tdm 16

[savmods]

test drive meme

Ingress travel can be disorienting, but there’s no need to worry! All side effects are temporary and lessen with each trip. Your body may experience several sensations at once: being pushed forward as if a hand is resting on your back, momentary and startling blindness, a gentle ringing in your head. You may have difficulty discerning whether it is hot or cold, but where you have been prodded is noticeably warmer than the rest of you. Some may suffer from dizziness while others are perfectly fine. You notice that the area you are in is filled with a soft cerulean light and feels slightly humid and dark despite the glow around you. Regardless of your current state, however, the stress of initial Ingress travel forces your body into unconsciousness.

Waking up is another story. Or maybe it isn’t.

You find yourself in a nondescript room; sometimes with others who have found themselves in the same situation, sometimes alone. A medical tech is always present to explain what’s happened before giving you some clothes, a TAB, and a guide that discusses things in further detail. This entire process also consists of a complete work-up of medical history and current health in order to obtain your signature—a specific frequency that will allow them to hone in on exactly where it is you’re from in order to get you back there.You spend your first week on the Ingress Complex while other accommodations and arrangements are made for you.

welcome to thisavrou

---

escoria

⋆ Escoria is classified as Exploration Class (EC), and travel through the Ingress is mostly smooth except for one issue: anyone with powers or abilities will find that the distortion between worlds has temporarily caused problems accessing them. Essentially, it has left all travelers depowered. Another similar issue comes in the form of the location of Escoria’s Ingress—seemingly in the middle of a vast ocean, the Ingress is balanced precariously on a set of buoys connected to a small floating dock. Once on this dock, it is clear there is no getting anywhere without some transportation. Testing the dark waters will find it unbearably cold, though not cold enough to form ice, and far off in the distance, between the mist and ever-constant gray light - where’s the sun? - some might even notice what looks like an island.

⋆ The boat that eventually comes to your rescue isn’t very big, one of a fleet used to transport visitors from the floating Ingress platform. Only a few passengers are allowed on each one--a maximum of six. The boat’s captain is quite insistent that each group remain small, handing out blankets to those who did not come prepared for the chill. It isn’t too much trouble as there are a great many boats and plenty of natives to pilot them. The weather is cool, the skies are dark with rain that might fall, but for now things seem alright. Leaning out on the rail, you might see some shark-like sea creatures breaching the surface to breathe. Of course, you might also see quicksilver figures darting underneath the water from the corner of your eye, which is then followed by a sharp rocking of the boat. Did something nudge the vessel? Maybe you ought to make sure people stay back from the sides in case they fall in...

⋆ Despite the calm appearance of the sky, the worst has happened. A storm hits at just the right time to drive your boat against one of the multitudinous reefs, roughly jarring its passengers, and then, the waves continue to batter the ship against it until it falls to pieces. You get lucky and find a piece of debris to hold onto to keep your head above the water until the storm passes, although it’s some time before even a calm comes. Once it does, you have to deal with the facts: you’re stranded with minimal supplies, all alone except for the other people who were on board with you when the ship went down in the waves. And what’s worse, the water isn’t getting any warmer. What do you do to survive until help, hopefully, arrives? Will you make an attempt to swim to shore or wait for someone to send another boat?

⋆ The few who manage to weather the storm and make it to one of the few islands of Escoria are, indeed, lucky. What lies beneath the surface of those dark waters is much more dangerous and deadly. Distant cousins of Thisavrou’s native Gorgona of Region Four, these nameless creatures are ruthless as they hunt. They slither the shallow surfaces of the reefs spread out across Escoria, waiting for even the slightest ripple of water to alert them to their prey. At first, looking into the water reveals nothing. Then, the closer these things come to the surface, the faster it begins to change and look as if something familiar, something you long for is calling to you. It can be a person, alive or dead, or it could be something intangible like a goal waiting to be fulfilled or an object waiting to be touched. This is how they lure the unsuspecting below the surface, and once they have their claws in you, it’s very difficult to escape. The urge to be with them is impossibly strong regardless of the fact that no one can hold their breath for that long or survive the deep cold of the water for longer than a few minutes.

