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Welcome to the first Test Drive Meme for

escordvi! Anyone can participate in the test drive, regardless of invite eligibility. Just keep in mind that only those who have received invitations from the mods can actually reserve on August 25th and apply on September 1st. Our Interest Check can be found here.

For your toplevel, please include the following: Character Name | Canon | Armada Choice. If undecided, put "Undecided" for the Armada.

For everyone's convenience, TDM threads can be carried over in game if you wish! If you are still unsure which armada to place your character, you can play it a bit loose and vague in the TDM and make retroactive changes if you carryover the threads. We'll have more armada focused prompts in the opening log in September. The log itself is set to cover the next two weeks, until the end of the month. Characters will appear at random intervals during this time rather than all at once, so players have some more flexibility on how much more adjusted they are for someone else.

IMPORTANT REMINDER FOR MAGIC USERS!! All magic abilities will be "sealed" until characters get their tattoo from the Inkwave parlor in Eltrut. That means no magic on the starter ships before docking.

We do require TDM threads for samples for our application!

If you have any question about the TDM, comment here. If you have questions about the game in general, please comment to the Game Info.

TOPLEVEL DIRECTORY (Updated August 28)

STARTER SHIPS: ORIENTATION

There are two ships that serve as starting ships for each armada: Stormbringer for the Corsairs, and Royal Fortune for the Paladins. There are various ways new arrivals—or riftfarers as they will be called, among other creative names—will appear on or by these ships.

🚪 Random room. It could be empty, filled with crates or supplies; down in the hull where the livestock are kept; have the luck to awaken in a bed...or the misfortune of that bed already occupied; somewhere in the kitchens; in the bathroom—any room! Now let's hope the doors can open or someone may have to try and ask for help. Or jump through the porthole if there is one and it's above water.
⛵ On deck. If not in the ship itself, another possible spot to wake up to is somewhere on the maindeck. If they're lucky, they're on the deck itself. More unfortunate souls may find themselves caught in the sails or netting, the crow's nest, or on the top of the masts. Someone should be able to help, right? Or catch.
🌊 In the water. The most unlucky sods will find themselves appearing in mid-air just past the ship and plummeting straight into the water. Good news, there's always someone on the look out for such a thing and calls for help to throw a lifesaver get the rowboat will be made. Are there sharks? Well... ...Are there?

However the new riftfarers arrive, they will be poorly clothed, practically rags or loose uniforms depending on the ship. Fortunately, veteran crewmates will guide them, escorting them to a room with a strange typewriter in it. After typing their name, the typewriter will magically continue and type by itself at a fast pace until it dings and rolls out the paper. This paper will have the following information:

• Name and Shellphone ID (journalname)
• Armada (Corsair or Paladin, will match the starter ship)
• Cabin Number for their personal cabin on the starter ship
• Apartment Address for their personal address at their base armada location
• A basic map of the starting locations in Eltrut, including written directions (continued in the Eltrut section)
• A basic map of where they can find a chest with their original clothes and belongings (this will be different for every person and will be anywhere either on the starter ship or on Eltrut—players can be creative here).

After that, the crewmate will do their best to explain the basics of how they got here, what's going on, and what they'll need to do to live in Escordvi while they are here, giving them a small leather pouch with money. They will be reaching Eltrut soon, so the crewmate will suggest they look around, meet the others who have arrived. Even from their distance, they will be able to see the giant sea turtle that serves as Eltrut's leviathan.

ELTRUT: FIRST GLIMPSE

After reaching the port of Eltrut, several birdfolk will appear and happily greet all the new arrivals from both starter ships. Here it doesn't matter which side they are affiliated with, as long as they keep those swords and weapons sheathed and not pointed at each other's throats. The birdfolk will even act as guides, showing them the main places they should visit and give them a visitor's map to help guide them.

