testdrive | welcome to the new age.

[geistnet]

testdrive meme.

1. First Day At Falner
You have just arrived at Falner Estate, a sprawling, beautiful, 400-hectare co-located space between Britain, Germany, and the Philippines, and the main base of Netsach. The flora and fauna in the area gives both a sense of familiarity as it looks at first glance like things you’ll find on Earth, and a weird sense of otherworldliness. Given the size of the place, the Estate is less of a compound and more like a town unto itself. The older buildings within the estate are gothic in their construction, and clear throwbacks to 19th Century Europe. The newer facilities, however, sport cutting edge contemporary designs that were clearly inspired by Fourth World architecture and technology.

If you want a better idea on what can be found on the estate, you can refer to this link.


2. A Day On The Job
You are pushing papers at Methuselah, doing research at the Arcanum, or going out on patrol -- whatever it is that you're doing, it's just another day for you as a Hunter of the Vigil.


3. Let's Head Down to Haven
Find yourself itching for a night out on the town? Why not head over to Haven, the classy nightclub that looks like a large, monolithic black building with no visible windows from the outside and the name of the club emblazoned in bold, white letters on one side.

Haven is located in Makati City, and is open to the public (especially the local supernatural community), but you might want to prepare yourself to wait in line for a very, very long time – unless you’re a Hunter, of course.

Falner’s Maenad Division holds office on top of Haven, as does Ordo Daywalker. Some of Haven’s staff also live above the night club.


4. The Awakening
Want to tag out your character's origin story? Set the stage and let's see where things go.


5. Choose Your Own Adventure
If none of the suggested premises hit the mark, feel free to set things up and let's do a tag round.


Instructions for the Testdrive:
1. Specify your chosen scenario number on the subject line.
2. Should you wish to tag with a specific character already established within Waking the Dead, indicate who. The current list of available NPCs can be found over here.

Comments

anri obel | 4 + 1

[fumed]

OPTION 4 | origin story (closed)

The first word that Anri mouths into the air between water and gasps is his brother's name. Ishak.

Ishak tells him that the lake is sacred and that what he is giving to him is a gift, not a curse. Death is a gift. You give away what you love the most--your life, your comfort, everything you have ever clawed and scraped at the unforgiving, cold earth for. He used to be one part of a whole and now, he feels it in his bones and in his blood, that the whole of it is shattered and laying at the bottom of the lake. Why he isn't laying there too is something he dazedly wonders as he sits up in the cold.

February is unforgiving.

He was supposed to turn twenty-two today.

But it feels oddly sobering, cold air on his knuckles and his jacket scattered in the struggle, left somewhere by the tree line. The ice is broken as he remembers it, the dark red of his brother's coat laying on the shoreline. He remembers an embrace, a tightening sensation against his neck, as if maybe beseeching some kind of too-late apology that he'd never given to him. Did you even deserve it? he asks himself, slowly drawing his knees up to his chest and debating his jacket, black and solemn on the snow.

She is soft and made of satin and brine and silk and Anri can feel her walking on dainty feet against the snow, noiseless. He clutches his shirt tighter at the arms because he feels her question through his blood, remembers that singular moment like a note in a song, fleeting and soft. Promise to help me, she says while holding his face. Her veil is worn and stained and floats, tattered into pieces. There are sunken dips in her skin where her eyes used to be and a soft protrusion that might have been her nose. Her lips are soft, pink, and she leans in and says it again. Help me and I will help you.

It is a simple soundless bargain that Anri has no air left to give to agree with. He says it anyways, behind glassy eyes and cold skin drawn tight from the chill of the lake.

He doesn't remember being pulled up from beneath the ice.

He just knows he's on the snow now and the moon feels too bright on his skin and she's close, around, inside, above and below. She's so terribly sad and angry all at once and the sensation of it is overwhelming and the syllables of his brother's name die away against the sound of a low, guttural sob. He grabs a handful of snow under his palms, the bite of the cold feeling good against his skin. The sobbing turns into a scream because he promised and he's gone and broken everything all over again.

I'm alone, Anri thinks viciously. And you promised you'd never leave me alone.

