TEST DRIVE MEME #1

[abraxasmods]

TEST DRIVE MEME

Welcome to the very first test drive meme for Abraxas! This meme is run a little bit differently than most in that you'll be asked to choose one of the two different arrival scenarios below for your character to take. If you have any questions about this mechanic or anything else related to the TDM, please take a look at the questions below or ask one of your own here. For general game questions please still use the FAQ.

Arrival

You awaken suspended in the abyss, silent darkness stretching out in all directions. If you try to yell, you'll find that the sound doesn't carry. If you try to move, you'll find it's impossible to tell whether or not you're actually getting anywhere. If you reach for an item you were carrying last time you remember being awake, your hand will only touch bare skin.

You're naked and floating helplessly through the void, and what little air you have in your lungs is running out.

There's a pinprick of light that almost looks like a faraway star but as it grows it becomes clear that it's actually quite close. Through the opening you can see a bright room, but it's hard to make out any individual objects, as if you're looking from beneath rippling water.

A hand plunges through and you realize water is just what it is. Whether you take hold of the hand or not it will grab you and yank you up through the surface, lifting you out until you're sprawled on solid ground. Once you catch your breath, you can get a better look at the surroundings: tall trees and even taller stone pillars surround the platform you're laying on. Behind you is an ornate fountain, the base of which is so deep and so dark you might be compelled to scramble away from it lest it suck you back in to that endless abyss. Ahead of you are the walls of a large castle with several tall towers reaching up towards the sky.

If you had any powers, they feel unusually weak. Attempts to use magic or enhanced strength or powers of any sort fizzle out without any effect, but they don't feel completely gone, either.

Set into an indent on a marble slab behind the fountain is a card baring the image of one of the arcana.

An apprentice mage - the one whose hand lifted you out of the fountain - brushes the water off on their robes and runs back to join a group of three others, who all stare intently at a mage with highly decorated robes and a large, heavy book. He peers up at you for a moment and starts flipping through the book.

"I beg your pardon," he says, so absorbed in the pages of the book that he doesn't bother to look up, "I am Ambrose Rhett, the High Mage of the Kingdom of Thorne. One of my apprentices will explain everything in a moment, but please refrain from yelling and thrashing about until then. You're quite alright, and screaming gives me a hell of a headache."

Regardless of your response, he keeps flipping through the heavy tome, until he stops on one specific page, stares at it for a moment, and then exclaims:

"Aha!"

Scenario One: Welcome to Thorne

Ambrose's expression brightens, eyes twinkling with delight. He waves one of the apprentices over with a fine silk tunic, pants, and some basic sandals and with a wave of his hand they reshape to fit you perfectly.

"Success! It's a success!" he exclaims, slamming the book shut and scurrying towards you.

Now that he's not hunching over the book, he doesn't seem quite so stuffy and inapproachable. The apprentices all seem quite relieved at his jovial outburst, and the one that handed you the tunic stops to take the tarot card down from the marble slab. If you show any curiosity about the card, they'll let you take a longer look, but won't let you touch it.

"Please, come with me, you're an honored guest here," he says, motioning for you to follow him towards the castle, "As promised, my pupils will explain your current situation. And, ah - if you had any magic of your own, or other special abilities you can't access right now, fear not, they'll return within the week. The summoning takes a lot out of you."

One of the apprentices steps forward and rattles on and on about the castle, Thorne itself, the names of a bunch of royals and nobles, and of course, your reason for being here. The Kingdom and the world itself is in great peril, and tales of your exploits have reached far and wide across universes. If asked about these exploits, the apprentice will simply smile and shrug. The High Mage was happy to see you and that's good enough.

Once inside the castle you're taken to the North Wing, which has been set up as living quarters for you and your fellow newcomers. There are four people to a room, but each generously-sized bed has opaque curtains that can be drawn around it. You can meet your roommates here and discuss your shared situation (everyone appears to have arrived within the last few days), or you can wander around and meet the others.

There's also a dining hall stocked with all sorts of fancy food to meet every possible dietary need, and a library filled with epic tales and legends and the history of Thorne. Given that this is the Thorne library, it may be a biased account that makes the Kingdom look a fair bit better than the rest of the world sees them. Last but not least, there's a study hall where a few junior mages (younger and less experienced than the apprentices from earlier) might be willing to teach you some simple elemental magic. Think holding a small flame in the palm of your hand, or blowing a door shut with a gust of wind.

