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

[notimefordreams]

Not a thing.

[And by the tone of her voice that worries her as much as it does Shiro. No insects, no late night birds trilling out a song or anything. These woods are as quiet as a tomb and something prickles at the back of her mind saying it's almost reverently quiet. As if something great and awesome dwelt in these woods.

She huffs out a soft breath.]

I'm a highschool English teacher.

[Again her tone of voice and the faint quirk of her lips that probably goes unseen in the dark says it all. It's faintly amused and more than a little sardonic. Yep, she knows how it sounds that an English teacher of all people was pulled here.]

[spaceforged]

[The back of his neck prickles as something in the vastness of the forest turns its attention on him. He makes sure to keep his body relaxed and light. He responds faster if he doesn’t tense up. Shiro pauses not far from the made path and looks at Sarah. His eyebrows creep up.]

Now it all makes sense. You’re very steady. [Or appears to be. He keeps that to himself. He won’t rob her of dignity and pride. Besides it’s his job to make sure they both survive.] I was and am, a space exploration pilot and a soldier.

[He steps entirely into the path and looks down it and back at whatever is watching them. He can’t see it but he the senses to detect it. A by product of being a former Paladin.]

I thought you had a demeanor I recognized. I used to meet a lot of teachers and did a bit of instructing future pilots. [His tone is wistful. He misses simpler days even if he doesn’t regret his path. No. That isn’t right. He thinks it over as he kneels down and gets a look at how the bushes along the sides of the narrow path look cut as if by claws. He narrows his eyes.

What he misses is knowing his place and role in life.]

[notimefordreams]

[Sarah pauses by the nearest marked tree as Shiro kneels next to that bush, keeping her gaze focused on the darkness around them. There's dry amusement in her tone.]

Am I? Most of my students just call me a nightmare.

[She obviously doesn't mind the designation much. Now she glances over her shoulder, straining her ears to pick up anyone following them whether it's human or not. There's absolutely nothing though and it's as if the area they started out in mere moments ago no longer exists, swallowed up by a dark void.]

[spaceforged]

Steady people can come off a little intense. [He says with a grin. The darkness still doesn’t tell him what’s out there. It’s a nebulous presence treading out of reach and making no noise. It’s like a pressure drop before a storm, he decides.

Shiro peers down the path and stands up. He’s a tall man, six foot four and built like he can go through walls. He pitches his voice low enough only she can hear it.]

Something is out there. This path was made but how long ago, I don’t know. The bushes don’t have any signs of a cut path.

No scratches from animals or cuts from tools. I suggest we take the path but we can keep scouting if you would prefer that.

[notimefordreams]

[At least he has some height on his side, not to mention mass. Maybe I can just ask for a piggy back ride through the rest of the forest is Sarah's first lip-quirking thought to herself.]

It couldn't be too long ago. The vegetation down the path isn't that dense.

[Or beyond the bushes it doesn't seem so to her. Then again the ground under their feet isn't exactly trodden out in a clear path either so it can't be much traversed. She mulls a little to herself.]

Maybe it's an old path cleared out now and then.

[Who knows. Either way she rolls her lips against one another like someone may do after applying lipstick or such and then looks resolute.]

I'd scout if it were daylight and this forest was a lot less ominous feeling. As it is we should probably just focus on getting out.

[She pauses a moment as if gauging how to put her next words. There's a part of her that wants to explain the inklings she gets but how do you wrap up everything about the Underground and Moppet without sounding like a lunatic to a completely normal person?]

It's like -- there's definitely something here but I don't think it's an animal exactly. These woods feel sort of... dense? Sacred. Like there's something very dark and deep out there.

[Old and full of wild magic even.]

Sorry for the vanish, rl + the hurricane prep

[spaceforged]

[He says nothing for a long moment and then looks back out at the woods. He listens to the silence of the forest. It hits him what it reminds him of. There's little light but their torches and the fog is thick but the sense of a presence is like the ancient soul of the Black Lion.

Deep and dark as this presence is he feels nothing malicious or evil about it. It just is like the Lion just is.

Shiro speaks, his voice still quieter than when they first met.] I agree. I can't tell what it is but it isn't...out to do harm. It's just watching. We're not welcome here, but we've not been seen as an enemy.

[Who knows how long that will last. He keeps that thought to himself and looks again to the path.] If it wants us out, this might be its way of doing just that.

So, I agree. We should focus on leaving. For its sake and ours.