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

[ For one thing, she notes the use of a singular God. He doesn't seem like the type to worship the Lord of Light but his mentioning of a "fourteenth century" is just as puzzling. So, she stick to the one part of the conversation she can speak on with more certainty. ]

I've spent enough time around liars to know when people are trying to hide something. They aren't. As much as none of this makes any sense to us, they do need us for some reason.

[ A beat, ]

Calling us "heroes" feels too quick to praise when we don't know why we're here.

[ She will admit that much, too. ]

[That prompts a raise of both brows this time, Crowley’s expression somewhat incredulous as he tries to parse out whether or not she’s kidding. All signs point to no, and so he shrugs sparing another look over to the knights.]

“Heroes” is way too generous, especially if they’ve gone and kidnapped the whole lot of us.

[Because, really that’s what’s happened, as far as he’s concerned. He’s not sure how it happened, but from the sound of things, he’s not the only one that didn’t belong here at all.]

You’d think they’d ask beforehand. Not that I’d say yes to any of this shite, but it’s the principle of the matter, isn’t it?

[ Her tone takes a dryer turn, almost smirking at him, ]

That's your answer: they didn't ask because we could have refused. And then where would their cause be?

[ Better to beg for forgiveness than to ask for permission, etc. ]

You, I like the way you think.

[He flashes a toothy smile over her way, but there's little humor behind it. She's right, of course, he can't think of anything in the universe that would have him agreeing to be shoved into yet another war but that begs the question-]

Would you've? Refused, I mean.

[ Sansa smirks a little more openly at him but his question causes her to pause, thinking on it a moment. There was a dream with a wolf. At least she thinks it was. And there's a graveness to these soldiers and knights that looks all too familiar to her. If they had walked into her castle and asked for her help, she believes she would've offered them men, not herself.

She had a kingdom to take care of, after all. ]

I like to think so.

[ Only to add, frowning slightly to herself. ]

But even saying that aloud sounds quite callous.

[ Is that really the kind of queen she wants to be? ]

Callous, nothing. It's called appreciating your own time.

[But that puts them in a moral grey area; not that Crowley has ever claimed to be good, far from it after all, but there's something about the idea of allowing humanity to be wiped out again that doesn't sit right with him. That being said, being abducted and forced into a war that was no worry of his own leaves a bad taste in his mouth.]

We all got stuff to do back where we're from, who says anyone has any right to rip us away from that.

[ She snorts softly at his response. She can see the logic behind what he's saying. Sounding not that different from a few people she knew back in her own world. ]

"Right"? No. But I know how desperate people can be during a war. Needing to increase your numbers in an attempt to increase your chance at victory. I know it well.

[ Another pause as she looks over to him again, ]

Have you ever been in a war before?

[The question gives him pause, and for a moment Crowley is quiet as he sweeps his gaze over her, trying to see what she might be playing at. There’s wisdom in her words beyond what he would expect, it’s- it’s unexpected, to say the least. When he does find his tongue again, there’s a certain sense of disdain that drips from his words. It’s not directed at anyone in attendance, but rather for ‘war’ and the concept of it.]

Believe me, you don’t even know. Just came from one, myself. You?

[Because one doesn’t just drop something like that without having some sort of experience behind it. There’s no way.]

[ The tone is familiar, something she's heard from a few people when it seemed like the wars in Westeros would never end. She gives him a small, tired smile. ]

It had been a few months since our last war ended.

[ Her childhood had been a peaceful summer. Her adolescence and early adulthood had been living through one war after another. There's an exhaustion in her bones she can't explain to anyone that hasn't experienced the same thing. ]

[It shouldn’t surprise him that she’s familiar with war, not after the way she’s been talking, but there’s still a modicum of surprise that has him raising a slim brow. Humans and their wars, it seemed as though that was at least one constant between worlds, and were he a poorer demon perhaps there might be a pang of pity.

Crowley liked to think that he was above that, however.]

Rough. Makes it sound like you’re expecting another one?

[Is it a bit leading? Of course, but he doesn’t worry over it.]

[ The stories she could tell of Westeros. So much of its history was painted in blood and battles. Wars and conquerers. She had once thought it was all quite exciting and romantic to hear them told in songs. Of course, real battles were nothing like songs and wars were devastating to the losing and exhilarating to the victors.

She shakes her head, ]

I expect petty squabbles about lands and titles among the remaining Houses but another war? It's the last thing anyone wants. We had had several for years. The loss of life and resources is enough to encourage those of us remaining to think with our minds instead of our swords and pride.

Sounds like you've got some smart people, then. A whole lot of 'em wouldn't think twice about causing trouble after things go south like that. Humans are just selfish bastards, most of the time.

[He's seen it time and time again, people were opportunistic and only really cared about what they could do for themselves. It must have been absolutely terrible if people aren't willing to betray each other anymore.]

[ Sansa was grateful a majority of the people still around (the high lords and ladies at least), had learned from all the wars they had lived through. Had lost too much to want to lose anymore. ]

It helps most of the "selfish bastards" were killed.

[ Along with the mad sons of kings and sadistic bastards of sadistic lords. ]

Oh, well that’s definitely a bonus.

[He can’t help but crack a smile, amused. Not that war itself was funny, but just the flagrant parroting of his own terminology was a nice touch. Well, that and hearing that any of the troublemakers were six feet under, Crowley can appreciate that.]

I’m sure they’re getting what they deserve, when all’s said and done.

[Do…other worlds have Hell? They must, they have to.]

[ She smiles at his amusement, not denying how pleased she was with such a development (both here and in her own world). Hopefully, Westeros will finally have a chance to heal now that most of the monsters that caused the wars were gone. ]

If there really are Seven Hells, yes. They are.

[ Hers has seven. Which seems to go along with how extreme her world is compared to others. ]

Test Drive #1

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sorry for the wait!

no worries at all!

<3!

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