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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.
local ghost whisperer doesnt know what ghosts are
Noah turns, and finds a blond man behind him, in black and blue clothing. Kevesi? There's something a little impractical about the outfit though, and no signs of uniform anywhere. Not to mention something slightly odd about the man's face. Is he... in his late 10th term? Noah can't quite tell, and the term mark isn't visible.
For now, Noah can only set it aside for more important matters. Suspicious or not, maybe this man knows what's going on.
Noah gives the ledge a last look and then cautiously steps away from it and towards the newcomer. "What do you mean? ...What's a 'ghost'?"
A local monster?
Introductions next time, it didn’t flow!! Gotta explain ghosts
That’ll be less trouble for him too.
Guy looks…young too. Round face, bright blue eyes, very pretty dark hair. Can’t be more than like…well. He’s not sure of the exact numbers, but a teenager at least. He’s not seen clothing of that style either. Interesting…
Aventurine smiles, holding his hands up in a placating “unarmed” gesture. Kid looked on edge, and not just the edge of the bridge.
“I’ll be honest, I’m not super familiar with the term either. Restless spirits, remnants of people who lived here, stuff like that,” he explains, giving a nonchalant shrug. “Can’t really see them, but some like to…interact. This ship’s been unoccupied for awhile until living people like you and me started showing up. There’s one…ghost that leads people here with whistling. It seems to like giving them a big scare when they follow along. Rather nasty sense of humor, that one,” he chuckles.
His eyes flick to the…stick? On the kid’s person…a flute? “Say, was that you who played some music earlier? It sounded nice.”
ill get the intro, dw
Noah isn't one to relax so easily, especially after the couple weeks he's had, but there's definitely a little less caution in his posture. If anything goes wrong, he's ready to move, but until then...
He nods, term clicking. "Unsent. That makes sense." A little anyway. Most people would hear at least one scary story on a late night about the unsent by second term. There weren't any motes, though, not that he saw. Maybe he just wasn't focused on seeing anyone off, so it didn't work, but.
If there truly were lingering dead, was something trapping them, beyond the reach of off-seer's power?
Noah shivers, something other than water's chill sinking in. He would have said that real unsent were just a story, but Ouroboros is beyond any third watch tales scope already. How can he truly say it isn't possible? "Thanks for helping me, then. I don't think I would have liked to meet that 'ghost.'"
A hand twitches around his flute, and he nods. "That was me, yeah. I am an off-seer. My name's Noah, by the way."
Aw heck yea, thank
Aventurine’s eyebrows go up at the response. “Unsent…? I suppose that term makes some sense…” Specters unable to move on. Does this imply there is someone to send them on their way? Huh.
The kid shivers a little then, and Aventurine gives a sympathetic smile. “No problem. I had my own run in with it, noooot a fun time,” he replies, waving a hand in the air to imply he’s over it. Over the lucid vision of being pushed to his death. It’s not real, of course he’s over it. Totally.
“Off-seer, huh?” Aventurine tilts his head, taking a step closer to get a clearer look at the instrument. “I consider myself well traveled, but I don’t think I’ve heard that term before.” He’d been wondering about that. Was it like…an undertaker of sorts? The way he emphasized his words, it seemed like something well known to him.
“Ah yes, where are my manners,” he says, lowering his hands a little to take a formal bow. He gets the feeling going in for a handshake might spook him. “Pleasure to meet you, Noah, even if the environment is…less than pleasant.” He straightens his posture, smiling. “You can call me Aventurine. I’m a senior manager of the IPC Strategic Investment Department.” He adds, if off-seer counted as an occupation, he should probably reciprocate.
i love dropping terms you have no context for
Then he narrows his eyes, just a bit. "You haven't?" If you were feeling good about taking a bit of Noah's guard off, its back now. Not all the way, but this man doesn't seem like someone trapped in an isolated colony, locked away from the war. Certainly not if he calls himself 'well-traveled.' Offseeing is hard to avoid, truly, and there could only be so many isolated colonies.
Noah bows his head back, if a bit awkwardly. These sorts of formalities aren't something he brings out that often. "Nice to meet you..." Well, that didn't sound like any colony he knew at all. There was one other option, not that its pieces quite lined up either, but Noah didn't know enough to be sure. There was only one way to find out. "The IPC? ...Are you maybe from The City?"
Those sure are terms!! I have some context now. Aven however...
And then the returning bow from Noah is very...unpracticed. Awkward. Either this isn't his way of greeting or the guy is just that nervous. Or both. Probably both. He makes sure to smile encouragingly. It won't do if the kid is too skittish to function.
But then Noah clearly hasn't heard of the IPC. And asks about a city...? Huh. He tilts his head. "I'm afraid you'll have to be more specific, Noah. I travel to many cities in many worlds for work." He pauses, deciding to throw the kid a more specific bone. "For example, I was directly transported here through a series of....events from a planet called Penacony, from the Asdana system. However, I was born on a desert planet called Sigonia IV. Does any of that sound familiar?"
alas yon noah has no context as well
Noah's eyes go a bit blank, and well, he certainly doesn't seem on his guard now. "No. None of that sounds familiar. Just. Just where are we?"
Right now, Maktha Wildwood feels so far away. His friends feel even further. Noah- Noah doesn't know where he is anymore.
Aven can see that!! He is walking it back a bit!!
Then again none of this is normal really. How is he supposed to expect the same knowledge level from some stranger on a strange boat that keeps taking people? From different worlds??
Noah's definitely not from anywhere he's been. Or he could be from a very non-advanced, sheltered planet...but something about this rings some sort of alarm bell in his head...
"I...lost you somewhere, didn't I," he says, wincing. He spreads his hands out, placating, apologetic.
"Hey. Sorry. I know it's alot. I ended up here by surprise too," he says, losing a bit of his customary bravado to sound more personable instead.
Hm. How to explain...simply. "Right now, we're on a very big boat. A ship. Whatever you call it." He telegraphs his movements as he opens his hands, manifesting a small diagram of his best approximation of what the ship looks like. With legs, spidery and long, slowly skittering in place on his hands. It's nothing fancy like what Ratio could probably do, but it's decent enough.
He goes to explain more, but pauses, remembering Noah's general confusion. Start slow. Start with what he knows. His eyes flick up to the kid. "We're inside a very big version of something like this. You seen one? I mean...where I come from they don't usually have legs, but this one does-anyway. Make sense so far?"