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abraxasooc2021-05-20 09:20 pm
abraxasmods) wrote in abraxasooc2021-05-20 09:20 pm
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TEST DRIVE MEME #1
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.
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!"
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).
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.
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.
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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Kylo Ren | Honoured Guest | The Tower
Kylo can't think of many people who would consider his summoning to be a success worth celebrating— but nevertheless, with what little of his sensitivity to the ebb and flow of the Force remains he can detect no outright dishonesty in the excitable chatter of the apprentice assigned to orient him. He is near-silent through the process, far more interested in learning than revealing— but throughout the compressed lesson on the history of the realm he can't quite get the imagery of the card from the slab out of his mind. What was that?
Thankfully, it's embroidered onto the finery he's been clothed in. Once shown to the sleeping quarters, Kylo perches his oversize self on the edge of the bed he's been assigned and pulls the tunic off over his head to inspect it more closely, spreading the fabric over his thighs. His fingers trace the lines curiously, brow furrowing as he attempts to discern meaning. The Tower.
He doesn't stop to greet any of his new roommates as they enter, and certainly doesn't think to cover himself or do just about anything to accommodate their comfort— though an eagle-eyed observer may note his fingers stilling on their arrival. Step close enough or stare too long in his direction, however, and Kylo pauses. His head swings, slow and ominous, dragging the darkness of his heavy gaze until it settles, steady, on the offender's face.
"You're in my light," he comments, unblinking.
Once Kylo has paced the entirety of the castle and learned he isn't permitted to leave it, he turns his insatiable curiosity to the study of its purpose— and, indeed, the purpose he is intended to fulfil here. He doubts he and his fellow arrivals were summoned here for nothing, after all.
He takes advantage of the opportunity afforded by the junior mages practicing in the study hall, observing them closely, and proves himself a quick study. It isn't, perhaps, anywhere near as impressive as his own ability to manipulate and use the Force— but with his own power muted, he finds it strangely satisfying to learn this elemental magic.
Predictably, Kylo finds Fire magic to be the easiest to grasp. Later, in the library, he can be found surrounded by a wide array of books, making notes in a quick, surprisingly neat hand for such a hulk of a man. Should he be practicing repeatedly coaxing a flame to life in his palm and curling his fingers to extinguish it in a library? Probably not, but it seems to aid his thinking. Or soothe his frustration.
Too long spent reading irrelevant nonsense about heroic quests to drive demons from the land and the like will have Kylo scoring his notes through with a furious scratch of his pen.
"Can I help you?" he asks tightly. The scowl on his face suggests he doubts it.
Anything you can think of, I'm happy to roll with it! Prose, brackets, either are fine with me and I'll match style. You can hit me up with any questions you have via PM or contact me on![[plurk.com profile]](https://plurk.com/favicon.ico)
starktech or Discord @ cryloren#2195 !
Library
"You shouldn't do that here," she remarks from just a few paces behind him, gesturing the way the mages showed her to send a thin ribbon of water towards his flickering palm. She hopes her aim is good.
Apologies for the delay, was not expecting first dose to hit so hard!
Her aim's fine— or it would have been, if Kylo hadn't curled his fingers into a fist and shifted just out of the way— leaving the stream of conjured water nowhere else to go but the pile of ancient texts he'd been leaning on.
Apparently, someone's never heard of water damage. Which he supposes makes sense for a scavenger girl from Jakku.
"No?"
His flat look says it all, really, but Kylo's never quite been able to resist—
"You're right. We wouldn't want to damage the books. Would we."
no subject
"Can you feel it?"
no subject
"The distance?"
He watches her face carefully, studying every feature. It's... novel, he supposes, speaking with her like this. No insight, no resonance, no sense of her thoughts or feelings. No certainty that she's even talking about the muted shadow of the Force, almost too quiet to hear at all.
"You must be relieved."
no subject
"Not quite. This couldn't have come at a worse time."
no subject
"Is there a good time to be abducted to fight someone else's war?"
Welcomed as he may have been, Kylo's clearly unimpressed. Irritated, certainly, but angry? It's hard to tell. It's possible he's rattled.
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
Oh My God They Were Roomies
But Obi-Wan's not here right now. And Anakin's not feeling very patient at all.]
Excuse me.
[To his credit, he tries to keep his expression neutral. But there's an unmistakable twinge in his jaw and an edge in his words as Anakin pivots on his heel and starts to pace through the room.
There's a sigil on his tunic as well, but a different one than Kylo's.]
All my belated elation omg
That pacing, though? Aggravating. Eventually, Kylo looks up, watching him grinding his fancy sandals into the floor one unspoken grumble at a time. Someone's just as annoyed about all the unanswered questions as he is...]
There are four beds. Have you seen the other two of the group?
[Hello? Who wastes time saying useless things like that. Not this guy, that's for sure.]
no subject
No. Can't say I've had the pleasure.
[That he should be so lucky. If anything, maybe they could act as a buffer - to smooth out tensions that are already starting to rise. Though if the other two assigned to live here are as snide as this one, Anakin's going to have a rough time ahead of him.]
no subject
[Kylo considers. His eyes flick from the sigil embroidered on Anakin's tunic to the one beneath his fingers, then back up to Anakin's face.]
These designs. The Tower. Judgement. Have you seen them before?
[Beyond their copies on the slab earlier, he means— but he's got a fairly bad habit of forgetting that most people can't read minds to fill in blanks, and it hasn't gotten any less obnoxious with his own abilities so oddly muted. He frowns slightly.]
I don't recognise their meanings.
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They have something to do with our personalities or desires. [A beat.] At least, that's how one of the apprentices by the fountain explained it to me.
Supposedly, Judgement is the sign of conquerors. [He wrinkles his nose a bit at that.] Not exactly how I'd describe myself.
