TEST DRIVE ; no. 1

[powergamer]

TEST DRIVE MEME

So first of all, welcome to Dyspros' very first test drive meme! We're happy that you're interested in the game, and we hope that you have some fun playing with the setting, regardless of whether you decide to join or not.

As a general reminder, we recommend that you look over the game information before jumping in. In addition, if you decide you're ready to join, you're welcome to put in a reserve, and applications will open on May 4th at 12:01 AM (EST). Finally, if you have any questions or concerns, please send us a message!

So now, without further ado, let's get to playing:

A ; NEW RECRUIT

Well then, welcome to the guild, Initiate! After some thought (or maybe the choice was obvious), you've finally settled on a guild, and you're ready to get started. You're welcome to check out your accommodations and see what kind of people you'll be living with for the foreseeable future. This is your home now, so hopefully you get alone with them. If not, then you can just spend all of your time sharpening your skills!

Whether you're just claiming your bed or you're jumping right into the thick of things to practice or sign up for a mission, a new recruit is unlikely to go unnoticed.

B ; MISSION TIME

It's your first mission, which is pretty exciting, right? You have all these pictures in your head of going off to fight a dragon, to come home with great riches and valor...

Too bad those missions are for the higher ups.

No, it's the middle of the night, and you're out guarding the small fields just outside of town from wild animals. Right now you're standing by the cucumbers, which are considered especially important to guard, for some reason. You have to fight off sleepiness somehow, so maybe an animal will come out for you to scare off, or maybe you'll just end up chatting with whoever is stuck doing this with you.

Or you know, if you're a dick, you'll steal the vegetables for yourself.

C ; STORM THE CASTLE

Okay, the missions for initiates are pretty lame, and you're ready for some real fighting. You can go alone, or you can go with some other people, but it's off to Castle Dyspros! You'll find a variety of creatures to fight, and the power of teamwork will help you make progress through the castle!

Or you'll die. There's that too. Good thing it's fairly inconsequential, if weird!

Either way, have fun fighting to your heart's content!

D ; PICK YOUR OWN

Just like it says, if none of the others appeal to you, feel free to make up your own prompt!

Comments

mako; legend of korra

[assiduous]

option d

[ the shift from the physicality of bending to the much more academically rigorous school of summoning is pretty hard as it is. what makes it worse, is mako barely knew how to read the papers back home, let alone some weird academic text on spirits, and here, that's all he does! cooped up inside the mages guild library, with the... assistants.

the corpse-y assistants. who are gross. and dead and nasty and smell, has anyone else noticed the smell?

that is why mako is furtively (but also trying not to look suspcious) slipping the two books he's trying to study into a messenger bag and making his way for the exit.

bitch is gonna go study in a park or something. you know, where it's sunny and doesn't smell like dead things? maybe you'll see him there, legs folded with the open book in his lap, following the lines of text with his finger, and looking only slightly confused.

(this passage is giving him trouble, okay. he's read it three times, or tried to.) ]

[rebonding]

[It doesn't take long for Korra to get sick of the growing stench. She's not a big fan of this studying business either, but it it's going to get some semblance of her bending back, she's just going to have to deal with it.]

I don't know how anyone can even think straight in there with that stink, never mind read all these crazy books about summoning spirits.

[This is her greeting as she drops a pile of books on the ground beside Mako, sitting down next to him and folding her legs.]

I'm guessing that book is just as boring as all of these? [She raises a judgmental eyebrow, peering over Mako's shoulder.]

[assiduous]

[ mako sighs, and sits upright, carefully avoiding conking heads with korra as he does so. ]

You know it. [ he leans back onto his hands, his spine curving towards the ground, and tips his head back to crack his neck. ]

Maybe they're hoping that if we breathe enough of the air in there, we'll start seeing spirits without even actually trying.

[rebonding]

[Korra grins, giving a half-laugh.]

Whatever works. I'm sick of running around without my bending.

