Test Drive 029

[voidtreckermods]

Welcome to the Test Drive Meme! Here is the place to see how your character might fit the setting, grab samples and have fun!

1. Post with your character, including their name and series in the subject. We’ve written out some prompts but feel free to make up your own, you have a whole train to play with!

2. Assume they've been around long enough for threads to jump right into the action.

3. Have lots of fun.

Happy testing!

Cast-It-Yourself

The library is normally a quiet place. Today, however, a stack of books has been scattered across the low tables and mats. Whilst this shouldn't be an issue - a few minutes of tidying, surely - it would probably have helped if the stack wasn't entirely wizardry tomes and spellbooks. Magic sparks and pops around the room as it collides with other spells, and passengers are as likely to be hit by a stray enchantment as they are to suddenly find themselves able to cast whatever it was they intercepted.

Fixing misfired passenger curses and transformations will take a while; returning the spells to their books might be sensible, but maybe no one will notice if just one spell goes missing..?

3Spoopy5Me

The cinema carriage, normally home to millions of films and TV shows from across the multiverse, is currently undergoing some kind of unannounced maintenance; its library has shrunk down to a few hundred offerings.

Those that remain are, to a one, cheesy horror flicks. Some are earth-like. Evil alpacas from outer space, possessed toy cars, a pack of squirrels infected by a cordyceps fungus and ready to hide pieces of brain for the winter. At least three TV series of faux mysteries and monster of the week thrillers that have an unnerving number of seasons available. People in make-up are just as common as what might actually be genuine supernatural beings on-set, though the acting is universally terrible in either case.

Trick or Treat

Glucke is a small world, known primarily for its week-long Twin-Moon Festival. For six days a year, the natural and supernatural worlds overlap, and spirits and ghosts are able to cross over to the mortal world. Everyone goes about in costume or dressed up in their best. The children and teenagers of Glucke spend the week fulfilling requests and wishes from those visiting from the other side, whilst the adults spend it in contemplation and celebration.

If it was a normal festival, the Voidtreckers wouldn't be here. A particular alignment of the titular twin moons means that the link between the worlds is both stronger and more unstable than it should be, and mischief and trouble abounds.

Team One

A number of mean-spirited people and beings from both worlds have teamed up, and are trying to trick the Glucke children into doing evil acts. Visible by a faint sickly glow in the air caused by their dark intent, they need to be stopped before they lead the kids astray. Too much evil, and the children will become ill. Subdue the people and cast out the spirits!

Team Two

The larger influx of spirits means there are far too many requests to go around - the kids need help! Experiences for those beings who haven't encountered the natural world before, last requests from the departed, requests can be small - souvenirs or snacks - or large - arranging a meeting with a loved one, perhaps even brief possession. (Wishes granted generate a small amount of a sweet, ghostly substance that can restore the affected children from team one. Or, it's a unique and delicious snack.)

Team Three

The strong connection between the worlds has allowed some mortals through into the spirit world, normally impossible even on the festival's final eve. This team must venture into the wispy, intangible world of the spirits to retrieve those who've strayed. Some parts are hazy replicas of the natural world, whilst others can be long stretches of nothingness interspersed by shifting lights and soft shadows, or even fantastical scenes dreamed up by a collective of spiritual consciousness. Find the lost ones, bring them home.

Comments

Esteban Drake | Original Character | Trick or Treat - Team Three

[crowneddragon]

[Esteban balked as he reached the end of the cobbled stones, lingering at the edges of mortal thoughts and where it met with the endless vastness of minds time had forgotten. He could hear the shift of a mischievous wind in the thick mist that spread before him, could smell the thousand blades of grass that rustled in a phantom breeze. It would be warm-- a sun-baked plain of waist-high grasses, golden in the late summer sun; inviting him to lie down it it.]

[It would be warm, his instincts dozed, trailing the sunshine veiled by the mist through his limbs as if he was already standing in it. It would be peaceful, his thoughts slurred, dragging back memories of his childhood's summer days, laying in open fields and watching the clouds drift by. It would be joy, his heart sang, notes of childish happiness the likes of which were soon lost with age.]

[It was a damn liar, Esteban settled, his body and mind fighting the instinctual need to just walk in without a care for the danger. Nectar to sweeten the snap of the trap following close behind.]

"Never alone," [he breathed out to himself, more to hear his own voice and his own instincts over the feel of this... whisper. Pervasive and sweetly murmuring of safety, of happiness, like a lover's caress.]

[But Miri's brother had gone in there-- Yzelf and Rhodia as well! He couldn't-- he wouldn't abandon them! But he couldn't rush in heedless either-- even as tempting as it was.]

[Desperate, Esteban glanced around to find anyone-- anyone at all who might be near enough to come along with him. He'd take his best frenemy at this point. Hell, it might be for the best; he wouldn't be as likely to drop his guard in a mist-veiled field that smelled of too many promises for them to keep.]

[wewillwewill]

[While he's no frenemy, Elidibus is a good match. While his true nature might not be known, he appears to be able to move in this realm comfortably without succumbing to its honeyed lures.

He'd appointed himself a guide, or at least to keep an eye on the Voidtreckers that wandered into the spirit realm on a task. And so he approaches Esteban as the figure seemed to be drawn toward a dangerous promise. When looking around, he'll find Elidibus standing almost directly behind him. When did he get there?

But he's recognizable with a red polo and khakis marking his team designation and there's an SCA on his wrist.]

