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

BILLY THO.

[scoopertrouper]

[talk about a rock and a hard place. because he's right, she can't hide forever, and dying cowering in a bush is not exactly how she plans on dying, if at all. and, regardless if this Billy is (what's the word those kids used...) mind-flayed or if this is just regular creepy old Bully Billy, Robin isn't exactly in the best position either way.

because either he's a monster in the actual literal sense, or he's the monster in the societal sense and she is but an innocent band geek in the closet...

she sits silent in the bush, hand still gripping the pack for dear life so his tug is met with resistance, and after a second or two of figuring out just how she'd prefer to die, she calls out:]

You're right, Billy, I can't! [hoping that by using his name she'll be granted some clemency. the bush's branches crack a bit as she manages to stand up, ignoring the way the leaves scrape and catch in her hair. she does keep her foot on the other strap of the pack as she stands, holding her hands up in an attempt to calm him.] I was dropped off here blindfolded too. It sucks! I get it, I'm in the exact same boat.

[and because she doubts he'll even know who she is, since she's such a nobody.]

I'm Robin, I'm from Hawkins High. I'm in the same shitty situation as you.

[driving]

[ He...doesn't actually know a Robin. Billy doesn't spend much time around the band geeks (though all things considered, being ignored by Billy was probably the best possible option).

He was used to people knowing him whether he knew them or not, though, and no one would actually claim to be from a shithole like Hawkins unless they really were. ]

Fuck. Alright, fine. [ He rolls his eyes, shoving the bag back towards her with his foot. ] Do you know the way out of here?

[scoopertrouper]

[Robin is definitely not the religious sort but holy shit she's thanking whatever deity she could thank that Billy seems...normal. She is kind of staring at him with that wide-eyed, fearful look of a girl seeing a zombie, but that could also just be chalked up to the kind of person Billy made himself out to be upon ingratiating himself with the Hawkins locals.

When he shoves the bag back to her, she bends down to pick it up, still keeping her eye on him.]

You know, I really wish I did. But I can show you where I found this pack. [she says, hugging hers close to her chest.]

[driving]

[ He notices that fearful look, and for a moment he turns away. Once he would have been proud to elicit the reaction from someone, especially someone who knew him by reputation alone.

Now it just reminds him of the way people looked at him while that thing inside of him attacked them.

It doesn't yet occur to him that if he doesn't want people to look at him like that, he might want to reconsider all the yelling and threatening and stomping around he does. Someday he'll get it. ]

Where? T[ hat's the only word he grunts out. No 'please' or 'thank you' from Billy, sorry Robin. ]

[scoopertrouper]

[maybe someday Billy, maybe someday...

but, as far as Robin is aware, this is the exact same guy to keep a good amount of distance from if one could help it. which, admittedly, she can't, because as she said before they are in the same boat.

she moves out of the bush completely now that it feels like some of the danger has passed, muttering "ow ow ow" as she begins to pull the twigs out of her hair with a free hand. his lacking manners doesn't shock her, honestly, and she's still too cautious of him to deflect with a quip.]

It's this way. There were some torches too, but I didn't get the chance to grab one.

[you know. considering she was running from him moments before.]

[driving]

[ Distance from Billy was probably the best thing to have whether he was flayed or not; he was almost never up to anything good and the lessons he's learned from the horrible possession caper had yet to sink in. ]

You didn't see anyone else? [ He's still pissed and itching for a fight and this band nerd isn't going to give him one.

He looks around, and listens. No footsteps or rustling in the leaves, save for their own. Looks like he might have to cooperate with someone else and find a way out instead of solving his problems by punching them this time. Sigh. ]

[scoopertrouper]

[she's seen...some people in passing. but everyone she ran into seemed to be stuck in the same exact situation that they find themselves in. and, since she can read his anger in the way any geek can read a bully's body language, she's going to hold her tongue.

instead she shrugs her shoulders, making an "I dunno" sound.]

Nope. Looks like you're stuck with me.

[great.]

You, uh...cool with that?

[driving]

[ He has to think on that. Is he 'cool' with it? No, not really. Billy's not cool with much of anything. Is he going to tolerate the situation because it's his best chance of getting out of this forest? Yeah, he'll do that.

So he'll mark himself down as 'cool enough'. ]

Yeah. Truce, or whatever.

[ He finds another pack laying on the ground and picks it up, immediately rifling around for the rations and stuffing a few stale crackers in his mouth. Charming as always. ]