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quaranmeme2018-01-20 07:58 pm
riverview: january test drive meme
riverview test drive memeWelcome to Riverview's test drive meme! Feel free to dip your toes in on the test drive meme to try out your character in the setting, play out a mission, and get samples for your application at the same time!
● There are currently 2 Character Slots available.
● Reserves will open on February 15th. Applications will next be open between March 1st to March 7th.
● Providing all parties are amenable, threads on the test drive meme can count as game canon, as the plot in the prompts presented is game canon.
● TDM threads do not count for Activity Check, but they do count for Activity Bonus Points, so long as all characters involved are accepted into the game.
● Threading on the TDM is intended for prospective new characters, so top-levels should only be posted by players of these characters. Since the events in the TDM are considered game canon, characters currently in the game are free to use the TDM prompts for logs and posts on the regular communities.
Feel free to use the prompts below or create your own scenario. The setting is built to be flexible, so feel free to make things up as you go.
information resources
premise ● arrival ● setting ● ask a question ● calendar ● navigation
Starting around the 20th, residents of the city will start hearing some pretty disturbing rumors circulating - the rumors originate with some members of the Perimeter Guard who are returning from patrols, pale and a little panicked. They're reporting that a herd of terrifying beetle-like behemoth monsters lumbering toward the city - one female leader clocking in at 60 feet long and about 20 smaller male companions, each around 30 feet long. Unlike the Behemoth who showed up earlier in the year, these ones are nasty, sporting horns and big enough to knock over trees and displace even the bigger monsters in the usual crowd, and they've already breached through the wall of the Abandoned City and are heading toward the city itself. A herd like this could cause some serious damage, maybe even enough to compromise the wall of the Inhabited City. Thankfully, the Perimeter Guard has a nice big ace up their sleeves in the form of a small fleet of mechs, but the problem is that the mech are still in beta-testing, prone to breaking down, and there aren't enough to go around. This means that there's going to have to be some serious support on the ground.
The attack on the behemoth beetles is two-fold. The first order of business is to send out anyone with big powers or big guns to wear them down, beating on them the old-fashioned way, with brute force. The second is to circle around behind and, while the monsters are distracted, try to herd them away from the city using bright flares, fireworks left over from the Festival of Light, and even more big guns. Volunteers to do the shooting and supplying the brave souls going out into the jungle are welcome!
What do you use to fight a giant monster? A giant mech. And thankfully the Perimeter Guard has been working on something just like that - a new fleet of 20 three-story-tall mech suits meant to be manned by two people. With the behemoth herd approaching, the Guard is calling for anyone with piloting experience, or even people willing to take a quick course in it, to help man the fleet and head out into the fray, stomping through the brush and fighting the behemoths either in the Abandoned City or the jungle outside it. The goal is to take them out, take them down, or at least help the ground teams herd them away from the city and discourage them from returning.
Mechs are piloted by two people working together - while it's not exactly drift compatibility, the two characters need to act together, with one directing where the mech goes and keeping an eye on the terrain, and the other one manning the guns and keeping an eye on the mech's defenses and energy and ammunition levels. This takes a lot of concentration and cooperation, and this day is bound to forge a lot of new friendships....and probably a few mortal enemies. On top of the difficulty of working with someone who may be a total stranger, don't forget the mechs are in beta-testing and are only being used as a last resort, which means they have a bad tendency to break down in unexpected ways.
Each mech is fitted with two large canon-style guns that can be semi-automatic or automatic with a limited amount of ammunition, one plasma sword, and a force shield that can take four serious hits before it is depleted. They have a finite amount of energy storage and are able to be in continuous use for 3 hours maximum before shutting down. Out of the fleet of 20 mechs, the mod only expects about 5 to still be functional at the end of the battle, so feel free to have characters destroy them in threads. If any player (once accepted to the game) is interested in having their character take over the mechs as a project going forward, feel free to PM the mod account and we can talk it out!
Once the city is safe enough that it isn't in poor taste to advertise fun outings, residents will start seeing ads for a new attraction in the city - the Crystal Caves. Presented as an excellent date spot, the caves are beautiful natural formations only recently discovered just a short walk outside the city. With the path cleared and patrolled by hired security to ensure that the trip there is safe, happy couples (or singles, but why go alone when you can bring a special friend or two?) can walk through the caves.
Inside, characters will enjoy a short walk along a twisty cave path where the walls appear to be made of semi-opaque crystal that shimmers with different colors, looking almost a little like the Northern Lights. After this path, the caves open into a series of beautiful caverns that seem to be made of pure crystal, with jagged crystalline formations in wide varieties of colors, some of which look almost like they've been slowly melting for decades, molten and shimmering. Visitors can find booths offering rock candy crystals on sticks and other treats, souvenirs, and for those without as much exploratory spirit or patience, guided tours that point out some of the more beautiful formations. There are also a few smaller caverns that have been converted into overnight camps where groups can stay the night and enjoy a catered group breakfast in the morning!
