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

[parkourprince]

With so little time to react, Legolas was left standing in confusion for a couple seconds before he gathered his wits about him again. That was strange, very strange, and he could only stare at Venom's back as he ran back to pick up his box, then ran right back to him. Fast for a human, especially fast for a human of his apparent age. Equal parts bemused and amused, this time Legolas couldn't quite help it, he chuckled as they began walking again.

Oh, he could understand that sentiment however. With how few supplies they all had, literally everything was of great value. Some things they used, other things they could always sell for coin. Legolas himself had few needs, but those few he did have... well, they required more coin than he had on his person. He was an elf, and more than that, an elven prince, it was rare that he ever had to buy anything. So this was new and he was still learning how to live like this— resorting to theft was truly the last resort. It did not sit well with him, but at the end of the day, his survival was of utmost importance to him.

The question posed at him in turn was a good sign, he thought.

"Leaf shaped, as the ears of elves are, and an elf I am," he said, glancing sideways with a grin, "Or leaves are what many compare them to!"

Legolas, personally, found it quite an accurate comparison.

[anothermission]

"An elf, huh?" There had been ancient legends of such beings but he wasn't one much for history unless it was related to warfare. He seemed to remember a few drawings in children's books but that was so many lifetimes ago he couldn't remember if their ears had been leaf shaped or not. Snake supposed it really didn't matter. There was an elf here now and that ear was undeniably leaf-shaped.

It posed a whole host of new questions but for now, he kept his mouth shut. He gave a simple nod in acceptance of the explanation before his attention was on the path ahead. His mouth may have been shut and his eye forward, but Venom was acutely aware of the presence beside them as they walked. He took note of the light and graceful movement, the surety of step, and the utter silence of each footfall. His own steps were very quiet, especially for a man of his size, but they were definitely not silent. The silence suppression in his souls worked best on harder surfaces anyway and not the earthen ground they were covering.

It was impressive. For a many who had been working in espionage for decades, the silence was profound, and earned Legolas quite a few marks of respect from the man. Snake was hard to impress, and usually found odd things to be impressed about. As a case in point, he began wondering just how hard Legolas could throw a punch and if he could ask for one.

[parkourprince]

One question that received an answer, then acknowledgement and silence fell again. Legolas grinned to himself, every so often glancing at Venom, but at least he resisted shaking his head. He let it last a little longer, for no other reason but to see if anything more would come without prompting, but when it stretched beyond a certain point, Legolas decided to break the silence again.

"Do you have no more questions?" He asked, looking over and studying Venom's expression and if it had changed at all to his words. "Perhaps—," he chuckled then with a small shrug, "Not about me or about elves, but about the city, the country, the continent? There is plenty to know of, after all, although I have no knowledge of everything."

Continent to not say the world, that still sounded and felt so, so very strange for Legolas to say. And so if he could avoid it, he would.

[anothermission]

"Hm." There were so many questions that they all tumbled around in his fractured mind like a whirlwind. Memories, old, new, false, all too real, swirled into the mix and Snake found himself suddenly missing the near constant strong breeze from the Seychelles sea. Davy Jones Locker, he thought to himself, completely derailed from reality or the elf next to him or what he was supposed to be focusing on. He wondered where the term came from, Davy Jones Locker. I won't scatter your ashes to the heartless sea...

"Uh." Snake blinked a few times, only coming back to reality as his foot falls slowed and he lagged behind his new companion a few steps. He caught back up and forced himself to recall what the question had been.

Questions - right. "Questions. Sure." Why were they here? How did they get home? Why were they called flawed? Why did the natives not like them? Why weren't there weapons here? Why hadn't the flawed militarized yet? Who was in charge? Did the flaws have a leader? Were the natives their enemy? What was a soldier supposed to do without an enemy? Without a war to fight?

"Questions. Why a leaf? Why not a..." He tried to think of things shaped like a leaf. "A tear?"

[parkourprince]

Elves were known for their near infinite patience, and though Legolas did not exactly consider himself so very patient as the most of them, he still indulged these long stretches of nothing, and did not rush Venom to say anything. If these few past moments were anything to go by, that was simply how he was. Likely a lot of thoughts, but a very few words.

When the question finally came, Legolas had to laugh. Apparently his ears were a very thought-consuming subject.