🐚 Microshell. The first stop that is encouraged will be Microshell, the main store to acquire their own personal Shellphone. The paper they received on their starter ship will have their ID and the staff at the store will set them up, explaining how the device and the network works.
✒️ Inkwave, Tattoo Parlor. The next stop is Inkwave, a tattoo parlor run by a very burly but friendly octopus, Knistej. Here everyone receives their own unique magic tattoo, allowing anyone to cast specific single element spells and other magic. Note: tattoos are required before anyone will be able to use their original magical abilities.
📜 MANTA office. The final stop is the MANTA office, where all the request, mission, and task notices are posted. Each armada has their own branch office for armada specific notices as well. A great place to find jobs to earn some cash so they don't stay a hobo forever.

It's a lot to take in for sure, with the port city bustling with all walks of life. Not only do they have both armadas mingling with each other, there are different races and species from all over Escordvi gathered here. It's not just humans, which many riftfarers always seem to be surprised about. There are also plenty of veteran riftfarers who will gladly give some advice and even share stories of their world. Maybe some are familiar.

After finding their belongings, exploring the town, and meeting other people, being able to just sit back and enjoy a drink and warm meal will be in order. While there are plenty of places to choose from, the Minstrel and Cask will be the top recommended tavern for all newcomers to visit at least once. Great drinks, great food, and can learn a lot from the patrons or meet more people.

Of course, as expected of a highly popular tavern, it's not always peaceful. A man will ask travelers what they want to do with their life. Clearly drunk, he only accepts answers that hint at wanting to find riches. If told this he will give out a treasure map. But if told anything else, he'll put up a fight, hoping to deliver a black eye. Those who do receive the map will be sorely disappointed—it will lead them down a long, winding, circuitous path around town and end at a random outhouse, likely occupied and certainly stinking to high heavens. There's likely some kind of moral here, but at some point, others who have been duped will return to the tavern to sling their fists around.

Looks like another tavern brawl for the night.

QUESTS

For those who want to try their hand at some quests, there are a few that would do well for newcomers. Teaming up is of course encouraged, no matter what the affiliation. You can assume they acquired some kind of ship for the quests out at sea, either the starter ship or some other ship heading out there.

Spicy Squid Eating Challenge

Eltrut Port

There is a traveling food ship (think food truck but on the water) that has been going around challenging ships to their extraordinary Hornswaggle's Spicy Squid Eating Challenge. If participants can scarf down a prepared three-pound bowl of exceptionally spicy ghost pepper squid and rice, they will win their meal for free as well as a crate of dried spicy squid for their ship's stores. If participants fail, they will have to pay for the meal and the crate.

...Careful, are some of the squid tentacles still moving?

Coral Reef Snacks

Eltrut

Rumour has it that certain types of coral reefs contain unique properties that can make you more alluring to the one you desire, but no one is sure what the side effects are. Test this out by trying to crunch into chunks of coral reef pieces to see if there are any added effects on your body. Hopefully, they don't ruin your teeth in the meantime.

Oh, and you have to find the correct coral reef too! Red chunks seem to make you more affectionate towards others, while blue chunks seem to make you more volatile towards others. Eaters, beware!

Giant Sea Slugs

Starter Ships

Giant sea slugs tend to only attack ships if they feel threatened but are otherwise peaceful creatures. They're about the size of a large wild cat. They also secrete a slime that contains strong disinfectant properties. This thick slime is highly sought after for its ability to heal wounds cleanly, so kill them and collect as much slime as possible.

Killer Sharkgulls

Eltrut port and ships

Seagulls can be a pain to most ships. Yet, seagulls that have evolved to be violently carnivorous can be even worse. These new birds, effectively named sharkgulls, have been seen attacking ships and ports alike. They are big enough to eat small children in one gulp or will do their best to eat full-grown humans after they've ripped them to bite-sized shreds. Beware and kill them before they can kill you!

Siren's Serenade

Out at Sea

A merchant's ship has crashed upon an outcropping of rocks after being lured in by a group of rogue sirens. These captivating creatures possess the power to ensnare their prey with their enchanting voices, luring unsuspecting souls into the depths to meet the grim fate of drowning.

