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pluviooc2024-03-18 02:45 pm
pluviosamods) wrote in pluviooc2024-03-18 02:45 pm
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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
"Oh, hang on a sec," he says, approaching. "Let'sa get you down, first, ok ok?"
He approaches without any heistation, because it's Miku, and chops the vine down at its base, letting her fall back to where she can put her feet on the ground. If she's unsteady, Mario will steady her. Then he grabs the vine around her waist, returning the axe to hammerspace, and carefully burns his way through it so it breaks. He definitely trusts himself with fire control more than he does with a sharp object - it wouldn't do to hurt Hatsune Miku!!
"Er, I'm-a not sure about your hair..." he says, once the vine at her waist comes loose. "I don't-a want to hurt you, or it..."
Anyway, what explanations he can give: "Well, I don't know what a 'sekai' is, and to be-a honest, I don't know what Ship is, either. Or- Er- I know it's a Ship - like-a cruise ship - but I don't-a know... what this world is. Or how we got here. Or why! We're all-a pretty clueless, so far."
Mario's really gotta explore more, but there's just been so much happening...
no subject
She considers what he's said about this 'Ship;' is it possible for Mario to have entered a SEKAI without realising it? Humans do it all the time, but Mario isn't human, right? He's a video game character. VIRTUAL, like her.
IF YOU WANT HER HAIR TO ACTUALLY CATCH FIRE. IT CAN. THERE'S AS MUCH/LITTLE VINE LEFT AS YOU WANT
So, just as carefully as before, he grabs the vine tangled in her hair with his hands and heats it up with his fire, hoping to turn it into ash in a flash - that's what he did with the one around her waist. If her hair starts smoking a little, too, that's - er, that's fine, right...??
"Um, Miku..."
Her hair hasn't caught fire before Mario has most of the vine burned away, but he doesn't like how singed it looks.
Dr. Mario Meet Mad Scientist Miku
Her hair...looks a little damaged.
That shouldn't be possible.
That's interesting.
Logically, she should probably be concerned about this. Be worried. It shouldn't be possible for her to take damage like this--even to just her hair.
But. It's just hair. And if the rules of this place completely overwrite the rules of reality as Miku knows it...then she has to know it.
"It's just hair," Miku reassures Mario. "It will...grow back. I know you won't let the flames hurt me. I...trust you." She's said her piece, and now she waits for Mario to burn the rest of the vine away--or to express that he needs further reassurance, because he had looked very worried.
no subject
And, uh, either he burns this vine and magically doesn't damage her hair (best option!) or he burns this vine and only some of her hair (okay option!) or he straight up has to cut the vine out of her hair (nightmare option!) so. well.
Time to get burning.
"Okay. Let's do this."
He burns the rest of the vine in a flash. It certainly isn't caught in her hair anymore, though its ashes will cling to - whatever he hasn't damaged. Mario's afraid to look, for a moment. (Please don't let her hair be on fire please don't let her hair be on fire--)
no subject
She's almost disappointed.
That's not to say it's without damage--once she brushes off the soot and the burnt corpses of the vines, it's easy to see where the flames ate through great chunks of her hair...she runs her fingers through her pigtails like a brush, and by the time she's gotten most of the knots out, she's lost a good chunk of hair volume. Not length, so much--the vines were too all over the place for something as precise as that--but she is...noticeably less 'floofy' than usual, as Mizuki would put it.
While it's relieving to see that she can't be hurt too badly...or that Mario is truly just that skilled at not burning people...
...there's a part of her that was actually super interested to see what would happen if the hair on her head really just went up in flames?
Hm. Much to think about. Self-destructive tendencies? She doesn't think she's exhibited them before...does this say something about Mafuyu's current mindset, even when Mafuyu doesn't appear to be here with her? Or is it just all her?
Mario's clear anxiety breaks through her musings. "Mario," she calls. "Thank you. See? I'm fine...you did a good job." Positive affirmations! She gives him a thumbs up, just like Mizuki would have (Mizuki, who is so precise about their looks and hair...) and then pats him on the head. Positive reinforcement through gentle and affectionate touches!
no subject
And she pats him on the head??? Mario laughs, not minding. His smile comes easy.
"Wahoo! Yeah, you only lost a little hair - good thing it wasn't more! I wouldn't have-a minded giving you an impromptu haircut, but I'm not sure if that would make you lose too much of your classic Hatsune Miku look."
He pantomimes the pigtails.
"Anyway, how long have you been-a trapped here?" Concerned.
no subject
How long...? Miku considers the question seriously. "Ah...I only got through a few songs, so...not more than...twenty minutes?" Probably?
"How about you, Mario? How long have you been here?" Is Kirby here too...sorry Mario, Miku does love you, but if she had to pick a favourite Nintendo icon...it's Kirby...poyo...
no subject
"Oh, I guess-a twenty minutes isn't too bad," Mario says - he probably would've just taken a nap in those circumstances, you know, if he wants trapped by plants. "Me? I've-a been here... Let's-a see..." He counts on his fingers. "I think'a two weeks now! That's when me and-a everyone else showed up on Ship."
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no subject
Maybe he should've asked about pronouns, too...
no subject
She nods seriously. "I will be sure...to respect Ship's preferred designation." Mizuki had made sure to teach her all about chosen identities, after all. Miku doesn't want to hurt any feelings. "Does Ship have pronouns?" Asking the important questions.
we're so lost in the sauce. the pronoun sauce.
no subject