You may also notice that your sign is embroidered on your tunic: the same image you saw on the card from before with the name of the sign itself beneath it. If you ask the castle residents, they'll tell you a little bit about your sign (and will mostly stick to the positives, although some might point out the negatives).

Last (and, if you ask anyone else in the castle, least) there is a worn stone staircase leading underground to the dungeon. You can go there, if you wish, but all powers are restricted in the dungeons and spending too much time with the prisoners will lead to some suspicion being cast upon you. If you ask anyone why the prisoners are being held there, you'll be told that they pose a great threat to the Kingdom (and, by extension, the entire world).

Scenario Two: Imprisoned

The High Mage scowls, grinding his teeth as he slams the book shut. "Another failure!" he barks at the apprentices, "You lot wouldn't know your ass from a hole in the ground, would you?"

All four of them lower their heads, and two of them mumble an apology that Ambrose either doesn't hear or refuses to acknowledge. "Well, don't just stand there," he says, waving a hand in the air, "We've put all this effort into getting this wretched creature, we may as well put it to good use."

One of the apprentices drops a baggy, rough-feeling tunic, a pair of pants, and some worn sandals in your lap and glares down at you until you put them on (if you refuse, they'll tell you they can kick you back down that well if you don't want to cooperate). They're glaring at the High Mage as much as they're glaring at you (when they're sure he isn't looking, anyway). You might catch one of them long enough to ask them why they're so upset with you, but all they'll say is that the High Mage knows something they don't, and he's awfully upset about it.

Once you're fully clothed, another apprentice clamps some heavy iron shackles around your wrists and leads you on. The High Mage is far ahead of you already, muttering some long string of Thornean curses before he stands up straight and pauses, spinning to face you.

"One more thing," he says, holding one hand in the air and chanting something under his breath, "Can't have you getting too troublesome."

If you had powers, the slight connection you still had to them slips away completely and you're left with nothing as the four apprentices drag you towards the castle. They may answer a few of your questions (with some insults and curses peppered in), but they won't tell you anything important.

Once you arrive at the castle you're brought to the dungeons and thrown into a locked cell. There are four people to a cell, and two sets of bunk beds with a thin and lumpy straw mattress. If you're over six feet tall, these beds are going to be awfully uncomfortable. You might as well meet your roommates. Once per day you're dragged out to an enclosed courtyard for one hour of recreation (with some crude weights, benches, and balls lying around but not much else), where you can meet the rest of the prisoners, but you can also talk to your immediate neighbors in the cells on either side and across the hallway. Just don't yell too much or the guards will snap at you to be quiet.

Everyone in the dungeon is fed one meal a day, and for a prison meal it's decent: a bit of meat, a bun, and a salad. It would seem that the Thornean chefs take too much pride in their craft to send bad food to the dungeons. The meals are all served in equal portions, though, so the smaller prisoners may be overfed and the larger ones may be getting hungry. Feel free to fight for food or share with your cellmates.

Crudely embroidered on the back of every prison tunic is the same image that was on your card and the name of the sign beneath it. A guard may explain a bit about the sign, and tell you some negative stereotypes they hold about yours.

You may be blessed with a visit from one of the more welcomed newcomers, and they may sneak you some extra food or a small book to read or they may share some of the information they've gathered. However, rumors travel fast and some people believe the honored guests in the castle above are somehow responsible for the lot of the prisoners below. And although you may hope for kindness, there's nothing stopping them from being cruel to you if they wish. The guards will certainly turn a blind eye if one of them wishes to take out their frustrations on you.

---

Questions

How do I choose a scenario for my character?
Pick whichever situation appeals to you most. Whether your character is honored or imprisoned has nothing to do with their personal morality, or how highly they regard themselves and their own accomplishments. Anyone can be put into either situation.

Can I try out both scenarios?
You can! But please keep in mind that only the one you eventually choose can be game canon, if you decide to keep any of your TDM threads.

What happens if my character refuses to comply with Ambrose?
Prisoners will be dragged against their will. Honored guests will be forgiven for their moment of panic or anger if they have one, and Ambrose and the apprentice mages will try to calm them and persuade them further. If they put up too much of a fight and/or start actively attacking anyone, Ambrose will warn them once that he's willing to put them back in the well where they came from (see below), and if they continue to fight he will make good on that promise.

