TEST DRIVE MEME

[ryslighelpers]

TEST DRIVE MEME: JANUARY

Welcome to the Ryslig Test Drive Meme! Below are a few prompts to get you started, but you may make up any prompt you desire! Please take a look at the navigation page for rules, setting information, and links to reserves and apps. Have fun!

SCENARIO ONE

You wake up on the beach thoroughly drenched with your mouth full of sand. The salt water causes various cuts and scrapes on your skin to sting and the sand isn't helping. The air is slightly humid, ruining any feeling of refreshment you might have gotten from your dip in the ocean. There are lights in the distance but the unfriendly scent of gunpowder fills the air. If you're lucky, you're alone. If not, you might find yourself staring up into a pair of monstrous eyes or down the barrel of a local's shotgun.

SCENARIO TWO

So you've just arrived, and already SOME the natives are trying to get on your good side. Offers of food, shelter and other luxuries in return for hoping you don't eat them. They even have some helpful pamphlets to share with you. "How To Deal With Changes", "Alternatives to Human Flesh", "What to Expect When You're Expecting (to turn into a monster)" are all great pamphlets. There's even some detailing certain monsters, and the changes they go through. Some of these seem to have been passed down from one monster to the next.

Among these however, are some... not so helpful ones. "Bunnyipyips And You", "Axe Thief Axehounds," and "So you're becoming a Fur Bearing Trout" among others. Sometimes they have marks on them from previous people who had them saying they are lies, or pointing out good "jokes." Then there's the people who aren't happy to see you at all. Glares and silent, judging stares if you're lucky. Torches and pitchforks attempting to drive you out of the town if you're not. You may need a friend to help you.

SCENARIO THREE

"Seek us out," the voice whispers in your head, and before you have time to question it you've found yourself in someplace entirely alien. Maybe it's the Fog God's ghostly town of Dyster, where exultant followers dance around bonfires and sing their praises to the skies above. Maybe it's the Fourth God's arcade, with small robots wheeling about amidst the lights and colors of old pinball machines. Only one thing is certain: you are not alone, in this sacred place.

SCENARIO FOUR

The time has come and you've found yourself becoming a monster. Is the change instant, or gradual? Are you familiar enough with monsters to know what's happening, or is it a complete shock? NOTE: Feel free to pick any monster type for this prompt, but note that you may not get the same one in game.

Comments

[thischaos]

[Oh, Mello thinks Sam will be spending a lot of time 'in town.' Enough that he'll want to know something about the state of things if he's going to make it here. Without someone close to guide him through the details, it's going to be one unpleasant surprise after another.]

[He lets the guy work out his stuttering monologue. It's a shock. Mello understands.]

Answers my question, then. I'll take that as a preemptive 'no.'

[Already, he's looking beyond Sam. If he washed up, others did too. No one ever mentioned anything about people showing up one by one. According to everything he knows, they come in batches like the one he was dragged in with.]

Where's the riddle?

[No, really. Mello thinks he's being as straightforward as is warranted when meeting a new arrival. There are others who will be happy to answer all of Sam's questions, no matter how dim. He shifts on his feet, flicks a claw over his thumb. Sam couldn't have happened upon anyone less willing to ensure his well-being in any sense.]

You asked what I am; I answered you.

[Buddy.]

Given that you have nothing to offer me, I consider that response more than enough.

[maybeicouldbesaved]

Alright, rewind. [ Both arms gesture presumably to accentuate his words, though it's interpretive at best. ] You were looking for someone a second ago. Pretty calm for a search party. You are seeing the storm headed this way, right?

[ Know what, nevermind.

The longer this conversation continues, the less helpful it becomes, so he's done chasing a problem that has absolutely nothing to do with him. There's no hint of distress in the immediate vicinity and, were there, Sam might well get in the way in his present condition. The flaring throb in his ankle's proof enough he shouldn't trust himself to play hero for at least another week, or until they can get a hold of a certain angel.

Stepping intentionally into the blond's line of sight to demand his attention, thank you. ]

Honestly? I just wanted to address the elephant in the room -- that's all. Right now, I have more important things to worry about. Whatever you have going, it's none of my business.

And I'm short on bargaining chips; you're right. I did just wash up on a beach in the middle of nowhere. I'm soaked and starving, and I hurt all over. [ Trying to appeal to any sliver of humanitycompassion in the other. ] Maybe you could lend me your phone? Five minutes, tops. Then, I'm out of your hair.

[thischaos]

[Yeah, nevermind. It isn't this guy's business who Mello was looking for. If he hasn't seen anyone, the information from either side is null. As far as the storm—well—Sam has no way of knowing just how fast Mello is. With is inflated ego, he has no doubt that he can outrun it if it decides to hit. Besides, when you've been through having your body transform against your will in the middle of the street with everyone screaming around you, a little thunder and lightning tends to become less imposing in comparison.]

Hey.

[A knit of his brow, a tip of his head. Mello doesn't flinch or take a step back—or forward. He'll give the guy a pass because he has no idea what he would be up against, but that's all he's getting. One. Even so, a sharp fang is digging into the inside of his cheek, fingers instinctively flexing as though egging him on to tear something apart. Over a minor infraction, yeah.]

[Needless to say, he has Mello's attention now. Happy?]

[Cry him a river, Sam. When Mello woke up here, he'd just finished dying.]

I don't have a phone.

[Clipped. See that glint in his eye? It's not a good thing.] No one here does—even if you managed to get one, it wouldn't work. Whatever you think you're going back to, you're not.

[This is his version of helpful advice. It's more than most people get. Maybe Mello's just having a good day, or maybe something in the desperation of this guy speaks to him on a level that will never surface. He schools his features into something resembling concern. Mocking, maybe.]

Sorry to be the one to tell you this, but you're stuck here.

[maybeicouldbesaved]

-- ' H e r e ' .

[ Eyes, obviously considering his words for a prolonged, heavy moment. ]

You keep saying that. You mean here, like -- [ Gestures vaguely in a casual sweeping motion. ] Here-here. This entire place. It's not Earth. I guess. That's what you're trying to say.

[ In the most roundabout manner imagined.

This is Death's solution? Prickles tickle up his spine, both relief and a nervous energy that comes with confronting any unknown.

So, take away Heaven, Hell, Purgatory; what does that leave? --Ryslig, apparently, but the name isn't dinging any bells off the top of his head. Sounds Germanic. An alternative afterlife? Given the existence of so many creation gods, it's not beyond the realm of plausible, though that opens the door to a fresh batch of questions. Mind whirring, hazel eyes skirt the edge of the beach and, with a deep breath, Sam combs his sand-clumped bangs back. ]

Thank you. [ Regards the blond stranger anew, then pushes out an appreciative quirk of his mouth that doesn't quite reach his eyes. ] I think I'm starting to get the picture. Didn't mean to keep you.

I hope you find what you're looking for.

[ Carefully, Sam steps around to make for the lights in the distance, deliberately cutting the sandy hill at a slight degree to keep the creature in his peripheral. Just because he's shown no aggression is no excuse to bear one's back. For all his frustration, the other gave more than enough to run with, but it's clear he's scraping the bottom of the well. ]