Test Drive Meme #001

[khuimods]

KHU IODUAN; TEST DRIVE MEME #001

I. THE VERDANT SENTRY - Attention, New Recruits! It's clear that all of the city's law enforcement is handled by the various branches of the Sentry: from Mounted Division handling street patrol, to the Aerial Corps provided airborne support for tactical and rescue operations, to the Nautical Branch undertaking regular sea patrols as the first line of defense along the archipelago's borders. But everyone interested in joining up has to go through their basic training program, and that starts today with a general skills assessment. There's quite a mix of attendees today, spread across nearly every race represented in Aifaran and including other Dreamfolk, but whatever the recruiter is saying is getting lost in the two chatty Igheeri who seem to think they're too good to listen to the standard welcome speech... time to interrupt by signaling the person in charge? Take care of it yourself? Gripe about it to the person in line beside you? 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. 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. 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

eve baird | the librarians | voice testing

[colonelnope]

III - we have regulations about this

"Get back here!"

It's a lizard. It's not going to listen to her. Eve saves her breath and darts after it, hiking up skirts. She's still stuck in this damn Elizabethan dress, she's down a Librarian and is somewhere completely unfamiliar, but at least she can still identify 'I didn't want that animal to get loose' and 'it is probably going to hurt people' when she sees them. She bolts down the streets, leaping where she needs to, elbowing people who move too slowly. "Out of the way, angry lizard! You-- catch that lead!"

II - kirin rodeo

Look. Eve prides herself on being used to weird, at this point. The animals really are gorgeous, in their strange, scaly way, even if she's half expecting one of them to breathe fire.

It's just that the explanations of the odds keep going right over her head, because the reasons make no sense. A little helplessly, she turns from the person explaining things to her to the nearest other person who looks vaguely Dreamperson-ish. "Hey, is this making sense to you? Are we seriously betting on this one because it's greener than the others?"

you're not the boss of me

wildcard me up! I'll roll with anything

III

[annihilist]

While Devin is no longer a member of any police force in this world, he's not beyond lending a hand here and there - particularly when the person in question is wearing completely inappropriate attire for the chase she's attempting.

He steps on the lead as the lizard skitters by, apparently unconcerned with how the sudden resistance would jar the spiny, hallucinogenic creature, and offers the woman an arched eyebrow.

"You don't look like animal control," Devin says dryly.

[colonelnope]

“I’m not.” Eve straightens up, eying first the new person — tall, smug, potential to be a threat — then the lizard. (Small, spiky, annoying and probably venomous.) “Thanks. I don’t know who lost it, but I’m pretty sure they’re missing Spike here. And judging by the way the locals are acting, it’s not friendly.”

She shakes her head, scrapes her hair back and eyes the new person again. “You want to grab that, or shall I?”

[annihilist]

"I've been told they're toxic," he fills in for her, bending down to retrieve the lead. The munga snaps at Devin's hand, diverting to charge at his feet when it misses, and he straightens quickly to avoid falling prey to the hallucinogenic spikes. The poor lizard ends up not quite dangling at the end of the lead.

"You don't seem to be attired appropriately for this sort of thing," the vampire remarks, ignoring the angry hissing noises the lizard is making. "Nor is it your responsibility. Why the chase?"

[colonelnope]

"I didn't start this day in a position where toxic escaped lizards were a problem," Eve gripes. At least he's got control of the thing now, even if it sounds angry.

The bit about her responsibility doesn't make much sense. There was a problem; why wouldn't she have acted? "Everyone else was just trying to dodge it. No one was doing anything, so I did. Or-- you did, I guess. Thanks for catching it. How toxic are we talking?"

[annihilist]

"Hallucinations, photo-sensitivity, that kind of thing," Devin answers, sounding for all the world like that's a boring problem. The munga tries to lunge at Eve's skirts, and he jerks it back before it can reach her. "You've just arrived, then; that explains the corset, but not how you speak. Have you been directed to the Dreaming Bridge yet?"

II

[grimreaping]

"That's what I've been getting from it as well," Kid confirmed, studying his own betting card for a moment before giving a fairly certain nod toward Eve. "It's possible there's some reasoning behind it? A sign of better upkeep, or a better diet? Or they could just appreciate the colour."

[colonelnope]

Great. Eve had just as many questions as she started with. But at least she wasn't going crazy about the green bit. She sighed, and folded up her own betting card without actually making a contribution. "And here I thought I'd seen everything."

Adaptability proved yet again to be the greater strength. Okay. "I can't even tell if they're supposed to be green. You been here long?"

[grimreaping]

"I've found it's a good practice to never assume that," the young reaper replied with a smile. "If it helps, I think we'd be hearing a lot more feedback if they weren't supposed to be green."

He marked his card - although his seemed to look oddly symmetrical with its spread of checked boxes, rather than favoring any particular beast - before turning it over to one of the eager collectors. "Not overly long, no-- 11 and three quarter days. Yourself?"

[colonelnope]

11 and 3/4. Well, that was precise. Eve raised an eyebrow over that, then shrugged and finished marking her own betting card. "Since yesterday morning. I'm finding my way around all right, but all this is a little weird even for me."

What was with his hair? ...Maybe she just wasn't going to ask.

