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

[ketill]

Thomas smiles at him, mood transformed into something far brighter through the combination of interest and a nebulous sense of getting his own way. He has the easy certainty of someone who's sure that he won't truly face trouble, and, besides, he wouldn't despair over not being offered an invitation to return for another evening that had reminded him a little too much of home.

"I trust your knowledge of the wear and tear of stone implicitly, Mr. Fletcher."

He kneels down a moment to touch the edge of the stair, measuring the evenness of the steps with a hand.

"Yes, it would seem a true secret passage," he has too much dignity to be as gleeful as he was when he went exploring with his brother as a schoolboy, but he can't contain all his delight at the images it conjures up for him. "Were gentry in this area often under threat of attack? My - I am aware of country houses in England secret chambers built into fireplaces for secret mass, but I cannot claim much knowledge of the history of this land."

[insufficientjewel]

"The Transylvanian and Carpathian regions have always been... tumultuous, I suppose." Francis sounds a little distant, as if remembering something he might have read long ago, but his eyes are drawn still to that darkness, the long spiral of the stairs descending into oblivion. His frown has deepened a little. "Incursions by the Turks, and by the Russians, of course, and skirmishes of various kinds. I suppose it's quite understandable that even in such a defensible place, a lord might want a hiding-space."

It makes perfect sense, as does the idea of a servants' stair being hidden and merely less-used than others. So why does the sight of that darkness, that cold corridor, make the hair on the back of his neck prickle uneasily, and why is he still half struck by wonder?

Francis clears his throat, pushing his hair back with both hands, and looks back at Thomas. "I suppose," he says, a little reluctantly, "that we shan't know until we see where it leads. Shall I go first, or will you?"

[ketill]

"Perhaps, or perhaps the builder was thinking of attackers more dangerous than Turks or Russians. Something that could get past defenses that would stop a normal man, a being of the night to which such things are nothing. I have heard tell that vampyres roam these lands."

Thomas adopts his most dramatic tone, though it's laced with humor. He's always been fond of opera. There's an almost weight to the darkness, a feeling as if the stairs could stretch down forever to a world he cannot imagine. A whisper that if his childhood belief in ghosts was real, this is surely where they'd dwell.

So he strides forward confidently, ignoring any chill. It is just the type of foolishness he enjoys in stories, and the type of adventure he enjoys for himself. He imagines hidden dungeons - unsure of exactly how fanciful that might be in this strange part of the world.

"We may run into the skeletons of long dead prisoners locked away forever in this dark passage, I would hate not to offer a first greeting."

[insufficientjewel]

"They do say so," Francis agrees, unsmiling, and the way he hesitates at the top of the stairs, crossing himself briskly before following Thomas into the passageway, may suggest that he is actually afraid of such things. In truth, it isn't vampires or ghosts or any such thing he fears, only that he still doubts the wisdom of prying at all. "But the vampyr is one of those tales which one hears everywhere. To listen to the townsfolk, it is not the manor that holds such creatures, but the woods... and the caves, and the mines, and the graveyards, and every place dark and dangerous for an unwitting wanderer. In any case, it is still daylight."

Not in the tunnel, of course. The passageway is pitch black, except where the lantern-light pierces the shadows. It is not long before the open door disappears behind them, as the staircase wends its way down and down, into the depths of the mansion.

"What would you say to them, sir?" he asks, suddenly, and with a real, clear interest in his tone. "If you did come across such remains?"

[ketill]

"I would think a vampyr one of the lesser dangers of those areas, I would rather face an undead remnant hungry for blood than go into a mine or face a... bear." Thomas doesn't know if there are bears anywhere near, but it seems the best beast to sum up his feelings about the abundance of 'nature'. "Or a pack of ravening wolves." He doesn't need to listen to the townsfolk to stick to lights and something that could almost be civilization, if he felt like widening his definition considerably.

"Why, I would offer my humble apologies at interrupting their business and tell them to not think I view myself superior through the fact of my possession of vitality." He goes down another step, avoiding brushing his hand against a wall, adding more seriously; "I would likely do my best to ascertain who they might have been, and how they met their deaths. Then hope to move them to them to a place where they could receive a Christian burial. A matter of respect."

[insufficientjewel]

Pleasantly surprised by that answer, Francis actually smiles a little, and there is a slightly greater warmth in his manner. He seems to relax slightly, as though this hint of respect and piety from his companion is enough to offset what they are doing, and makes an approving sound in his throat.

"I hope," he says, a little drily, "that it need not come to that. Still, I am glad that you would think of them so."

The steps still go on, and Francis cranes past his companion to see how far it may be to the end. Still, there is no sight of an exit, only the shadows deepening ahead of them, swallowing them up into the earth. He frowns, and goes down another step.

"You would rather face a vampyr than a mineshaft?" Changing the subject back, out of interest more than anything. "Strange to hear, from a man so keen to head into the dark."

[ketill]

Thomas laughs, dismissing thoughts of bones left unclaimed in the dark and graves that have no one to visit and think of he departed. It's too easy to imagine that they're heading into a grave themselves, or to drift off in thoughts of the family he does his best to put out of mind.

"Ah, but it is strange only until you think of it in terms of preservation of myself. This is a passage in a hall built by a lord, and has been kept up by his descendants. I have no doubt that such men would be careful to be very certain that they will not have to risk a collapsed passage ruining their library. Such men often don't care as much about the stability of the mineshafts they send others down. I could perhaps converse with a vampyr, a fall of stone has no mind to change."

[insufficientjewel]

"I suppose there is little argument I can give to that," Francis concedes, not without some humour, "save that vampyrs are not known to be much swayed by conversation."

It is strange, he reflects, to hear laughter in this place. He wonders how long it has been since there was simple merriment on these stairs, if there has ever been any at all. It is not a place that lends itself much to joking. Part of him feels it is almost profane, like dancing in church; a greater part of him just welcomes that warm, human sound. The darkness is beginning to feel closer than he likes, the air cold around them.