undyingcourt | Test Drive Meme

Entry tags:

Test Drive Meme - New Blood

DEC TEST DRIVE MEME

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.

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.

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?

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ to be perfectly honest, tighnari can't be angry with her for not paying close attention, not when she's clearly so zealous about the subject matter. he recognizes his own passion for the subject in her, and he can't bring himself to chastise her when she's clearly so enthusiastic. ]

We do, yes. Our skin might be ageless when it comes to fine lines, but that doesn't mean we're entirely impervious to the environment, even despite our own healing.

[ and vampires can be.. quite vain. ]

Now, do you think you can identify this mushroom for me?

[ She uses the phrasing 'something like' when saying the scientific name. It's close to how it's pronounced, in a way for someone that's heard it maybe once and only read it since. It's with a a tiny shrug and crinkle in the nose. Honestly, Eden was better at identifying for their purposes rather than their names, but she kept that part to herself. ]

Though I really only know them by their common name, or at least what it's called in the south. is what I've heard, but that might be distorted. They're used enough that I usually have to keep an eye out for them even when on the lookout for other things.

Correct. Armillaria mellea, commonly known as Honey Fungus. Unfortunately, this beautiful tree is infected.

[ tighnari goes on to explain how the infection occurs, and how honey fungus at the base of a tree can spell disaster for the specimen. the students all scrawl in their notebooks, and tighnari bends to pluck one of the small fruiting bodies from the oak's roots. ]

It's edible, and commonly used in potions crafted to loosen the lips, though the efficacy of it is still up for debate. A decent snack if you find yourself in need in the wilds, though eaten raw it sometimes has a bitter taste, and can cause digestive upset. Best to boil them.

[ ah, mushrooms are the only thing he really misses eating.. even now. ]

One at a time, please gather a sample for yourselves, and sketch them in your books as best as you can, paying close attention to the stipe and gill structures.

[ No one really had to tell Eden twice to collect samples like this. Though as she did and would start sketching, a different curiosity bubbled up. As she said, she was told to collect these quite often, and part of the teen wondered a bit more about her grandmother. ]

Is there a difference between potions and tonics, or are they effectively the same? I've heard the first far more than the second since coming here.

[ like a good teacher would, tighnari also follows along the task, plucking up one of the mushroom offshoots delicately from the base to show the students how it's done, before his pencil is soon flying over his paper, sketching out the fungus with ease. ]

If you want to be very technical, a tonic is a carbonated water with a splash of quinine. For the layman's purpose, however, both of the words 'potion' and 'tonic' are somewhat interchangeable, describing any draught meant to restore, act as an antidote antidote, or grant specific effects.

The difference comes in tinctures, decoctions, and infusions. These all have similar outcomes, but the preparation and intent are different.

Mm...

[ A nod is given in understanding before returning to the assignment. She knew that preparation and intent was different for the other items mentioned, but the teen was also well aware that this was for the benefit of the whole class. There were just some little things, like 'proper' terms, that tripped her up.

For all the ease of collecting and identifying the mushroom, and the proper concentration in drawing out the specimen... Eden's not very good at drawing. She's making sure to get the right characteristics, or when unable to do it on a smaller level, draws a circle over the relevant area and connected it with a line to a better, larger, attempt at the feature. The intent comes across, and there's notes to what she had no skill in displaying, like how the 'infection' connected to its resources and crossed out little notes of what wasn't brought up in the class or books exactly, and what her grandmother told her instead. ]

[ she's working hard, so tighnari takes the opportunity to meander around the throng of students as they pluck up samples and sketch to the best of their ability, giving pointers where he can, showing them where the important structures of the fruiting body are, and how to use them to properly identify this specific species.

once he comes around to her, he drops to kneel in the grass with a smile, one tall ear flicking. ]

You seem to have a knack for this. It's nice to see a student have so much interest.

You could say it's familiar territory.

