March/April TDM

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MARCH/APRIL TEST DRIVE MEME

Welcome to Sphere's March/April Test Drive meme! This is a great place to get a feel for the game and how your characters might fit in here. Explore the setting, and get your samples and some starting CR all at the same time!

• Applications and Reserves are always open!
• Threads on the TDM are considered game canon if both parties agree to it!
• Threads on the TDM may be considered for Activity Check if need be!

Spring has Sprung

So everything that’s happened, it’s just all water under the bridge right? I mean some people were infected and Annie had spread the rumors about the new people like spores but it’s all good now right? And the best way to get back into that? A good old fashioned party!

Even though the Sphere itself normally wouldn’t have seasons, according to the people here? It’s definitely spring! Spring has sprung and the apple, cherry and almond trees in the agricultural dome have burst into bloom! The blooms together give off a heady fragrance and the colors are only added to by the addition of pink, white, yellow and pastel green ribbons tied around their branches. At night, the blooms are highlighted by fairy lights, and the lights in the dome themselves have been transformed into star systems that the Sphere has dredged up from the files of people’s home worlds. No, it’s not enough to get people home but it’s definitely lovely isn’t it?

Scattered here and there in clearings are performers, each one of a different type. There’s a violinist, a pair of dancers, a storyteller, a magician and a juggler all giving shows as people stumble into their darkened corners of the domes. Each performance is an EVENT to them, and depending on the people involved, it can be intimate and romantic, or just a little bonkers. The shows are lit by fires that spark when people enter, and when they move on past, the lights dim and go out to create a personal atmosphere for people. It’s all about ambiance.

In the center of the trees, either day or night, there’s food going on. It’s a bit like a cross between a garden party and a tea provided by the Mad Hatter. Smaller tables lit with candles are the normal, having seating for two or four at their linen-covered circles. There’s a tea service on each one, filled with food that silent servers are bringing out in spades. The pastel themes from the trees themselves are in evidence here, with nearly every food being white, yellow, pink, pale purple and pastel green. There’s cucumber, egg salad, and cream cheese sandwiches cut into dainty crustless pieces, there’s small cakes and petit fours, decorated flower cookies and scones and other kinds of things covered in fondant. There’s white chocolate trifles and white berries and fruit.

But there’s also weirder things. There’s some kind of mousse that’s on the sandwich level but that definitely is an interesting shade of purple, isn’t it? And there’s something that looks a bit like a chicken pop, but is definitely green. That’s totally fine, I’m sure. It’s not like anything that shade could be absurdly spicy or anything like that. There are other pastel dishes that are difficult to identify so it all comes down to one thing: are you adventurous or not.

As for the tea itself, there’s a variety of it as well. Normal black teas with milk and sugar or honey and lemon, some varieties of green including jasmine, but there are more wild ones as well. There’s definitely one that shifts from blue to purple with the addition of lemon, which the servers take great delight in showing people. There’s also wine in white and rose, and sangria with a variety of spring fruits in it. All of these drinks are in abundance and free-flowing, and there does not seem to be an end in sight.

Oh aren't you a good egg?

Various times during the day during the Spring festival, there’s fun and games happening too. The people throwing the party have also announced an egg hunt that’s not only open to the younger members of the community (though that probably was the first reasons for it, but they’ve opened it up now) but to everyone who wishes to participate. The eggs are scattered high and low in the orchard, hidden in trees and the ground and anywhere else someone can think to hide an egg.

The eggs are in the same pastel shades, but they’re not actually eggs. Having real eggs on this scale might be difficult given how there’s not actually any animals here at all. Instead, the eggs are a shimmering and hollow plastic, and they are filled with things. There’s handmade chocolates, and small toys, there’s string friendship bracelets, and more expensive silver ones too, and charms to go along with them. Some of the eggs have riddles or sayings inside, not quite like a fortune cookie, but intended to make people smile.

