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pluviooc2024-03-18 02:45 pm
pluviosamods) wrote in pluviooc2024-03-18 02:45 pm
Entry tags:
TEST DRIVE 02
TEST DRIVE
Hello, and welcome to the second Pluviosa Test Drive!
This Test Drive corresponds to Days 4-12 in the ship calendar, and will run until around the game's next major event. You can get a better idea what's going on in the most recent Game Update which covers Days 5-8. Currently, character IC housing is not in operation yet; it is expected to open on Day 9 (part of the way through the Test Drive period). Otherwise, the ship is largely in the state described on the Setting page and in other game information.
Test Drive threads involving characters who are accepted are considered canon to the events of the game unless otherwise agreed by players/mods. Pluviosa does not do welcome mingle logs nor does it have any kind of in-character welcome information, making your test drive threads your character's arrival to the game setting. That said, mod-run interactions such as formal exploration and/or interactions with the Ship as an NPC are not available on the Test Drive.
It is advised that potential players familiarize themselves with the Premise page, the Rules/Session Zero page, and at least the first few paragraphs of the Setting page. As Pluviosa is a horror game, we especially encourage players to be aware of the content warnings that will be major themes of the game. If you have any further questions, you can ask them on the QUESTIONS header in the comments!
If you're test driving a character, you're welcome to join the game Discord and hang out and meet your fellow players!
You wake up. You remember waking up, right? In another place, another time...
There's blood running down your fingers. Outside, the rain isn't pounding, yet, just a gentle patter...
Or is it?
As characters gain fuller awareness of their surroundings, they will realize that there is, in fact, no blood on their hands (save any that might have already been there). It feels as though they lost focus for a moment and hallucinated, but the hallucination ended with them somewhere else entirely.
There is not actually the sound of rain. If characters are near enough to a window, balcony, or even a hole in the ceiling, they will find that it is cloudless, beaming sunlight outside. The emptiness in the distance rolls on and on, completely absent any signs of life.
That being, of course, because the signs of life are all in here. Characters might wake up on any of the decks on the upper side of the ship - anywhere that isn't the cafeteria or lounge where previous arrivals spend most of their time is free game. This also means, of course, that they have the jungle of plants to contend with...
Most areas in the ship are dark when characters arrive. That doesn't mean that they stay dark. Occasionally, lights overhead flicker on and off for a few minutes at a time.
The problem with this isn't the lights themselves (cool white and kind of industrial). It's the reaction that the addition of the extra light causes the plants in the dark areas of the ship that's cause for alarm. To describe the growth as explosive isn't an understatement - vines, saplings, and even thicker branches surge with growth, pushing outwards towards the distant sunlight and upwards towards the flickering bulbs.
The growth is sudden enough to take all but the most aware characters by surprise, and if they're in the wrong corner of the room, it's very easy to get tangled up, wedged in by a tree trunk, or otherwise trapped against some corner or wall. If you're lucky and skilled, you might be able to cut yourself out from there (or break down the wall you're shoved up against), but otherwise, there's only one solution left.
Yell like your life depends on it, and hope somebody out there can hear you. And that whoever hears is someone who is inclined to help, rather than leaving you there. Or worse.
Oh, and the lights flicker back off after a few minutes, of course. Hopefully you're not waiting for rescue in the dark (with the smell of mold and the general faint dampness of the forest) for too long.
Occasionally, the whole ship tilts.
This is not simply the side to side motion of a ship on the water (or the equivalent motion brought on by the way this particular ship moves); it's an extremely forward or backward tilt that sends things sliding across the floor if they aren't secured by roots or something else. Unlike storm-tossed ships, the tilt is somewhat prolonged - rather than everything sliding back and forth a couple times a minute, the tilt lasts for five, ten, maybe as much as twenty minutes.
Although it's not enough to knock a well-balanced character off their feet, it's quite likely that new arrivals will not be particularly on-balance. And attempting to traverse the ship with the tilt is a tall order... especially when the ship's angle does unexpectedly change... to the exact opposite direction. All that goes up the mountain must go back down, and a glance out the windows reveals that that's exactly what's going on, as the ship progresses across a mountainous landscape without real regard for the concept of mountain passes.
