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

SETTING STARS

[ Let's just say leaving someone like Luke alone to drift in a castle bound to be full of notorious goodies isn't the smartest idea. Then again, not a lot of people are smart. Despite how tired he feels, he's filled with jubilation at being somewhere new. Is this is penance for teaming up with great papa Kronos? Is this his punishment? Clearly running through a field of cacti wasn't bad enough.

He died, and he's here. That might be the best thing yet? The jury's out on that one.

He's stolen a tunic—nice and clean, given that his shirt was not—and walks around in his converse, looking a little too disinterested in any ornaments that appear to be left lying around for swift, sticky fingers to take. He likes a challenge. Who can judge him for that?

Luke wanders to the textile wing, as if drawn automatically to where metal can be shaped into a weapon. After making his request of a sword that looks like Backbiter and will be light in his hand—another extension of himself—he's too impatient to wait around and watch it be forged.

Stepping outside of that wing, he may almost stumble into you! Whether this is on purpose or not remains to be determined. ]

[ 50% lying. ]

GODSWOOD

[ Unafraid. That's what he is—that's what he tells himself.

Having ripped that blindfold off, he grips the fabric tightly in his hands. It doesn't matter that the compass that's meant to guide him is broken—being a son of Hermes means he was built with an internal one where his feet seem to know where to go. Despite his uncertainty, he can feel it thrum inside of him. Instinct tells him to face north, and so he does.

Shaking the broken compass—just in case—he pockets it and appears not too worried. Narrowing his eyes as he looks out toward the thick stems of trees, he pulls the straps of his backpack a little tighter.

Luke grabs his self-lighting torch, and takes off determinedly—alone. Follow him. He knows where he's going. ]

DRAWN TO THE COASTLINE

[ Yeah, so that's a no to the water.

Drawn to the local tavern in his wanderings, Luke easily takes to playing a game of cards with some of the native soldiers, easily beating them with his own wit and natural talent for it. With a big laugh here and a few (gentle) insults there, it's very clear Luke—on the surface—is just having a good old time. It's easy to ply information from people when they're having a good laugh.

The game of cards doesn't exactly win him anything except a tankard, but hey, at least he's feeling a nice buzz and like he can walk on air.

Feeling lucky, he sits at the bar after his card game and orders two pints—one for him and one for whoever's sitting to his right. ]

WILDCARD

[ Legit anything—Luke doesn't like water, so he won't be at the beach! And he's got sticky fingers—a great thief ready to cause some trouble. Let me know if he can steal something from your character! (And perhaps not find out for a while?) Luke has a scar on the right side of his face over his eye that's very noticeable. I'm setting Luke in the Court of Stars. ]

( Percy is a little slower to take his blindfold off, because of course he is; his first thought is that oh, god, he's absolutely gone blind and what is he going to do? He'll never be able to look at Annabeth's face again! He'll never see Sally or Grover, either. He'll never see blue birthday cakes! He'll just have to believe that they're blue and it will have to be enough! He-

Is wearing a blindfold.

Gods, okay, great, cool cool cool. Making quick work of wrestling it off his face, Percy immediately digs into his pocket for Riptide, holding the pen in his hand with a fierce grip while looking around. Seemingly the last one to have removed his blindfold, others are already moving, picking up packs and lighting their torches before venturing off together. Taking the hint, Percy grabs his own, eyes scanning the surrounding area before taking off after the one person that seemed to decide he was going along??? Weirdo.

So with very minimal effort, Percy jogs until he falls in step next to the guy before peering around and- )

Luke?! ( UH. ) Am I dead? ( Ohhhhh no. ) I'm dead, aren't I? Is this Elysium? It's so dark! Why were there blindfolds? ( Sorry for him, Luke. Really sorry. He's a few years older an no less dumb. )

[ The girl is a wretched thing, half the height of Lir and her fingers swelling. This was the excuse, when he volunteered his service to relieve her, first of the barrel of ale she dragged in a slow crawl across the tavern for a card game's prize, then of the bundle of swords and other armaments she meant to whisk away from drunken patrons.

In the infinite wisdom of her seven years, she has found a multitude of purpose for him, so long as her eyes stay sharp on him, and the lash of her tongue can land with constructive criticism at the scantest injury to the dignity of her father's establishment. Earlier, he drew three buckets of water clean of salt and sea from the well and spilled not a drop of it on the back road to the kitchens — only half on his own shoes, which she accepted, on condition that he should traipse on his toes hereon, to spare her the squeaking on sticky boards.

Now, she haunts behind him, while Lir executes the pettiest of her deliveries through the tavern — a bowl of the (dubious origin, but passably organic) stew to the front, where no one is staring at the man with his five pet crabs. Another drink of the heavily watered, but surely delightful wine — oh no, don't throw it in the face of the server: girl-child, hide behind Lir, hide, hide, hide, oh, you were hiding all along, excellent, good work, girl-child, you have done well in your betrayals today, only one [1] need be drenched —

And the beer, one for the young fellow at the bar, the second for... his invisible companion. Certainly. Absolutely. This is not the worst that Lir has witnessed upon this day. ]

Hello. [ This, as the girl stabs his back with two fingers. Stiffness walks his spine like sparks of lightning. He coaxes his mouth back into a smile. ] We hope you have been pleased — mostly pleased — the littlest bit pleased with service today.

[ Behind him, a tiny tyrant nods in grudging approval. Please be pleased. ]

It’s fine it’s fine. Don’t worry about it. Didn’t see you either so like…

[ She trails off, troubled that it isn’t a lie like usual. Everything has been on a fritz since coming here, as if her very being’s adjusting to existing in this place. She’s still trying to forget the hour she spent slumped in a corner and unable to move. Thank god no one was around to witness it. At least the glamour’s remained active, small mercies. ]

So, are you from around here or…

[ She makes a vague gesture that’s meant to portray someone getting interdimensionally kidnapped. Jury’s out on if she succeeds (probably not). ]

Test Drive #1

luke castellan | percy jackson & the olympians

Godswood

thar the coastline blows

Setting Stars