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Test Drive - 001

TEST DRIVE 001

Welcome to Aterat!

Here is our first ever Test Drive Meme! There are a lot of areas of the city to explore, so please have a look around! In case you need a little help getting started, I've included a few prompts below, or feel free to start your own! Exploration and player initiative are the names of the game here!

NOTE: While you do need an invite to apply to the game, you do NOT need one to tag or top level on the Test Drive!

Helpful Links to Get Started

Arrival & General Information | Locations & Bestiary | Residences & Housing Info | Rules & FAQ (ask questions here!)

A. Welcome to the Jungle

The URBAN jungle, that is. You have just arrived and received a strange satchel from a tiny, strange little man and are left more or less to your own devices (more information on what to expect upon arrival can be found here)! Follow directions to the north and check out the housing, or maybe have a look around the Historium, see what you can waste your meager starter coin on in the Market District, or maybe just meet the neighbors.

B. We've Got Fun and Games

At least there's entertainment. In various parts of the city, there are street performers, slight of hand tricksters, and probably a game or two of poker in one tavern or another (there are several to be found, after all). Start up a game of darts, or just sit broodily in a corner and watch the others coming and going.

C. You can have anything you want but you better not take it for free

The Harbor District is a rough joint. There are pickpockets, swindlers, but also hardworking folk and more than a few buildings that seem to be locked. It sure would be a shame if someone were to go about performing some casual Breaking & Entering...you know, as long as you don't get caught. There are guards around, though not nearly as many here as in the other districts. It's almost as though they like to avoid the place. People talk about wererats in the shadows at night and it's not unheard of for the unaware to go missing when they're traveling around here after dark...

D. What's that smell?

As if being carted off to what looks like a city out of a video game weren't bad enough, there's an entire district to the northeast that seems to be walled off, warded, and in all ways inaccessible. According to the sign, it's the cemetery...and boy does it smell.

E. Speaking Crystal

You could always take a look at the instructions that came with your crystal and see who else is listening. Remember, though, these devices are Voice Only and cannot be filtered. If you speak, anyone with a crystal can and will hear you. Now, whether or not they choose to respond is another thing entirely.

If you have any questions at all about setting or what is or isn't acceptable, please submit it on the FAQ!

If you would like to explore any aspect of the setting more indepth, please PM the mod account OR comment here! All comments are screened!

» N A V I G A T I O N

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Okay but what did he do?

That sounds kinda intense.

Jacob rubbed his palm over the back of his head. "I hate to admit it but I'm getting used to the impossible happening. This is just... another impossible that isn't impossible since it's happening." It was slightly circular logic but it was the best that Jacob could offer. This was a really weird situation.

"My world... home? Isn't like this at all." He gestured a bit and then rested his hands on the table in front of him. Jacob had trouble sitting still but he was trying not to be too fidgety as they waited for their food. The food would help.

He hummed thoughtfully before speaking again. "Yeah? That sucks. I'm sorry. I'm sure whenever we get home you can make it up to him. I don't think a friend would be mad at you for getting abducted." If they did get mad then they probably weren't a really good friend... or they were very worried and had weird ways of showing it.

"I was talking about-" Jacob waved a hand. "Never mind." He didn't really know how to explain what a boombox was and he wasn't sure it was worth getting into now. At least he had a pretty good idea of the kind of place that this guy was from.

"Looks like it." He rubbed the back of his head. "I was kinda hoping there was more to see but I guess they really want us to rebuild and everything."

Jacob wasn't really sure what to do with himself. He was a mechanic by trade but there weren't any cars here. He was also a carpenter and could open up a place like that but he was more interested in working for someone than he was owning his own business. That sounded like a lot of responsibility and attention that he was never interested in.

"Would you want to open a business?"

Llewellyn smiled a little, it was still logic he could wrap his head around. “Even if it’s unexplainable, it’s hard to deny what we see before us...” He shrugged slightly before propping his head up with his hand. He could definitely relate to not sitting still well, fidgeting when stationary either from anxiety or a need to get moving was natural. Especially when chairs in general could be rather uncomfortable...

At least for now, there was soon to arrive food and a conversation to distract him.