OPTION 1

Anri will always find his way to water, no matter where he might be. Why that is, he couldn't say. Perhaps it was a calling up from the roots of his blood, his father's inheritance in a way, where he'd left him nothing else otherwise. He's been dropped off here, not without care, and once settled, left to wander on his own. Get a feel for it. He already misses home as he wanders and finds himself somewhere in the northern district, meandering towards a lake.

As if that might be the last thing he wants to see. Instead, it's welcoming.

The lake didn't do the drowning, now did it?

He moves slowly, until the soles of his boots meet the water. Crouching in a singular, liquid motion, Anri doesn't waste time rooting around. He finds a smooth, flat stone and passes it between his hands briefly, inspecting it, then proceeds to give it a sharp, smart flick, sending it bouncing over the otherwise placid water of the lake. One, two, three, four, five, six. It sinks. He looks satisfied, a grin spreading over his lips, revealing a bit of tooth. This is... nice. Keep him company?

[ ooc | hi bye i'm excited... also still doing some writing on him and feeling him out ♥ ]

[bostova]

She had been feeling anti-social that day, really anti-social. Yulia figured that the best way to avoid everyone--meaning the War Hounds and everyone closely associated with her blade--was to go someplace they would least expect her to be.

And that, at the moment, was the lake at Falner's North District. She'd been there only a handful of times, and never on her own terms, so it was one of those rare places that no one would (probably) think to look for her.

The place would usually make her want to gag at the couples walking hand in hand, or kissing when they think no one is watching. There wasn't a lot of people at the lake right now, however, save for that one kid skipping stones on the lake. (Okay, so it was the one stone, but still).

She was quiet enough not to be noticed, so she'll stay by the tree she's standing under with the unlit cigarette between her lips.

(Cutting back on the cigarettes?)
Not really.
(So you are being lazy.)
...Eh.

There is a soft chuckle in her head from her sister. She could manifest right now, if she wanted to, but perhaps Anya also wanted to give the kid a little space. One Bostova in the area is enough, or something.

[fumed]

Anri doesn't notice her from her place among the trees watching him. Being quick on the draw with something like that, eyes on you, is something he would have to learn with time if he wanted to survive. He waits a few moments as the hollow sound of the stone sinking into the water seems to pierce him a bit more than usual, before he turns to find another rock at the shoreline. It takes him a bit, nudging around with his boot, sloshing through the water before finding another rock and giving it a toss in the air, judging its weight.

Good.

He goes about tossing a few stones once more--about three more before he decides that he's bored and turns on his heel with a low crunch of rocks and earth underneath his feet.

That is the precise moment he sees the woman poised against the trees and feels his heart leap into his throat because how long has she been standing there? The thought of it is a little unnerving. Most people don't... watch other people skipping rocks unless they're really bored. Or have nowhere else to be.

"Hi?" he chances, shoving his hands into his pockets. They're still a little damp from rummaging around in the shallows. "You really that bored?"

[bostova]

In that time, Yulia never lit up. The sound might have alerted the boy to her presence, and despite being a tall, intimidating figure, she... actually doesn't want to scare him. If she left him alone, maybe he would leave her alone? But there wasn't a lot of interesting things to watch at the lake, so her eyes kept drifting back to the boy at the lake, skipping stones and watching them sink, before moving along the shoreline for another flat rock to toss across the surface.

From what she could tell, the boy didn't wear anything that could give away a compact or conspiracy, so he probably wasn't a Hunter. Neither was the Balamb uniform visible under the layers of clothing, which meant... he was civilian. Not surprising, really. Falner housed hunters and their families, and they weren't necessarily Keepers of the Vigil.

She doesn't blink away or pretended she was watching something else when he finally noticed her. "Not really," she answers coolly, shrugging one shoulder. This prompts her to fish for her lighter in her pockets and light up. "Just killing you five times over in my head." Which wasn't entirely a lie-- it was one of the things she does almost automatically, even before she had become a Bladian. Not the best thing to say to someone you've been watching for some time, but Yulia wasn't really one for first impressions.

[fumed]

Yeah. She is that bored. Anri moves forward, each step he takes slow and easy. The whole remark about killing him five times over in her head isn't all that comforting, but Anri has a feeling that it wasn't meant to be anyways. Just a matter of fact, like the rest of this place. Anri takes his hands out of his pockets, tugging his sleeves a bit over his palms as he stops maybe two feet away from her (give or take a couple inches, but he's feeling daring).

Yes.

