Test Drive #34

[godsoffortune]

TEST DRIVE # 34



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.



Jingle Jeans
The fresh new spring fashion trend is accessorized denim. Super-accessorized! Bells, chains, beads, zippers, belts and more drip from every inch of this season's hot styles, and the stores need someone to model their new stock -- and bring in the buyers. It's your job to convince the fashion-savvy residents of Tokyo that these new jeans are exactly what their wardrobe needs, without getting your five chain belts tangled.


Kitty Kibble
A huge, panther-shaped ayakashi is haunting the streets of Asakusa, and the pigeons at the local pigeon shrine have disappeared! Take care of this feline predator so the surviving sacred birds won't end up as dinner on the wing.


Lagging Laundry
The residents of an Ikebukuro high-rise have an unusual problem: no matter how sunny the day or how long it's been hanging, their laundry just won't dry! Do they have a moist microclimate? An ayakashi of mold and despair? Or do they just need someone to get all that wet laundry to the nearest laundromat with a dryer until the weather warms up?


Melon Mania
A gardener in Ueno has planted a brand-new strain of muskmelon in his window boxes, and this plant is going wild! Vines have taken over the exterior of his apartment building, and beach-ball-sized fruit are popping up all over. He needs help bringing in the harvest… but his neighbors are begging for this plant to wind up in the compost heap so their lives can go back to normal. Whose side will you take?


Nice & Neat
A community art project is being hosted at the Tokyo Art Museum! Jigsaw-shaped pieces of wood about the size of a hand have been handed out to artists and crafters throughout Japan, and the pieces have just been shipped back. Now, they have to be assembled into one giant jigsaw puzzle for display. There's just one problem: someone forgot to number the pieces before they were shipped! Now they've got a 20,000 piece puzzle whose pieces don't match, and it has to be finished this weekend for the grand opening. Help!



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!

Comments

[unlucky7]

[Ginia's eyes flicker to the spear and back to him, hand twitching briefly into the halberd position for a borderline. Could she even strike down a borderline fast enough to stop him? It's something she would rather not find out. She'd also rather not take her eyes completely off him, but typing necessitates that.]

Curiosity. I was passing through and the fight caught my attention.

[As the message plays, Ginia glances at the pigeons settling back around, still silent, still keeping their distance from him as they peck at the ground for bits of scattered seed.]

Does it bother you being watched?

[curruid_coinchenn]

[ There's no enmity coming from the Servant. It's simply how he is -- until proven otherwise, everything is a threat. He puts the spear upright in a neutral position now. It's not that Berserker feels safe, it's that he has no interest in another fight right now. Nothing would be gained from a fight here. ]

Bother me? Only in the sense it makes it harder to focus on my fight. I don't know if you're a threat or not, so I have to split my attention. It's an annoyance.

[unlucky7]

[As he moves the spear into a neutral position, Ginia's posture relaxes a fraction. Her free hand opens into an open palmed position at her side. She's not here for a fight either. She glances at the spear again, pausing to admire it. Gáe Bolg. She's seen the version Archer's projected several times for Caster, slimmer, less monstrous and spiky. She's also heard the stories from Caster, read modern accounts of his legend (poor Ferdiad).

'What made you you?' is the question on her mind, but her curiosity has its limits and her manners win out.]

My apologies. Let it be known I mean you no harm unless you give me a reason to.

[Manners may win out, but sometimes sass wins out more too.]

[curruid_coinchenn]

[ Even if she asked, he wouldn't answer. The Mad King has no need or want to tell anyone about the circumstances of his creation, why he's so twisted by the circumstances of his summoning. He should not be at all, and yet here he is, in all of his broken glory and apathetic nature. ]

I have no interest in giving you a reason. I don't take joy in fighting.

[ It's not a lie -- he finds joy in nothing. Fighting is simply what he must do, a means to an end. ]

Who are you, anyway?

[unlucky7]

[There's a brief flicker of empathy in the turn of her mouth, the softening of her eyes. He is very good at fighting (or destroying some would argue), but she understands well being good at something does not mean it's enjoyable. It's a strange contrast to Caster though, who relishes a good fight.]

Ginia, in service of the gods Alex Benedetto and Ebisu.

[The answer is more a formality, her name likely as meaningless to him as the name of her gods.]

Cú Chulainn is someone I care deeply about. I suppose that's where my interest in you lies.

