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

[atreefull]

( He's right, and part of him deflates a little. Straightening up his clothes, Aziraphale sighs. ) Yes, well. There are bound to be books here, Crowley. Rare books. I shall need someplace to keep them all. Even if we won't be long -- what if someone unscrupulous tried to take them?

( Hopefully sooner, but he still is interested in starting up a collection here. Not that he'll be able to bring it back with him, but one never knows. He can hope, and Aziraphale is very, very good at hoping. Practically an expert at it by now. )

On Earth, where we're supposed to be. It might not work the same way here. I'm not saying we shouldn't, you know, give it a go. Just to be prepared in case it doesn't.

[freeatlast]

[It's like he's kicked a puppy, which for a demon really shouldn't be that big of a deal. Still, there's something that twists unpleasantly in his chest to see Aziraphale's excitement fade, and instead of continuing to make fun of the angel for his eccentricities, Crowley just gives a huff of breath and pretends to focus on his wine.

It's not like he feels bad or anything. Of course not.]

We couldn't have that, now could we? [It's supposed to come out sarcastic, but misses the mark.] Look, we'll- we'll figure out what to do with the books you get. It might not be bad to have somewhere on neutral ground to hole up in if things go pear-shaped.

[atreefull]

( If Crowley is looking for Aziraphale to brighten up, he gets his wish -- the angel giving the demon a smile that errs slightly on the side of smugly satisfied with Crowley's change of opinion. That was much better, thank you. He knows he's being indulged and he shamelessly truly enjoys it, even though he knows he shouldn't.

He doesn't examine the feeling further. )

Certainly not. ( But he nods, thinking. ) Someplace no one cares which faction we belong to, as well. Whatever they might do to us pales in comparison to what, er, our head offices tried. I should think that even if anyone found out, so long as we do our jobs they shouldn't care a wit. And, well.

( Aziraphale twists the ring on his pinky, not looking at Crowley and instead focusing on his wine. )

I've gotten so used to seeing you around these past eleven years. It would feel-- I mean, that is to say, I'd miss your company.

( And he is just going to take a nice, long drink. )

[freeatlast]

Should think that as long as they don’t figure out exactly what we are, we should be golden.

[That did beg the question though: did the two sides know? If there were powers wonderous enough to yank them from their home, did that also mean that their occult (ethereal) heritage would be common knowledge? It’s a bit more worrisome than he’s comfortable with, and Crowley frowns at his glass as he ponders things.

That train of thought, however, is neatly and summarily derailed when Aziraphale continues on. It’s as if everything comes to a screeching halt and Crowley is left trying to decide if he’s heard correctly. When it’s obvious that he has, there’s another little twist of something in him, something that he pointedly doesn’t pry into, even as it threatens to creep into his expression and soften it.]

Well, ah, same, angel, same.

[He pauses for a moment to catch himself.]

Like I said before, you’re just enough of a bastard to be worth knowing. It’d be a damn shame if we didn’t get to enjoy our vacation, right?

[atreefull]

( This. This is what he would have missed if he had ended up here alone. The warmth he feels in his chest that threatens to burst from him; that causes his smile to curve up with the hidden joy that he feels at Crowley's answer. The almost-inflection and the way something turns Crowley's face soft. It is a dangerous moment, this, because Aziraphale can almost think -- well, he can almost think a lot of things.

He nearly does, before he sternly reminds himself of who and what Crowley is, that it's foolish. That he could just be imagining things once more. Best not to let his thoughts carry on too far, now, and he pulls himself back to something more realistic, grounded.

Crowley is his best friend, and he's glad to have him here, sitting across from him now. )

Another toast, then? To a fruitful and brief vacation here, before a longer one back home?

[freeatlast]

[Crowley raises his glass in response, a soft smirk snaking its way across his face before he can help it. It isn’t a situation that either of them would have ever thought they’d be in, but they’re together. They’re together, and they’ve done this before so they can certainly do it again, even if the scenery is a little different this time around. And truthfully, he’s relieved that he isn’t alone; it isn’t as if he hasn’t spent time by himself before, but there’s just something- well, comforting knowing that his oldest and dearest friend is around to have his back.

There’s no one else he’d trust to, after all.]

A toast. And I’ll take you up on that picnic back home, how about that?

[atreefull]

( Aziraphale can't help but feel content in this moment. At ease, here in a strange world with his oldest adversary. His best friend, and perhaps truest friend in all of history. It's different, here, and it won't be as easy as Crowley thinks it will be, he's certain. But they have each other, and after everything that they've been through -- that's something. It's a huge something.

Aziraphale smiles. )

That would be lovely. Quite the something to look forward to after all this. ( Ah, but the toast. ) To this world, then.

( He clinks his glass against Crowley's, smile never disappearing off his face as he takes a sip. )