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takamagahara2016-09-30 07:21 pm
godsoffortune) wrote in takamagahara2016-09-30 07:21 pm
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Whether you're trying to figure out how your character would fare in this setting, trying to get some samples together, or just dipping your toes in the water, you've come to the right place! The Test Drive is here to make your life easy by letting you see what the game is like without actually joining it first. So here is how it works:
1: Post a starter with your character, including whether they are a god or shinki in the subject line.
2: Act like your character is established enough in the setting to allow your thread to go places.
3: Take on any god/shinki of your choosing, as long as they're not already in the game!
4: Comment around to the other people on the meme.
5: Have lots of fun!
Old Officials
There's a business that is desperately wishing the older members of their workforce would bow out. They've been sitting on death's door for so long and are doing little to help the company. The younger managers only want to step up and take their place! Help convince these ancient businessmen to step down.
A celebration for peanuts is sweeping through the city. Peanut butter, peanut cookies, even just plain peanuts are being sold, thrown, and praised all over. It's your job to help spread the peanut love, either by helping to make the tasty treats or by buying more peanuts from the next town over.
Oddly enough, a request has come in from a quail, of all creatures. It thinks very highly of itself and knows that it's super mega important, but it has such a hard time being anything but quiet. Your job, should you choose to accept it, is to draw attention to this quail - make it stand out like not other quail has done before.
A rowdy motorcycle gang has been plaguing the streets for a few weeks. Every night, at midnight, they make their engines roar out in unison, waking everybody in town. The riders themselves are good guys, they just have this one nasty habit that they refuse to give up because it pays tribute to their patron god. Do you have the heart to get them to quiet down?
The newest tourist stop is a large casino. It's said that everyone who enters the casino has their luck stolen from them at the door. That might just be silly superstitions and bad gamblers talking, but there is definitely an ayakashi there who seems to feed on people's luck. Maybe that's what's causing everyone to lose so much.
If you're uncertain about anything, feel free to check out the Premise, Rules, and FAQ posts. And don't hesitate to ask any questions you might have on the FAQ!
When and if you're ready to join the game, check out the Taken Characters before throwing in a Reserve and starting on your Application
Have fun!
The Medicine Seller | Mononoke | Shinki
[It's difficult to get much of a read on Hakari, as he's taken to calling himself since receiving his name. He spends most of his time with a small, bland smile that doesn't say very much about what he's thinking, or a more or less expressionless face, and his voice doesn't give away much more.]
[As he and his god approach the restaurant where the troubled company's staff are having their company drinking party tonight, though, he pauses. For a second, he actually looks like he might be frowning.]
There are...
...no ayakashi here.
Peanut Party
[There don't really seem to be any malevolent spirits lurking around the festival, either... but festivals are strange times, and strange things can happen. The shinki looks decorative enough in his bright, elaborate robes, anyway... He's somehow been drafted into working at a snack stand, and he's not really complaining; it's a chance to talk to some people, and that's a chance to sniff out a place where he's actually needed.]
[He smiles up at a passing god or shinki -- a strange, enigmatic smile, as he gestures to an array of candies, baked goods, and souvenirs on the table before him.]
Come in, please. What, I wonder... could catch such a discerning customer's interest?
Quiet Quail
[Honestly? This doesn't seem any stranger to him than a human's wish.]
[And it should be simply enough done, shouldn't it? Even without his god around, perhaps.]
[That's why, a few minutes after he finds the quail, someone might find him sitting cross-legged on the ground in a public park, carefully painting bright, glittering, apparently kabuki-influenced makeup onto a slightly fretful quail draped in colorful veils.]
Now, now. Hold still... just a little longer, I implore you.
[Nothing weird going on here, definitely.]
Roaring Riders
[Honestly, he just... doesn't see the point. Surely the annoyance of waking up once a night isn't enough for an ayakashi to really grow strong on, so why should it be their problem? If they do have to care, why not just take it up with the god in question and have them deal with their followers?]
[It's a nuisance, fine, but why waste time running after every little nuisance?]
[He glances sideways at his god, hands tucked into his voluminous sleeves to ward against a slight evening chill.]
...You're certain... this is important?
Slick Sevens
[Something is different about this mission. Strange shadows are gathering in the air, and something feels...]
[Something feels right about it.]
[There's a new light in his eyes, but even so, there's no sense in rushing in without investigating. It's important to understand the source of the problem at its roots first, after all.]
[It's important.]
[All evening, he's been going from table to table, trying his hand at all of the games, mingling with the patrons. He's spent the last hour or so at a poker table, and as he lays down a fairly miserable hand on the table after a few winning hands, his little smile remains as unshakable as ever.]
My, my.
Perhaps... my luck is finally... running thin.