[curruid_coinchenn]

[ When fighting is all you do, it becomes mechanical. He's nothing more than a machine that fights and kills. The name is meaningless, but it's better to have a name than not.

The use of his True Name gets a slight reaction: his lip curls back to reveal his sharp teeth and the grip on Gae Bolg tightens. It's a momentary reaction, but it's still noticeable. ]

Then you'll notice I share very little in common with my lighter side. [ His eyes narrow. ] If all I am is a curiosity to you, then we have nothing more to talk about.

[unlucky7]

[Ginia's free hand twitches, pinky and ring finger bending back, a line ready on her mind. Does it bother him his 'lighter' side is here as himself (themselves, now, maybe) or is he indifferent to it?

She relaxes her hand and sighs.]

You are your own person as he is his. It's probably best both of you are here as gods. [Context for your being is a hell of a thing to have.] New allies are always worth seeking out.

[curruid_coinchenn]

[ The presence of his lighter side doesn't concern him. It's simply a fact of life. They existed together in Chaldea and existing in a different place, no matter what they may be now, didn't change anything. Two sides of a coin, even if Berserker represents a possibility that doesn't exist within Cú Chulainn due to the corrupting influence of Medb's wishes.

The tension leaves him slowly once again. ]

Are you saying you want to be my ally? [ How strange. ] I have no interest in it, but I won't stop you if that's your choice.

[unlucky7]

I'm entertaining the possibility.

[Things are hardly so dire politically that knowing the right person is a matter of life or death, but it's always worth forming alliances as soon as possible. Alex is not a war god nor is Ebisu, and Ebisu is already under Heavens watch enough. Allying with the right gods means passing on ayakashi extermination prayers to someone reliable, but it might also mean stopping another massacre if push comes to shove (or turning the tables on would be attackers).

It's a way to figure out what kind of person Berserker is too. Curiosity, but maybe odd sentiment too.]

Who is your shinki?

[There's another glance to his spear then over him, looking for anyone that might stand out as a vesseled shinki.]

[curruid_coinchenn]

I have no interest in telling you their name. Just know that I have one.

[ There's no need to be guarded about this information, but he chooses to be difficult. His shinki is on his right hand as a glove -- it allows him to use not Gae Bolg, but his other Noble Phantasm Curruid Coinchenn to rend ayakashi. Extremely brutal, but very fitting. ]

And it's as I said, I don't care what choice you make. If you wish to follow a god of blight, so be it.

[unlucky7]

I don't know whether to admire your shinki's fortitude or hope you have a soulless shinki.

[Ginia smirks lightly, but continues to appraise him. Does his indifference extend to someone in his care? Few care about soulless shinki, but most would still take offense at one being treated poorly. And if he has a new shinki and there are problems...

Hm. Time will tell.]

Is there anything you care about?

[curruid_coinchenn]

That's not your concern, is it?

[ Apathy is truly all he knows. To care about something would mean being more than just a machine. He does seem slightly offended by that implication, but only slightly. ]

Achieving my goals and killing anything in the way of those goals.

[ But he doesn't have any goals right now, though, so...no. He cares about nothing and no one. An empty, meaningless existence. ]

[unlucky7]

It becomes my concern if you're mistreating your shinki.

[It's stated in the pamphlet given to shinki when they arrive that there's nothing wrong with leaving a god if things aren't working out. And if the god refuses to let a shinki go or is causing other problems, there's a list of gods and shinki to contact for emergency action. As it happens, Ginia is one of the volunteers.

He's nothing like the Cú Chulainn she knows, but, perhaps foolishly, she wonders if there's some similar core somewhere. For someone with so much life, it's a little sad to see a version so single-minded.

But while she might worry over other shinki, it's not her role to manage a god that isn't hers. Ginia sighs again, shakes her head.]

May you achieve your goals, but not at the expense of others or yourself.

[curruid_coinchenn]

I treat them as I see fit. They suit my purposes well and there are no complaints. They're a tool, like I was.

[ Servants are tools, familiars for mages to use, nothing more and nothing less. To Berserker, his shinki serves the same purpose -- a tool.

The only similarities between the two are the fact that this cold killing machine is a part of him. Remove the empathy, remove any joy and warmth, and this is what remains. He is too corrupted by the Grail, by the circumstances of his summoning to have that warmth. A possibility that could not be, that shouldn't be. ]

Hmph, don't concern yourself with how I achieve my goals. Don't stand in my way and there won't be a problem.