Your only chance of escape? Someone who might have noticed that you’d suddenly slipped under without a sound. Or, if by chance, you manage to snap off a piece of the coral in the reefs. It changes with the shape of the holder, and that, if you’re lucky, might be the very weapon that saves you.

---

OUT OF CHARACTER INFO

FAQ | LOCATIONS | RESERVES | APPLICATIONS | NAVIGATION

For mature or graphic content, please label.For questions, please direct them to the FAQ or the Feedback page. Any scenarios listed (unless otherwise indicated) can be used as game canon. As always, be kind and have fun!

Comments

[categorical]

[ steve takes her at her word, accepting that assessment with a brief nod. for a moment, he thinks about what to do, but it isn't a long moment. ]

Head on. [ he figures it'll do him good to keep moving instead of staying still, and with the fog as thick as it is, the odds that someone is going to see them are slim at best. so he forces himself upright, shoulders back, and starts moving. ]

[modelsixtythree]

Fair enough. [She's not looking forward to having to walk in the armor, but at least the current model is less bulky than most. Without thinking, she moves right to his side and keeps pace with him as they go. Someone's got to watch his six.

Though she can't help but glance over at him. There are little things that look different, now that they're this close, but it's uncanny. And easy to forget that this isn't actually her best friend.] When did you get here?

laksdflkj I lol'ed

[demonwinged]

Rabbit ears! Purple he could agree to, and gloomy as well, but his ears were nothing like a rabbit's! Illidan clenched his fist, the green magic puttering out and vanishing, as he scowled. The scowl looked at home on his face. He was about to get defensive and start spouting off some of the greater facts of the Kaldorei lineage, but the rant died on his lips without ever taking flight.

Illidan huffed softly, the instant rage gone from him; the scowl remained. "All elves from my world have ears such as this. Only children have small ones." His wings flared slightly as he cocked his head the other way. "I was once a sorcerer, yes. Tell me more about the blood magic you practice, I've not heard of it at all." His imagination was picturing some of the warlock and succubus practices but really, he hadn't much clue at all what blood magic was, besides its name.

This entire conversation has been golden

[oopsiedaisy]

She remained oblivious to the ire she nearly invoked, looking up at him with awe and wonder. He was certainly the strangest looking elf she had seen!

"You're an elf too? But you look..." She stalled as she tried to think of a way to describe how he looked, "you look like someone took a dragon, and a sheep, and an elf, and a rabbit then squished them all together and painted you purple. A very pretty purple though, I like it." Because she didn't want him to feel insecure for being purple or anything.

"Oh! Right! Magic! Stay on task Merrill." She took a deep breath to prep herself for speaking of the loathed blood magic of her world, "Well, I learned it from a demon- spirit. A spirit. It taught me how to purify an artifact from our past. I only use my blood, but there are other mages..."

She hangs her head and the further she spoke on it, the more quiet her tone became. She knew what her magic had the potential to do, but explaining it felt as though she were fueling the beliefs that it was all evil magic used by evil people, "Other mages use it to manipulate the blood of others. You can control them, change them, summon demons, and not all blood mages use their own blood... it is forbidden in most places."

[kahina]

I know little of this land. There may be some truths, but what they do not wish us to know is more interesting.

THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU'VE DONE

[ingenii]

( Shepard. Shepard that is not how you start an explanation. "You're going to need it" is not-

But of course, she's just diving in before Miranda gets the chance to even question it. It's Shepard, of course.

And at the explanation. Laugh isn't quite what Miranda would do (though maybe some of their other crazy crew) but... )

I should have upgraded your humour when I rebuilt you.

( Because this is not bloody funny, Shepard. Kidnapping and crazy adventures and god at least Shepard is here so she can have someone to deal with this madness with. When she's not blaming her.

Yeah, Miranda knows that Shepard couldn't, and maybe even wouldn't have done this but it doesn't really help her not be mad. Tell her who to blame, she'd like to have a nice chat with them.

There's a shake of her head before Miranda finally adds: )

I've gotten used to insane. How do we get out of it?

