elnyan | ❪ test drive #4 ❫

Entry tags:

test drive

❪ test drive #4 ❫

YOUR STORY BEGINS

The Storm came. You only remember darkness, but you don't remember much after that.

All you know, perhaps, is that it was cold. You don't know for how long you slept, but the dreams were short, at least. You remember the expanse of stars and the universe that came in view. Every world and solar system ever known was displayed in your dreams in careful, pristine detail. You have also witnessed The Storm, which has devoured a fair portion of these galaxies. It was a dark, thick smog — ominous in appearance and ever foreboding.

Your Earth and similar planets were immersed in The Storm. Somehow, you knew it would be the last you'd see of it. That was when she told you what happened, and how you could help. You knew that you'd be living somewhere new, even though you never asked for it. The details here weren't clear, but you knew you'd made a deal with Darma.

Not long after, you'll wake at Thesa Station — your body is still cold.

It all felt like a dream, but somehow, you knew it wasn't — now, will you keep that promise you made to Darma?

PROMPT: THE STORM

CW: death
You were awake on Thesa Station. But at some point you, like many other new arrivals before you, wandered into the Observation Deck. Ordinarily, this is where images of The Storm are replayed to remind Refugees of the fate they have escaped.

The Natha Orbiters' technology has evolved. They are aware of your gaps in memory. You may have doubts of The Storm even existing, or of your world's destruction. Though they do not wish reliving those last moments on anyone, they have created an experience that will do just that. Before entering the Observation Deck, you are warned that what follows will not be for the weak of heart. As soon as you step in, you will find that the walls around you begin to transform and expand.

Welcome to the Planet Cespi, in the Circinus Galaxy. Unfortunately, we were not able to save this world from The Storm's Consumption. These are its last memories.

You are surrounded by blue, grassy hills as far as the eye can see and a pleasant breeze. The atmosphere is thick with a sickly sweet smell. Before you lays the scene of a quiet village, with its residents going about their everyday lives. You aren't alone, either, with an equally confused stranger (or perhaps you know each other?) surveying the scene.

Then the world grows completely silent for a full minute. You and your partner are unable to make a sound, verbal or otherwise. Without warning, a deafening roar fills your ears and forces you to double over in pain. The villagers run out of their homes in a panic, finding themselves in just as much pain and confusion as you do. Where there was no sound before, now there is too much for a normal human body to process.

Look up. An expanding mass of energy is swallowing everything you can see. It consumes the earth, the atmosphere, the depths of space — and it is getting closer.

Your only hope is to outrun it, if you can. The people in the village certainly try to, racing past you. Their fear is very real. Their bodies are very real. You may be able to run from it for a time, only able to catch glimpses of this dark and sinister force swallowing everything and everyone. The earth rumbles and separates beneath you. Electricity surges through the sky, and then through your very body.

You fought hard, but it is impossible to outrun the Storm forever. You too will be consumed. Your death is quick, but not painless. What were you thinking, before you took your last breath?

You awaken back in the Observation Deck, next to your new friend.

PROMPT: TRAINING MODULES

While it’s all nice and well to familiarize oneself with Thesa Station, it is most advised that new arrivals venture out a bit. Not physically. No one is quite prepared for that yet. However, there will be several virtual reality training programs set for those who dare to be adventurous. For those who aren’t and don’t dare, well — good luck, all the same. Once seated and appropriately strapped in, the system will automatically whir to life.

1. When you enter the Natha's newest program, at first nothing loads. You might think this is an error as you look around in apparent total darkness, only able to see your own virtual body if you look down, but soon enough a voice comes to life as if speakers have turned on somewhere.

Long ago, the lands of El Nysa were dominated by the ancestors of the dragons who now live among the people, tamed. It was pretty dangerous! How about a little history lesson?

And then the simulation comes to life—

a. The lush lands that blossom to life around you all at once are real enough to make you forget you're in a simulation — at least for a moment. Those refugees who have been to the planet in reality before will find themselves in territory as unfamiliar as those who are brand new, as this simulation takes place far back in history. Instead of sprawling cities and civilizations, the most you'll find is scattered villages, many of them no more than nomadic campsites at best. You've been outfitted to blend in with the natives and these simulated people won't react to you as a newcomer, but as a member of their village. Are you a doctor, or perhaps a warrior? Maybe you're even in charge! But they want your help, and they want it quickly: a dragon is coming.

