Test Drive Meme - New Blood

[undyingmods]

DEC TEST DRIVE MEME

WELCOME, VAMPIRES!

Welcome to the Undying Court Test Drive Meme! This post will allow players to test drive their AU characters in the setting, as well as meet fresh faces or even connect with those they have preexisting CR with. As with anything involved in the setting, this post will likely contain: violence, enthrallment, torture, and sexual content.

Regarding continuity, all TDM threads can be taken as in-game canon if desired. Please keep in mind that the game proper will begin in mid December, in the Winter Season, so Students/Novices should create their prompts under the assumption that the TDM takes place during the season prior to the one they will be apping as. This means that students planning to app as first season novices will be visiting Castle Courtsheart prior to their Beginning. In other words, if you plan to app a student as a second season, the TDM will take place during their first, and so on.

Feel free to brush up on the Premise, Vampire Powers, and head over to the FAQ/Game Info page if you have any questions!

• Make sure you are aware of the Rules when posting your top-level. (Content warnings are always welcome!)
• Please format your Top-level in this format: Character Name (AU Name if different) | Canon | Teacher/Student | Court
• As a reminder, a Test Drive sample is required in order to app.
• If you have any questions specific to the TDM, ask them in the Questions thread below!

Top-Level Directory:

Chat with NPC: Revar
Ace Attorney - Apollo Justice (Student)
Alice in the Country of Hearts - Alice Liddell (Student)
Attack On Titan - Erwin Smith (Teacher)
Baldur's Gate 3 - Astarion (Teacher)
Baldur's Gate 3 - Halsin (Teacher)
Baldur's Gate 3 - Raphael (Teacher)
Batman - Bruce Wayne (Teacher)
Bridgerton (Netflix) - Anthony Bridgerton (Student)
Castlevania - Soma Cruz (Student)
Castlevania: Nocturne - Maria Renard (Student)
Cosmo Warrior Zero - Harlock (Student)
Critical Role - Percy DeRolo (Teacher)
Daria - Daria Morgendorffer (Teacher)
Devil Summoner - Raidou Kuzunoha XIV (Student)
Dragon Age - Fenris (Teacher)
D&D: Honor Amongst Thieves - Edgin Darvis (Teacher)
D&D: Honor Amongst Thieves - Xenk Yendar (Teacher)
Ensemble STars!! - Mayoi Ayase (Student)
Fate/Zero - Kariya Matou (Kariya Makiri) (Student)
FE: Three Houses - Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd (Student)
FE: Three Houses - Hilda Goneril (Student)
FE: Three Houses - Lorenz Hellman Gloucester (Student)
FE: Three Houses - Marianne von Edmund (Student)
FE: Three Houses - Sylvain Gautier (Student)
Final Fantasy XIV - Estinien Varlineau (Teacher)
Frozen - Prince Hans (Student)
Genshin Impact - Diluc Ragnvindr (Teacher)
Genshin Impact - Tighnari (Teacher)
Hanna Is Not A Boy's Name - Conrad Achenleck (Teacher)
Hannibal (NBC) - Will Graham (Teacher)
Jujutsu Kaisen - Gojo Satoru (Teacher)
Jujutsu Kaisen - Toji Zen'in (Teacher)
Lucifer (Netflix) - Lucifer Morningstar (Teacher)
MCU - Loki Laufeyson (Teacher)
Original - Aurinn Laurentius (Student)
Original - Bellatrix Bakhar (Student)
Original - Christine Delacroix (Teacher)
Original - Hanako 'Rosalina' Nurumi (Teacher)
Original - Jisu (Eden Woods) (Student)
Original - Karma D'Auvergn (Teacher)
Our Flag Means Death - Edward Teach (Teacher)
Our Flag Means Death - Izzy Hands (Student)
Persona 3 Portable - Kotone Shiomi (Student)
Persona 5 R - Goro Akechi (Student)
Persona 5 - Haru Okumura (Student)
Persona 5 - Ren Amamiya (Student)
Pride and Prejudice - Elizabeth Bennet (Student)
Return to Labrynth - Sarah Williams (Teacher)
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs - Snow White (Student)
Stargate: Atlantis - John Sheppard (Teacher)
Star Trek: AOS - James T. Kirk (Student)
Star Wars - Darth Vader (Teacher)
Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order - Trilla Suduri (Student)
The Adventure Zone: Balance - Kravitz (Teacher)
The Adventure Zone: Balance - Lydia (Teacher)
The Adventure Zone: Graduation - Fitzroy Maplecourt (Student)

