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

[nimble_fingaz]

He resists the temptation to go into the princely greeting that was drilled into him: enunciating his full name and mouthing off the titles attached to it. Once again, a mental note to himself that's he's no longer on courtly business.

"Name's Mason, sometimes Mace for short. You been here long?"

[outstanding]

"Mason," she says, decides, almost. She doesn't know him well enough to use nicknames.

"Only five days, ever since I was Embraced. Talk about being a fledgling. How old are you? Is that a thing you can ask other vampires?" She's still learning the ropes, obviously.

[nimble_fingaz]

"I think I've been dead for around..." he takes a moment to mentally count the nights, "a bit more'n a month." Has it already been that long? A brief pause at the completely honest second question -- he had grown accustomed to a political environment wherein a vampire took care never to show how little one really knew about...things.

"So, where do the Kindred normally hang out in these parts?"

[outstanding]

"Oh, so not that much. You're still older than me though, if we count living years." Ella has an idea of why would vampires want to keep that sort of information, but so far her exposition to this new unlife has been all about trying to make a smooth transition, so the usual avatars of the Danse Macabre are unknown to her. Ignorance is bliss, apparently.

"You know what, I have no idea. I usually spend the night alone or with my sire if she's around, or I run with someone else like you."

[nimble_fingaz]

"Speaking of. Who is your sire anyway?"

He sounds genuinely, positively, flat-out curious. Honest casual conversation being a rarity among the Kindred he has met, he finds himself practically treasuring the fact that the very first vampire he's met in this strange new place isn't milking him for information or trying to petition for something.

[outstanding]

"That would be Barbara Gomez, Golden Hand of Ordo Daywalker. You know her?"

What were we saying about ignorance???

Finally, home with dem icons again. Woooo!

[nimble_fingaz]

There is absolutely no hiding it -- his jaw practically drops and his eyes widen at the revelation.

She has a--

"Well, congra...I mean, wow. The childe of the Golden Hand."

It takes all of his restraint to keep himself from kowtowing on the spot.

"Dragged my ass out of Detroit and flew me here, actually. Far more pleasant company than a lot of the Kindred I know, I gotta say."

priceless face

[outstanding]

Ella's shrug is more uncomfortable than anything else. She's far from smug or proud. Grateful, yes, but her sire's station hasn't really made her feel like anything in particular.

"It doesn't really mean a thing? She's the Golden Hand, after all. I'm just something of an unexpected charity act." Even though she knows Barbie doesn't think of her like that. "She's been good to me though."

Ella laughs sheepishly. "Yeah you first feel like she's going to tear you a new one and then she acts completely different. I think she mentioned in passing something about you coming, but she didn't elaborate. Are you in trouble?

Re: priceless face

[nimble_fingaz]

"Well, ahh...hmm. How do I say this."

Truly flooring, encountering another vampire who flat-out has no agenda.

"I think I was in trouble at least until I got here, though my city's probably still in a shitload of trouble. Or I may actually still be in trouble, just not while I'm within this specific area. It's...complicated."

He allows himself to scratch his head just like any living person would.

"Excuse me for asking but are all of the Kindred at Netsach this...well, nice?"

[outstanding]

She's too green to think about backstabbing anything yet.

"So she removed you from there to keep you safe? What kind of trouble exactly?" You can tell she's sincerely worried, and also a bit suspicious.

The next part gets her by surprise, so Ella only manages to blink a few times and shrug at first. "I-I don't know? Both Mr. Falner and Ordo Daywalker believe in our ability to be nice, to put it very simply. The main idea is to find a transition between human and vampire that doesn't make one feel like a completely different being, I guess? Besides, vampires are like any other creature: you have them nice and not so nice ones, right? In the end everyone's just trying to get by."

[nimble_fingaz]

A combination of disbelief, shock and relief comes over his features.

"Sweet mother of Elaine, those Invictus guys could learn a thing or ten from you people."

Flash of regret, possibly spite at the thought of his so-called 'domain'.

"Back where I'm from you're only one of three things to another vampire: dead, deader or food. And being the first of the three means you're being used to get them the other two."

[outstanding]

All that Ella manages to say is an embarrassed 'Aaah' while she scratches the back of her head. "I'm not even part of Ordo Daywalker yet, you might want to hear it from someone with more experience than me." Ella wouldn't dream on misguidedly tell someone wrong information, but she believes to at least know the very basics.

"I have read a bit about the way he Vampire society works; it seems so...anachronistic? The Danse Macabre doesn't feel too constructive, but I might be being naive. I don't think you need to worry about that here though."

[nimble_fingaz]

"More'n anachronistic, it's downright...archaic." The word's emphasized with barely-restrained hate.

He nods to himself, remembering the Invictus obsession with 'tradition'. Elders strutting around in period attire to honor of the decade they died. Deference to one's superior like they were some feudal lord. Customs, affectations, titles...tra-fucking-dition.

"I guess the simplest way I'd put it is...to a lot of Kindred, immortality is growing real old without really growing up."

[outstanding]

Wow, apparently things aren't precisely pretty out there. Now Ella feels a lot luckier, all things considered.

"That's... a really unproductive way to spend forever. I mean you died and became a vampire, not a tree."

[nimble_fingaz]

"Mmmyep. Maybe that's how the whole stake-through-the-heart thing works."

Ba-dum-pssh.

[outstanding]

That genuinely makes her laugh for a moment.

"Was there anywhere in particular you wanted to go? It's still pretty early, so I can show you around. You are a guest of Falner, after all. You can also tell me more about Vampires outside of here." Something she suddenly is very curious about.

[nimble_fingaz]

He thinks on that for a bit.

"Well...the only place I actually heard about is Haven. I've always wanted to see what Netsach's Elysium is like."

[outstanding]

"Well the bar is supposed to be pretty good, although you won't manage to bite anyone there, I suppose. Never been there myself either."

Which is her way of saying she can take him there.

[nimble_fingaz]

"Well, first time for everything. Let's go check the place out, shall we?"

[outstanding]

"Sure, let's." She's pretty sure there is a way to travel quickly there that doesn't involve running like crazy vampires, even.

"Let's hop on one of the hover trams, shall we?"

[nimble_fingaz]

Mason seems intrigued by the thought. He's heard about one of these things but hasn't really seen one 'in person'.

"Hover tram. Right."

He simply lets himself be led to the nearest station.

"Technology these days, huh?"

[outstanding]

She's fairly certain of knowing where the closest one is, and a minute later they find the tram. From there is just a matter of enjoying the ride.

Halfway there, a thought starts nagging her. "I hope they actually allow Kindred in there. I mean, they should, right?"

[nimble_fingaz]

"Why wouldn't they?"

He almost regrets having to stop paying attention to the sights of the Falner Estate zipping by.

"Do they practice Elysium around here?"

[outstanding]

"I don't know? Maybe it's just my imagination." Ella is absolutely wrong anyway, considering Ordo Daywalker managed Haven for a good while.

"Both the Covenant and Ordo have meeting places. I don't know if they are Elysium, but there is no shortage of safe ground. The ones in the Covenant like to argue about pretty much anything though. "

After a short trip they finally arrive to Haven, which is packed. Entering soon seems like an impossible task until a bouncer notices Barbie's Day Ring in Ella's hand and motions her to step in. She quickly does so, not before grabbing Mason by the arm and dragging him in. "Don't ask, just walk."

[nimble_fingaz]

Mason does exactly that and simply allows her to guide him through the club. From the way he's looking around, it's immediately obvious that he very likely hasn't been in a club in ages.

"Wait. How many of the people in here are...mortal?"