The locals are living for this, so there’s actually a fair amount of competition for the eggs, and people hem and haw and fight over them but in a good natured sort of way. People will climb trees or dart in to steal eggs right under the nose of other people. If called on it, people will point that it’s in good fun and hand them over. Especially if the person appears angry at them.

A good old fashioned barn (school) raising!

So, the (remaining) members of the Council have decided that one of the best things that they could do in order to foster the Community spirit is to have a school raising in the rec dome. The school formerly had been occupied in one of the rooms in the community center, but given that there are enough both children and adults who have interest in it, they’ve decided to give it it’s own generous space. But there’s a catch: the people need to build it themselves.

The school house isn’t quite a one room building, but it’s small and will be sectioned off into five classrooms, a generalized sort of gym/cafeteria/auditorium sort of thing, and several offices and a larger breakroom for the teacher. All of the materials for both the school house and everything inside of it are provided by the council, and the wood is in large piles just over there. Unfortunately no one seems to be jumping in to be in charge quite yet (did you really think Max would do it?) but maybe that’s your character’s jam. Go nuts.

Like every good building raising, there's a pot luck with foods from all over the multiverse, as well as plenty of water, lemonade and beer. People who aren't helping with the actual building labor will be pressed into service, delivering drinks and food to folks who are. No matter how unwillingly. Max is good at that.

wildcard

This is a good place to test out something like the network or an idea of your own! Remember upon waking in The Sphere, each character is fitted with a small golden circle behind their right ear. This is how they are connected to the network through a neural link. Touch and hold the button to create a broadcast of one of three types:

1. Audio. Your character thinks audible words onto the network.
2. Writing: Your character thinks text into the network.
3. Video. Your character projects a broadcast of a video of themselves onto the network.

Replies are determined by the player. The network needs to be accessed by choice, so character broadcasts are not automatically beamed directly into people’s heads. The Sphere isn’t that rude.

Private messages are allowed by pressing and holding and pressing and holding again as you picture the person in your mind. This can be an image or a name, err more on the side of things being more accessible than less.

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Comments

Oberyn Martell | Game of Thrones

[the_redviper]

Arrival | Wild Card

[ Contrary to what most might think, Oberyn only remembers the intense rage he was feeling of seeing the Mountain over him and knowing his fate. Sure, he also knows what will inevitably become of the Mountain afterward and there is great satisfaction in knowing that. Manticore poison was deadly and there was no doubt that the days following would be pure agony before death would eventually occur for him, as well.

But that all seems secondary to opening his eyes in a place that looks nothing like anything he knows. The term 'futuristic' cannot even be fathomed and before Oberyn leaves the area now belonging to him, he only sees it as a foreign place that needs exploring. One never needs a special occasion to have a strong drink anyway.

Turns out, this sexy Prince could use a map. Perhaps a guide? ]

Could you tell me where to find your Maester?


Network | un: oberyn

I am looking for some company to spend the evening with. Men or women. Both. I am not fussy.

un: ponine

[jondrette]

do you pay, m'sieur?

[the_redviper]

In many ways. How exactly would you like to be paid?

[jondrette]

Traditionally in sous. But I do not believe those are what we have here for money.

There are other ways. I also have accepted food and drink.

[the_redviper]

I can provide both. When can I expect you?

[jondrette]

I shall find my way to you shortly. Wherever that is.

un: antari

[bloodwords]

That is a forward request to make publicly.

[the_redviper]

And how else would one make the request? Is there another means?

[bloodwords]

Going to a bar and finding company that way, perhaps.

[the_redviper]

But I have plenty here to drink.

You sound offended by my question. Is that not why people use this? For questions?

[beboth]

[ Theon would have ignored Oberyn had he not used a word familiar and rarely used here. He stops short then and appraises the man quickly. ]

They do not have maesters here, exactly.

[ Theon's brow furrows briefly as he continued to appraise the newcomer. ]

Who are you?