The dragon is larger than the mount-sized breeds that exist on El Nysa today — much larger. It's a good six stories in height, bestial, and angry. Maybe it's then that you notice the lands that surround you are littered with scars of scorched earth, some of them several yards across, and there's a reason these people don't live in one place for very long. But don't linger too long on the makeshift grave markers sticking out of the burnt countryside — the dragon is coming.

b. If you're looking for something a little less violent, perhaps another area of the historic simulation will be up your alley. This one finds you on a cliffside, waiting among other villagers for an event the people are talking about in hushed whispers, some of which you can identify as prayer. When the white dragon raises its head up from the depths of the ravine, towering impossibly high over you and the others on the cliffside, it's no wonder most of the natives fall to their knees in awe and wonder. This dragon doesn't attack, only looks at the people on land with an ancient and strange wisdom.

Then it speaks. Not in words, but the low rumbling sound that starts in its throat and becomes a full trumpeting bellow to the sky seems to have meaning, and somehow, you can understand its cry as it entreats the people to praise and worship. The natives around you are already starting to give offerings with their prayers, food and carvings and — blood? Is that someone's arm being offered up?

That's different.

2. Let us now travel forward in time, shall we?

a. The Olympian settlement around you is quiet — until the screaming starts.

Guerilla fighters from Wyver flood the streets, knocking civilians aside and breaking down doors and windows when they find their way barred. They move methodically, advancing toward the nicer parts of town where the politicians reside and leaving terror in their wake.

They're here for the politicians, people say. They're here to punish the people who made the decision to advance into Wyver in the first place. Blood for blood, as the saying goes. Where they'll be taking them once they have them is anyone's guess. A soldier emerges from a building, dragging someone in elegant clothing out by the hair. Looks like they've found one.

Will you rescue them? Make a run for it yourself, lest you be mistaken for one of their targets? Or maybe they've already caught you and some other unfortunate Refugee who's been dropped into this simulation, and the two of you need to figure out a way to escape.

b. CW: branding
You find yourself in the midst of a bustling crowd gathered at the Temple of Thesa. Robed acolytes stoke fires on either side of the altar at the front of the temple, where miserable-looking people who seem to be from a village in Wyver await, bound in ropes.

The priest, at the front of the crowd, picks up a metal brand from the altar and gestures for another acolyte to bring a prisoner forward. The crowd watches with interest as the prisoner is forced to kneel in front of the altar, their arm laid out flat on the marble surface.

Another cry — "For the glory of Olympia!" — and the crest of the city is burned into the prisoner's arm.

The crowd cheers, deafening the cries of pain. The priest ushers forward another prisoner, and then another. Is that a familiar face you see in the lineup, thrust into this bit of history by the simulation's whims? You have to do something. Or are you unlucky enough to find yourself bound? ...Well, hopefully someone else in the crowd has more scruples than this priest.

3. And now, the present.

After all those enlightening scenes, the simulation finally brings you to a more quiet area of Olympia. You are deposited out somewhere in The Outlook, a place the very first group of refugees had to trudge through before they found their homes. You've arrived in the early evening — but sunlight is waning, and soon you'll be under a sky full of stars. Luckily, their old campsites aren't too overgrown.

The intention here is to get you familiar with some of the local flora and fauna. What sorts of plants will you encounter? Do you find yourself under a Verillum Tree, suddenly compelled to be painfully honest and truthful in conversation with a complete stranger? Find yourself behaving erratically in the presence of Whistleweed? Or perhaps you'll have to break the spell of being trapped in a Vena Amoris' vines... with a kiss.

PROMPT: STASIS UNIT

You have found the massive section of Thesa known as the Stasis Unit. There’s no special access required to enter this part of Thesa Station, but refugees are warned that it may not be for the faint of heart. Here, in large pods that nearly cover every square inch of the space, are all of the people the Orbiters have managed to rescue. Your loved ones, your greatest enemy, your next door neighbor — you might find them here. These people are in a state of deep cryosleep. Due to the damaging effects of The Storm, their bodies are not yet ready to be awoken.

