flawedmemes | TEST DRIVE MEME

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test drive

TEST DRIVE MEME

01. ARRIVING IN PELEA
A cold wind singing down from the white-capped mountains which hang blue-black in the distance stirs your cheek, the tall grass all around you. A bough creaks as the wind makes it tremble, and the dappled shadows drift over you, leaves rustling. As you blink awake, you hear the quiet hiss of water over stones. You are not where you once were!

You and a large group of strangers are blinking awake, pulling yourselves up off the dirt, grass, and rubble near a small wooded stream. There is no evidence of civilization in sight, and as you exchange stories you realize that you must decide what to do.

Will you head past the trees and towards the mountains? Deeper into the forest? Stay put and wait for help to arrive? You might even try to meet everyone else, and either convince them to band together... or head their separate ways.

02. CITY SLICKER
There are many cities throughout the world of Pelea, and in most player characters, the Flaws, are welcomed as curiosities. From the pastoral villages or bustling, grand cities of Shousal to the massive, sprawling bureaucratic centers of the Empire, your characters will find a wide variety of cultures and races to interact with and investigate. They could be seeking empoyment, answers to the mystery of their arrival, or a quiet place to drink away their worries.

03. WILDCARD!

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[Waver tries to hide a laugh at Korra's explanation, the whole thing painfully familiar. A little pft escapes, but it's more at the situation rather than at Korra herself.]

Same situation, but we were much further north. If you pass me a stick, I can show you.

[Though she initially tenses at his little muffled laugh, she relaxes slightly when she figures out he isn't laughing at her in particular. Korra tosses him a smaller stick from the pile she gathered earlier.] Knock yourself out.

So it's happened at least twice before. [She muses as he works.] Weird thing was, no one in my group knew about things from each of our worlds. It...sounded like we all came from different ones.

The hypothesis we came up with was magic, admittedly, but to what purpose we couldn't figure out. And the different worlds thing is consistent too.

[Waver doesn't quite like using 'we', if only because it rings false. He had chosen to go off in his own way, after all, he didn't have that right. For a few moments, he's quiet, making a rough copy of the map he recalled from Thornbarrow. Towards the north, just beyond what he's labeled as Shousal he places a little X.]

This is where everyone arrived. Mostly woods, and heading east the woods were thicker. Southwards was where the group headed instead, ending up in the country of Shousal. The first major point of civilization was Thornbarrow.

[Korra shifts closer, committing his map to memory. Her eyes narrow in contemplation.] Where are we now?

[Suddenly, the serious look on her face disappears as she slaps a hand to her forehead and makes an exasperated sound.] I've been grilling you for information this whole time, and we haven't even swapped names. I can't believe I forgot.

I'm Korra. [She jerks a thumb in Naga's direction when the polar bear dog barks.] And that's Naga.

About here. [Waver prods gently at where Titan's Eye Lake is on the map, making a little dent in the lake's shoreline.] Titan's Eye Lake I think it's called.

[Had Korra not mentioned introductions, Waver would have forgotten all about them. For whatever it's worth, Korra's demeanor has him at ease far more than many other's he has met so far, and it is because of that ease that he manages a little smile.]

I'm Waver. And Naga was how I first noticed you here, admittedly.

[Korra smiles back, just a little ruefully.] Yeah, she's kind of hard to miss. She makes a great hunting partner and friend, though.

[Her gaze wanders back to the map.] How far do you think the nearest city is from here? You must have passed something if you traveled all the way here.

Probably easier to get around too, huh?

[Waver stops, trying to figure out what the right answer is. His eyes drift to over the lake instead, and he squints at something in the incredibly far distance.]

Nothing that I've seen recently but I have a bad feeling I'm forgetting a map detail.

Way easier. [That gets a quick, emphatic agreement. Not that Korra's against walking long distances, but she'd be the first to admit that having Naga to travel with gives her time to rest.]

Hey, that's okay. Before you showed up, I didn't know any of this. [She gestures at the map.] Where are you planning to go now? I'm... guessing no one knows how to leave this place yet? [Korra's voice gets softer and softer with each word, unhappy with the way speaking them out loud is putting everything into perspective; there really isn't a way back home yet.]

And cheaper. Hitching rides on trade routes end up being safe if you can also offer coin.

[It also made sure that Waver got fed, but truly, he was sick of being dependent on others or his feet in order to get around. Something like Naga would be the ideal.]

No one knows how to leave, no. My group's agreed to meet up soon and share anything they've learned, so that could change. But in the mean time, I'm just traveling and seeing what's here.

Coin. [Korra's lips twist wryly.] Not exactly something we have a lot of right now. I didn't have anything on me when I got pulled into the tear.

[She falls silent again, head bowed in thought.] What if...I came with you to this meeting. You think they'd mind?

I had money, but nothing that anyone takes here. [He had given up on trying to pass off British pounds as currency, and settled for grabbing things off the street and running little errands.]