Two feet is daring.

Anri feels like he ought to be a little more offended by the remark, but maybe the majority of his self preservation was left behind in Askersund. "How'd you do it?" Might as well know, right?

ＯＮＥ

[artesana]

It's been a couple of days now. A couple of days and still none of this feels natural. The scary thing was that it already felt like home to a girl who hadn't had a home in over a year. She's wary of that feeling, because history dictates that nothing lasts forever and getting too comfortable is a dangerous idea. The Estate is hard to resist, though. Everything about it is so welcoming and inviting, she just wants to give in.

She resists the urge to give in, but just barely. Despite fearing the idea of a home that'll no doubt be gone from her in some time, she still relaxes. Maybe a vacation was a better way to look at this. A break from the normal. Something transient that she knew was meant to be enjoyed but also knew it wouldn't last. Yeah. That would help when it ended. There'd be no disappointment if you knew the end was coming.

That meant she could enjoy it, though, as well. She was wandering the estate daily, orienting herself with the vastness of it and learning how to get around. The North District had been on her 'to explore' list today, and when she got here she found a scene so serene she had to stop and let the art fill the rest of her day.

Art was like that for her. It wasn't just a thing she did. It was something that spilled over the pages to fill and consume her. It took all her being, and she was beginning to understand why that was.

She sat on the ground at the edge of the lake, knees pulled up and curled over the sketchbook on her lap. She worked with her lips curled over her teeth as she bit at her lips and worried them into a tight line to keep her focus. She was in this state when Anri's pebble cut across her field of vision. She blinked a few times, sitting up straight and looking around. Finally she took in the boy standing at the edge of the water. When had he gotten there? She was probably going to be a bad hunter...

"Hey!" She yelled at him. "I was drawing that." She sounded almost annoyed, but the act fell apart almost instantly as her posture relaxed and she laughed.

"Just kidding. Kind of. I was drawing that, but a pebble didn't ruin that." She spoke English decently, though with a strong Spanish accent.

"I'm Esperanza. I'm new here." In case the boy was an old hand at this.

[fumed]

The girl startles him with her scolding and he turns his head, sharply at first before looking at her with a sheepish gaze, pawing at his neck. Well shit, he didn't mean to mess anything up for her... For a few minutes he stares at her, fingers damp and curled into his palm as he observes her. Just a girl sitting by the lake's lush grass with some utensils for drawing and a pad of paper in her lap. Even with the annoyed look on her face, she still almost bore that peaceful kind of air he wished he could touch.

The anger, however, seems to end as quickly as it came from her, shifting into something amiable that makes his blood run warm again instead of cool with anxiety. The last thing he wants to do is cross someone the wrong way here. He's still new and enemies aren't something he wants to have to deal with on his first week in.

Playing nice was apart of the deal.

Picking his way slowly through the soft earth and stones by the lake's edge, he offers her a smile, turning it down to the ground quickly, as if to perhaps hide it.

Make friends, he tells himself. Like back home. Just... make friends.

"Anri," he says, worrying his lip briefly between his teeth as he stands before her spot and drops himself down unceremoniously. He's all limbs really, tall, but collapsible, his brown hair messy on his head and falling into his eyes. "I'm new here too so... we can be new together, yeah?" He draws his fingers together, rubbing them over his knuckles slowly. The Swedish accent of his is very light, but there. Both of them are out of their element, it seems, far from home no doubt.

"Esperanza's a mouthful."

He also slaughters the pronunciation. Sorry.

004, also known as PAM IS SO LATE HELLO

[mistermarlowe]

Hours ago, at around the same time that one Ishak Obel was drowning his beloved younger brother, the one date that Gabriel Marlowe has managed to have for himself in months was interrupted by a phone call.

"There's a boy at a lake. He's dead, by the way. Drowned. Siblings. You know how they love to think that they do whatever they do because they love you."

He doesn't get calls from that party very often these days. He used to chalk it up to the Darkest Vigil, the strain, the fact that - at the end of it all - they were not friends, and the man was more of a benefactor to him and the rest of the Thrones than anything else. Nowadays, he attributes the lack of contact to the fact that said individual just can't be bothered to get nearly as involved as he used to in "everyday Vigil stuff", as he likes to call it.

This is a death, though. Deaths are his purview, in his realm. And maybe - just maybe - he still remembers Gabriel's particular preferences.

