flawedmemes | TEST DRIVE MEME

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 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!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

a. arrival -

[ At a certain point instinct takes over.

Through the pulse-deep bruise of her chest, through the tinny ringing chorus of close-range hearing damage, above the dull shock of panic still lighting her up nerves, that old drive towards purpose sets in.

She doesn't waste time wondering where it went. Spent enough time thinking lately, and that's rough enough when your skull doesn't feel about to split. It's gonna get dark soon. They can't be here when it does.

In the middle of unknown wilderness, Marlene knows better than to expect that help is coming. ]

Hold this. [ She's pressing an old stone into the nearest pair of hands, heavy as a brick and ripped from the little ruined cairn nearby. It's crumbled at one end, inscribed with deep squiggling lines like snakes. ] If we find trouble, hit it.

[ Not a pep talk for the history books, but it’ll have to do. ]

b. the woods -

[ It’s freezing. She’s shivering like a dog, and the stream they've been following hasn't brought them anything except more wet.

But there are more immediate concerns. For the past hour, every hair on her neck’s been standing up with the gut certainty that they're being watched. She's been stalling, trying to imagine what they might be facing, trying to plan. That was a shit idea. They're running out of light.

Better to confront it now, before it's full dark. ]

Stay close. [ Her voice drops. Whatever it is, it doesn’t feel human — but feelings lie all the damn time and she doesn't intend to be overheard. ] There’s something following us. We need to draw it from the group.

[ Congratulations, you’ve been nominated. ]

c. titan's eye lake, the empire -

[ Marlene's done what she can with what she has, but not standing out was a lost cause from the outset.

She's been lurking by a wall for the better part of an hour, counting the drunks that stumble out of the bustling little inn within. This is a quiet, waterside town. Picturesque. None of it matches the hard look on her face.

A straggler bumbles out alone, patting his ragged, furry coat with a hoarse laugh. The pockets are heavier than when he entered. It's a plush thing, looks warm — and poorly-laundered, and a good dozen years out of style. The tell-tale signs of sila trash. Marlene starts after, her meandering stroll not quite disguising a hungry intent.

Maybe you'll put a stop to this before it starts, or maybe you'll come upon her a few minutes later, wrestling wide-eyed with a furious and improbably wealthy badger in an alley. ]

d. wildcard me bruh

Edited 2016-08-10 04:13 (UTC)

[ You people make it very difficult to be Lawful Good. Thor has been here long enough to see the signs; he blends perfectly in Pelea, as a lone traveller. The others do not, and her clothes are similar to Earth's enough to hold his interest. She moves, he follows, the crunch of his boots on the ground deliberate. ]

[ Dropping his voice, ]

If it is clothes and coin you desire, I am a better target.

[ She snorts, and doesn't stop walking. Just because one old-school ren faire groupie's noticed her game, there's no reason to announce it to everyone around them. Marlene watches Thor from the corner of an eye, letting her own feet drop into a heavier, matching pattern.

The sila disappears around a corner. She takes them in the opposite direction. The signpost dividing the paths (weathered quaintly by design and not decay) points them towards the docks. It's another long beat before she breathes out a response. ]

You're not exactly my size.

[ He's not big. He left big a couple muscles ago, redrew the borders to huge. ]

[ He draws his cloak back to show the warhammer only for the benefit of those passing them in the night — for there are many others here who may seek greater mischief. And it is a show of trust: Mjolnir is the only weapon on him. ]

I did say coin, and a cloak will hide much.

[ She doesn't flash her own knife. If there's something to prove, that hammer should handle it — and if blondie turns unfriendly, she wants any advantage she can get. ]

I don't have anything to trade.

[ Marlene doesn't like where this is going. No one really gets something for nothing. She finally plants her foot, turns to stare him down. Well. Stare him up. Christ, he's tall. ]

And I don't make it. You want to talk plain, here?

[ Thor pauses immediately, and offers her enough distance. His shoulders are dropped, his body language loose. He is not here to fight, and if she bites instead of merely bare her teeth it will harm her more than him. ]

Aye. Your clothes, they are of Earth?

[As far as Mara's concerned, she's not following anybody. She intends to break off from the group the moment it's convenient for her. She's never been a team player, and she doesn't intend to start now, in this strange new world.]

[So when a woman stops and gives orders, Mara stiffens. Who is she to boss Mara Jade around? But in the interest of survival, she listens to what there is to say. It's a tactic she understands.]

You just noticed? [Mara could just faintly, just vaguely sense their tracker if she really concentrated, but she's not about to advertise that. Confirmation that the feeling is more than just a whisper is all she wants or needs.] I can handle it. Can you defend yourself if there's more than one?

[She sounds doubtful.]

[ Cocky. It's almost comforting. Been too long by half that she's met anyone with a bit of bite left in them. At least the kind that doesn't just sink right down to bone. ]

You won't be going it alone. [ She hopes that sounds halfway like an answer to the question — the specifics aren't anything to inspire confidence right now. ] I'm going to fall. The others need to keep moving when that happens. Just you and me.

[ Marlene doesn't know the slightest thing about Mara, but she knows biceps when she sees them. You work with what you have.

Abruptly, she stumbles, goes sprawling with a muffled cry. She clutches her side, still dark with dried blood, stares wide-eyed into the muck. The river's tossed up shallow pools onto its banks. Enough to eye the trees behind them. ]

[Mara would have liked a little more time between hearing the plan and doing it, but that's life lately. She's not sure if the fall is part of the plan, or if the other woman is genuinely hurt, or maybe both. It doesn't matter. What Mara can feel of the Force rings out with warning... and potential.]

[Predictably, the others mull around, but they don't have much interest in strangers. Distance is made between Mara and the fallen woman. It doesn't take long. And anything with predatory instinct will catch that.]

[Mara leans in close, whispers softly,] Whatever it is, it'll come from there. [She points subtly to a spot in the line of trees, nearly indistinguishable from the next. Mara hides the motion with the bulk of her body as she leans over the woman, pretending to check her wound.]

[ To her credit, Mikumo doesn't falter a step as Marlene informs her about something following them. She hopes something and not someone.

With the same half smile she's been wearing since they left, she carries on, hands clasped behind her back. She could almost seem carefree. ]

Can you fight whatever it is? [ She asks calmly, her voice low to match Marlene's. Her steps seem a bit quicker, like she's already starting to wander from the group. Not too far, not until Marlene answers. ]

[It's when the rock drops into his numb hands - palms stained with blood, black paint already chipping off the nails - that he snaps to awareness, staring at her like he's been shaken out of a nightmare. After a beat too long he finally finds his grip on it and nods a little, throat bobbing. Understanding, dreading. He'd think it's a pretty damn cool-looking find if his mind wasn't tripping over itself trying to reconcile the recent past with the present.]

So, [He jogs a few paces to close the distance between them, stuffing his cold hands, rock and all, into his hoodie pocket.] who should I be thanking for saving my ass?

[Normally a self-deprecating smile would accompany that sort of question but he hasn't got much in him right this minute.]

TEST DRIVE MEME

marlene | the last of us

titan's eye lake.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

b. two pissed off women walk into a bar

they really should watch where they're going

no subject

b.

arrival