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Welcome to the first Test Drive Meme for

escordvi! Anyone can participate in the test drive, regardless of invite eligibility. Just keep in mind that only those who have received invitations from the mods can actually reserve on August 25th and apply on September 1st. Our Interest Check can be found here.

For your toplevel, please include the following: Character Name | Canon | Armada Choice. If undecided, put "Undecided" for the Armada.

For everyone's convenience, TDM threads can be carried over in game if you wish! If you are still unsure which armada to place your character, you can play it a bit loose and vague in the TDM and make retroactive changes if you carryover the threads. We'll have more armada focused prompts in the opening log in September. The log itself is set to cover the next two weeks, until the end of the month. Characters will appear at random intervals during this time rather than all at once, so players have some more flexibility on how much more adjusted they are for someone else.

IMPORTANT REMINDER FOR MAGIC USERS!! All magic abilities will be "sealed" until characters get their tattoo from the Inkwave parlor in Eltrut. That means no magic on the starter ships before docking.

We do require TDM threads for samples for our application!

If you have any question about the TDM, comment here. If you have questions about the game in general, please comment to the Game Info.

TOPLEVEL DIRECTORY (Updated August 28)

STARTER SHIPS: ORIENTATION

There are two ships that serve as starting ships for each armada: Stormbringer for the Corsairs, and Royal Fortune for the Paladins. There are various ways new arrivals—or riftfarers as they will be called, among other creative names—will appear on or by these ships.

🚪 Random room. It could be empty, filled with crates or supplies; down in the hull where the livestock are kept; have the luck to awaken in a bed...or the misfortune of that bed already occupied; somewhere in the kitchens; in the bathroom—any room! Now let's hope the doors can open or someone may have to try and ask for help. Or jump through the porthole if there is one and it's above water.
⛵ On deck. If not in the ship itself, another possible spot to wake up to is somewhere on the maindeck. If they're lucky, they're on the deck itself. More unfortunate souls may find themselves caught in the sails or netting, the crow's nest, or on the top of the masts. Someone should be able to help, right? Or catch.
🌊 In the water. The most unlucky sods will find themselves appearing in mid-air just past the ship and plummeting straight into the water. Good news, there's always someone on the look out for such a thing and calls for help to throw a lifesaver get the rowboat will be made. Are there sharks? Well... ...Are there?

However the new riftfarers arrive, they will be poorly clothed, practically rags or loose uniforms depending on the ship. Fortunately, veteran crewmates will guide them, escorting them to a room with a strange typewriter in it. After typing their name, the typewriter will magically continue and type by itself at a fast pace until it dings and rolls out the paper. This paper will have the following information:

• Name and Shellphone ID (journalname)
• Armada (Corsair or Paladin, will match the starter ship)
• Cabin Number for their personal cabin on the starter ship
• Apartment Address for their personal address at their base armada location
• A basic map of the starting locations in Eltrut, including written directions (continued in the Eltrut section)
• A basic map of where they can find a chest with their original clothes and belongings (this will be different for every person and will be anywhere either on the starter ship or on Eltrut—players can be creative here).

After that, the crewmate will do their best to explain the basics of how they got here, what's going on, and what they'll need to do to live in Escordvi while they are here, giving them a small leather pouch with money. They will be reaching Eltrut soon, so the crewmate will suggest they look around, meet the others who have arrived. Even from their distance, they will be able to see the giant sea turtle that serves as Eltrut's leviathan.

ELTRUT: FIRST GLIMPSE

After reaching the port of Eltrut, several birdfolk will appear and happily greet all the new arrivals from both starter ships. Here it doesn't matter which side they are affiliated with, as long as they keep those swords and weapons sheathed and not pointed at each other's throats. The birdfolk will even act as guides, showing them the main places they should visit and give them a visitor's map to help guide them.

