Test Drive Meme #006

[khuimods]

KHU IODUAN; TEST DRIVE MEME #006

I. AROUND AIFARAN - Getting The Perfect Shot! This month in Aifaran, there's a contest being held on the popular social site Xa Xa, which Earth-based Dreamfolk may recognize as vaguely Instagram-like -- it's all about the pretty pictures! With a top (and substantial) prize of 500 hhinn per category, lots of people are getting into the game. Prizes will be handed out for awards like Best Composition, Most Creative Angle, Best Use of Lighting, etc, and this means that it won't be uncommon to see people in unusual places (even some risky ones) trying to score the perfect shot. Maybe they're bumping accidentally into you on the street, or slipping off the edge of a rooftop, or not paying attention to that train heading their way?? II. TALENT IS A MISNOMER - You Didn't Need That Wall Right? There are a lot of Dreamfolk in the city, and all of them are dealing with their own newly gifted Talents in their own ways. Some, especially those who are used to extraordinary abilities from their own worlds, have some idea of how to train on them safely, learning the ins and outs of their new gift. And then you have some whose only exposure to "magic" is through stories, fairy tales, or really entertaining TV, and pointing a finger-gun at a target and saying "boom!" has never actually worked... until now. "Uh," the other Dreamfolk says, staring dumbly at the car-sized hole in the wall, and then glances at you who just happened to be the closest person. "That's... new. Yikes. Should we run? Wait, I've got a better idea--" Cue loud voice and frantic pointing in your direction. "IT WAS THIS ONE! THEY DID IT!" 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. A SURPRISE WINDFALL - Officer, This Isn't Mine... There was a loud thud as someone tosses a heavy bag from the window of a dilapidated building. Five seconds later there’s smoke pouring out the windows and your holding what seems to be someone else’s luggage. Opening it, you find carefully wrapped bricks of some very illegal drugs, and someone down the side alley is pointing at you and yelling. A mounted Sentry officer is giving you a rather peculiar look as well while he calls in the fire brigade. And among the people fleeing the building, there are five Kin’nal looking at you, wide-eyed, as it suddenly dawns on them that they messed up. Take your new prize and split before reinforcements arrive? Try to explain the mistake? Take note that the building is still on fire? V. 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. 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

Ace | 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors

[inyourace]

VI: WILDCARD: or, the indignities of interdimensional travel

The ship, Ace understood. The incinerator room, the bracelets, the trap he walked right into without a second thought: all of it, no matter how infuriating, he understood. All of it made sense.

The stable, the straw, and the pile of horse dung under his shoulder are somewhat less understandable.

Ace stirs, groans, forces himself to sit up. Where the hell is he? How did Zero manage this? The last thing he remembers is trying to verify at the RED, and the ERROR message on the display, which was impossible,, but -- he has to admit, not as impossible as blinking and finding yourself in a bed of straw and horse dung instead.

When he finally leaves the stable, utterly and visibly confused, he freezes when he sees the pair of horses outside -- or, not horses, but... monsters. Deer-lizard-eagle-horse monsters. Dear god, has he been drugged? Is he in a delusional or psychotropic haze?

"Zero!" he calls out, his voice angry, his face afraid. Flecks of animal dung still stain his cheek and his coat. "Where are you!?"


III: WE HAVE REGULATIONS ABOUT THIS: or, stupid tourists who don't know anything about munga

The strange lizard creature running towards Ace is really just the icing on the completely nonsensical cake. He's had a hard enough time getting used to this tropical city and the muggy heat without anything crazy happening. It's hard to register the danger in time, even after he hears shouts and the crowd around him makes way for the giant lizard... thing to skitter right up to his ankles.

"Argh!"

The little bastard bit him. Anger, pain, and frustration momentarily override Ace's better sense, and his foot lashes out, kicking the creature up into the air. It lands several feet away, where it moves sluggishly while making a wide variety of angry noises.

Ace doesn't seem to care. He kneels down to inspect the damage on his ankle, and makes an irritated noise of his own when he sees the angry red welts.

VI!

