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.

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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.

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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?

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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

Astarion | Baldur's Gate 3 | Teacher | Red Court

[subigito]

New Arrivals

[ Astarion doesn't hide the way he watches the new arrivals, all of them sweet young minds for the shaping and, if they fail, a fresh supply of blood when they are turned into thralls. An inevitability that doesn't seem to bother him in the slightest, or at least that's the sense that he's projecting as he watches.

He's far more interested in the spectale of it all than actually taking one of these initates for himself. If a soon-to-be-novice happens to look his way, he'll smile coyly at them: ]

It's quite sweet, you know, one's Beginning.

[ Meaning drips off the word almost as heavily as the suggestion behind it, as if in his own personal, very sexual joke. ]

Perhaps you'll even die a little death tonight.

[ for teachers, however, he leans over (not subtly, he could definitely be overheard) and says: ]

Shall we bet on how many will still be "with us" by the end of the season?

Autumn Nox (nsfw)

[ Astarion was roped in (the pun is coming just you wait) to help set up for one of those after-light 6 am panels. You know the ones. And in this particular one, he's helping rig up some rather impressive rope rigging on a very calm, very collected, very naked vampire. ]

You're certain this is a Silver Court lecture?

[ Of course scholars from any court can present, but it's the principle of the thing. Then he turns to the vampire he's presently helping tie up. ]

Well, you can come help with my lectures any time you want, darling. I might let you nibble on a few students if you're extra good.

[ Is he allowed to offer that? Well he just did. ]

Library Clean Up / Office Hours

[ Astarion has amassed a small pile of the library books but he's presently hoarding them in his office. Did you come in here for his office hours? Because he's presently handing a stack of books to you. ]

So glad you stopped by. Go return these, won't you, dear? Tell them Astarion sent them.

[ And that's it. No "how are you?" no "did you need something?" If you want something out of his office hours other than being turned into an errand boy, better speak up! ]

Unethical Experiments (cw: torture, experiments)

Exciting isn't it?

[ He'll say the same whether it's to another teacher or to a novice he's supposed to be chasing off. He's distracted, listening intently to the sounds of the lecture on the other side of the door. Well, the lecture and the experiment, really. ]

The Silver Court pretend they're all straight-laced, but if you ask me, they're just as depraved as the rest of us. Maybe more.

Wildcard

[ Astarion is teaching seduction for the autumn season at three different levels so feel free to also catch him in class if you'd like! Or any other part of school life that seems fun! ]

Unethical

[captains_hands]

Well of course they're fucking depraved. We're fucking vampires. [well he is on his way to be one] You don't get ethics from sucking the life out of someone.

[he tilts his head toward the screams]

What I want to know is just how depraved they are in there.

[subigito]

I think they're rather enjoying it. The vampire who is screaming has at least 100 years on the lecturer. There's nothing that could be done to him that he doesn't want.

[ Age, after all, comes with all kinds of perks. The longer you're a vampire, the more your powers grow. Astarion sounds wistful. He may be a vampire, but he's still a youngblood. He can't wait to be 100. ]

[captains_hands]

Oh. [that he gets] This is a school isn't it? It's not some kind of weird...fetish club, right?

[he can't say he's not slightly intrigued despite himself]

Autumn Nox (wow, the one time you'll get her to be there)

[wonderland_vogue]

[Normally Lydia wouldn't be caught dead (figuratively, the literal has long since passed) at one of these ridiculous lectures, but there was just something that told her this might actually be amusing. Especially the second she found out something questionable was being done by Silver instead of Red.

Which is precisely why she's showing up early and coming upon this... scene...

Not at all the most awkward or weirdest or worst thing she's ever walked in on.]

Are you offering students to random vampires now? I don't think those higher up would be quite so understanding or appreciative~ [Just excuse her a second while she investigates this whole naked and tied up vampire situation.] Lovely knot work, though, I see someone did their research.

He's too powerful!!

[subigito]

Then it can be our little secret, can't it?

[ The three of them and...whoever was actually giving this lecture. But obviously Astarion is more interested in the subject and Lydia than the person sitting off to the side reading their notes while Astarion ties knots. ]

Shall I do you next, then?

Someone contain this man!!!!

