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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

Hm.

[She hums in thought, though there is a note of open bitterness in her tone when she mutters under her breath.]

It is only half the ship the Einherjar is.

[But that isn't entirely what she meant... and she hoped that her fishing for information could remain a little more subtle than asking outright—]

Do you plan to stay?

[—Oh.

There's a look of surprise as he realizes he had misunderstood her question.]

For now. Looks like we have some other lodgings in this "Nogard" place. Will also have to see what the turtle has to offer.

[Nogard...

She'd heard that name uttered several times up on deck but paid it no heed until now.]

I'll have to see for myself, I suppose. Though... [She gives the ship a disdainful glance.] I doubt I will be staying here.

[Especially if he is.]

[A small laugh, knowing exactly what she's thinking.]

Not to your standards, eh? Not surprised. Think I could fit in well enough, being an outlaw and all.

[Living in less than ideal and meager conditions? Used to it.

And another set of stairs before taking a turn, glancing at the numbers on his sheet and on the cabin doors.]

Right... This should be it.

[He uses the key given to him to unlock and open the door. It's dark inside, and he remembers something that furry weasel told him and he fumbles around the wall before he feels that "switch." Flipping it up, he is startled by how the lights suddenly turn on.]

...Bloody hell...

[Instead of the room that's definitely meager and barely furnished, Cid is just staring at the light fixtures.]

How'd it do that?

[She's in the middle of peering in, so when she hears that click and it's automatically and suddenly lit up, even Benedikta is taken-aback—literally, she stumbles back a step with a loud curse. She wasn't expecting that, and while Cid is immediately bewildered and taken by these light fixtures, Benedikta is once again left wondering...

What the fuck?

Her face certainly says as much, even if she doesn't give voice to her confusion, and she stares up at one of the bulbs as if it is the most alien thing that she's ever seen... because it is. Things just keep getting stranger and stranger.]

What is that...?

[She reaches up to touch one, her nail clinking gently against the glass shape around it, and she wrinkles her nose.]

[He peers up at it, and he carefully touches it, he can feel that familiar sting.]

...Lightning...? No, much smaller and weaker...

[And now he is going to be completely fascinated by this.]

Is it containing it? But how?

[If he knew he could have used his powers for this, he wouldn't have to use all those bloody candles in the Hideaway. Course it would have come at a cost until he figured out how to be more efficient, but...

His brain is already spinning with the possibilities.]

[She wanders to the wall, and just as he's staring at the bulb, Benedikta tests the switch, flipping it down, and they all just... go off again like a wind had blown through to put them out. Her brow furrows, and with another click, she flicks it back, and they all light up at the exact same time.

It is impressive, and she can admit as much, but...]

Would you like me to leave you to it?

[Cidolfus, please.]

[He doesn't mind her turning the lights on and off again—if anything it just lets him feel how the electricity starts and stops, making him realize it's not being contained but continuously running...

He may not have his magick, but he's worked with lightning for long it's easy for him to pick up on these things.

And it's fucking amazing, he really wants to study—

Ah.]

Sorry.

[Awkward cough as he finally steps back from the bulb...though there might have been a lingering glance before he turns back to her.]

You know me, can't help it when something new appears. Have to figure out how it works.

[She saunters into the room proper now, giving him a roll of her eyes.]

I know. That much has not changed.

[In the last fifteen years, she is not even surprised. Whatever it was—and it certainly was never quite as advanced as this—he was always an inquiring mind.

It's part of why she...

Benedikta stops that thought. Right in its fucking tracks... and stares right into the light.]

I'm sure you will, given some time to figure it all out... but there are more pressing matters at the moment?

[Cid arches a brow before he makes a small, "Ah" in understanding.]

Right the room.

[And he's going to make one big look around because wow.]

'Bout as much as I expected. Least it's got a bed and what looks to be clean linens.

[Hmmm is that a small closet? He'll walk over to the small door and pull it open, revealing a very small space for hanging clothes and some drawers inside.]

Good enough for now. Yours is probably similar.

Edited 2023-08-22 04:15 (UTC)

[She eyes the closet, as well as the rest of the room with some disdain. Even the inns in Dhalmekia boasted better amenities than this, and beds that looked much comfier, too. It's certainly a lot less than what she is used to, and while beggars can't be choosers, so they say, she is no beggar.

Besides, if he will be staying here for the time being, then she plans to fly as far away as possible the moment that she can.

Once she can walk without a limp or a sore spot in her side.]

Then I think it's safe to say I will be finding my accommodations elsewhere.

[She half scoffs, half laughs as she presses her knee to the bed to test it.]

Perhaps I will just commandeer my own ship and take the captain's quarters for myself.

[Actually, she was being facetious but it doesn't sound so bad when said aloud...]

Edited 2023-08-22 05:14 (UTC)

Mutiny on your first day? Sounds about right.

[A small laugh as he looks at it all over again with a shrug. He's clearly less picky, but he'll likely look around, see what his options are.]

But least you know there's something if anything goes awry.

[He'll open the drawers before clicking his tongue.]

No extra clothes, though. Will have to get some later after finding our own.

