cityofsin_ooc | 🚕 TEST DRIVE 🍁 September

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!test drive

🚕 TEST DRIVE 🍁 September

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.

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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!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Well. If I were to guess..."

Ral scratches his chin thoughtfully. "...probably some sort of magical trigger that functions with a percentage of individuals across the multiple connected planes of existence. An interplaner beacon of sorts. Connection gets made, attempts to close in on itself, person gets pulled through said layers of the multiverse and deposited here on this end. But, with no equal force on the opposite end of things to pull them back through, they just kind of wind up...stuck here. Am I close?"

He huffs, hands settling on his hips as he cocks his head towards the sky. As if expecting some sign of the device itself. Nothing so helpful as a bright blue beacon shooting upwards for all to see, unfortunately. Pity, that.

"I was working on something similar at home, actually. I really wouldn't mind getting a look at this one. I mean. Clearly I could come up with one just as good, but you should never turn down data when it lands in your lap."

"Getting a look at..." Diana's eyes were almost spinning in their sockets. Everyone told her that she was stupid. And she had a tendency to believe them. And, at the moment, she felt pretty dumb.

But she figured it out. After a moment.

"Oh, well, there is no device, as far as we know. I mean, there could be. But if so, it's extremely well-hidden. And believe me, there are some people in the City who have overturned every single table and chair, looking for a way home."

That hadn't ended well. Not for anyone involved. Except for her, somehow. By fate or mercy, she'd escaped punishment for her part in that massively failed coupe.

"But yes. To the 'stuck here' part. Which isn't as bad as it sounds, believe me."

"So...no one's found it yet."

Which sounded suspiciously like a challenge. But it was a little early to hopping right into completely previously thought impossible tasks. Much as he'd like to show off, it was likely going to take a bit of research and preparation. And he'd need somewhere to settle in for the time being.

God, he sounded like the Doctor. Diana would have to keep an eye out, in case the two of them ever ended up in a room together. The City would be lucky if exploding toasters was the worst of it.

And judging from the metal instruments on his arms...that wouldn't be the worst of it.

"I guess that's one way to look at it," she said. "But, like, I don't really get the big rush to go back. It's a super convenient sort of kidnapping. Time stops in your world. If you go back," if, not when, "it's like you never left. At least, that's what my friends say. And in the meanwhile, this place is super groovy."

The thing was, Diana wasn't being ironic. She really did love the multiverse. For all of its many, many flaws and unfairnesses...it was beginning to feel like her best bet.

Better than going home, anyway. That was for damn sure.

"No no, of course it's very...mm. Quaint."

There's an insincere wrinkle in his brow as he it says it, like he's trying to be delicate and failing miserably. "I'm sure it's very lovely. But I'm terribly busy back at home. My boss? He's really draggin' me down."

He snickers for a moment, as if he's made some fantastically witty remark, before he notes her curious expression and clears his throat. "That's not a joke," he adds. "He's an actual dragon. Doesn't like me not showing up for work, as you can imagine. And knowing him, a little thing like--"

He lifts his hands to wiggle his fingers in air quotations.

"--'time stopping' isn't going to be a sufficient excuse."

Both of Diana's eyebrows shot up. Being as old as she was, she appreciated good puns. But part of what made a pun good was assuming that the audience had sufficient knowledge of the subject matter. So while Diana knew now that dragons were real, picturing one as someone's boss was a little...out there.

She gave him an indulgent smile anyway. It was only polite. And definitely more polite than any kind of fake laugh.

"From what I've been told, no one can detect the time stopping. No matter who or what they are. But I can't really speak to that..." She shrugged, unfussed and a little unapologetic. "You can ask my friend The Doctor about it. He's some kind of genius when it comes to the mechanics of time. He tried to explain it to me once, but I'm way too dumb for stuff like that."

Look, if you understood the context, it was hilarious. And he'll stand by that.

Ral lets out a puttering noise, pursing his lips for a moment as he considered for a moment. Well, whatever the circumstances, it was pretty clear he was going to be here for a while. Of course he expected to go back home eventually. Diana had just admitted that many of the finer academic points of traveling through time and space were...perhaps not as much her forte as being very friendly and very pretty.

So if she thinks they're well and truly stuck here, it's not terribly concerning just yet. Maybe speaking to this medical friend of hers would prove more fruitful.

"...I'm hungry. Are you hungry? I have a terrible time puzzling all this out on an empty stomach."

She blinked. The transition was so sudden that it nearly gave her whiplash. And for one, brief, hysterical moment, she flashed back to Bete Noire and the way Stark used to change subjects without any warning.

Diana didn't exactly miss him. But she kind of missed the period of her life he'd played a part in.

Shaking her head, she forced herself back to the present. "Uh, I know a couple of places around here that serve food at this hour. I'm happy to play tour guide, if you like. Do you have any dietary restrictions?"