[unlucky7]

[There's a tightening in her jaw. Yeah, it's an attitude she's heard before, not only about shinki, but also from the few Servants that are gods and know the context of their existence. She can't speak to the relationship of Masters and Servants, but there is an important part about the relationship of a shinki and god that's easy to overlook.

Blight can take a god down faster than it can taken down a shinki.

Ginia smiles.]

Hey, give me a name.

[curruid_coinchenn]

[ It doesn't concern him. Even if he ends up blighted, it's simply a side effect. It will hasten his death, something he doesn't mind. Much of his existence is aimed at ending his life, at finding a place to die. ]

If you mean what you may call me, Berserker.

[unlucky7]

It isn't, but good to know.

[Caster may not be her god anymore, but she keeps in touch with her old temple. News travels fast after new arrivals come in, especially when one of them shares a face with one of the few gods here as himself.]

I meant name me. I'm a shinki, right? What's another tool for your arsenal?

[curruid_coinchenn]

I don't need one.

[ Is it petty? Probably. But he has no interest in taking her on as another shinki. His look just grows colder as he stares at Ginia. ]

You serve other gods already. A tool that's used by others won't serve my purpose. Your loyalties lie elsewhere.

[unlucky7]

[Of course. It would have been too easy that way. Ginia huffs out a laugh at his answer, genuinely amused despite herself. She covers her mouth and shakes her head as she taps out a reply.]

For as different as you say you are from Caster, you two are still similar in very specific ways.

[curruid_coinchenn]

We are two sides of the same coin, so there are still similarities. It doesn't bother me, just don't expect me to be anything like him. Be surprised when I am.

[ Loyalty is still something he values deeply, even in this form. His own form of loyalty is deeply twisted, like everything else about him, but it's still there. without loyalty, there is too much of a possibility of betrayal. Betrayal is something he will kill someone over. ]

[unlucky7]

[Of the similarities to keep, loyalty is one of the better ones. There's something he still believes in in some way. That much she can respect. The rest... her brief burst of mirth fades into a serious neutral.

A lot of people around are dangerous. If the Heavens choose shinki and gods based on how well they can exterminate ayakashi (and maybe each other), they've pulled in a fine selection of fighters and killers. In that regard, even with his brutality, Berserker isn't that much more dangerous than some of the people here.

It's his apathy that leaves her uneasy. Not only because of her sentiment to Caster - and dammit, it's not fair to compare but it's hard not to either - but because it's a bad way to life.

But. Not her god. Not her friend. If there's anyone she'd rather focus energy on, it's Caster.]

What are you going to do now?

[curruid_coinchenn]

[ His apathy is simply who he is. Worn down by endless battles and endless violence, he became a hollow shell. Strength was all that mattered, so that's all he focused on. There's no joy left in him, all of the emotions he deemed useless turned to strength.

Berserker simply shrugs at the question, as if it's one of the most pointless things he's been asked. There's only one answer, of course. ]

I'm going to find something else to do. The battles never end, so there must be another one for me to fight.

[unlucky7]

Heard there's an art project at the Tokyo Art Museum that could use some help.

[Ginia smirks faintly, finding it hard to imagine Berserker helping out with a giant jigsaw puzzle. Or who knows, maybe it's the perfect non-fight prayer he needs. If everything is equally tedious, no prayer is worse than the other.]

But if you want to fight, I can point you toward an ayakashi lurking in the canals.

[curruid_coinchenn]

[ The fight would be easier. Even though a simple, mechanical task like a puzzle is not beyond him, his presence has the tendency to disturb people. Not that it bothers him, it's simply easier to fight. The path of least resistance is generally the one he takes. ]

Point me to it, then, and I will take care of it.

[unlucky7]

[Unsure how familiar he is with the area and unsure whether he's any better with technology than Caster, the best way is to lead him there. Pocking her phone, Ginia gestures for him to follow before she takes off running, leaping effortlessly onto the nearest lamppost.

She moves with the long, weightless leaps a shinki can do, but also with the ease of someone used to running and fighting and comfortable with it. Lamppost to lamppost to lamppost to rooftop she moves without ever losing or wasting momentum, sparing only a glance over her shoulder to see if he's following.]