Test Drive (December & January)

[sixthiteration]

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Test Drive

→ Holds and applications are always open. Holds are required for all applications.

→ Choose one of the scenarios below or make up your own. Feel free to try multiple scenarios.

→ Write LOGS or NETWORK prompts, or both.

→ THERE ARE ONLY THREE RULES FOR THE TDM:

1. It has to take place in the 6I universe.
2. It cannot be the character's arrival into the game.
3. Please only test new characters who do not have a version in the game. Our cast list is here.

→ TDM threads cannot be used to meet AC, but if the character is accepted into the game and both players agree, you may keep the CR.

→ Character want ads are here.

Prompts

1. SNOW BLIND - It's snowing, a lot, and pristine landscape though it might create, it also brings plenty of problems, especially when you live in an Edwardian-style village with a serious lack of snow shovels. It's currently blizzard conditions and visibility is nil — Maybe you gave in and ducked into the nearest house for temporary shelter, and discover someone else had the same idea (or just lives there, oops). Maybe you're stubborn enough to still be out in it, struggling against the wind and snow. Or maybe you've tromped into the South Village Inn like a human popsicle, and are just hoping you don't lose any fingers before you make it to the fireplace.


2. JUMPED-UP - Winter's here, which means it's the perfect time for an expedition to warmer, southern climes. You've joined a group following the river all the way down to the far southern beach, for fun and for science. On this latest break in your journey, you've spotted a large, jewel-colored feather and picked it up, maybe as a specimen to bring back or just a feather for your cap. Turns out it's an archaeopteryx feather, and you're now, well... let's call it a little gravity-challenged. Not a bad benefit once you figure out how to control it.


3. COLD CALL - The snow has slacked off, leaving behind a winter wonderland. Sure, there's plenty to do, but after being cooped up inside for days, most people won't blame you for a morale-booster — That is, unless your way of starting a snowball fight is to pop up and throw them at unsuspecting passers-by. Making a snow man or snow angels might come with a little less retribution, but you do you.


4. WILDCARD - Choose your own adventure. Maybe play powers roulette.

Network

All characters are fitted with a smart watch-like device on their left wrist, which they can use to send text and video messages to other villagers.

- Text and/or video, any length
- Display names may be changed by characters on the fly, but anyone can tap to see someone's real full name

Please list your CHARACTER NAME, CANON & PROMPT in your SUBJECT LINE.

Comments

[nobroth]

Looking around himself, Alistair shrugged. Yes, the snow was deep, the wind was pretty terrible when it kicked up, they needed some shovels or plows or something to make the roads passable again, but, when it came down to it? "I've been in worse," he said. "Imagine this, but on a mountaintop, with a dragon. That was worse. You should see my scars. It chewed on me for a while."

And somehow, he said it with a flippant kind of cheer, as if he was saying 'why, yes, it is taco tuesday.'

[skyward_eyes]

Oh. Yeah, well, he supposed he could understand it when Alister put it like that. Some of his worst memories were of either dragons or dragon-like creatures. Sprinkle those or a Malboro liberally on any situation and it would definitely get worse.

"Most dragons I know of don't tolerate areas that get too cold, though, not unless they're hibernating. Giant lizards and all that, cold blooded. Well, except for Ruby ones. I imagine their fire magics keep them really warm... And now I could serious go for a Ruby Dragon shish-kabob lightly seasoned with hot peppers and salt."

Okay, maybe the idea of food was getting to him. Surely nothing the inn had here would equate to that sort of food, but as it could be hard to bring a ruby down it's not like he'd had that sort of meal more than twice. Once to celebrate a promotion after the war, but that was another matter altogether.

"Being in worse doesn't mean you have to stay in not as bad."

[nobroth]

"Eh." Another shrug. "I'm Fereldan. I'm just glad it's not raining and it doesn't smell like dogs. I've got pretty low standards for 'good.' But come on, let's at least get you warm."

It was a first, he thought. Here he was, listening to someone talk about dragon kabobs (that was a weird thought) and somehow the thought of it wasn't making him hungry. Very strange. He was used to being hungry all the time, but here, it was like he could actually get full. Huh. When this place took magic, maybe it took the Taint as well.

Interesting idea. The Calling had definitely gone away. Something to think about.

He stepped back and opened the door, motioning his new acquaintance past him and into the warmth of the inn.

[skyward_eyes]

"Good news, I have absolutely no idea what a Fereldan means," Nida let himself chuckle as he headed through the door, rubbing his hands up and down his arms the whole time. "Know what dogs are, though. So allergic that they really aren't nearly as adorable as everyone things."

Blessing to whatever god anyone wanted to worship, it was warm in here. Almost immediately Nida found himself slogging toward the fireplace. Could he possibly just lay down here and not get up? Someone send a message to Squall, he's died and gone to heaven, he won't be reporting in for duty anymore. Who knew heat could be so good?

"I'm from a more or less tropical area. The 'winter' for me was usually something like 'oh maybe it will get down to forty, better have wood chopped.' At least, that's what it was like when I was a kid."

Strangely enough he almost connected with those memories more now. They were still gone, but he knew enough of the general shape of them to think his life now fit in a bit better with who he had been before Garden. For instance, in Garden he'd be encouraged to head right up to his room, strip off his wet clothes, and immediately replace them with warm ones. Right now he was more content to bask in the fire's presence.

[nobroth]

"Get down to forty what?" Alistair had absently followed for all he was still generally fine. "And so you know, Ferelden is a country."

He'd already got a grasp on the fact that there were more worlds than this. But then, he'd kind of gotten that idea when he'd figured out about eluvians and the Fade and... Well, all of that magical stuff he was glad he didn't really understand.

