test drive 02

[thestewards]

I know dust grows even when there is a breeze
Can't move, can't grow When you've fallen on your knees

► All TDM threads may be considered canon provided both parties agree and are accepted into the game.

► Canon threads may be redeemed for influence and reputation depending on how you solve the issue at hand or how you engage with the prompt. They also count toward AC.

► Feel free to switch up your character's Jewel from thread to thread. Get a feel for how a Birthright Jewel may limit or enhance your character's abilities.

HOT UNDER THE COLLARD GREENS
The relationship between the Blood and the landens has never been easy anywhere, least of all Draega, and even less so now that the Strangers have arrived. Between Blood and landen, opinions on the Strangers vary wildly. Some Blood believe the Strangers were landen in their original worlds and thus cannot possibly have anything to offer, but some landens think this means that the Strangers will be more sympathetic to them—or that landens could gain the power of the Blood one day, too. Then there are the landens who think the Strangers have sold their souls to Queen Fayura to gain the Jewels and the Blood who think the Strangers have embraced what it truly means to be Blood. Whatever that means.

Tensions are high, and they're highest on the main street of the Old Town Bazaar, where two restaurants have an on-going feud. The Last Meal is owned by a Blood family, none of whom wear a Jewel darker than Yellow. Across the street from them stands the mockingly named Blood and Breakfast, owned by a landen family.

To say these two hate each other would be something of an understatement.

On this particular morning, Lord Harle, the Yellow Jeweled owner and chef at The Last Meal, comes storming out of his front door. "You've done it now, Laney Cook! Soured all my milk!"

Simultaneously, Laney Cook, who is the owner and chef at Blood and Breakfast, comes stomping out the front door of her establishment, brandishing a wooden spoon like a sword. "Aye, and you've replaced all my sugar with salt, you ripe old bastard!"

Without missing a beat, both turn to you and the Stranger at your side. Wrong place, wrong time, friend. The two chefs decide the two of you can be trusted to help them prove the other party guilty of sabotage because neither of you has a stake in this. And, well, if the Queen brought you here, you should be an independent party. Both Harle and Cook seem to think the Queen is pretty okay.

Truthfully, they're both equally guilty. Lord Harle and Ms Cook have been trying to ruin each other for years, but who knows what you'll find when you go searching for evidence. And even if you find evidence that decides one way or the other, perhaps you'll simply lie and manufacture a solution that suits you—or the Queen who brought you here.


TERRIBLE TWO(HUNDRED)S
You're not entirely sure how this happened, but you're starting to understand why Blood females constantly grumble about the caste of males they call Warlord Princes. Prince Loren has, somehow, managed to maneuver you to the place you're at now: the head of a classroom full of Blood children who all look like they're somewhere between the ages of eight and ten. It's hard to tell, and you're pretty sure one bossy little boy declared he was 203-years-old, so everyone else has to listen to him, thanks.

Regardless of how Loren managed to get you there, there you stand. Fifteen energetic elementary school children all wearing Jewels shriek and shout, using Craft to amplify already shrill voices. One girl floats near the ceiling, her face screwed up in concentration as she clutches a Rose Jewel. Two little boys are taking turns passing their hands through their desks, which strikes you as distinctly unsafe for eight-year-olds to be doing. (You're not wrong.)

At least there are two of you, and you only need to babysit these children for the morning. "They're here for Craft lessons. Surely, you can manage until Lady Sheera arrives," Loren had said before abandoning you to a battlefield full of powerful, pint-sized children.

There's a lesson plan on the teacher's desk, but maybe you should lead with the snacks.


REVENGE, SERVED STINKY
The air is crisp and cool; it's still winter, but it's not as chilly as it has been, and so you're out for a walk. You've made your way north through Old Town and now find yourself meandering down the roads in front of the landen Guild Halls. Even though they're all made of red brick, each building is entirely unique. The Hunter and Crafter Hall, the largest of all the buildings, has more in common with a hunting lodge than the university building it once was. The Elektriline Hall might be the smallest building, but it's covered in neon lights and impossible to ignore.

Equally impossible to ignore is Master Tinker Mari and her collection of landen young adults. They're clustered around a storm drain. When Mari sees you, she detaches herself from the group of landen students and bounds over to you. "Ahhah! Stranger! You have been brought here against your will and are surely sympathetic to our cause!" she exclaims.

That doesn't make you feel too great since, you know, you're aware that the Hunter Guild tried to kill all the Strangers maybe two or three weeks ago. They may have mellowed out, or they may just be biding their time. Thankfully, none of Mari's students bear the markings of a Hunter.

She pulls you to the group. Already, canisters have been lowered into the sewers. A handful of students have clambered down after the canisters. "The Blood wouldn't help us repair the damage in Old Town," she says, rubbing her hands together. "Our people's homes were unlivable. So we're going to make their workplace unbearable." She points at the canisters. "Stink bombs."