And for characters who have managed to make their way to the "civilized" parts of the ship, namely the cafeteria and the lounge above it... None of the furniture in these areas is secured. The cafeteria carts under the direct control of the Ship don't seem as inclined to go anywhere, but the tables and chairs in the cafeteria and the couches and armchairs upstairs... Well, it's a good thing both spaces are surrounded by railings. Large chunks of tree trunk also still littler the lounge, sliding back and forth and occasionally rolling with great force across the floor.
Better hold on tight.
While wandering around the ship's interior, characters might occasionally hear a person whistling.
The sound always seems to be coming from just around the corner, but it sounds alive in a way that other sounds don't. Maybe more alive, even, than the rustle of leaves, the occasional drip of water, and the sounds of things sliding back and forth across the grimy, leaf-covered floors. The whistler, whoever they are, doesn't actively respond if called out to - but the whistling does pause, as though indicating that the call was heard, before starting up again.
If characters choose to follow the whistling, they're inevitably led to the same place - somewhere overlooking the great gap down the middle of the ship, whether an internal suite's balcony, one of the bridges crossing between the two halves, or one of the hallways that runs alongside it. Once they're there, there's no whistler in sight; however, characters will be filled with the overwhelming urge to look over the edge of the railing and down into the lower parts of the ship.
Exactly what they experience after looking down varies. Some will hallucinate that they've fallen over the side, feeling their balance go haywire and seeing the floor rushing up to them right up until the moment of "impact," at which everything returns to normal. Some will feel a stranger's hands on their shoulders, threatening to push them over with a great shove that goes through them with incorporeal fingers. Some will just hear unidentifiable laughter right up close to their ears, and experience the distinct sensation that there's someone laughing at them, in a haha-made-you-look kind of way.
But whatever happens, when they look up, there's no one there - or at least not anyone that physically close to them. The one good thing about being drawn to the middle section of the ship by whatever prankster this is is that it makes it a lot easier to run into people if you're all drawn to the same, highly visible place.
And at least the other person is flesh and blood, right? Probably.
This Test Drive corresponds to Days 4-12 in the ship calendar, and will run until around the game's next major event. You can get a better idea what's going on in the most recent Game Update which covers Days 5-8. Currently, character IC housing is not in operation yet; it is expected to open on Day 9 (part of the way through the Test Drive period). Otherwise, the ship is largely in the state described on the Setting page and in other game information.
Test Drive threads involving characters who are accepted are considered canon to the events of the game unless otherwise agreed by players/mods. Pluviosa does not do welcome mingle logs nor does it have any kind of in-character welcome information, making your test drive threads your character's arrival to the game setting. That said, mod-run interactions such as formal exploration and/or interactions with the Ship as an NPC are not available on the Test Drive.
It is advised that potential players familiarize themselves with the Premise page, the Rules/Session Zero page, and at least the first few paragraphs of the Setting page. As Pluviosa is a horror game, we especially encourage players to be aware of the content warnings that will be major themes of the game. If you have any further questions, you can ask them on the QUESTIONS header in the comments!
If you're test driving a character, you're welcome to join the game Discord and hang out and meet your fellow players!
ARRIVAL - LIKE THE RAIN
You wake up. You remember waking up, right? In another place, another time...
There's blood running down your fingers. Outside, the rain isn't pounding, yet, just a gentle patter...
Or is it?
As characters gain fuller awareness of their surroundings, they will realize that there is, in fact, no blood on their hands (save any that might have already been there). It feels as though they lost focus for a moment and hallucinated, but the hallucination ended with them somewhere else entirely.
There is not actually the sound of rain. If characters are near enough to a window, balcony, or even a hole in the ceiling, they will find that it is cloudless, beaming sunlight outside. The emptiness in the distance rolls on and on, completely absent any signs of life.
That being, of course, because the signs of life are all in here. Characters might wake up on any of the decks on the upper side of the ship - anywhere that isn't the cafeteria or lounge where previous arrivals spend most of their time is free game. This also means, of course, that they have the jungle of plants to contend with...