( Because she knows you have to have a plan, Shepard. Even a crazy one. Somehow the crazy ones have worked lately )

[sketchycharacter]

[The shift in expression and general demeanor doesn't escape Nate, and he starts to feel a little out of place.]

Uh, I can stare into my beer if you want to be alone, or whatever.

[categorical]

[ the iron man suit falls in position as though it is the most natural thing in the world to be there, to watch his six, and even trembling from the cold and wet, steve can't shake the feeling that there is something odd about this. ]

Two weeks. How long has it been for you?

[categorical]

Oh?

[modelsixtythree]

Similar. [But it makes her pause. This Steve may or may not know much about the multiverse, but if he's been around that long he's probably got some sense of it. It makes her remember that it's entirely likely he still thinks she's someone else. There's no crisis now, nothing else to take up her attention.]

I should...I'm sorry. I'm not your Tony Stark.

[kahina]

Have you ever had a secret?

alphinaud leveilleur // final fantasy xiv

[arcanistic]

[a. ingress.]

By the Twelve--

[This being said by a rather young and short elf gazing at just about everything around him, eyes wide and completely unsure about what he's seeing. By his side is Ruby Carbuncle, the summon following after Alphinaud with a continuous sound of pitter-pattering feet.

Truthfully, the Elezen isn't completely convinced this place doesn't have something to do with the Allagans or even the Garleans, considering he just came from Baelsar's Wall. The tech had tried to assist him in answering his questions, but Alphinaud has never heard of an "Ingress" before, or even knows anything close to it. Cid would probably have a better idea than he does. Perhaps if he can find a way back home-

His thoughts are interrupted as he abruptly runs into someone, jarring him back into the present and causing poor Carbuncle to jump backwards, startled. Alphinaud blinks, half expecting to see a Garlean soldier before him instead of whoever he's walked into.]

My apologies. [He shakes his head and breathes out, smiling slightly. It's a way to hide how wary he is of the whole situation.] 'Twould seem I'm not entirely sound of mind at this point. I hope I did not cause you harm.

[b. kauto, all over.

In some cases, it reminds him of Ishgard. In others, he can't even fathom anything coming close. Asyz Lla, perhaps, but Allagan structures were much broader and larger than some of the ones he's seen here. The curiosity in him wants to ask why and how, and figure out how aether works on this planet compared to Eorzea.

Still, that's all a moot point, as he's currently being asked a multitude of questions by different Savrii children. Most of them are about his arcanist book, or his Carbuncle, or what his world is like. Several of the kids are tugging at his coat tails and asking him to summon his companion, while others are simply asking him questions with wide eyes and even louder voices. On more than one occasion, Alphinaud glances to his right and left, hoping to catch the eye of someone nearby. He might just be a bit overwhelmed here. A little help?]

[c. wildcard.

Set something up and I can run with it!]

handsome jack | borderlands

[butlovememore]

ingress complex.
Jesus-- friggin'--

[ so, this is the worst. it's worse than adjusting to pandora's gravity. it's absolute hell, and handsome jack is not having any of it. his body feels like it's been hit and run over by a train about five hundred times, and his head is killing him. literally. he'll probably die.

he groans and rolls over to hold his head, whining like a big giant baby. ]

God, is there a friggin'-- manager or some crap I can talk to, 'cause this-- this is pretty crappy. Jesus.

[ no one will blame you if you just ignore the complaining jackass. but once he finally manages to get a grip on himself, he notices he is very much alive. and when someone informs him of that-- ]

Of course I'm alive, baby! I'm a friggin' hero, and heroes never die!

escoria. after the storm.
[ of course he'd be rarin' to go the moment he got his shit together. handsome jack is a mover. a visionary. there's literally no way he'll sit around on his ass, not when there's a whole new place to discover. there's a distinct lack of bandits, from what he can tell, and--

something catches his eye. a voice. a voice he'd not heard in a while. it's haunting, the way she calls out to him, and every fiber of jack's being is pulled tight, ready to snap. she calls to him, again, desperate-- ]

Angel, baby, I'm right here, I'm not gonna let those goddamn bandits hurt you again!

