🚕 TEST DRIVE 🍁 September

[sinfulmods]

Test Drive Meme

Considering apping to the City of Sin, but unsure of who to bring or if they'll fit? Feel free to give the setting a test drive here! These are a perfect way of getting your playing sample done for the application.

cityofsin | cityofsin_logs | cityofsin_ooc
Rules | FAQ | Taken Characters | Reserves | Applications


→ Comment with the character you'd like to test drive in the setting, with name and canon in the subject line.
→ Choose a scenario or create your own, and tag around!
→ If you're still tagging in the last TDM, you may continue to do so, or feel free to move your threads here. We have four test drives a year. New test drives are now posted sometime during the months of: March, June, September, December.
→ Threads in the test drive are NOT eligible to use for activity checks, however you can make them game canon if you wish — and only if both players are accepted in the game.
→ Prospective players are always welcome to contact the mod for any questions or clarifications regarding the game.

Possible Scenarios Please note that all characters will initially arrive in their assigned housing; they are free to explore the City to their heart's content after that! 01. A New Arrival: Hello, New Person! You seem to have found yourself on a sidewalk in the City of Sin with nothing but the clothes on your back and a stomach churning feeling of being displaced. Thankfully, the streets are full of people - Watch out that you don't get mugged! 02. Demonic Presences: You were just minding your own business, weren't you? But that's always when bad things seem to happen, and the City of Sin isn't really that friendly. Whatever bar or street you're hanging out in suddenly go dim, filling the area with an unnerving feeling as the shadows on the walls jump out into reality. We suggest you phone a friend for help, or maybe try running? 03. Party Hard: You've been invited to a massive, elegant party in the Tower District that spills out its doors in welcome. Obviously, this whole thing is weird and you don't know who your hosts are, but maybe you can get some free drinks and food out of it! This place might not be so bad. 04. Prominence: The City of Sin influences its population on a weekly basis. Too bad you came right smack dab in the middle of a heavy Prominence. Lust, Greed, Gluttony, Envy, Wrath, Sloth, or Pride: choose your sin and be wicked. 05. Trouble: Not everyone is sunshine and roses here. Some people are violent and cruel, raised in the sludge of a sinful city. And they like to pick on people they think can't fight back. Are you that person? Or are you the Hero who can't stand to watch? Worse yet, could you be the person doing the instigating? Villain. 06. Carnival: The City has carnivals or festivals now and then; you're lucky to catch one! With its open booths filled with cork gun games and funnel cakes, how can someone not have any fun! Go win your darling a stuffed animal, or meet someone new on the spinning cup ride. You might even see someone you know being talked into sitting in the Dunk Tank. 07. Network: There's a network device in your pocket - or at least a familiar object that seems to work in mysterious ways. Perhaps you can take to that and ask for a bit of help? Or maybe you'd prefer to have a little fun with all of this. Surely someone will reply. 08. Wild Card:Choose your own adventure in the game's setting!

Comments

[ombranera]

This is, of course, a great deal more pleasant than the last time he'd slipped from one reality to another- it is not so quick and strange as the Fade, not so obviously rife with demons. Aside from the dull ache of the shard in his palm, he could very well imagine that this was simply another shade of home. Zevran has made his way with care since his own arrival not long ago, hood up to obscure the tips of his pointed ears, the curling tattoos on his face marking him as (formerly) of the Crows.

Not that anyone here seems to know of them, which is surprising enough. Not that he's seen many other elves which is-

Odd, but not entirely unlikely. Alienages are a thing, after all, perhaps he simply has not found one here just yet.

Likewise he hasn't seen anyone that seems quite as other as he, robed and armored, everyone else wearing lighter, simpler clothing that does little to protect. At least until he comes upon a very fine fellow positively radiating magic that gives him pause. "And that isn't ominous."

Murmured from the shadows, Zevran slips out, hood up, eyes gleaming, smile wide, posture open. Harmless for all that he has the poise of a dancer, an assassin about him. "What has someone so lovely looking so preteurbed?"

[izzetthough]

Quick eyes dart towards the movement in shadow, a split-second after the voice calls out. Just like that, it could have easily been a dagger. Needed to watch that. A lifetime of dealing with the Dimir and their ilk, he ought to know better than to stand so close to a shadowy alleyway.