LIGHTS ON, SHOW START
Most areas in the ship are dark when characters arrive. That doesn't mean that they stay dark. Occasionally, lights overhead flicker on and off for a few minutes at a time.
The problem with this isn't the lights themselves (cool white and kind of industrial). It's the reaction that the addition of the extra light causes the plants in the dark areas of the ship that's cause for alarm. To describe the growth as explosive isn't an understatement - vines, saplings, and even thicker branches surge with growth, pushing outwards towards the distant sunlight and upwards towards the flickering bulbs.
The growth is sudden enough to take all but the most aware characters by surprise, and if they're in the wrong corner of the room, it's very easy to get tangled up, wedged in by a tree trunk, or otherwise trapped against some corner or wall. If you're lucky and skilled, you might be able to cut yourself out from there (or break down the wall you're shoved up against), but otherwise, there's only one solution left.
Yell like your life depends on it, and hope somebody out there can hear you. And that whoever hears is someone who is inclined to help, rather than leaving you there. Or worse.
Oh, and the lights flicker back off after a few minutes, of course. Hopefully you're not waiting for rescue in the dark (with the smell of mold and the general faint dampness of the forest) for too long.
TILT-A-WORLD
Occasionally, the whole ship tilts.
This is not simply the side to side motion of a ship on the water (or the equivalent motion brought on by the way this particular ship moves); it's an extremely forward or backward tilt that sends things sliding across the floor if they aren't secured by roots or something else. Unlike storm-tossed ships, the tilt is somewhat prolonged - rather than everything sliding back and forth a couple times a minute, the tilt lasts for five, ten, maybe as much as twenty minutes.
Although it's not enough to knock a well-balanced character off their feet, it's quite likely that new arrivals will not be particularly on-balance. And attempting to traverse the ship with the tilt is a tall order... especially when the ship's angle does unexpectedly change... to the exact opposite direction. All that goes up the mountain must go back down, and a glance out the windows reveals that that's exactly what's going on, as the ship progresses across a mountainous landscape without real regard for the concept of mountain passes.
And for characters who have managed to make their way to the "civilized" parts of the ship, namely the cafeteria and the lounge above it... None of the furniture in these areas is secured. The cafeteria carts under the direct control of the Ship don't seem as inclined to go anywhere, but the tables and chairs in the cafeteria and the couches and armchairs upstairs... Well, it's a good thing both spaces are surrounded by railings. Large chunks of tree trunk also still littler the lounge, sliding back and forth and occasionally rolling with great force across the floor.
Better hold on tight.
SOMETHING WHISTLING
While wandering around the ship's interior, characters might occasionally hear a person whistling.
The sound always seems to be coming from just around the corner, but it sounds alive in a way that other sounds don't. Maybe more alive, even, than the rustle of leaves, the occasional drip of water, and the sounds of things sliding back and forth across the grimy, leaf-covered floors. The whistler, whoever they are, doesn't actively respond if called out to - but the whistling does pause, as though indicating that the call was heard, before starting up again.
If characters choose to follow the whistling, they're inevitably led to the same place - somewhere overlooking the great gap down the middle of the ship, whether an internal suite's balcony, one of the bridges crossing between the two halves, or one of the hallways that runs alongside it. Once they're there, there's no whistler in sight; however, characters will be filled with the overwhelming urge to look over the edge of the railing and down into the lower parts of the ship.
Exactly what they experience after looking down varies. Some will hallucinate that they've fallen over the side, feeling their balance go haywire and seeing the floor rushing up to them right up until the moment of "impact," at which everything returns to normal. Some will feel a stranger's hands on their shoulders, threatening to push them over with a great shove that goes through them with incorporeal fingers. Some will just hear unidentifiable laughter right up close to their ears, and experience the distinct sensation that there's someone laughing at them, in a haha-made-you-look kind of way.
But whatever happens, when they look up, there's no one there - or at least not anyone that physically close to them. The one good thing about being drawn to the middle section of the ship by whatever prankster this is is that it makes it a lot easier to run into people if you're all drawn to the same, highly visible place.