So yes, he was there after gently nudging his lover and murmuring a quiet request about the car, about special cases and favors. He was there in the shadows of the trees as the boy drowned, long after the other boy was gone. He's the reason why the dead one (well, not so dead anymore) was pulled from the ice - or, more accurately, the ice no longer wanted him. It listens more closely to Hell's Winter than anybody else.

When he sees the telltale signs of a heart breaking by the edge of a lake, Gabriel lights up a cigarette.

"I suppose I should get you a blanket."

You'll see him, Anri: he's the blond, blue-eyed, clean-faced stranger in a tailored, pinstriped crimson suit sitting on a stone about six feet away from you. It's cold tonight, and his clothes definitely don't suit the weather. He doesn't seem to notice.

[fumed]

He's a man out of place, that is for certain. What anyone is doing by the edge of this damnable lake is questionable now. Anri knows what he's doing here, but what about you Red Suit? He breathes out into the cold, like his lungs are still new, cold and fluttering in his chest. He kicks back a little makes more space between the two of them, as little as it is, it's a comfort, it's control. Not a lot of control, but enough to make him feel like he has a grasp on something.

I was dead. I swear I was dead. I saw it, everything. I saw it.

There are a lot of words that want to tumble out of his mouth like lake water, near black and frigid. He feels them all jumbled in the back of his throat as he tries to make some kind of noise. It goes from terrifying because how did the man get there to embarrassing because say something, damn you. He just swallows, lifting up his soaked sleeve to wipe at his mouth and nose like it will help at all. Maybe it does, maybe it's all in his head.

"Nice suit."

That's dumb, you're dumb.

But it's the only thing he can manage as he starts to slowly get to his feet, legs shifting under him. There's a heavy weight to living now, he feels it in his bones, something that wasn't there before. There's a price to pay and he's already started accruing the debt on this loan. Ishak, Ishak, Ishak. His eyes flick over to the lake briefly. There is no sign of him. He doubts he'd see any bit of him until the spring might decide to relinquish his bloated, cold body from the ice. He looks back at the blonde man, too clean-cut.

"Blanket'd be good... Inside." Cold. Coat. You are alive.

[mistermarlowe]

"Come with me, then."

Gabriel stands and turns away, as if there wasn't a boy struggling under the weight of a small breakdown/the shock of coming back from a death by drowning/waterlogged clothes/a geist crawling around in his brain. He's always been a strong believer in teaching another to swim partially by tossing them into the pool.

At least he doesn't toss them off in the deep end/ That would be a technique favored by some of his siblings.

"We'll go to my car."

[fumed]

Anri likes it better this way. The man turns his back and expects him to follow. He can feel his clothes stiffening in the cold, so he moves forward a few steps, the crunch of snow beneath his boots. It's almost like he took an accidental dump in the lake all on his own. He can pretend for a little while longer that none of this has happened, think that he's staving off the shock that's already settled in the marrow of his bones.

"Where're we going?"

He wraps his arms around himself, stopping briefly. He knows he doesn't exactly have anywhere to go anymore. He's died... (has he really?) What do I have left to lose?

open post yo

[bloodsinger]

Just as the stone passes zooming through the surface, a head emerges from the water; a head followed by a neck and shoulders, of course. No floating heads on the lake for now. Sophie blinks as she looks around for the shore. She finds it moments later, just as she finds the person that threw the rock. It's some guy she doesn't recognize. Does she stay in the water? It's not that she minds stepping out of the lake on a swimsuit, but...well, there's a dude at the shore.

"Are you going to throw more stones, or can I get out now?" Better be sure, right?

[fumed]

Uh...

This is. Unexpected. Anri was pretty sure there wasn't anyone in the lake before he started throwing stones, at least not that he could have seen. Frowning slightly and also flushing a little because... well. Throwing rocks at girls isn't nice, he steps back further on the shore, dropping the stone he was about to palm the weight of.

"No, I just. You can get out. Y'know." So I can throw more rocks. Yes. "Any time now."

