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

[cast_iron_bitch]

1. seeking or not seeking shelter:

Ever since his brother's death, Laurent had dreaded getting on a horse. That didn't mean he didn't do it, of course. To ride was far easier than to be hitched behind a horse, and like most things he set his mind to, Laurent was excellent at it.

But since seeing August trampled under hooves, Laurent could never truly love the act again, all the moreso now that his mare had thrown him from her back and into the ditch below. "Loyse," Laurent hissed into the darkness, but the horse had long fled, spooked by the shadow that had streaked across their path.

The shadow that Laurent was now alone with.

Mouth set in a grim line, Laurent reached past the books in his satchel to the LeMat revolver beneath them.

The brush stirred.

He cocked the hammer.

3. there was an attempt at being merry:

Laurent only came here for accomodation. A warm, dry bed, potentially a bath, seclusion from prying eyes. Yet on arrival he'd been told that there were no beds, but one might open up at any moment.

That was...unsettling, but with nowhere else to go and his horse long gone, all Laurent could do was wait. Perched now at the bar, he could not feel more out of place. He did not drink, a fact that grew only more resolute the number of times the barkeep cajoled him.

"Water," he said, not for the first time as the barkeep returned. "And stew." Pale eyes flashed. "There is extra coin in it for you if you leave me be."

4. the passage:

Laurent stared in consternation at the hole where the bookshelf had only just been. A part of him - a small, ragged part - thrilled for the sudden adventure, while the rest of him pined for the spines of books he'd truly wished to see.

In their place, darkness beckoned, as well as the tremble of distant candlelight against the walls. Laurent hesitated.

He should not go in alone, yet he did not know a soul here.

4

[major_rawne]

Rawne paused in the doorway, taking in the room. He'd been merely intending to discover the layout of the place, but here was a greater mystery. A secret passage through a bookshelf. Who knew where it went?

"Are you going in?"

[cast_iron_bitch]

Laurent turned toward the voice, adjusting the wire spectacles that had slipped down his nose as he peered. He didn't need them, but as a slight man of limited means, Laurent had long ago learned that one of his chief strengths was being underestimated. One would be surprised at how many looked down upon those with imperfect vision.

"Hidden passages are rarely a sign of anything good," he ventured, shifting to feel the reassuring weight of the revolver in his pack. "Yet it would be a missed opportunity not to explore. Are you armed, sir?"

[major_rawne]

"I'm always armed," Rawne says. He pulls out his revolver and holds it up. He assumes that this man needs a bodyguard, or at least someone with more physical prowess. He does not look able to hold his own in a fight.

[cast_iron_bitch]

Laurent had not spent much time with soldiers, yet this man brought them to mind at once, both in his bearing and in the revolver he readily produced. Very well, then. If he meant to offer protection, Laurent would not refuse, and he was not so far from boyhood that the mystery before him did not tantalize. He rummaged through his pack, producing a lantern that he lit on the closest candle.

Once the glass window was closed, Laurent set off without another wird down the stairs, his pale eyes watching for signs of traps or other occupants.

[major_rawne]

Rawne followed close behind Laurent, keeping inside the light thrown by the candle. The stairway was narrow and the stairs were worn; dips in the stone were worn by countless generations of feet. One of his feet slipped a little on the stone and he steadied himself by grabbing Laurent's shoulder.

[cast_iron_bitch]

Laurent tensed. He was not often touched, due to both lack of opportunity and by design. After his uncle, he had little taste for even positive connection, but his smaller form held up with remarkable steadiness as the other man righted himself.

"Smooth stones," he observed. "The passage is either very old, or under frequent use. Either way we must be vigilant."

[major_rawne]

Rawne noticed his tension and took care not to surprise him like that again. The other man was the one with the lantern, after all.

"Indeed. Meeting another person here would be hard for us to explain."

[cast_iron_bitch]

Laurent was a fair actor by necessity, but even so he didn't relish the mental gymnastics that would be required to explain their presence away. "It would set a poor impression," he agreed. "Though I was truthful when I said I only wished to see the library. And you?"

Laurent paused in their descent. "What is your business in Lethe Hall?"

[major_rawne]

"I was invited," he said, "by the lord of the manor. For private business."

[cast_iron_bitch]

"Indeed," answered Laurent when no more was forthcoming. It was a curious answer. "I am told Lord Lethevale has not been seen in more than three decades. Many assume that he is dead, though his cousin has yet to take up his rightful title of Lord of the Manor."

Laurent's face was blank. "Perhaps you meant to say the Lord's cousin."

[major_rawne]

Fuck was his one thought. "I did. I have a terrible memory for such things."

He didn't of course, but the sort of things he was up to... well, he wouldn't be telling this slip of a man anything, if he could help it.

[cast_iron_bitch]

"Fortunate that we happened upon one another then," said Laurent. "Great men are particular about their titles." And lesser men would kill over them, as Laurent knew only too well.

"I'll not ask after you private business," continued Laurent, again moving deeper down the stairs. There were no sounds from below, but he kept his voice low all the same. "But what is your profession, sir?"

