TEST DRIVE 02

[pluviosamods]

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!

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.

Comments

[harmoniousconsecration]

Sunday shakes his head, disagreeing. He had not intended to be rude, but knew he had come off as such. He himself would not have appreciated being told something like that, and as such, he should correct his error.

"No, it was still improper of me. I am none of those things, nor do I wish to treat you as though I am some sort of... brute." He says, closing his eyes and bowing his head in a show of respect. "Your experiences within your world are valuable. I should not be comparing your world to what I know of my own."

He gives Neuvillette as much time as he needs to answer, choosing to gaze out over the stars as well, for a quiet moment. He only returns Neuvillette's gaze when he's sure the other is looking at him. Listening carefully as he speaks, rather than letting his thoughts and assumptions get the better of him.

Hearing about the great injustice that had befallen the dragons on Teyvat, Sunday wonders exactly where the gentleman before him falls on this scale, to be aware of so much. The information is interesting, and it fills Sunday with sorrow to know that there was so much bloodshed in the creation of these gods. How this stranger had completely overturned their world into their image...

Then again, it sounded vaguely familiar. Harmony had not been enough, on its own. It couldn't create a paradise, if Robin had still been shot while within Xipe's arms, right? Sunday's wings twitch. He'd chosen the right path. He had to believe so.

"You say only a handful of people are aware of this history... May I ask how you happened upon it? For a single being to overturn your world in this way, how would one even begin to pick up enough pieces to solve the truth of that world?"

[highjustice]

Now it's Neuvillette who shakes his head. "I would not have learned anything I know about humanity if I did not have so very many examples to compare," he says. "If the comparison can help either of us to find a new insight, then it is worthwhile."

As for Sunday's question... Neuvillette's face shifts to a smile that shows perhaps a bit of mischief.

"Even after all that the Heavenly Principles have done to alter the world and control it, they cannot prevent new dragons from being born, especially in places that they cannot see or influence. I myself was born within the Primordial Sea, after Egeria, the one and only god the usurper ever placed there, was summoned from her place to rule over the nation that would become Fontaine."

The ship tilts just a little forward, not enough to make them slide but enough to give Neuvillette an excuse to break eye contact. Looking away, he says, "Of course, that is not common knowledge. Although you would be hard-pressed to find a citizen of Fontaine who does not know that I have been a constant in the nation since before their grandparents were born, there are only a handful who know of my origins. Most dragons are quite large and of shapes better suited to their elemental power, and humans fear them for good reason."

[harmoniousconsecration]

Neuvillette's smile caught his attention--- He hadn't yet seen an expression like that from the man. It seemed he'd asked just the right question. The answer had a few concepts that Sunday didn't quite understand, but what he could, was that Neuvillette was some sort of dragon, and that he was born somewhere that the Powers The Be could not reach. Effectively, a final remnant of the world before the Heavenly Principles had uprooted it.

Sunday's own experience with dragons was... Well. Nil. Hadn't there been one of Long's scions on the Express? Why did that come to mind? Where had he picked that up?

The memory of something sharp, running him through. Whatever had attacked that stowaway. Surely whatever that meme had been didn't count. Why did he remember it-- touching it-- Better than the face of the man he'd been accusing? He'd unpack all of that later, when he had a moment to himself.

The forward tilt of the ship is not enough for him to lose footing, but he does startle, all four of his wings fanning out, his eyes wide. It shakes him from his thoughts, and as quick as it happens, it's over, and Neuvillette is no longer looking at him as though they were sharing a secret.

"Understandably so. I am glad, however, that the first dragon I've met is you."

Sunday doesn't wholly want to presume anything of the other, but he does find the shape his body had taken to be an interesting one. Perhaps due to the fear humans held for them, the one in front of him had chosen to walk among humans as one of their own. But-- He finds asking about Neuvillette's current form rude, so he won't pry. Far be it from him to point it out and ask why, when his own father took on many shapes and forms over the years. There are some things one simply shouldn't ask of a stranger. The reality that the Iudex is a dragon is a very easy one to accept given the prior history lesson, and Sunday thinks little of it.

"I suppose it is a little easier to reveal that here, rather than before a nation of people you have multiple lifetimes of rapport with, then?"

Seeing as though they all seemed to be on the same footing here, and quite a few of them seemed to be from entirely different worlds, Sunday supposes it was a good idea to have a baseline of everyone's status and abilities. They may all be trapped here much longer than any of them needed to be.

