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JANUARY TEST DRIVE MEME

Welcome to Sphere's January 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! A note for current players: this will not be the same as the main February plot so if you're feeling this, come on over here and have fun!

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!

blue moon

So the people within the Sphere City miss the moon. At least, that’s what someone can draw from the fact that as January slips into February, large images of the moon are everywhere. The Full moon, to be more specific. There are silver streamers around the merchant dome, and lights have been modified to have a more silver than golden glow in appearance, even at all hours of the day there. Sure it makes things a bit difficult to see, but that’s not really a problem is it?

At night, several domes have large projections of the moon made against the domes. They’re pictures of the moon in varying states of artistic and scientific values. There's a kind of dreamy music that’s played, and a lot of the locals have silver flowers in their hair. Fire pits are common, and older residents are seated around them, telling tales of the moon and its connection to the waters above them. Some stories tell how it glows and shines or is made of green cheese. They also tell how sometimes there were people in the moon, men or women, gods or goddesses, or animals like rabbits. And some stories tell of how the moon would make people mad, and that’s where the term lunacy comes from.

Oh, and there are a few stories about werewolves too. And about how there walking among the people in the Sphere. Even now.

Food at the festival is based around the moon too, or at least the idea of the moon. There’s mooncake of course, but there’s also moon pies, half moon cheese pies, and pierogi, and various cheese and cracker platters, because the moon is made of green cheese after all. There’s moon-based cocktails, that are blue and silver. And some that are shimmering and shining.

People can draw fortunes from the moonwell, but, they’re silly and nonsensical, and people eat the silvery rice paper after they’re finished with them. A few of them however have more ominous sort of fortunes in them. Things like “help me” or “they’re out to get you” or “they’re coming and you can’t stop them.” People shrug those ones off too though. if someone asks about them.

what big eyes you have

So, there are rumors about werewolves that have been circulating around town, and people seem to be given red cloaks at random. Pretty girls and women are offered them the most, but they are open to anyone. If people put them on, which the surrounding locals will cheer and encourage them to do. Then they tell them that their clue is in their pockets and that they will save the town.

In the pockets is another silver disk with a list of names on it. One of those names is a werewolf. You’re given three clues (something like: ‘wearing a blue sweater’ or ‘bald man’ or ‘at the candy stall’) for each one, and then you either accuse them of being a werewolf or clear them. If you accuse them and you’re correct then you’re given a small vial with glowing stones in it and are told that they were actually pieces of the moon before it was lost. Whatever that means. You may want to hold onto them.

If you accuse them and you’re wrong, the game is over for you for the moment and the cloak is taken away. Each cloak has a different list of six names on it, and the names replenish every time someone gets a new cloak. Why yes, the Sphere is playing a game of werewolf with you. How the game goes entirely up to you, and whether or not your character gets invested or what. NPCs are definitely available for this if need be! Please feel free to go a little nuts with this, and player characters can definitely be one of the suspects if they're up for it.

something that was lost can be found.

It’s big news around Sphere City: some old lost and sealed domes have been found along the edges of town. Not only have they been found, but they’re open! Not only are they open but the stuff inside is there on a first come first serve basis. These old domes show no signs of dust, but there are some personal effects within them, pictures and the like. They definitely belonged to someone who had been pulled into the city at some point within the last seven years.

And they’re definitely worth checking out. One never knows one might find in them. Various varieties of clothing are available, as are books, food items (probably shouldn’t eat them), toys and there may or may not be some magical or important historical things hidden here or there if your character is very lucky. Mod note: Nothing world breaky or living can be found, but small things like potions or jewelry or amulets or small weapons (daggers or guns with a very limited amount of bullets.)

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:

Audio. Your character thinks audible words onto the network.
Writing: Your character thinks text into the network.
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.

photo inspiration

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Much like Alec, Seregil had thought to enter the 'empty' domes to procure a few things that weren't on his person when he'd arrived (as well as to pick up whatever else caught his fancy along the way). The whole of this world was still strange, but at least this was normal. Thieving, or pretending to thieve was normal. And who knew how long he would be here to let his skills go to rot? That was entirely unacceptable in his eyes; so he'd have to practice where he could, and an abandoned pod seemed as good as any.

