Test Drive

[snowblindmods]

TEST DRIVE MEME

If you'd like to apply to Snowblind and would like to test the waters first or get a sample set up for your application, this meme is for you! We've even provided some prompts for you to use if you want (but feel free to make up your own). Here's how it works. ✭ Reply to this entry with a character you're considering apping into the game. You can include the name of your character and the fandom in your subject line. ✭ Comment around to others on the meme, whether you're in the game already or not. ✭ Now you have a sample ready for your application! ✭ So go reserve and apply when reservations and applications are open. ✭ Seriously, do it. Network Prompts ONE: A LONG WALK HOME You wake up at 6AM when lockdown ends, cold and tired, like you've been walking miles in the snow. But that's normal, isn't it? What isn't normal is your surroundings. You're in a new building, maybe one you've never seen before, or one you know is far, far away from where you were the night before when you fell asleep. If you were traveling with someone, you notice, also, that you are alone. There's no telling where your traveling companion could be. When you check the network, you notice that @ADMIN has left a message. Surveillance encountered an error shortly after 8PM last night and was out of order until shortly after 6AM. We apologize for any inconvenience. Whether or not you're confused or concerned about the message, maybe a post to the network will help you re-orient yourself. TWO: GOING ONCE, GOING TWICE... Seems you've found a rather valuable commodity. Something like alcohol, tea, coffee, cigarettes, or perhaps even something medical. Whatever you've found, you have no real interest in it, yourself. But you know that there's a market for it, and you see the opportunity to turn this into a win-win situation. You're not physically around anyone that you know of, so you propose a network-wide trade. And whoever makes the sweetest deal can be the proud owner of their craved luxury. Action Prompts THREE: A SYMPHONY OF SOUND You and your traveling companion thought that the house you decided to stop in for the night seemed normal enough. But lockdown hits, as it does every night, and things start to get strange. Soft sounds of crying; children crying, parents crying, screaming for their own safety. Maybe it's just the sound of the wind rushing so hard through the rubble you fear the ceiling will collapse. Maybe it's your own voice whispering to you to do awful things. Whatever the noise is, it's too much for you to fall asleep, coming to eerie crescendos and ebbing in volume at entirely irregular intervals. Looks like you and whoever you're with are in for a long night. FOUR: IN DUE TIME After a grueling day of travel, you and your companion finally come across safe shelter. And it seems to be a nice house, too, with a working fireplace and everything. The only strange part is that you aren't alone--but the other people in the house don't seem to be aware of you. In fact, they don't seem to be aware of anything; they're frozen in time, unmoving, unblinking, not even breathing. They can be touched, but they can't be moved. No matter how hard you try, they're rooted to the spot. They seem to be like you, weighed down with heavy winter wear and backpacks, not like the nondescript shadowy people that wander the town. Oh well. They're probably harmless, and it isn't like you have time to find a different place to stay.

Comments

[bywolves]

You had better be. There aren't any pillows in this house. [ Royce pulls his cloak closer. And he's quiet again, for a good while, unless Alfie speaks up again.

Of course, if there's no conversation, and neither of the inhabitants of the house seem particularly bothered, the place has to up the ante. Out of nowhere, Royce stiffens and immediately twists in his chair to look over his shoulder. There's nothing there, obviously, and it only takes about two seconds for Royce's expression to go from shocked to irritated.

Okay. He'll give the place credit. Wasn't expecting Merrick's voice. ]

[devoutish]

[Alfie doesn't say anything, but he definitely notices Royce's reaction. He arches an eyebrow, looking up from the tablet and just watching.]

[bywolves]

[ There's a pause, and then Royce glances at Alfie. When he sees the guy is looking at him, Royce scowls. ] What. What are you looking at.

[ More of a snapped accusation than a question. ]

[devoutish]

You.

[Just as casual as can be.]

All right there, mate?