[ he's at the edge of the water. ]

[brokencode]

[In the wake of the destruction near their home of Region Three, Rhys had fled to the Ingress Complex and rented out a temporary (and shared) room therein. As her friend spent his days working, Angel often found herself wandering. Her memories of the Ingress Complex were sparse, considering she was still working through the remains of her eridium overdose. The Ingress may have spared her, but only just.]

[There were a few memories, of course, winding halls that she remembered running down, fleeing from what she thought had been Handsome Jack's voice. Even now, she could have sworn she heard it -- that harsh but strangely enamoring tone that had won over thousands of supporters and workers.]

[Funny, how it got louder and louder the closer she got to the Ingress proper. Her heart rose in her throat, and the voice in the back of her head desperately whispered that it simply couldn't be -- that she would not be so unfortunate as to encounter the Warrior one day and her father the next.]

[And just as quickly as that voice whispered that everything was alright, the door to the med bay whooshed open, and Angel found herself staring in at the very man that had haunted her worst nightmares.]

[Every muscle in her body screamed at her to run. Her pulse quickened all the more, and her breath came out in ragged bursts. She took a step back, and then another, before ducking against the wall and hugging it.]

[All she had the capacity to do was cower and hope that she had been fast enough to avoid him.]

[butlovememore]

[ except, she hadn't been fast enough.

feels like a hell of a long time ago. that day, in control core angel, when those goddamn bandits had taken his baby girl from her. those goddamn child-murdering nutjobs. they'd brainwashed her. they'd turned her against him.

after everything he'd done for her--all he'd wanted was for her to be safe. god. her last words ring loud and clear in his head. but, maybe, maybe this can be different. hell, she has to realize... she'd been wrong, right?

he fully intends to forgive her--no, he already has--as he approaches his angel. ]

Angel, baby--hey, it's just me, it's alright. Everything is alright now. I'm here.

[lavelly]

Angel?

[In Lavellan's experience, it's not a common name. Actually, he'd never heard it before he met her. Which doesn't mean that others couldn't exist in the... greater world, or whatever it might be called. But his own attachment to Angel, combined with concern for her obvious skittishness, her reluctance to trust people... it makes him attentive to anything related to her.

Just in case.]

Is that supposed to be a person?

[butlovememore]

[ the voice snaps him out of... whatever the hell's going on here. the voice disappears, and jack stiffens. figures that she'd be snatched away from him, again and again, over and over. he turns, and there's a dangerous look on his face--the mask, anyway. his face. whatever.

there's a laugh, short and cutting. ]

Ya know, I don't get why that's any of your concern, sweetcheeks. You go poking your friggin' nose in every stranger's business?

[lavelly]

[Lavellan's head rears back, and then he squints at Jack, like he's a puzzle he can't quite figure out.]

Sweetcheeks?

[butlovememore]

[ an aggressive jack is a dangerous jack, and when faced with someone shoving his face into his personal business, he doesn't take it lightly. he at least manages to dial it back.

but he is going to be aggressively... himself. he takes a step forward, totally infringing on lavellan's personal space. ]

You prefer kitten? Sugarcakes? Lovemuffin?

bee movie but every time jack says angel it gets faster

[inconsequence]

[Why are they here? Call it overtime for Normandy Securities. Call it morbid curiosity. Call it...Chara. Being Chara. Doing something poorly-advised, simply to be contrarian, simply because they can. The storm had been an inconvenience. The calm that follows - inevitable.

A familiar name, spoken in an unfamiliar tone. They may not be sure, but they can test the waters, in every sense of the word.

Behind him stands a child. The water sips at the toes of their shoes, but they go no further. And the corners of their mouth drift slowly upward.

And they smile.]

She's not here.

[brokencode]

Everything's alright now.

[The siren wished she had the courage to laugh in his face. She shouldn't have been surprised -- his arrogance had blinded him to anything that didn't fit his perfect world view. It was the same fantasy that she had nearly sold her soul to believe, the one he'd used to warp her mind to believe that what she was doing was right.]

