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

[frescoes]

While the girl's attentions are diverted towards the dog (and she'll note how the dog isn't actually breathing, that its fur doesn't actually feel like fur but paper), Jill is staring after the retreating men and letting her gear to its work. Then she's tapping into her headset, and speaking to her girlfriend on the other end of the line in Spanish on purpose; she wants to make sure that the girl doesn't think she's doing anything suspicious.

"Situation's clear down here, Mia. Can you do me a favor and flag the guys? Sending their files and locations over to you now... they have records with the local government. Falls in our purview too: they've targeted supes."

And their latest victim could have been the girl that she's with now. Jill glances over and smiles.

"You're welcome. And they really weren't, from what I can tell." The contacts are working yet again on her end, giving her a basic file on the girl in front of her and a single red flag from Spanish Social Services. A missing persons case.

She'll deal with that later. Jill extends her hand in her direction.

"I confess: I already know your name because of our network. Esperanza, right? I'm Jillian Andrews."

[artesana]

What started out as a normal night had turned into something worse. And now into something weird.

Men chasing her? That wasn't too new. Not real frequent, she was usually smarter than that, but sometimes it happened. Other kids or other homeless people trying to start fights. It wasn't impossible.

What felt impossible was all the sensory information she was taking in now. The things that Jill said. The way the dog felt. He wasn't soft. He was smooth and fragile. She looked closer and his side seemed punctured, but there was no blood. Almost like a hole into nothing.

Esperanza swallowed and pulled her hand away slowly, setting it in her lap and looking up at Jillian.

"Yeah," she answered. "Esperanza. Espie's fine.

I'm sorry, but... I don't think I understand what's happening here, Jillian. What do you mean they weren't drunk?" She swallowed over the next part she didn't say out loud. That they were targeting supes too. "Usually people don't get that angry over something so small unless they're drunk. Or high as a kite."

[frescoes]

"To be fair to them, they had no idea that you had a Gift. That's a good thing, though."

Jill grimaced, and decided to change the subject. Esperanza had a lot of questions, and it wouldn't do for them to sit right in the middle of the street and talk it out.

"Um... why don't we go somewhere and talk properly? We can bring your friend."

Said friend was now fervently licking Esperanza's chin, wondering, innocently, why its mistress wasn't petting it anymore.

[artesana]

The... dog? Thing? Dog. She decided on dog. It felt weird to touch. But there was such a sweetness and gentleness to it. Just like the one from earlier. It was strange and different, but it was good and loyal. She couldn't hate it for being different. Even if she didn't understand. She reached out to pet it again, smiling as it wagged it's tail and pressed into her hand. It deserved it for what it had done for her tonight.

"Uh, sure," Esperanza agreed, looking at Jill. Jill wasn't dangerous to her. She knew that. Jill was a hunter. Esperanza didn't know much about them, but she knew they weren't the bad guys, no matter what her parents said. And anyone that made those men afraid was good in her books.

"Just... let me gather my stuff," she told her, getting up off the ground and walking back around the bike to her things on the ground. She gathered the bag and pushed her pens and pencils that had fallen out back inside. She slung it over her shoulder before she turned.

Then something struck her and she frowned.

"I don't think he'll fit on the bike, though..."

[frescoes]

"I think you can fix that."

Jillian said that gently, as her eyes drifted down to Esperanza's sketch book.

"You drew him, right?"

Things were about to get very strange for this girl, but Jill saw no point in holding back on it. As things stood, she knew she could handle it, and Esperanza seemed like she'd be able to take it too.

[artesana]

It came back to that. Her art. She remembered the windmills nearly... a year ago? More? She had lost track of time. The windmills and the blades and the wind. She had never understood that. Never been able to replicate the moment perfectly either.

She wondered now if she was about understand.

Esperanza took her sketchbook in both hands, flipping open to the drawing of the dog she had done.

"Yeah," She answered, her voice a bit softer now. "I was drawing him when I heard the men in the building."

[frescoes]

"You can tell him to go back. You'll be able to bring him back anytime you like, I think, with a bit of practice."

She's about to say more, though, when she's spotting its "injury".

"Oh, hold on..."

