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pluviooc2024-03-18 02:45 pm
pluviosamods) wrote in pluviooc2024-03-18 02:45 pm
Entry tags:
TEST DRIVE 02
TEST DRIVE
Hello, and welcome to the second Pluviosa Test Drive!
This Test Drive corresponds to Days 4-12 in the ship calendar, and will run until around the game's next major event. You can get a better idea what's going on in the most recent Game Update which covers Days 5-8. Currently, character IC housing is not in operation yet; it is expected to open on Day 9 (part of the way through the Test Drive period). Otherwise, the ship is largely in the state described on the Setting page and in other game information.
Test Drive threads involving characters who are accepted are considered canon to the events of the game unless otherwise agreed by players/mods. Pluviosa does not do welcome mingle logs nor does it have any kind of in-character welcome information, making your test drive threads your character's arrival to the game setting. That said, mod-run interactions such as formal exploration and/or interactions with the Ship as an NPC are not available on the Test Drive.
It is advised that potential players familiarize themselves with the Premise page, the Rules/Session Zero page, and at least the first few paragraphs of the Setting page. As Pluviosa is a horror game, we especially encourage players to be aware of the content warnings that will be major themes of the game. If you have any further questions, you can ask them on the QUESTIONS header in the comments!
If you're test driving a character, you're welcome to join the game Discord and hang out and meet your fellow players!
You wake up. You remember waking up, right? In another place, another time...
There's blood running down your fingers. Outside, the rain isn't pounding, yet, just a gentle patter...
Or is it?
As characters gain fuller awareness of their surroundings, they will realize that there is, in fact, no blood on their hands (save any that might have already been there). It feels as though they lost focus for a moment and hallucinated, but the hallucination ended with them somewhere else entirely.
There is not actually the sound of rain. If characters are near enough to a window, balcony, or even a hole in the ceiling, they will find that it is cloudless, beaming sunlight outside. The emptiness in the distance rolls on and on, completely absent any signs of life.
That being, of course, because the signs of life are all in here. Characters might wake up on any of the decks on the upper side of the ship - anywhere that isn't the cafeteria or lounge where previous arrivals spend most of their time is free game. This also means, of course, that they have the jungle of plants to contend with...
Most areas in the ship are dark when characters arrive. That doesn't mean that they stay dark. Occasionally, lights overhead flicker on and off for a few minutes at a time.
The problem with this isn't the lights themselves (cool white and kind of industrial). It's the reaction that the addition of the extra light causes the plants in the dark areas of the ship that's cause for alarm. To describe the growth as explosive isn't an understatement - vines, saplings, and even thicker branches surge with growth, pushing outwards towards the distant sunlight and upwards towards the flickering bulbs.
The growth is sudden enough to take all but the most aware characters by surprise, and if they're in the wrong corner of the room, it's very easy to get tangled up, wedged in by a tree trunk, or otherwise trapped against some corner or wall. If you're lucky and skilled, you might be able to cut yourself out from there (or break down the wall you're shoved up against), but otherwise, there's only one solution left.
Yell like your life depends on it, and hope somebody out there can hear you. And that whoever hears is someone who is inclined to help, rather than leaving you there. Or worse.
Oh, and the lights flicker back off after a few minutes, of course. Hopefully you're not waiting for rescue in the dark (with the smell of mold and the general faint dampness of the forest) for too long.
Occasionally, the whole ship tilts.
This is not simply the side to side motion of a ship on the water (or the equivalent motion brought on by the way this particular ship moves); it's an extremely forward or backward tilt that sends things sliding across the floor if they aren't secured by roots or something else. Unlike storm-tossed ships, the tilt is somewhat prolonged - rather than everything sliding back and forth a couple times a minute, the tilt lasts for five, ten, maybe as much as twenty minutes.