[wonderland_vogue]

Oh, I had no intentions of telling them any of what I heard, that's not my place. As far as I'm aware, I heard nothing.

[For good reason and she can't blame him, she's pretty much entirely ignored the existence of the nerd with their notes in the corner. Such is the problem when it comes to Reds, especially when being tempted with such a lovely predicament.]

If only there wouldn't be some stuffy homebody that would come in here and get all up in arms about how this is supposed to be a lecture~ [Her voice is all sickeningly sweet and honeyed at this point, a grin never once leaving her lips.] But if you're offering elsewhere, I wouldn't say no. [It's not the public part that bothers her, just the urge to avoid the inevitable bitching.]

Or are you just teasing poor ol' little me with a good time?

Arrival

[serpendipity]

[ In a way, this was Eden's own fault for looking at everything and everyone, to pick out details and whatever else she could. Not out of fear or anxiety, but genuinely absorbing everything in stride to prepare for it possibly becoming a new normal.

And given she grew up in the South, where things were rather relaxed and open in nature, she almost thought to question which way the Red court teacher had meant by the beginning. Instead of being thrown off by it, she puts up a congenial smile. ]

I mean... In a way we go through small deaths for ourselves regularly. This is slightly bigger than those, given it's the death of the lives we had. Though I can already guess that our new Beginning isn't actually going to be how you just made it sound.

[subigito]

[ Astarion thinks she's missed the innuendo completely, but he just smiles sweetly, not missing a beat. ]

Maybe it will be and maybe it won't be. Mine was certainly a night I'll never forget.

[ Still, if she's responding to him, she must want to know something. That's much better than the Foundlings who simply cower in fear. ]

Are you nervous?

unethical

[bleakdecember]

[As soon he saw a teacher, he was prepared to slink back away and try again. But Astarion doesn't actually look interested in chasing him away. Oh, score. He can actually creep closer and listen.

And he grins at Astarion's assessment.]

I bet it's because they bottle it up so tightly. They have to let it out all at once, hidden away... What a shame, huh?

[subigito]

Either that, or they forget how much they like it when they're buried in all those books.

[ Silver Court...so boring, usually. ]

Never underestimate a pent-up librarian.

office hours

[theidlemaiden]

[ Thankfully it's that small pile of books being bundled into her arms that saves her from a tongue lashing or whatever other sort of reprimanding may come from her not being able to stop herself from making a face. Or maybe it isn't. Her eyebrow still hasn't quite settle back into place after raising at the sudden task that she frankly doesn't really want to do.

Whatever the outcome, she does manage to arrange her features back into something a little more sheepish even as she cradles the books to her chest. Is this helping or hurting the delicate flower thing she has going on? ]

Actually professor, I was hoping I could chat with you about the assignment you gave us the other day.

[subigito]

Oh.

[ Really, on anyone else, Hilda's act would have worked perfectly well. But now he's just wondering if he's going to have to carry those books himself and that would be Tragic, you see. So he misses that otherwise A+ attempt at being sheepish. ]

Sure. What is it?

autumn nox

[partybabysitter]

Your students are spoken for, Astarion.

[ Yeah, OK, but what Xenk doing at the devil's sacrement, huh? I'm just kidding, he's obviously here for the lecture. He's just early. He's brought a notebook and everything. For notes. ]

I was unaware that Red Court would be assisting in this lecture.

[subigito]

I'm sure they have extra blood to spare.

[ Astarion's eyes narrow when he looks over at him. He was so lawful. It was tiring, mostly. ]

What can I say? I'm altruistic.

[philancer]

[ Sylvain can appreciate a good inappropriate joke and humor is quick to brighten warm amber eyes as he grins in response to the vampire speaking beside him. He'd been watching the initiations with a fascinated gaze, knowing that this would soon be in his future, even if he wasn't there yet. Soon, he kept reminding himself.

Hopefully. If he could wiggle out from under the Gold Court's thumb. ]

Are you sure 'sweet' is the right word for it? I dunno, some of those vampires look pretty spicy.

[ Although that was mostly the Red Court ones. A few from the other Courts too, but he didn't think many of them could actually convincingly pull off "sweet".

...He could admittedly be a little biased here, however. ]

[subigito]

Who is to say those two things aren't interrelated? Especially when it comes to this.