🐚 Microshell. The first stop that is encouraged will be Microshell, the main store to acquire their own personal Shellphone. The paper they received on their starter ship will have their ID and the staff at the store will set them up, explaining how the device and the network works.
✒️ Inkwave, Tattoo Parlor. The next stop is Inkwave, a tattoo parlor run by a very burly but friendly octopus, Knistej. Here everyone receives their own unique magic tattoo, allowing anyone to cast specific single element spells and other magic. Note: tattoos are required before anyone will be able to use their original magical abilities.
📜 MANTA office. The final stop is the MANTA office, where all the request, mission, and task notices are posted. Each armada has their own branch office for armada specific notices as well. A great place to find jobs to earn some cash so they don't stay a hobo forever.

It's a lot to take in for sure, with the port city bustling with all walks of life. Not only do they have both armadas mingling with each other, there are different races and species from all over Escordvi gathered here. It's not just humans, which many riftfarers always seem to be surprised about. There are also plenty of veteran riftfarers who will gladly give some advice and even share stories of their world. Maybe some are familiar.

After finding their belongings, exploring the town, and meeting other people, being able to just sit back and enjoy a drink and warm meal will be in order. While there are plenty of places to choose from, the Minstrel and Cask will be the top recommended tavern for all newcomers to visit at least once. Great drinks, great food, and can learn a lot from the patrons or meet more people.

Of course, as expected of a highly popular tavern, it's not always peaceful. A man will ask travelers what they want to do with their life. Clearly drunk, he only accepts answers that hint at wanting to find riches. If told this he will give out a treasure map. But if told anything else, he'll put up a fight, hoping to deliver a black eye. Those who do receive the map will be sorely disappointed—it will lead them down a long, winding, circuitous path around town and end at a random outhouse, likely occupied and certainly stinking to high heavens. There's likely some kind of moral here, but at some point, others who have been duped will return to the tavern to sling their fists around.

Looks like another tavern brawl for the night.

QUESTS

For those who want to try their hand at some quests, there are a few that would do well for newcomers. Teaming up is of course encouraged, no matter what the affiliation. You can assume they acquired some kind of ship for the quests out at sea, either the starter ship or some other ship heading out there.

Spicy Squid Eating Challenge

Eltrut Port

There is a traveling food ship (think food truck but on the water) that has been going around challenging ships to their extraordinary Hornswaggle's Spicy Squid Eating Challenge. If participants can scarf down a prepared three-pound bowl of exceptionally spicy ghost pepper squid and rice, they will win their meal for free as well as a crate of dried spicy squid for their ship's stores. If participants fail, they will have to pay for the meal and the crate.

...Careful, are some of the squid tentacles still moving?

Coral Reef Snacks

Eltrut

Rumour has it that certain types of coral reefs contain unique properties that can make you more alluring to the one you desire, but no one is sure what the side effects are. Test this out by trying to crunch into chunks of coral reef pieces to see if there are any added effects on your body. Hopefully, they don't ruin your teeth in the meantime.

Oh, and you have to find the correct coral reef too! Red chunks seem to make you more affectionate towards others, while blue chunks seem to make you more volatile towards others. Eaters, beware!

Giant Sea Slugs

Starter Ships

Giant sea slugs tend to only attack ships if they feel threatened but are otherwise peaceful creatures. They're about the size of a large wild cat. They also secrete a slime that contains strong disinfectant properties. This thick slime is highly sought after for its ability to heal wounds cleanly, so kill them and collect as much slime as possible.

Killer Sharkgulls

Eltrut port and ships

Seagulls can be a pain to most ships. Yet, seagulls that have evolved to be violently carnivorous can be even worse. These new birds, effectively named sharkgulls, have been seen attacking ships and ports alike. They are big enough to eat small children in one gulp or will do their best to eat full-grown humans after they've ripped them to bite-sized shreds. Beware and kill them before they can kill you!

Siren's Serenade

Out at Sea

A merchant's ship has crashed upon an outcropping of rocks after being lured in by a group of rogue sirens. These captivating creatures possess the power to ensnare their prey with their enchanting voices, luring unsuspecting souls into the depths to meet the grim fate of drowning.

