JANUARY/FEBRUARY TEST DRIVE

[ryslighelpers]

TDM: JANUARY/FEBRUARY

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 is making all the cuts and scrapes on your skin 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 of the natives are trying to get on your good side with 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 on the more informative end of the scale. 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 readers saying they're lies, or pointing out good "jokes."

Then there are 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? Feel free to pick any monster type for this prompt, but note that you may not get the same one in game.

Comments

[justbeingknife]

Hey, it doesn't have to be elaborate or anythin'. Let's see...

[ He paused, thinking of a kind of conversation starter that might lend itself well for some initial light discussion. ]

For instance, I'm from Japan. Earth, 1988. Used to work in the cabaret business, so I pulled a lot of late hours. Turned out, that worked pretty well when I had to go werewolf, because they're all about bein' nocturnal.

[hevenly]

[ The look on Angela's face could be described as fond, if you squint. ]

I have never been to Japan, but I am familiar with Earth. I lived there, for a time. [ Somewhere between a few weeks and seven years, depending on your point of view. ] I was in Brooklyn, New York before I awoke here. I had not been there for some time, and in the interim, the apartment that had belonged to me and my girlfriend had been leased to someone new.

[ Now her face falls. ]

I had hoped to find her still living there, but my hopes were dashed. Now I have no clue where to look to find her.

[justbeingknife]

Sorry, didn't realize.

[ Which was the problem, really -- one never knew when an innocuous question like 'where do you live' might be answered only by 'a horrible hell dimension filled with screams and cackling Sam Neill'. But they were in it now, hold on to your butts. ]

Ya figure she's looking for you at the same time?

[hevenly]

[ Well... He asked for a story. He didn't specify a happy one. ]

The last time we were separated, [ When Sera died. ] She sent me clues so that I would know where to find her. This time... I have none.

[ And now she's been waylaid by this unforeseen detour. Things are really not going in Angela's favor right now. ]

[justbeingknife]

[ Not the most promising development. ]

I don't want to pile more on your plate and all, but I figure I should mention: last year, about ten or so of us went through an experimental portal. It let us see what was happenin' back home, but only for a few days.

What I saw when I went back is that time moved at about the same time there as here.

[hevenly]

So I am losing time that could be spent finding her.

[ Thanks. That was about the worst news you could have given her. ]

Is there no chance of crossing back into the Realm we came from? Or of others finding their way into this one?

[ Maybe it's Sera's turn to find Angela for once. ]

[justbeingknife]

There is a chance. But it's harder for us to go back than it is for people to end up here.

[ Times were tough in Monsterville. ]

Or maybe it's got more to do with the Fog God not wantin' us to leave. I had someone tell me once that she didn't have the power to send us back. Sounds like kind of a load to me, though. Considerin' she's the one that brought us here in the first place.

[hevenly]

[ Angela wholeheartedly agrees with that assessment. ]

If this god has the power to bring us here, and to keep us here, against our will... I am certain she has it in her domain to send us back.

[ She will have to find this Fog God and have words with her. And if words won't do, then perhaps a sword will.

She just... needs to find a sword first. ]

Is there anywhere in this land which sells armaments?

[justbeingknife]

For persuasion at close range, there's a lady named Fiora who makes swords and knives and all that. Her place is called Starlight Road, and she takes commissions.

[ It was actually kind of weird that he knew the answer to this offhand, but look. Everyone needed a hobby. ]

If you're after firearms, there're a couple places around. Only thing is most of the gear around here's strictly 1950's-era. Ya won't find a lot of laser guns around Bavan.

And if you want something from back home, Mana might be able to get it for ya, for a price.

[hevenly]

I have never favored guns. [ Though she has seen their efficacy in action. You don't run with people like Rocket Racoon, Gamora, and Star-Lord and not develop an appreciation for guns. ] Swords and axes are much more elegant.

[ Absently, her fingers tangle in the long strands of ribbon which hang limp around her neck. ] I used to be able to control these and bind an opponent with them... I suppose I could still do so manually... It's just so much less convenient when your hands could be used for other things.