Search for the missing ship and help rescue the captive sailors before it's too late! You will be supplied with special earplugs to muffle out the siren's voices so be careful to keep your ears effectively plugged. You don't want to succumb to the siren's bloodlust yourself.

Any sailors or rescuers affected by the siren's song can be treated with a harpy's potion that can reverse the song's effect. Or tie up the afflicted for twenty-four hours to wait out the effects.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Well he's not expecting this - but in his defense? Who knows what to expect when you touch a bottle and all of the sudden are being dumped into the ocean. Cloud is really, really tired of just being spat out at different places. He's starting to think that "the powers that be" must not really be all that creative. Or, on the other side of things, that they just like to mess with him.

Not that Cloud's going to refuse the help to get up and over the railing. The ill fitting attire he's arrived here in is not comfortable at all and only adds a bit to the frustration of needing to be fished out of the ocean. ]

It's where I landed. [ Wait... How - ] How are you up here?

[The questions all pile up on her expression, one after the other, but all of it is masked by the strain as she helps to lift him over the railings by his hand, hoping that he still has some strength to pull himself up and over the rest of the way. All the while, she stares at him in disbelief. Openly stares, unblinking, the shock finally starting to sink in fully.

I... landed here. Just a few hours ago. And—

It's even bleeding into her voice, as much as she tries to keep it even for both their sakes.]

You don't think we... [She shakes her head, stopping that thought dead in its tracks. No, this isn't the place or the time to do that.] Here, let's get you dried up.

Hours?

[ First of all, that doesn't sound right. It hadn't been all that long ago that he had seen Tifa and. Augh. He's running a hand through his hair. Leaning with his back against the railing. It's not going to hit him just yet that he's on a moving ship.

Second of all, Tifa is sounding like she could use a little support. Instead his focus is on how distressed she sounds. Cloud... Is a lot more stable than he used to be.]

Hey, it's fine. There's others here and we can just ask around before guessing.

[ Not that he won't say no to towels and trying to find his clothes first?> ]

[She does tilt her head at his reassurance, curious. How is he not more freaked out about this? It doesn't matter because she's going to do what she can to keep her own emotions in check for now... There are a lot of people who are scared and alone and she would rather focus their efforts on them.]

I got the gist of it... Most of it, anyway, if you wanna know.

[She takes a step towards him—though only half, the way her foot resting back on the deck a touch more tentative than usual.]

Why don't we talk about it while we get you some better clothes, yeah?

[ Tifa is a very strong individual. Not just physically, but emotionally as well. Cloud actually appreciates it, even as he had sort of been running from it for a while. But there's no more running to be had. There have been so many things thrown their way that Cloud also wants to just focus on things that they can do.

Before he answers, he looks down at the uniform that had definitely been made for someone else in mind. Gives it a tug. ]

Yeah. Sounds good.

[ If he notices the tentative step, he doesn't say anything. Instead reaches for the towels. ]

So. How did you get here?

[She sets the rest of the towels aside on one of the nearby shelves, and turns back to him with a strange mixture of emotions swirled into her expression—confusion, guilt, and something apologetic in there, too.]

Um... Kind of a weird story.

[A story that has yet to fully sink in, and she's still not completely sure whether she believes this all to be a dream or some strange place they've found themselves in when that hole opened in time and space, or wherever that was. Seems a little out of place for that, though.]

On our way into Kalm, this bottle rolled up to my foot all of a sudden... And when I opened it... [She gestures to the ship around them.] Landed without a chance to even break my fall on the deck of this thing.

[ Cloud's getting that. The thing is, he's not quite sure why Tifa is having that sort of reaction. What is it that she's thinking about?

But it's not like he know what to make of all of this either and Cloud doesn't even know the full story. Rather, he doesn't know what's caused them to be here. Not exactly. Yet what Tifa says is familiar to him or similar enough. ]

That sounds close to what happened to me. Only...

[ He tilts his head towards the ocean. ]

Didn't land on the ship. I was on my way back to Edge when I found the bottle.

