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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

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A. Welcome to the Jungle - Housing Square

He followed the strange little man in a sort of daze, wondering how this could have possibly happened, if he was having some sort of out of body experience, or if he'd finally gone fully mad. He was dressed in dark colors, slacks, a casual jacket, and thin leather gloves. He was the sort of thin that came from regularly forgetting to eat, and his dark hair was the oily that came from running your fingering through it often.

The edifice of the Historium dominated the square and he found himself staring up at it, blinking as he turned back toward his guide only to find the little man was nowhere to be seen.

"Speedy little wanker." It was muttered under his breath and not directed at anyone in particular, and he swallowed afterward. Scared? Maybe a little. It's not everyday you get teleported to another world, after all.

B. We've got fun and games

Jagger did make his way to the tavern...inn place, just off the market district. Sitting about in cafes was one of the best ways to hear local gossip, and if any of his various forays into fantasy literally had taught him anything, a tavern was just as good as a coffee shop when you wanted to know what was up.

He'd ordered an ale (really?) from the innkeeper (really?) and taken a seat at a table from which he could see the door. He wasn't sure what he was looking for but it was at least something more familiar than running around a stone and mortar city straight out of fiction. His head was still reeling from it all. There are other chairs at his table, though, and he doesn't seem the type to shrug people off, at least not with the way he's looking about curiously from time to time.

D. What's that smell?

The smell wafting from the wall and the sealed gate is enough to turn anyone's stomach, though it thankfully doesn't travel far from the cemetery itself. Still, his investigator's sense wouldn't let him simply turn a blind eye to something so strange (as though the rest of this place is completely ordinary) and so, against his better judgement, with every instinct screaming at him to run in the opposite direction from that place, Jagger approached the door. Unlike the entrances to the other districts, there didn't seem to be any guards around here.

"This is going up there on your list of stupid ideas, Jagger." He breathed a sigh and coughed at the smell before pulling off one of his gloves. "And now you're talking to yourself."

He was a psychometrist, he could know things from touching surfaces, read imprints, thoughts, emotions tied to it. It was just a gate, but it might have some sort of answer as to why the cemetery was sealed...and smelled like rotting meat.

E. Speaking Crystal

Is it even work- oh. [There's a clearing of his throat before he continues.] These bugger's are really sensitive when you touch them. [There's a self-deprecating sort of chuckle.] I know I'm not the only one who recently popped in to...what? Help rebuild a world? Nor pressure or anything. How much of this are we supposed to buy?

Edited 2020-06-25 03:33 (UTC)

0. Arrival
[ooc: you are welcome to assume that you see this, even if you don't interact with her until later. She just arrives, faints and wakes up crying because of reasons.]

It was sudden and jarring for the young seer. She should have seen, should have known, but it came without warning. There was a sharp pain in her chest, a tearing sensation against her soul and then everything began to shift and her body shattered. Her eyes opened to a strange room and she was crying.

"Father..." Her voice trembled as she stared up at the ceiling. At some point she had fallen. It wasn't entirely unusual but this was the first time that there was no one there to caught her. Her father was dead. Her brother was gone. And she hadn't seen it coming. It was all her fault. She was supposed to protect her clan.

Her palm pressed against the ground as she pushed herself up to stare at the fountain. It was beautiful and she felt a seed of hope blossom in her chest. She just had to keep going. As long as she was alive, she could do something.

Syeira stepped towards the fountain and reached for the multi-colored liquid when her attention was pulled away. The strange woman and tiny man only gave her more questions. Questions... that she may never learn the answer too.

She was given a bag and left in the city. For the first time in her life she was entirely alone. There was something daunting about the task. She had no one to ground her and her powers hadn't left her. She saw the shadow of the future overlay in front of her gaze. It wasn't so bad yet... there weren't too many people here. It wasn't like being in a city on Earth. This city was just beginning to grow. The tapestry was a simple design but she knew that it would quickly knot in its complexities.

Now she just had to find away to survive before the constant overlay drove her crazy.