PROMPT: OMAGE

Upon receiving your mobile phone, you will be asked to set a username. Voila, you can now access the network! You can choose to send a message to the entire network, specific usernames, or you can try out the Orbiters’ service, Omage, which connects you to a random user. They thought this might be a good way for their new guests to make friends with each other...

Connecting to server...
Looking for someone you can chat with...
You’re now chatting with [username]... Say hi!

PROMPT: WILDCARD

You are welcome to write any scenarios in Thesa Station! Characters have been granted temporary access to the Observation Room, and are encouraged to study it carefully.

FINAL OOC NOTE

These threads may be carried over as game canon if players choose! Players are encouraged to submit TDM threads as application samples, but they are not required. Please direct any OOC questions to the questions thread below! An AC-length thread may be submitted for 2 NATHA ORBITER REPUTATION POINTS after acceptance here. Please submit by February 18th.

We will no longer be providing overflow posts. In an event where the post hits CAPTCHA, players are advised to move threads to an overflow post on their character journals or create their own catch-all post. These threads remain eligible for REP.

There will be an application cap of 60, and no reserves. Please read here for more information.

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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I: training modules; 1B

[ He certainly wasn't expecting all this when he entered that ... machine. Being the curious type, he couldn't help but inspect the thing and enter it himself, despite having very little experience with these sorts of things. Everything in here feels so oddly ... real despite everything pointing to it not being so.

He's standing at the back of the crowd on the cliffside, doing nothing more than listening in on the whispers and watching the actions of the people, when suddenly the dragon rears its head, and he's left staring in awe at it. As the others around him drop to their knees, he takes it upon himself to kneel, so as to not seem too out of place. Looking back up at the dragon, he scrutinizes its features, and he almost feels like he's back in Ishgard for a moment.

That's when the dragon bellows, and the natives begin offering up what they have — many of those offerings aren't surprising in the least ... until he notices the clear sight of blood on someone as they move to the front holding an arm.

This causes some shock in him, and the part of him that can't help but speak up when it's ill-advised comes out.

Standing to his feet, he speaks. ] You cannot possibly mean to —

[ Aaand back to having some sense, he stops himself as those around him turn to stare at him, some giving incredulous looks, and even the dragon turns his head slightly toward him. ]

II: training modules; 2B

[ Alphinaud is one of the unfortunate ones to have been bound and swept up in this, despite not being a native to Wyver. It had happened so suddenly, he wasn't prepared to fight back, and his words themselves felt as though they were falling upon deaf ears.

Lucky for him, however, he's towards the back of the line, so he's given enough time to discern the situation, at the very least. He can easily tell there's a disagreement between the two peoples, and these ones are ... asserting their dominance, in a way. Dominance that does not need to be asserted over him, considering he is not of the people they're against.

He can't help but flinch when anyone has that unsavory brand pressed into them, their screams echoing out and being uncomfortably drowned out by the cheers. And then it's nearly his turn, as he shoved forward a few steps to ready for his approaching turn.

As he's not much one for physical strength and is very sure he can't get out of this on that alone, he's quick to turn again to his words — though they may not have worked earlier, perhaps now — ]

As I have no doubt already told you, I am not of these people you — [ Nope, not working, as the man keeping hold of him is quick to shut him down with a 'shut up' and a profession that he will not believe his lies. He ... he tried. And it's now his turn. Someone should probably do something. ]

III: training module; 3

[ Stickweed. A most interesting looking plant, until it's attempting to pull you up into the heavens. And who, exactly, has had the luck to run into it? This boy!

He's already very unfamiliar with plant life in general, considering his upbringing, though he has had some exposure to it thanks to his travels. Still, it doesn't help that a lot of the flora here is completely different from his own world's, and thus he's back to square one. Inspecting some of it closely, taking mental notes of how it looks and such, he wanders his way about the forest. It's all very interesting — and very welcome, considering what the rest of this simulation has been like. He openly accepts this peace.

But it's unfortunate that he be in the presence of a plant with some rather unusual properties. And as he makes his way close to a small patch of stickweed, there's a sudden gust of wind. It feels good, refreshing, until he notices the small bits of stickweed affixing themselves to him, and then feels his feet slooowly being lifted off the ground. ]

By the Twelve, this cannot be happening.

[ HE WANTED PEACE. ]

wildcard?!