My character intends on causing a lot of trouble (destroying parts of the castle, murdering the castle staff, etc.), what would happen to them?
Characters who make too much trouble for the mages and other staff would be thrown back in the well (which will mean drowning in the void, not returning home). Brawling with other PCs and causing minor damage is fine and will be greeted with a cranky attitude (if they are an honored guest) or a punishment like denial of food or temporary solitary confinement (if they are a prisoner), and there will be plenty of opportunity for destruction and murder later, but for now the Thorneans have no desire to keep huge liabilities around.

Ambrose will take it especially personally, as this experiment was his idea and too much trouble would risk the summoning spell being scrapped and potentially result in him being demoted. Rest assured it does not take much for him to throw someone back in the well at this point in time.

Is the power loss for the prisoners permanent?
No, although honored guests will regain their powers first due to the lack of interference from Ambrose, the prisoners will be able to regain theirs soon enough as well.

Can the prisoners talk about anything private, or will they be overheard at all times?
There are guards patrolling the dungeon, but they aren't always within earshot. Most of the attention is being focused on the new guests, so the prisoners will have some opportunities for privacy.

Can my character leave the castle?
For now they will be prevented from leaving the castle, even if they are an honored guest. A bit of a gilded cage, isn't it? They'll also find that any powers they regain cease to work outside of the castle walls (this is also a temporary effect) so flying outside is not an option.

Can my character eventually side against Thorne if I choose to make them an honored guest/can they side with Thorne if I choose to imprison them?
Yes, characters in Scenario 1 will be able to betray Thorne, and characters in Scenario 2 can work themselves into Thorne's good graces.

How much will my choice of scenario affect my character's plot later on?
This choice will have a major impact on gameplay throughout the first few months of the game, and potentially a bit beyond that depending on where our players guide the plot. This decision - and every other major decision you make in game! - will also be used to flavor some mod surprises that will be coming down the line.

Don't get too anxious about this choice, though; this is just one choice you'll get to make in a game that has a lot of them, and every character in both scenarios can work their way towards many, many individual goals and outcomes. You're not locking yourself out of anything in the future via the choice you made on the TDM. It will primarily impact the immediate future with the far-reaching effects being up to each player.

Are TDM threads mandatory for my application?
No, you may use other samples, but we encourage you to post to the TDM and get a feel for this game and its mechanics before you join. If you do not have a TDM thread you will still need to choose one of the two scenarios on your application.

What if I haven't settled on a sign yet?
You can ignore sign-related prompts if you're undecided (or try out different signs in different threads).

Can a put a character on the TDM if their canon is less than 30 days old?
Yes. For this app round, anything that's at least 30 days old when the game opens on June 12th can be applied from.

Do the apprentice mages have names?
Their names are Jeffrey, Grigory, Noelle, and Jolene.

---

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Comments

arya stark | game of thrones | (the fool)

[facelessgirl]

⤞ IN THE HOUSE AGAIN
[ So much of this place reminds her of the House of Black and White that Arya has so far treated it with that same careful reverence that kept her alive and looked after then. The strange magics that she cannot fathom without seeing what stands behind their power make her cautious, if not quite afraid. She's learned to master fear. She's been in countless more frightening predicaments before this other world. Yet the fountain she'd been drawn from seemed so much like the black pool and the mages, if not as quiet and controlled as the acolytes, were an unsettlingly familiar presence. She doesn't fight any of them. She doesn't want to show them what she can do.

She certainly doesn't like being branded as "The Fool", however. How could it possibly mean anything but what the term suggests? She wears the tunic with as much dignity as she can muster, though it is a silent sort. It seems she has become a ghost again, in a way, but the place she now haunts is an utter mystery to her.

But a question without an answer has never stopped nor stalled Arya before. She takes to exploring immediately on quiet feet, taking in everything familiar and foreign about the kingdom she's found, and when she comes upon someone wearing a tunic like hers she manages to stop herself from asking the real question she wants to know the answer to: 'is this the land west of Westeros?'. ]

Do you know the purpose of these sigils?

[ If it's strange for a young woman to be as forward and to the point as her, she doesn't appear to know it. ]
⤞ DOWN TO THE DUNGEONS
[ It was only a matter of time before Arya discovered that there were other recent arrivals like her who hadn't been allowed their freedom of the castle. She can think of no better place to start her quest for true information than the dungeons where they're being kept, though when she isn't stopped from descending into them, every sense is on high alert as she takes the winding steps into the dark.

She has fought the dark before. She's as calm as still water.

