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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. |
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[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.
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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.]
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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.]
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[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.
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[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.]
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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.
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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.]
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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.]
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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?]
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[They've been walking through the dark for what feels like hours now. It was only a matter of time before something caught their scent. Casting a narrow eyed glance to the trees--come out and fight, you miserable beast--Lightning prepares for battle. Odin is out of reach, as is her magic, and damned if that doesn't set her own nerves on edge.
Where's the sunlight when you need it? A huff of breath rustles a low growing bush, but by the time Lightning's eyes adjust to the darkness there's no sign of the beast. She grits her teeth.]
It must have followed us the whole way here. Just waiting for a chance to jump us.
[If she could just make out what it is!]
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[Ah whatever, she's not about to get into an argument over anything so dumb. Her tone is a little dry with her reply but she doesn't carry on after. Instead she focuses on picking out her way further forward, skimming the edge of the lake and trying to keep her wits about her. It's been a long, long time since she had to go running from something in some woods.
And unfortunately this thing probably wants to do a lot more than try to playfully pull off her head.
Lightning is wishing for the beast to make it's appearance already and lucky for her it does finally. Of course once it does it's not a pleasant sight in the least. In the bare light of the torches there's a shine of jeweled blue-green, still slick with water. Perhaps it came out of the nearby lake? It's anyone's guess where it came from but glancing up further tells enough that it must be a snake or lizard of some sort. And a big one at that.]
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The thought has barely struck home before three things happen at once.]
Sarah, stop!
[Lightning's barked command snaps the silence in half. Her torch, dropped to the ground, sputters against the damp sand at their feet. She charges forward past Sarah, blade in hand and lightning bolts jumping from finger to finger of her now freed hand. They fall away uselessly--no magic, dammit!--but she plants herself between Sarah and the monster, stance firm. At least it finally came out]
Back away slowly. Don't give it any reason to notice you.