Although it's not enough to knock a well-balanced character off their feet, it's quite likely that new arrivals will not be particularly on-balance. And attempting to traverse the ship with the tilt is a tall order... especially when the ship's angle does unexpectedly change... to the exact opposite direction. All that goes up the mountain must go back down, and a glance out the windows reveals that that's exactly what's going on, as the ship progresses across a mountainous landscape without real regard for the concept of mountain passes.
And for characters who have managed to make their way to the "civilized" parts of the ship, namely the cafeteria and the lounge above it... None of the furniture in these areas is secured. The cafeteria carts under the direct control of the Ship don't seem as inclined to go anywhere, but the tables and chairs in the cafeteria and the couches and armchairs upstairs... Well, it's a good thing both spaces are surrounded by railings. Large chunks of tree trunk also still littler the lounge, sliding back and forth and occasionally rolling with great force across the floor.
Better hold on tight.
While wandering around the ship's interior, characters might occasionally hear a person whistling.
The sound always seems to be coming from just around the corner, but it sounds alive in a way that other sounds don't. Maybe more alive, even, than the rustle of leaves, the occasional drip of water, and the sounds of things sliding back and forth across the grimy, leaf-covered floors. The whistler, whoever they are, doesn't actively respond if called out to - but the whistling does pause, as though indicating that the call was heard, before starting up again.
If characters choose to follow the whistling, they're inevitably led to the same place - somewhere overlooking the great gap down the middle of the ship, whether an internal suite's balcony, one of the bridges crossing between the two halves, or one of the hallways that runs alongside it. Once they're there, there's no whistler in sight; however, characters will be filled with the overwhelming urge to look over the edge of the railing and down into the lower parts of the ship.
Exactly what they experience after looking down varies. Some will hallucinate that they've fallen over the side, feeling their balance go haywire and seeing the floor rushing up to them right up until the moment of "impact," at which everything returns to normal. Some will feel a stranger's hands on their shoulders, threatening to push them over with a great shove that goes through them with incorporeal fingers. Some will just hear unidentifiable laughter right up close to their ears, and experience the distinct sensation that there's someone laughing at them, in a haha-made-you-look kind of way.
But whatever happens, when they look up, there's no one there - or at least not anyone that physically close to them. The one good thing about being drawn to the middle section of the ship by whatever prankster this is is that it makes it a lot easier to run into people if you're all drawn to the same, highly visible place.
And at least the other person is flesh and blood, right? Probably.
This Test Drive corresponds to Days 4-12 in the ship calendar, and will run until around the game's next major event. You can get a better idea what's going on in the most recent Game Update which covers Days 5-8. Currently, character IC housing is not in operation yet; it is expected to open on Day 9 (part of the way through the Test Drive period). Otherwise, the ship is largely in the state described on the Setting page and in other game information.
Test Drive threads involving characters who are accepted are considered canon to the events of the game unless otherwise agreed by players/mods. Pluviosa does not do welcome mingle logs nor does it have any kind of in-character welcome information, making your test drive threads your character's arrival to the game setting. That said, mod-run interactions such as formal exploration and/or interactions with the Ship as an NPC are not available on the Test Drive.
It is advised that potential players familiarize themselves with the Premise page, the Rules/Session Zero page, and at least the first few paragraphs of the Setting page. As Pluviosa is a horror game, we especially encourage players to be aware of the content warnings that will be major themes of the game. If you have any further questions, you can ask them on the QUESTIONS header in the comments!
If you're test driving a character, you're welcome to join the game Discord and hang out and meet your fellow players!
ARRIVAL - LIKE THE RAIN
You wake up. You remember waking up, right? In another place, another time...
There's blood running down your fingers. Outside, the rain isn't pounding, yet, just a gentle patter...
Or is it?
As characters gain fuller awareness of their surroundings, they will realize that there is, in fact, no blood on their hands (save any that might have already been there). It feels as though they lost focus for a moment and hallucinated, but the hallucination ended with them somewhere else entirely.