If there's one trait that entrepreneurs in Riverview Quarantine all seem to have in common, it's jumping the gun and opening attractions or releasing new products before taking the time to conduct enough tests. The Crystal Caves are no different, unfortunately, though in this case the effects are a little less distressing. Residents who traveled to the caves will find themselves tossing and turning at night anywhere from a few days later to a week later, depending on their mental fortitude, and slipping into incredibly strange dreams. Varying from wild flights of exhilarating fancy to personalized nightmares depending on the personality of the dreamer, the dreams are incredibly vivid and realistic, with everything feeling, smelling, sounding, tasting, and looking completely real.
The strangest part of the dreams, though, is that anyone who'd looked at the same particular crystal as another person and seen their reflections in it will experience the dream with that person as an equal participant, able to share the same dream-granted abilities and experiences, able to work together as a team or hinder progress. Whether that person was a partner, a friend, an enemy, or even just a stranger observing the same formation at the same time, if their reflections appeared on a crystal together, they will find themselves sharing each other's dreams off and on for about a week. Some dreamers might even find that just thinking about a particular person they know as they fall asleep can pull that person into their dream, even if they weren't in the caves together.
This effect can be shared between just two people or larger groups, and the dreams themselves can belong to any character affected or be a combination of all of their dreams. The dreams themselves tend toward the positive more than the negative and the fanciful more than the realistic, but where they fall on that spectrum depends largely on character temperament and personality. Characters affected simply have to have looked at the same crystal in the caves, even if it was on a different day or at a different time, or for characters who would not have gone to the caves, be thought of by a person who has while they fall asleep.
Whether your character is posting up a silly word game, trying to get hold of a friend, or putting out feelers for people to go out into the fray with, the network is going strong.
Alternately, an offer for a free app is popping up on new arrivals' devices - Friendr is a friend-finder and/or dating app. If characters choose to install it, they will fill out a short bio and parameters for what they're looking for, upload a snap of themselves, and then proceed to browse for matches. This is a typical swipe-left-or-right type app.
Friendr base code is by photosynthesis.
The code in the textbox is for the default color scheme, but the Friendr app has a wide variety of themes, so feel free to customize with colors and patterns as you see fit, but do not remove the credit line out of respect for the creator of the code.
Use the wildcard prompt to choose your own adventure and do whatever else you like in the setting!
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Humans are fallible, though, as are their plans--the crux of which (a strong and central phalanx seated behind her, to assist her) seems to have collapsed. So it is that despite Alexiel's clear cry for a chain, there is no answering call, no delivery. The beetle whips its head and that powerful horn in Alexiel's direction before lowering it like a bulldozer and making to rush her. It only manages a few steps before the ground suddenly explodes into fractures of protruding rock in front of its spindly legs.
It rears and takes a few steps back--and a second explosion wracks the ground almost underfoot of it, forcing it back again. And again. And again and again and again, until it has been herded back toward a cliff overlooking the fray. There, at the top of the peak, difficult to make out from the distance, stands a tall, dark, figure that, if only for the silhouette of its four dark wings, ought to be familiar to her. ]
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The ground erupts. With her balance shaken, her wings reveal themselves and she rises slightly into the air, looking for the source of the raw power. She knows it and her heart leaps at the possibility of seeing a familiar face.
New worlds are fun and exciting, but she hasn't appreciated being cut off from everyone and everything she has grown to know and love.
Him included. With a great downward sweep of her wings, she brings herself further into the air until he is easy to see. Sword shining in her hand, she dives at the beetle, driving the blade mercilessly into its head. When the creature stills - for a moment, at least - she twists agilely and lands before the shadowy figure.]
How long have you been here?
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He makes for an odd figure, probably: with all four black wings manifest, from far away he looks like the apocalypse incarnate. Up close, though--his pants are a dark denim, his jacket leather over a button-up shirt. It's much more reminiscent of Kira's style of dress than any Lord of Hell's... but getting his hands on full-length leather capes, pants, vests and the like are expensive in Riverview, and he's not exactly stooped to getting a "job" just yet.
He can't make heads or tails of her expression. Maybe he should have killed the beetle, only--the woman who loved so fully, who loathed being forced into violence and destruction in the first place--he was refraining from killing it in front of her. He wonders if perhaps he should have hid himself. Maybe he should have done nothing at all--she's a powerful woman; as she made clear, she has more than enough skill to dispatch that enormous pest.
But he can't show a weak face now. Not in front of her. ]
The whole time. I'd say I'm surprised you couldn't tell, but you never were very good at detecting me.