NEW ARRIVALS

New arrivals will be starting their first season in the winter, but they're welcomed to the castle early, under the watchful eyes of the Silver Court. Upon arrival, they will be shown to a room by a human whose eyes glow softly from within, with vacant smiles. Thralls. There, the human thralls will draw them a bath and bring them new clothes to wear to their first meeting. These are rich, expensive things made of high quality fabric. Whether it's a silk dress and a heavy velvet cowl, or a fine pants and a vest made from a brocade, the servants will provide. The new initiate's old clothes will be burned after, in a symbol of the life they are leaving behind. If they are hungry, they will be provided food. If they need anything at all, they need only ask their new servants.

Later that night they are taken to a grand hall, with high arched ceilings and candles burning in chandeliers. There are figures painted overhead, beautiful and entwined. Some have their eyes are colored to match the courts, others are gracefully placed in their death, with blood dripping from necks and wrists.

Balconies line the hall behind a forest of pillars, and vampires all watch as the group walk through (some more hungrily than others).

"Welcome to your first undying season, initiates," a pale, silver-haired vampire calls. They have silver eyes are clad in silver robes, but command the attention of everyone in attendance. They have a beauty that seems neither male nor female. They are standing at the center of a wide semi-circle of other vampires, "As the Silver Court's acting voice at this end of the Autumn season, allow me to introduce you to the Houses that will be your new homes."

The vampire, Revar, gives the newcomers an overview of all of the courts—Blue, Red, Gold, Silver, and Black—and then invites those already claimed by their Courts to join the vampires who will be their Makers.

Revar offers the Foundlings who are left a gentle, knowing smile, and then allows them to be chosen. They are like the last sheep left at the auction, and the vampires who take them may not be the enthused about it. Nevertheless, Revar waits patiently until all have found a maker.

Now that they are paired up it is expected—indeed, required—that the initiate drink from their maker. That is their Beginning. Only once they have truly begun can they can be considered novices.

Back to top ↑

AUTUMN NOX

Silver Court is in season and for the Autumn Nox it holds a large symposium, inviting all the best vampire minds from around lands nearby and far. The whole castle is abuzz with new activity. The stables are packed full of horses, carriages litter the grounds, but somehow the castle has enough rooms to house all the new arrivals.

Novices will find that some of these vampires have not seen a human-novice in a very, very long time. These vampires might see the human-novices more like specimens, curious about their every move. They won't bite, but novices may find themselves observed as they wander the castle and its grounds.

The symposium itself is open to anyone at the castle. Scholars can present on any topic at all. Novices will find that these range from the incredibly mundane (you've always wanted to attend a history of bottom-feeding river fish, haven't you?) to the truly fascinating (new insights into how vampire hearts work) to the downright strange (the symposium has a range of lectures very close to dawn about the sharing of vampire...fluids). Seasoned novices with their own Autumn classes to attend are expected to keep up with their studies, but some teachers may let them out of a session to attend the lectures and workshops of the symposium.

The Silver Court vampires are incredibly busy between running the symposium and trying to help the new novices get settled in. They may need some volunteers to lend a hand with setting up rooms or helping scholars find their way around. In fact, volunteers might find themselves leading scholars down to the second kitchen for a bite to eat, a strong reminder that even these demure learners are still monsters who must drink blood.