Carefully making his way out of the pod with his findings (a small and ornate dagger, some stones that he would make into a decent bakshi set, a few particularly enticing jewels, and what looked like it could be a decent wine), he turned his face up to the artificial night sky. There was no real sky, no expanse of perfect night inlaid with diamond-like stars; no breeze with the smell of crisp night air, and no old familiar streets on which to rely. It was all at once exciting and sobering. But there was no use bemoaning his fate. However he had come here, he was here now, and there wasn't much Seregil could do about it until a solution was found, so he'd take this as a new experience. A broadening of the horizons, as it were. So broadening in fact, that he noticed someone laying rather comfortably on one of the houses. If he hadn't been looking up, he would have passed him entirely, and Seregil couldn't help thinking that it was a genuinely ingenious place for some personal time. It would have been better with proper stars and a decent breeze, spring or summer preferably.

"Aura elustri!" It was a soft exclamation, more to himself than anyone else. He hadn't expected any of the inhabitants of this place to do something so ... normal. Well, normal for a Nightrunner, that is. It caused a pulling at his stomach as he thought about the walls and buildings he could be scaling with Alec at just this moment. The tokens they could be retrieving and other delicious intrigues they could be contributing to. And the guilt at not thinking of what Nysander was dealing with (as much as he knew of it) was also there — pushed deep down so as not to be a continual pain.

Out of curiosity, he moved closer to the house, trying to get a better look but not attempting any stealth. He needed allies here, and to have an interesting person who was adept at climbing would be a good idea. "Nice night, if it is night." He called, keeping his distance from the man. Sadly, he was too far away to be able to make an educated guess at the other's appearance.

Edited (Look, there was more) 2019-01-27 04:38 (UTC)

Alec was dreaming. He'd dozed off and dreamed of Seregil's voice, or else he was finally being driven mad by the device implanted in his head. And oh, if he were dreaming, let him keep on; a dream with his talimenios was so much better than a reality without him. At least, that's what he'd hoped, until it occurred to him that auditory hallucinations were likely not a goal of his captors, if they hoped to keep their captives placated.

With a start, Alec shot up, and slid down the shingles to the edge of the roof. It would afford him a better vantage point, at the very least. To assure that his eyes weren't deceiving him, that this was actually--

"Seregil?"

They didn't need a moon hung in the sky, not when Alec's face lit up so perfectly. He'd never scaled a wall so quickly in his life; a few adept leaps from gutter, to sill, and then the next, before his feet hit the ground and he practically knocked Seregil off his own with the force of his embrace.

And how he laughed.

"Seregil! Illior, Sakor, Dalna; what gods must I thank for bringing you to me?"

Of all the people he would have expected to see here (and there were none), Alec was the last. He watched as Alec scaled down the building with the expertise he'd honed over the past months. His quick learning student was getting better by the day at everything he'd been teaching him.

Judging by the greeting, Alec must have been here for some time. While he knew well that Alec cared for him, running headlong into Seregil's arms and almost knocking him down with the force of his weight had never been something Seregil needed to be cautious of. And the laugh, Alec's laugh had always been a rather beautiful thing to hear, but more so recently as it spread warmth through him that he did his best to push down. Trapped in a world that neither of them were familiar with was neither the place nor time to be letting ill-fated feelings get the better of him. Especially with Alec. The boy trusted him completely; he couldn't take advantage of that, especially when they were somewhere even more foreign to Alec than Skala.

He gently pushed the other man back, partially to keep himself on his feet, eyes making their way over the familiar face that was bright with smiles and breathless joy. Really, he thought with affection, He's worse than Illia when we go to Watermede.

"From what I understand it's a large sphere at the center of all this; I doubt highly any of the four have anything to do with that. But tell me, how long have you been here to give me such an enthusiastic greeting?" Not that he minded. It was quite the opposite, in fact, which made matters all the worse.

"A few days, at most. But far too long being parted from you."