[bywolves]

Fine. [ He pauses, and then figures he should at least give some sort of explanation so Alfie doesn't deem him a threat worth taking care of. ]

A voice I wasn't expecting. A voice I could see being in this place.

[devoutish]

A voice you recognized?

[Well, that's interesting, and not something he's personally experienced yet.]

And them being stuck here - would that be a good thing or a bad thing?

[bywolves]

A voice I recognized. [ Royce confirms, and he looks back in the direction that he'd turned to, wary. ] It'd be bad, if he were here. Luckily there's more than enough snow to keep us separated.

[devoutish]

What's his name? I'll tell you if I meet him.

[bywolves]

... Merrick. [ It might be a good idea to have extra eyes. ] Cutter, possibly, if he decides to play it safe.

[devoutish]

All right.

[He stores those names away in the back of his mind - not really expecting to meet the guy, but you never know.]

So the voices, then. The echoes. Know any good theories about where they might come from? The place is crawling with children, but not so many as I hear crying in empty buildings.

[bywolves]

[ Royce hopes Merrick never shows up here, but he's not going to discount the possibility. ]

Not any solid theories, no. [ Royce says, pulling his hood up and settling back in his chair. ] I'd put a guess in for residual echoes. There were probably crying children here at one point. Magic, for whatever reason, likes to keep record of things like that.

[devoutish]

Fuck me.

[It sounds very plausible, based on everything else he's heard of and experienced here, but Alfie still lets out an incredulous little laugh. It's not so much that he doesn't believe the explanation as it is that he can't believe that he does believe it.]

You have this at home? Magic?

[bywolves]

[ Royce actually looks a little amused again, at this. ] I know a woman who can boil people's blood just by concentrating hard enough. So yes. I do.

[devoutish]

Where I'm from, we have our stories, yeah? We have our superstitions. But we don't have anything like that.

[Or like this.]

[bywolves]

That's what I've heard from several others here as well. [ Royce tilts his head back. ] I wouldn't say disembodied voices are commonplace where I come from, but I wouldn't be surprised to hear them, either.

That's why I asked if it bothered you. The people here tend to have no frame of reference for things like this.

[devoutish]

I've heard crying at night before - whimpering, upset. It's the disembodied bit that's--

[He shakes his head.]

Well, you can learn to tune it out no matter where it's coming from, hey?

[So it bothers him a little, especially when he gets to thinking about it, but as far as he's concerned it's nothing he can't deal with.]

[bywolves]

True enough. [ He won't say it, but Royce also has experience with hearing crying at night. Too much of it, honestly. ] It isn't like the world cares enough if you do or not. This place will continue to whimper and whine.

I'm sure you know something about that. [ Royce just has a feeling. ]

[devoutish]

Mm. I served in a war, back home. Years ago.

[Which is where most of his experience comes from. If his gang members cry to themselves at night, he isn't there to witness it.]

And you - what about you, then?

[bywolves]

Believe it or not, I've heard more whimpers from grown men begging for their lives than I have children. Ratibor tends to raise incredibly practical children and equally as incredibly stupid and desperate men.

[devoutish]

Ratibor.

[He rolls the unfamiliar word around in his mouth.]

Person, place, or thing?

[bywolves]

Place. [ And what a wonderful place it is. ] The streets of, specifically. I'd be surprised if a city like it didn't exist where you come from.

[devoutish]

Could be. Could be like London, even.

Now, at what point do the incredibly practical children become incredibly stupid men?

[bywolves]

When they get comfortable.

[devoutish]

Well there, that's another difference between your crying men and mine, then.

[The trenches of World War I had been comfortable for exactly nobody.]

And most of mine weren't stupid - though they were nearly all desperate.

[bywolves]

[ Royce is smart enough to not contest the point. Instead, he stares up at the ceiling. ]

I'm sure there's plenty of differences. I doubt your crying men were nobles with generous amounts of coin to spend. War is an entirely different creature from the petty squabbles of bored bastards with nothing better to do than slap fight each other over land and perceived insult.