At first, she only watches the prisoners, strange and silent as a ghost while her dark eyes take in every face and movement beyond the bars. Few of them look like the type of prisoners she's seen kept in chains before, though they appear comfortable enough. She doesn't have a reason to speak to them, despite her curiosity. There are no questions that she can yet ask she can't also assume the answers to. If they arrived here in the same manner she did, they'll be able to tell her little more than she already knows. The pool, the mages, all this strangeness. What could someone with less freedom to explore than her possibly have to say?

Still, Arya has never been good at waiting for events or answers to come to her. She does when she must, but curiosity is so easy to heed. So she wants until a pair of eyes stick to hers in the gloom. ]

Have they told you why you're here?

[ If she knows that, perhaps she can figure out why she isn't locked up alongside these wretches, an important mystery above all others. ]
⤞ WILDCARD
( open to a lot, hit me up or pm to plot! arya is post-series, sry fam. )

dungeons~

[opioid]

[ Eddie's trying not to be resentful.

He had it figured that if they'd dragged people from different places, then they'd all be treated the same at least. Wretched creatures one and all, thrown in the dungeons by that bastard magician. But apparently that's not the case.

And, once again, he's trying not to be resentful.

The difference seems arbitrary. Some people given free rein, others locked up in the dark like criminals, like they did something wrong just by existing. It's enough to make a guy go crazy, trying to work out where the line is, why some are free to walk around as they please and Eddie's stuck down here in the miserable dark. He has to assume there isn't a difference, it's a meaningless thing, completely random. It doesn't settle his anger much, but it'll stop him spiralling.

Prisoner, Roland had called him, in those early days on the beach.

There's a girl here now. For a moment they just look at each other, and then she speaks. ]

Have they told you why you're not?

[facelessgirl]

[ Arya shrugs, a casual, one-shouldered affectation that seems all the more unsettling combined with how she doesn't blink or look away from him in the slightest. It seems more like she's studying an interesting specimen than speaking to another person. ]

Nothing that I believe.

[ Luckily for Arya, her skills have almost nothing to do with magic and so haven't been taken from her. Her ability to tell when people are lying to her and when they are telling her the truth was hard-won with many minor beatings but she has no intention of betraying her many skills to anyone here. ]

What did they tell you, then?

[opioid]

[ The way he's being looked at is making his skin crawl. It's not exactly unpleasant, it's just that he's used to similar looks – God knows he is, what with Roland and his blue bombardier's eyes often casting displeased frowns in his direction whenever he says something Roland doesn't like or understand. This girl doesn't have Roland's eyes in colour, but the sharpness of her gaze is familiar enough. Feels like she's seeing past him. ]

Not much of anything. I tried to get some straight answers about this stupid sign bullshit [ — he turns a little so she can see the sun on the back of his tunic — ] but all they did was tell me I'm an asshole. Thanks, tell me something I don't know.

[ It means you're flighty, fickle, unstable, skittish, is what the guard had actually said, it means you're too busy telling jokes to take a situation seriously.

It's like horoscopes, he'd reasoned to himself once the guard had wandered off. Henry had read him his horoscope from the newspaper once, when he was about eight and Henry twice that, and Eddie had been amazed by the applicability of it, how well it described him – only for Henry to reveal that he'd read a horoscope that wasn't Eddie's sign at all, and called him gullible for believing it. But it had stuck in the back of his mind as a lesson learned, that anything could apply to anyone if it was vague enough, if some part of them expected it to. Except...

None of your foolishness, mind, Roland had said not so long ago. Eddie thinks about it now and his face twists into a grimace. This is life and death. The time for foolishness is past.

With almost visible effort, Eddie puts that line of thought aside and bluntly decides to change the topic. ]

Did they not tell you anything either? Thought you guys with free rein were honoured guests.

[facelessgirl]

They are... bullshit.

[ Arya agrees, trying out the term with a note of curiosity and even humor in her voice. It doesn't quite reach her eyes, but she's thinking of her own sign and how it is currently announcing such an obvious lie to everyone that looks at her. The Fool. How could its meaning be any different than its name?

No fool could stay alive for as long as she had, no fool could have learned the things she has, so she doesn't take what this man says he was told as the truth about him, either. Better to trust her own instincts, anyway. ]

Sure. [ She shrugs, unbothered by his sarcasm. ] Probably like a farmer's cattle are honored guests.