PUMPKINS-GONE-WILD

The symposium isn't all that the autumn season brings. The Silver Court’s talents are on display in other ways—sometimes not in ways another had particularly hoped. An overly zealous youngblood in the Silver Court tried to grow a few extra pumpkins for the occasion and ended up with a few too many! The pumpkin vines break out of the green house and start sprouting pumpkins everywhere. These are no ordinary pumpkins, they will sprout and grow and become fully formed in the course of a night. Better keep an eye out for those vines or else your room might become full of pumpkins! Luckily, the pumpkins aren’t rotting any time soon (they’ll last until winter, or so the Silver Court vampires are saying), but it can be pretty inconvenient for them to grow everywhere. Start cutting those vines to pieces, and hope they don’t try to entangle you in the process.

Back to top ↑

LIBRARY CLEAN-UP

Meanwhile, with all the scholars in town are making a mess of the library, much to the Silver Court vampire’s dismay. Books are being checked out and not checked back in, passed around from scholar to scholar. You might find those lost books just about anywhere. Who was reading in a tree? Anyone who collects the books and returns them to the library is sure to get a little bit of favor with the librarians, and it’s never a bad thing to have a bit of an in with a Court. If you’re worried about failing Silver Court, it’s time to get searching! Although how you’re going to convince a 300 year old vampire that time is not fake and that deadlines are real (and in fact were two days ago) is anyone’s guess.

UNETHICAL EXPRIMENTS

[CW: Torture, experiments]

Those who venture towards the basement might hear something a little different than normal. The thralls who spend their time down there are normally quiet, commanded to keep silent and pleasant for the vampires they serve. But with the arrival of the new scholars comes disquieting, inhuman screams from the darker reaches of the basement. Novices trying to catch a glimpse will be chased away, but teachers might be invited to watch as these vampires experiment on one another, all in the name of science. What’s a little torture, when you’re undying?

Back to top ↑

Thanks for joining us for our first TDM! For any questions regarding the TDM prompts, please comment in the thread below. For general game questions, please check the FAQ/Game Info. Remember that the game proper will begin mid December, in the Winter Season, so Students/Novices should create their prompts under the assumption that the TDM takes place during the season prior to the one they will be apping as.

Comments

[flagofbone]

He folds his arms on the table as he listens to the answer, seeming to be studying Halsin, how he's saying it, how his expression changes. More questions came to mind, but those Harlock will wait for until the lecture is dismissed.

"It's more that I tend to pride myself on not being compelled to act in ways I don't want to," The novice explains, with an edge of defiant pride in his voice.

[naturesgifts]

"Ah. Yes. I can see how that would cause some worries. I would never speak ill of the other Courts, but I will say that there are many far older than I from other courts that very much enjoy playing with the wills of others. It can be a very real threat to have such a thing happen if you aren't careful and don't possess a strong enough will of your own to combat it. That's something that might be worked towards, fortifying yourself against such commands. As for your instincts taking over, there are ways to keep from losing yourself."

He gestures back to the board and some of the lecture he had been giving. "Feeding regularly is one of those important things. If you stay well fed then you might not lose all faculties at the first smell of freshly spilled blood. The rest, I suppose we can discuss your concerns further after the lecture. I will have office hours after so I can give this room to the next lecture. My office is the Nurse's office off the Greenhouse. It's the one with Nurse Silverbough on the door."

[karmichealing]

And consensual ones at that. As much of a monster some call me, I do prefer those who are as interested in furthering the medical field as I am. Plus the feedback is so much better.

[Those who weren't consensual to her tests often gave awful feedback. Oh she was going to miss all these scholars when they returned to their court lands. But that's why she spent so much time down here right now, might as well test what she can while she can with people of similar minds.]

Thrall is a strong word, pardon my use of it, they have their own will just.. calmer and more passive. But yes, he will fully heal and be himself again in time.

[She looks at him for a long moment, before she smiles and leans closer to him.]

Why? Worried?

[flagofbone]

Gold, the former bandit thought to himself as he settles back into his seat. It's clear that this was of interest - no, of importance to himself as while he leans back, his eyes were bright and attentive to the diagram, listening to every word spoken.