But then Alec's smile faltered, faded into something like worry as his brow knit together. There was something strange about this. As far as he knew, this place didn't steal away abilities or magic. Not from what he'd seen or heard, and yet... Where was it? He couldn't...

"Seregil," Alec pressed his hand to Seregil's chest, spread his fingers above the man's heart. It beat still, and yet-- "I can't...

"Can you feel me? I can't feel you."

And he looked incredibly troubled over the fact.

A few days and the man was starting to spout nonsense. Seregil couldn't help but wonder if something had happened to cause the other man's strange behavior.

"Of course I can." The words came out puzzled and questioning. It wasn't that he couldn't feel Alec, he could, it was that he was confused as to why Alec apparently couldn't feel him. Perhaps there were other ways to be brought here. As a specter or some different sort of spirit? Maybe that was what the other man was talking about.

"Alec, are you having the same problem with everything or just things from our world? Planer travel is a dangerous business; perhaps this sphere of theirs did something wrong when it brought you here." It was strange, Seregil would think that he would be affected by the sphere's magic poorly, not Alec.

Edited 2019-01-27 07:46 (UTC)

"I'm not bonded with anything else, talí, just--"

Alec's voice grew faint as a realization crept in. Why would Seregil think he was talking about anything other than their bond, unless they weren't bound? He'd heard that people were sometimes brought from different points in their home timeline, and that might have been difficult for Alec to wrap his head around before all the nonsense in Mykonos. But perhaps--

Absently, Alec tucked his hair behind his ear, an idle action as he mulled over the cruel possibility of their situation. But if the low light of evening wasn't enough to highlight the changes and maturation in Alec's face, perhaps the blue tattoo on his earlobe would tell a story all its own.

"Seregil, what were you doing, before you were brought to this place?"

Edited (proofreading helps) 2019-01-27 08:01 (UTC)

The blue tattoo and the use of the word tali, a word that he'd told Alec the meaning of only a few nights ago was even stranger than Alec's comments about not being able to feel him. Even five minutes ago when they had been walking from Eirual's brothel, there was no mark. The idea of its sudden appearance caused him to unconsciously reach out to touch it, all the while answering Alec's question on the last thing he was doing.

"We'd just left the Street of Lights after a rather, impressive evening." Even with all the confusion between them, he couldn't hide a slight smirk at the whole thing. Even with the pain it'd given him, Alec's flare of anger at being roused and dragged out onto a job had been at least slightly satisfying, especially when that anger had cooled almost instantaneously. When his hand reached Alec's ear, he ran his fingers over the tattoo. If he didn't know better, he would have thought it a mark from a dragon bite, but that would have made no sense. There were no dragons in Skala. "But what's this? I don't remember seeing that before."

Edited (Seriously, nothing but otters) 2019-01-27 19:26 (UTC)

It was some difficult math. They'd been to the Street of Lights so often in their time together, simply for the gaming houses in most circumstances. But Seregil didn't know his lissik tattoo, so it was before they'd visited Aurenen, and the last time they'd visited the Street before that was--

"Maker's breath, but that was years ago!" Alec took Seregil's wrists, pushed his sleeves up to his elbows, and that was all the confirmation he needed. Seregil's tattoo was gone. Or rather, had never been there. And no matter that Alec had just dealt with this time-bending nonsense, he still had the hardest time wrapping his head around it.

Alec let out a tremulous breath, and pushed both hands through his hair. Then, there was a bark of a laugh while he shook his head.

"This is cruel. Or maybe not, for your sake. I can't decide."

Seregil's brows narrowed quizically at the mention of their trip to Eirual's as being 'years ago'; it had only been hours; if even that long of a time. Alec's sudden grabbing of his wrist was startling, but he had no fear that the other, even as insane as he sounded at the moment, would do him any harm. Whatever he had been looking for was not there, and he couldn't help but chance to wonder what it was he was missing that had distressed his friend so profoundly.