A. Welcome to the Jungle

The odd thing about Syeira was that she rarely looked directly at the world or people around her. Her eyes were unfocused but she never had trouble perceiving things around her. In fact, she seemed to have a sense of what was going to happen a few seconds before it happened. She'd step out of the way before someone crashed into her and apologize. She'd stop to ask someone for directions but sometimes forgot to speak the question aloud, and yet she knew exactly where to go.

Anyone watching her movements would notice that they were odd. Even if they couldn't pinpoint the brief pause or delay. There was just something strange about her, as if she was slightly out of place.

But that could be normal. Everyone was out of place here.

She was dressed in a collection of bright fabric: red and orange skirt around her waist with a slit for her leg to peek through with each step, her stomach and lower abdomen were exposed with a light tan top circling her chest, her hair was bright and wavy, hanging around her slender shoulders along with a thin dark brown vest.

B. We've got fun and games

Syeira had been born and raised in the circus. The one thing she knew well, was how to entertain. Her job was that as a dancer, an assistant and a fire spinner. She had been given some money but she knew that it wouldn't last her forever. Bronze? It was a strange currency and a bit heavy.

Even so, it was enough to purchase what she needed for her performance.

She hoped that this crowd was amenable.

She found a safe corner and began to lay out some candles to mark a boundary. Each one was lit and carefully place. There was then a small cheap looking top hat placed just inside the boundary of the circle of candles. A sizzle ignited into the air, calling the attention of those nearby, as Syeira lit two metal balls that were attached to her palms by long sturdy straps. She then began to dance, swinging the flames with dangerous accuracy while drawing flickering flaming lines in the air around her.

It was beautiful and after the performance she slammed the flames to the ground, putting them out.

E. Speaking Crystal

It worked!

[The voice is bright, feminine and warm.]

Hello everyone or those who are here. This is a really beautiful crystal. I've never seen magic like this before but I like it. If there are any of the Septian clan here? Or perhaps a circus?

This is the first time that I am on my own. I am not sure what to do but I could use a hand.

[She hopes that it's safe to say so much but she's in an awkward situation. Syeira has never been on her own before. Her powers can protect her to a degree but she isn't a fighter.]

6. Wild Card

[ooc: come at me with anything! She will break and enter (the c option) but only when she realizes that her limited skills can't make enough money. On the plus side, she can see into the future and can probably get in and out without getting caught by a guard... maybe. so if you wanna play with that, I am 100% game. Also, she can tell the future so if you want her to answer a question before it's asked, please put it in the subtext. Otherwise I might have her randomly say things that make no sense and it can be assumed that it's a future that never happened.]

[He jumps when the voice comes from his crystal, muffled until he opens the locket. There's a lot to pick apart in her address, so he's going to start from the beginning.]

You haven't seen magic like this before? But you have seen magic? [It's what was implied.]

[There is no physical connection between the stones but the voice strikes Syeira has familiar. It's as if she's heard it before... in a dream. It's too fuzzy for her to make out, too far into the future but she feels its importance reverberate through her.]

Yes. I am able to see many things.

[She pauses briefly before asking.]

Do you know of the Septian people?

i. Welcome to the Jungle

"Everything is so tall..."

Yuna stood at the center of the city with her chin lifted towards the sky. She held a hand over her eyes to block out the sun and pinpoint the highest building amidst the collection of stone buildings. "I've never seen a city like this before..." She felt a wave of dizziness wash over her and she had to look away before she fell.

It would take some adjusting to living in a large city but that wasn't a bad thing. Yuna had always wanted to see a city like this though her real wish was to somehow make her way to Zanarkand. To his zanarkand, a world that didn't exist anymore.

The dream had to end.

Yuna shook herself from her thoughts but through all this, she'd been standing in the center of the street. Her clothes were odd with a long piece of fabric covering one hip, a pair of short-shorts, boots and a top that somehow has no sleeves but a hood.

She stood out a bit.

ii. What's that smell?