As he suspected - and dreaded - avoiding his new nature doesn't seem to be an option. Once the lecture ended and everyone files out, taking the time to mentally chew on what he heard. Later, at the Nurse's office, there is a firm knock on the door.

[four_balls]

[Certainly it's not for a lack of interest, he just... is trying his best to actually keep things appropriate. And focus on what he's supposed to be focused on and just being a weirdo but that's beside the point.]

I don't think I could eyeball that... [He probably could, he's pretty certain he can if he takes into account the time of bleeding and how much someone's bleeding on top of their height and weight... Okay, maybe he actually can.] Being able to hear their heartrate does sound a lot easier than having to figure it out. And everyone can do that when they become one? [Probably a stupid question, he thinks, once it comes out of his mouth, but too late to take it back now.

He really does wonder how many have accidentally or, well, purposefully killed someone they were feeding from. If they're hungry enough and not in their right state of mind, then surely there's been some accidents, but to get so far gone...

Maybe that's not a problem here?]

[wonderland_vogue]

[Precisely the reason why she's not being as obnoxious as she might be otherwise, in fact she's shifting just enough to tuck against his side and let him cling as he pleases. She knows that this isn't something he handles well and given the noises certainly don't bother her, she may as well do her best to distract him instead.

There's not many she would do this for but he's lucky enough to be on that short list.

A brow raises at his words, knowing full well that that is an absolute load of horseshit and that's not really how aversion therapy is supposed to work.] That sounds like they're trying to explain away tormenting you like this. If they needed you on standby they could have had you further away from the noise and still be just as effective. But we both know they're shit at understanding or caring about others.

[If that day ever came she'd probably end up snapping on someone, so hopefully that doesn't happen for their sakes.

The question, though, she immediately scoffs and waves a hand.]

They don't like my methods down there, darling, and I don't much care for their's. Something about taking pleasure in it not conducive to science or something. As if they're truly doing any real science down there and it's not just a bunch of closeted sadists and masochists.

Library

[aria_ardeinae]

They're books, we have a lot of them in here. If you have time to browse, you have time to tidy.

[ Reyson doesn't actually have any real authority here, beyond his inherent attitude and Gold Court approved bossiness. Nobody even asked him to be reshelving things in here, for the record. He is just pissy about it being out of order and it is something that it is in his power to fix, so he is doing something about it.

He hands a hefty encyclopedia to the interloper. Take it. Take it, and be drawn into the web of doing menial tasks these scholarly assholes won't bend themselves to bother with. ]

Re: Library

[flagofbone]

Not everyone gets the pleasure of having so many books at easy access.

[He answers rather matter of factly as he looks at the hefty book, then at the man - seeming to try to decide if it's worth getting dragged into it, or if it would be more entertaining to leave him high and dry, especially with that Gold bossiness. Then he takes the book]

You're fortunate that I do actually want to know the layout of the library.

[unshod]

Will wasn't the only one to mask his eye color, it was a strangely human thing to do, but Fenris was not one to judge. His own mask was that of black tattoos all over his body and longer hair. Not that he was maintaining his mask not, his hair shoulder length and his skin bare of anything but wispy scars.

But he keeps track of the color of Will's eyes, sees the grey and finds his shoulders stiffening some. He knew the monster was there, it lurked, but Will still seemed to be at the forefront. Perhaps they would talk about the cookbook he still held instead.

"Bruce seems to think I have already taken to mentoring him, though I would not say I have gone that far yet... but you prove a good point. I will give him responses then.. perhaps even praise. He has what it takes, but I do not know what pushes him so hard," part of him wishes he was better at mind reading than he is, but gold court was always his weakest one. Xenk did not make it easier.

[unshod]

[ooc: Sorry he was so surly at the end! I love their CR already, she is welcome to bother him anytime!]

[unshod]

Ah, another silver that liked to play games. He couldn't fault him, it wasn't like silver courses were all that dangerous. They could go any which way, but were usually... harmless to the overall student body. Unlike Black Court.

"Then they will push it til he's nearly dead, do make sure a scholar doesn't die on us, consensual or not, that's paperwork I rather not deal with." He says it in a rather bored tone. A scholar dying was different from a student dying after all. Different paperwork, more complicated paperwork.