[Even these "spells" can't get it back properly, but she's willing to try. Korra's never been so hot at the spiritual and intellectual aspects of bending; building her skills here is proving to be a difficult task.]

How've you been doing with it? [She nodded toward the sizable tome on Mako's lap.]

[assiduous]

[ at korra's bending comment, he opens his eyes ever so slightly to get a good look at her through his eyelashes, checking to see how sick she is of it, even though he's going through the same situation. kind of. mako's trouble with the summoning isn't the intellectual aspect of the art, or even the spiritual (summoning is just as much jumping through mental hoops as it is learning to sit and listen — even if it is a different kind of listening). mako's problem is the reading itself. lectures, or verbal explanations, he gets just fine. reading though? he's in trouble. despite whatever spell translates for them, hasn't solved his illiteracy problem. almost half of the big words he doesn't know, and has to try and figure out based on context, or worse, ask.

he gives korra a wry frown. ]

Not too hot. But — [ he lifts one hand and stirs at the air with it, a look of concentration on his face. visible only to other summoners, the faintest outline of a miniature spirit fades into existence. purple fur, and trailing miniature strawberries on vines, the little spirit butts its head against his hand in a gesture of animal affection, solidifying more and more, ] I think I made a friend.

[ yeah, he might not know a lot yet, but what he does know, he's pretty good at. ]

[rebonding]

Heeyy!

[Korra grins, watching the purple little creature interact with Mako.]

Nice work, city boy!

[No matter how much Korra has been trying to focus on calling a spirit to her aid, she hasn't been able to yet. It's like she's got the same block she did back home all over again. She's been considering meditating on it. She's supposed to be a bridge to the spirits, so it shouldn't be too hard.

Right?]

I think I've almost gotten one once or twice, but it's never enough. It's not the same kinda connection as I have with the Spirits back home. No that I was ever great at that either, but you get the point.

[assiduous]

[ mako smiles at the praise, lettings his fingers brush against the soft yet non-existent fur. trying to stay focused enough to keep the olpakapi in the human world, but still engaged in the conversation, his gaze hops back and forth between the spirit and korra — every time he looks away, it begins to fade, though less and less as time goes on and he becomes accustomed to it. ]

Wanna try keeping this one here since I already brought her over? So you can try and get a better feel for what you're looking for.

[ the spirit in question appears to be trying to climb onto his lap, though she's barely a hand and a half tall. ]

[rebonding]

Sure!

[Her nervousness about the task doesn't show when Korra agrees to it. She pouts, focusing all she could on the little spirit Mako had pulled up. It begins fading more quickly than when he had been sustaining it; before long, it's vanished from view completely.]

Shoot. [Korra grumbles, folding her arms and glaring at the spot where the spirit had once stood. She sighs, knowing that it's better to keep optimistic than to get frustrated- something else she's been working on lately.]

[assiduous]

[ mako's quiet as he watches olpika fade, mouth folded in a small frown as he feels the spirit slip out of reach. he looks to korra for a second, worried, before leaning over and nudging her with his shoulder, letting the contact linger as he leans into her side, lopsided with the book still in his lap. ]

We'll keep working on it, yeah?

[ easy for you to say, mako, you've been able to evoke from every element so far, and you have three spirits you know by name already. ]

[rebonding]

Yeah, I'll get it.

[She welcomes the contact and leans into him as well, plucking the book off his lap and tossing it on the ground to make it feel less awkward.]

I'm thinking maybe I'll meditate on it for a while.

[Much as Korra hates meditating, sometime's it's just necessary.]

I know the spells and stuff. I think it's just a focus thing.

[She hopes, at least.]

[assiduous]

[ mako's gaze flits to the book for a second before, now free of it's weight, he stretches one leg out in front of him and pops the other knee up to rest his forearm on. leaning against her like this is his unsaid way of supporting her — literally. (FROM THE STREET I BET THEY LOOK SO CUTE) ]

You'll get it, I know you will. [ HE BELIEVES IN U KORRA UR GREAT OK ]

Wanna focus and meditate here for a bit, or do you wanna go find lunch and talk through it?