"I'm afraid you're not making any sense." His brows seemed to have decided to live in a perpetually drawn line and the smirk that had been playing on his lips moments ago had turned sour. It was possible that Alec was sick. That this summoning had done something to him - and Seregil could do nothing to alleviate the problem. Except perhaps find a healer. Maker's mercy there was some form of a healer here. " - " The word was on the tip of his tongue, but he pushed it down. Alec was using that word, and he didn't want to say anything that would cause further confusion. So he swallowed it down with everything else he felt for the boy. "Alec, you don't sound well, let me take you home." He was already searching this world's network for a healer. If he could get Alec back to a safe area and find one, maybe they could sort this whole thing out.

Edited 2019-01-27 23:38 (UTC)

Perfect, now Seregil thought he was mad. Alec shook his head, and gently rested his hands on Seregil's shoulders.

"No, please. I'm perfectly in my right mind, I promise you. It's this place, Seregil. It--" Alec paused, trying to imagine how Thero would explain it. Thero was always better at explaining concepts like this. "Time isn't a line, you follow? Think of it as a tree. It has branches. One decision can go off in different directions, depending on what you choose, and then you have two new branches in that timeline.

"This place... People sometimes appear here from different branches, or even from different times on the same branch. I think you came from our past. Or I came from our future. Whichever way you want to look at it. Everything else is the same, you're just-- You're quite a lot further back than I am."

That got Seregil's brows to raise. Divergent timelines and the like made Alec sound like he was utterly insane. Except that he also sounded like Nysander, which brought the old guilt back up to his throat.

"Alright, suppose you're right," He was doing his best not to sound patronizing. "What do we do about it then?" If Alec were right, then he had no idea what to do. There was a decidedly large amount of time between them if what Alec was saying was right, and he wasn't sure how to bridge that gap.

Alec looked as if he were about to answer, but faltered, and stopped to really consider what Seregil was asking of him. What could they do about it? Better yet, what could be done? Nothing, as far as Alec knew. There was no magic here for sharing his memories with Seregil. To be perfectly fair, he couldn't be certain Seregil even wanted them.

There was so much in the span of those years between them. The good was so utterly perfect, but the bad? The bad was traumatizing at best, and Alec couldn't bring himself to willingly expose Seregil to that. So what was there to do? Expound on the good, but conceal the bad? That wasn't fair to either of them.

"I'm not sure anything can be done." Alec said quietly, though his hands remained upon Seregil's shoulders. "I can tell you about our life, if you want to hear. But they'll only be stories to you. Just things that are yet to pass. And you won't like some of it."

It was the same conclusion that he'd come to but from the other side of the thought. He could treat Alec the same as ever, but there was a distinct feeling that the other man didn't want that. There was more to them in his world than in Seregil's. A thought that offered a deep pang of jealousy for the Seregil of this Alec's world, as he was indeed not his Alec, there was no possibility that his stalwart Dalnan friend would even entertain the same feelings Seregil repressed deep inside.

Alec was right though. The stories Alec told him would be just that; there was no possibility that the emotions behind them would come flooding back; there were no emotional attachments to them, to begin with, which left them at a standstill.

"Well," He frowned, still thinking through the whole ordeal. There was no way that he wanted to lose Alec over this, no way he would allow himself to; he'd let Alec decide how they would proceed. Give him reign of it and follow his lead. It wasn't something he was comfortable with, but it was the best he could do. "I suppose the question stands as what you want to do. I've no problem with continuing as things were, but I doubt that's what you want." It would be difficult, living apart from him, but if that's what the other man wanted he would oblige with a smile on his face; even if the distance might break his heart.

It wasn't much of a choice. He'd been at Seregil's side in every capacity for years. It only seemed natural to fall back into that pattern. Obvious as the challenges seemed in this regard, the fact remained that they were stronger together than they were apart. They may need to call upon that skill at any moment in this unfamiliar place. It simply made sense to share their living space again.

Granted, that posed its own challenges. Alec was so familiar with Seregil now, and the familiarity with which he behaved around the man was bound to make Seregil uncomfortable at times. It was wholly unconscious at this juncture; case in point, his hands still rested on Seregil's shoulders. But he would try. And if it soured? Well, they would re-evaluate at that juncture, if they came to it.

He doubted Seregil would want to share a bed, in any case.

"I think it's wise to stay together. And if it poses problems... If it does, we can re-think our strategy. But we should pool our resources for now, until we can find a way out of here and back home."