[serpendipity]

[ Eden eases back a bit, but keeps steadily in the position she was when offering the dagger. This was from learning that reacting to an animal being startled or upset only made things worse, and sort of hoping that applied with vampires as well. She wasn't expecting the nurse to have one, but maybe if there was someone sick inside or something sensitive to handle in there...?

The dagger itself wasn't for cutting vines, but it's pretty clear that there are signs of doing just that in an heavy amount recently. Too many delicate details were on it, most notably being the snake head embossed on the pommel. It was meant as a concealed weapon. Sometimes one uses what they've got. ]

Given that most of our court is working on cleaning this up, odds are they are as well. Though if something serious had happened, I would hope enough of the court knew emergency aid past just using saliva.

If not, it'd be a good future course.

[unshod]

[Fenris can't help the rare and short lived amused curl to his lips. Listening to Tighnari complain was amusing, especially a silver hating the scholars. It seemed like such a juxtaposition, but it made sense, Fenris also found the scholars to be irritating at the best of time.]

They are. I am tired of their screams in my dungeons. I will be glad to be rid of them in the coming weeks.

[Though he wasn't looking forward to the Blue Court Ball. He never was... It was always trading one terrible thing for another it felt like.]

[serpendipity]

There's a darkness there, in the black court, but I think it comes with all the duties they seem to have. I enjoy their classes though, even with some current struggles. It pairs well with the red court combat classes.

[ Her maker had been consistently busy between preparing and taking part in the symposium. With the second season being where black court taught shadowstepping, being behind on receiving blood from the maker was causing a few issues, and not just with that class.

Eden releases a breath though, because even if Jim wasn't fully understanding what she was saying, it was a way out. ]

Sometimes it's not your survival you have to look for... [ Oh geeze, now even she was catching that she was caught in an over-explaining loop. ] N-Next time just kiss me or do something to break me out of this. I was told last season I get caught up in explaining and talking too much.

[ This is what happens when you lived mostly isolated and was now in the middle of a busy society. Right? It had to be that. But hey, there's some carte blanche permission ]

[karmichealing]

[Karma sits forward a little, her chest more on display because she likes to give a hard time to those who were trying to be appropriate. It was just fun and something had to make this boring ass class fun for her.

Other than the amused smirk at his question, she doesn't laugh or make fun of him. Learning was about asking question and he was still a novice so she expected all sorts of questions. She will never fault curiosity.]

Yes, your sense of hearing will get sharper and more sensitive, even from here I can hear your heartbeat.

[And there were plenty that could and would kill their thralls when feeding, many that did it intentionally, many young ones that forget themselves and gorge. But they were prepared for such things.]

You have a very strong one.

[prizedstallion]

[Well if he's given permission to kiss her, he will do just that, swooping in to kiss her to shut her up, but also just to kiss her, because she was even starting to overexplain her overexplaining and while adorable, he wasn't going to let her get all wound up over it.

So he just gives her a chaste kiss, lingering long enough that whatever train of thought is hopefully derailed before stepping back and standing straight again, giving her a confident smirk.]

So, do you want to see if they have some pumpkin pie in the first kitchen?

[serpendipity]

[ Ahah. She was right in thinking that would stop the loop. Not that she wanted everyone kissing her, but some people... It'd be fine to give that kind of permission. This was a good solution. Also effective, because she's let the subject end right there and has a pleased smile on her face. ]

Oh, they could have some ready. Maybe some mulled cider as well?

[ Now a new idea. ]

You have longer legs, but how good are you at avoiding growing obstacles?

[ The track record isn't great for him, but that seems to be the closest to putting forth a tiny challenge. Especially as she steps over one vine and steadily gets faster while stepping onto another to keep going further. She may not have long legs, but avoiding obstacles like roots and vines were a specialty. ]

[this_ismydesign]

"I agree with Bruce," Will said and in the next blink the grey of his eyes began to soften towards blue. He also looked away, back down at where his fingers traced patterns on the cover of the book in his lap. "You've been starting to feel the urge for a novice. Seems as if this boy is in the right place, at the right time; for both of you."