[ Like stabbing and slashing. ]

Who is this Mana? Another local god?

[justbeingknife]

A witch who takes magic coins in exchange for performin' a spell or two for ya.

[ Majima fished in his pocket, producing a thin gold coin with a wolf emblazoned on one side. ]

Far as I know, she's not a god herself. But she uses a dead god's power to work her magic. Maybe she could even fix those ribbons up for ya.

[hevenly]

[ That's an interesting development. At least this witch operates on the same principle as Angela herself: equivalent exchange. Coins for a spell. ]

How does one earn these coins? Are they the local currency, or something special?

[ She would like to regain the use of her ribbons. ]

[justbeingknife]

They show up about once a month, and it seems like the amount's different for everyone. Can't say I know how or why -- or if anyone does, even Mana.

But I do know you can ask for all kindsa favors. Hell, I know someone who switched monsters.

[ Although there was that minor part about having to bury themselves alive oops ]

[hevenly]

Can this witch not cure one of their monster affliction?

[ Why would you trade in one monster form for another? Why not just go back to not being a monster? ]

[justbeingknife]

[ He shook his head. ]

Not permanently. But some monsters look more human than others. Or don't have to eat somethin' half as awful.

Bein' a werewolf mostly suits me fine, so I've never tried it, myself.

[hevenly]

[ Angela still refuses to allow herself to accept the inevitable nature of all this talk of monsters. She will fight. She will find a way to remain herself. She is sure of it. ]

How long have you been... a werewolf?

[justbeingknife]

About a year. I hear it takes some people months to finish, but for me most of it happened pretty fast. Next time the fog rolled in.

[ He stopped to consider this. ]

Although some of it, the shit that ain't visible? I think that stretched out longer.

...It's hard to tell, with some things.

[hevenly]

[ That gets Angela's attention. The possibility that there is more to Majima than meets the eye. ]

I do not know much about werewolves. What is there that is not visible?

[justbeingknife]

[ Wow, way to shoot himself in his own dumb foot. Majima cleared his throat. ]

Uh. Werewolf senses? And I'm kinda partial to... look, this's getting a little personal. How much do ya know about wolves?

[hevenly]

[ What? Angela shoots him a confused look. What about her question was too personal? ]

I have fought a number of them. Why?

[justbeingknife]

Right. Fighting.

[ What, indeed? The world would never know. ]

Sometimes, like when the moon's full, it's harder to control myself. Not impossible, but...

You ever find yourself in the middle of a fight, and it's the only place ya want to be? Like you belong there, like you're alive?

[hevenly]

[ Yes, fighting. As opposed to what else? Most of the time, when Angela and a monster or beast are in the same general vicinity, she's fighting it.

Oh, Majima, you have no idea. ]

I know this feeling very well. You are saying you have a hunter's instinct, when the moon is full?

[justbeingknife]

Something like that. I always liked fightin' [ this was a bit of an understatement ], but it was never ...

[ He was thinking as he spoke, carefully lacing clawed fingers together. ]

If I'd been new to the whole thing, I think I would've lost it by now. 'fact, I think a lot of monsters slip outta control, at least once. I figure it's different dependin' on what type of monster ya are, too. I don't think the cats get a pack instinct like wolves do.

[hevenly]

[ Majima is obviously a man who is careful with his words. Angela can relate, but that's mostly because she is so poor with words she has to choose them carefully if she does not want to start an incident. This is why Sera does most of the talking when the two are together. ]

How many types of monster are there? What determines what kind of monster one will turn out to be?

[justbeingknife]

A little over twenty, I'd say.

[ Because he had bad news. Like, again. ]

But as far as I can tell, nothin'. There's people like me, where the type of monster I ended up as made sense. And then I also know a real sweetheart of a guy who ended up with the horns-and-fire deal.

I figure it's whatever's going to jerk us around. But some of the pamphlets list a bunch of them. You got any like that?