[afoolsgold]

There is an odd-looking stranger nearby who is absently feeding what is probably an apple to one of the kirin, stroking its strange nose and speaking to it rather gently as he does so--but whatever peaceful atmosphere exists between the Fool and this beast is abruptly interrupted by the outburst nearby.

...oh. A newly arrived Dreamer, he supposes.

With one last pat to the kirin's neck, he takes a few sidling steps away from its stable to peer at the newcomer, smiling wryly. "You appear as though you might need a bit of help," he remarks.

[inyourace]

Ace very nearly turns around and snaps, but fortunately, surprise quashes the urge. It's not a monster he's faced with now, it's an ordinary human being. It's...

... damn.

With no idea which of the other prisoners of the Nonary Game he's speaking to -- or if he's even speaking to any of them at all -- Ace's demeanour melts back into his usual calm, collected air. He's still confused, of course, which makes it easy to present the perfect picture of a confused and sheepish older man caught red-handed in a loss of temper he hadn't meant others to see. If it isn't one of the others, if it isn't Zero, then a good first impression is in order.

"I think you're right," he says, hands in his pockets, his gaze torn between the horse monsters and his new companion. "It's been a very stressful night. Can I ask what's going on here?"

[afoolsgold]

The Fool gives his head the slightest angle away from the stranger, considering him askance with a closed-mouth smile that reveals nothing and attentive amber eyes. For a moment he's quiet, his deliberations kept private and unvoiced. Then his wry smile grows a touch amused, if sympathetically so, and he makes an artless gesture with one hand as he steps forward.

"You would not be the first to feel so, upon arrival here." He motions all around them, the movement broad enough to encompass all of the archipelago, rather than simply these stables. "This is Aifaran, the Seaglass City. A force called the Dreaming brought you here. Wherever you are from," he finishes, his tone gentling some for the delivery of this news, "it is far away from you now."

[inyourace]

Ace doesn't answer, because nothing this newcomer has said fits even a little bit into his established worldview. It's useless to deny it, because here's the evidence of it all around him, and there's still animal dung on his face -- but still, he can't accept it, not without question. He's running on no sleep and the dissipating adrenaline of believing he could finally escape the nightmare of the past nine hours.

"I see," he says finally, figuring he might as well attempt to engage -- and then it utterly fails when he trails off with nothing else to say. Hm.

"That's common?" he finally asks. "People arriving here against their will? Pardon my scepticism, but -- I'm a little tired of being manipulated by unseen forces."

To put it very mildly.

[afoolsgold]

”...Pardon my scepticism, but -- I'm a little tired of being manipulated by unseen forces."

There, the Fool laughs--lightly, almost genteely, with a rather charming edge to his expression. (Charm has always been one of his better defence mechanisms… after the absurd.) “Oh, I fear nothing but grievous disappointment awaits you here, in that case,” he replies and takes care not to let his gaze rest on… whatever it is on the man’s face, for too long.

“If you like,” he begins, “I can accompany you to the Dreaming Bridge. The staff there are better equipped for answering your questions than I am, I am sure.”

[inyourace]

"That's... not encouraging," Ace admits.

To put it very mildly. This time, not even Ace can quite hide the tightening in his face. How much longer until he can wrest back some control of his life? Where is this place?

"Accompany me to the -- dreaming bridge." Now, he's just perplexed. "The force which brought me here has built a bridge and given it staff? Why?"

III!

[thepockedman]

"Nasty little creatures, really," says the old man standing nearby, watching the scene with a curious mix of what might be disgust, but might also be amusement. It's tough to tell. "Apparently they are not always running amok, but in a place like this, you can never be too careful. One of the curiosities of the realm."

Chade proffers a slight bow, then offers a hand to Ace to help him up. "Do you need medical attention? I may know a few names."

[inyourace]

"Why haven't they been exterminated yet?" Ace says, almost snaps, before he releases an explosive breath and drags himself back to his senses. This is not the time or the place for talking about exterminating what might have been someone's pet, not if Ace wants his future plans to remain intact.

Instead, he studies the man who offered the help. Unlikely that it's someone Ace knows, but he can never be too careful, so he carefully schools his face and tone into something friendly, if still a little shaken. "I don't know," he admits. "I don't suppose one can catch rabies here?"