cracktheearth | Fall 2015 Test Drive

Entry tags:

*test drive

Fall 2015 Test Drive

Hello, and welcome to the test drive for August, 2015! We're doing things a little bit differently this time, as three of our test drive prompts are the same as events presently going on in the game! And that's not all; both players in the game and out of it can treat everything that happens with these prompts as canon to the game, and that they happened concurrently with what's going on on the main community. So, if you're looking to apply to Raise the Earth, here's a chance to get in on the ground floor of what's happening in-game!

In addition to these, we've got a few sample prompts for you to choose from; don’t worry about actually sticking to these, though! Go wild and enjoy what you’re doing with test drives. We should note, though, that you can’t use test drive threads toward AC. One note: characters can get Echoes from test drive threads that will be game canon! They count toward the starting allotment for their application, so don’t go too crazy there. You don’t need to request these, so long as they’re in keeping with the general Echo rules - just put them on your application. If you’re at all unsure, ask us and we’ll be happy to give you advice there.

Since nobody’s going to know who your reincarnation is yet, comment to this post with your character’s preincarnation and canon in the comment title! You might also talk just a bit about personality, appearance, and/or reputation for your character’s reincarnation, so we know what we’re in for.

Event Prompts

[A - Echo Incursion, Gateway City]

It's a particularly hot day in the Gateway City zoo. What else could you expect? It's not like it's not to be expected, it is the middle of August, after all. But there's plenty of things to see here at the zoo, and the visitors' center is air conditioned well enough.

Just a normal summer day in a typical summer vacation spot. Right?

Well, that's when things change. Those in the visitor's center would find the building changing around them. There's suddenly a dinosaur skeleton in the middle of the place, with the banner "When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth" hanging from the ceiling.

That's not all. The animal enclosures are now different. What used to be a pen for the african elephants now has very large, very long necked reptiles in it. A gigantic, meat-eating dinosaur just tromped its way out of the lion habitat it's too much too large for, and unfortunately for the people around it, its vision is based on movement. The monkey house? Well, those are velociraptors breaking out of it. The aviary? Now filled with particular aggressive flying pterosaurs.

These are just some of the creatures making their sudden emergence, and it's not long until they spill out of the zoo and into the city proper. Dinosaurs are now walking the streets of Gateway City.

Yes, indeed. Just a normal summer day.

[OOC: For a guide on what to expect for this prompt, see here.]

[B - Shepherd's Haven]

Shepherd's Haven is one of the safest places for Numbered, but at night, after the sun has set, it seems that things are very different. People are appearing in the streets of the small community, as well as Christchurch and Woodend. People who are clearly "not all there", in that they are transparent and thoroughly nonsolid. Their behavior is strange, in that they either ignore people entirely, or start following them wherever they go.

This is oddly similar to an event that occurred in Locke many many months ago, but why is it happening here, halfway across the world? The ghosts seem that they can literally be anyone, possessing a diverse number of traits and qualities, not specific to this part of the world. Some of them might even look like people your past life used to know...

What are they doing here? Where did they come from? And how will you react to them?

[C - Locke City]

Everyone remembers the monstrous serpent that ravaged Locke City. That fateful day is somewhat foreshadowed by the horrors of the invasion, but it's not as if you can forget the fact that a giant serpent appeared and wreaked destruction across the entire city. But it was destroyed, and now, a new creature lays beneath the city, waiting to protect it should the need arise. Wise Snake is just a memory now.

Or... is it?

Snakes are appearing all over the city. Normal-sized ones. Why is this newsworthy? Because the little snakes appearing all over Locke are made of stone. They behave otherwise normally at first, and are nothing but a disturbing reminder of an event that changed Locke City forever.

But time goes on, and the snakes suddenly aren't so little anymore. They get as large as dogs, and turn aggressive. Attacking people, much like their larger progeny did. Thunder Corp is on the scene, rounding up as many of these snakes as possible, but they can't get all of them. And any Numbered they see? Well, they're gonna be pulled along for questioning.

It appears Wise Snake isn't ready to be forgotten or replaced.