It would, perhaps, be prudent to mention her own. But she always hated that. As freeing as it could be, living without the Masquerade, there was always that first reaction. The first couple of seconds when she said she was a vampire and saw either confusion, horror, or fascination in someone's eyes.

Not groovy.

"I mean, the standard for humans. If that's a thing, here. I don't want to assume." He gestures dismissively with one hand before hooking his thumbs into the leather straps harnessing the large device to his back, as though they were little more than a pair of suspenders.

"Don't suppose there's anywhere that serves curry, this time of night?"

It wouldn't strictly speaking be like the food one could pick up from a street vendor back in Ravnica, but he'd take all the creature comforts he could get while he settled in for a spell. Perhaps literally.

Diana's face split into a bit of a grin at the mention of curry. "Actually," she said, "I know just the place." And with a slight tilt of her head, she started walking in the direction of the cafe.

Of course, she couldn't speak for the food itself, never having eaten there, but she actually really dug the place. It was the small hole-in-the-wall type of place where you could sit for hours and just enjoy the strings of lights and the decor. They sometimes had live music. And Diana had to admit, she thought there was something particularly sexy about people eating with their hands. Even if she couldn't.

She also knew enough about curry to know what good curry smelled like. The place was always rich. She and the rest of the Order could thank Parvana for that.

"So...what should I call you?"

"Ah. Sorry. Got distracted, or I would have made introductions earlier." His grin stretches wider on his face, flashing teeth.

"Ral Zarek. Viceroy of the Izzet Guild of Ravnica, storm mage, and genius inventor, at your service."

Not that the first half would make much sense to someone not of their world and ignorant of the guilds as a whole but...eh. It sounds more impressive all slapped together in one sentence, and he does like feeling proud of his accomplishments.

It was the word 'mage' that caught Diana's attention. They existed in her little world of darkness, but she had to confess, she knew precious little. "I've never met a mage before," she said. For one hysterical moment, she wondered if it was at all possible that he could be from her world. But...well. A look at the devices strapped all over him quashed that idea. Anyway, Viceroys were usually of a place, and Ravnica meant nothing to her.

Add that to the list.

"Oh. Manners. Right. I'm Diana." She flashed him a peace sign. "Diana Abel. A-B-E-L. As in..." She cut herself off before saying the stupid Caine-and-Abel part. "Well. Diana, anyway. Librarian and street busker."

And to rip off the band-aid, right quick. "And...uh...local Cainite. Um...vampire."

If she was expecting surprise, fear or horror or fascination, none of those things occurred. Ral's smirk didn't falter for an instant, as he tipped his head in her direction.

"Good to meet you. Librarian, huh? Don't suppose it has a particularly interesting 'history' section, now does it?"

That might not be a terrible place to start, either. If there were records to be found, secrets to be delved, maybe that was a lead worth remembering.

And that simple reaction, or lack thereof, moved Ral into a whole new category of 'interesting.' Diana couldn't help but feel grateful too. It could be exhausting when peppered with a million questions. And just out and out depressing when someone ran away in fear.

She smiled one of her pinball machine smiles, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. "There's all kinds of history," she said. "But if you're looking for the history of the City itself, again, I'll refer you to my friend, the Doctor. He likes to poke around the City's foundation like some kind of lab rat who hasn't learned its lesson yet about that live wire."

Said with affection, of course.

"There's an aural history too. If you talk to Captain Jack Harkness. Or...a guy named Erik Lehnsherr but, I wouldn't recommend talking to him about anything. Not a people person."

"Well I wouldn't be inviting him out for a drink, now would I?" He doesn't have to be a people-person if small talk isn't the goal. Still. Put him at the bottom of the list for now, a last resort. Higher up on the list: the Doctor, and Captain Harkness.

"This Doctor sounds like my kind of fellow. You have to give it to lab rats, really. Without them, there's so much we still wouldn't understand."

And if he was still alive and kicking, maybe there was something to that live wire that no one had noticed quite yet. Always a possibility.

"Oh, I love him," Diana said. "He's like family to me. Him and Jack. We all used to be room mates, in the old city. The city that this place grew out of. That was called Bete Noire. It's complicated. But they're good guys. Apparently used to have a time machine, if you can believe it." And something about Ral told Diana that he could believe it.

But that was potentially a hasty conclusion.

And come to think of it, Artemis and Selene would both be on Diana's case for revealing just a little too much information to Ral. And way too fast. Her trusting nature would get her killed, they would say. Diana was beginning to think they were right.

Fortunately, they arrived outside of the restaurant just then: Naansense. Diana absolutely loved the name. It was a small, storefront place. With a long line of banquets along the right wall and a counter along the left. A few tables were scattered in the middle, all of them covered with red and gold table clothes that looked glittery under the exposed light coming from dozens of criss-crossing strings of bulbs.