And this fellow...well. All smiles now, but in much the same way as one of those slippery rogues. A smile that could just as easily come with a knife in the back. Quickly he recalls that travel between worlds isn't that well-known a concept. Wouldn't do to out himself so quickly.

Divert. Quickly.

"Ah. Must have taken a wrong turn. You know how it is. Cities like this. Where we're all from." Both brows quirk upwards. "And what about you? You stand in shadowy alleys and compliment every devilishly handsome stranger that passes by, or am I just special?"

[ombranera]

"Mm, yes, with their many winding pathways and wily unmarked roads. It is quite easy to find yourself turned about, especially if one is preoccupied." Which, now, the man seems ever so slightly. Preoccupied and aware, though the second isn't quite so surprising considering Zevran knowing full well the image he presents. Slim, petite, dangerous and poised like a well-balanced stiletto. But there's no need for sharpness here.

Yet.

"Who, me?" All rounded eyes and innocence. "I compliment the worthy, of which there might be quite a few, but the worthy and interesting? Those are rare."

Needless to say, he finds this one perfectly interesting. "Though I must admit I do not know what I should find more alluring. Your face, or the marvelous contraption on your back."

[izzetthough]

That can mean anything. From 'I'm making small talk and have plans to have you naked later' to 'that looks expensive and I'm going to loot it off your corpse if you let your guard down'. Even knowing that, Ral's ego rises to the occasion as ever, and he grins before tapping the gauntlet on his arm.

"You like it? Built it myself. Well. This is probably the seventh or eighth variant of it. The last one had some issues with residual static leaking out of the device. You ever feel your teeth itch?"

His nose wrinkles.

"I wouldn't recommend it."

[ombranera]

"Once or twice, there was a dragon involved." Frost breath is one thing, but those that call lightening? Many a close call was had and many a moment Zevran had to shake the stinging numbness that rattled through his bones. Still, he takes the unspoken invitation to slip closer, hands within view, head tilted to the side as copper eyes trace and trail over the mechanism. "Do you generate the lightening yourself or do you capture it from summoned storms?"

Odd as the man seems- he is a mage. there's a weight of magic to him, some of that fade resonance Zevran has become so accustomed to tasting in the air about them as of late.

[izzetthough]

"Isn't there usually?"

At the mention of the word 'dragon', something flat and deeply unimpressed rolls across Ral's face. Right. Niv-Mizzet. Here he was, putting together this project for the big stupid lizard to detect people coming and going from the plane only to pop off to wherever this place was by accident. That was going to go over great.

But Zevran's attention to the device pulls him back from his wandering train of thought, and a smirk tugs back into place. "Little of column a, little of column b, actually. Storms are powerful, sure, but they come and go quick. So I figured it'd be handy to figure out a way to bottle the stuff."

And he gives the containment unit on his hip a fond pat.

[ombranera]

"Not an easy task, I imagine. Perhaps you could walk me through it over a drink?" Because where there are cities, there are bars, and where there are bars, there are people Zevran can charm into buying him wine most of the time. Nine times out of ten. It couldn't hurt to press his luck a little for the first person that seems slightly familiar in scope if not in truth.

Certain that, at least, it won't end badly, Zev flicks his hood back to free his hair, his ears, head tilted to the side as he lets his gaze drag along the machinery, and the man that made it, with open appreciation. "I find myself terribly curious."

[izzetthough]

Huh. An elf. How about that. And that's about as much thought as he spares on the matter of Zevran's appearance before he shrugs. May as well settle in for a while, see what might be interfering with his planeswalking, then sort it out and head back--

Only to set off the very alarms he's been working on for months. Yeah. This is gonna go over swell.

Right. Distracted. Pay attention to the pretty thing in front of you, Ral. Clearing his throat, he gestures down the street. "Depends on how familiar you are with electrical transference and storage, conservation of energy, mana regeneration...lotta technical stuff. But hey. It's your evening."

[ombranera]

"I understand...some of that." He falls into step, keeping just abreast of his handsome companion. Neither ahead nor behind, keeping pace despite his shorter stature to imply- nothing. That he isn't subservient and he isn't so trusting as to put his back to a stranger. The side effect is- well. Something of the proximity to the device resonates in the Anchor, causing a flare of green in his palm before he can clench his fingers around the twinge and ache, muffling the light.