"I myself am halovian. Using my halo, I may transmit my thoughts and emotions to any others of my race, and they can do the same in kind. I can use it to speak to and understand the emotions of other people, even those who do not have halos, though the communication cannot be both ways. I am also able to restrain others, if absolutely necessary."

His wings were more vestigial than anything.

[highjustice]

"There are probably more who know the truth than will actually admit it," Neuvillette says. "There is a children's rhyme said in response to rain which entreats the Hydro Dragon to shed no more tears, which has rather persistent popularity, and while guessing at my true nature is something of a national hobby, somehow the correct hypothesis never makes its way into the papers."

And you really would think that, by the most important factors combined, it would, at least if you were the sort to pay attention to the weather after a particularly difficult court case a time or three. The Traveler grasped it after only a few short months in Fontaine. The only logical presumption, then, is that there is at least one editor at the Steambird who is perfectly aware of the game, and steps in whenever it is at risk of being spoiled for others.

"And there are a handful here who seem to wish to play along - or at the least, are accepting of a more oblique answer." And in its way, it's a useful gauge of who has good ability to read between the lines and apply the logic that makes those two statements related. Neuvillette is perfectly content to leave things unsaid on certain matters, after all.

He listens with interest as Sunday describes the nature of his race. "Interesting. Though it may well be both ways in my case - I suppose I should give you due warning that the Hydro energy which composes the majority of my person is in fact the energy which carries emotion, in Teyvat. The children's rhyme regarding the rain being the tears of the dragon is in fact quite true in the literal sense." It's only fair to warn the young man, if he has similar abilities - though it's rare that Neuvillette gets swept away by the emotions of others himself, he also has several millennia of being what he is. "Are your people common in your world?"

[harmoniousconsecration]

What an endearing little game. To be entirely honest, it wasn't... unlike the questions surrounding the identity of the Watchmaker. However, the Watchmaker was a dangerous entity, a profound stain on their peaceful, eternal Dreamscape, while this man... Well. He had a noble occupation, and served his people well, as far as Sunday knew.

Sunday was not one that was inclined towards skepticism towards authority figures (They knew best, didn't they?), and as such, was willing to take the man's words at face value. At any rate, even if he reached out with his halo to try to grasp what the other might be feeling, there is an air of genuinity that seemed to exude from the Iudex.

"Perhaps many have already figured it out, and are deciding to instead allow you the honour of declaring your nature yourself." Sunday suggests, a smile gently tugging at his lips. "You have been a constant in their lives for longer than they have been alive. Surely there is a deep respect for you in that."

And yet... there was a handful who wished to play along on board. Perhaps he would, too. Sunday wonders, faintly, who might have figured it out already, and who hadn't quite reached the conclusion just yet. If anything, it might be a chip to bargain with. God, had that gambler rubbed off on him?

"A being of condensed emotion... I will keep that in mind. You really are an interesting man, dear Iudex. Are there specific emotions that linger in Hydro innately, or does it run off from other sources?"

He considered it a fair question, really. Sunday himself couldn't grasp the emotions in objects or simple energy, just living people. He wondered what that must be like, and if the Iudex were able to filter out the extra noise. But perhaps their empathy sense came from very separate means, as Sunday had been born with a halo that constantly emitted frequencies, his emotions gently thrumming through it, even if he lessened them to a dull whisper.

"My people.... We are relatively common, at least as denizens of Penacony. Every Halovian on the planet is part of The Family itself, with quite a few of us taking on responsibilities of some importance." He says, more than a little proud in having followed his adoptive father's footsteps. Sunday's voice leans soft and wistful, as he continues, "Throughout the universe itself? I couldn't say. My sister Robin is much more informed about the affairs outside our little star system than I am. She is often on tour, spreading songs of hope and Harmony to any and all that wish to hear."

[highjustice]

"In some ways, they are more respectful of me than they are of our Archon. Furina is known to be... theatrical and occasionally undignified, and her relationship with the people has always been more intimate and casual in comparison to mine. Since the reputation of my position hangs upon the perception of impartiality, there is always some distance between myself and the people of Fontaine."

Despite the content of the words, there is some definite fondness to his voice when he speaks of Furina's closer relationship with the people. Neuvillette does not know how to make himself approachable in the same way, nor does he know if that's a thing that would be desirable in the current circumstances.