[ She doesn't have to add the second part of that thought. Still, it's better to have the illusion of freedom than to be trapped like these unlucky people. ]

They said they know of my exploits. [ She uses the precise word they'd used. She has no intention of telling anyone else anything about herself if she can avoid it. Better to surprise them with who she is, if she still can. ] My guess is if you're being thrown away, I'm about to be used for something.

[opioid]

[ Exploits. Eddie's eyes narrow. If that's some coded term for the things this girl has done back in her own world, then why the fuck is Eddie not roaming around upstairs? Sure, from what he's heard even the honoured guests are still stuck in this place, but he'd rather be up there than down here.

A familiar, uneasy feeling of insecurity sinks through him. Eddie's no hero, he knows that, but since Roland pulled him out of his world and into another he's been trying. They never would've brought Jake over without him, that's for sure – but what does that mean, at the end of the day, when all's said and done? And is that even the case? Ka works in mysterious ways. If it hadn't been him it might've been Susannah, or Roland himself, or maybe Jake would've just scratched through to Mid-World with his bare hands—

Eddie shakes his head like he's trying to clear water out of his ears. No point thinking about that, he'll spiral, and that's the last thing he needs down here. ]

But why would they keep the rejects? They drag us in here, say we're not good enough, and then... imprison us? Feed us? That's crazy talk. It's like going to the pound to adopt one dog but then you end up getting every fuckin' dog they have and bringing them home with you just so you can shove half of them in your basement.

[ As he's talking, his voice dips down in volume, and he presses his forehead against the bars so he can really mumble. It occurs to him only as he's speaking that maybe the answer to this question is that it simply hasn't occurred to any of these people that the most practical thing to do would be to dispose of the rejects as quickly as possible. He doesn't want to give anyone any ideas. ]

House

[song_of_ice]

He's flummoxed when he sees her, left reeling. While he had received a raven telling him that she was alive, along with Bran, it was the seeing that made it real. So many thoughts and emotions played through him. The fact that she wasn't the slight girl he knew, that he couldn't muss her hair the same anymore. She wasn't a child, she was a woman and she was lovely. His little sister had grown up while he was away and he never knew where she was or what she was doing.

His heart felt as if it had stopped. Instinctively, he flexed his bad hand, the one he had burned so long ago. It was the only feeling that he could reach for, aside from this plummeting sensation of hope, fear and need, all of it roiling into one chaotic storm.

He didn't hear her question. For a moment, he forgot he was wearing the Emperor sigil or that this wasn't home. He could only see her, only sense her. "Arya?" His voice didn't sound like his own, somewhere between a sob and croak. "Is that you?"

[facelessgirl]

There's something about him that's different. Less tired, maybe. His eyes are brighter, she thinks, and more alert. Understandably, is what she thinks next, given the sudden abduction and mystery detaining and surrounding them, but her training tells her that it's something else entirely. She's immeasurably happy to see him, relieved to her very bones that of anyone from home she could have run into here, that it's him, but Arya shows little of it other than the sly, slightly confused smile she gives him.

"Of course it's me."

Hasn't he two eyes to see it? Perhaps he's just surprised to see her here, of all places, the same way she is him, but she doesn't feel the same sense of impossible shock that she sees on his face. Slowly, her own smile falls and her eyebrows quirk into something that resembles concern.

"It's only been a few months. Have your wildlings helped you to forget me so quickly?"

[song_of_ice]

"My Wildlings?" Had Sansa told Arya of the men and women who he helped settle beyond the Wall? He couldn't imagine it was high praise, as Sansa still had some Northern biases, but she knew how good and honorable the Freefolk were. "I haven't seen them since departing for Dragonstone." It was for the best Tormund remained behind, though he wondered what Dany might make of him. Would they get along as he hoped Arya and Dany might?

"You've grown a lot." Which was probably obvious, given she wasn't the same girl that departed with their father for King's Landing. "What happened to you? Sansa never said. I only know you escaped King's Landing and the Lannisters."

He might know nothing, but for Jon Snow, ignorance was bliss in this case.

[facelessgirl]

His confusion isn't being feigned, she can tell that right away, and that's what gives her the greatest chill. Her face falls as though she's seen a ghost and all at once, her wariness returns. She might have been able to accept that he didn't want to remember all that had happened to them in such a short time, even if it meant forgetting her as a consequence.

But this? Something dark must be at work and the hair on the back of Arya's neck prickles.

"You know I've grown. You said that last time. In the godswood. When I came home." For you. She'd only turned her horse's nose north because of him. Because she'd heard he was still alive, the acting king in the north.