Normal Prompts

[D - Sudden Storm]

Rain wasn’t planned today. The forecast had called for sun and minimal clouds, and a warm breeze. Instead, the falling drops seem to sparkle in the sunlight peeking through the clouds. Out a window, strolling down the street, sitting at a bus stop, it’s hard not to feel the drops coming down. And should you stop to stare at the rain for a bit, something seems to shift. A hollow feeling, a certain vertigo, that passes in a moment. As it clears, something changes. A new memory, from a life that isn’t familiar and doesn’t make a whole lot of sense; a tingling at your fingertips of some new energy; a certain knowledge of the world that shocks you with the new information it provides; something in your hands you weren’t holding before. Maybe you’ve already had an Echo somehow, and you recognize the feeling; maybe you haven’t, and it brings back memories of the people talking about “pulses” on TV, what seems like forever ago. If the latter’s true, the fading sense leaves behind a number, that seems to worm its way into your mind and not leave. Does this mean… you’re Numbered, now?

[E - The Network]

The number stuck in your head refuses to go away, so to work it out of your system, you decide writing it down on something is a good idea. Maybe you punched it into your phone; perhaps it’s on a piece of paper, or a mirror, or almost anything else.

The thing it’s on comes alive, filling with text and images. None of it was there before, and you can interact with it. Hundreds, maybe thousands of posts, all tagged with a number that looks similar to your own. Tales of fighting, of betrayal, of loss and sacrifice; stories of heroism, of gain, of victory and the elation attached. Questions about life, about the network, about the future of the Numbered. Idle conversation, videos of stupid things. Three years of history, from the beginning to the original incident on April 1, 2013, through to today.

You could add something. Clearly, it need not be profound, and if you don’t put a name, a face, or a voice to your number, nobody would ever know it’s you. It’s there, at your fingertips. What would you say…?

[F - New Los Angeles]

Far away from the gleaming jewel of Gateway City, in New Los Angeles, there are far less things to celebrate. The city is one of the last few bastions of civilization left in the western half of the United States - now called the “western territories” after the collapse of most state governments - and its here that a great many people have fled. Though the city is in the process of being rebuilt, the majority of it lies in ruins after the aliens’ attack, and most of the people have to live in camps. The luckier ones have spaces in shelters, but that just guarantees a roof over your head instead of a tent.

People have formed communities here, however. Some come together to share what they have, while others consolidate power and lord it over the other refugees. Most of the time, the governor and General Miller allow them to function independently, save for when a new city ordinance is in effect. And just your luck, one of those just happens to BE in effect today.

See, a shipment of relief supplies was discovered savaged and destroyed; what wasn’t ruined was taken, and the damage to the facilities led Miller to decide that Numbered could have been the only ones responsible. So, a curfew is in effect, and anyone suspected of being a Numbered is being brought in for questioning. You’re out past curfew? Well, now you’re suspected of being a Numbered. Little does Miller know that the real beings responsible are pack of Vermedi roaming the city. And while this is going on, groups of thieves are prowling the city waiting to take advantage of anyone stupid enough to be out and about after dark.

Are you one of the refugees living in New Los Angeles, or did you come to help with the relief effort? Either way, tensions are high, and the nights are dangerous, and monsters both human and inhuman are lurking the streets at night.

[G - Wild Card]

Don’t feel pressured to stick to our prompts - you’re welcome to do whatever strikes you. Lighthearted, serious, dangerous, mundane, spectacular… Raise the Earth is a game designed around everyday life getting a lot more interesting in a hurry. Play around with things!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

If you'd like to request an NPC for any of the threads above, just reply here with: 1) A link to your test drive thread; and 2) Which sort of NPC you'd like to request, along with an idea of what you'd like to have happen!

Do that, and the mods will come along shortly to help you out. Also note that we might pop in to help you along ourselves!

Edited 2015-08-10 18:18 (UTC)

Just tossing in an NPC request if possible on my first prompt here.

Bad guys, good guys, people to save. I'm down for it all.

F - Flash patrol

After curfew in New L.A., not a good time for anybody to be out and about even on a good night but people who do dare the streets at these hours have started reporting a mysterious phenomenon roaming the town. A crackling storm of yellow lightning streaking through the streets, there and gone again in the blink of an eye. More strangely, wherever the bolts go things seem to just happen.