[She stops dead in her tracks and looks at him, not a shred of recognition in her expression at the name.

And, remembering her own worries that she's been carrying with her since she found him at Sector Seven's train station, she asks as carefully as can be:]

... Edge? Where's that?

[ Where's that - Now that has him turning around. Looking at Tifa with eyes narrowing a little. They glance to the side for a moment, away from her and then refocus back onto her. How could she not know - ]

Edge. Where we live and you rebuilt your bar?

[ Shouldn't she know this? Tifa had been a very important piece in getting his head back on straight. Now it hadn't alarmed him at all that she had said something about Kalm. It's not out of the ordinary for travel back and forth between the two places. ]

Edited 2023-08-26 22:45 (UTC)

[...?

There is a spike of worry, the tension on her end suddenly pulling taut. She had sensed that there was something off in Cloud ever since she hoisted him over the railings of the ship, but this had come so out of left field that she isn't sure how to react.]

Cloud?

[She tilts her head, the next words coming carefully.]

We... haven't rebuilt my bar yet.

[ That... Concerns him too, actually. Because what does she mean they haven't rebuilt it yet? Cloud knows that he had kind of been. Difficult the last couple of years. But he hasn't been that absent. ]

Tifa. Why were you going to Kalm?

[ Asking that question might help them both out here. But for the moment, Cloud's hands still. He's hoping it had just been a casual trip. But it's starting to sound like there's more to it than that. ]

[This is already just a messy web of concerns left and right. First Zack crash lands on the ship and now this...? She wishes she knew what to think besides the dread that knots itself tight in the pit of her stomach.

Slowly, she begins to explain...]

We were leaving Midgar... to find Sephiroth? [There's a small shake of her head, and doubt furrows her brow.] You were there...

[ Leaving Midgar to chase down Sephiroth. That certainly takes him back. Cloud closes his eyes for a moment. If that's where they - Wait. Tifa had said they. So the whole group of them and back when Cloud had still thought he was... ]

That doesn't make sense. Tifa, that was more than two years ago.

[ For him, anyway. Now how does any of this make sense? ]

[It's probably a good thing she wasn't carrying anything because she might have dropped it all just then, along with the pit of her stomach. She tries to keep an even expression for Cloud's sake—now is not the time to be panicking and worrying and fretting and all of the other hundred different mixed things she's feeling right now, but she feels as though the entire ship has just lurched underneath her, and that she's about to go tumbling overboard.

...

Silence lingers a moment—several—before she finally speaks, taking a step closer to him.]

Cloud...? That's...

[A pause when she hears a loud thump and a cry on the deck of the ship somewhere behind her as another person lands, and she pulls back that step, a hand going to her chest.]

Why don't we go find somewhere quieter?

[ Yeah... Honestly he's feeling some kind of way about that. Cloud can't pretend to know how complicated it must be for Tifa. At that point in time he had been more of a mix of Zack and himself. She doesn't even know -

No wonder's she's been giving him looks. Cloud's been conversational and almost downright emotive in comparison. But that means... What does he say? What shouldn't he say?

He glances over at the person that's just dropped onto the deck. Staying up here means that they are going to keep being interrupted. Distracted. ]

Yeah, probably should. Lead the way, Tifa.

[ Since she's already been on this ship for a couple of hours. She probably knows better than him where they can go. But now that familiar unease is starting to settle in. Makes him shift his weight about with uncertainty. ]

[She doesn't say another word as she leads him down the steps to the corridors below deck, and by the time she reaches them, she regrets being so silent. That unease shared between them both is felt in the air, but if she says anything now, would it just make it worse? Make it more obvious that she's uncomfortable and worried?

So in silence they go to the first empty room that she can find—it looks to be someone's room, but whose, she has no idea. It doesn't matter right now anyway, and once they're both in, she presses the door almost shut for some quiet and some privacy.

Though, once they've found it, she finds herself thinking... now what?

Rather than leap right into it...]

Um, there are some bathrooms just down the hall if you wanted to get cleaned up first.

