fellmemes | Test Drive #4

Welcome to the January test drive! 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 will open at 12:01 AM UTC on February 1st, and continue to be until 11:59 PM UTC on February 7th. This is to reserve a character, not an application slot.
✦ Applications will open at 12:01 AM UTC on the 8th, and remain open until 11:59 PM UTC on the 15th, or until all application slots have been filled. Once Activity Check ends, we will have an application slot number available on the application page. The IC & OOC intro logs will be posted two days later.
✦ We have added a Suitability section to the application. Check it out! We will be requiring this going forward as it not only helps players see if their character is a good fit for the game but it lets the mod team gather some ideas about direction for your character!
✦ 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 arrived on their person. 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. Usernames are your characters first name or their most common nickname.
✦ Below will be a header for OOC questions as well as a request for Death or its Attendants if you risk placing a coin in their offering bowl.
✦ As in December, a secondary blessing will be available in February to those that tag others on the TDM!

All set? Perfect! Welcome to Fellden.

AS THE MOON RISES.
You’ll find yourself just outside the Temple gates, which will be locked if you try to open them. A little rude, keeping you out after bringing you all this way, and the more you try to look up at the Temple structure the more insistent guards become in pushing you down the pathway to somewhere else. 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! Chrysanthemums will be offered as brooches or corsages, food and drink placed into your hands, while live musicians play loud enough for the dead to hear — for this is a celebration dedicated to them. Several were lost in the battle held the previous weeks, and the Priestess has decreed a time of mourning through revelry. Spirits must be kept up, even in these dark times. 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 despite the pall that may hang over the town. 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. If you do manage to leave, a helpful citizen of the Temple will inform you of the nearby transport mirrors that will take you anywhere on the map, one of which they will provide to you.

THE SETTING STARS.
You'll find upon your arrival that the castle is not accepting visitors as they prepare the interior for a solemn remembrance of those lost. Guards at the door will instead direct you to the center of the city where most of Starfolk have gathered to say their goodbyes and reminisce of memories past.

Venturing there, you'll be greeted either by those who are serving food and drink from nearby taverns, or those with drawn faces tired from battle. Or perhaps you're a late arrival and the worst of the exhaustion has left the city, now imbued with laughter and happier memories! Those loyal to the Court of Stars greet the newcomers with guarded gratitude in their eyes and wary hesitance. How many more of these Otherworlders will betray them, they wonder out loud. If you try and take a seat with a party or three, chances are the conversation will halt as soon as you grow near, and the longer you stay the more uncomfortable the gathered people become.

Trust is not easily gained in the Court of Stars; broken now as it is, the natives of this world fear the worst for their Emperor. Will you help us, or will you hurt us, they ask, wanting to believe they still have a chance at surviving this exhaustive war.

Whether you choose to remain for the remembrance or wander off, one thing is certain: things must turn around for the Stars soon. If you do manage to sneak off, a hopeful citizen of the Court will inform you of the nearby transport mirrors that will take you anywhere on the map, one of which they will provide to you.

MARKETS OF THE COAST.
The coastal city of Kyst is abuzz with an extra amount of people who sought refuge here during the attack on the Moon Temple. Some calm had finally started to settle but now the foundation has once more been shaken. Newcomers will be welcomed with smiling faces from merchants as they look to try to sell their wares. Tavern owners and barkeeps will beckon with the promise of warm food and delightful drinks, a place by the fire, and information to help you find your bearings. The air is rife with the scent of the coastline, fishermen bringing in their haul from the day. Perhaps if you pay enough attention, you'll hear or smell something you recognize from your home; as Fellden is the beginning of all worlds, it wouldn't be an impossible likelihood!

Those looking for something more exciting will find closer to the northern border of Kyst a rather curious bi-pedal cat bouncing on its back legs. It flags you down with a wave of its paw, asking excitedly if you'd like to flex your claws into a juicy quest. You're just the hunter for the job! Purr-fect in every way! Out in the wild lands there's a great beast in a deep river, and it's bothering all the people who live in the nearby town! They can't get fresh water or fish for their meals; it's furr-ightening! If you agree to help, the cat will explain that the creature is a Nokken that has been luring many a brave fisher to their untimely death. It must be removed either by force or by convincing it to leave! Help them, Hero-wan Kenobi, you're their meownly hope!