[He sounds completely unconcerned by the thought, and he honestly is. What he's winning is the reactions he can read on the other players' faces -- and those are what he's been in it to win from the beginning, even if he's been careful to more or less break even. That's what gives his smile a tiny edge of victory, for a brief moment, as he glances over to where his god is.]
Old officials
[Hiyoko sighs. She wasn't terribly excited about this job either. Problems like this don't need gods intervening. If you think it's time for Grandpa to retire then you should have the balls to say it to his face!]
Ayakashi would be easier to deal with.
no subject
...People's minds can be swayed. But...
This will... resolve itself... with time.
[The men could die, or retire, or perhaps their younger coworkers could leave and start their own competing company... Either way, how important is it really?]
Why intervene?
no subject
True. But I think the whole point of this job is that somebirdie doesn't want to wait for time to resolve anything.
[Shrug]
And it is a job. Being a goddess is a lot less glamorous than you'd think.
no subject
[No. No, that doesn't sound right. That's not what he objects to.]
In this world... there is more than enough real work for us.
Is there not?
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Probably. But it's not like I've been laboring under a deluge of important prayers lately.
[Business has been slow. But she is sure not above ditching a lame request like this one for something better.]
What did you have in mind?
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[They move like currents -- calm for now, but with the potential for a whirlpool to form. He watches them like a cat watching a mouse, sharp-eyed and waiting for the moment to pounce.]
[He doesn't know anything of his past, not even a name like most other new gods' shinki seem to have. But somehow, down in his bones, he knows this:]
[He is a weapon forged for one task, and one task only.]
no subject
She waits a minute for him to say something before finally getting impatient.]
Heeellllooooo? Near shore to Hakari? Do you read me?
[She's waving a hand in front of him like the mature adult she is.]
Anybirdie hooome?
no subject
[But all the same, he bows deferentially at the waist. There's no reason to go and get his god all displeased with him.]
...My apologies, Lady Hiyoko.
I was... getting carried away.
[Or something like that. "Carried away" might be a bit of an odd choice of wording, considering his calm, controlled demeanor...]
[Then again, with that odd little smile of his, it's entirely possible he knows that isn't the right phrase.]
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[It amuses her so much that he calls her 'Lady.' Hiyoko thinks that's waaay too fancy a title for her.]
You just seemed kind of...
[She makes a vague gesture toward the horizon with her hand.]
...out of it. Like you were a million miles away. Is everything okay?
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[If he were to explain it to her, would she understand, he wonders?]
[The sense of purpose he gets when he finds an ayakashi grown strong enough to make real trouble... it's the complete opposite of feeling "out of it". The razor-sharp focus, the odd rush of the hunt, the feeling like he's somehow exactly where he needs to be...]
[Everything else can feel annoyingly petty in comparison, sometimes. Like he's a tiger being kept as a housecat, and people somehow expect him to be satisfied with hunting little tiny mice.]
Don't worry on my behalf, my lady. I had only wondered...
...Why wait... for prayers?
[The prey is already out there, whether or not someone asks them to go after it.]
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[It's tough to tell whether she's serious or teasing him. But her smile is decidedly amused.
Her expression does turn thoughtful at his suggestion. It's intriguing. There really isn't a reason to wait for prayers to go after ayakashi. This is just how everybirdie said it was done. But Hiyoko has been less trusting of the establishment lately. Maybe it's time to shake things up.
And she sure knows about the rush of the hunt.]
So... you think maybe we could bag something a little bigger if we took a freelance approach to this?
[It certainly sounds more interesting than arguing with some old guys. After a moment, she nods decisively.]
Okay, I'm game. Let's go hunting!
no subject
[His poker face doesn't shift whatsoever, and his voice is still fairly expressionless, but there might be a hint of humor there somewhere. There's got to be, right...?]
[He hadn't completely expected that she'd take his suggestion with so little argument, but once it's clear that she's made up her mind, his smile changes a little bit in tone -- sharper, but perhaps a little more genuine for a moment.]
[Without a word, he turns away from the old man's house and begins to head towards the nearest heavily populated area. Anything you can hunt gathers where there's something for it to feed on, after all.]
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Don't disappoint me~
[Not that she expects him to. Hiyoko sets out into the city with a bounce in her step. This promises to be an exciting evening after all. Now.... if she were a big mean ayakashi where would she be?]
Ayakashi like to feed on everybirdies' bad feelings, right? So we might have better luck in a rougher part of town.
no subject
[That doesn't necessarily sound quite right to him, though it's not as if he has any memories to tell him why exactly it doesn't. Whatever part of town you go to, people are still people -- still as prone, no matter how much or how little they have, to cling to things and ideas that they would be better served by letting go of.]