[major_rawne]

"I am a trader," he said, "and you?" It's technically the truth, after all. He notices that the darkness around them has gotten deeper, the further they go.

[cast_iron_bitch]

"I am also a trader of sorts," said Laurent. "I collect and purvey rare books. Coin is well enough, but I far prefer to receive another rare text in return for my wares. I had hoped the town might be in need of someone like me."

Laurent caught his companion's eyes in the dim light. "Do the townspeople strike you as great readers, Mister...?"

1

[insufficientjewel]

The man who stumbled out from among the leaves was no shadow, no spook in the night. True, he was tall, and shrouded in a dark cloak, and moved with surprising grace and silence for a man who was limping so heavily - but he was solidly human, and at the sight of the gun pointed at him, raised his hands in pacification. He carried a heavy satchel on one shoulder, and no weapons that could be seen, and by the look of him, was as weary and cold as Laurent.

"Please." His voice was calm, but not without emotion; there was a thread of weary desperation that carried through in his tone. "I am looking for shelter. Nothing more."

[cast_iron_bitch]

Laurent tensed even as the source of rustling brush proved more man than monster. He looked and sounded exhausted and had a terrible limp, yet that was not quite sufficient reason to trust him. Laurent lowered his weapon, though it remained in his hand and not the pack.

"Your horse was also spooked?" he ventured. "Shelter may very well be the least of our concerns. My mare ran only moments ago - whatever the cause, it remains close."

[insufficientjewel]

Francis nodded, slowly, looking behind him into the lashing rain and darkness. He opened his mouth to say something, but it was drowned out by a crash of thunder, hot on the heels of another blinding flash of lightning that left him blinking to see at all. As the echoes died away, he took a deep breath and turned back to the other traveller.

"I have no gun," he said, a little more loudly, but still with apparent calm. "No weapon at all. I am not a soldier, nor a fighter. If whatever it is comes upon us, shelter is my only defence. And if it does not, we may still freeze out."

[cast_iron_bitch]

Laurent tensed for the sudden crack of sound, stepping instinctively away from the closest tree. He had endured many storms in his life on the road, but that didn't mean he desired to be caught in one.

Laurent frowned. There was nothing else for it - they must journey on foot, and hope that horse or shelter found them before lightning or whatever else was out here with them in the storm. "Onward then, to whatever we may find," he said, keeping his firearm at the ready, though he now pointed it steadily away from his companion. "I am Laurent."

[insufficientjewel]

"Francis Fletcher." He hesitated, drawing his cloak more tightly around himself, before falling in beside the other man. In the distance, above the howl of the wind, there sounds a louder, more animal howl. The trees and cliffside press in on them, deepening the darkness, and it is not only the cold that makes Francis shudder. His hand goes up under his cloak, touching the St Christopher's medal around his neck, and he takes a deep breath, offers up a prayer for protection.

[cast_iron_bitch]

This Francis was frightened. Laurent didn't judge him for it - the storm was fierce, and whatever belonged to that howl no doubt fiercer still - but they must keep their heads. "Your instinct will be to keep to the trees," he said, counting the time between flashing light and rolling thunder. "But the storm is close, and tall trees will only invite lightning strikes. Come."

Laurent hurried along what little path could be seen in the darkness. "I believe I saw lights not far due east."

[insufficientjewel]

"Over the crest of the hill?" Francis followed closely. He was not, despite appearances, a man easily frightened - and yet a thick dread had fallen on him, clutching icy fingers at his spine, an almost superstitious fear. Not only of the storm, nor even of the beasts that might lurk in it, but of the moonless darkness and the strangely looming shadows of the mountains. "I think that I saw it too, for a moment. But I had thought it a trick of my eye, did not dare think otherwise. If you saw it as well..."

Then it is real. Then there is a bearing to head for.

4

[her_rose_is_red]

It is likely that he was not expecting a young girl's voice to pipe up behind him. But there she is, one hand over her mouth to cover a small gasp of surprise.

"Oh! The wall opened..."

After a glance at the empty space where the bookcase used to be, Ib looks up at him curiously.

"How did you do that?"

[cast_iron_bitch]

Laurent wasn't given to projecting his emotions, but he gave a tiny flinch of surprise when the girlish voice sounded from behind him. Frowning, he replaced the book he had taken, and watched the wall close again as if nothing had ever happened.

"Presumably they thought no one would be interested in The Effortless Elegance of the Hedgehog," he remarked, reading off the spine. "Yet that is precisely the sort of oddity I collect."

[her_rose_is_red]

"What do you collect them for?"

From her dubious expression, it's likely Ib doesn't think anyone should be interested in that kind of stuff either. A book like that is probably full of big, complicated words that she doesn't know. A book that opens up secret passage is better though. She stand up on her toes and reaches out for the book herself, just to see if it will work for her.

It does, the passage once again revealing itself. Ib peers into the darkness curiously.

"I wonder what's down there...."