tdm 19

[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. The techs and others in the facility seem strangely frazzled and tired, but if asked, they reassure you that nothing is wrong, the danger has passed and everyone is all right now.

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

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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

Yondu Udonta | MCU (Guardians of the Galaxy)

[yondu]

Escoria - Boat.
Hey. I'm not sure you're makin' a wise choice there. Better give that edge there a wide berth.

[This advice is dispensed by a weathered looking blue man with a red device embedded in his head. Unfortunately, he's not really equipped to swim a fuck knows how many miles to sure, so he's just along for the ride and really doesn't want to see someone make this vessel go topsy turvy 'cause they thought actin' the fool was a good plan.]

Besides, sounds like we got somethin' under us wantin' to get friendly so I wouldn't advise getting within grabbin' distance. I'm feelin' too close for comfort already.


network - employment.
So we're expected to be some good, upstanding citizens huh? Fine, I'll buy it.

[He doesn't buy it at all. This place is a hot mess with next to no rules and a creepy communal mentality.]

Seems like there's not a lot of call for bounty hunting, but I'd sure like a side job that I could dig my fingers into. They got these little side missions, right? How do those usually work out. They worth the money?

Because I don't think I can sit around bein' a domestic for too long. It's not in my blood.

network!

[sketchycharacter]

Depends. How do you feel about the idea of potential mortal danger?

[yondu]

Depends on what your definition of mortal danger is.

What might be a problem for someone else could well be easy business for someone else. And I ain't one to back off too easy.

[sketchycharacter]

[Nate checks his watch.]

How much time you got? Because my definition's pretty broad, at least for this place. And I'm not known to back off easy myself.

[yondu]

I got all day since I'm stuck with some small time job until I find somethin' on the side.

[Or a new career in general.]

network

[brokeassgoing]

Not worth the rashes, man. Well, it really depends on which kind you take. The ol' 'retrieve sample of this' ones ain't as easy as they look.

[yondu]

Luckily I ain't lookin' for easy. I'm lookin' for 'pays well'.

[But he's got to admit that a rash doesn't sound like the best of times. It's not a typical concern.]

I'd keep that in mind, though. Nothin' like a distractin' itch to make a fight go bad. You can't live that sorta thing down.

[brokeassgoing]

Easy rash? If you say so, dude.

[distracting........]

I'm talkin' a rash that lays you down. And probably transforms you into something.

[yondu]

[Well, that sounds like a doozy. But still...]

I come across worse on some of the planets I been on.

You end up with somethin' like that?

[Still not above his pay grade quite yet.] And how much does some protective gear cost around here? They can't be sendin' people out there without some options on the table.

network;

[shadowblends]

Having some normalcy in life is a relief. [Although, that's not what he'd planned to talk about.]

It's worth it, if you don't mind getting your hands dirty. [A beat.] Figuratively and literally at times.

[yondu]

[Looking at Kurt and he just assumes this kid is half Centuarian or something. He looks the part. That is one hell of an accent, though.]

My hands are plenty dirty, boy. I just need to be pointed in the right direction.

What sorta stuff do they got you doin'?

[shadowblends]

[Less Centuarian, more homo superior, but he can't automatically assume Yondu's a mutant when they live on an alien planet.

He raises his hands, pointing to the left with the right and vice-versa with the opposite.] Which way is right, though? [Someone's a bit of a smartass today.]

Nothing yet. A while back, I was sent to this horror planet to collect samples.

[yondu]

[He'd be impressed to learn that Terrans can come in colors that aren't various shades of dirt.]

It's the opposite of your left. [He can be smart right back, thank you.] You know what I mean.

Horror planet? What do you mean?

network

[gh0stamidstthec0mbat]

Most jobs can be dull. / There's things to shoot sometimes, though, / The money's not bad.

[yondu]

At least two of those things I like to hear, though. And they're worth lookin' around for.

I'm pretty good at collectin' items and people at a decent wage when need be. It's sort of my specialty, so I'm all ears.

[gh0stamidstthec0mbat]

Sounds like you're in luck. / There are frequent job postings / For that sort of work.

More for items than people, really.

[yondu]

What's the worst one you done? Like right out of the gates shithole bad. How did that go?