And at least the other person is flesh and blood, right? Probably.
no subject
Hm. On the one hand, reassuring that Ice Duke isn't hardline on the law, but on the other, his traitor crimes are not any kind of justice, they're just traitor crimes. (Well, except getting the Sun and Moon Dew Flowers to try and get Cucumber-bro out of prison, that was maybe sort of justice-y. Cucumber-bro didn't deserve to get made a human stick for things the original goods did, and it's not like either of them knew that wasn't actually what Bingmei wanted from the circumstances.) He's a bullyable immoral traitor, why does he always have to be surrounded by righteous people? "What about... other legal fields?" Shut up, Qinghua, you don't actually need to bring Wet Justice and Scary Ouji Lawyer and her beheading threats into this.
He has experience nursing demons back to health but also that is not relevant at all nope. He's just going to keep lurking here trying to look small and nonthreatening.
no subject
He's trying his best to connect the dots, okay. "As for medics, I think we've got one or two on the boat? I saw a poster talking about a fight club that someone was putting on which mentioned a requirement for a medic to be on standby so they have to know at least one. I wasn't really interested in that kind of thing. I don't mind showing off, but..." He'd prefer it to be on his terms? It's weird. He'd like to make the arrangements himself, really.
no subject
As to the question about other legal fields... "Well, this isn't any part of Fontaine, so Neuvillette wouldn't have jurisdiction here, and you wouldn't catch him violating that." Lady Furina... well, she might assert her authority as a god to put anyone anywhere on trial, but he doesn't think it's likely. Especially with Neuvillette around to keep her in check. "I guess it's kind of like that - the laws from Fontaine don't apply here, so it's outside Neuvillette's sphere of influence, it's just... ethically enforced, I guess, not any kind of divinity or magic. If he wanted to establish jurisdiction, there would have to be laws first and that would probably involve consulting everyone on the boat to agree on what they were. Ruling requires the consent of the governed, or something." He thinks he's heard that somewhere.
"Oh, there's a fight club?" Why does he get the feeling Tartaglia's involved with it. "Guessing it involves a little more than friendly sparring..." Which means he isn't particularly inclined to join unless there's a good reason for it.
no subject
And he... does not trust that they're not going to have laws at him, still, really. "Judges are the ones who sentence you and apparently prosecutors will threaten you with beheading--" He shuts himself up hastily. He really probably should not be telling one of the other Fontaine people that!!! "I mean, um. I um. Lawyers are.... sharks?"
And he's not against Casper showing off, as those words go, but, "I don't want you to get hurt, baobei."
no subject
Anyway. "I'm going to be honest, I haven't had a great history with law enforcement. I've had to escape the cops a few times." He has no problem admitting it. What are they going to do here, try to arrest him? Good luck. "People aren't really going to want a whole police and court system here, so you're not going to get hurt by a lawyer."
no subject
He nods. "Agreed, I don't think anyone is in favour of that. I know I'm not interested in playing cops and robbers. I'm not going to look away if someone hurts someone else, but I'm not going to be rooting out criminals either."
no subject
…they don’t even have the death penalty? Hesitantly, he asks, “…What sentences are there in Fontaine?” Like, if it’s some locked up forever in the Water Prison shit, that’s honestly maybe worse than execution. There’s a reason Cucumber-bro was planning to kill himself to get out of it, even considering the Sun and Moon Dew Mushroom plot.
“But baobei she’s scary,” he whines, then flushes, glancing at Wriothesley. Anyway he has definitely hurt people so that’s not, like, reassuring, because he’s the scum traitor! Obviously he’s not planning on hurting anyone here, but how much is that good for??
no subject
He turns his attention back towards Wriothesley and nods. "That's kind of my attitude here, too. I'm not eager to let anyone get hurt but I'm not like... their parents. I'm not going to keep people from doing things." As for the punishments, he's not... super interested, but he tries to keep himself looking interested if only for his boyfriend.
no subject
Not to toot his own horn or anything.