[ That may not be quite the kind of spicy Sylvain is going for, but Astarion thinks its fun to play up the beginning. ]

Office Hours

[devilyoudo]

[ Every once in a while (read: a lot in a while), Raphael likes to check on his favorite little bond, make sure he's behaving himself and whatnot. After all, if he isn't, that reflects poorly on both the Red Court and Raphael himself as Master. Simply won't do.

Perhaps, also, he's a little bored. Either way, he's there in the office, giving an exaggerated sigh, a slump of his shoulders, and shake of his head as he's told to return a sloppy (sloppeh) pile of books. ]

Oh, Astarion. You know you have to ask me more sweetly than that.

[subigito]

[ Astarion knows well that no amount of batting his lashes and asking nicely is going to get Raphael to take the books back. This is a losing battle. But even still, he plays along, laying it on thick: ]

Please, won't you find it in your benevolent heart to return these books to the library? The Silver Court seems absolutely beside themselves.

[ But they both know he won't. So he pulls out a drawer in his desk and produces a bottle of bloodwine and a fold up, wooden chess set. ]

Do you want to play a round, or were you here for some other reason?

Post Autumn Nox

[unshod]

[Fenris was just passing by when he overhears some scholars expounding on the exquisite use of rope work in the lecture hall, speaking of how it was a true work of beauty on display. Curious, he stopped in the lecture hall towards the end, seeing Astarion strung up like a present waiting to be open...

It made his blood sing for the vampire.

Exquisite wasn't an adequate word for the beauty of Astarion, it never was and never would be. He made Fenris' fangs ache for him, made his body tremble without even a touch. To say he was fond of the other vampire was an understatement.

He stays to the shadows he belongs to and just watches, his eyes on him with such intensity he knows that he must feel it like a caress. It's only when Astarion is leaving the lecture hall that Fenris falls into step with him without a word. He was often quiet, but they didn't need to speak to always say what needed to be said.]

cw: referenced non-con with enthrallment

[subigito]

[ After helping tie up others, it was only fair Astarion eventually let himself be tied up. It's amazing, really, all the things academics can come up with to discuss that cross over with other enjoyable endeavors. And as far as Astarion was concerned, as a member of the Red Court he was really just doing his duty by encouraging and aiding in these sorts of things.

Besides, he likes being tied up when it's on his own terms. To him, it's nothing more than another piece of evidence of how far beyond his old life he'd truly gone. That unlike when he'd been nothing but a thrall and didn't have a say, now he could decide how and when and for whom he put himself and his body on display.

And it was something he did with such ease. A comfort, like the rope was nothing more than a second skin. Even afterwards, he practically glowed with the enjoyment of it and the way he'd been admired.

But none of the admiration really compared to the way Fenris looked at him during it--or how he looks at him now. His admiration was personal, after all. And though he'd have a hard time admitting it, the only piece of his old life he'd allowed himself to hang onto. ]

Well, hello, Fenris.

[ He says his chosen name like it is the only important thing in the world. Like it is sweeter than any poetry. ]

You look positively thirsty, my dear. [ It's light, teasing. ] Should we stop back at my room for a drink?

New Arrivals

[conradachenleck]

[Conrad, arms folded casually across his chest, takes his eyes from the crowd of newcomers to focus on his fellow educator. He's giving him just a more than slightly disapproving look.]

Don't you think that's just a little cruel?

[That had to be the point, sure, but still...]

[subigito]

Life is cruel. People die every day. And more to the point...

[ He looks over at Conrad, meeting his expression and not even a little bit shy about it. ]

Vampires are cruel, darling. You can't blame me for being what I am.

unethical experiments

[ladyofloss]

[Here's one such Novice who has opted to ignore the fact that her kind aren't meant to be down here, even if she is fast approaching her fourth season. While she has her own reasons for trying to catch a glimpse of what the Silver Court scholars are up to, she certainly can't disagree with Astarion's observations, and gives a soft snort in reply.]

I suppose they believe they can get away with anything so long as they say it's for the sake of research.

[Pretentious, the lot of them.]

I will say, I'm quite curious. You've not gone in to take a look for yourself?

[subigito]

[ Ah yes, a curious little novice. Astarion has seen a bunch of those tonight. ]

Oh, I have. It was rather enlightening.