BEYOND THE CITIES.
In the distance from Kyst, a large forest looms, the Gods Wood imposing even from this distance. Should you travel there, everyone you encounter will urge you to be respectful while within the forest. There, people can be found visiting intricately decorated shrines, and leaving offerings for their passed. If you catch their eye, they will beg of you to pay respects as well, and press a gold coin into your palm. Offer a wish or a happy memory to who you miss and place the coin into Death's offering bowl and there's a chance someone will be there to speak with you. Be mindful of your actions though; those that show disrespect will be forcibly removed from the Gods Wood by the trees.

If the forest is too intimidating, Terebellum is open for semester registration, and the grounds are even more regal with a light dusting of snow all around. Students of all branches of magic can be found exploring the campus and practicing their craft. If you're lucky, perhaps you can find a teacher who will explain what is offered here at the University. But ah, there's a catch! Tuition is extremely expensive, so you must impress your faction leaders if you wish to widen your breadth of knowledge within these walls!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

( it's certainly a gathering. a rather mixed crew of people torn from their worlds and thrust into a war. but instead of being greeted with open arms, they're being looked at with uncertainty. fear. there's something in the crowd that pulses with a need to hope again, but they can't quite bring themselves to.

and so, one native asks another woman among the Claimed what they're going to do. )

That's... definitely an introduction. ( Hayley seems a little uneasy by the intensity of this Hunter. ) What exactly are you pledging to hunt?

[ Her mouth thins, maybe she already half regrets what she's done. But there's something exhilarating in a vow. Maybe she'll keep this one. ]

The Court's enemies.

[ Whatever those may be. She is indiscriminate. She has already done so many ugly things in the name of loyalty. What's a little more? ]

That's... quite a promise to make. ( so blatantly, too. there's honestly something to be admired in someone so sure. Hayley's questioning isn't so much to pick at the woman's decisions, but rather to understand them better. maybe find something solid she might latch onto herself. )

You really willing to be that dedicated to the Court already?

I am a Hunter. They have called me to the Hunt.

[ That's not much of an answer at all, is it. But to Hunt is so much more than to simply fight to simply kill. It was also an eldritch voice echoing inside of her, calling for her to seek, to obey, to bleed. ]

( ohhhh that's some disturbing loyalty where the vampire is standing. )

Is that how it usually works for you? You wait for someone to tell you what to hunt, then you do it? ( please tell her that's how it works. it would be nice not to have to worry that the Hunter might seek her own prey. )

[ It has lead this Hunter to many horrible places, many horrible realizations. She is warped from it, a killer who kills because she has lost the sense for anything else. If there is someone to direct her, excuse her, all the better. ]

I am not mindless.

[ She is. Sometimes. She knows that. ]

But I am dutiful.

( and there she goes insulting the girl she's only just barely met. ) Sorry. ( she looks a bit chagrined, grimacing at the comment. ) I didn't mean to imply you were. I was just wondering about the Hunter bit.

Probably should introduce myself before I go being nosy, though. ( it's hard to break a history of paranoia. ) I'm Hayley.

[ Anna does not have the casual expressiveness that Hayley does. Her face is impassive for the most part, someone who lives more inside herself than in full engagement with the world.

She's also not used to such casual pleasantries. She almost doesn't remember her own name sometimes, all she hears is Hunter. Hunter. Hunter. echoing like the breath of the ocean. ]

Anna. If you know not of the Hunt... more's the better for you.

I'll take your word for it. ( she doesn't need to press on why she's so concerned about hunters. better to just avoid that while she's not being looked at.

there's more important things at hand, anyway. )

I guess I was mostly curious about if you believed in the Court's methods.

What methods do you see?

[ She is entirely too aware of how perspective can change as secrets are unraveled. She'd rather know what question she's really answering. ]

( fair question. ) From what I've gathered, the Emperor plans to save our worlds by leaving this one behind. They think that's what's going to save us all somehow.

Who knows what we'd find in other worlds. Perhaps the secret is locked away in mine, or yours.

[ Her tone makes it clear enough that this is speculation, rhetoric. A faint shrug. ]

If I find the answer, I will let everyone know of it. If I can stomach to look upon it.

Probably not mine. ( just putting. that one out there. )

What about the Moon side, then? What do you think of their plans?

What does my voice matter to you.

[ She really doesn't get it. ]

I don't know about yours specifically... ( she's just going to be honest here. ) But I think getting some opinions not clouded in propaganda or bias can't hurt when making up my own mind.

Test Drive #4

the setting stars

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