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 of them player characters, the Flaws, are welcomed as curiosities. Whether they're among the passionate, oft thought as hot-headed, but hospitable folk of the Banner or the noble and haughty people of the Empire, your characters will find a wide variety of cultures, races and simply people to interact with and investigate. They could be seeking employment, answers to the mystery of their arrival or other folk like themselves, or a quiet place to drink away their worries.

03. WILDCARD!

Comments

ollie stallworth | original

[sigillum]

arrival

[Ollie wakes with a gasp, scrambling to her feet even as she grabs the knife hidden in her boot, fingers curled tight around the blade as she takes in her surroundings. Trees and dirt and water, none of those things are a metal cell, and it's the only thing that stops her from stabbing the first person she sees. If it was the hunters, she'd be dead. If it were the dealers, she'd be bound and drugged.

That means it's something else.

Slowly, Ollie lowers the knife, but that doesn't stop her from looking like a cornered wild animal.]

the forest

[A witch is a witch is a witch, even when she's taken from her world.

Ollie doesn't have the energy to care about the other people here, not when she desperately needs to get back to her coven, which is why she's already started working on a spell. A lot of what she needs is kept on her person, but there's almost always a fresh ingredient required.

That's what the rabbit she caught is for.

Anyone stumbling upon her better not be squeamish.]

draichurith

[A city is a scary thing, and one with dragons is even scarier, but Ollie needs supplies. More importantly, she needs answers, and she can only hope that someone in this land might have them.

It's going... as well as it can, until she spots a slaver in the street with a young woman in his grip, and suddenly she doesn't care about what she needs. Her survival almost always comes first, but there are some things she can't abide, and chains are one of them.

The whole thing happens surprisingly quickly; Ollie moves, the slaver's throat is slit, the shackles on the woman open, a man shouts, and Ollie runs. It's a bit of a scene, and with at least one armed man in pursuit, Ollie could probably use some help.]

arrival

[fighterflight]

Easy.

[ Not the kind of thing’s any good coming from someone soaked in blood, but this isn’t the time or the place for a wardrobe change. Marlene’s hands are open, empty, pressed out to the sides. It’s a gesture of peace, sure. But it’s one that puts her hands closer to a loose branch if she needs it. ]

You’re alright.

[ Hell of an assumption. Marlene sure as shit shouldn’t be — her ears are still ringing, mouth tastes like copper. But she can feel her aching muscles tense beneath the sticky fabric of her shirt, tense and not tear, and it's been years since she lived that sort of strangeness: the world cracking open with pain, only to weave itself into something new and other.

It’s not the kind sort of nostalgia. ]

There’s a lot of us. [ Simply-stated. Efficient. She jerks her chin to the group beyond, eyes unmoving from Ollie’s. Her brow dips forward slightly, assertive. ] No one knows what's going on.

[sigillum]

[The blood, oddly, doesn't actually bother Ollie, because if anything it's reassuring. It's the people who go through life without getting a speck of dirt or blood on them that she needs to be wary of.

It helps that Marlene is a woman; she isn't naive enough to think that every woman is trustworthy, but there's a camaraderie between witches, between women, that makes it easier to trust someone.

So she lowers the knife and carefully tucks it back away into her boot. She needs her hands free, anyway, if she's going to talk.]

Do you know where we are?

[The words are signed, and Ollie's expression is hopeful. Not a lot of people know sign language and she doesn't realize that Pelea comes with an auto-translate function.]

[fighterflight]

[ Marlene stares a moment, blinks. Everyone’s got a signal or two for tight situations, but full sign? She shouldn’t know it. Knows she shouldn’t know it, yet somehow she does, the meaning coming easy as breathing.

It doesn’t bode well, but she’s too exhausted to pick. She watches close, tries to figure Ollie for deaf or just mute. They'll need to know before trying to move anywhere. Her speech slows: Most lip-reading’s rarer, rougher than pop culture would have it. No reason to make it any harder. ]

Some kind of forest. [ No shit. ] Mountains a ways off. Can’t see smoke, but the river looks like it widens.