There's another Stranger in the group, and you make eye contact over the top of the storm drain. Are you of the same mind as each other? As Mari? The choice is yours: agree to Mari's plan and fill the buildings of the Ebon Council with untenable stench or try to convince them there's a better way.


AIR TIME
Whether you catch the news on a Far-caster in the city or you're spinning the dial on your own device, you'll hear…

etiquette with evandra and aren
[Evandra's voice is a little bit rough and a little bit husky, the kind of voice that gives bad ideas to young men and headaches to fathers.] Today we're talking about everyone's favorite subject.

[Aren's voice is chipper and bright. He sounds more like an eager boy than the full-grown man he is.] Food?

[A laugh from Evandra.] No, Lord Aren. Sex and flirting. Culturally, the Blood don't consider it rude to flirt quite blatantly with each other, even when one or both of the parties is married. Isn't that right?

[Aren:] That's exactly it, Evandra. Older males allow young witches to flirt because it's understood that the male isn't interested or available. He becomes a safe partner for her to practice on, and his approval lets her know what is and isn't acceptable.

[Evandra:] What does it mean if a married male or witch flirts with you?

[Aren:] Casual flirting means that witch or male thinks you're safe. It's their way of telling you they feel comfortable around you. Of course, it's always acceptable to ask them to step back! [He laughs.] As we all know, just because you can flirt with a Warlord Prince's lady doesn't mean you should!

[Evandra:] Let's take a look at casual flirtation between different Blood castes…

the weather
[A soft-spoken man's voice rumbles out of the Far-caster. He's pleasant to listen to, with a soothing cadence to his voice.] Warmer temperatures will see melting snow over the next week. Be careful around the Heartsblood River, as the heavy snows will result in flooding along the banks. Need flood insurance? The Transport Guild is looking to expand into…

the news
…amusing to hear that Grand Master Niall blames the Blood for the fires in Old Town. It is my understanding that members of the Blood, these so-called Strangers, went out of their way to rescue both Blood and landen during the fires set by the Grand Master's Hunter Guild. [The man speaking has a slow, clipped cadence to his voice. It's very posh and polished.]

[Another voice, presumably an interviewer:] The Council counts the Strangers as Blood, Lord Grejor?

[Grejor:] What else can they be? They wear the Jewels, therefore they are among our number. [He laughs, and the sound is cold.] The Council is pleased to welcome our new brothers and sisters.

Comments

[inducings]

Then what do you think? [ It's natural to defer to Annabeth when it comes to questions of strategy. Piper didn't have a real feel on the situation either way - she was sure pretty sure that the situation was diffused for now. ] Hang around to see what they do with them, or give them some time to themselves?

i.

[mekhanikos]

[ now, to his credit, leo has always got along with children relatively well — maybe because with his ever-present grin, crazy ideas and small stature, kids often decide to regard him as a kindred spirit, someone to encourage shenanigans rather than stop them... and truthfully? he usually does do exactly that.

except they're probably expected to do something productive here and stop these kids from being a health hazard to themselves.

but. but.

the idea that his temporary babysitting partner has? not good. ]

Dude, [ leo whispers emphatically, ] I know what death feels like, and I'm not eager to feel it again. You can lose a fight with them if you're set on that idea, let me just —

[ while emil has been thinking, or staring, or whatnot, leo's been fiddling with a variety of metal parts in his hands — said parts have now become a miniature helicopter, fully functional, with some nice tricks to hopefully keep the kids entertained. ]

Hey, who wants to chase after a flying metallic object that may or may not have interesting ways to avoid being caught?

Terrible Two(Hundred)s

[garmr]

[He pauses when Sansa looks back at him, having nothing to offer her beyond looking totally out of his element.]

I.. don’t sing.

[Guts isn’t good at singing, or dancing, or talking to nobles and children. He didn’t know much about where this other Stranger came from, but she certainly had the air of a court lady, needless to say of the Prince that got them here. He averts his eyes from her, feeling rather useless and a little silly getting all his armor on only to end up in a room full of children. Casca had always been the one that knew how to avoid total embarrassment of the two of them, and it shows.

At the very least, he seems to be a good distraction for two girls reaching to play with his cape from their desks.]

[thequitecontrary]

[ Mary raises an eyebrow. Was he truly not listening to what they were talking about? ]

Flirtation. Intimacy.

[ How had he managed to miss that? ]

[athnvas]

[ she watches the group of students for a few more moments, her eyes finding the one who was still holding the canister, before letting out a breath. ]

I think we leave them for now. If they set off the bomb, then that's on them. But trying to get ahold of it now will just cause problems. [ annabeth isn't exactly happy at herself for that choice - of handing the canister back, of not being able to figure out how to take it apart in the time she had. but she's not leo, it's not like she's built for that kind of thing.

and then she turns to look at piper, the thought fading away to something closer to a smile. ]

Hi, by the way.

c

[thequitecontrary]

[ Mary hears Tyrion's comment and smiles wryly over the top of her newspaper. ]

Indeed. We might wear out our welcome if we wear out our usefulness.