"But hey, it's for charity, right?"

[grimreaping]

"Then my tenure is hardly impressive over yours," Kid replied light chuckle.

(Please don't ask, Eve, he's having a good afternoon so far.) Other than the apparent strangeness of his hair, he actually looks rather put together, if a little formal for the casual atmosphere of the event. He's casting occasional glances at her dress, however.

"So they've said, which is something good to see. A city that makes such a regular public thing entirely altruistic is a city in sound standing."

III

[meds4sale]

The Medicine Seller had quick reflexes and managed to catch hold of the Munga's lead. He was then, however, engaged in a sort of circular dance as he had to constantly step out of the way of the enraged little bugger who wanted nothing more than to gnaw on his ankles.

He was of a generally kind disposition to animals, but these little lizards tested his seemingly infinite patience.

"Is it yours?" He asked slowly, with a sort of halting cadence.

[colonelnope]

The dance: amusing. The probably-venomous lizard: less so.

Eve pulled to a halt anyway, eying the new person up with moderate suspicion. "Not mine," she said briskly. "I'm not actually sure whose it is, just that it was running and I'm pretty sure the locals don't want to get bit by... whatever this is."

A grumpy spiny football, maybe.

[meds4sale]

"Ah."

He was quiet as he searched the crowd for any sign of someone searching for the angry lizard, all the while carefully stepping around it every time it made a lunge for his feet.

"One might assume... that people would prefer a less aggressive pet."

[colonelnope]

Okay, that's... funny. Kind of.

"You'd assume that," she agrees, "but you wouldn't believe what some people will try to keep for pets. Tigers, scorpions... Nice, friendly things you'd want to pet."

The sarcasm is strong. Sometimes she wonders about her own species. "Need a hand with that?"

III

[redlightgreenlight]

Valdis, desperately trying to mind her own business, tries to pretend that she doesn't hear the woman's command, or care about the issue at hand. She turns to see the woman, who is wearing a very inappropriate dress for this particular occasion. She arches a brow, stepping out of the way. The spiny lizard dashes on by, the lead trailing after it, but Valdis makes no move to stop it.

[colonelnope]

"Would you--" Nope, darkly beautiful woman is going to be completely unhelpful, great. Eve saves her breath and brushes right on by her. She has a mission, and it involves the lizard, not the woman.

She's definitely going to have a piece of her mind for this lady if the lizard manages to get away because of her, though. "Thanks," she calls over her shoulder, entirely sarcastically, and keeps after it.

[redlightgreenlight]

Valdis sighs heavily, then starts after the woman at a leisurely pace, the instincts of a hunter kicking in. The lizard seems to greatly appreciate his chance at freedom, darting around, trying to find a place to hide as bewildered people move out of its way. It's easy to track the woman, who seems to be moving at a fairly brisk pace considering her skirts.

The lizard circles around, charging back in the direction it had come from.

[colonelnope]

Oh good, it's coming back toward Eve.

Oh, hell, it's coming back toward Eve and it's going to get tangled in the skirts. She skips aside with a sharp hiss, and then flings herself after it. It's close enough that she chances a diving leap for the lead, hoping she won't crush the lizard and its spikes, but she'll take what she can get. It's not that big.

...If it's venomous, someone around her probably has an antitoxin, right?

II

[nothinglessthanawesome]

In this case, the nearest person who seems vaguely Dreamperson-ish is a very familiar one. And he's predictably just as baffled by the whole idea, so he's not going to be any help.

"The real question is why bother betting at all. It's not like we'd even get to keep any of the winnings."

[colonelnope]

Familiar, good. After what was happening before she got here? This might be the happiest Eve has ever been to see Ezekiel Jones. "Charity, Jones," she says amiably, with a pleased smile that's warmer than the rodeo warrants.

It's been a long day. "Just think of what you normally do, and then do the opposite." This is more like teasing. "What are you doing here, then?"

[nothinglessthanawesome]

Yeah, well. He's pretty glad to see her, too. He shrugs.

"You know, scoping the place out. Seeing whether there were any interesting sorts of gambling." By which he means one's that don't automatically go to charity. Not that he's ever been much for holding onto any riches he might acquire but he'd rather what he does with it be his choice.

[colonelnope]

"And by interesting do you mean illegal, profitable, or magical?" She says it cheerfully, without any real judgment.

Which is not to say that there isn't some judgment; it's just that she's come to terms with Ezekiel being Ezekiel. For the most part. "What've you seen so far?"

II

[justborrowingit]

Eve is treated to a strange sight as she sits watching the Kirin rodeo: that of a tiny tiny person climbing up the back of the seat in front of her.

Arietti can't get a good view of the Kirin races from the floor of the stands, so she's climbing up to get a better vantage point. Outfitted with the spikes on her boots, she's a pretty good climber, not exactly skittering up the side of the wood, but she's up on the edge of the seat not more than a minute later. She pulls herself up onto the back of the stand and takes a moment to catch her breath.

[colonelnope]

Movement catches Eve's eye first. She looks, then looks closer with a sharp eye.

Tiny person. Not a bird or an insect. Tiny... person.

You know what, fine, it's been that kind of a day. "Uh... hello?" she tries gingerly. When in doubt, see if it's open to talking.