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No?
[Now, Kylo's interest seems to switch gears. There's a strange intensity to his curiosity even without the weight of the Force humming behind his will, a somewhat unsettling steadiness to his gaze. He appraises Anakin carefully.]
So you desire it.
[You know. If it's personality or desire.]
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oh my god they were roommates
He's never seen anyone so... large. It's not just that the man is tall. Ronan is also tall. There would be only a couple inches' difference between them, he reckons, if the man were standing at full height. And it's not the considerable width of him, all broad shoulders and broad chest and broad arms, almost two Ronans side-by-side. That's all very impressive, but there's something more that has captured Ronan's attention, and now that he's been caught looking, the secret slips from his grasp before he can reach it.
"I guess you'd better move, then," he says a good second or two later when he finds his voice, which miraculously doesn't crack under pressure.
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It's probably all for the best that Kylo doesn't have access to his particular abilities at present. Not that most people would need to have mastered the ways of the Force to recognise being quite so clearly admired, but Kylo Ren isn't most people— and he hasn't really been looked at like that a whole lot. Most people never get close enough, and those that do rarely live to regret it.
Still. His steady stare holds, right up to the moment the subject of his study finds his voice— at which point Kylo can't quite help the corner of his mouth tugging away from the flat scowl he assigned it.
It's so very contrary to the heat flushing the stranger's very pale skin, this throwaway defiance-that-isn't.
"Should I," he muses. He gives his roommate a far more careful appraisal, now. "The Moon. I don't think I've seen another, yet."
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He shows his teeth when he counters, "The Tower. The jokes write themselves."
He'd be lying if he said the return appraisal wasn't flattering, even if all it is is an assessment of his character. He doesn't miss the battle in that expression, the shift from irritation to... something else. Even if all the guy wants to do is laugh at him for gaping, Ronan doesn't think he'd mind, just as long as he keeps looking.
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Kylo's brow furrows, just slightly, at that apparently witty rejoinder. It takes him a little longer than he would have chosen to rearrange his face and disguise at least some of his confusion— silence from behind a mask is intimidating, visible floundering is not— but in the end his curiosity wins out.
"You know them," he prompts rather than asks. "These symbols. Their meanings."
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He can see Adam's finger tracing the shape of The Moon, the image crudely etched in black on a well-worn card. Ronan hadn't been listening very carefully when Adam explained its meaning. He'd been studying the dry cracks across Adam's knuckles, trying to imagine a balm that would make them less angry. It didn't happen in a day, learning what all those cards meant. Ronan got to know them over months, just like he got to know Adam, and although they never spoke to him, he figured out how to read them the same way he figured out how to read the crease between Adam's pale eyebrows.
"Not really," he says, lifting one shoulder in a dismissive shrug. "They mean something different to everyone."
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Kylo never learned people at all. It wasn't necessary, with the Force breathing through everything and feeding him everything he needed to know— but he can see something in the shifting performance of this stranger's strange face. It's enough to be intriguing and frustrating in equal measure: something invisible is stirring beneath that pale face, and for once Kylo has no way to chase the rippling effect down to its source.
"But you know them," he presses. "Recognise them. They aren't foreign, to you."
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"Please. You're blocking it all out for the rest of us."
Hennessy would've gladly avoided every single last person in this place, especially considering that most of them are probably someone's dream, if not for the sad reality that she was getting tired, and despite what she'd been told about magic, she didn't trust her mind to follow the rules here any better than it did out there. Which meant contingency, which meant finding a goddamn alarm clock, and apparently pausing to talk to cranky redwood-sized men in her path.
aaaaaaa hennesseeeeyyy
Hm. Point made. Finding himself without a suitably cutting remark to hurl back, Kylo eyes the new arrival up slowly in return instead— studying and examining far too obviously now he only has his physical senses available to him. After a moment too long for the scrutiny to feel anywhere near comfortable, however, he relents. There's so very little of consequence he can learn like this. It's intolerable.
"Do you need it for something?" he asks.
There is something concealed in the affected confidence of her stance, isn't there?
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"You can keep it. For now."
There's a touch of affected amusement to her tone; it's her default for charming strangers. She doesn't know yet if this one can be charmed, but it doesn't cost her much to put in the small effort.
"You didn't happen to see an alarm clock in here, by any chance?"
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"Generous," he comments flatly— but of everything she could have said, he certainly wasn't expecting that. He can't quite stop his brow pulling into a puzzled furrow.
"Why. Are you hoping to wake before the guards?"
They don't have a great deal to be in a rush to wake for otherwise, as far as Kylo can see.
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She's not about to give up all her secrets to some random, roommate or not. Honestly, she's going to see if she can skip the whole roommates thing entirely, maybe find a nice bathtub to camp out in instead. But she needs an alarm.
She sweeps past her would-be-roommate to an unoccupied bunk and starts rummaging through the nightstand next to it. A notepad, a pencil -- at least none of those weird hotel bibles -- but no alarm clock. Almost as though keeping one's own schedule was frowned upon. She drums her nails on the tabletop and huffs a sigh.
"Look, I'm gonna be real with you here. If I sleep for any length of time things are going to get unpleasant for everyone in a hurry."
Yeah, yeah. Their magic doesn't work yet. She wouldn't trust that promise even if it came from one of her own copies right now.
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Curious and curiouser. Noting the sign of the Moon embroidered on her tunic and unable to ignore the clear parallels, Kylo begins to wonder if he should be expecting another wrestling match. This newcomer certainly seems to share more than one characteristic with the Moon who had recruited him, for lack of a better word, into the effort of containing what he claimed to be the unpleasant consequences of sleep. Stray nightmares.
"Because of your dreams?" he asks. His gaze is unnervingly steady.
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