Well... Until he was opening his mouth to ask more about Jacobs world but the guy beat him to it with a sympathetic apology about the missed dinner. Now he was a little anxious, for what might’ve been a stupid reason. He’d never mentioned the person he was meeting for dinner was a man. So he latched onto the ‘friend’ bit of the apology clumsily, “Um... Hopefully? They’re a good friend. I’d hate to... have my friend cross with me.”

Because they were friends, very good friends, yes... How many times had he said friend? Who knows, he certainly isn’t sure. It was like that time he’d made a point of saying ‘Mr. Walker’ as many times as possible instead of ‘Jack’ when Constable Crabtree was around. Yes, he had over done it and it had been just as obvious as it sounded.

Careful, Jacob. Caelan was a curious sort when it came to music, he’d probably circle around to this again when he had a chance, especially after an answer like that. Luckily for him, the man was still focused on the empty shopfronts they were walking by. “Open a business?” He hummed a little, smile turning a little wry. “I’m not sure... Don’t know if I’d be cut out for that kind of work?”

He continued, with a small huff, “Not really sure why they thought it’d be a good idea to bring me here in the first place.” Did he look like the kind of person built for construction? Nope. “What about you?”

To be fair, Vincent couldn't rightly recall the last time he'd truly felt like he'd belonged anywhere. It had been some time since he'd been in his world, even. He was beginning to wonder if there was a place he belonged anymore. Ignis' phrasing caught his attention, though, and he tilted his head to the side curiously.

"Are you sure we were chosen?"

The advisor shook his head at the man. "Maybe chosen is the wrong word." He paused and thought a moment. "The ones that have landed here then perhaps to help rebuild the world." It was a longer winded version but then again Ignis was just fine with being more verbose, especially when it came to explaining his plans to the other three that he usually traveled with.

A sigh escaped the blonde as he looked around, trying to quietly regain his bearings. The near fight had him more on his guard which certainly wouldn't ever be counted as a bad thing in his own eyes. The man hadn't said whether or not he was new which wasn't any of the advisor's business, but he hadn't denied it either.

Curiouser and curiouser.

"No."

It was a truth he'd not really wanted to consider, but there it was - stated plainly. The shadow of his hood kept the narrowing of his eyes hidden, but it happened all the same. If no one here was from here. If even those he thought of as citizens had once been dropped here as he had...

What did that mean for this place? What was this place, in truth? Would they ever reach their homes?

More to the point: Would he even want to?

His brows drew down and he wondered. He doubted if he would, all told. Not to an Order that treated him as the Brotherhood had. Still. It was disconcerting, and the low sound he made deep in his throat spoke to that fact.

He heard the leap rather than saw it. And that...

That was interesting. After he heard the slightly heavier landing of feet on the ground that had him moving across the rooftops, following this young man with a degree of curiosity he wouldn't admit to if asked. Was he some sort of Assassin in his world? It was worth the curiosity.

Her words. He understood them individually, but strung together as she was speaking them? They made a sort of sense, but a sort of sense that only stretched as far as her words themselves. It was as if he understood her intention, but his inherent disbelief had his nose wrinkling.

Until he remembered that he had already seen magic.

"I know nothing of what you speak," he said. "And can offer no insight."

Once on ground level Nida slows down some. Mostly because he has nowhere in particular to go, and wants to start mapping the roads from ground level in his mind. But the way he moves through people is easy, slipping between them in spaces that shouldn't work, all without touching someone.

Here was clearly someone used to heavier traffic on the streets, and quick of foot and mind to stay out of the way of so many people without inspiring question or offense.

What exactly about the demon...fiend dogs was a solved mystery exactly?

There was a rift to the abyssal plain and I sealed it up! It was causing people to do all kinds of crazy things in the city.

I unleashed his full potential. Using that he erased them from existence.

Yeah. Not sure I have anything like that in me.

[It's a nice thought though.]

Jacob's mouth quirks into a slight grin. "Can't argue with that." He wasn't trying to wrap his head around this world. All he had to do was live in it until someone found them a way home. He didn't think he could really help in that effort and he figured that staying out of the way was the next best thing.

