❪ test drive #4 ❫

[natha]

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. QUICK NAV premise ● faq ● lore ● map ● npcs taken ● atp/emp ● application ● rep/acp calendar ● hiatus/drops ● modbox [ FULL NAVIGATION ] elnysa nysalogs nysaisles nysaooc elnyan

Comments

[asmilebettersuits]

[It seems Haurchefant won't be walking alone. He looks towards the Miqo'te. Not someone he knows -- and someone a fair deal older than himself, besides. That prompts a slight change in Haurchefant's demeanor; his nod is more respectful.]

Ah, I have heard much of Ala Mhigo. I would not complain that you would stand by my side!

[There's a brief, appraising glance. Not a villager, Haurchefant decides, about to throw his life away.]

And it seems you have the arms and accouterments to lend steel to your words, my friend. I am Haurchefant Greystone, Knight of House Fortemps and the previous Commander of Camp Dragonhead. And you?

[He resumes walking towards the dragon. Which, really, won't wait long for pleasantries.]

[verflair]

X’rhun Tia, Crimson Duelist, at your service.

[ Though he doubts the name of his order means little to anyone outside of Ala Mhigo. The Duelists were two decades gone from the world, and he is the only one to ever leave their homeland’s borders. Of course, that matters very little with a massive dragon bearing down on them, and X’rhun slides his rapier and crystal free from their places at his hips as he moves alongside Haurchefant. ]

Shall we split its attentions?

[asmilebettersuits]

[A Crimson Duelist... no, Haurchefant hasn't heard of such things. He is a knight of Ishgard, and that means his focus was -- to the point of foolishness, at times -- on the Dragonsong War.

But the skill is plain to see.]

I think it best. Without a shield, I will be hard pressed to draw its entire attention. Shall I take the left and you the right?

[verflair]

A fine idea. I’ll go first.

[ And he leaves no room for argument, slapping his crystal onto the hilt of his blade as he dashes away. He pauses only long enough to cast, red-violet light pulsing from the tip of the blade-turned-mage’s-staff before a jolt of red energy lances forth, striking the dragon on the side of its massive snout.

It turns sharply towards the red mage, but by then X’rhun is running again. As he goes he issues a bolt of lightning from his crystal, and though it doesn’t do much damage to the creature’s face, it must still sting because the dragon bellows in pain. ]

[asmilebettersuits]

[Oh, but Haurchefant hopes to argue. That hope dies, though, and turns to awe as he sees the why X'rhun combines crystal and blade to make a staff. He sees the red light erupt forward, and then turns his head.

A smile crosses his face, before he brandishes his blade. Haurchefant runs forward, sword held to the side, eyes locked onto the dragon. He watches it turn for the red mage, which is when he leaps.

The knight is no dragoon, but he still comes crashing down for its side with a long leap. He slashes down with the sword, two handed; there is a flash of white light from the blade, and he takes a step backward, as the dragon's head turns to snap down with an angry bite at Haurchefant. It hits thin air, instead.]

Strike true, my friend!

[verflair]

[ X’rhun allows himself a smile as he watches Haurchefant avoid the dragon’s maw— he was right to believe a knight of Ishgard would know his way around a dragon. At the knight’s prompting, half a dozen swords of white light fan out over the red mage’s head. He motions them forward, and they zip towards the softer flesh on the dragon’s underside, striking true indeed, in the place where its massive foreleg joins with its torso. It staggers a bit, but that’s far from enough to bring it down.

For something so large, it’s quite fast, but the miqo’te is faster, darting away as the beast tries to catch him in its jaws. ]

I daresay it doesn’t like us much!

[ Observant, X’rhun. ]

[asmilebettersuits]

[Haurchefant is awed at the blades of light, summoned with such ease, and the way it makes the dragon stumble. Ah, but they've made it angry. Haurchefant will have to work harder to keep its attention.]

An impressive display! Ah, but I should endeavor to give you the same!

Come now, dragon! Keep your eyes upon me! [He beckons, threateningly -- and the dragon turns back, jaws snapping down. Haurchefant just moves out of the way, the fangs tearing at earth. Then, he lunges in -- and slams his blade, deep, into its side, before he tears away. He angles it.

He rips a scale free when he does, and a gout of blood with it. But the dragon moves in, then, and its tail comes swinging out. It catches Haurchefant in the chest--]

Hrrk!

[And the swipe sends him flying a few feet away, then into an uncontrolled roll.]

[verflair]

[ This was a dangerous endeavor to begin with, but now it seems to have taken a turn against their favor. Haurchefant is sent rolling away, the dragon poised and ready to pluck him from the ground with massive teeth.

Running for his ally would only make a target of them both, so X’rhun continues to play distraction. Swords of light fan out around him again, only this time when they fly forward, they bury themselves in the ground at the dragon’s feet, sending up pillars of bright white light. The beast roars its annoyance and pain, swerving its head around for X’rhun again.

