takamagahara | (no subject)

TEST DRIVE # 07

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!

To get you started, here are some ideas for thread-starters! Feel free to come up with your own ideas if these don't strike your fancy, though.

Echoing Endlessly

Many people in the area are complaining about a strange echo following them around. It never seems to go away and, in fact, collects more and more echoes with each passing moment, creating a cacophony of sound. There have been reports of a few people slowly going crazy because of this echoing. It's your job to find what's causing it and put an end to the echoes!

French Frenzy

The new craze has swept over the city! Everything French is so in right now, and everyone wants something newer and Frenchier to make them stand out from the crowd. Just your luck, you happen to have something very French you can peddle - or maybe you can convince someone just how French your very Japanese things are!

Gateway Guardians

A very strange old shinki has left you with a very simple request: guard this door and don't let anyone through. It looks like a totally normal door on a totally normal house! You might be curious to peek through it, but it's locked and you were told not to go through yourself either...

Helping Hands

There's an ayakashi roaming around that is literally just hundreds of hands that randomly grab people and things and move them around before disappearing. The odd thing is that they are... actually doing good things? Maybe it's a scheme to suck people into a plagued afterlife without being caught, or maybe they just really want to help people out.

Irksome Illusions

There's a certain street in the downtown area that has some of the craziest rumors being spread about it. Apparently going down this street will just bring you back to the entrance, but when you turn around to head back you'll only find yourself at the entrance again. Moreover, there are a lot of creepy things that whisper and appear as you walk, more with each turn you make...

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!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Yup, definitely a newbie. Nagi had encountered this a few times before. The confusion, the wide-eyed realization. He wondered why the ones in charge in heaven didn't explain this better to people. It would certainly make everyone's existence more efficient.

Nagi shrugged.

"Blending in helps, depending on the purpose."

Sometimes, it was inconvenient. But Nagi generally felt more comfortable when he was invisible.

"Whoa, whoa, kid, no need to talk my ears off," he teased with pleading hand gestures. "If you're up to something fun, I could be persuaded to help out. Blending in's not my strong suit, but listening definitely is and you say a lot for a kid of few words."

Schuldig smirked, wondering if his little play on words would be interesting to the guy. Some people liked puzzles, and he was one of them. He sidled up to his new 'friend' and tried to rest a hand on the boy's shoulder. Personal space wasn't a big thing for him, he was pretty sure, and he had a hunch that his ability to listen would prove stronger with physical contact - clothes got in the way, sure, but it was a much thinner layer than a gap of several feet most preferred to keep when casually conversing.

Nagi glanced disapprovingly at the hand on his shoulder, but made no effort to move it, for the time being.

"I wasn't really up to anything," he said. Not right at this moment, anyway. He tilted his head curiously. He wasn't sure what sort of talents this guy had, but if he was indeed a master at listening, that could come in handy.

"Have you heard anything interesting?"

"Oh plenty," he insisted. He patted the boy on the shoulder twice then removed it to stuff both hands in his pockets. "For one, all these folks out here combined don't measure up to all the buzzing that you've got going on in your pretty little head. Smart kiddo like you doesn't take leisurely strolls, I figure."

Then he cast his gaze outwards. "As for the flies out there, I heard they'd found a particularly interesting way to die off lately - some sort of maddening echo. Sound familiar?" Leaving out the 'wishing to know how they're doing it part' still seemed prudent. No need to reveal all of his cards just now, even if someone like this guy was bound to keep his mouth shut for so many other reasons than threat of bodily and mental harm. You caught more with honey than vinegar, as the saying went.

"Some kind of ayakashi, probably," he answered matter-of-factly, as though ayakashi are always causing trouble. They cam in all different shapes and sizes.

He gave the man a more scrutinizing look.

"You can read my mind?"

For some reason, it didn't seem like such a stretch to suggest such a thing. After all, Nagi could move things without touching them. And perhaps intuitively, he understood that there were others out there who could do similar things with their minds.

It was a bothersome idea, however. Nagi didn't like random strangers poking about in his head.

"And much more," he added with a smirk. He wasn't about to let on to the fact that he couldn't be sure the extent of how true that was; it just felt right that he was more powerful than just a mind-reader... like that had only been the tip of his iceberg at one point.

"I'm just a nice enough guy not to probe too deep on someone like you, who clearly has more to him than the sheep out there-" He gestured to the mundanes still ignoring him. "Common courtesy from one wolf to another, don't you think?"

The smirk was back immediately. "Now these ayakashi on the other hand - them I'd be happy to rip open and find out more just on principal. That's a heck of a power, making people go crazy from sound alone."

"Hn."

Wolf wasn't exactly how Nagi would describe himself. But neither was he a sheep, either. More like an observer, looking in and waiting. For what, he could not say. Just that there was something more in this business of being dead than just answering the prayers of the living.

Heaven was up to something.

"They have a lot of odd powers," Nagi said with a shrug. "They influence people, make them do things."

Schuldig caught enough of that suspicion to hum pleasantly. "Would that be the ayakashi or the gods then?" He grinned knowingly. He had this gut instinct telling him that anyone that would keep him in the dark about his past or the full extent of his powers wasn't worthy of his time or trust, let alone his allegiance.

"You're more wolf than you know, kiddo. You're just smart enough not to bare your teeth at any old sheep running across your path. Gotta save up our strength for the other predators worth taking down. You must have thought about it at least once, right? I bet someone like you could crush one of these walking empty sacks if you felt like it."

Schuldig was kind of hoping to see it. Sounded very fascinating and grotesque and powerful - just the kind of thing that was worth sticking around to see.

By 'empty sack' Nagi assumed the guy was talking about humans. And he was probably right, he could kill one pretty easily. But that was a pointless waste of effort. Humans often rushed in to their deaths all on their own accord.

"What do you know about predators?"

Somehow, he had a feeling he wasn't talking about ayakashi.