Yuna placed her palm over her nose as she approached the edge of the cemetery but it didn't stop the smell from filling her nostrils. "That can't be..." It was a smell she had known well... as a summoner. Even now she felt the weight of the dead against her senses. It was her power as a summoner and while the Aeon's were gone, her ability to send wasn't, but she suddenly felt as if that power might be useless here.

She placed her free hand against the wall and looked back and forth for a door to get inside.

"Are you lost? Is there no path to the Far Plane here?" She mumbled the question to herself though she wasn't expecting an answer. First she had to figure out how to get inside... maybe she could jump?

iii. Sending Crystals

Yuna here! [She smiles as she speaks into the crystal. It reminds her a lot of Shinra's comm sphere's though a little less sophisticated.] I wanted to introduce myself but also introduce to you~

"Your friendly neighborhood gullwings!" Here for any odd jobs you have and I think I'll start with exploring outside the city. It might be dangerous so make sure you have a way to protect yourself if you want to go out there with me.

Wild Card

[ooc. you know what to do.]

"Hey! Get back here!" Yuna ran through the square, only to stop a few yards from Jagger. She was breathless and gasping for air. If Jagger looked around, he'd notice that there wasn't anyone there or it didn't look like there was.

The girl frowns. "He got away again." She met Jagger's gaze with a pair of mismatched eyes; one blue, one green. "Oh. He must have guided you here too. You don't happen to have seen where he went? He vanished on me and I still had questions."

Yuna was stubborn and it was probably no surprise to Jagger that the gnome didn't want to be on the opposite end of her inquiries.

[Yeah, he's really not following.]

Yeah...we all are, love. [There's a pause. That had been next on his list of things to ask about, after all.] No, but you mentioned them before. What are they?

Jagger could relate. He was inquisitive by nature and that coupled with his inability to remain patient for too long often put him at odds with other people. He looks annoyed when he turns at the sound of her voice, slipping the key he'd taken from the satchel into the inside pocket of his jacket as he does so.

"You and me both. Looks like we're on our own, miss...?" He trailed out the last, trying to prompt her to give him her name.

[She isn't supposed to talk about her clan or her people as a whole but the man she's speaking too feels safe and it doesn't even occur to Syeira that their conversation isn't private.]

They are the bloodline of the readers and viewers. That is, they can see into the future or past. Some of the line can lightly manipulate small objects with their minds or speaking directly into someone's mind or read surface thoughts.

It is a little different for everyone within the Clan.

"Oh!" She grinned. "My name is Yuna! From the Island of Besaid. Though-" Her head tilted to the side. "That doesn't mean to much here... huh..."

She looked back at Jagger as if shaking off her thoughts. "My world is called Spira." She didn't know if he had ever heard of Spira but she had hoped. Then again, she's never met someone from Spira who didn't know who she was. Maybe, at least that part, was a good thing. It was nice being a stranger in a crowd and very different from what she was used too.

"What's your name?"

Undead. It was a scent he knew all too well, having faced them before in some form or another. The dead didn't rest, or their sould didn't rejoin the lifestream, or even worse, they were reanimated using technology. This city wasn't going to be rebuilt with the restless dead at their back door. His crimson cape moved about his armor-clad boots as he approached, his feet barely making a sound to spite their armor.

"They can't answer."

Her head snapped to the left, her mismatched gaze locking onto the dark haired figure wrapped in red. Yuna's fingers lightly pressed against the wall as if the tension was about to manifest into movement but then, she relaxed and her hand fell back to her side.

"How do you know? All those people... I can feel them. Just beyond the wall. I'm sure of it. I can't just leave them." There was always a chance that she was wrong but the feeling was too familiar for her to ignore.

"I could perform a sending." Even as she spoke, she didn't know where she'd send them or if that would simply make the situation worse. Yuna hadn't seen any fiends in the city. It could be that they were just behind this wall.

"You should have brought a plague mask. Stuffed it with herbs so you couldn't smell the funk." Unfortunately, the reek was something Cassandra had inured herself to long ago. She moved quietly, much like a stalking cat, looking up at the cemetery gates and narrowing her eyes.