[ Water means people, if there are people to be found. Both mean danger. ]

Wherever it is, we can’t stay.

[sigillum]

[Ollie sighs with relief at being understood; all her cover sign, but any time they come across a stranger, she's rarely able to communicate with them. This is going to make things easier, and although it's not necessary, she even appreciates the slowed speech.

Though she taps her throat and makes a cut gesture, to indicate it's her speech that's missing, not hearing.]

There's no mountains in Indiana.

[There was Hoosier Hill, but that got destroyed decades ago.]

[fighterflight]

[ Mute. Small blessings. Makes it that much more likely the kid's going to come out the other side of this if they run into trouble. ]

And it's sure not Utah, or Boston, or Kansas. [ Marlene shakes her head, slings hands on her hips, considers how to put this. Breaking the shit news, that's never been her favourite part. But it's got to get done. ] Folks out there, in the group — not all of them have heard of any of that. We're in the dark here. All of us.

[ She shakes her head, voice calm. ]

Way I see it, that puts us all on same team. Until we find a way to shed some light. [ Marlene points to her own boot, eyes Ollie's. ] Can you handle that?

[sigillum]

[It takes her a moment to actually wrap her head around what Marlene is saying; sure, maybe there's people who don't get out much, god knows some of the city-dwellers wouldn't be able to name half the states, but there's an implication in the words that goes beyond that.

The words alternate universes aren't familiar to her, but the concept is something she can consider.

She can also understand the implication in the rest of what Marlene says, and nods her agreement.]

I won't hurt anyone who doesn't hurt me.

[It's a simple enough statement, but it's essentially one she lives by.]

[fighterflight]

[ She nods. It's a good answer. A useful one — plain pacifism needs protection. Needs watching. Needs time and energy that no one here has to spare. ]

Anyone tries to hurt you, we'll hurt them back first. [ A promise, and she sounds like she means it. ] You got a name?

[sigillum]

[It could be a lie, an attempt to get Ollie on side, but she wants to believe this woman, especially when it seems like none of her coven are here. She can survive on her own, if she must, but it's better to have an ally.]

Ollie. You?

[There are decisions she needs to make now, about how much she'll show these people, if they can be trusted to know what she is. They might not be like the humans in her world, but that's a big risk to take; the last humans she trusted are the reason she can't speak.]

draichurith

[braavado]

[Having seen what happened, Korra makes a decision in a split-second. There's a bit of a commotion behind Ollie as Korra uses her airbending to trip up the man pursuing the other girl as discreetly as she can.

Then, by ducking through the crowd expertly, she catches up with Ollie, hissing at her.] This way! [Thankfully for the both of them, Korra's already been in Draichurith for a few days--long enough to memorize a few of the handy side streets.]

[sigillum]

[A brief glance back shows a man falling and a girl following close behind, and though it occurs to Ollie that this could be a trap, she doesn't see the point in it. If this girl was part of the military, she could just bring Ollie down now rather than waste time leading her away.

So she follows.

As she runs, Ollie digs into a pocket to find a piece of smooth bark. It's tricky to manage two things at once, but eventually she scratches a symbol onto the bark with the bloody knife. When they turn down another sidestreet, Ollie rips the bark in half and tosses it onto the ground.

Something in the air shifts, like a pressure change, but Ollie doesn't stop running. The spell will only buy them a few moments.]

[braavado]

[Despite her focus on ensuring their escape, Korra senses the change in the air almost immediately. Without slowing down too much, she glances over her shoulder at Ollie.]

What did you just do?

[There's no censure in her tone, just curiosity.]

[sigillum]

[One handed, Ollie throws a quick sign:]

Magic smoke screen.

[Not so much a physical smoke screen, considering the street behind them looks exactly the same as it did before her spell, but anyone on the other side will have a hard time focusing when they try to look down the street.]

[braavado]

[Instead of clarifying things, the signing just confuses Korra further. She assumes that was supposed to mean something, but she has no idea what it is.]

Never mind. You can explain later.

[After turning down another street, Korra comes to a stop before a ladder.] Can you climb?

[sigillum]

[It's not worth it to sigh, so Ollie just nods at the question, and gestures for Korra to go first, since she has to put her knife away to free her hands up to climb.