"For our love of nature, perhaps, for our affinity to it," he shrugged, actually uncertain why they say leaves rather than anything else, "Even my name, it is for my love of the trees— though this would only speak for me and my reasons.

"May I ask a question in return? As in barter! Pay for knowledge with knowledge."

[anothermission]

"Barter? Sure."

His skeptical side wondered what the hell the elf could possibly want to know from him, as he didn't know anything about this world or its people obviously, which meant it would have to be some kind of personal question. And, Snake really had nothing personal to share. He was a soldier, nothing more and certainly nothing less. Whatever world Legolas came from it had elves with nature affinity and that was not Earth. Therefore what would Earth's conflicts mean to Legolas? Nothing, in no way that Snake could guess at anyway. Not a personal question then - something tactical, maybe about the box?

An affinity with nature, he repeated in his mind, wondering what exactly that meant. His one good eye glanced sidelong and downwards to consider the plain looking leather boots on the other. They couldn't explain the eerily quiet or light-footed walking. That could be part of it, he reasoned, but he had to wonder what else was a creature capable of walking in silence able to do? If there was anything he had learned over the past year it was to not underestimate people whatever their intentions or backgrounds appeared to be. Snake told himself not to underestimate Legolas.

"Shoot," he offered, signifying he was ready for this question.

[parkourprince]

There were many things that came to mind to ask about, some more about the sort of a world Venom came from, out of sheer curiosity alone, some others, indeed, more personal. It was difficult to pick just one, and so this time it was Legolas's turn to fall quiet as he got lost in thought. He missed the looks he received, looking up to the sky instead as if it would aid him in picking the best question for the moment. There was nothing written in the clouds, though, Legolas smiled himself at the thought and turned to Venom with a small grin.

"Is Venom a name you have chosen for yourself?" He asked finally, deciding it best to simply start at the very beginning of the long, long list of questions he had. He could only hope that Venom would indulge him for all of them, until his curiosity was at least partially satisfied. They had so much time, it would be a waste to spend it in complete silence at all times.

[anothermission]

You went straight down to hell, and they pulled you out, your eye wide open. Full of venom. The days of Naked Snake are long gone. Welcome back, Venom Snake.

After he'd woken up from his nine year coma, Ocelot had debriefed him, and given him his new moniker. Yes it had meaning, a lot of meaning, but to no one but himself. What was a name to most people but what they had to sign on their rent check? His name was his reality, his name was his job, and the tenuous thread of his phantom existence. It felt strange and almost uncomfortable to have the elf zero in on the code name so directly.

There was a slight, hesitant tone of emotion as he began speaking but his grumbling voice soon evened out. "It... was given, to me." He could have stopped there, but he continued in a quiet tone. "Venom Snake. In aboriginal cultures a snake's venom means revenge, or vengeance. The mythologies speak of a 'horned snake' with a crest on its head like a diamond, covering the whole world with venom in revenge for injustice from the gods."

The edge of the shrapnel in his skull rested on his optic nerve and it was therefore impossible to ignore, especially when it caused him headaches or hallucinations. It was simply a part of him now. Repeating the story though, it was obvious just how weirdly appropriate the code name really was. Now it was his turn to ask a question though and his own was much more practical.

"How do you walk silently?"

[parkourprince]

Horned snake, that phrase drew Legolas's attention to the strange piece of ... metal, he thought, lodged in Venom's head. He wondered about it, a lot, but found it far too rude to ask about. Far as he could see, it did not cause Venom pain, it was not a recent injury at all, and truth be told, he couldn't even be so sure it was an injury at all. Not in Pelea, not out of another flaw. He learned early on not to assume much, if anything at all, about the fellow flaws.

Still, he took in the answer and nodded with gratitude for the clear and simple honesty. He wondered then just what was the cause for Venom's vengeance, but it was not his turn to ask questions and perhaps that could be too personal. Patience, Legolas told himself, and he couldn't help a small chuckle at the question.

The truth was, he had no other answer to it other than I am an elf! Still, he tried to put it into words in a way that could be understood.

"I am an elf, and elves step lightly, we step carefully," he mulled it over, then continued with another chuckle, "We are not held back by the limits of the flesh in any way... it is the best I can explain it."