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

[artesana]

There's an edge to the word family that makes part of her want to curl up inside. Her family had been everything to her once. Now she tried not to think of them.

It's only a flicker on her face. A brief moment as her smile nearly falters. But she shakes it off with a shake of her head that's an answer as well.

"A woman named Jillian," she told her. "She saved me. Twice. Once from some assholes and the second time when she brought me here.

Was it family that brought you?" Did families do that?

[bloodsinger]

Jillian, a name Sophie was not familiar with, but obviously another Keeper of the Vigil. Espie's reaction doesn't go unnoticed, but because of that Sophie decided against touching he subject. She's nobody to talk about that, and maybe someone else has been given the task to help the girl with it.

At her question, Sophie only managed to smile sadly. "Indirectly, perhaps." Without their deeds she might had had a chance to live normally...even though her gut said otherwise. "I never was in their best interests anyway, and now they're gone."

A moment of silence. "Are you waiting for someone? I don't want to get in the way."

[artesana]

Gone? Left? Or dead? Either way, Esperanza's heart reached out to the girl. She wanted to ask more. Talk more about it. But not with someone she had just met. She knew what touching new wounds could do to a person and she wouldn't do that to this girl. Not when she wanted to make a new friend.

She'd ask later, though. She wouldn't forget.

Esperanza shook her head at the question again. "I was just trying to get a feel of the place and figure out where everything is. This place is kind of huge... I've never been in a home like that." A few office buildings that were large, sure, but still. Nothing ever like this.

[bloodsinger]

"I have," said Sophie, her voice distant. Days ago she was immersed in luxury and wealth. She still had her money, but it now felt dirty, soiled. She didn't know if she wanted to touch it again. "This place is nicer than the ones I know,though. Wanna see the garden?"

The girl looked like she might need someone anyway, and Sophie...Sophie did not want to be alone with her thoughts.

[artesana]

Espie almost blushed as Sophie said she'd been in places like this before. Consuegra was a smaller town with small people. Not the smallest, but small enough. Toledo had been a jump. Madrid and Barcelona even more. And this was something beyond all three of those. And far beyond herself. She felt like a country bumpkin compared to Sophie with her elegant grace.

"There's a garden, too?" She asked. There was a whole damn forest out there. That had been so shocking before. But a garden to go with it all?

She bet it was gorgeous.

She grinned and nodded her head. "I'd love to. It's probably really great, huh?"

[bloodsinger]

Sophie tried to put a little more warmth on her smile as she motioned Espie to follow her. "It's one of my favorite places to sit and close my eyes. You can always find a corner of piece there." Or at least that had been her impression so far.

"So...what kind of supernatural are you? I can sense it somehow, but I'm new at this."

[artesana]

"Better than me," Esperanza said with a grin. She didn't expect everyone to smile as much as she did, but she appreciated that she tried at all. Most people were either naturally smiley themselves, or they got easily tired of people who were. The effort was much appreciated.

"I'm Artisan?" she offered. "I don't understand it fully, but apparently I can affect things with my drawings." Her sketchbook with the dog was still in her bag. She'd never leave that one behind.

"What about you? What are you?"

[bloodsinger]

Sophie hoped that one day smiling would come easy to her. As far as signals that things were going well, a smile felt like a good one.

Artisan. She had heard the name before, but Sophie was still learning the ropes herself. "Sounds cool. Me...Bladian. Heard about those before?"

[artesana]

Esperanza shook her head.

"Never even heard of Artisans before Jill." Her family didn't talk about supernaturals unless it was to curse them. They'd probably hate what Espie's life had become now. Not for the first time since meeting Jill, she wondered if they had always known about herself. If that was why they had tried to keep her from art.

"So what's a Bladian?" She asked. Not in that way that said she was trying to keep up with small talk, but liked she genuinely wanted to know. Because she did. she had a lot to catch up on and she wasn't stopping until she'd learned about it all.

[bloodsinger]

They finally entered the garden, which was as gorgeous as Espie had hoped and as peaceful as Sophie had promised. Some of the everpresent tension rolled off her shoulders as she walked on the soft grass and towards a bench where they could sit.

"Bladians are humans that have made pacts with Bloodsingers, which are like spirits, but not quite. They get a physical host and the Bladian becomes superhuman in almost every sense of the word. It has other less desirable effects though; Bladians have shorter, more violent lives than many." Sophie had managed to keep her eyes away from the girl, but once she's done she turns to see her face.

[artesana]

Shorter and more violent? A spirit that used them for a host? All of it sounded... a lot worse, actually, than Espie's own abilities. At least everything about being an Artisan felt as natural as breathing did. Art was always meant to be a part of Espie's life, and practicing it in it's new capacities was thrilling.

No wonder Sophie had looked so frustrated when she left the room earlier.

"Kind of the short end of the stick, huh?" Espie tried in an almost joking tone. There wasn't anything to say to make it better, so she hoped light joking might ease some of the tension. If the garden didn't already. It was stunning. It made Espie want to sit down and take out her sketchbook.

"How long have you had one of those Bloodsingers in you?"

