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

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.]

[fighterflight]

Marlene. [ Some day, she'll get used to not being recognized again. That isn't today. ] If we're walking and you need my attention, whistle.

[ She sticks two fingers in her mouth, breathes in, and hisses the air out around her teeth. A demonstration: Just like moving air through a flute. No vocal chords necessary. ]

Or we'll figure something else out. [ A beat, and she stretches out a hand, palm up. ] I'm glad we've got you with us, Ollie.

[sigillum]

[Ollie copies Marlene's demonstration with the ease of someone who has probably done this before, judging by the way she keeps the whistle relatively quiet (so as not to alarm anyone) but clear.

And then she shifts her hands again, this time cupping them together and bringing her thumbs against her lips. The sound that comes out is more like a bird call than a whistle. Just in case she needs Marlene's attention but can't risk drawing anyone else's focus.

She doesn't quite know what to do with the gesture Marlene makes with her hand, tilting her head curiously at it before she decides there are more important things to worry about.]

We should start moving or we will freeze when the sun sets.