"It is largely the intensity of emotion that is a factor, though there is some bias towards the retention of negative emotions," Neuvillette says. "However, most living beings are predisposed to remember negative emotions themselves, so it is difficult to separate that out as a factor."

But as for the description, Neuvillette nods, and there's a slight dip in his smile as he says, "There are very few dragons on Teyvat, and no others of the Hydro element so far as I am aware. Melusines, an aquatic race native to Fontaine's waters, are dragon-kin, but not quite the same; their perceptions of emotion are not akin to mine. I love them dearly, but I am I suppose a little envious."

[harmoniousconsecration]

Fontaine's people held more respect for the Iudex than their own god. What did that say of the god? What did that say of their Justice? Sunday tries to compare this strange relationship between humanity and divinity and the true beings of that world to his own experiences, but he loses himself along the way, and realizes that perhaps his field of vision and his experiences have existed on an entirely too narrow scale. He considered himself well-read, and educated(The Family had ensured it.), and yet... His only frame of reference was well and truly the happenings on Penacony, and little else.

It's a thought that leaves him with some discomfort. Originally he was content to stay there, and watch his sister from the sidelines, from a safe distance. Now, he wonders if that has left him worse off than he might have been. It's not one he lingers too long on, for now.

"Of course. Personal feelings should never get in the way of maintaining one's society. All are capable of the same sins. Order means little, if you are lenient because you feel... overly attached."

There was a gentleness, a fondness, in Neuvillette's voice, however, as he speaks of his god's more... personal relationship with the humans she watched over. It's curious, but Sunday doesn't push the subject further. He wonders what a society would look like, with a god that mingled amongst their devout.

A god that answered, at all.

Thankfully, Neuvillette's musings on the emotions within hydro, and water itself, proved themselves to be a good distraction from that quieter, sadder thought.

"We really are, aren't we?" The poor water. Look, it's got anxiety. "To think our worries and fears carry through water itself."

And that same water then fed the world around it. Perhaps that was a more miserable way to look at it than he liked. Sunday found the idea interesting, even so.

No kin, no family to speak of. No wonder he had turned to the children of his race's usurpers, and joined their legal games. Sunday cannot imagine how lonely that must be. And even those that could be close to him, do not fully understand him. But he loved them, and cared for humanity, and maybe that was enough.

"Envious of them? Whatever for?"

[highjustice]

The water only has anxiety because you do, Sunday.

"And so too do joys and sorrows," Neuvillette agrees. "Despite everything that has happened in the last four hundred years, I have no regrets in taking up this position. If anything, I might only wish that the other dragons have the chance to come to know humanity as I have."

He smiles lightly in response to Sunday's question. "Melusines are, by and large, an unburdened people," he says simply. "There is a strong bond of sisterhood between them, few as they are, and they have a place to which they know they can always return. To be naturally comfortable in any situation and surrounded by many supportive friends is something to be admired, is it not?"

[harmoniousconsecration]

Joys and sorrows. All emotions coalesced in water, in the energy that lingered within it. the concept was not all too strange, he thinks. Memoria had similar properties, and was water-like enough.

"I hope so." They deserved a chance, both humans and dragons, to create a world in which they were both welcome. Sunday wonders if the man before him knows of rest, of stepping back and simply enjoying all he had wrought. "I also hope you took some time for yourself, too. I can't imagine any of it was easy."

To live so freely, unburdened, with loved ones nearby... Sunday smiles gently, in return. The Iudex has managed to build a welcoming, safe society for his kin. The halovian can only imagine the work it had taken... And yet. Now, they seem to be comfortable, and truly happy.

Perhaps even if there was strife among the people of Fontaine, they were well sought after, taken care of by those in power. Hundreds of years of work... It makes him think of those who had come before, the Heads of the various Families, how they too had all strived to create a perfect world for their people. How they had united to establish Penacony and its Dreamscape.

"The effort you've put in to ensure they get to live well... It's admirable."

[highjustice]

"It was not," Neuvillette says, "but at the same time, it was. There was only ever one decision I could have made, once I accepted the offer to come to Fontaine." As scripted as a play. Focalors was a deeply cunning god, as well as just. She knew his answer long before he did.

All of her being went into her finale. Cleaning up the theater afterwards is a task that falls to him, and not one that he resents.

"And I cannot take credit for all of that effort," he says. "There are others who have worked far harder and sacrificed more than I did, who have offered their freedom and their very lives to create this nation. All I do is my duty to ensure that their efforts do not go to waste."