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

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?"

[outstanding]

Ella looks around for a moment before shrugging.

"A bunch? It's open to anyone after all. Problem?"

[nimble_fingaz]

"Nothing at all, it's actually great. It's just...new to me."

He can't help but eye the crowd around him. It really is strange for someone accustomed to having mortals brought to him like cattle, seeing so many normal human beings just milling about with so many different supernatural...things.

"So. Where to?"

[outstanding]

"Just. Don't bite anyone? Even if they ask, because I've heard there is that kind of people. Better not get into trouble right away." Plus she feels like whatever Mason does is her responsibility.

She points ahead. "The bar? I guess they have blood there."

[nimble_fingaz]

"Serving blood at the bar. What will they think of next?"

In truth he is no stranger to having blood served the same way a mortal would pass around drinks, but not so...casually. The thought of ordering blood would have been strange to most vampires back home, perhaps downright offensive to the higher-ups in Detroit's Invictus circles. To them blood poured into a glass was taken from cattle: mortals enslaved, dominated or simply cajoled into nourishing the undead.

"Does it come in, uhh, flavors?"

[outstanding]

"Maybe freezing it and make blood ice cream? I would totally have some of that." And it kind of sounds like an awesome idea, as long as you're a vampire of course.

Ella shrugs. "I don't know Mason, it's a fancy bar." They reach the bar and Ella waves a bartender as she tries to mask her insecurity; she never was a party girl, and the fangs haven't made her any less of a study driven, book loving kind of person. "Do you have blood in like, flavors?"

The guy stares at her, clearly unimpressed at this newbie vampire, and then at Mason, perhaps a bit more appreciatively. He then nods.

"Well then," Ella says as she turns to Mason. "What flavor?"

[nimble_fingaz]

A brief pause as he figures out the least awkward way to say it. Finally he puts on the best smirk he can as he makes as smug a declaration as he can manage.

"I'll have Italian on the rocks, if you please."