Ah good. You seem aware of the danger. What are you seeking? And shall I accompany you to your goal and out?

[crowneddragon]

[Oh, shit!]

[The half-elf nearly jumps out of his skin, rattled as he is near the feather-soft musings and the fingers of mist swirling along the cobblestones. With how he had missed Elidibus' approach, finding another being just a few feet away almost makes it seem like the lands beyond have breathed him out; another lure to the constant murmur of "safe, soft, warm" that continuously tickles at the point of his ears. Esteban has to resist the thought that maybe blocking the sounds would help; he very much doubts that it would do anything.]

"Eli!" [In his defense, he hasn't thought this through. Elidibus wasn't someone he was overly close to-- and he'd been trying to keep the nicknames to a minimum considering not everyone enjoyed them. But it slipped out! Elidibus was such a long name!.. Oh well. Better ask forgiveness and all that.]

"Some of the village's kids went missin'. Three of 'em." [He waves at the likely culprit, keeping a careful eye on the mists that seem to edge ever slowly closer. Tendrils of it rise in innocent patterns, fluttering at the edges between the two worlds, wavering in the feeble light that barely seeps through the clouds. He tries to mask the shiver that they cause.]

"We gotta go an' help 'em out." [Already, he is reaching out; a large hand rising, palm open for his companion to take without much thought. The fog does not even need its voices to be as lethal as teeth.]

[wewillwewill]

[There is a sideways look Elidibus gives Esteban which suggests the nickname is noted. But there are more important matters, so he limits himself to a polite response.]

Elidibus, if you please. Three children did not pass by me. I would have stopped them had they done so. If the spirits paths took them to this mist, it was by a different path than the one you arrived on.

[These places, they're like that with their wending and not-straightforward ways, particularly now with the barriers so thin.

Raising a hand, the Ascian points it, palm outward, toward the beckoning mist. It halts and then begins to withdraw. Does Esteban have a sense for magic? Elidibus certainly did something. Whether it senses someone more powerful than it or is reacting to whatever the man did, it does not want to be near.

However it doesn't fully retreat.]

Hm. [He looks down with some actual surprise as the half-elf offers his hand. People just do not reach out of their own accord to touch him. He sighs and puts his free hand on Esteban's shoulder. It makes some sense to remain in contact.] ...If you have something of the children, it will be easier to find them.

[crowneddragon]

[Sensing magic or not is not a question; with whatever action Elidibus had done and the mists tempered, Esteban can hear them retreating, coy whispers drawing back in a hiss that feathers along his spine. He can't tell if it bodes well that he stops wanting-- longing for the promises that no longer tease him. The silence stretches, but it feels unearthly, and full. A watcher instead of an absence.]

"Of the children in general or those children specifically?" [The hand on his shoulder feels restrictive somewhat, but Esteban settles, trying not to bounce on the balls of his feet or fidget too much. It's smart. Meaning to or not, Elidibus' touch helps keep him grounded, and less likely to run off to the children without a thought.]

[He still wants to; the children should be taken home, should be made safe. But optimist as he is, he's not blind either, and there is too many strings to this spider's web for him to ignore the danger.]

"I got Yzelf's hat." [He shows it to his companion; a too-small soft thing, with slits at the top for the ears. It was, after all, what had guided him to the mists in the first place.] "But nothing for the others. Can it help?"

[wewillwewill]

Of those missing would be preferred.

[Elidibus sounds calm, but Esteban might notice he's keeping an eye on their surroundings. He gave warning but he knew better than to let his guard down. Anyway he explains.]

It is difficult to explain. It will not lead us to the child, but it is a connection and this realm attracts like to like. Hold fast to it and do not yield it to anyone. In time we will be drawn to its owner.

[He says nothing of the other missing ones. The best hope they have is that the missing children are all together. Elidibus releases Esteban's shoulder. For all that, perhaps because the mist has retreated and left them a sort of bubble of respectful space, his presence is still reassuringly there.]

After you.

[crowneddragon]

[It does not feel safe. Even with Elidibus by his side, Esteban still feels the sharp twinge of awareness, like plucked strings vibrating against his skin. It-- the mist-- they?... They are not wanted here. They are not wanted within, and the pressure of the anger and resentment gnaws teeth down his spine.]

[Well, tough luck. He's here for the kids, and he isn't leaving without them.]

[Settled, both in his skin and his mind, the half-elf takes a few steps into the shroud, ignoring the pinprick of thousand of the tiniest of claws; little bites of fury that don't manage to dissuade him. Good. Let it-- let the mist rage. Let it be angry; let it be a thing he can defeat; he can fight against. Those kids are coming home with him.]

"Thanks, Elidibus." [He turns on the ball of his foot, careless but sincere and his lips stretch in a large, cheerful grin. It is both an apology and a promise to do better at once.] "I'd've done somethin' stupid without you 'round."

[He's not above realizing that he probably would have rushed after the kids without backup if noone had been around just then; danger be damned. But he is glad that this isn't the case. With the fog having teeth, having claws, having a mind --whispers and murmurs and echoes; safesafesafeSafeSleep-- he doubts that he could have gotten out on his own.]

[He doesn't wait for an answer before stepping out further into the unknown.]

(OOC: I'm realizing that this is getting to be a pretty big plot for a meme, oops. If you want to stop here, I don't mind, seems like a good break off point. If you like it and want to continue, that's a-okay with me too~ I would like to practice some light atmospheric horror. ^__^)