If anything, I think they'd be interested to know that there's another group of people going through the same thing. You might end up running messages and trying to co-ordinate some kind of mega-meeting.

[Korra sighs.] I can't decide if I'm happy to hear yuans would have been useless here anyway, or just annoyed.

I don't know how I'm going to track the others down, but if it comes down to that, I guess I wouldn't mind coordinating some kind of big meet up.

[Part of her wants to cringe away at the very idea, wondering how she thinks she would be able to help anyone when she can't even keep Republic City safe from one man, when she isn't even really the Avatar anymore. She hurriedly quashes that pessimistic voice. Relax, she tells herself. It's not like they expect me to come up with the answers. It's just...passing information along. That's all.]

Probably annoyed, given that this whole situation fits that description.

[It was annoying to have no answers too, but Waver had found that traveling helped him with other matters. He was grateful for it, in a way.]

It may not come to that, at any rate. Personally, I just hate that there's nothing like a telephone here. Communication is painfully slow.

[Waver pauses, his eyes finally moving to the fire Korra has going. As if on cue, his stomach lets out a pitiful growl.]

This place might be like where I'm from. Republic City's full of new technology, but other places in the Earth Kingdom and the rest of the world still haven't caught up.

[Korra breaks off, blinking in surprise as his stomach growls its displeasure. Then, she snickers.]

Want to share the rest of the fish with me? I think there's enough for the two of us. [Still grinning, she plucks one of the skewered fish from the fire and offers it to him.] You should've said you were hungry.

That might be possible. Back home the Renaissance started in one country and then took a rather long time to spread elsewhere. And Thornbarrow in particular felt well. It feels rude to say behind the times, but that was the impression I got.

[Waver's not thrilled with the snicker, mostly because his stomach had embarrassed him enough, but the offered fish is an immediate placation. He takes it with a quickly murmured thank you.]

There were more important things to talk about!

I dunno, food's pretty important.

[Feeling a little lighter, Korra can't help but tease him a little longer. She helps herself to one of the fish and hunkers down by the map he'd drawn again.]

Did your group decide where to meet up again? [As she studies the map and nibbles at her fish, Naga shakes out her fur and pads over to join them by the fire.]

I mean, I don't disagree, but I find knowing what's going on with sudden travel to take a bit more priority.

[The next part of Waver's response is delayed as he takes a bite of the fish. It is good. Moist. Fresh. And it's protein, which he realizes he probably needs more of in his diet. Bread's cheap and all, but it gets repetitive after a while.]

Uh. About here. [He indicates on the map exactly where, which is some ways north of the lake.] It could be subject to ch-!

[With Naga's approach, Waver stops, looking over at the polar bear dog.]

Oh, hey there.

That's not too far. We could get there in good time, especially with Naga here giving us a ride.

[Speaking of which... Korra gestures between the two of them as the polar bear dog snuffles at Waver's hair and clothes curiously.]

Waver, this is Naga. Naga, Waver. He's probably going to be joining us so we can find his group later.

[Waver's about to ask if Korra's sure that Naga is up for carrying two people, but it's too late. There's a big nose in his face, and a little part of him is absolutely delighted by the attention. It's the dog aspect of being a polar bear dog, he's sure.

With a little laugh, he reaches over to pet Naga's nose, mostly because that's the closest thing to him.]

I'll try and make sure I don't add too much weight--

[Naga rewards him with an eager lick to his palm--sorry for the polar bear dog spit. Korra just lets out a little laugh again.]

Nah, it'll be fine. Naga here's carried me and three of my friends at the same time before. [Korra plows on, despite the slight waver in her voice when she mentions her friends.] She can handle it, no problem.

Good to know. We don't have anything like Naga back home, so I wasn't sure what her maximum capacity is.

[Waver pauses to discreetly wipe the lingering saliva off of his palm and onto the leg of his trousers, before standing to his feet.]

Does she have any particular spot I should pet?

I figured. No one else has heard of polar bear dogs before either.

[Korra props her chin in her hand, watching him with amusement.] She likes being scratched behind the ears, but honestly, I think she's happy with any kind of attention you give her.

[As if Naga's confirming Korra's words, she playfully nudges Waver's side with her large head.]

I'm moving my hands as quickly as I can, jeez!

[Waver can only hope that he's scratching behind the ears just right, as he quickly moves his hands. It's hard not to feel utterly at peace, petting a great big dog.]

See, what I find strange is the species name. We have polar bears in my world and we have dogs in my world, but not combined.

[Korra looks up, surprised.]

The others in my group said the same. Maybe our worlds just have different types of animals.... [Her bottom lip sticks out slightly as she thinks.] Have you heard of flying bison? Or otter penguins?

[Waver shakes his head no.]

Bison don't fly, and again, otters and penguins are desperate species. [But that is rather interesting.] It sounds like everything is a mash-up to my ears, really.

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