There is not actually the sound of rain. If characters are near enough to a window, balcony, or even a hole in the ceiling, they will find that it is cloudless, beaming sunlight outside. The emptiness in the distance rolls on and on, completely absent any signs of life.
That being, of course, because the signs of life are all in here. Characters might wake up on any of the decks on the upper side of the ship - anywhere that isn't the cafeteria or lounge where previous arrivals spend most of their time is free game. This also means, of course, that they have the jungle of plants to contend with...
LIGHTS ON, SHOW START
Most areas in the ship are dark when characters arrive. That doesn't mean that they stay dark. Occasionally, lights overhead flicker on and off for a few minutes at a time.
The problem with this isn't the lights themselves (cool white and kind of industrial). It's the reaction that the addition of the extra light causes the plants in the dark areas of the ship that's cause for alarm. To describe the growth as explosive isn't an understatement - vines, saplings, and even thicker branches surge with growth, pushing outwards towards the distant sunlight and upwards towards the flickering bulbs.
The growth is sudden enough to take all but the most aware characters by surprise, and if they're in the wrong corner of the room, it's very easy to get tangled up, wedged in by a tree trunk, or otherwise trapped against some corner or wall. If you're lucky and skilled, you might be able to cut yourself out from there (or break down the wall you're shoved up against), but otherwise, there's only one solution left.
Yell like your life depends on it, and hope somebody out there can hear you. And that whoever hears is someone who is inclined to help, rather than leaving you there. Or worse.
Oh, and the lights flicker back off after a few minutes, of course. Hopefully you're not waiting for rescue in the dark (with the smell of mold and the general faint dampness of the forest) for too long.
TILT-A-WORLD
Occasionally, the whole ship tilts.
This is not simply the side to side motion of a ship on the water (or the equivalent motion brought on by the way this particular ship moves); it's an extremely forward or backward tilt that sends things sliding across the floor if they aren't secured by roots or something else. Unlike storm-tossed ships, the tilt is somewhat prolonged - rather than everything sliding back and forth a couple times a minute, the tilt lasts for five, ten, maybe as much as twenty minutes.
Although it's not enough to knock a well-balanced character off their feet, it's quite likely that new arrivals will not be particularly on-balance. And attempting to traverse the ship with the tilt is a tall order... especially when the ship's angle does unexpectedly change... to the exact opposite direction. All that goes up the mountain must go back down, and a glance out the windows reveals that that's exactly what's going on, as the ship progresses across a mountainous landscape without real regard for the concept of mountain passes.
And for characters who have managed to make their way to the "civilized" parts of the ship, namely the cafeteria and the lounge above it... None of the furniture in these areas is secured. The cafeteria carts under the direct control of the Ship don't seem as inclined to go anywhere, but the tables and chairs in the cafeteria and the couches and armchairs upstairs... Well, it's a good thing both spaces are surrounded by railings. Large chunks of tree trunk also still littler the lounge, sliding back and forth and occasionally rolling with great force across the floor.
Better hold on tight.
SOMETHING WHISTLING
While wandering around the ship's interior, characters might occasionally hear a person whistling.
The sound always seems to be coming from just around the corner, but it sounds alive in a way that other sounds don't. Maybe more alive, even, than the rustle of leaves, the occasional drip of water, and the sounds of things sliding back and forth across the grimy, leaf-covered floors. The whistler, whoever they are, doesn't actively respond if called out to - but the whistling does pause, as though indicating that the call was heard, before starting up again.
If characters choose to follow the whistling, they're inevitably led to the same place - somewhere overlooking the great gap down the middle of the ship, whether an internal suite's balcony, one of the bridges crossing between the two halves, or one of the hallways that runs alongside it. Once they're there, there's no whistler in sight; however, characters will be filled with the overwhelming urge to look over the edge of the railing and down into the lower parts of the ship.