[But the universality of human nature aside, she does have a point. Desperation can exacerbate the worst side of people, and anyway, the population will be more dense in an area where more people are crowded together in smaller spaces. He pauses a moment, looking first up at the sky to see if any ayakashi are floating around and if they seem to have any particular direction in mind, then around at the buildings to get a sense for the feeling of the neighborhood.]
...This way, perhaps...
[And he's off again, letting his instincts lead them down seedier and seedier streets, still on the lookout for any ayakashi big enough to be worth bothering with.]
no subject
I know it's sort of a chicken and egg kind of thing, but I wonder if the ayakashi are driving people to do awful things, or if they're just attracted to people who were already doing awful things...
[It's less a question than an observation. Either way the result is the same. Hiyoko is about to add something to that effect when suddenly she tenses. Her hunter gatherer instincts are on full alert. There's something nearby.
Something dangerous. She lowers her voice and quiets her movements. It's actually sort of surprising how quiet the girl can be when she's usually so boisterous.]
Careful. I think we're getting close...
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[The shinki reaches into his sleeve and draws out what looks like a simple slip of white paper. With a flick of his wrist, he sends it towards the nearest wall, where it flattens itself and attaches itself. For a moment, nothing happens -- but then with an almost electric hum, bizarre symbols begin to appear on its surface in red, shifting before their eyes before seeming to settle.]
It's definitely near.
[For a moment, he's still and quiet, just taking in everything he can of their surroundings... Then he gestures silently to a run-down, boarded up shop nearby. To say that it's seen better days would be a drastic understatement.]
no subject
Or in his actual life. Either way, definitely a wizard. Which is really cool, by the way. She follows his gaze to the shop, careful to keep herself as still as possible. The sign on the front is faded, but just barely legible. In better days long gone by it was a pet store. She nods her understanding.
There's definitely something in there. Moving slowly and carefully, she starts moving closer to the shop. It is boarded up, but some of those boards have broken or rotted away. It wouldn't be too hard to get in there. Of course, it would alert whatever they're hunting....]
Grrrr....
[That quiet growl came from within. Maybe it's already noticed them....]
no subject
[Well, it's no matter if it has. The goal remains the same, even if the path there grows more difficult.]
[Surprisingly silent in his movements in spite of his wooden geta, he slips over to the edge of a boarded-up window, trying to get a glance inside through the uneven slats.]
no subject
Peering into the darkened shop, it's hard to make out anything but shapes and shadows. For a moment, everything is still and silent.
Until a pair of red eyes flash from deep within the shop, and a low growly voice whispers....]
Smells niiiice...
[It may not have seen them yet, but it can definitely smell a tasty meal. And considering that, there's no reason to beat around any proverbial bushes anymore. Hiyoko nods decisively to herself. And then backs away from the window, and moves purposefully to the shop's decaying back door.
If he's spent any time at all with crazy bird girl, Hakari probably knows that she's about to kick the door in. She's good at stealth, but bad at patience. Sorry.]
no subject
[Instead, he falls back to stand behind her, holding out his right hand with the forefinger and middle finger extended together. As she moves in on the door, he calls out the invocation for a Borderline, drawing it right on her heels with a single swift, confident motion.]
[It's best, after all, to keep this sort of fight... contained. It would be a shame to have their target escaping and making trouble out in the world, after all...]
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The bold approach does catch the ayakashi by surprise for a moment. Tasty snacks aren't usually so... decisive about confronting it.]
This is your last day of preying on innocent souls! The goddess of the hunt arrives! Face me, demon!
[The magical girl speech was totally necessary. Clearly.
She's really weird.At any rate, the ayakashi is more than willing to accept that challenge. It was planning on eating her anyway. Now that they have a better look at it, the creature resembles a large dog with red eyes and several rows of sharp teeth in it's gaping maw. It roars, and then charges. Hiyoko crouches into a defensive stance.]
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[He stands back behind the borderline, staring up at the ayakashi with his intense, blue eyes, keeping a peripheral watch on his goddess.]
My Lady.
[His voice rises above the creature's roar, though he hardly seems to have raised it at all, doesn't seem to have lost even a fragment of his composure. It's not a warning, exactly, so much as a firm request.]
[It's time. She needs to call for him.]
no subject
She jumps up, Only to land hard on the creature's head. Using that as leverage, she leaps off, landing behind it with surprising grace.
And yeah, he might be right. She can pummel it all she wants, but no goddess can defeat an ayakashi without a shinki's help.]
Got it! Shouki!
[Even as she's calling for him, the enraged ayakashi has shaken off the hit and is preparing it's next attack.]
no subject
[Though he can't move of his own volition like this, he somehow still gives the sense of being ready to pounce.]
Well, then.
Shall we... my lady?