[ Nailed it, ]
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That could not possibly be because you cloak yourself like a shadow in the night? [The beetle is incapacitated by her sword as it tries to figure out how to remove it. Its armor is thick and it will take significant power to shatter it.
Alexiel isn't sure she wants to go that far. The creatures are magnificent in their own right and if they can be herded or even tamed, the effort will be worthwhile.]
Aid me now in securing this group and then we can talk. [His control of earth will be very useful and she flies to stand on top of the beetle.] Can you make a pen? They do not climb well with how heavy they are. The walls do not need to be too high.
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You worry too much. A shadow doesn't worry if the sun can't find it. Go steer your ugly friends together again; I will make your pen.
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No. [Alexiel's amusement fades to something more solemn.] I'm not the sun.
[Leave that to those who want to shine. She just wants to live in the manner she chooses, protecting those she loves.]
Are they ugly?
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Then be the moon, or a star, or a flickering candle in the night, if you wish; it matters not to me. Your light is the only that casts this shadow.
[ he casts his gaze back to the rampaging beetles ]
As for them--perhaps, perhaps not. I suppose it might be unfair to cast judgment on them while I am looking at your face; you would make even the loveliest look ugly to me. If you care for them, then I will be as gentle as I may.
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[Lifting a hand, she remembers grasping the sword, curling her fingers around the hilt of it as she swung it at her foes.]
Flattering works better on Rosiel. [She turns and lays a hand on the beetle, removing her sword once the creature looks calmer.] I see them as an armored defense. Pen them now and unleash them upon any who threaten the settlement later.
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He was wrong to think they might understand one another better after everything that had happened. Or, rather, "Sakuya" was. He was and is once, twice, a thousand times, a foolish man. Yet he was the greater fool for listening to that part of himself.
He is Lucifer, and she, Alexiel, no more and no less, just two ancient powers that can never seem to find a place that meets. That she might appreciate it as more than empty flattery or see that he was putting to words not an assignation of blame but a simple statement of truth for the gravitational, natural pull that he feels toward her---
there was no point in trying.
He steps forward, past her, to the ledge, and raises his hand. Blast after blast of earth splintering explosion racks the lands, forcing the giant bugs backward into her requested pen. They screech unholy, frantic clicking noises, but aside from the one she has incapacitated herself, he leaves them unharmed. He finishes without fanfare. ]
Do with them as you wish.
[ And apparently without a proper goodbye; he turns and makes to leave.... ]
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He is...quite simply...her strength, her armor and half of her heart (the other half she must always reserve for her brother). The beetles might be frightened and screeching, but they cannot match the sudden howl of the wind that whips around the earthen obstacles.
Turning on her heel, she runs to him and wraps her arms around his neck...]
There is no light without you.
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He simply doesn't know how to process where this encounter has gone. ]
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The most beautiful light is you. What I am slow to learn, you know by nature or through experience. Your patience ensures my path is never lonely.
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... Then I have done a poor job, forever finding you too late.
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I will not pretend to understand how, but I will not tell you you are wrong, if that is truly how you feel.
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And yet it is still not the time nor the place for any truly deep give or take. Far away, he can make out the faintest cries of humans. The wind may tear their voices to shreds, but still, he can make out the name that they cry; it's only been the same one on his lips for all these centuries.
He lifts the hand pressed to her chest, only to gently grasp hers and raise it to his lips. ]
Your companions are looking for you.
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Are you expecting me to choose them over you? [He must be accustomed to it, she reasons, but she is frustrated nonetheless.] I am not.
[Her wings spread and she exhales.]
Each time I leave you, it is a mistake.
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yes, he probably does suspect, deep down, that if fate turned that way then once again they would find themselves repeating the old pattern. However-- ]
I never said I wouldn't go with you.
[ His mouth twitches into a wry smile and his voice is filled with a soft, dry amusement as he moves to stroke the thick hair at her temple away from her face. ]
But if you don't go down, they're probably going to think you're dead.
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Come with me. [Old habits be damned. Alexiel links their fingers and turns to walks down the hill. The beetles have calmed, it seems and she smiles at them briefly as they pass.]
I like them even more.
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They may prove useful. Who are your friends?
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[Frankly, she is tired of watching others die. It is entirely natural and expected, but she wants to avoid seeing it and causing it while here.]
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Human existence is short and fleeting. If they want to risk their lives or lose them to have meaning instead of dying old and infirm and having done nothing of value, then so be it. No one benefits from a life unlived.
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[Only assisting them.]
I know the value of choosing one's last stand. [Had she not asked him - a lifetime ago - to end her life with his sword?]
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Maybe they have people they love that they'd rather not see trampled to death by a rhinoceros beetle the size of an actual rhinoceros. If you have the strength to lift a sword against a threat, then you do it, to protect those who can't.
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