"Don't let me interrupt you." Though it's very clear that this woman has absolutely no intention of moving off and letting him get down to business. The street may currently be empty, but with the way she acts, one might expect a monster to leap out at any moment.

She loosened her knives in their sheaths. Just in case.

[No, to be honest, this has crossed his desk before. Of course, if the weird people who met them at the proverbial door were to be believed, there was nothing suggesting they were even from the same universe.]

Sorry, love. Never heard of them.

A: Welcome to the Jungle

Cassandra lifted an arm to shield her eyes against the brightness as she stood from her crouch. So many colors--it was a little too much like a psychedelic drug trip for her liking. This was not her first experience in world jumping, though if she were asked, Cass would say she definitely preferred this type, despite the fact that it felt like she'd been scattered to the four winds before it was over.

She'd tried to follow after the gnome at a dedicated lope, but he'd managed to give her the slip despite it all--which was interesting, as these things went. Cass loitered in the Market District, briefly, but it didn't catch her interest.

She bought some sort of beverage--she wasn't sure what, other than it wasn't water--and leaned against a wall, watching the other people pass two and fro.

C: if I'm in your town, my needle's down on the groove

This--the harbor--was a bit more like home to the Euthanatos. The blonde mage opened her jacket a bit, so the hilts of her daggers could be seen, and adopted more of a swagger--the loose-limbed sort that said it was not the best idea in the world to mess with her. Cassandra knew the sort of place this was. She'd seen a dozen towns that could mirror it.

Though there was a certain building that caught her eye, and she sidled towards it, keeping an eye out for guards. Just because she was going to break in didn't mean she didn't have a damn good reason, but most guards didn't take a purported criminal's explanations for doing so as an excuse, even if it was "Officer, I swear I saw explosives in here. How did you do that? Well, I'm a seer, and..."

Yeah, that'd go over like a lead balloon. It was ridiculous, but it wasn't going to stop her, either.

E: Sending Crystals

The idea was a good one. An interesting one, but the fact that it was a wide-band broadcast was something that Cass felt she'd have to work on--but it would suffice, for now.

"So, how does everyone else feel about this little slice of post-apocalyptica we've found ourselves in?"

There's a definite hint of dry amusement in her voice.

wildcard

[ooc: roll the dice?]

He raises an eyebrow at her earnestness but does his model best to keep the smirk of amusement from his face. She's a helpful one. It's yet to be seen whether or not that's going to be worth anything, but it's good to be prepared.

"Sorry, Yuna. I've never heard of Besaid or Spira." He rolls his shoulder in a slight shrug, but doesn't offer to shake her hand. Maybe people on Spira didn't do that sort of thing anyway, and maybe she wouldn't find it rude. Wouldn't that be nice?

"I'm Jagger from Detroit." And considering she's from some place called Spira, maybe she won't find his accent, vaguely from the south of London, to contradict that statement. "My world's Earth." He looks over to her as though to ask, does that mean anything to you, though he assumes he already knows the answer.

Oh. [She sounds genuinely confused and a little sad.] I'm sorry Jagger.

[There is a brief pause as she attempts to clear her head.]

For some reason I had thought that you knew. It- I was sure.

[But she isn't so sure anymore.]

"Well, shit. I left my plague mask in my other jacket." His voice was slightly accented, perhaps from the south of London, but it had the worn edges that came from being in the States too long. He lowered his hand, taking a step back from the thick wooden gate as he did so, sliding his thin leather glove back into place almost as an afterthought. It wasn't that he didn't want to touch the door and have his psyche flooded with the thoughts of all the men who'd ever closed it, or perhaps the have-rambling ravings of whatever was on the other side, it was just that he didn't necessarily want to do it right now. He wasn't a coward or anything, honest.

"It's waited this long. I wager it can wait a bit longer." He gave her a closer look over, trying to determine what, if anything, he could discern from her mannerisms. He wasn't exactly Sherlock Holmes, but he was fairly good at reading people. "You find big gates surrounded by the smell of rotting meat often? You must live a charmed life."