Search for the missing ship and help rescue the captive sailors before it's too late! You will be supplied with special earplugs to muffle out the siren's voices so be careful to keep your ears effectively plugged. You don't want to succumb to the siren's bloodlust yourself.

Any sailors or rescuers affected by the siren's song can be treated with a harpy's potion that can reverse the song's effect. Or tie up the afflicted for twenty-four hours to wait out the effects.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Arrival]

[It's just an empty room. Filled with crates and barrels, bags and boxes, so on and so forth. Absolutely nothing in here of interest. Or is there?

With a faint rattle and creak, the lid of one box lifts for a brief moment, the glint of bright ruby red eyes visible behind the darkness. Whether or not he has company though, he's not staying in this fucking box. Chances are great if he does have company well, they're probably in just the same kind of deep shit he is. Unarmed and on the back foot, and he's the one wielding a crate lid now.

One that stays firmly in hand even as he pops up and out of the crate with a sigh, disdainfully tossing an orange onto the floor.]

I'm sick of citrus, if I never see another lemon, lime or orange again for the rest of my life, it'll still be too soon.

[These boxes have a whole lot of fuck all in them and not a great deal of his shit.]

[Tavern]

[You'd think he was a regular here with all the social butterfly shit he's up to. At a table chatting away cheerfully with everyone at it, boozing it up at the bar (at the very least it does look like that, though no one as small as him should be able to stomach the amount of liquor he's been apparently downing), just cozying up to everyone here in general and clearly hungry for attention. It just might be you he saunters up to next, smile bright and hands full with another drink.]

This seat taken?

[Brawl]

[Don't ask him how this started. He might know, but don't ask him, he's busy. After all, what's a man to do when he's all alone in a dangerous locale, filled with cutthroats, criminals and brigands? He can't be unarmed.

Thank god some big stupid fight kicked off about some silly bullshit or another. Who knows what even triggered it, everyone's so sloppy drunk. Pay no attention to the little drow elf slinking around behind the gathering audience of rubberneckers and back-seat brawlers. He's helping, all these pointy knives and loaded firearms could be really dangerous. They're clearly better off in his completely trustworthy hands.]

[Down By the Bay]

[There's no watermelons here but there is one very unconscious sailor reeking of gin and covered in sweat and sand, sawing logs not too far away from a deep hole dug in the beach. Mercifully for Jarlaxle and everyone else, his clothes are not heavy with salt water and wet sand, he only had to shake everything out a little bit before tugging it all on. Shirt, pants, boots, leather armor, bracers, eye patch, hat- look it'd take a long time to list it all, he got dressed and it took forever to do but at least he's comfortable again.

Looking a fair bit like a pirate captain himself really, albeit one that looked like he might have hopped out of a Lisa Frank three-ring binder. Never you mind all the weapons he's inspecting right now, it's none of your business if you manage to find him out here.]

Edited (HTML) 2023-08-20 04:42 (UTC)

Are we having a burial? I'm afraid this one is still alive.

[ Peering down into the hole at Jarlaxle is a young man in the midsts of pinning back his brassy curls, using the wind to help. He's wearing the uniform of the Paladins, though the coat is completely unbuckled and open in the front, revealing a swath of bare skin down to his waist. It might be notable that his trousers are in the midsts of drying and dusted all over with sand, but the coat is dry.

A sapphire glints above his left eyebrow and the different blue of his eyes, all suggesting surprise when he first spots the drow before it gives way to delight by way of a grin. ]

That is a fantastic hat.

[One bright ruby red eye peers upwards out of the hole, the other already obscured by the eyepatch. Well, it was one of his favorite little trinkets, it was probably one of the very first things he'd made sure to put on.

The ocean was lovely and all, but he never did like how damn loud it was. As friendly as his company appeared to be, he couldn't help but be a little unsettled at the fact that he'd never heard him coming, damn waves. He sent up a dazzling smile, one that seemed just a little more genuine as the compliment was tossed his way. Well yes, actually, it is a fantastic hat.]