The red mage has time to loose one more spell before he has to run— a vercure, that lands on Haurchefant as he comes to a stop at last. ]

On your feet, my friend! 'Tis no time to be laying in the dirt!

[asmilebettersuits]

Ah, how correct you are!

[The vercure takes Haurchefant by surprise. To be sure, he expected spellplay from X'rhun. It seemed as if his style of fighting combined magic and swordplay. But, he did not expect healing, too. It strengthens him, as he pushes himself to his feet, and looks up. The dragon is in front of X'rhun, now, and its attention is on him. Haurchefant's eyes dart to the ground.

He spies a sufficient rock. He scoops it up, then hurls it. It pegs the dragon in the head, which is enough to draw its attention. Which is for the best, because light gathers about Haurchefant's blade -- and he drives it forward, stabbing into the creature. The dragon screams.

Then it rears back, fire and smoke gathering in its mouth. Haurchefant's eyes widen.]

To the thing's sides!

[verflair]

[ X'rhun may not be an expert on dragons, but even he knows what it means when one starts spewing smoke from its maw. He hardly needs the prompting, but he's glad for the direction all the same, and he runs to the side of the dragon as told.

Though the fire misses, the heat hits him like a wall, sending him stumbling a few steps. Good gods, how do Ishgardians deal with all that?

While the dragon is spewing flames, X'rhun chances a look behind him. It seems the villagers have made good on the time they were given and fled, and the red mage is of the mind that they had best do the same. They're holding their own for now, but the creature is too large for just the two of them to bring down alone. ]

We shouldn't overstay our welcome, I think!

[ He knows tether won't work on the beast, it's far too large to bind with magic, but he learned a few things from a chance encounter with a sea serpent not long ago that may be helpful. X'rhun lets fly another spell, a chunk of stone that strikes the beast across the chin hard enough to nearly snap its mouth shut. Half a heartbeat later, a bolt of lightning lances from the red mage's staff, catching the dragon right in the eye as it turns.

Whether it's blinded permanently or temporarily, X'rhun doesn't care to find out. The dragon throws its head back, eyes squeezed shut against the pain, and X'rhun motions for Haurchefant to follow him as he beats a hasty retreat. ]

[asmilebettersuits]

[Haurchefant glances back, too. The fire's leaving a cone of death and devastation that none of them are in. That's for the best. His eyes widen for a moment, and then he looks back to X'rhun.

A nod.]

I could not agree more, my friend! Let us make haste!

[The dragon's head turns, sharply -- and Haurchefant tears off, too, running as fast as he can away from the dragon. It's blinded. That, he thinks, is for the best.]

[verflair]

[ And away they go! X'rhun runs until he can't anymore. It's either fortune or design of the simulation that lands them a place to hide in the form of a cliff side cave. It will keep them out of sight, should the dragon come a-calling. ]

My friend- [ said between gasps as he tries to catch his breath, and he leans heavily against the cave wall ] -that was well fought.

[asmilebettersuits]

And I can say the same to you, my friend!

[He slumps back against the wall, breathing hard. It's an effort to catch his breath after that run. Perhaps spending time in stasis -- or perhaps dying -- leaves one tired.

But exercise is a good way to wake up.]

'Tis not a style I am familiar with, but it proved itself many times over in that battle.

[verflair]

[ X'rhun is just an Old Man. After all that, he could go for a drink. ]

There are not many outside of Ala Mhigo's borders who would know red magic, so I'm not surprised. Thank you for the compliment, all the same.

I have to say, I had not expected to run across someone from my home star here, of all places.

[asmilebettersuits]

Red magic? You speak the truth.

[He's never heard of it. Haurchefant nods, and then smiles.]

Aye, I would call it luck! But it is luck that I shall be thankful for. T'would be a grim thing, to find I was the only one to awaken from our star.

[verflair]

There are some few of us up and about, aside from you and I. A former pupil of mine, for one, and a rather unusual denizen of Ishgard, for another.

[ He is purposefully not going to bring up Ysayle, knowing what he knows about her. Not to a knight. ]

I myself have been awake for five moons, give or take.

[asmilebettersuits]

Truly? Ah, then it would not do to fail to introduce myself. 'Tis necessary that I seek them out and pay my regards. I wonder if there are any I might know...

[He shakes his head. It's not all that likely.]

Five moons... by the Fury, that seems like it might feel longer than it sounds, my friend!

[verflair]

Who is to say? We, all of us, seem to share a connecting thread in the form of the Warrior of Light.

[ He chuckles a little. ]

It has felt like a small lifetime, and yet I am not the one who has been here the longest. Alisaie has me beat by three moons more.

[asmilebettersuits]

Ah, you knew my friend, too! 'Tis an honor, to stand at the side of one so central to our star--and yet so like us.

[There's a fond smile there. It's far more than an honor to Haurchefant.]

Truly, though? A commendable feat! It would not be easy to stand alone.