"A shameful oversight! Coming to a graveyard without one?!" She's got that similar hint of an accent, though hers is by way of Italy with just the faintest dash of New York. Her tone is completely teasing, however. Sometimes it's not cowardice but intelligence, a streak of self-preservation to take that sort of action.

Cassandra simply watched the man, but it was akin to some sort of predator, watching to see what this interesting individual did next. As if she had all the time in the world and could wait forever, until he chose to move or something made him move.

"Just lucky, I suppose, though usually, then I'm asked to excise what is inside of it, if you must know." Between the call of her magick and the call of her mother, she knew that some day, it was likely she'd be called to cleanse this cemetery, too.

In contrast to Cassandra, Syeira wasn't accustomed to these sorts of places. She was a protected member of the clan and they wouldn't want her doing what she was about to do... alone... and unprotected but this was important.

At least, it felt important.

Orange and red skirts curled around her waist as she stepped into a shadow. It was easy to find the break in the guards. She just had to remain focused on the obvious paths; the daily paths. They were clear and steady with unlikely interruptions to blur her visions.

'It was this way...'

Syeira stopped when she noticed that she wasn't the only on here. She'd thought there might be another person but the path was unique. It wasn't the steady rhythm of the guard. Like Syeira, this other person probably wasn't supposed to be here.

"The smell." It was a simple enough explanation. He didn't know anything about Sending, religion had fallen to the wayside on the Planet long ago, the crumbling remains to be found and recognized for what they were, but worship had stopped long ago.

The girl had a point, though. No one should be resting easy knowing there were walled in undead on their doorstep. He looked up toward the top of the wall, several feet above both their heads, eyes narrowing slightly at the swirling mists there. He turned around, cape moving about his form enough to give the smaller girl a glimpse at his leather armor, the gun strapped to his thigh, before both were hidden once more. He measured the distance between the ground at the second floor balcony across from the wall, sprinted and leapt, finding a foothold there then scaling the wall to the building's roof, bringing him level with the roof.

His frown only deepened. A gentle shake of his head caused his unruly bangs to obscure his red eyes on the light of day before he leaped down from the room, landing in a crouch near her before standing.

"Some sort of magic blocks the view."

[A beat.]

I never told you my name.

While Cassandra might be more inclined to keeping to the streets, Uldren was more interested in exploring the alleys and rooftops. The assortment that seemed to loiter about the alleyways were about what he expected and reminded him quite a bit of some of the Eliksni he knew, and nothing his weaponry couldn't discourage.

He almost bumped into Cassandra, interested more in the exploration and less in the people. He did his best to move around her despite the surprise.

"Why don't you watch where you're going, huh?" It was spat out in a way to definitely save face and shift blame.

You... didn't?

I was sure that you had mentioned it.

Maybe not.

[There is another brief pause.]

I'm sorry. I just have this feeling that we were going to meet.

She shook her head in response. "Its alright. I didn't really think you would have. I'm not sure where this is or if we're even close to Spira anymore." She looked around as if expecting to see something extraordinary here. "This isn't how I imagined another world looking but I never really thought about leaving Spira."

Not that she minded, Spira was safe again and they didn't need her there but it was strange being away from the place that was her home.

Yuna smiled at Jagger. "It's nice to meet you. Considering the situation." She didn't reach for his hand but instead laced her fingers together behind her back. "I don't know Earth but I'd love to hear about it."

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Page 1 of 25

Test Drive - 001

Jagger Crowe | Original Character

Syeira Harven | Original Character

E. Speaking Crystal

E. Speaking Crystal

Yuna | Final Fantasy X-2

A. Welcome to the Jungle - Housing Square

E. Speaking Crystal

no subject

E. Speaking Crystal

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ii. What's that smell?

ii. What's that smell?

D. ooh that smell

E. Speaking Crystal

Cassandra Tyra | Original Character (Mage: the Ascension universe)

no subject

E. Speaking Crystal

no subject

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C.

no subject

E. Speaking Crystal

c. it's definitely not crime time

E. Speaking Crystal

no subject