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

Morane Soraya ► OC

[thatsamora]

i. Moon Rising;

Half a minute of free falling from thousands of feet in the air couldn't have prepared her for this. The broken pieces of the wingship plunging all around Morane are but flashes of very recent memory in her mind until it all dissipates into... something else entirely.

Instead of plunging into the freezing waters of the Great North, she stumbles for only a moment before planting her small body onto solid ground with a click of her heels, the rest of her jerking at the sudden shift as she mentally orients herself. Her brain spins and gut wrenches when she turns, wide-eyed, to the happy cries as a flower crown promptly adorns her head.

Mora blinks, taken aback. This is... not the welcome party she expected from a continent like Sibir.

Just as she realizes this, her heart skips as she snaps her head away from the crowd, remembering the red lines that should be alight on her cheeks and forehead before (she hopes) anyone has the chance to pay heed to the blood runes on her face. Her skin feels hot, but only a moment as the runes smooth under her bronze complexion, like nothing was ever there. Now that she's no longer plummeting to a destructive watery fate, she has no need to evoke the Blood Queen's gift.

Besides, if this is Sibir, they don't take kindly to Bloodbanes like herself. She wouldn't even be allowed into the country if her sister didn't pull the right strings to get her there in secrecy, so...

Before she can turn around to fabricate a story or the other on the fly, someone's hand squeezes her own as she's pulled by jubilant civilians towards a singing throng of strangers.

"Look, while this is all so flattering, I really must find my sister... Have you--?"

But no one seems to be listening, and her voice is drowned out in song. A definite contrast from the somber Sibiran temperament Mora has only heard of. She grimaces, scanning the crowd. At best, she finds someone with answers. At worst, they're just as lost as she is.

ii. Wildcard;

[ooc: I am planning to tag around soon, so I just wanted to do an intro prompt for my top level. If anyone wants me to hit them up or do something special in this thread, hit me up via PM or my plurk at whippoorwill!]

Moon Rising

[unrepentantsoul]

While scanning the crowd she will see at least one person looking distinctly out of place in the celebration. Leaning against a wall, arms crossed, and presumably watching the goings on, is an armored figure who has too much gear on hand to be part of any city guard, and too much armor to be an active participant in the celebrations. From the way the hood and helmet beneath it shifts, they do seem to be paying attention to the things around them.

[thatsamora]

Eventually, Mora managed to peel herself away from the eager locals latching onto her. Not that difficult, really. She's made slipping in and out of situations into an artform, one that not many tend to appreciate, handy that it may be. But when she finds someone who sticks out like a sore thumb just as much as herself, she thinks twice about formulating immediate escape plans.

Not only does this individual not appear to be participating in the jovial festivities, that armor gives her pause as well. Being well-informed on how unwelcome her kind are to the continent she was supposed to be heading, giving away too much information is the last thing Mora is keen to do.

"Sooo, you wouldn't... happen to know what the occasion is, would you? Unless this happens to be an elaborate jest. I mean, 'war winners', right? Haha. Saviors don't just fall out from the sky." Already she may be talking a little too much. Shut up while you're ahead, Morane.

[unrepentantsoul]

The armored figure tilted their head and made an obvious look over of the new-comer into their space. They did not otherwise move from where they stood.

After a moment, they responded, voice heavily accented and muffled by the helm, "That depends on what sky is being spoken of. It is not common for any one creature to fall from the sky, much less saviors of all that there is. But it has been know to happen."

Of course, she wasn't entirely sure if she fell from the sky before washing up on the shores of Bleakrock, or just appeared in the ocean to be washed up. However, given that the Dark Anchors always appeared in the heavens, she assumed it was the former.

"Here... This one is not so sure. Where the human is from... this one is also not so sure. But where Khajiit is from... it has happened."

[thatsamora]

Mora forces a laugh out of her lungs. "'Been known to happen', right. That doesn't happen unless it's been shot out..."

Much like herself just seconds before ending up here. She brings a hand to her forehead, still attempting to balance the vertigo in her system -- so much so she almost misses the connotation of the stranger's words. Which gives Mora pause, and she blinks at the armored helmet.

"I'm... afraid I'm not familiar with 'Khajiit'. Is that a Sibiran word, or...?" Because it's just absurd to accept what those people are saying is true. So-called saviors falling from the sky makes more sense than that, even if it does sound closer to a star fable than reality.

[unrepentantsoul]

"Khajiit is a Khajiit word. In the common tongue of my world, it means 'desert-walker'. Sibiran is unknown to Khajiit. She suspects this one is of a different world than her," she answered, head tilting. "This one looks human, however. Like the men of Khajiit's world. Does this one call herself human?"

[thatsamora]

Mora's expression brightens with some recognition. "Like the Sulikhar, then? But less snout-y. Er, perhaps not...?"