Will was not what anyone would term traditionally friendly with his fellow youngbloods. But Fenris was someone he appreciated spending time with, even if it was to discuss the novices and foundlings to determine who needed to be discouraged from the Black Court and how best to go about it. It might not have seemed as if Will was paying enough attention to develop an opinion like the one he just shared, but there it was all the same.

"He needs to be pushed, Fenris. If you don't push him, he'll develop ways to push himself, and you'll be playing catch up. He's going to test you, because he's going to expect to be abandoned. The more you push him the more you help him prove his worth. Prove to him that you're always there, no matter the stakes, the more secure he'll become. Right now he's dangerously insecure."

[coolcustomer]

"As nice as it would be to know who's responsible, I doubt it, unless they're so tone-deaf as to not realise how much trouble they've caused."

Which, Silver Court being what it is, isn't entirely impossible.

[coolcustomer]

"I've heard that you can change Courts, if you find one that suits you better, but also that it's... not an easy process." Which does stand to reason, really, especially when so much of the process is tied up in blood.

[four_balls]

[If only he knew well enough that he didn't have to act as appropriate as he's trying to be, but that's his own fault for assuming things. Nor is she making his assumption much easier by shifting to show off like that and he can't help himself but glance for a brief moment before returning to her face.

Look, it's not his fault if he's gauging in his mind if his measurements before were accurate or not with a different perspective. When you have the ability, you may as well use it.]

Huh... And I'm guessing that happens gradually throughout the process instead of all at once? Since it'd probably be a shock if it all came on at once to suddenly be able to hear things you couldn't before and so loudly?

[Ma'am!!! Ma'am!!!!! You can't just say things like that to him and expect him to not heat up a bit in the face.]

I do? [It's not entirely surprising given his life even before arriving here and been filled with lots of hard work and him actually mostly keeping himself in some proper kind of shape.]

[wonderland_vogue]

Welcome to precisely why I hate this time of the year. All study and work, no play. It's utterly boring in every single aspect. We try to make it more interesting but there's only so much we can do. [And so many ways they can take fun potential topics and make them dry enough to kill a man.

Nor will she ever turn down someone's company, even if it's someone she doesn't care for, they still make fun targets to tease and torment. At least he's interesting.

It wouldn't be the worst come on she's had in this place, either.]

My ass is always looking great, but I appreciate the sentiment~ [It's the reason why she wears the pants that she does, hell, the reason she dresses like she does is always to be the center of attention while making sure everyone sees every inch of her body in the perfect way she'd want them to.]

Did you really come here just to flirt, then? You really don't want to go down there to see what all the noise is about?

[aria_ardeinae]

Everyone here does now, you might as well become accustomed to it.

[ He sounds more tightly wound and impatient than he sounds like he is being a snooty noble. Sure, he does kind of sound like that a little inherently, but as kind of. Background noise. To everything. ]

That one goes on the wall with the painting of the man who has chosen to make everyone in here look at his horrible beard for all eternity. On the upper shelves.

[ Reyson is perhaps shoving this off on Harlock because he doesn't want to climb a ladder one handed while managing a book of this size, and also because he does not want to look at the painting, which he finds is a bad use of having eyeballs. ]

[notimefordreams]

Unfortunately it's a case of not enough Makers there. Or not enough good Makers.

[Sarah has always been fairly vocal on what she thought made a good Maker though in her eyes.

She glances back, lips quirked in slight amusement.]

You sort of become your foundling's new parent after all.

V

[aria_ardeinae]

[ Reyson is here because one of the other Gold novices likes to tattle when they see people going in unusual places, and Reyson was looking for a non-suspicious reason to nose in around the basement. He wishes that he had not.

When he finds his wayward peer, frozen in a hallway, he will gently take her arm and gesture to move back to the stairs with him. He would love to look stern yet trustworthy, like a future respectable leader, but he mostly looks ill. ]