Test Drive Meme #004

[khuimods]

KHU IODUAN; TEST DRIVE MEME #004

I. THE OPARA CORE - May I Borrow That? The engineers of the Opara Core facility are always on the lookout for new technology they can adapt into the ever-growing web that provides communications across the archipelago and beyond. Their staff are assembled represent a wide swath of the native races in Konryu whose skills are mechanically-inclined, and of Dreamfolk who've arrived and want to pitch in. Part of their standard operating procedure is to take an interest in tech coming in with the newly arrived Dreamfolk. An excitable female Muin, her bright shock of electrically pink hair and matching, jewel-like eyes alight with a madcap glee, is wheedling for whatever gadget you have on your person. "Please?" she asks for the third time, blinking at you hopefully. "I'll put it back exactly how it was when I'm done. I promise..." II. KIRIN RODEO - Place Your Bets! At the end of every month, the Mounted Division of the Sentry holds their skills competition. When they're not on the field, their steeds are often the subject of much admiration from children and more than a few adults. Astride many breeds of kirin, some lithe and fleet, some stockier and stronger, these off-duty officers demonstrate their control and bond over the notoriously strong-willed and intelligent creatures with complicated maneuvers. There's a surprisingly in-depth system for betting on one's favourite to win the various matches, and just about everyone's willing to explain the odds to newcomers. There's only one rule: all proceeds go to funding of the city's charities. (Bragging rights on winning are still yours to keep.) Two bells ring loudly over the crowd - last call for wagers! III. WE HAVE REGULATIONS ABOUT THIS - Munga on the Loose! Munga are ill-tempered, rat-sized spiky lizards with a gift for camouflage, and whose venom in their spines and teeth is also highly hallucinogenic. And... they're on the loose. Fortunately, keeping them is highly regulated, and pretty much everyone in Aifaran knows about them, but loose Munga are uncommon enough that the reaction is more likely to be startled flailing at a hint of spines and skittering. Today someone's exotic pet has slipped out of their hands, and it's trailing a harness and lead as it zigzags away, prickling and hissing and going for the ankles. It's given a wide berth, except by those who don't notice until it's too late or those too preoccupied by something else. Hopefully the proper authorities have been notified to catch and return the creature, but maybe someone helpful can keep it from getting too far away? IV. KNOWLEDGE IS PRECIOUS - Accosted By Monks The Tariken monks are out in full force today, their orange and green robes making them easy to spot in a crowd, and there's a high chance you might be approached by one. Their sect values knowledge above everything else, so recording information from Dreamfolk, who are transient to Konryu, is something they see as imperative. Some of the questions are standard ("what's the name of your world? is it anything like Konryu? do have have any special position there?") but sometimes they move into stranger territory, like what's your favourite bath soap scent and how many times you wear your socks before washing them -- all of which are asked with the most studious attentiveness, just in case your answer holds the secret to the multiverse. V. INTO THE UNKNOWN - Watch Your Back Out There The sea patrol discovered the new irregularity a few days ago, reporting that it looks like a series of tall and jagged stone towers rising up from the ocean. It's incomplete as these planar-shunted locations often are, as if something massive had taken a bite of some mysterious city and then spat it whole into the seas of Konryu. Having been chosen as part of the exploration team, you've been working your way through the complicated labyrinth of stone tunnels and dead ends, searching for what the Opara engineers had enthusiastically described as a potential new power source. "Trace the green glowing power lines," was their (sort of helpful) instruction. However the lean, dark and toothy thing you've just glimpsed should probably be a more pressing concern... warn others? Take it on yourself? Pray it hasn't spotted you? VI. WILDCARD - Because You're Not The Boss Of Me Anything else that doesn't fit the above prompts is welcome, just keep it within the game setting please! Applications • Reservations • Taken List • Game Navigation

Comments

[ilda]

There are moments when Ilda’s short attention span grows even shorter, and lately it’s been caused by the presence of her new favorite item, the yimo. She fishes the phone out of her pocket with a cheery, “Tadaaaa!” and, with practiced movements, quickly takes a couple of selfies with the unsuspecting Bastien. “Big smile now!”

[shivvymetimbers]

The pirate steps back briefly once she priest out that odd gadget. He never seen anything like it on his travels. It looks like it's part mirror and part rock, a very shiny stone. Well, maybe calling it a 'shiny stone' isn't quite right since Bastien swears it's made out of glass or something. Once the silly lass starts posing and such, Bastien inches back over. He peers into the screen once he sees his reflection and starts smoothing out his mustache a little.

"Well, well! This is different." He mutters under his breath as he keeps preening. Listen, he really likes shiny objects and this yimo is shiny. "What are we doing, luv?" The question will probably go unanswered but here he is taking pictures with this cheery girl. Bastien is all smiles and then some.

[ilda]

Ilda's never seen anything like it either, not until coming to Aifaran anyway. She's not actually vain, but she's so enamored by pictures that she takes an awful lot of them. "We are taking pictures, mister!" she answers happily. "Then I'm going to send this to the magic library, Xa Xa! It's so cool, right? We do this-" She pauses to inch closer to Bastien, making a face and snapping away. "-and the yimo pretty much paints what we looked like at that moment, just like that!"

Then she remembers his question about stealing. "You don't have to steal this, the nice people at the yimo place will give you one, and teach you how to use it, too."

[shivvymetimbers]

They're taking pictures? Really? This is a little before his time honestly. While Bastien has a few wanted posters of himself scrawled in every pub in the Mediterranean and beyond, he never had his picture taken before. So excuse him as he looks a tad baffled. He just peers at that funny looking rock thing suspiciously for a moment before grinning at the woman again.

She's a friendly lass, isn't she? Quite charming in an odd way but probably a witch of some kind. How else to explain what happened earlier with the monks? That's all fine and dandy though. Everyone has their secrets and Bastien certainly has his.

"This thingie must fetch a pretty penny---" He trails off suddenly once she explains how to get one. The pirate gawks at her in absolute disbelief. "This is free?" He questions with his brow arched high. "You must be jokin! No one just gives things for free." A pause, "At least not willingly." Bastien would know.

[ilda]

“That’s what I first thought, too! It’s certainly not good for business,” Ilda says, laughing. She may not look it, but she knows a quite a good deal about business; she pretty much runs their family’s shop on her own, and profitably. “But they’re probably doing it so we don’t get too mad at them for not letting us leave.”

Well the Opara Core technicians aren’t actually the ones responsible for yanking people from their worlds, but it’s easier to speak in generalities.