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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.
Executor would like to offer weed whacking assistance.
What he finds is...unexpected.
A man stands in the clearing wearing blue and white garb, possibly Minoan inspired? He sees no horns.
What truly catches his attention, however, is the vegetation. He'd never seen plants grow so quickly before. And the man seems agitated about it.
At least he believes that is what his current body language belies.
He observes as the man steps back, muttering under his breath. He manifests in his hand a tool for...stone masonry. Strange...
"Excuse me," he starts, remembering it is proper to start conversations with strangers with greetings such as that to garner rapport. He steps out of the shadows. "The vegetation obstructs the passageway, which could pose several safety hazards. Do you require assistance in clearing it?"
weed whacking more like weed blasting
Veritas jumps, startled by the sudden appearance and modulated voice. He blinks at the red and black garbed... halovian? He's never seen pitch black halo and strange wings on his back without any feathers. With such unusual presentation, he's not even sure if he could say this man was a halovian. Just who exactly was he?..
He regains his composure quick when the sudden stranger announces his nonhostile, almost friendly intent. Veritas clears his throat, stepping aside to give the decorated individual space to deal with the plants in front of them. "I see no reason to refuse your assistance. By all means, have at it. Surely, this means you have something more suited to the task than I, mister..." He trails off, not having a name to refer to the newfound, seemingly helpful stranger by.
Alright, he's gonna start blasting
When asked about tools, the Sankta draws an entire shotgun from his robes. "I have operated by removing vegetation by hand. However, the growth here is so prevalent that this might prove more effective." He lines the muzzle up with the thickest knot of vines, channeling his Arts and firing off two rounds. It does blast some plants apart, which will make them easier to remove by hand. He does so, tearing a curtain of greenery away. He tilts his head to the man beside him. "Is this acceptable?"
tinnitus!!!
A bang goes off. And then another rings out. Veritas’s mind goes blank as the sounds blend into a high pitched noise that rattles in his ears, stunning him momentarily. He doesn’t hear anything for a moment, not Executor Federico’s inquiry, not the mulching sound of the disintegrating vegetation around them, nothing.
His palms are pressed up against his ears, and his vision narrows to a pinprick as he looks to the ground for balance to avoid stumbling. He grits his teeth. There’s a trick to externally inflicted tinnitus.
The recall comes with ease even amidst the insistent ringing tone. He rotates his hands back until his fingers wrap around the back of his head, and then tap, tap, tap.
Silence
He breathes a sigh of relief when the ringing stops. When a masking sound library or white noise machine isn’t available, noise suppression can be achieved through a method as simple as covering one’s ears and tapping the base of the skull until the sound goes away, brain filtering it out in favor of new stimuli.
He straightens his bearings and looks back at the stone faced man with a pointed gaze and crossed arms. His head pounds, but the distracting ringing has stopped at least.
"0 points. For lack of warning." He glances at the now open walkway of scorched vines. "5 points for completing the objective however."
He treks forward past the curtains of flora to scout only to sour upon facing more obstacles of the plant matter kind in the way, curling around another set of flickering lights. He pinches his nose bridge, feeling a horrendous migraine about to ensue. Veritas is not a fan of sounding or being ungrateful for this man’s help, but he’s also not looking forward to the rest of this journey out of this festering hallway.
He squints at the light source under the tangle of vines, and with a flick of his wrist, a projectile at once manifests and strikes the fixture dim. The plants cease movement but remain an obstruction.
Veritas flourishes a hand out towards the plant almost dispassionately. "After you, Executor." His fingers are pressed to his ears shortly after the entreaty, sound muffled but not deafened to the admittedly overstimulated doctor now.
monotone Fedi voice: oopsies, my b
Executor turns and...the man is standing there with his hands over his ears, looking to be in some sort of pain.
He blinks. He'd...forgotten that some species other than Sankta had more fragile eardrums. The man does some sort of procedure to alleviate the pain, then gives him a critical stare.
"I was not aware I was under assessment...sir." Is the man an authority here? "Feedback received. I will be sure to give adequate warning before firing again." A pause. "I...apologize for my carelessness."
The man conjures some sort of construct to destroy a light. Using Arts without a focus...? He gives the man another look over. No obvious signs of Oripathy... "So the flora here responds quickly to the lights. A sound strategy to remove them."
He nods at the invitation, stepping forward. "I will be using my Arts bullets again." His head tilts a little in thought, looking to the man covering his ears with his hands. He looks...extremely uncomfortable. "If your ears are more sensitive than a Sankta's, do you perhaps have a more reliable means of dampening your hearing?" He'd procured some earplugs for Vermeil when they'd trained together more often. Perhaps the man has something similar...? His intent is to help, not harm this man.
modern problems require modern solutions
He looks at Federico’s head turn and mouth move. His voice is muffled by the pressure he’s putting on his ears, but he can still hear. And if he’s ever confused, he can just read his lips anyways. 'Does he have anything more reliable to dampen his hearing?' Hm, now that the executor mentioned that, he does.
Veritas pulls his fingers out of his ears and in an instant, his bust materializes over his head. "So you do think before shooting sometimes." He clearly projects his voice through the stone bust. "10 points. For putting that gray matter to use."