[ She'd rather admit that than how this was meant to be her 'easy' class, so not every single one was stressful. It wasn't as if she'd learn nothing, as her 'familiarity' was almost exclusive to the south region and a few 'imports', but this was more a touchstone to the past. Something she fondly speaks of while focusing on the sketching and notes. ]

Identifying, collecting, preparing for use right away or for something later... I used to have a small book to go by when I was younger for all of this as well.

I took an interest when I was very young, as well.

[ it's what he was bred for, after all, and he'd been drawn to the biological sciences from his early youth. it's easy to see that mirrored in her, as well. ]

I still have the field guide I wrote when I was a child, in fact. Good to know I won't have to worry about your scores.

Mm. It was more necessity, you could say.

[ No bitterness, or anything of a significant emotion, was tied to those words. Though she does end up smiling, stopping her sketch attempts before looking over. ]

It'd be a shame to abandon it all at this point though, right? I think my scores will only start getting affected if drawing quality mattered.

[ She knows what good art skills looks like. ]

[ that certainly makes tighnari think. he tilts his head, one of his long ears flicking backward. ]

Well, I don't necessarily agree. If you have no real passion for it, then there's no reason for you to pursue a course simply because you think you would be good at it.

[ even if she doesn't sound bitter, he doesn't want her to believe that she's tied down. ]

There are plenty of fields you could pursue. Does anything else draw your interest?

It's still early to know what's shiny and new and what truly has my interests.

[ Such is the way when you lived with a niche style. However she wasn't necessarily failing out of her classes either. Gold was her biggest struggle, but not all of it was so difficult. ]

I'm not sure I'm ready to leave everything behind either. I know the clothes burning ceremony was meant to be us leaving our lives behind, but it's also all that's left from the grandmother that raised me. Sentimentality could be a kind of passion, right? Taking what she taught me, and what I learn here, to use properly in the future...

Well..

[ .. once she's a vampire, assuming she makes it to her becoming, her human life may fade away with time. ]

.. you potentially have a very long life ahead of you. The time you spent learning these things may one day feel like the snap of a finger. Still, if you believe it to be passion, then passion it is.

[ he smiles. ]

Besides, far be it for me to decline anyone who shares my interests. Just be sure to also keep an open mind, hmm?

[ She nods, understanding what he's saying. What she currently knew was highly specialized and that limited everything else. It's why she thought it was still too early; what if there was something found in these seasons that completely took her heart? ]

I also know there's some things I may feel passionate about, but will never be able to fully pursue. It's very Gold Court, and what they are is very much not something I could stomach doing. I'll take the classes for there, but I can already imagine they won't get good marks.

[ Some of this may be bias from what she's heard about how they could be, on top of what everyone learned about the gold court and their skills. ]

I'll have to see if I can get anyone in there to agree.

[ tighnari's smile is mild. ]

I understand. Well, you have plenty of time to think about it.

[ the season is still young! he just wanted her to be sure that she didn't need to pursue botany and foraging simply because she felt she should. but then, as a vampire, she'll have all the time in the world to study and try new things. ]

I'm always available if you have any questions or concerns.

[ It's less a 'should,' and more that familiarity was a comfort and she wanted at least some of that while taking classes that were far from what she's done so far. It's why she nods at the offer. ]

I have the rest of my life, right? Or- Unlife? Undead life?

[ Getting caught with details and exacts is good for herbalism. Not so much for these moments. ]

.. heh. Indeed.

[ her unlife, it is. tighnari smiles, and stands again, brushing soil and grass from the knees of his trousers. ]

I'm going to see to the others, if you have need of me, don't hesitate.

[ he is, after all, always happy to nurture fresh young minds that are eager to learn, but for now there are other students who need his input as well. ]

I'll do my best to remember that.

[ She assumes that's meant long-term as well, because in this particular case she had it rather handled. It's okay, Eden knew others wouldn't have such an easy time. Her case was rather... uniquely suited for classes like these. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Test Drive Meme - New Blood

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