ateratooc | Test Drive

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

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

What he would see would be notes in shorthand that likely only means something to the owner of the notepad, and a few sketches that, even at a glance, are morbid but utilitarian, almost like reminders, which is exactly what they are. Jagger's a detective, and sometimes he has to sketch the things he's 'seen'. There's also more than few pages scattered throughout that are dedicated to groceries. He never goes anywhere without that notepad.

"How large do you think bears are when compared to dragons?"

"Depends on which species of dragon. Smaller than a Ruby. Maybe closer to a Hexadragon? But on my world, very little survives save monsters," Nida provided quite readily. A tidbit now could mean being given a mouthful later. And knowledge was always a goal of his.

"Pseudo-dragons can get even larger though. I'm told one of the ones I'm used to is about the size of what earth had called a 'T-Rex'."

One almost ate him once, but he has tried to move past that.

"A Tyrannosaurus Rex?" Jagger had gone through that phase of life all young boys had: dinosaurs were awesome. He hadn't even shaken the entire idea, dinosaurs would always be at least a tad cool to the young man, but to hear a creature from another world being compared to one?

"What makes them 'Pseudo-dragons'? What are they...part dragon and part...?" It was a leading question, but he's having trouble wrapping his head around this one.

Oh boy, they're about to get into monster identification guidelines, and Nida just sighs. Because that was a class he'd done well in but didn't like parroting information from back nearly as much.

"They are things that were originally incorrectly classed as dragons. They are similar enough in most cases, often having a dragon-like appearance of something vaguely lizard with scales, perhaps even their traditional weakness and weak points. Sometimes they are even named something-dragon. But when it comes right down to it, they aren't dragons."

Jagger nodded. It actually wasn't a difficult concept to follow, and it made him realize it was possible their two worlds were so different after all.

"There are creatures on Earth, legends really, called dragons. They come in all shapes and sizes, but all legends are based on fact, yeah?" He nodded again, more certain as he continued. "We've got these big lizards, Komodo Dragons, that are named the same way. They're not as big as any T-Rex, but I get it."

Dragons. Ugh. Even talking about them this much makes him cringe. He hates them, a lot. The sooner this topic faded, the better.

"I think... I've heard of Earth before," he admits, brow scrunching as he tries to figure out where and why. "Is that... Where New York is?"

He thought he'd heard of Earth before? He nodded at the question, though.

"Yeah, that's where New York is. I'm from a city called Detroit, at least that's the first city I remember. I was born in London, which is on another continent."

There was so much of his knowledge that had been wiped in his transition. There is a lot more of it, and he quite likes the idea that the memory that was tattered in his mind was absolutely starting to happen.

"Detroit. London... Neither of those trigger memories. I just know of New York City."

"I've only been to New York once or twice. Once when I was a kid. Same country, though, Detroit. London's not...in the same country, that is."

He shook his head, though. None of it really mattered now, did it? If there was one place like this, pulling people from other worlds, it couldn't be the only one, could it?

Well, at last Nida's done with his drawing, and holds it out toward the other young man. Enjoy a picture of a chocobo.

"So Detroit and New York City are in the same territory, but London is somewhere else. Am I getting that right?"

He blinks down at the drawing for a moment, tilting his head to the side curiously. The motion is almost dog-like.

"Uh...yeah." He nodded, semi-distracted by the drawing. "The United States of America's made up of 50 states, hence the name, that are each governed locally, but are joined together in a sort of united federation by the Federal government. Detroit in the state of Michigan and New York City's in the state of New York. No points for originality. London, on the other hand's, across the ocean in the United Kingdom, which is a, uh, constitutional monarchy the USA won its freedom from a little over 200 years ago." He looked up then, questioningly. "These things are big enough to ride?"

Constitutional what now? Nope. He doesn't get it. Sorry.

"Yeah, they're big enough to ride. Big enough for multiple people to ride one."

Test Drive - 001

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