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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.
HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO GET KOSMOS NOW!!!!!!!!
"That's why you gotta introduce it to them slowly," he says, as if giving wise advice. "I got Akhos to start saying lol. It was so easy. Patroka hates it."
Hated it. He's not correcting himself to Mythra, though.
no subject
"Never worked for me," she says, shrugging. "Bet Akhos just picked it up because Patroka hated it, though."
The wave of grief that accompanies his words is - well. It's not a surprise.
She could like, talk about it. She'd wondered a little about his sudden change of heart when it came to her (but doesn't she get it? if she lost everyone except her
brpartner, well...)Instead, Mythra flips her hair over her shoulder and keeps walking.
no subject
Anyway. Malos shrugs. Fine, then. If that's how it's gonna be. It's not like he wants to talk about it, either. He's not sure what he's going to do, now that they're both alive, and they have to face the consequences of their actions, but...
Mythra doesn't get to die. So, apparently, neither does he.
...tangentially, his core - broken, split in half, etc - is struggling just a little keeping up with both of their systems, especially after all this walking and searching and stuff. "Shit," he mumbles. He does NOT want to give, and he does NOT want a repeat of fussing over Mythra from earlier, but also. He knows what it's like when Jin pushes too hard - he knows what it's like when he pushes too hard, and. He knows they can't keep doing this.
"Hey, alright," Malos says. His core is sore, and so are his legs, and he's surprised Mythra's not feeling that, too. "I gotta stop walking. Core needs a recharge."
Whatever. He might as well be honest. Whatever.
no subject
"A recharge?" she starts to ask incredulously, but oh, yeah, okay. This new core isn't fully integrated into her systems yet, but when she queries it she gets a whole new set of error messages. The state of this thing is dire, actually. She'd been so low on ether when Malos had split it, and part of the missing chunk seems to be related to ether generation... No wonder he'd barely used his own power the entire time it had been damaged.
Mythra hates thinking about this (and what it means for their current abilities - can she even summon a weapon? not with these ether levels she can't), so:
"Sure, whatever," she says. "Think there was a bench a little ways back...?" One so overgrown with vines it had been hard to tell what it was, but whatever, it's not like everything else here isn't as well. Or they can just sit down on the ground. The hell with it.
no subject
"What, ground's not good enough for you?" he jokes, but he's making his way back towards the bench, anyway.
...maybe this was a mistake, with how tired he's starting to feel, but. Meh. He's not cracking before Mythra - he can last until they get to the fucking bench. How far back could it have been, anyway?
no subject
"It can't be that much further," she says after a little bit, squinting ahead of them. God, is she out of breath or just running that low on ether? That sucks. This sucks.
no subject
He's about ready to shove his pride and go ahead and sit on the floor, but surely it can't be THAT much further off, right? RIGHT??? He puts his arm out to steady Mythra, though, if she takes it, if she wants it.
no subject
How humiliating. All they've done is walk.
She hesitates at the offered arm, but... Malos looks as ready to drop as she does, Mythra rationalizes, and she's certainly not going to manage to pick him up off the floor in this state. (The idea of leaving him behind doesn't occur to her.) So she takes it, scooting closer so that he can lean on her in return. If he needs.
She nearly misses the bench, overgrown as it is, dizzy as she feels, but then it's there in front of him and she's dropping his arm to collapse onto it. There's room for Malos as well, right? Surely.
no subject
It's nonsense, said with complete certainty that Mythra, of all people, is going to get it.
He lets his head fall back, resting on the bench back, taking a deep sigh of relief as he sprawls out. "There, much better..." He just needs to sit here with his eyes closed for a few minutes, wait until his ether levels regulate themselves. "Bet it's this damn - boat - or whatever," he grumbles, though he has no basis for such a claim. He's mostly just tired of looking at it.
..."You feeling alright?" he asks Mythra, genuine concern painting the words.
no subject
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just wiped."
She hesitates, her own concern mirroring his:
"Is it.... always this bad for you?"
It can't be, though - even after she'd killed Sever, Malos had at least mostly kept up with her when they'd fought. It must just be the core crystal split. She starts fiddling with the logs for it, trying to make sense of them and see if there's any way to bypass the most damaged areas. It might tickle a bit.
no subject
"Good." That's a relief. "Mmm... no, not this bad. Not all the time." Said with casual dismissal. "Only if I pushed myself too hard - which, you know, you were minutes away from." He usually doesn't struggle with words, but these he swallows. "My core's working overtime to catch up with your dumb idea." And his own dumb idea, to be fair.
"Usually it's not this bad at all." He doesn't want to worry her.
Hey, hey, that DOES tickle. Malos sits more upright, his face pulling in discomfort. "What are you- Hey, hey, keep your hands off! Just because I split the core doesn't mean you get to rearrange the data structures--"
Oh, wait. Whatever she did worked. It's not 'top form', but it's definitely better. "...Huh."
no subject
"There," she says, more than a little smug, once it's as done as it's getting. "No fix for the missing data, but it should be more efficient if it's not trying to look in corrupted sectors every other cycle." And if it's more efficient, it'll cycle ether a little better.