Exactly what they experience after looking down varies. Some will hallucinate that they've fallen over the side, feeling their balance go haywire and seeing the floor rushing up to them right up until the moment of "impact," at which everything returns to normal. Some will feel a stranger's hands on their shoulders, threatening to push them over with a great shove that goes through them with incorporeal fingers. Some will just hear unidentifiable laughter right up close to their ears, and experience the distinct sensation that there's someone laughing at them, in a haha-made-you-look kind of way.
But whatever happens, when they look up, there's no one there - or at least not anyone that physically close to them. The one good thing about being drawn to the middle section of the ship by whatever prankster this is is that it makes it a lot easier to run into people if you're all drawn to the same, highly visible place.
And at least the other person is flesh and blood, right? Probably.
no subject
He's quiet for a long time, leaning up against one of the patches of wall Neuvillette blasted clean. It's a lot to take in and he isn't going to do Neuvillette the disservice of brushing it off with a joke, as much as part of him wants to. But as important as the rest of it is, Neuvillette is right - the lives are what matters. "No lives lost? Even in my most optimistic moments that felt like a stretch. That's... incredible." He hesitates. "Thank you."
He doesn't know what to say about the Hydro Dragon business (he'll probably have a lot to say about it later), but it feels wrong to move on without saying that.
Okay, uncomfortably sincere moment over. "So. Did I get my ship done in time?"
no subject
Only Wriothesley is uncomfortable with sincerity. Neuvillette is sincere at all times, which is probably one of the things that makes being around him unsettling for many humans, who don't always say what they mean with so few reservations. And so it is clear that Neuvillette has regrets, for Poisson - that he wishes he could have done more, and that it still weighs on him.
The somber moment passes.
"I've heard quite a number of reports about it, though I haven't had the pleasure of seeing it myself. Apparently it was quite the sight; unfortunately, my attention was demanded by other things." Like helping the Traveler fight a giant whale in another dimension, as you do.
no subject
"Yeah, I'm sure you had a few things to do. I'm just glad to hear it actually floats." He was doing his best with the science behind how the ship is going to work, but he was no scholar. "Joking aside... what about Lady Furina? If the Hydro Archon's throne is gone, what does that mean for her? And does she know all this?" Is Neuvillette going to need him to keep secrets?
no subject
He hasn't told the one here, because that is one of the things for which her reactions need to be authentic, and also because he's not sure what happens, if he tells her to change what is already his past to save that handful of people. Who knows if it's even possible.
"As for Furina, she's retired, and committed herself to the pursuit of stage direction." There's some definite fondness and relief in his voice - no resentment for having been abandoned with the paperwork, it seems. "I've informed her of most of the same things I've told you, except for the matter of Poisson, but I've left some details deliberately vague in both accounts. There is a point at which the Traveler and I were forced to deceive her in order to reach the bottom of the matter, and I'm afraid I can't take the risk of that situation going differently than it did."
A container with no seams has no leaks through which the secrets can fall out. Furina being who she is, she wouldn't walk to her trial knowingly, not under any circumstances.
no subject
"So you're not telling me everything either." He doesn't like not having all the facts - his instincts say what he doesn't know will come back to bite him later. Though maybe it's not likely in the circumstances, what with them being far away from Fontaine. "Well, I appreciate being told that straight out."
He can't be angry with Neuvillette when he's just doing what he thinks is right, even if Wriothesley finds it personally frustrating. "Any chance I'll be able to talk you into sharing? You know I don't spread information that isn't for public consumption."
He isn't going to hold it against Neuvillette if he says no, but he might as well be just as straightforward about asking as the Iudex was about telling him he's holding information back.
no subject
His voice and the faint expression is apologetic, but - well. One would have better luck moving the ocean than in trying to change Neuvillette's mind on a matter such as this.
It isn't that he doesn't trust Wriothesley. Insofar as Neuvillette trusts any mortal human, the Duke of Meropide is somewhere near the top of the list. But ultimately, it isn't other humans or even Furina herself who most need to be deceived. And while Neuvillette doesn't think that Celestia can have eyes in this place, he won't take the risk.