[He likes to know what he's up against and whether or not someone tells him a big fish story, it's worth it to be over-prepared.]

[carltoaction]

[Call him crazy, but Carl has a few good reasons for almost jumping out of his shoes when the man speaks next to him. One, the guy sounds like Merle, and two, much to his surprise, looks exactly like Merle if jumped into a bucket of blue paint. While he knows people can be brought here alive, he knows very well that it isn't who thinks he's seeing. It's just not the way he sees it happening. So this is indeed his first look-a-like experience. And he is taking it in strides with his one eye wide and a boggled expression unfortunately stuck on his face.]

Uh, I know that. Just kinda- [well, never mind what he was thinking.] Maybe not my brightest idea.

[yondu]

[Yondu seems pretty satisfied when Carl returns to his rightful perch, but then he watches him with too-keen... eye. And it's pretty wide, too.]

What's wrong with you, boy? Looks like you seen a ghost.

[And then, bless his heart, he swivels to look behind him into the mist in case he missed something. No? Nothing as far as he can tell. So instead his set of red tinged irises scan the ocean around them.]

I think there's somethin' down there.

Probably not somethin' I wanna get too well acquainted with.

[carltoaction]

[On the other hand, this kid is not satisfied. How anyone could continue to sound (over and above looking) like the same person he once knew was above his understanding, was continuing to through him for a loop. It was as if he were staring at a ghost.

It would be at least another fraction of a second before he blinks himself out of it, shaking his head.]

N-not exactly. [Or.] Well, you just really look like someone I used to know. Sound like him too. [He adds a shrug to make it seem as if he is not as phased by it anymore, even if he totally is. It was a totally normal everyday occurrence, after all. Right? Right.

Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately, the subject switches on to something else. Carl knows there's a risk being on the boat like with most things he's accustomed to, but that seems like an odd thing for the guy to say.]

How do you know that? You have super human seeing or something? [Though he is accustomed to people having abilities far above human standards.]

[yondu]

[Yondu hasn't had the face twin experience yet, so instead he feels a glimmer of pity for the poor kid. Maybe. Unless-]

Was he an asshole?

Well, was he an asshole that was an actual problem to you. [Because there were plenty of assholes that were good upstanding people despite their sphinctery nature.]

[He tips his head towards the water, watching a dark shape flit by far beneath the surface.] I reckon Centaurian hearing's about the same as Terran. But you don't gotta try too hard to know somethin' better at swimmin' in damn cold water than us has taken an interest to the bottom of our boat.

slips one in

[toservelife]

[The boat is small - too small, really - and the water is mostly quiet, nothing but the sounds of people in shifting in their seats and the boat cleaving through the soft waves. But there's something darker under there, and Aloy lets her blanket slip off her shoulders as she edges to the rim, peering over the edge with eyes narrowed, squinting below--

But even that gradual movement jostles the craft - or maybe it's something else. Whatever it is, she jerks back...and only then looks around at the very large blue man she has been pointedly not staring at for half the ride.]

What do you think might be down there? [That's capable of reaching up and grabbing her.]

Re: slips one in

[yondu]

Not sure. But I know one thing, it can swim in this cold as hell water better'n I can and I'm not too sure it's the friendly sort.

It ain't the best place for a trial and error session.

[And yep. He's just sitting here in a boat full of Terrans. Being blue. He's seen a couple of other people that better match his aesthetic around but boy, does the Ingress like its Terrans.]

[toservelife]

[He does at least sound perfectly normal...or maybe that's the extra little piece of tech she's carrying now. A lot of people who don't look like they should know her speech seem to be speaking like they wouldn't be out of place in Meridian. Or, like in this man's case, maybe somewhere in the Claim.]

Don't worry, I'm not going to start hanging off the edge. [A thought occurs to her and at that point she just has to share it.] The only things back home that could drag somebody off the edge of a boat could probably just break the whole boat in half if they wanted.

[yondu]

I guess we oughta be glad whatever this might be is feelin' a little passive at the moment.

[He doesn't sound too surprised by that. But-]

You're Terran, right? So uh... shark're somethin' along those lines? [Yondu's experiences of Earth have mostly been pick-up jobs and he's not had one since he picked up Peter from that backwater planet. He doesn't know what the hell stuff might have turned up while he wasn't looking.]