[bloodsinger]

She can hold her breath for quite a while, apparently. #justbladianthings

Sophie smiles a smile that can't be seen from all the way there, and starts swimming towards the shore. Moments later, Anri will most likely have a front sit view at Sophie in a two piece black swimsuit (not a bikini, alright? this thing she's wearing has some resemblance to modesty. Some.) Most people's first impression either goes to 'damn she's ripped/fit/muscular' or 'damn she's hot', not that Sophie cares, and the way she steps out of the water makes it clear she's not trying to show off; she's actually taking little steps as she wraps her arms around her chest, stopping briefly in front of him to mouth a "Hi" before moving to the side and removing a bag well hidden under a bush and some rocks.

A towel comes out and she starts drying herself. "Sorry about that, by the way," she says without turning to look at him, although judging by her tone, she's getting more embarrassed by the second.

[fumed]

"That's... okay," Anri mumbles, working his lip between his teeth somewhat and stepping a little to the side to give her some space as she towels herself dry. "What were you doing? I don't even think I saw you go in..." He'd been at the lake for a while already. It was weird, just someone coming straight up and out of the water without so much as batting an eyelash.

He'd say everyone here was weird, but he knows he's just as odd now.

/pops in here, 1 obviously

[kinesthesia]

Not too far from where Anri is standing on the very edge of Falner Lake, there's a fox crossing the grass a ways from the general direction of Balamb Academy. The animal doesn't look too out of place ( the forest that rings the estate is home to a number of creatures, both familiar and strange ) with it's red-orange fur and perked up ears. For all any onlooker would know, it's wandering the grounds in search of something to eat -- and she ( yes, it's a she ) was pretty much thinking along those lines, but it's just so much quicker to get anywhere on four legs instead of two.

It's the sound of a stone skipping across the water that calls the fox's attention over, and for a moment the animal cants it's head curiously to one side before deciding to trot over.

CISCOOOOOOOOOOOO yodels

[fumed]

Anri doesn't quite notice the fox until he's searching for another stone to skip, kicking around in the shallows until the rustling of grass behind him makes him stop and look up dumbly. He twists around in the awkward position, righting himself and seeing the curious creature parting through the green on four small feet.

He always thought foxes were kind of skittish. At least that's how they always came off to him. Skittish, sly, swift, with long, fat tails and sleek bodies against the snow. Slowly, he drops down into a crouch, every muscle slowly pulling into a smaller position and shape... maybe it won't run away...

They're like dogs kind of, aren't they?

"You're beautiful," he murmurs quietly, fingers curled inward towards himself. It looks so soft... "Don't think I've ever been this close to a fox before."

8DDDDDDDD PERFECTION

[kinesthesia]

The fox blinks back, head tilting now in the opposite direction. Perhaps, to the boy, there will be something on the look on that furry face that will appear amused -- it's in the eyes, really, foxes can be rather expressive with their eyes.

She pads over, muzzle down and gaze up, with a grace that toes the line between feline and canine. There is, after all, a reason some people jokingly refer to them as "cat-dogs".

You wanted to touch her fur, right? Well, she's doing a slow, little zigzag, as if assessing whether the boy in the shallows is a friend or a foe, but she's definitely close enough for Anri to reach out and touch if he so chose.

Ohai. Tagging into option 1. Muhaha.

[ktotheatothez]

There's something about running around Falner that has always been exhilarating. Kaz loves it, loves the view from the tops of buildings, weaving in and out of deserted halls... Climbing onto vantage points. Because whoever said you needed to just be sitting down whenever you wanted to meditate?

Today's run has him in Falner's North District. He did East District yesterday, and South District before that. He's promptly dodged several students and other people, dropped in real quick to say hi to his tita Cisco, and check in with tita Aria... Before earning squawks from surprised students hiding out on the rooftop.

That's when he sees a boy skipping stones over by the lake. It's not that nobody does it, but color him curious. The run itself feels complete, anyway, so he looks back at the kids on the roof and says:

"Back to class, kids." before he swan dives off the roof and snags a lower ledge, springboarding from there and into the nearby trees and closer to the boy. He deliberately rustles the leaves on the tree nearest to the lake, where he has apparently made a roost for himself.

"Hello." he says, the tell-tale snick of a lighter sounding after as he sits there and lights up a cigarette.

hello hello there c:

[fumed]

The rustling of the leaves ruins his next throw, his shoulder pulling back to turn himself towards the sound of the rustling leaves. The stone itself plops down into the shallows with a sharp clatter. "Hi?" What else do you say to someone who kind of startled the crap out of you. He moves forward from the lake's edge at an easy gait.