A gang of thieves chasing a victim find themselves surrounded by lightning, and then on the ground with their pants and shirts tied together and a hell of a wedgie for each of them.

Some of those self-proclaimed lords transporting stolen goods find themselves with their load suddenly considerably lighter.

Hungry refugees suddenly find extra rations sitting right in front of them.

General Miller's troops end up with their shoelaces tied together and a lightning bolt spraypainted on a wall behind them.

But those are all fun and games that can wait for now. Tonight, the young man in the midst of that lightning is on a mission. Aside from the goods that could get a guy a few bucks, that stolen shipment contained medical supplies. Medical supplies that the city needs and there's no way he's leaving finding them up to the slowpokes in the military. So, he's out there, decked out in the dark red suit that had magically popped up in his possession one day to push his speed as far as it could go and cover all the ground he can. It's out there somewhere and eventually he's going to come across something or someone that can tell him where.

A - Was that a dinosaur?

It's a nice day in Gateway City, albeit a particularly hot one. The sun is shining, the birds are singing... any Factor employees watching the teleporter are scratching their heads as it activates only for a gust of wind and a flash of light to emerge from it.

It's just a quick stop today. Run into town, drop off some "legitimately acquired stuff" to a contact, maybe grab a bite to eat and head back home. The streets are a lot busier here, so he needs to be a little more careful, sidestep that taxi, weave between the people running from the t-rex.

.....

He comes to an abrupt stop about four blocks away.

"Wait a minute. Was that a dinosaur?" Blinking, he reverses course, running straight back to where he was and comes to a halt... directly under the massive reptile's head. "Yep. Whoah--!"

Massive teeth come down and try to slam shut around him, only to close on thin air as he suddenly blurs to the side, stumbling one or two steps. Angered, the rex turns towards him with a roar and starts to charge forward.

Keeping out of the rex's jaws isn't too hard as he zig-zags up and down the street, baiting the lizard, but he doesn't have the firepower to take it down and zooming off just means somebody else gets on the menu, which even his conscience isn't going to let him get away with. Maybe he'll think of something or, help will arrive.

Either way, I guess we're playing dino keep-away now.

"I thought these things were supposed to have feathers!"

Those medical supplies? Were now in the hands of a particularly large criminal group. The source for this? A refugee who saw the medical shipment being torn apart by a monster and then being scavenged by said criminals. As much as people hated the Numbered, Barry's informant cared for Miller and his men even less.

Currently, the criminals are holed up in a large, partially ruined warehouse that they'd basically turned into a makeshift fortress. At least five snipers are keeping sentry from the windows, while the medical supplies and other stolen goods, along with the group's boss lay inside.

Edited 2015-08-10 23:51 (UTC)

Oooookay, this doesn't look good at all. As fast as he is, he isn't sure how good he'd do at dodging bullets and this really isn't the way he wanted to find out. Man, maybe he should leave this up to the jarheads... except if he even tried to talk to them he'd get tossed into the hole and by the time he might get anybody to listen to him the stuff would already be moved.

If this stuff left the city, there'd be no way to track it, and if that happened....

"Aw, what the hell." He straightens up from his hiding spot, picking the closest sniper and watching that little red point of light track across the ground between him and the building. "It's only five guys, that's easy. Right."

With that little bit of psyching up, he takes a breath, shakes out his hands... and runs. His sprint carries him across the distance in a heartbeat, leaving a just-visible trail of crackling light behind. His foot hits the wall and he's shooting straight up toward the window, watching the rifle track back toward him in super slow motion. He comes up next to the window and reaches out, grabbing onto that creeping arm and yanks forward with all his strength.

Maybe a whole two seconds have passed by the time he's on the roof and looking back over to see the sniper's fate. It isn't that big a drop, he's probably fine....

NPC Requests

Re: NPC Requests

Jason East - Barry Allen | The Flash

F

no subject

A

no subject

A

no subject

Yurick/The Last Story [B] - Shepherd's Haven

assuming the flower shop is in Woodend?

Dima Korolyov // ????????

B

E, Text

E

E

B

E

OTA

E

Dinobot | Beast Wars