[She hardly cracks a smile at that, and even tries to look upset by his comment about her, but beneath her hardened expression, there's a pang of something. Pride? Not quite, though it is there. But that he could so easily slide remarks like that one across at her after everything...? It should vex her to no end, and in some part it does—she wishes she could slap that grin off his face—but...

As she pretends to take an interest in the side table next to the bed, she thinks back to that moment before her priming again. Granted, she hasn't stopped thinking about it since she came down from her frenzy, but it finds the most inconvenient times to make itself known again... and again...

A silent reminder that she had faltered... that she had felt something. One that she is going to stamp out again, regardless of how many times it comes back up. She will stick by him until he has done what he does best because the other choices she has are far less desirable, and she will never speak to him again.

Benedikta slowly turns her attention back to him, eyes lingering on his hands as they open and shut the drawers, and it's only when he looks at her again that she feels even a little self-conscious about thinking of him at all.

The mention of the clothes—or lack thereof—has her pulling at her own. They're a touch too big and frumpy for her tastes, and she adjusts the loose waist of her pants with a low, impatient groan.]

They have a machine that can spit out our information, but they cannot provide properly fitting clothes...

[Unaware of Benedikta's thoughts—and honestly considering of somehow acquiring his own ship at some point after figuring out what's real and what isn't about this place—Cid closes the drawers and glances at her.

He then looks her over, and after a moment's thought—]

Here.

[He takes off the belt and hands it to her as if it were natural—]

Pants are pretty snug so don't really need it.

[—and it is, a little. Or it used to be, in their past.

However, his attitude and demeanor doesn't seem to suggest he's thinking much of it, acting as if it was just an idea that popped into his head to solve her little problem. Nothing more, nothing less. (But of course, it was more.)]

[She isn't even sure what compelled her to reach her hand out when he held it out to her, but one second, she was complaining about her pants and in the next, she feels the weight of his belt draped over her palm, almost like it was a reflex to take it. A long time ago, it had been... Those mornings when she would leave the Lord Commander's chambers wrapped up in his leathers...

He'd done it so many times that all of it was second-nature.

And though he might not appear to think much of it, that fact makes something in her heart sting as she stares at the belt, and then wraps it around her waist.]

Fine...

[It's grumbled under her breath over the sound of the metal buckle clinking softly.]

But do not think I will be returning it.

[Is her way of saying that this will be the last time that they see each other...]

[He just looks at her before there's a wry grin.]

Didn't think you'd want to keep it so badly.

[Which is his way of dismissing that attempt.

He knows very well she will try to avoid him. And in the past, he also tried to avoid her. It was always easier that way, after everything. Yet now, he thinks he should change that. And she'll have no idea how much of a nuisance he intends to be.]

[Completely unsuspecting, because they would just carry on their business like usual, with the very likely occasional sword at each other's throats.

...

As much as she's always hated him because it was the easiest thing to feel in his presence, the fact that it was their default—the animosity and the anger—always did leave her thinking in the end. And especially now, her thoughts keep wandering out of her control and she keeps having to rein them in.]

I don't.

[Though...

She moves to the door with another defiant huff.]

Are we finished here?

Seems like it.

[He just continues to watch her before he follows after.]

Where to next?

Might as well find ourselves a way off this bloody ship.

[So that she can finally be free of him... is what she's desperately telling herself when she keeps accidentally meeting his gaze.

And as she exits the room, she's just going to start walking down the hall—the wrong way.]

[Back on the main deck would probably be better. They still have a ways, but easier to get more information. Not that he doesn't know what she's up to, and perhaps it wouldn't hurt to split up soon. Not like she can run yet, and she seems more...herself. Not to mention that everyone seems hospitable for the most part, already considering the duo as one of their own. She might even find or learn something he doesn't.

But as he turns right, she turns left, and he lets her walk three paces before he calls after her.]

Thought you'd want to go up top?

[She's going to turn around and stubbornly remain where she is.]

This is the way up.

[Maybe she should have paid attention when they were coming down here, but she had been so lost in thought as she followed him that now she is completely turned around and has vehemently convinced herself that he is the one in the wrong, as he always is.]

...Sure about that?

[He just crosses his arms over his chest, brow arched. Should he let her...

But the stairwell won't be too far off, and she'll be able to see that it only goes in one direction. Down.]

[Ugh. Must he do this? Patience already wearing thin, she closes her eyes and turns sharp on her heel and continues moving down the corridor, but as soon as she nears the end and realizes—

...

.....

..........]

Fuck.

[Benedikta whirls around and walks back in his direction, not saying a word as she passes him to go up.]

[He is not going to say aaaannnnnyyyyyyything, but he is definitely wearing a catlike smirk as he watches her pass her before he follows, idly whistling as he does.]

[She's not even going to turn around as she stomps down the hall, but she will snap back at him.]

Stop that.

[His whistling, and that stupid grin of his because she knows that it's there.

And on their way out, she does pause when she hears a light beeping from one of the open doors, as well as blinking lights coming from the darkness. Curiosity gets the better of her, and gods, she knows exactly how Cidolfus might react to even the slightest engineered sound, but what she sees on the other side when she lets her gaze wander that way definitely surprises her........]

STARTER SHIPS: ORIENTATION

ELTRUT: FIRST GLIMPSE

QUESTS

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