There was something akin to a breath of relief then. Even with the usual schooling of his face, Seregil had often felt comfortable around Alec, comfortable enough to be as much of himself as he could be without slipping up into something unwanted. Even if Alec and his own Seregil had no secrets, he still had his own. Ones that were long before he'd met the boy and that would live in the shadows long after Alec left him for warmer, softer pastures.

"It won't." The words were said firmly as a hand clasped over Alec's which was still resting on his shoulder. The words were firm with conviction. Seregil wouldn't let things become a problem. This was what Alec wanted, and by the Maker, he'd give it to him. He refused to acknowledge the voice in the back of his head pointing out that there were other, selfish, reasons for his determination as well. He wouldn't do that to another Seregil, not when he knows what it's like to be alone and to have the one you believed loved you taken from under your grasp.

"Right," Alec nodded and turned his hand to squeeze Seregil's. "Good.

"And I understand if you don't care to know anything about our future. But--"

It was like digging a tick from his hide. There was no easy way to explain this, nothing he could say that wouldn't sound awkward or uncomfortable. Or worse, nothing that wouldn't strike the same chord with Seregil. He doubted it needed to be plainly spoken; Seregil was an observant and staggeringly intelligent man. He was bound to have figured it out by now.

"I'm accustomed to being much closer to you. So please, let me know if I make you uncomfortable. I'll do my best to... not.

"But if you care to pick up where I left off with you, I wouldn't mind that either."

The words dropped his heart into the pit of his stomach. There was longing there, so much unstated longing that it had started to become almost a physical pain. But there were things to worry about instead of getting pulled down by desire. Alec was far too beloved for Seregil to allow that to happen.

"I don't think your Seregil would like that." There's a dry laugh that comes with it. A self-deprecating thing that the Alec he knows has only heard a few times at most. This Seregil, Alec's Seregil, was a man that the Seregil standing there couldn't be more jealous of.

Alec laughed quietly and reached out to run his thumb over Seregil's cheek. "You are my Seregil, tali. Just a bit behind me."

Alec hardly had a solid understanding of how this place worked, but he was certain this was the Seregil he'd fallen in love with. They wouldn't look at each other like this otherwise. Longing would not linger in their eyes and their hearts.

"And that's alright. I don't expect anything from you, just be honest with me. It will be an adjustment for both of us."

It was hard for Seregil not to react to the touch. It was an intimacy he refused to offer to the Alec he knew, an affection it would have been wrong to give - and would be wrong to give now. No matter how much Alec believed that they were from the same timeline, it was impossible to be sure.

"I already promised one Alec that I would always be as honest as I could with him. I don't intend to stop that now." The fact that this Alec seemed not to remember the oath he'd given him was rather telling. Perhaps his Seregil hadn't given him one, but he, the Seregil standing in front of Alec would always be honorable by him; by any Alec who crossed his path, he would always do his best to trust them.

"Except for that minor detail of being in love with me."

Alec grinned, and let his hand drop with a quiet sigh. There would be no convincing Seregil otherwise, once he'd dug his heels in. The most Alec could hope for was the possibility that Seregil would eventually come around, and leave it where it was. Having Seregil here was better than being here alone, as selfish as that felt. They'd always been stronger as a team than they were apart, even if Seregil refused to return his affections for now.

"I suppose we should move into your quarters, though. There's barely anything in mine."

Seregil opened his mouth to protest; it was almost an instinctual thing now to try and deny it even if that denial was to himself. Alec wasn't wrong though. If he were entirely truthful, he was hopelessly in love with the boy and didn't see a way out of it. Eventually, Alec would find someone and perhaps settle down as Micum had. Maybe they'd part ways, and that would be the end, but the boy would forever have Seregil's heart. But it wasn't the time to be thinking about that, other things needed doing, and with a thought, a small smirk crossed his lips.

"Before that, fancy a bit of incredibly easy light burglary." It wasn't even burglary really; they'd invited the populous to look over the place and take what they wanted. He and Alec would only be doing what was asked of them. "Seeing as you're here, I think we might need at least another set of stones."

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