[ food!! they can find something good, right? away from the dubious cleanliness of the guild kitchens. ]

[rebonding]

If you're gonna put it that way, let's get some lunch.

[Korra laughs, but doesn't make a move to stand up yet. She doesn't exactly want to.]

Know any good places?

[assiduous]

I hear there's a place that sells okonomiyaki in Ironwall by the disciples, but it's Ironwall, so... [ he shrugs, bc ew, expensive. ] Or there's probably cheaper stuff in Nickelhollow.

[nowiwins]

[ Nowi had never been that worn out in her whole— well, a very long time. It was her first day at the Fighter's Guild and she was not used to not being the strongest. She was even a little bit discouraged, and Nowi never liked being in a bad mood. But nothing makes her happier than being outside, playing, and maybe making friends!

Nowi looked around the park, everyone had seemed to find their friend groups already. Not that she had trouble making friends, ever, but she was surely out of her element.

Who was the guy sitting by himself though? Was he like her? Maybe they could be friends! Maybe they could play together! Suddenly Nowi's confidence was back. She could feel energy flowing through her as she got more and more excited.

She ran over to this mystery man and sat down next him.]

Hi there! I'm Nowi! That book looks awfully boring, would you like to play for a bit?

[assiduous]

[ taken by surprise, mako flinches away slightly from the sudden intrusion, looking up from his book in slightly bewildered alarm. oh. just a kid.

(A KID IN A WEIRD FISHSCALE BIKINI???? omf wat) ]

Uh, sorry kid. Kinda busy. [ READING A boring old book, ewwww. ]

[nowiwins]

[ Nowi was slightly taken. Who wouldn't want to play? ]

You can never be productive without a break! Playing is how I got strong, it can help you too!

[ Nowi gave him a eager smile. One that people (usually) couldn't refuse. ]

[assiduous]

[ this loser, that's who. he shakes his head apologetically, ]

Yeah, but I gotta get this section done before I go to work. Maybe some other time? [ .... he's just saying that to get her off his back. ]

[nowiwins]

Work?? You work here? How are you supposed to work and study and have time to play?

Everyone needs to have a bit of fun once in a while

[ Nowi sits down next to him, showing no intention of leaving ]

[assiduous]

[ cue skeptical eyebrow raise. he turns back to the book, skimming the passage with his finger to find his lost spot, ]

Why wouldn't I work — I wanna eat, right?

[nowiwins]

[ that was something Nowi never worried about. dispite being an adult, she never thought about those things. Oh goodness, this kid was more of an adult than she was ]

I — I guess you're right.

[ she slouched back, and looked down at the grass for a moment ]

You just looked alone, like me. And I know that I want friends, so I thought maybe you would too.

[assiduous]

[ ... oop, that's how you get to mako's attention. ]

You've got somewhere to stay, right? [ ... oh god unless, based on nowi's clothes, she's in some weird sex ring and AS MUCH AS HE WANTS TO HELP he knows what pimps are and why he shouldn't cross them. ]

[nowiwins]

[ Nowi couldn't help but chuckle. It was really cute that this kid was worried about her. ]

I am living with my guild, there's no need to worry about me. What about you? You look like something is on your mind. I tend to worry when I see such a young kid like yourself all stressed out over nothing!

[assiduous]

[ omf wat ]

I'm young? You're what, thirteen?

[nowiwins]

[ Nowi gives a slight laugh, she's used to this by now ]

I know I don't look it, but I'm 1,000 years old, give or take a few years. Once you hit 400, you kinda stop keeping count. It's, well...it's quite complicated really. But I know you're busy...

[ MAYBE THIS WILL DRAW HIM IN ]

[assiduous]

[ YEAH YOU GOT HIM...

sarcastically, ] Okay, you're a thousand, and I'm Princess Yue.