[the_redviper]

[ Being looked at is nothing new to Oberyn. The question, however, has him looking at the other with a growing interest that comes more from the fact that this person seems to know what a Maester is when others have not. ]

Ah, I believe the courtesy is to introduce oneself first. You first.

[ And now Theon is being regarded -- quite closely. ]

[beboth]

[ He supposes that's correct but he's not always one for manners. ]

Theon Greyjoy.

[ It's a simple introduction, without the arrogance that he used to hold about who he was, or who he thought he was anyway. ]

[the_redviper]

Of the Iron Island's. I have to admit, you are the first Greyjoy I've met. Though I have heard a great deal about another from your House while I was in Essos

Euron Greyjoy? Who would he be to you?

[ Do pardon the Dornishman if that hits a sensitive spot. ]

arrival

[king_inthenorth]

[Maester. Jon knows that word well, even if he doesn't know the man who's just spoken it. He must be from Westeros, unless there's another world somewhere that has massters in it.

Jon's accent pegs him as being from the North, and the massive white wolf lurking by his side hints at just where in the North he might come from.]

There are no maesters here. Their duties are managed by others.

[the_redviper]

And yet you know whom I speak of, making you the third I have met here from Westeros.

[ Yes, both were enough to make that distinction. ]

Another from the Stark family, yes?

[king_inthenorth]

[So he's already met Sansa and Theon then. Unless there's someone else from Westeros he hasn't met yet.

what is it, obvious or something? He nods.]

Jon Snow.

[So mostly a Stark.]

[the_redviper]

[ When the other says his name, Oberyn's expression becomes a great deal more serious. ]

So, that makes you the bastard son of Ned Stark then, hm?

[ But the tone of his voice suggests some skepticism with that so-called 'fact'. Oberyn is already putting it all together, which was rather easy once Jon said his name. ]

[roseofthetyrells]

[and contrary to what most might think, even after two years spent in another version of reality, her rage towards Cersei still burns hot. hotter than the wildfire she perished in.

but now she knows what to do should Cersei ever show her face before Margaery again. she's studied, she's trained, she's ready. and she has the sword to show for it in a scabbard attached to her sash.

but this world is unlike Hadriel in just about every way, except for the devices. those she knows. and the man before her is somewhat familiar as well, given that she knows who he is and presumably he knows who she is, or was.

with a slightly raised brow and a rueful tone, she says] You'll find no Maesters here. Doctors, physicians, healers aplenty, but no Maesters. Why? Are you unwell?

[the_redviper]

[ Oh, yes, how could he not know who she was? Though there's an air of there being something different about her, Oberyn could not forget her face for being the reason he went to King's Landing in the first place. Her wedding to Joffrey Lannister was.. indeed quite memorable.

With obvious recognition in regards to who she was, Oberyn gives a little bow. ]

It is nothing serious, a slight headache. It must be from the travel.

[ A thoughtful pause. ]

I must admit how surprising it is to see as many here from Westeros as there is.

[roseofthetyrells]

[no matter where she ends up, she keeps her house motto in mind. "Growing Strong." she'd grown very strong during her stay at Hadriel, done things she'd never even imagined possible back in Westeros.

she smiles and nods gracefully]

Interplanetary travel will do that to a person. There must be a clinic somewhere.

[she waits patiently]

It was like that in Hadriel as well. For whatever reason, we seem to be fascinating to other powers on other worlds.

[the_redviper]

[ Truth be told, talking about 'interplanetary travel' and 'other worlds' is still rather unbelievable, even if he's made the journey. He can't explain it and instead of losing his temper because no one is answering his questions, Oberyn will accept it as gracefully as he can. ]

You've been to other... places?

Network: Maresh

[unbreakable_king]

Have you the skill to go with the request, one wonders.

[the_redviper]

I wonder if you are curious enough to find out.

[unbreakable_king]

Oh, my curiosity is well suited to the exploration of such things. When I have a partner to assist me in investigations.