Once Korra starts climbing, though, Ollie will follow.]

[braavado]

[Occasionally pausing to check that Ollie's still following her, Korra climbs up with no hesitance until she reaches the end of the ladder. It leads up into a somewhat secluded platform that would be difficult to spot from the street.

Korra offers her a hand up.]

Found this place when I was walking the rooftops a couple days ago. Didn't think I'd use it as a hiding place so soon, though. [Though the friendly smile still lingers on her lips, Korra's eyes take on a piercing sort of quality now.] I saw what you did to the slaver. Were you trying to help the girl?

[sigillum]

[This isn't where she was expecting to be lead, but Ollie can roll with it; once she's up on the platform she scoots as far away from the edge as possible, before her hands go back into her pockets.

Now that she can focus (rather than trying to spellcast and run at the same time), she can hide them a little better.

But she looks up when Korra speaks, nods, and pulls a little notepad and pencil out of a pocket. On it, she writes:]

No one should be chained.

[Most people might think it a bit extreme to have killed them slaver, but morals are for people who aren't desperate to survive.]

draichurith.

[scarletcast]

[ Cities are better. Wanda can park quietly somewhere, safe under the constant, fierce projection of leave me be or I'm not here into the minds of those around her. No one in the bars has the information she requires, but it takes more than that to live in the world. She has to understand what they value, how they speak and trade. She senses commotion abruptly as Ollie's intent to kill flares, and hastens there. ]

[ The man corners Ollie, but red snakes around his head. The weapon in his hand hits the cobblestone path with a ringing sound, and he turns sharply on his heel to walk away, rigidly. The glow in her eyes fades as she steps out, looking at Ollie. ]

Are you all right?

[sigillum]

[One of Ollie's hands is in a pocket, the other curled around her knife, when the man goes still as red... smoke? red something creeps around his head. Her heart is pounding in her chest even as he turns, even as he walks away, but in the panic she can still spot the signs of a thought witch.

The woman with the glowing eyes just confirms her suspicion.

Ollie nods, relief drawing a shaky smile from her, but rather than bother with signing her thanks, she simply closes her eyes and thinks about how grateful she is. Her curiosity is there too, unhidden in her thoughts. This woman's magic doesn't work like what she's used to.]

[scarletcast]

[ She turns her palms up. Ollie's fear is hanging strong in the air, but it fades to gratitude and curiosity. This girl recognises kin, even if Wanda does not. ]

The woman you freed managed to escape. No one will bother her in the city.

[ At least for the time being, and hopefully she's smart enough to book it, but Wanda has faith. ]

What is your name?

[sigillum]

[Her smile brightens at that, relieved that she was successful, and that the right thing has been done. It might get her into trouble, later, but she's safe for now, and the woman is free.]

Ollie.

[It's spelt out in sign, her fingers moving carefully, though she makes a point to think her name as well, in case her rescuer can't sign.

Ollie taps her throat, just lightly, to indicate that speaking is a little beyond her.]

[scarletcast]

[ Meaning becomes clear at once, and it's a curious novelty to meet someone familiar with her abilities. She wants to know. ]

Wanda.

[ A beat. ]

Is it alright if I speak [ she gestures from her temple to Ollie's ] directly?

[sigillum]

[Ollie mouths the name silently, rolling it over on her tongue because this is the first time she's met someone named Wanda. It's not that weird a name, really, just a little old-fashioned.

At the question, she nods, and lets her thoughts quieten. She hopes this other witch won't go digging in her mind, but if she does prod too deeply, she'll find barriers in her way. Open doesn't always mean unprotected.]

[scarletcast]

[ Open doesn't mean unprotected. Wanda doesn't venture too far in, however, something warm fills up Ollie's mind. ]

Hello.

[sigillum]

[This is a new experience, because every mind is different, and every witch is different. The last thought witch in her head was... a long time ago. She doesn't follow that thought too far because she doesn't want to spring that on a stranger.]

Hello Wanda. Do you come from here?

[This world, she means. There's magic in the world, so she can't be sure.]