He sighs and crosses his arms. "Unfortunately, along with my hearing, my vision is obscured. More likely than not, I’ll trip over the vines in this state. I will require you to at least telegraph any obstacles that might come our way."
"I can save you some bullets if we run into any lights. I can at least detect that." He gingerly follows behind Federico now with the bust on, deigning to not be too far from his savior at the moment. "And where are my manners? My name is Veritas Ratio. Dr. Ratio to most. I’m a scholar and a professor, pleased to make your acquaintance, Executor Federico of the Laterano Notarial Hall."
He then starts inquiring into the man in front of him. "A legal aide I presume? I do wonder what wills and affairs you are handling if you have a gun in hand."
Doctor?? Doctor!!! Have a new Operator, Doctor- wdym you're not that Doctor--
He's not familiar with this form of arts either. However unexpected, it is a solution...Executor tilts his head a little at the return of "points". What sort of evaluation is he being given...? "The good marks are...appreciated," he finally says, a bit unsure.
"Understood," he says, making sure to project his voice louder for the man now. As for visible obstruction... "You are welcome to use my clothing as a lead, sir." He takes his cape in hand, holding it out to brush against the other's knuckles as a physical offer. If the man were to trip, it would also serve to steady him in a pinch. Executor is not knocked down easily. "Either way, I will keep you informed of the current surroundings."
They do make some progress, Executor calling out various hazards before he steps around them himself, using terms like "vegetation cluster on your four o' clock" or "three more steps and we will be stepping over a fallen log." He makes sure to be aware and reach out to aid the other should he accidentally trip or snag on anything.
"Bullets are not a concern. My own arts suffice in clearing the vegetation, so I have no need to use the limited originium bullets on my person." Quite possibly the only ones he'll have as long as he's on this strange landship. "I accept your offer for aid, however." It will make less noise, therefore attracting less possible enemies and...will be kinder to the man's overloaded senses. And the projectiles the man threw looked quite efficient.
Executor pauses at the introduction, looking back at the man's covered face as he introduces himself as a doctor. There's an odd, familiar eccentricity to the scene that seems to ease some of the tension from his shoulders. A scholar and professor, as well... "Well met, Dr. Ratio. Do you practice medical as well? There is an abandoned clinic on this vessel that might be of interest to you." It would be good to save him the trouble of finding it himself.
At the questions on his occupation, Executor seems a little puzzled, which may be hard to note through Ratio's bust. "I assure you I am properly equipped to uphold The Law of Laterano, which requirements may vary. My work has much to do with those that are dead or dying." And yet his weapons did nothing to prevent the deaths of Clément, or Gerald. He stands still and stiff for a moment at the thought, ((Ratio may bump into his back, oops)) feeling...cold, for some reason. He takes a breath. "The Law itself has no power. It needs Executors. I carry out my missions to the best of my abilities." So why does he feel such dissatisfaction in the wake of this one?
He shakes himself a little with a light rustling of his wings. Now is not the time to ponder that. His eyes scan the area. "Five more steps and we will come upon another impasse. I will fire when you give the word, Doctor."
he has no clue what an operator is, stop that
"Of course," Veritas flippantly responds, hand clutching on to cape as suggested when he feels it brush against his knuckles, "having a metric to measure one's performance by is a useful tool for improvement." A tool has its limits, that's a given, but he's reluctant to admit that he startled at the loud sound and defaulted to correcting the first student to make a careless mishap at one of his lab classes in his dazed state and got caught up in the rhythm he set.
He lets himself get lulled into the new rhythm they set: the executor guiding him through obstacles like he said he would, Veritas shearing through any grouping of creeping foliage with his manifested projectiles when it was pointed out to him, and the heavy footfalls of the man's boots in front of him. When conversation starts up again, the topic of a clinic catches his attention immediate.
"Clinic faculties you say? So this is a place equipped with some sort of medical area… Indeed, I do practice medicine." He hums in intrigue as a smile no one can see stretches across his face under the headpiece. He tugs at the cape, almost petulantly, but he'd never admit to such behavior if pressed. "You can lead me to those facilities then." He has to inspect the conditions himself before he can set it up as his base of operations.
He nods along to Executor Federico’s explanation of his duties and occupation. He still has reasons to doubt whether such heavy arsenal is necessary in a legal dispute, but he doesn't speak them. Even he knows how messy a person's final moments can be just from his experiences as a resident and attending before. His heart leaps to his throat at the memories, but he swallows them down before bumping into the executor's back. His senses are isolated to an extent to make them easier for him to filter out unnecessary distractions, but he's not unaware of the sudden gravity and pauses in the man's speech as he relays his intentions in his position. It seems he has a lot on his mind. Something Veritas can relate to. Well, if he understands the challenges of the trials placed before him, then he'll leave him to it.
He smooths out the fabric he just bumped into, giving the man a gentle pat on the back in a gesture of hidden solidarity before focusing on the next obstacle put in front of him. His hand clutches a little harder at the cape he’s using as a lead at the notion of hearing gunfire again, but he only sighs and gives his verbal assent to the course of action, "By all means, fire away."