"You make a habit out of doing that?" he asks promptly, hands shoved into his pockets and shoulders hiked up high.

That's impressive though, how he'd made it all the way up there, well, either he's got a near pair of concealed wings or something on his side or he made it up on his own by climbing or jumping. Needless to say, he's a little jealous.

Re: hello hello there c:

[ktotheatothez]

That makes Kaz laugh as he swings down from the branch, hanging by his legs briefly before dropping. He lands with as much grace as a twenty-four year old can manage.

"I don't, but then... I was curious." he says, not a hint of wariness in the way he moves.

He's not that tall, and in fact, he's a little relieved that the boy isn't that much taller than he is. Because even if Kaz can seem bigger, he's just... Tiny compared to, say, Kaien.

Option 1 ofc also HI

[bladeweaver]

All in all, it is a weird day when Taning finds himself navigating Falner Forest. He might be doing this as a favor for a certain herbalist Life mage who happens to be his wife, but this is not really his thing, is it? He's more at home amidst wires and cables and banks of monitors and laboratory equipment and potentially explosive technology.

Well. The things we do for those we love.

He is deep into his search for a specific, water-bound mushroom with terraforming capabilities when, in the distance, he hears the sound of skipping rocks. He spots a young guy skipping rocks into the lake, and the sound and sight of it is relaxing enough to make him pause and watch. Eventually he decides to say hi, if nothing else because he's starting to get really, really bored.

He blinks to the other bank, where the boy is, noiselessly and instantaneously. A long career of having his life depend on not being heard means the boy probably doesn't notice him, not until he speaks up, anyway.

"If you tilt your hand up just a few degrees higher and release the stone half a second earlier, you'll be able to get at least five more skips."

HI THERE ouo

[fumed]

Anri is too consumed in thought to really notice much of anyone, even after multiple interruptions to his skipping rocks. It's always the same, but it's nice, the disturbances. Sometimes he thinks too much, sometimes it makes him upset and he feels that tightly wound coil inside of himself prepare to snap, linger on the verge.

He blinks slowly at the man who has just... appeared out of nowhere.

Do people get a kick out of just appearing? Anri wrinkles his nose a bit, but it's clear in his eyes that he's curious, if a little bit daunted by the act. Slowly, he adjusts his hand, and gives a quicker toss, watching as the stone skips strongly over the glassy lake. Not five times, but maybe he got the timing a little off. Still. It's an improvement. He looks over at the man, pulling his hand in towards himself.

That's awesome. "Thanks--I..." He pulls his lips in briefly and glances at the still spreading ripples over the lake.

"How'd you figure that out?" he asks afterwards, immediately turning his eyes towards him.

[bladeweaver]

(You'd note the two swords he carries on his person, of course.)

"Swordplay is all about flicks of the wrist and angles. You do that often enough, you learn to apply it to everything else."

That's certainly true enough. You even learn to apply it to things much less pleasant than skipping rocks over water. Like the precise angle to flick a wrist at a throat to cave it.

Wow. Being home has made him morbid. Or is it this kid, perhaps? There's an air of death about him, a fresh one. Card or Sin-Eater? Either way, he isn't going to ask. He decides to come clean, just because.

"... it might also be because I'm an Obrimos mage? We're bad ones if we don't instinctively know how Forces works." He cringes, because he hates being ungrammatical, and that sure as heck sounded like it. "As in, Forces magic. Y'know..." And he makes lightning dance between his two held-up fingers.

For such a dignified individual with such a distinguished track record and such a responsible position, he really has never outgrown being a show-off. Well, at least he's picking suitably appreciative audiences this time? Maybe?

Option 1

[anteayer]

He rarely comes to the North District these days, not since he went through his initiation and moved out of the dorms. But now, Gray found himself walking towards Falner Lake, studying on his tablet the information on his current case.

The sound of a stone skipping over water, though, grabs his attention, and he exchanges glances with his dragon before picking up their pace. A moment later, they come within sight of the lake, as well as the person crouching by the edge.

Huh, Gray puts away his tablet as he stood back, mentally reaching out to feel the man's resonance while trying not to give himself away. At the same time, he's watching him in a scrutinizing manner, attempting to get a handle on who this guy was before deciding to approach him.