[That maybe, in the end, everything would be okay.]

[She knew better now. Had known better the moment she decided to pick up the metaphorical knife and end things for both herself and his plans. Her grand plan had failed, in the end -- Jack had found a way to finish the job. But in the end, she had saved herself, had captured her own freedom.]

[It was that thought that spurred her into action. She slid back another step, arm raising. The tattoos along her arm flashed, not unlike the last ditch display of a frightened, cornered animal. There wasn't much she could do, but she and Jack knew that her powers had killed before.]

[It wasn't like any of them could forget what happened to her mother.]

Stay away from me, Jack.

SHOWDOWN AT THE INGRESS CORRAL

[kickeminthepistons]

Is that so? [Gaige cocks her pistol, so he'll know she already has it out.] Because I know a way we could test that. Just for science.

[She's not going to actually shoot him, though, as much as she might want to.

The problem is that this is not the lawless wasteland of Pandora, and people here care a little more about what the "bandits" do. Already, the Ingress security is watching them closely. They aren't going to confiscate her weapon just for brandishing it, not yet, but all it'll take is one shot to turn the whole team aggro.

And it wouldn't be one shot.

The gun is nostalgic. She still remembers when she found it, packed up in a cardboard box with a severed head -- followed by the low-quality squawk of Jack's voice shouting Oh, what's in the booox?! She ended up keeping Gwen's Head because the seven-shot burst fire was useful, and definitely not because of the Se7en reference.

The idea that she might share the same taste in movies in Jack still leaves a sour taste in her mouth.]

So. [She's struggling to think of her follow-up to her clever intro, but she wants to control the conversation for a change.] How was hell? Bad as they say?

OH MY GOSH OH NO I MISSED THIS I HOPE I CAN STILL TAG YOU

[sharpcast]

[A familiar voice.

It's almost strange in its familiarity, for who could expect to find a friend so distant from everything covered by even the most remote of personal knowledge? Etienne crouches, giving the carbuncle a gentle pat if it is permitted. He's never been all that good with animals or summons - his impetus for joining the thaumaturges, in the end. But, in his own quiet way, he aspires to be kind.]

Alphinaud? [Now this is strange. It would be, to Etienne's thought, quite impossible for Alphinaud of all people not to recognize him. It might have been a mistake to call him out by name, as something odd might be happening. This whole place is an odd event, after all. For now, Etienne sticks to the facts:] That I am, friend. My name is Etienne.

i am so sorry for the delay, i didn't realize i was missing notifs! i'm enjoying the thread!

[sharpcast]

Elezen, Ishgardian. And I am a man, so they say. My homeworld - did you call it? Is called Hydaelyn. And as must seem painfully obvious to you by now, no, I have not been anywhere but there. For many, it is unusual for them to even leave the place they were born. In those respects, I am somewhat well-traveled, though war and territorial disputes mean I have not seen every corner of Hydaelyn yet. Going beyond the stars I know is not something I could have ever dreamt of. I suppose it all must seem terribly backward to people who are used to all this. [Etienne shrugs, looking over the hodgepodge of houses.]

And yourself, K2SO? Were you born - ah, invented on this planet? You spoke of being kidnapped as well, so I suppose that must not be the case.

[full_of_bad_ideas]

Isaac's brows lifted and he greeted her with a half grin. "I .." He glanced to her head then her face, really he liked all of what he was seeing, she was definitely a colorful character. "I like what you do with your hair." He gestured to her head then moved his hand to wipe over the top of his head. He had a fair amount of thick grey into his hair. It would be more due to the distress he was constantly in rather than the actual age; or so he'd defend himself. Not that he had ever anticipated getting into a conversation about his hair.

"Huh." He checked out there a minute, but brought himself back to the present time before he spoke up again. "Do we live in the same building?" She was quite distinguishable, he was sure to have seen her before, she looked unlike any other he's seen and he's seen some individuals here. Not to mention the alien life that lived here. That gave him a cold shiver and he shook his head to clear his mind again, the shiver was also visible. He blinked tightly before huffing.

"Sorry, I can't place you.."