"You really don't know what I'm talking about, do you?"

[song_of_ice]

He felt a pit opening in his stomach, as sharp and bitter as a gust of wind, cutting straight to the bone. How often had he imagined seeing her again? She was what he longed for most when he thought of home. Home was Arya's smile, Arya's laugh, but this...she stared at him almost as if he was a stranger.

He searched his mind for what she spoke of, but there was nothing, only the hope she was safe and the fear of the war and how it might hurt her. He gripped his hand, wishing Longclaw or Ghost were here, if only to keep the ground from collapsing under him.

"Arya..." his throat felt dry and sore as he tried to swallow down his confusion and fear. "I was sailing for Winterfell with Daenerys."

[facelessgirl]

She can see what her words have done to him and instantly, despite all the hardness and cruelty she's learned since they parted, she regrets not being gentler with him. She should have been more careful. Her suspicion that this is somehow a trick lessens and she steps in close to him, unable to respond for a moment as she reaches up to take his face in her hands. Bare, ungloved hands, a rarity to be sure but it means she can feel the roughness, the realness of his face under her calloused fingertips.

"You got there." She doesn't understand, but she can do him that kindness. She can find a way to ease the frightening strangeness of whatever is happening, because he may not remember all that's happened, but this is certainly Jon.. She would know him anywhere.

"So did I. So did we all."

But how to tell him anything that happened after that? Her heart seizes at the thought of how he'll take it.

[song_of_ice]

He let out the breath he was holding, soothed under the gentleness of her touch. He was like a spooked horse or more like Drogon the first time he touched him. The world was righted, spun from its head back to its feet. This was what he imagined and the sister that he longed for. Even if he was confused, he didn't feel like he was above an abyss any longer, afraid to peer down and see the truth within.

He gave her a tug, wanting to hold her and feel like he had his sister back. The years had been rough on her, rough on them both. That same steel that formed in his gaze, the look of a killer, it was in her gaze ad well. He didn't need to ask, it was clear she had been born again in blood and death.

"Did we?" He had to be grateful for that. It was the war that worried him more than the journey. Honestly, he wished the journey never ended, true happiness born under a starry night. "Are you...are you well?"

down in ye olde dungeons

[sankt]

[Calm as still water, too, is the dark.

These nearly black eyes have followed her since she moved into view—an unusual shape among the guards, smaller and quieter, made to be overlooked—and when at last their gazes cross it is an uneventful meeting. The man who wears these eyes looks as low as any of them, seated there on a straw mattress in his shabby prison garb, but behind his attention is the sense of something turning over, some quiet acceptance of this girl's existence in his reckoning. Of a patience, long and certain.

Also, his beard could use a trim.]

That depends on which here you mean.

[facelessgirl]

[ She hadn't expected the sensation of being watched herself to creep along her skin the moment she slipped in among the shadows in the dungeon, but once she finds the pair of black eyes responsible for it, she meets them with her grey pair with all the confidence of someone who has faced death and ended him. Despite how narrowly she's escaped her own death so many times, she is still blessed with the self-assurance of youth. She's young to have such accomplishments lined up behind her and though few of them have gone to her head, Arya has little fear left in her to give to strangers.

Even ones that look at her with as unreadable a look at this one. ]

Well. I don't mean this side of the bars. Clearly.

[ There's arrogance in her tone but almost none in her face. Just a blank, unruffled curiosity. ]

Are all of you the dangerous ones, or something like that?

⤞ IN THE HOUSE AGAIN

[arhivista]

( there have been a lot of questions that zelda has had about this place, some of them entirely more personal (this isn't the underworld so how is she here instead of being dead?) and others questioning the state of the world. though she's at least familiar enough with portals and the existence of a multiverse to accept that this isn't earth nor the neitherlands, that it's some other world.

not that her acceptance solves anything. why are they here, what are they here for, who are the people involved? and it leads to a similar question as to what the girl asks -- everyone that looks equally as confused all has a tunic and a sigil on it. why? )

I can't say that I know.

( which makes her frown. zelda doesn't like not knowing thing )

Though knowing how many sigils existed may give us somewhere to begin.

[facelessgirl]

Why would that matter?

[ The moment the woman says it, Arya's mind starts to work. In Westeros, there could be as many sigils as there were nobles - the exact number of them hardly mattered. It seems far more important to her to learn what the pictures and designations were saying about the people around her, not to mention herself.

