TDM The First

[lethevale_mods]

You probably know how this works, but just in case, here's the idea:

1. You put the name of the character you're testing out in the subject line
2. You write a starter (or several!) in the comment, with the Lethevale AU of your character.
3. People respond with their characters. Threads occur. Friendships are made. The world is put to rights.
4. None of the threads in the Test Drive are game-canon.

Here are some prompts to start you off!

1. Seeking Shelter

You were riding along the mountain road when your horse, terrified by some dark shadow you couldn't see clearly, screamed and bolted, throwing you. Now you're caught in the middle of nowhere, in Lethe Wood, and the rain is getting heavier by the minute.

But what's that? A light? A house? Perhaps if you knock, they'll give you a bed for the night. It'll all look better in the morning...

 

 

2. The Beast! The Terrible Beast!

You took all the precautions. You carried a lantern, kept to the safer streets. Or maybe you didn't. Either way, you were attacked by something as big as a horse, with gleaming white teeth and a hideous howl.

When you run into another person, will you warn them? Will you ask them for a hiding place, or stand and fight? If all else fails, maybe you can use them as live bait...

 

3. Eat, Drink, and Be Merry

Lethevale isn't all monsters and storms. Mostly, but not all. Tonight, there's a party in the Black Swan - dancing, music, and of course, an open bar. Take the chance to get to know your neighbours, why don't you?

4. Pay No Attention To The Passage Behind The Curtain

The two of you were just wandering around Lethe Hall, when you leant on a candlestick, and... what's this? The bookshelf's opened? There's a hole in the wall now, and a spiral staircase leading down into the dark. You know, it's probably best to just leave well enough alone - but you have to admit, it's curious...

COMMS	GENERAL INFO	NEW PLAYERS	CURRENT PLAYERS
main writings ooc mods mod npcs	rules setting premise faq/mod contact gameplay	reserves taken latest tdm application au workshop	contact (locked) hiatus/drop calendar latest hmd lethevale

Comments

2

[deuceoftears]

There are sounds from the up the road behind him, plodding and rustling and one sharp snort, and then soft thuds turn into thunder as a patch of night surges past him. The great black warhorse looks smaller, bearing down on the beast, so rarely confronted with anything its own size. But it rears up, refuses the comparison, and before the creature can lunge to disembowel it, the horse bring its full weight (and its rider's, another blur in black, with a face like a single lofted lantern) down on the creature's head. Something cracks and squelches, and the beast shudders and stumbles, but doesn't collapse.

Its head hangs open like a second maw.

It turns from side to side, wobbling horribly, making a snuffling, gurgling noise: both blinded and choked by its own ichors, the beast is still trying to sniff them out. After wheeling away to bleed off momentum, the horse and rider come around for another charge. Hearing the clatter of stained steel horseshoes picking up again, the beast lurches and lopes back into the thicker dark of the forest.

The horse chivvies back and forth, stamping at the edge of the road, steely-eyed and resentful of his stymied pursuit. But the rider holds him back, leaning forward to stroke his neck, murmuring in a low voice with a soft accent. "Thanks, Rev. You got him enough for tonight, okay?"

He slips down off the horse and approaches Fitzjames on foot, and they finally get a look at each other. The boy can't be older than twenty, probably closer to seventeen.

"Are you alright, sir?"

Re: 2

[endofvanity]

Fitzjames is still standing there, rooted to the spot, and when the boy speaks, he stares with a look of stark incomprehension on his face. He's still half-seeing the monstrous lion; a trickle of sweat runs down his back just as it did in Africa, and the light seems strange.

Then his hand falls to his side, his vision clears, and his gaze focuses on the boy's face.

"Yes. Yes—I—I'm quite all right. Thank you." He looks past the boy to the horse. "You—that is a fine animal you have there."

It feels like a ridiculous thing to say, but it's about all his brain can muster.

Re: 2

[deuceoftears]

"Yes, sir. He'll fight anything," Jedao says, instead of he was my father's, which, really, amounts to the same thing. Revenant snorts and bites his arm, hard enough to bruise. Jedao winces without any hint of surprise, waits until the horse's teeth release him, then pulls a waterskin out of his pack with the other hand.

"Here."

Re: 2

[endofvanity]

Fitzjames's eyebrows go up at the little interaction between horse and rider, which smacks of more intellect than he normally expects of a horse. He accepts the water and drinks, then hands it back.

"My thanks. For the water and for the rescue." A small, ironic smile. "You're a stranger here yourself, I take it." A blunt assumption based on the boy's looks and accent, to be sure.