfully it isn't so hard to find, and a couple hundred feet away from where they first heard it, water begins to reflect the light of Lightning's torch. It's a small stream, small enough to cross with a single bound, but it's fast moving and leaves them with two options. Lightning contemplates quietly for a moment; they could follow the stream to the end, or follow it back to the source.
Or maybe...]
We can either follow this stream somewhere, or wait here for morning and use the sun to not get turned around. No telling if either will actually get us out of here, but... [She glances at Sarah, unafraid and seemingly unconcerned. Not much seems to ruffle her feathers, at least.] Either's better than going in circles all night.
no subject
Sarah mulls on the choices to herself, gazing at the little stream. It's not much of anything but that didn't mean it couldn't lead to something better one way or another. The problem was knowing which way was which and in the dark of night that was a difficult proposition.
Her emotions tell her the keep following the stream and that one didn't want to linger in any woods this late at night when they didn't have to. Not woods that felt this ominous anyhow. And then the logical side of Sarah, the part that made her such a fiend to students, tsks a little.
She pauses with her hands on her hips and cocks her brows up a little as she gives Lightning a questioning glance.]
It would definitely be easier if we waited for daylight. I know it's going to sound silly but... how do these woods feel to you? I mean... instinctively? On a gut level?
[Because something about the fog and the dark tells her these woods aren't quite as simple as they would be at home.]
no subject
There could be anything in there. That they haven't heard or seen anyone--anything--else means little. Staying here may make it easier, but to hold such an open position all night with only one combatant...no. Not like this. She shifts her weight, the toe of one boot skimming across pine needles and dark soil.]
Like a cage. [But is it to trap them, or something else? Her voice drops a notch, quietly in control of her own emotions. There's no way but forward.] Can you sense anything? Hear anyone?
no subject
She wonders a moment how to explain without saying everything. Or maybe just without sounding even more crazy -- or silly.]
When I was a teenager I ended up in woods not too different from these. It's definitely like you said, like a cage, but also... I get the feeling that there are much deeper things here. Not just monsters or things like that but more --
[She tries to summon up the right word.]
Old.
[Yes, that sounds about right. Ancient. She couldn't claim to be a sorceress or to sense magic that acutely or anything like that but a couple of brushes with the Labyrinth and the Underground as a whole had taught her a mild thing or two about the feeling of old, old magic lingering around. Even if she couldn't exactly put it into words that way.]
no subject
Old, huh? Like the Vestige, or Taejin's Tower. Remnants of Pulse, that each had held something older.
fal'Cie.
It can't be one of them, not here, but Odin stirs distantly beneath her breast at the thought all the same. He's too out of reach to help her now. No, for this one she's on her own. No magic, no back-up, and a civilian to keep out of the line of fire. Their already limited options shrink to one.]
Right. [With a warily furrowed brow, she turns away from the trees.] Then we need to get moving and keep moving. Follow the river and figure it out from there.
no subject
[She's glad they can see eye to eye on this point. Wildlife she could take but anything older and unknown? That was a bit much.
So they'll follow the river that continues being a small, tame thing for a good while. When it does start to broaden out though, Sarah can't help but look intrigued.]
We may be getting to a bigger source of water.
no subject
But the woods are oddly dead. Soft noises keep it from being entirely silent; the burbling stream, the wind through the boughs, night birds crying out high above their heads, but no sounds of bloodthirsty wildlife out for the hunt, no signs of others crashing through the dark.
No ocean waves crashing against a shore. Lightning cocks her head, her frown having not faded in the slightest.]
Probably a lake. I don't hear waves. [Her eyes narrow, straining against the dark.] Keep your guard up. Monsters are drawn to water.
["They need it too," Fang had said once. It's a lesson none of the Cocoon l'Cie ever forgot.]
no subject
In the darkness it's hard to see the water but the closer they get, the more what bit of light they do have spreads out over the grassy banks of what must be a lake. And then further over the dark waters of the lake itself.
Those waters are just as calm and even as the rest of the forest save for the burbling of the stream just past them and those birds overhead. It's just enough to keep the woods themselves from sounding dead but it hits Sarah after a moment. Her voice comes out hushed; somehow it feels wrong to disturb the silence here.]
It doesn't sound like there are a lot of animals on the ground, does it.