[ So far, she has been wary about swearing any sort of loyalty to any one group. If there's anyone she has any loyalty to, it's Henry, one of their fellow Strangers and a knight from the Middle Ages. ]

[illequipped]

[Let it never be said that Emil has great ideas, but at least he has ideas, which should be enough. In his defense, he's literally never had to be an ideas guy before, and now this curious suggestion that he is capable of managing this room full of children is messing with that.

So, like, it's a horrible idea? But it's the only idea he has, and here he is, accepting the criticism with a continued blank stare out at the Children.]

Hmm, maybe. That sounds... sooo dramatic.

[Is he half listening? Yes, probably— he's also not assuming anyone saying "I know what death feels like" is serious, because he is a drama queen in his own right.

Also. What the hell is that thing? He's seen one helicopter in his life and it was broken and abandoned, so—]

Wait, hold on, what are you doing? [Now he's paying attention to his new best babysitter friend.] What is that supposed to be?

[illequipped]

[YOU'RE LAME....

Emil is content to stand here and be judged by the surrounding landens while Diana takes over. That's fine! He'll never forget this shame and it will haunt him long after he leaves this place, but it's fine!

He's good!! She's talking, and they're all just staring at him with varying levels of disgust at how lame he's being, so maybe he should uhhhhh say something--]

Well, I—

[Well nothing, because he's literally being hoisted out of the crowd like a beautiful sack of potatoes with great hair. UH!! He handles this with such grace, and only a little wiggling.]

What? Huh? I don't- I don't understand why this is happening!

[illequipped]

[Pinky! Promise! Lalli can sulk all he wants, Emil is being realistic about his magic skills (status: still zero) and delighted over this pinky promise. That, and the chance to not be stuck in this real silent world anymore-- great! This, above all else, is why Lalli is his favorite.

So Lalli earns a pinky squeeze and a little hand wiggle before Emil lets him go. Now it's official.]

That's okay! I think we have time before we're kicked out of here. [.....] Unless it's... a lot of time?

[sunborne]

[ who knew giant robots could be so expressive? daylight's face in the immediate aftermath of hearing the no:

basically a :( face.

the expressiveness is only emphasised with how daylight's shoulders slump and his winglets droop from behind him as if they're trying to hide now. were the ideas not that good? his expression fairly sheepish and embarrassed and he looks ready to apologise for the idea-

but then he hears the added suggestion for the tables and he immediately perks up. it's almost comical with how his winglets perk up. there's an audible 'sproing!' to them, fluttering now. ]

Yeah! Sure! [ he begins to rock back and forth on his feet, getting kind of reckless now. he isn't used to staying still for this long and he hopes his partner doesn't mind or mind too much if he did. ] I can totally do that! Easy peasy for me.

Re: Terrible Two(Hundred)s

[theladyofwinterfell]

Oh, well, even if you hum along a bit I think that would be just fine. I would hardly force someone to sing if they weren't comfortable.

( Sansa peers down at the girls who are playing with his cape, eventually crouching a bit to be on their level. )

Are you interested in our friend's armor? Perhaps he can tell us a little about it, yes?

[inducings]

Hi, [ is not nearly good enough, and she moves to give Annabeth a quick hug. ] It's really good to see you. But we've got to stop meeting like this.

[ An idea suddenly occurs to her -- ] Actually - hold that thought, I'll be right back.

[ And Piper weaves back into the crowd to speak briefly with a male student. He brightens and she smiles and it's not a minute before she's back by Annabeth's side. ]

I thought it'd be a good idea to find out where they would all be going next and let them know how to find us so Mari can't tell them later that our offer to help wasn't genuine.

[ And to find out where they'd be going to discuss this in case they wanted to touch base later. Piper grins at Annabeth again, just so genuinely happy to see her friend. ] Have I mentioned it's really good to see you?

[garmr]

[For someone who had mastered his air of gruff austerity, he seemed oddly patient with the hands gripping at his clothes. As long as they didn’t wander too close to any of the less innocuous equipment strapped to him, that is. Magic kids and blades were never a good combination, regardless of the realm.

Her acknowledgment of the slight discomfort was admittedly a bit unexpected.]

What is there to explain? It’s what you wear when you don’t want to die.

[midship]

[The larger part of Horatio's immediate unthinking movement is simply automatic. Direct requests will always feel like demands, somewhere at the edge of his mind, when spoken with enough certainty. Perhaps, if he's long enough away, that impulse will begin to relax, but for now it moves his fingers to the dial uncritically.