Currently, she's announcing something about herself to the world, true or untrue though it might be, and she has no idea what it is. ]

What's a 'magician'?

[ Arya has heard plenty about witches, warlocks, red priests, shadowbinders, and a hundred other practitioners of what they swore was magic in Braavos, but she can't say she knows this word. ]

[arhivista]

A magician is a practitioner of magic.

( a fact that zelda only reveals because of the magic in this world, how publicly it's used, how freely it's offered to everyone with the lessons taught )

I was a magician even before being given this sigil.

( was she given it because of that or did it mean something else? )

As for how many sigils there are, it matters because it could link to something collectively. Others here may have been given other titles.

[facelessgirl]

[ Well, there it is, then. ]

What sort of magic?

[ Arya can't keep the immediacy and curiosity out of her voice. As much as she has other things to be concerned about, other questions that need answering, she can't help but be instantaneously fascinated.

But if this woman's sigil matches what or who she is so closely, it only makes Arya more frustrated with what she's been branded as. ]

Yours makes sense, then. But I am not a fool.

[arhivista]

Perhaps mine is only closely linked by coincidence. They might not be labelling you a fool.

( it's given with a slight smile, a little piece of hope in her. are they so accurate and this girl was foolish or are they meaning something else?

she also uses the quick switch of arya's back to the sigils to avoid answering about her magic )

[facelessgirl]

I don't think it would be wise to trust to coincidences here.

[ As much as Arya wants to believe that she isn't being judged as an idiot, she thinks that mere happenstance here, about something that's clearly so important, rather improbable. ]

Is that your magic, then? Optimism?

[ She isn't so easily thrown off, witch. ]

[arhivista]

It isn't.

( though she's good at making it seem that way with how bubbly and chipper she can be. she'd much rather be optimistic than anything else )

Magic allows me to do many things.

( though she's not just going to demonstrate, she's not a show-off. she also can't access her usual tricks currently )

Dungeons

[girl_at_the_window]

[The girl whose eyes she's met - a tall girl in her mid-teens, whose waist-length golden hair is starting to unravel from its rough braid, and whose tunic bears the mark of the Lovers - shakes her head, leaning up against the bars. But she answers anyway.]

Seems we're the byblows of their magics. [She says it with a degree of wry humour.] They've pulled in a wide net, and some they keep, and some they'd throw back if they could.

That's what I'd guess from what they've spat my way, anyroad. Seems a hell of a thing to break down walls of worlds and death for, but I ain't a witch, so what'd I ken of it?

They tell you what they were casting for, yet?

[facelessgirl]

[ It's more of an answer than she was expecting, but Arya's also rarely seen young women being kept prisoner in such a way. In her experience, pretty girls are treated much more gently by their captors or far, far worse. It's something to think about, anyway, that this girl has faced no better and no worse than the rest of the prisoners she's being kept with. ]

If that's the truth, they could have just killed you. Guess you're all lucky they don't seem to be the type.

[ Yet, is the unfinished thought which she doesn't add. Just because they haven't doesn't mean they aren't saving them for a worse fate. She's heard of magic being used to summon things, usually terrible things, but she's never heard of it working to summon people. ]

No whole truths I believe. They say they know what I've done and that's why I'm here. If that's true, I've no idea why I'm not in your position.

[ Unless they need her to kill someone, that is. In which case, what could these people possibly have done to deserve imprisonment? ]

Why do you think you've been thrown back, little fish? [ Even though she has half a head on Arya's own slight height. ]

[girl_at_the_window]

[Bird and bear and hare and fish, slips unbidden through Susan's mind, and sends twin and contradictory pangs through her: an edge of grief, an edge of bitter humour. Guess I ain't their fondest wish.]

[That's whimsy. She shakes her head as if to clear it, and shrugs.]

I ain't thought too hard about it.

[That's a lie. She's had nothing but time to think, and it's between questioning her situation and grieving over it. Susan Delgado's a practical girl, beneath the occasional surge of romantic feeling, and given that choice, she'll choose the one that has the potential to actually help her.]

[But the trouble is, all that thinking's left her none the wiser, and she doesn't like to say so. Also, most of the ideas she does have about the situation are more personal than she's like to share with a girl she's never met.]

All I ken is, they took me from execution to jail, and it ain't what I'd've chosen, but I'll take it.

Not kenning who's been chosen makes it hard to guess at why we ain't.