[bloodsinger]

"Worst part? I didn't make a pact. I'm one of those special cases that skip some rules and make everyone wonder just what is wrong with me." She sighed in frustration, but she didn't want to turn this into a pity party.

"Just three days. You? I guess you are born an Artisan?"

[artesana]

"Born," she confirmed with a nod, not putting too much emphasis on it since Sophie hadn't been so lucky. It was all a struggle for her, and even worse she hadn't asked for it. She was different and having to work harder at it and hadn't even asked for it. Not that Espie had ever asked for it either, but hers didn't feel like a curse. It felt like a blessing.

"But I didn't know about it until a few days ago when Jill explained it all. I guess my family knew," she shrugged and looked around the garden. "They never let me do artistic things. I never really understood why, but you trust your family, you know? Never got to ask if they knew or not, but it makes a girl wonder."

[bloodsinger]

"I know," she said with a nod. She trusted her own family even when she knew she shouldn't, after all. "Sounds like you've come a long way though. That takes more guts than I know some people have." And it gave her hope, seeing this girl face her own demons. Maybe Sophie wasn't as alone as she felt.

"So you make a painting and...?"

[artesana]

Esperanza didn't feel like it. She felt stubborn and foolish. Maybe she should have gone home and asked. Figured out why all the lies and secrecy. She had run the first time because she'd been upset, which was childish. the second time because of the lies instead of confronting them. She wasn't brave or anything like Sophie said. She was far from it.

Espie pursed her lips in thought then laughed. "Comes to life? In a way?" She tried. "Sometimes I make a picture of a scene and change something and it changes too. It's kind of a lot...

Is there anything you get for having a bloodsinger?"

[bloodsinger]

Sophie just listened in silence. That truly sounded like an ability, a power. A gift. "That's amazing." Her words were sincere, she would have given anything to do something like that.

"Well, you saw how I evaded you; I'm just better at physical stuff. And I have some fancy sword tricks, not to mention the blood thing..." Sophie shrugged. "Fighty things? I can train for hours without breaking a sweat, and older Bladians are something of legend. You know Hikaru Shinta? They don't call him the Blade King without reason."

[artesana]

"It kind of is. I never knew what I could do..." Well she would learn now. And that was thrilling. She felt almost bad. She wished that Sophie could have the same sort of thrill she did, instead of a sense of dread and upset.

"I heard his name." She didn't know much about him. She'd figure it out, though. She was already learning more. If you just let people talk enough, the answers usually flowed out. "So the bladians are kind of like the badasses of the supernatural world?" She looked impressed at the thought.

[bloodsinger]

"Well, I'm looking forward to see what you learn to do here." Another thing to keep her mind off her own tribulations, if anything.

"He's an interesting guy. A bit annoying, but helpful. Dude is keeping an eye on me, I guess." Sophie then shrugged, although the movement carried an implicit Maybe? "As far as I can tell, we Bladians are almost entirely battle-oriented, so I guess so? Anyone can be pretty badass, if they train hard enough I guess."

[artesana]

"I've got minimal badassery in me," Espie laughed. "Not Bladian levels badassery." She'd have to learn a little more though, right? If they were really going to be hunters.

There was a thought. This girl was in training too. Pretty much brand new just like her. Only a couple days earlier, but still. They'd be here, training together. Maybe even working together some day. Espie may be meeting a future teammate. Or at least someone she could grow with, even if they were on different teams.

Espie couldn't help but smile at the other girl. "Guess we'll learn about ourselves together, huh? Seems kind of the way of things around here."

[bloodsinger]

The ida took her by surprise, but a moment later it stated to grow on her. Even with Hikaru sticking around, Sophie had already decided she was going to be pretty alone in this new stage of her life, somehow; teammates and the like had sounded logical, but her predisposition to shy away from human (or not so human) significant contact had taken the best of her already.

Espie's suggestion had presented another possible path for her, and Sophie was starting to grow tired of being alone. Making friends with the younger girl didn't feel like a bad idea, at all. "I guess so," she replies, a smile on her own tugging her lips up. "We newbies have to stick together, right?"

[artesana]

Espie laughed and nodded her head at Sophie's answer, her smile nearly a full grin. It would be if she weren't trying to tone down her excitement a little. This place was like a dream. It was a home. It was safe. She would learn about herself. She would get to do amazing things. She'd continue to practice art. And now she'd have a friend. Her first one in a long time.

"Do you know what all we'll be doing here? Besides learning about our powers? Jill gave me some rundown, but I figured I'd pick it up more once I got here." And she was anxious for that.

[bloodsinger]

"Well, the whole point of training is to become a Keeper of the Vigil. A hunter? Although not everyone wants to be leather clad, sword totting, demon killing type; there is also plenty of desk work and PR stuff...and also teaching new recruits. I think you can even learn what you want and return to your life, if that's what you want."

She studied Espie's face carefully, wondering what path would she choose. While it was obvious to Sophie, the girl was young and perhaps not the sort to go out hunting...but that would only make her all the more impressive, perhaps.