It's not like she can tell with this 'Khajiit' wearing a helmet, but she's pretty sure a big jackal nose would be very obvious and sticking out if it were. Mora glances around for a moment, in hopes of spotting the nine-foot tall creature who would certainly stand out among this crowd. After a passing moment, no such luck, even though he was the last person Mora had spoken to before they were attacked...

"Oh!" Her head whips back to 'Khajiit', remembering the question she hasn't yet answered. "But human, yes. Most tend call us that. Though some like the term 'dirt people' if they're trying to be offensive." Mora shrugs, not much bothered at being compared to filth on the ground.

[unrepentantsoul]

"Dirt people? This one will have to remember that. There are not enough good names to call the humans when one needs to be insulting," she said, sounding contemplative, a finger rising to tap a nail - one that was an inch and a half long and befitting of the term claw - on the bottom of her helm, as one might their chin. "This one has not heard of the Sulikhar, either. This one thinks the human is not likely to find many of her world in this place. She can keep looking, of course, but it may do little good, yes?"

Moon Rising

[shieldandbanner]

Through the crowds, a hand in full plate armor extended to hold the woman's hand.

"Make way for the war heroines," Dame Eir called out with a booming voice, that got precisely the clapping and spreading of crowds that she wanted. Her banner flew high, her armor gleamed with the populace finally allowing her more space. By the amount of flora that was placed on her long black hair, it was clear she had been forced to go through this for a while.

She leaned closer to the woman's ear, "come on. While we've got the time to bail. I'll try leading you someplace less crowded in here."

Her plate armor rustled loudly, muted by the cheers and boisterous population as she tried leading her through a crowd, as if she was parting the seas by her presence alone. While she held her chin high, it was clear she was walking fast enough to want to get away.

"I haven't found my party," Eir then glanced to the woman, "you too, huh?"

[thatsamora]

When people grab her suddenly, they tend to end up thrown flat on their backs. Such reflexes come with the territory of walking into fights often.

All the more reason to be concerned with the phrase 'war winners'. While Mora is also accustomed to dealing with people's problems -- a jealous former lover with a grudge here, splitting up a bar fight there -- she prefers to keep territorial conflicts out of her contracts.

Thus, curiosity and foreboding outweighed her need to throw down a person. Putting distance between herself and the rather handsy crowd of people helped as well.

Once they're close to relative privacy, Mora mentally checks the boot-knife pressed to her calf, in case she isn't being lured. Confused that she may be, she is not so naïve as to trust strangers.

Especially not this crowd.

"That depends on your definition of 'party'," Mora finally responds with a grimace. "It seems there's plenty of that happening here. Unless I've mistaken your meaning somewhere..." Which sounds likely.

[shieldandbanner]

"I meant my group," the woman-at-arms shook her head, "but I'm thinking I'm not going to find any of them, now." Eir then turned to the fellow dark-skinned woman with visible remorse.

"I'm sorry for what I did out there," she unbuckled the sheathed longsword that was attached on her hip, and left it over the table as a sign of good faith, "there is not a lot of time to think or get people to leave us alone. I thought using our reputation and... purposes, in order to give us some time."

The knight then rose her head, and tried to give a friendly smile to her. She extended a hand, "I am Dame Eir Cordelia, a knight banneret from Éire."

[thatsamora]

"Oh."

Mora grimaces. It was an easy enough mistake to make -- she was looking for her sister, after all. But she hadn't seen Yasamanah in over three decades; it's hard not to be a little disappointed.

She glances back the way they came from. There wasn't even any sign of the sulikhar she had met on the wingship among the celebratory throng of locals.

"I understand." Mora shrugs, her attention returning to the other woman. "It was so loud I could hardly hear myself think, heh." She glances down at the hand being offered to her, at first with confusion, and then recognition dawns on her. She reaches back to return the firm greeting. "Name's Mora. I'm, er... not really from anywhere. Just well traveled, see. Though I suppose landing up a different world is 'bout as well traveled as you can get."

If she hadn't been such a traveler, the hand gesture (unfamiliar to her people's customs) would have been lost to her. And while her response isn't entirely true, it's not wholly wrong, either.

[shieldandbanner]

That hesitation puzzled Eir. She slightly tilted her head in confusion as she noticed the delay with which Mora held and shook her hand, almost as if it had been a foreign custom. Was shaking hands that unknown in here?

Then again, Eir had been taught it was a gesture of trust, so not everybody would be willing to do it... especially realms apart. There might be a good reason she wouldn't even want to disclose her land or more of her name, especially if she's a royal-in-exile.

"I'm a wandering knight, as well. I take up jobs that put gold in my pockets and help for those that need it, as my oath allows," her eyes widened and tracked a full keg of beer as it was rolled someplace else, much like a cat suddenly spotting a mouse. She then turned forward, "but I don't think I've even been continents away from home so far. It's a little thrilling, to be honest."