There's no real way to truly explain it without giving away Furina's secret, after all. Not to the satisfaction of a man like Wriothesley; it's lucky that Tartaglia is more curious about the Primordial Sea itself.
no subject
While the fate of Fontaine might feel very pressing to him right now, they're... not actually in Fontaine. The here and now has to take precedence. They're in an unknown place on a ship that has already proven to be at least somewhat hazardous. Getting distracted by the future might be deadly. "So what do I need to know about the ship? Anything I should keep an eye out for?"
no subject
"Well, I dare say you've already encountered the plants - the sudden outgrowths are in response to the lights, as far as anyone can tell. Beyond that... Something about this place seems to induce hallucinations from time to time, and others have reported some manner of ghosts or spiritual entities. That aside, it doesn't seem particularly dangerous, for the moment, aside from the hazards of sheer neglect and boredom."
Because boredom is a great hazard for people who are normally as busy as they are, obviously. That's how you end up in the situation of Neuvillette pressure washing a hallway.
"The ship itself has some form of consciousness which has been providing for basic needs and attempting to get us quarters in a livable state, but it is... rather unresponsive to certain lines of inquiry, and difficult to cross-examine without any additional sources of information."
no subject
He snorts a bit. "Yeah, it kind of looks like one of the major concerns around here would be not getting lockjaw from stepping on the wrong thing. But I see that you're keeping yourself busy doing your part to clean things up." He motions to the cleaner portion of the wall, kind of amused by the idea of the High Iudex of Fontaine working as a janitor. He supposes that Neuvillette probably takes to idleness about as well as he does - that is to say, badly.
"When you say basic needs does that happen to cover tea?" That's one of Wriothesley's basic needs, it's a valid question. "I'm starting to feel like I could really use a cup."
no subject
The comment on tea at least gets something like a smile. "There is in fact tea, though I cannot speak to its quality," Neuvillette says. "The water is somewhat metallic in a highly recycled way, though I suppose it's not that different from that of the Fortress in that regard."
no subject
"I'll set my expectations low." Sure, he likes high quality tea but he knows you can't always get what you want. "At this point I think I'd probably miss having a metallic undertone in my tea. It always tastes a little flat without it." He's been drinking Meropide's water for more than half his life at this point. You can get used to pretty much anything.
no subject
"The tea and foodstuffs are upstairs," he says. "Near the back of the ship, there's a relatively clear area that serves as a cafeteria. Shall I lead the way?"
no subject
"I hate to interrupt your work..." After all, it looks like he's been so productive. "But yes. Please."
no subject
But it isn't as though Neuvillette has told anyone of the echoes he's heard from the fountain of Lucine, calling out for justice for so many years. If the ghosts here are similar, then he has some obligation to try and help set things right. An obligation he took on by choice, to pick up the mantle of Justice that Focalors left behind.
"The mildew isn't going anywhere," he says, turning towards the other end of the dark hallway. He'll start to lead Wriothesley that way as they continue to talk. "Truthfully, after a few centuries, it's impressive that it's all as structurally sound as it is..."
no subject
If there's anything he's learned over the last few years of his life it's that ships really enjoy sinking. This one must have one hell of a hull to have stayed afloat this long without anyone to perform maintenance... or maybe something else does the maintenance. Like the ghosts?
no subject
It's not really hard for anyone in the know to put together that Neuvillette and dry environments don't particular mix.
"You'll be able to see for yourself shortly - the cafeteria is in an open area, so there is quite the view, though it gets repetitive to watch rather quickly. As for the time period, my initial estimate was confirmed by the Ship itself when it first spoke to us. It has been approximately three centuries since the last passenger disembarked."
no subject
"Anyway, if it's been that long without passengers, why bring us on board now? Is there something we're supposed to be doing?"
this got lost in my inbox but i promise i still love you
Others no doubt do, but Neuvillette has always been the benefit of the doubt type, to the benefit of many. Innocent until proven, and all that.