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]

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.