The other, smaller part is the wonderful prickling pride of usefulness. There had been quite the (upsettingly public) trial-and-error period for learning how to handle the simple task of turning these devices "up" or "down," and it just feels good to have the competence to do so smartly without a lot of fumbling.

Of course, the problem with turning the volume up is that it redirects Horatio's attention to the (apparently quite interesting) words. And the words--

Well. He'll just be turning the broadcast right back down again as the colour begins rushing from his ears down into his cheeks.]

i

[wyche]

( Feya stands silently as Damon exerts his will over the quarreling owners before her. They come from so many far flung worlds. It's hard to be certain without more digging, but the technique is familiar enough to her world to make her wonder.

It's a question for a later time. The pair want a judgement, so Freya shrugs her shoulders. )

It sounds like they've enacted their own vengeance on each other. An eye for an eye. Why not call that justice for today and move on?

[theladyofwinterfell]

( Sansa smiles a bit all the same, not wanting to alienate anyone. Of course armor was meant to protect someone from injury but she'd hoped a discussion about that would be less threatening. She turns back to the children. )

Could anyone tell me what you've worked on so far? I am very new to Craft so you could probably teach me things I don't know.

[whettedmind]

[He nods his acknowledgment, expression thoughtful.]

A fair approach. And a practical one, in this case, seeing as we're already here.

[It wouldn't be in King's Landing, let alone somewhere like Meereen, where population alone had bred disputes like flies. There, it was someone else's job to collect what evidence there might be, and the trick was sorting through it outside of its original context, along with testimony that was often self-serving even if it wasn't outright false.]

I would start with speaking to the staff. They'll know more about their masters' feud than either of them think, and they're the ones who would be the first to handle any lords and ladies who've had their dinner spoiled by the disagreements.

[whettedmind]

As I understand it, one of them is sweet.

[It's perfectly deadpan, helped by the fact that while that's not quite the full extent of his comprehension of common ingredients, it's certainly close.]

But there's an intriguing thought. What do you say? [He looks up at the two unhappy restaurateurs.] Would you consider each other's kitchens safe to cook in?

[garmr]

[The woman smiles, but he still gets the distinct feeling he messed up the answer. Maybe it was the way one of the eight year olds pops out from under the black cloth with an eagerness to know more about the morbid topic.

[He ignores the prodding questions from the girl - Why so many knives? Is that a metal arm? Can I touch it? What’s with the sword? - and makes another attempt to follow the other Stranger’s lead.]

I think that one’s working on his landing.

[He points up at one of the floating children clambering on the ceiling, looking back at them upside down.]

[retrorsum]

( door opening. gentleman indeed )

River Song.

( she steps quickly through, wasting no time in doing a visual scan of the room they step into. she hasn't forgotten about him despite how engrossed she looks )

Ever done anything like this before?

[whettedmind]

Unless the both of them make a point of hiring serving girls who are both blind and deaf, they'll be familiar with the feud between their employers. I'd wager my entire coin purse that this isn't an isolated incident.

[And the history of this little disagreement would be, in his opinion, useful to have - if only to inform how steep they should suggest those fines be in order to avoid having to go through all of this again in a tenday when one of the fools swaps flour for sawdust, or does something that could be actually harmful rather than irritating if missed.]

[whettedmind]

Did you pause in the middle of some adventure to share a meal with the birds?

[Now that he's over his chagrin surprise at setting the farcaster to transmit, he's noticed the background. That is very, very high off the ground, and doesn't really look like the sort of place people are intended to be.]

They'll expect us to share information. With each other, and quite probably with the Queen. We're more likely to trip over some omitted detail than catch anyone powerful unawares, at least until we've adjusted to the way the locals do things.

[whettedmind]

[He gives her a smile in kind, and inclines his head slightly in acknowledgement of the point, though there's careful assessment behind the wry humour.]

Or if we prove ourselves too useful. No one likes to think their tool might become a threat.

[theladyofwinterfell]

Should we split up then, my lord, and come back together to discuss our findings? I could begin my investigation in Blood and Breakfast and you might look at Last Meal? It might be best if each of us has only one perspective to draw conclusion from at a time.

( Sansa wants to be in accord with this so that they might do right by these people and come to the best answer. She knows Tyrion to be fair (or he was as Hand and Master of Coin in King's Landing, anyway) so she doesn't anticipate issues. )

[theladyofwinterfell]

Oh, I have trouble with landings too. It's really...you should think of coming down onto a very soft cloud. It's a gradual thing, not so quickly.

( To demonstrate, Sansa uses Craft to lift herself into the air and come down. It's slightly shaky, yes, but a bit more graceful than the boy had done just now. At least this is something she can do; it isn't so dissimilar from dancing. She looks to Guts. )

Do you know how to float with Craft? You might be a better instructor than me.