Jake wasn't great at responding to social cue's but he picked them up pretty well. He wondered what he'd said. Was this guy upset with him? Had he somehow tread somewhere he shouldn't have. "I'm sorry man. I'm sure it's fine. I didn't mean to-" He shifted awkwardly and was going to speak again when the waiter came over with their food. Jacob grinned and thanked the man politely before looking back at his dinner partner.

"It'll be okay." He didn't know that for sure but it was a nice thought.

With that, Jacob decided that it was best to focus on his food for a bit. Even if that meant an awkward silence draped over the table.

Jake needed curious people to poke and prod him. Otherwise he'd be stuck in the same routines day in and day out. He'd always been a creature of habit and weird shit happening never changed that.

"I don't know. I don't really want to own anything but I don't mind working. I was a mechanic and carpenter back home." There didn't seem to be many mechanical systems around the city but at least Jake had woodworking to fall back on. "I'd like to do that again but not owning a place." He didn't feel comfortable drawing that much attention to himself.

"Not really sure what to do but I'll figure it out. We have too."

Silence lingered in the air between them and Jacob felt suddenly very uncomfortable. He pushed himself up to his feet, moving slowly. "I'm sorry. Guessing isn't really helping much of anything here." Jacob was used to living with the supernatural populace and knew how to move in an nonthreatening way.

It was something you had to learn when you were a regular kid adopted by a werewolf.

"But hey, if I figure anything out, I'll give you a shout out." Not that he knew this guy at all... "My name's Jacob. Not sure if I mentioned that before." He might have. His mind was all over the place and it was hard to remember how the conversation had started.

Syeira smiled then and shook her head. "It's alright." One day these visions would drive her into madness. There was no changing her fate but it was nice to talk to someone about it... someone who, for the moment, reminded her of her bother. Of home.

"I just felt comfortable speaking to you. I hope that's alright."

“Oh um... No, no need to apologize. It’s not—” He shook his head quickly, feeling silly. He’s gotten a bit bad at masking his reactions, too much stress and too few healthy coping mechanisms in all honesty. There was something just a touch more stressful about all of this different world business on top of everything else. “It’s nothing, I appreciate the concern, all the same.”

Llewellyn was very glad for the arrival of their food, it gave them both something to focus on rather than the awkwardness that had fallen on the conversation. He’s happy to focus on it for a while. It was quite good, and he had been very hungry. After a time, he at least attempts to start conversation back up. “This is quite good?”

Jake was right, they did have to figure something out. It didn’t really seem like they had much choice in the matter, and the welcoming party had seemed quite confident that everyone’s presence was necessary... Some sort of participation might even be the only way to get home.

Caelan supposed he might fall back on his music, the entertainers had seemed like they were doing well enough... And of course he did some intricate work with sea glass now and again, though it was more of a hobby than anything. Thieving was... Well it was his life, but he didn’t just steal for the sake of stealing, so he doubted that would be useful here.

He tilted his head at Jake again when the man explained what his thoughts were, “Perhaps someone will have a place for you to fit with your talents then? I expect carpentry will be quite the sought after talent if what I’ve seen so far is anything to go by.”

Most do not. He was a unique mutant.

"Great question, mate. Too bad I seem to have left my SCUBA gear at home." Not that he actually had any SCUBA gear, or that he'd ever been swimming even if he did have any.

"It's as good an explanation as any right now, yeah?" He shrugged at Caelan's question. "Name's Jagger, by the way."

He may not have said it, but he's heavily implied it by asking if Ignis was new as well, but if he were to ask, he'd simply shrug. Vincent wasn't forthcoming with most information. He hadn't even introduced himself.

"I think we were brought here on purpose, I just don't know how sure I am we were individually selected." He realized how confusing that sounded.

“A pity.” He responded with little half laugh. “Perhaps someone of specialized talents will eventually show up, and we can find out then.” Caelan, at least being somewhat cautious, was not volunteering that he could. He’d figure the specifics of explaining that out at a much later date. Once he found out how dangerous that might be for him.

Until then, he’d enjoy the company and the conversation while he got a better feel for the place and his fellow abductees.

“You make a fair point, Jagger. We’ve got so many possibilities at the moment, who knows what’s right and what’s wrong.” He paused, before adding, “And I’m Caelan.”

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Test Drive - 001

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welcome back there sneaky man

Re: CRYSTAL

Re: CRYSTAL

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