So he was getting the idea that this person was from one of those other places that had more of something that wasn't something he was used to, and less of the things he was used to. For one thing, he already understood that this man's world had more varieties of dragon than can fly and can't fly yet.

[skyward_eyes]

"Degrees," Nida answered, frowning. Units of measurement of the cold. Please don't make him break out comparative arguments of Celsius versus Fahrenheit. He doesn't really understand the science of that. "You know, really cold but not to the point of freezing so no snow?"

Ferelden, country. Check that one off. Which could probably be used as a term for the inhabitants of it too, got it. He'll have to file that away somewhere, wouldn't want to have to ask about it again. As for varieties of dragon, when you boil it down the only distinctions that mattered to Nida were 'ones that will eat you' and 'ones that live in your head.'

"Nida," he offered instead of trying to lecture on the finer points of science that he really didn't have a grasp on himself, offering a hand out. "Nida Nomura. Flier of Gardens and chew toy to dragons, at your service. Provided I don't have to go outside until I can feel my nose again."

[nobroth]

Alistair took the handshake easily. "Alistair Theirin. ...Though people would probably like it better if I left off the last name. Fellow chew toy to dragons, and general person to stand behind when there are bad things in front of me. I still have no idea what a degree is, but I understand the whole weather thing. I don't think Thedas has invented degrees yet."

But he accepted it easily enough. Why not accept it? After all, the alternative was to deny it, and that would just be stupid - especially in a Fade-adjacent place like this.

[skyward_eyes]

Damn his fingers were warm. Nida just wanted to hold that hands for a while, let the ice out of his knuckles. But he drops the shake at the appropriate time and turns his hands back to the fire.

Credit where credit is due, chew toy to big things with nasty teeth should be considered a unifying factor on this island. They should make a club. He would offer to ironically make t-shirts but he lacked the skill to even make cloth so he'll skip the joke.

"Degrees measure clear demarcations of temperature. 32 is the freezing point of water. It boils at 212. Wood typically starts burning when it reaches 450 or higher. And that's about as much as I can tell you because frankly I wasn't as good at science tests as I was combat ones. I'm almost surprised this place doesn't have thermometers about. At least for cooking or something."

Okay, he was finally ready to pry his boots off. Good thing they are quality made, somehow his wool socks aren't even wet. Bless the small things in life. Rare enough to get lucky breaks these days.

"Nice to meet you, Alistair. Can't imagine what's wrong with a last name, though. Unless you're related to someone important."

[nobroth]

There was one way to put it, and he'd gotten used to it over the years: "I'm a royal bastard. Here, it doesn't matter. No thrones, no people getting shifty about if I'm going to raise an army or something, but." He lifted a shoulder.

And then he picked up Nida's boots and moved them over to the fireside, turning them upside down so no snow would melt into the soles.

"Strange to think of measuring weather, though. Why would that even... I mean, I can understand measuring snow. Sometimes you want to see how deep it is. But temperature? Isn't that more of... it's cold or it's not? Eh, different minds."

[skyward_eyes]

Why measure weather? That... Wow. Consider him shocked, because this one would strike him as rather basic. Looked like he was going to have to drag out lectures from years gone by to try and get it all laid out in a logical way. So for a moment Nida is quiet, alternating rubbing his hands together and holding them out to the fire. Once it was all sorted out in his head he reached up to run his fingers through his hair.

"It's relevant for a number of reasons. First for the long-term monitoring of weather patterns. Checking out the sky and all of that is well and good, but when you have an idea of how temperature and weather typically plays out in your climate you're in a better position to account for what you'll need to do to provide for yourself in subsequent years. Not to mention when it's safe to go outside or not. Like... like ice skating. People do that, right? But if you're doing it you have to be careful to make sure the ice is thick enough. If you know what the temperature has been like the last few days you can more accurately gauge whether the water has had a chance to freeze thick enough to allow the needed weight. It's all physics. Or learning to read a basic barometer. You can tell early if it's going to rain due to atmospheric pressure."

And that didn't even go into tactical applications. If you knew it was going to, or already had, dropped below -40, you could reliably say that the enemy could not come after you with gas powered vehicles. By that point gasoline gels and it can't be used for combustion engines. You also needed to know to make sure your winter gear was rated appropriately for the area you were in. Perhaps explaining those things to someone without the concept of measuring temperatures might not be as useful, though.

[nobroth]

Alistair stared at him. He blinked. And some of it was an act, absolutely, but he had an image to keep up and so what he said was, "I have no idea what ice skating is. Or physics. Or a barometer. This all sounds like mage stuff to me, and most of what I was taught when it came to mages is how to know when their magic has gone too far and how to cancel it out.

"So I have to say I'm very sorry that you had to take the time to explain all that because I don't think I'm any better educated than I was when you started. You must be from somewhere with more... either magic or just knowledge."

Except he could see the wisdom in figuring out something like 'if the clouds have been looking like this lately, there's a good chance it'll rain' -- except he did live in Ferelden, where three out of the four seasons rained.

[skyward_eyes]

"From what I've seen, definitely more tech. As for magic, that's a hard one to pin down. Wish there were people where we were from who could cancel out magic, though."

Wouldn't that have made the Sorceress easier to deal with? But he wouldn't mind making a barometer. Wonders if someone knows about blowing glass. He could probably go ahead and draw one to explain how it worked, but the pressure measuring device was perfect for some degree of weather prep, especially with these wrist devices. People could get alerts about bad weather approaching and plan their day around that.

Not that he entirely remembers how to read one...