TEST DRIVE MEME

[theflaws]

TEST DRIVE MEME

PREMISE PLOT ARRIVAL SETTING NAVIGATION

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!

Comments

[braavado]

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.

[teratias]

[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--

[braavado]

[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.

[teratias]

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?

[braavado]

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.]

[teratias]

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.

[braavado]

[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?

[teratias]

[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.

[braavado]

I guess I'll know if anyone's from my world, if the animals stand out so much.

[Korra says wryly.]

You think there's anything that make it easy to find people from your world?

[teratias]

There's worse and stranger standards for finding it out, I'm sure. Then again [Waver pauses, just so he can switch one hand from petting Naga to the other.] They might just know what Naga is.

As for me uh, my standard right now is city names.

[braavado]

Good place to start.

[She pauses, giving another glance at the map on the ground.]

Hey, Waver? What's it been like, living here for that long? [Korra figures she might as well ask, if she ended up being stuck here for a while, too.]

[teratias]

[The question gives Waver pause, and his hand stills so he can concentrate on finding the right words. There's no point in scaring anyone about the situation, but to lie is even worse. Slowly, he turns everything over in his head, hoping to find something that'll strike the right balance.]

It's--

[Having no words says something in and of itself, really.]

Honestly? I haven't had a lot of time to register what it's like living here. My focus has just been making sure I can eat and that no one's coming after me in the middle of the night. That makes it sound stressful, I realize, but that's not the word I'd use at all. Closer to-- [He shakes his head, realizing the truth of the matter.] There's no words I can find, honestly.

[braavado]

[Well that's...alarming. Though Korra hadn't been hoping for some kind of fairytale story, where everything turned out well in the end, she hadn't quite been prepared for his bleak answer either.]

I'm sorry. [She says quietly, a second later.] Have you--you know, tried talking to the people you meet on the road? If we tell them we're not from around here, maybe someone will help us out.

[teratias]

[Waver pauses, wondering how to delicately word what has to come next. There's zero point in sugar coating something as important as survival.]

When we first arrived, I split off from the main group for a bit. While I was gone, there was a knight that came up on everyone else. Apparently there's a group looking to gather up everyone who was pulled here. So saying that you aren't from here is well, risky. I've been playing at backwards kid from the country, which has been safe enough, but beyond that-- [He shakes his head, trusting her to fill in the rest.]

[braavado]

[Korra stiffens up immediately, looking alarmed.]

What? So the people here already know what's happening with the tears? [She leans forward, all of her attention on him.] What happened to the people the knight found?

[teratias]

I think it's a select group, not everyone. Either way uh-- [There's no easy way to say this either:] They murdered him.

[braavado]

[There's no hiding the way Korra flinches back, nor the horror in her eyes. That's not what she was expecting to hear, and she feels a little sick to her stomach.]

What? How--what even happened when the knight got there?

[teratias]

He apparently had had run-ins before and wasn't-- [He gestures for a moment, searching for the right word.] Was a jackass, basically. And talked of having to bring us in so I think in the end, it was all justified as survival.

[Waver clearly doesn't agree though, with how his face has fallen and the fact he's stopped petting Naga entirely.]

That there haven't been consequences yet still surprises me.

[braavado]

No kidding. [It's a lot to take in. Korra rubs at her chin as she thinks it all over.]

They didn't send anyone else since that first guy? Weird. Especially if he's part of a group, like you said.

[teratias]

The travel time might be a factor, depending on where he came from and where he had to go. That he's dead now is certain, but it is likely that we moved fast enough that anyone else sent missed us.

Splitting up probably helped too.

[braavado]

Even if they missed you guys after that, we still have to be careful.

[She looks grim at this point. In her experience, being rounded up doesn't mean anything good.]

Did he say anything before he--you know. [She bites her lip, uncomfortable with the way things were handled.]

[teratias]

If there was anything else important said, I wasn't told of it.

[It isn't a satisfying answer, not by a long shot, and Waver sighs after saying it. Really, it is sort of amazing how useless he feels after stopping to voice all of this. Prior to, his focus on traveling had permitted him to ignore everything else going on.]

I'm sorry I can't say anything more positive.

[braavado]

[Korra's quick to shake her head.]

No--it's. It's not your fault. You already helped a lot, telling me what you know. [A pause.] I've just got a bad feeling about that group. If they had anything to do with us getting dumped in this world...

[teratias]

Then what their greater goals are is a concern. I agree entirely, and I don't like that there's magic going across worlds. That's-- [Well, possible, in theory. Goodness knows that magecraft and it's various schools of thought believed that hopping worlds or dimensions was plausible. Seeing it in action, however, was considered to be nothing short of a genuine miracle requiring an untold amount of power.]

Whoever's responsible probably has too much power as-is.