[ If there's something else you'd like, you can feel free to come at me with it!! ]

[ no matter how many moons she goes without seeing her friends and family wake, still, she tries. they've fallen into something like a rhythm, rounds of refugees seem to wake more or less eight weeks apart, and this month, it seems, is no exception. the natha have woken others, the simulations are beginning to orient and acclimate those who have recently risen, and so alisaie begins her hunt. she moves through all of them, through the stasis pods and the station, through the simulations, all of them, searching for those she can help, of course, but mostly for familiar faces. for her brother. for urianger. for the scions.

so much time has passed that she no longer expects him to wake, cannot bring herself to hope too strongly that this time, he will surely wake.

and so when she catches sight of a familiar blue ribbon in the crowd, her heart leaps up into her throat. she's a few paces behind him in line, patiently awaiting her turn to be 'branded' (she won't be, of course), and then when he speaks, well, there's no denying it - his is a voice she has always known, that has been beside her, always in her ear, from the very first breath she ever took.

alphinaud.

she watches in muted shock as he's wrested forward, her ears ringing and her eyes wide, but the moment a brute wrests her brother's arm over the stone to receive the brand she's moving. quick as a dart, alisaie ducks out of her place in line, shouldering a guard aside with more than a little force, unsheathing her blade and sending forth a fast jolt, catching her brother's captor by surprise, enough to make him release his grip.

dashing forward, she tips the sharpened end of her rapier beneath the man's chin, glancing briefly over her shoulder. ]

I think it best you run, brother dear.

[ Boy, his sister sure does work fast and efficiently. And with good timing, at that. He was actually genuinely afraid — he's fought against dragons and done all manner of things on his journeys, but the thought of being inflicted such intense pain (and for no reason) still isn't something he'd ever be fond of.

One moment he's steeling himself for the pain, the next he's looking at his oh so heroic sister as she frees him from the brute's grip.

And as much as he'd love to talk to her about ... everything that's been going on since he woke up, he pushes that to the side in order to focus on what's in front of him. Though what's in front of him is a rather unnerving situation, as he quickly looks around at the various people surrounding them. One side, filled with the brutes who're orchestrating this whole thing, and any other side filled with onlookers who are most certainly not on their side.

Standing to his feet, he speaks. ]

And where exactly do you propose I go? It would seem we have few allies here. [ The only of which would be those still waiting their turn and those already doubled over in pain. And while he's fine with fighting against those who captured them, he's not particularly fond of hurting civilians, despite their feelings on him.

Plus ... he's also not looking to leave his sister in the middle of all this fighting alone. ]

[ don't worry alphie, it's just what she does. the protecting, thing. but why are you looking at her like that?? it's not as if she's going to make a noble, futile last stand here. who does that? ]

Are you armed?

[ she would be far more worried were this, you know, not a simulation, but still, pain and injury here can feel quite real, and she isn't keen on either of them experiencing it, if need be. what she's most keen on is getting out of here so they can - talk.. so she can see him, and - and - gods. swallowing thickly, she turns her attention back to the man ahead of her, though several more are beginning to move in toward them. ]

Can you clear us a path?

[ He pulls out his grimoire once she says that, readying himself before he gives her a nod. ] Aye.

[ And he's quick to summon his Obsidian Carbuncle — it'll be good for knocking them back so as to avoid death or serious injury (it's just a simulation but ... morals!!). ]

It should take but a moment.

[ And there he goes, commanding his little friend to clear out a good deal of them — specifically going for the ones who captured them and are causing all this in the first place. ]

GOD i have to find another alpeanut already!!

adelphoi - 2018-01-27 07:49 (UTC) - Expand

wait no ;a;

diplomatie - 2018-01-27 09:12 (UTC) - Expand

shouldve thought it through!!

adelphoi - 2018-01-27 09:31 (UTC) - Expand

but i don't think anything through!! that's not fair

diplomatie - 2018-01-27 09:49 (UTC) - Expand

oh well!!

adelphoi - 2018-01-27 10:14 (UTC) - Expand

:(!!!

diplomatie - 2018-01-27 10:33 (UTC) - Expand

alphinaud leveilleur | ffxiv

SLAMS INTO HIM 2b

IS KNOCKED OVER FROM THE SLAMMING

sits on

dies

1B

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1b i'm so sorry

the beginning of the end

rest in pieces 1/2

2/2

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3!

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2B!

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3;

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