A man of taste and culture, I see~.

My drowzy erstwhile partner over there was possessed of a strong back, two working arms and an earnest desire to help a lost, pretty newcomer find his effects. For a fee, of course. I feel as if him and I might have had different ideas as to what that fee would be.

I plan on paying him with another sunrise.

[Look how nice he is, he's super amazing nice, practically a saint, really. He moves to hop out of the hole, bangles and assorted jewelry clinking and rattling as he did. The motion is easy and light, without a single hint of awkwardness to it.]

Came for a relaxing stroll on the beach? Or a roll in it, maybe.

[With a little nod towards all the sand clinging to the other man's still drying, sandy trousers.]

[ Alucard Emery made a lot of noise in every other part of his life for precisely moments like these, when he doesn't want to be seen coming or going. But more's the better for him if Jarlaxle blames it on the waves.

He steps back to make room for the other man to exit the hole, noting the understated feat of athletics in clearing what appears to be a rather tall wall of sand onto more sand. Alucard has his boots in one of his hands, and it would be understandable to assume it was for precisely the reason of not wanting to sink further into the sand than he has to.

His eyes flick briefly to the drunken sailor before he decides to put the man out of his mind. It sounds like a sunburn and a hangover are the best he has to look forward to, because he's not of the mind to stick around and play nursemaid; who knows if the man deserves it, either way? His storm colored gaze returns to Jarlaxle and he offers a serpent charming smile of his own. The man reminds him of a Faroan, but without a sign of a jewel to be found embedded in that dark face, Alucard doesn't dare to hope he's found someone else from home. Funny how 'home' now includes people from nations not his own. ]

Just a bit of exercise. You could say I've finished the roll and now I'm making my way into the stroll portion of the day. [ It's not a lie but, like Jarlaxle's smile, it isn't the whole truth either. ] Are you headed back to Eltrut as well?

[For whatever reason, it'd seem as if the drow had no issue at all with that sand. It may as well have been stone lightly dusted with the stuff for how he stood upon it, but then again, he was hardly the size of a typical human anyway. Perhaps that helped factor into it.

He'd taken a moment, as he was responding earlier and as he hopped out of the hole, to appraise the man before him. A quick affair, primarily just for the usual check for any obvious weapons, noting the build and size of the other. While he wasn't about to write him off as harmless, if nothing else the other man's current amicability (and previous compliment) had firmly put him in the realm of 'not an immediate concern'. Which meant he was free to loosen up a little bit more, thank goodness.

His current company looked too nice to be too uptight around.]

Just rolled ashore by the looks of it, unless you've just taken a liking to the uniform. To be fair, I get the idea it might be difficult to find things you couldn't wear well.

[He gives his cloak one more good shake, the colors on it shimmering brightly in the moonlight.]

I am! I'd resigned myself to walking there alone as well, but if you're looking for a bit of company, I'd be more than happy to oblige you.

[ Weapons-wise, he does visibly have a short sword on his hip. But then, who'd be out here at night without a weapon? Alucard is on the taller side for a human, the loosened jacket doing some to obscure the fullness of his physique, but the open front also revealing the sort of musculature that lends credence to the claim of exercising.

He gives a chuckle, seemingly charmed by the compliment. ]

The uniform is freely available in multiples. I try to avoid getting the things I actually like to wear dirty - I believe you might sympathize.

[ This last bit in reference to the shaking of the cloak, the colors of which naturally draw his eye. It's been a while since he's seen that kind of color in his world; but this is no company to go getting wistful. ]

I'd love some company, though if you're not in the mood for conversation, I'm more than happy to just enjoy the views. I'm Alucard.

STARTER SHIPS: ORIENTATION

ELTRUT: FIRST GLIMPSE

QUESTS

Jarlaxle Baenre | Forgotten Realms | Corsair

down by the bay

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tavern

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what if i just slid in here for round two

Well hello~

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brawl

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