Ah, that mess. He'd almost forgotten about it, hoping this particular aliment would vanish with the rest of home.

Not so fortunate is he, it seems. "But I could watch your lips move as you describe it to me all evening, and do so gladly."

[izzetthough]

"You know? I'll take it. Never turn down an audience." He flashes a toothy grin at the elf before taking point, leading the way despite...not really knowing where he's going. Well it's not as though this city is all THAT big. Should be easy enough to walk in a given direction until bars can be found.

It gives them time to take in the sights, and though the place is a little drab in comparison to the city-world that he hails from? It's no backwater. He remembers the dusty little world he first traveled to by accident, and this seems preferable. Mostly.

Hooking his thumbs into the harness at this chest keeping the machine strapped to him, he moves with a casual ease that says he isn't worried about running into trouble -- or potentially finding it sidled up close. But if dealing with the Dimir have taught him anything, it's the assassin you don't see that you should really be worried about.

[ombranera]

For the moment, Zevran is content to accept this man as another set of eyes, aware of every rackle of magic and his posture but not considering him an immediate threat. A potential one, certainly- but they've no reason to do one another harm. Not that one often needs such a reason but lashing out without warning does not seem to be something he ought to be concerned about. There's an almost familiar poise to this man. A gravitas. A notion that actions are done with great showmanship and purpose.

"I think I saw a bar of some sort to the left, down the way." It takes them from the shadowed alleys with which he is most comfortable but provides cover and crowds, more than enough distractions for him to slip away if need be.

[izzetthough]

"Just follow the smell of spilled beer and bad decisions, right?"

He's known many a little hole in the wall like it. Frequented them too, once upon a time. Long ago, before he had more responsibilities, more tasks and projects that kept him busy enough to not sit still long enough to stew in his own thoughts. He's happier for it, certainly.

But he doesn't look disappointed at all in the choice of destination, striding along for a few moments before, offhandly:

"So. Your hand. That a sore spot or can I ask?"

[ombranera]

"Wine and regret, my friend. The surest signs of all." Falling into step is easy as breathing, for once grateful that he need not make any attempt to lead. A turn or two on the 'save the world' trail is simple enough when one is a follower, but when one is expected to cut through the foliage of politesse and make the difficult choices? It is exhausting.

Of course, a mage would notice that which is not entirely right. And perhaps he may have an answer all his own. "This? I am not entirely certain. I myself am not born with magic but, you know the story. Take a job preventing one death, fail miserably as everyone dies but you, and somehow you survive with a magical...something or other embedded in your palm."

Whether or not that is in fact one of the old stories, he can't say.

[izzetthough]

"Ah. That old chestnut."

Hey, are we being flippant about death and disaster? Let's. Though he does look mildly sympathetic for a moment before reaching out, clapping a hand to Zevran's shoulder. "Survival's a good thing, believe it or not. Nothing interesting happens after you're dead. Well. Nothing you'll necessarily care about. Anyone who gets their hands on that handsome body afterwords, ehhhhh."

Here his hand waggled indecisively.

[ombranera]

"I don't know, I'm certain that having my head hung on the highest rampart of Antiva city as a warning to all and sundry should be considered at least a little interesting. Imagine the view!" If he's caught. If he's captured and they tire of torturing him. If he fails, falls, if he dies.

Clearly the plan is to never, ever die at the hands of the Crows.

[izzetthough]

"Well, there's a silver lining to everything, I suppose."

Still, he rubs his own neck in sympathy. Let's hope that one doesn't come to pass, mm?

"So what does it do? This thing on your hand that you wound up with by complete accident, and being in the right place at the wrong time?" he presses on, after a moment.

[ombranera]

"Closes tears in the veil." As though it is something everyone understands, despite Zevran not quite understanding the how of it himself. Hold up hand, focus, pull as though willing a thrown blade back into his palm and-

It seals.

Provided he can focus long enough, hard enough, without being swatted about the field of battle. "Occasionally I can create a shield or an explosion of fade energy, but that is not entirely comfortable to do."

[izzetthough]

"The veil? As in, the 'veil between worlds', or something like that?"

Ral can guess. He's a clever man. But there are details in the way other worlds work that means guessing too far afield and all his cleverness will be for nothing. Wrong is wrong is wrong, and he hates miscalculating.

"Sounds like it's drawing power from you. Something you're not used to doing?"