[ He already can tell how uncomfortable and worried she is. But, again, he doesn't want to say anything until they're in a place with less people around. It's not that he necessarily feels the need for privacy. More like... They can speak a little more freely if it's just the two of them.

So when they're alone, Cloud is running the towel through his hair. ]

It can wait. Kind of pointless without something dry to change into.

[ Sorry, Tifa. He's not going to just run from things. Not again. So he'll just - ]

Edge was built after the reactors in Midgar were shut down. People are pretty determined to not use Mako energy any more.

[Well, that's even more surprising. Cloud, broaching the topic? He was never so forward, or at least, not the one that she knew...

He was different now... but in what ways, she can't quite put her finger on it... besides the obvious.

So, she listens, biting her lip while she tries to absorb what exactly he's saying as that nervousness buzzes in the air around her.

Edge... Reactors shut down... no more Mako...]

Cloud.

[Once more, she addresses him carefully.]

I know this is probably going to sound really crazy, but... [Great. Now she wishes she could go back and not say it at all—] Are you... from the future...?

[ See, the crazy thing here is that he doesn't think she's wrong. Tifa isn't the sort of person that would make a joke about this. And while there's maybe a moment where he might question his own memories, Cloud shakes his head. No, he's pretty certain of those now.

Crazy, yes. Far fetched? Absolutely. But does it make sense? Probably, if this is something that's happening to others that are being dropped here. ]

You don't sound crazy. [ Just saying that up front as he crosses his arms over his chest. ] Being here kind of makes it possible, I think.

[ Because this situation is nothing short of crazy. Cloud sighs and puts his hands on his hips for a moment. ]

Doesn't change things though.

No, it doesn't... But this...

[She tilts her head, still confused. He may say that she doesn't sound crazy, but she certainly feels that way. Especially when she starts to wonder out loud...]

Is this because of what we did? All that stuff about changing the future...?

[ She might be thinking out loud, but it grabs Cloud's attention. He glances down at the floor, eyes narrowing in thought. Changing the future? What is she - ]

Tifa. What is the very last thing that happened before going to Kalm?

[ Cloud just wants to know because if things are different... How? Why? Or maybe it's his memory again. It's something he does worry about... ]

Edited 2023-08-31 04:04 (UTC)

Huh...

[Her confusion rides out of her on a sharp exhale because again, shouldn't he know this? It's hard not to remember all the things that they'd just been through the night before she crash-landed here. This just reminds her of his state when she'd found him at the train station, and all these things that don't line up with what she remembers...

But she'll stamp it out for now to answer his question.]

We... fought Sephiroth. And some sort of arbiter of fate? All this talk about "changing destiny" and stuff. I still don't really know what that means, but... we saw some things, too. When we were in there.

... You don't remember?

[ Changing destiny... No, Cloud doesn't remember anything like that. In fact, they hadn't even encountered Sephiroth at that point. At least not to Cloud's recollection of events. ]

Sephiroth has only one goal. To more or less kill off the planet and everyone on it. So however he's trying to go about it this time, that's what he's after.

[ And he'll manipulate people into doing the work for him, if he can. That's about all he can do, really. Yet even that has turned out to be a consistent problem.

If he had shown up before they left for Kalm, it makes Cloud wonder. Changing destiny... But how? ]

My memories before you found me in Midgar were a mess. Whatever the differences between your memories and mine, I know that man. He doesn't do anything without a purpose or a reason.

So...

[She takes a cautious step towards him, a hand pressing to her chest.]

You do know... I mean, so... [How does she even put this?] Something is—was wrong?

[ There's a pause for a moment, as though Cloud is thinking about answering. But then he comes to a decision and nods. ]

Mako poisoning.

[ That, in no way, covers everything. But at the same time he doesn't want to just assault Tifa with some of the things that he's still working through to this day. ]

Zack and I were held captive in the Shinra mansion after Sephiroth destroyed Nibelheim.

STARTER SHIPS: ORIENTATION

ELTRUT: FIRST GLIMPSE

QUESTS

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