Jill trailed off as she stepped off of her bike and moved towards the dog. She patted the creature's head, and moved her hand over the hole that the man's kick had created. It vanished instantly.

"There. That should do it."

[artesana]

"Holy shit," Esperanza stared wide-eyed at the dog as the hole sealed shut entirely. Not even healed. It wasn't really an injury, but more like damage. And it was entirely gone now.

The dog was in front of Espie, nudging at her hand again and looking as pleased and excited as it did before. Maybe even more so now that it was better.

"How..." She started. Then she shook her head. There was no use asking. She was certain she was going to find out eventually. And if not, she was going to make sure she asked later.

First things first. "How do I tell it to go back? Just... say go back?" She tried holding the sketchbook open at it. She didn't even know how she'd summoned it.

[frescoes]

Jill made a thoughtful noise as she tried to figure out how to word it right. Unsurprisingly, this was bringing her right back to her days at the School of Colors.

"You know how, when you sketch, you kind of imagine the way it'd be if it were a living creature? Willing any of your drawings back is like reverse engineering that process. Returning them to their state before they were anything alive."

She could do it for Esperanza, but this was her creation. And she did have to learn.

[artesana]

That... helped a bit, actually. At least with figuring out how the dog was alive. the way she'd been drawing and wish she could breath the same sort of life into the dog that she had seen in it's eyes the first time.

Just think backwards. Will it to not be so alive. Maybe asleep? Or resting? She took a deep breath and focused. Trying to imagine the dog returning to being a drawing. A being at rest and all lines and edges and graphite. She took a deep breath.

It seemed to take forever, but finally something happened. She felt it prickling at her skin, the way the dog shifted and moved until it was at her book again. Then it was on her book. In her book.

And there it was. Her drawing back to being nothing but a drawing.

"Dios mio. I've been drugged, haven't I? I'm hallucinating right now." That was the only possibility. It was more real to her than believing she was one of the supernaturals she had heard so much about.

[frescoes]

"It's quite real, actually."

Jill was beside her now, and right about ready to put her arm around Esperanza's shoulders --

-- okay, no. She was going to do that. Coming to terms with what one can do was almost always frightening.

"You're an Artisan like me. The creations we make can come to life."

[artesana]

The old Esperanza would have anted the comforting touch. The new Esperanza had learned to shy away from physical contact with others and keep to herself.

She still appreciated the near gesture.

But she was stuck on that thought. That not only was she an artist, but she was an artisan. She'd never even heard of that before. She touched her book carefully. All the notebooks she left behind too... All that art meant something.

Would continue to mean something.

"Can you teach me more?" Esperanza looked into Jill's eyes now, a fire in her own.

[frescoes]

"That's what I'm here for, beyond making sure that you get a square meal right now, a friend, and a free ticket to a better place."

She meant every single word. She knew what it was like, she felt, to be in Esperanza's position. The girl had a rare gift, and nobody had the right to take that away from her. Besides, Netsach - the conspiracy that had helped Jill out in the first place - was a home to the lost of the Darkness and Light before anything else.

She planned on doing everything in her power to make sure that Esperanza was going to be fine.

"Shall we?"

[artesana]

There wasn't a thing about what Jillian had just said that didn't sound good to Esperanza right now. She was wary of all the promises, though. Sometimes if something looked too good to be true, it usually was. What would happen if they found out she was registered as a runaway? She'd probably get a free ticket back home.

She'd cross that bridge when she got to it. The pros outweighed the cons too much right now. She was being offered answers ( and food! ), and she wasn't about to let the opportunity pass her by.

Esperanza slung her bag over bother her shoulders after slipping her sketchbook inside properly, then climbed onto the bike after Jill.

"We most definitely shall," she answered with a full grin.

[frescoes]

Jill waited for Esperanza to be fully settled (right down to her handing the girl that extra helmet that she kept for passengers) and started her bike up. She didn't speed off: they weren't in a particular hurry, and the place that she intended to go to was close.

The next time she spoke was when they were both at a stoplight.

"I'll need to introduce myself in full. I'm Jillian Andrews, a First Circle Hunter of Netsach, Sworn Wolfheart of Zangyaku, and a Senior Myrmidon of the Midnight Riders. Have you heard of those conspiracies before?"