[One would expect to at least hear something scurrying through the grass around them. Squirrels? Small rodents? Just anything like that. Here though it's like the only creatures are the ones who can fly and stay safely off the ground.]
no subject
[The hairs on the back of her neck stand up. It doesn't feel like there's something hunting them, no eyes in the dark, but that's more because there's nothing there. The lake is quiet, not still but so dark that it's impossible to tell how deep or wide it really is. The trees ring close to the shoreline, shielding the forest from sight and hiding anything inside. Still, Lightning narrows her eyes back the way they came.]
It doesn't sound like there's anything here at all.
[Besides the birds, at least, and while they don't sound panicked there's something. Wrong here. Sarah said Old, but old can mean strong. And if that's the case...she shifts her weight, prepared to move in an instant.]
Almost like something's chased off all the predators.
no subject
[Sarah more or less breathes out the word. She's not sure what to think about the situation, whether she should be cautious of this forest or more... reverent perhaps? She doesn't know if this place is a land with more than just magic but given the general lack of wildlife and whatever old things may stalk here, she's willing to bet there's a lot more than meets the eye.
The Underground has nothing on this place honestly.
All they can do is skirt the shoreline of the lake, the tight ring of trees near forcing one to walk far closer than comfortable. Beyond sight of either of the women, down in those deep dark fathomless depths of the lake, something stirs.
Sarah's tone is quiet and wondering.]
I wonder what the locals think of this place. I somehow doubt any of them come in here.
[Not with this vibe it gives off anyhow. She can only imagine they have stories of it though and she's almost eager to hear them.]
no subject
Hell, she'd settle for Snow right now.]
Ask them when we get out.
[When, not if. She slowly scans the lake, then the dark woods off to their other side. Nothing. No one. Sarah's probably got a good point about the locals avoiding this place. Something's not right in here. Odin stirs, woken by her anxious thought, but he's out of reach. She shifts her grip on her blade.]
We should pick up the pace. Get out before something finds us.
no subject
In the ensuing years between the Labyrinth and regaining her memories of the experience, Sarah hasn't been the sort of woman to rely on others. And she's loathe to do so now even as she logically acknowledges she has to for the present.]
You don't have to tell me twice.
[Maybe take up an exercise regiment while she's here too. It's not like teaching classical works and subsisting on mainly tea really makes you fit and ready to go running through treacherously dark woods.
To her credit she isn't a slouch at least. Lightning says pick up the pace and she does. The lake is surprisingly big for being in the middle of this sort of forest but they're almost around it when some small, slight sound disturbs the otherwise deep and disturbing quiet of these woods. It's much closer to the ground that the birds and it's decidedly not their footsteps or Sarah's quick breaths.]
no subject
Not nearly as much as what's coming next, though. In the near silence the crack of a twig has Lightning whirling around, blade in hand, and trying to peer through the darkness. The torch can't cut through all those trees, but she heard that. It means one of two things: either there's a person on their tail...or there's something else in the darkness with them. She whirls back around.]
We're being followed. Light your torch and get ready to run.
[Training says get the civilians out of the area. If this is about to come to a fight, she can't have someone entirely untrained underfoot. Not again. Not without healing magic.]
no subject
Without a breath of argument Sarah lights the torch already in her hand. They're interesting things and she makes note of those too, perhaps to repack this same kit for the future. If she can just get jerked out into woods like this then she may as well start keeping tools on her.
For now her mind focuses keenly on the task at hand. Her torch does give at least some light off and she can see what amounts to something of a path through the trees. Have they been following it all this time? It's old looking, she thinks, overgrown with small saplings and bushes but one can tell it must have been cleared out somewhat routinely in the past - albeit a distant past.
Whatever it is out in the darkness must realize they hear it and sees little use in stalking about hiding anymore. It's steps are bolder and one can almost hear the huff of it's breath within the encompassing darkness.
Sarah lets got of a held breath at the added sounds, alertness prickling over her body like electric. Fight or flight is a very real instinct and with the sounds of those breaths she can feel it pumping adrenaline through her, leaving her fingertips tingling.]
Where the hell did it come from?
[Her voice is no more than a whisper. They hadn't heard any animals about, at least not prey ones. Were their predators here after all? Had saying as much caused the forest to conjure one up for the thrill of it?]
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)