He smiles at Casper. "Yeah, exactly. If people want to do stupid things, that's up to them as long as they're not endangering people. And what people did before here... should that really matter at all? I don't think so."
no subject
"Treated well?" What a weird thing to do with prisoners. Like, his point of view is obviously biased by the fact that he's lived sixty years with the threat of the Water Prison if it managed to get found out before his king killed him, but... that seems weird.
He slouches down in his seat sulkily while Casper and Ice Duke... bond or some shit. Hmph. No one ever values caution.
no subject
Wriothseley gets a confused look. A prison... where people are treated well? "I do know that there's some people who are really heavily advocating for reforms, but it's... not great. Even more so in the country I moved to, from my understanding. But it's... not really my area, so I can't really speak to it." Even so it's not good. "I mean I don't feel like they deserve to be hurt, it's just... I don't know, I guess I never really thought about it."
no subject
"Treated well and kept from doing further harm as much as possible." He's not sure whether they're objecting to the idea of prisoners being treated well because they don't deserve anything but punishment or whether it's more of a 'prisons are all awful and can't be changed' situation. "But criminals are people and deserve to be treated as such. People almost always have a reason to commit the crimes they do. If you take away those reasons - by, say, making sure they have food to eat and a safe place to sleep so they don't have to steal to survive - most of them are no different than any other person, and they want the same things. It can be more complicated, but that's the basis of my philosophy."
He realizes he's probably going off on a tangent and sips his tea. "Sorry. It's... an area I get passionate about."
no subject
Ice Duke's reassuring voice is not as effective as it could be, on someone who still finds him intimidating. Sure, dude, nothing to worry about, just like your handcuffs. (Okay, so those are probably a sex thing. Still. He brandished them at him! ...that wasn't a come-on, was it? If it wasn't a threat? Shang Beida may be giving Ice Duke a confused and contextless weird look now.)
"That's very, er... generous?" He doesn't even know what adjective he's aiming at. That is the weirdest treatment of criminals he's ever heard of. "You're... passionate about... making criminals... safe?" That's actually the most reassuring thing he's said yet, good accidental job Wriothesley.
no subject
Still, he listens to Wriothsesley and tilts his head. "I mean, I guess it's no different to the way that I treat ghosts. It doesn't matter what they did in life, they all deserve dignity in their deaths. My father tended to take in the bodies of criminals and the fringes of society." For the most part. "So as much as I dislike him for various reasons, I have to admire him for that. They were people and their ghosts still are. I grew up with a ghost who was executed for horrible things hanging around me. ... It's just the reform while alive I'm - it's not like -"
He sighs and sags a little bit. "I don't disagree, is what I'm saying. I'm just surprised to hear someone actually say it. Maybe it's just the people I grew up around, but 'prisoner reformation' wasn't really a thing I heard anything about."
no subject
Wriothesley smiles at Shang Qinghua, just a bit sheepishly considering their interactions up to this point. "Yeah, I am. Nobody deserves to live in fear." This is a statement that definitely comes with terms and conditions, but it's one of his guiding life philosophies.
"It's not something that really makes it above the surface in Fontaine. I don't think anyone gives that much thought to it in their daily life." He totally gets that, too, not that it affects him much. He can continue his reforms without their knowledge or approval. He's not judging Casper for not really thinking about it.
no subject
A nice sentiment, but Shang Qinghua has lived in fear for sixty years, and he's not about to stop now. "That's... very? nice? of you?" Ice Duke is getting a very confused look. Why was he all mean and intimidate-y then?? Dude has been blowing hot and cold since word one, with the handcuffs thing, and the 'your grace' thing, and the 'no babbling' thing which Shang Beida still doesn't know how much he's allowed to talk...
"Above the... surface? Is your prison underground?" A fairly normal prison location, to be fair. Dungeon-y.
no subject
He shifts and nudges his boyfriend with his foot gently, trying to get him to calm down. "I mean... I don't want anyone to live in fear either. That's why I fight. That's why it doesn't matter if -" If I get hurt, but he knows the vehement refusal he'd get from Shang Beida if he said that. "... Why it's so important to me to... go and solve this crisis at home, even if my home isn't... a good place for me." It doesn't matter. Other people matter.
Anyway. 'Above the surface' makes him think - "Underwater?"