"Here we are," she said brightly.

A little hole in the wall, wasn't it? But he preferred those types of places overall, and his stomach had already given him a stern reminder on the way here that maybe, just maybe, long research sessions without food weren't the bed idea.

"Ahh..." Though something had just occurred to him, expression falling. "I...don't suppose they run on universal currency from. Another universe. Should have thought of that."

Diana waved off the question. "I got you covered," she said.

Artemis and Selene were both scowling in her brain. Well, poo-poo on them. They were there and she was here and God knew she wasn't about to let the newbie starve on his first day. Yes, maybe she took in strays a bit too often. But it was always worth it, in one way or another.

Money couldn't buy that.

She opened the door and gestured him inside. "I guess I'm just the welcome wagon for the night. Although you'll eventually get a gift basket. Kind of."

"Are we talking figurative or literally?"

Because that sort of implies that whoever's sending the baskets is probably wrapped up in this business, if it's an actual basket. Well. Remains to be seen, doesn't it? Food first.

The smell of the place was fantastic, at least, a wave of warm spice hitting his nostrils as soon as they were inside. "You sure you're alright? I mean it's not like you're going to be able to have any with the whole..."

And his teeth clacked faintly together once, in demonstration.

"Subtle," she said with a smirk. And surprisingly blase. But then again, he'd leveled the same accusation against her, not too long ago.

She stepped in behind him and immediately, a host came over to seat them. Diana recognized him from a few of her gigs in the back corner. No one was playing tonight and her fingers itched a little to fill that void. But she had more important things to deal with.

Like the fact that they'd been escorted to the very intimate table, hidden in the back. The 'lovers' table,' they called it. Diana wrinkled her nose a little. Clearly, she was giving off the wrong vibes. But really, there were few reasons for a vampire to come to a restaurant other than some kind of date.

Whatever.

She set her flyers down on the corner of the table, putting her staple gun on top. "No worries. First of all, I don't make a habit of chewing on people. Second, I like this place. And anyway, maybe I can answer some questions for you. God knows I didn't get a halfway decent explanation of this place when I first popped in."

At the very least, they were out of the way enough that the large instruments on his wrists and back weren't available to be stared at. Take your blessings where you can find them, right?

He does move to unclasp them as they sit, at least from around his wrists for ease of movement. It would probably just make eating on the whole a little easier, not to mention being a literal weight off his shoulders. Or arms in general. One calloused hand rubs at his forearm, and it might be clearer now that his left arm has a spiraling dragon tattoo, disappearing up the rolled cuff of his sleeve.

"Well it's not my first hop to another dimension."

"I'm getting that impression," Diana said, watching him disrobe in the least sexy manner possible. She had to admit, the instruments were fascinating. Though bulky, there was a certain grace, an elegance to them.

Again, she couldn't help thinking of Stark.

She settled into her chair, crossing her legs and leaning back. "Okay," she said, "I'm sorry, I'm sure this is totes rude, but I have to ask...what is all of that?"

"This?"

He smiles fondly, patting the brass gauntlets like they were puppies he was particularly proud of. "Like that, huh? Made 'em myself. Part of the whole 'genius' inventor thing I mentioned earlier?"

Seconds later he's leaning forward in his seat. "And it sort of ties into being a storm mage, too. See, calling rain and lightning's great, right up until you're indoors or underground. Doesn't do a whole lot of good then."

One finger lifts. "Unless." And he taps the metal cuff. As it does, a little tendril of electricity seems to travel from the metal to his fingertip, before disappearing.

There were some Thaumaturgs back home who had weather-manipulating abilities. Diana hadn't met one in decades, if not a full century. But at least she could somewhat understand what he was saying. Or, rather, the concept of a 'storm mage' felt self explanatory. And now, so did his doohickeys. Some sort of design to augment his abilities. Made sense. Kind of cool, even. Although...

"Or you could just flick a lighter under a fire alarm and set off the sprinklers," she said lightly, as the server brought them menus.

No, she totally hadn't done that ever in the history of her sordid career as a Big Damn Hero.

Except that she had. A couple times a year, at least.

She smiled at him, gesturing for him to order whatever he wanted. "It looks a little heavy. How do you carry all that around with you?"

A quick glance at the menu, as well as the notices for what was the spiciest, and Ral picks out an intriguing looking vindaloo, the next time the waiter comes by for drinks and orders. Order, singular, in this case. But at least no one's nearby to stare or comment.

"What, this?" He snorts indelicately before lifting an arm and flexing, ever so briefly. He's no Boros Legionnaire, but there's a lot of muscle under those robes. "Just because I'm a mage doesn't make me some delicate bookworm, or some frail, wizened old codger. Now, I am working on streamlining the device some, but these things don't happen overnight. Even for me."

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