Anyway, rather than acknowledge the rest of what he'd said while she was fiddling with their core --
"C'mon, it was your dumb idea too."
they're so stupid we'll never get them to talk
Ok. Not going to think about that right now. Instead he shoves Mythra - annoyed, cain instinct, whatever.
"I wouldn't have needed to split my core with you if you hadn't shown up dying."
they're SO stupid
"It would've been fine. My core's safe, with all of my data and Pyra's. The worst that would've happened is we would've lost a few minutes of memories." Probably. It's not like this is a situation they've ever tested, but whatever. "Just because you didn't want to be alone doesn't mean I needed the saving."
Or wanted it, she doesn't say.
no subject
"That's not the reason I saved you," he snaps.
no subject
"Okay, then why?" Mythra snaps right back, matching his tone. This is too dumb to be picking a fight with him about, probably, but - even if any of that desire is gone, they'd spent their whole lives fighting. It itches in the back of her brain, something that does and doesn't make sense at the same time. "Why bother saving me at all?"
no subject
"Because - I couldn't watch you die." It sings in his core. It's all he knows how to do. He knows how to hate, yes, he knows how to despair. But the one thing he learned for himself - not from Amalthus, not even taught by Jin - was how to love. And despite everything, despite everything, Mythra is someone he loves.
"I care about you, idiot. All right? That's all it is."
no subject
Good fighting, sure, the exhilaration of facing the only person in the world who could possibly keep up to her, but fighting anyway. She hadn't held back against him once, and she doubts Malos did either - until now.
Ugh. Her head hurts. Maybe she should take a walk, think about something other than her idiot
brotherpartner.no subject
Maybe Mythra's like Patroka, though, and she just doesn't want to admit it. That's fine. Malos doesn't really care whether or not Mythra feels the same - or, not really. Maybe he cares a little, now, that the option is before him. Not fighting with Mythra is almost as nice as fighting with her is. He always figured they were more alike than she let on, anyway.
"Think whatever you want about it. It doesn't change the fact I couldn't watch you die."
no subject
"...didn't give me a choice, did you," Mythra mutters.
She's not even sure she meant to call him on it, but - alright, fine, if she cares about him, she cares about him. (Maybe that's not entirely a new thing! Whatever!) With all the crises past them, it's easier to dwell on the fact that Malos didn't just do the same thing she'd tried, he made them help.
"Bastard." There's no heat to it, just weariness. "Let's just... not, again, okay?" Truce, or whatever. Neither of them trying to die.
no subject
I'm a wretched being, too! A hideous monster, far beyond saving...
Malos closes his eyes. He breathes. He opens them again, smile back on his lips.
"I guess I didn't." What use is there pretending otherwise? She's right. "And maybe that's not 'fair' - maybe you had every 'right' to make me suffer the same - but..."
His hands clench into fists. The smile falters.
"...I didn't even try to stop them. And I was sick of doing nothing while someone I loved died."
no subject
"I don't think that's what they would've wanted," she says, and then shrugs. "I mean. I get it." (She does. She'd spent those five hundred years yearning to just not have to feel it anymore.) "But..."
She stops. Takes a deep breath, and then unfolds, enough to lean against his shoulder, a clumsy attempt at comfort.
The intention is somewhat foiled by Malos's fuckoff giant pauldrons making this incredibly awkward, but it's there!!!
no subject
That said, Mythra leans against him, and the thing is: Malos is just subconsciously aware of his fuckoff pauldrons generally being in the way, so without thinking he just lifts his arm so she can flop against his chest - more comfortable - and wraps his arm around her shoulder.
....hm. Conscious thought kicks back in. Well. That, uh.
He's not taking it back but he sure just turned this into a hug, huh.
no subject
It's... not uncomfortable. Mythra relaxes slowly as the two of them just sit there in silence, focusing on the sensation of their ether pulsing in unison through their shared core crystal. It's a while before she speaks up.
"Hey... what do you remember about before?" she asks. Before what, she doesn't say, but he must know at least as much as her. Her memories of him (not Malos, but the same person, surely) are vague, but... softer. Maybe this wouldn't have been weird, for the entities the two of them had been once.
i'm still in agony every time i read this one
Maybe, if things were different, they could have spent their whole lives getting used to this, instead of at each other's throats.
"Before..." Malos repeats, but it's not a question. He does know what she means. He grunts, a noise of - not distress, exactly, but the kind of noise you make when you're frustrated because it's on the tip of your tongue but you can't quite pin it down. "Not... a lot. Just bits and pieces, and they aren't - I don't know. They aren't memories in the way... everything else is."
They're a memory, sure, they're data in his core, but accessing them doesn't make any sense. Not even an error code - it runs fine, but it's incomprehensible, like his hardware doesn't match anymore.
"But... you were there, weren't you? I remember that."
me too! thanks!!!
(no subject)
(no subject)
NOT WHERE I THOUGHT THIS WAS GOING
(no subject)
with all these past selves it might as well be homestuck-- /dies