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

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.

[partybabysitter]

You know that they do not.

[ Xenk shakes his head. Oh, Astarion. So chaotic. ]

Indeed. You are ever generous with the subjects that interest you.

[ Even after all these years... ]

[subigito]

They're human. They'll produce more.

[ They're not really supposed to keep insisting they're humans at this point, but consider, Astarion really doesn't like humans or whatever half-human half-vampire thing the novices have going on. ]

And this subject isn't interesting to me. Did you want something, or are you just interrupting my concentration for no reason?

[partybabysitter]

[ Xenk shrugs, unable to argue with that logic. The Novices are closer to humans than not. And most of them become thralls anyway. They just have to at least keep an eye on the talented ones... ]

At the very least, you should offer those that fail your classes.

[ That's how it works, right? But Xenk is here for a reason and it's not to argue with Astarion. He takes a seat and opens his notebook. He really does intend to take notes. ]

Please, carry on. I am here for the lecture.

[subigito]

You're early.

[ He says it very pointedly, but he get back to work. This model isn't going to tie themself up. ]

[partybabysitter]

[ Xenk takes that as a compliment. He is extremely studious, so being early here feels right.

Plus it means he gets to watch how Astarion ties up the other vampire, and that's a good view. Academically speaking. ]

[subigito]

[ That wasn't a compliment.

But Astarion gets back to work. It's an intricate, methodical process. When he's done, the bright red rope creates patterns against the vampire's pale skin, as much a part of the art as the way he's positioned them, some of their limbs bent and others extended. He helps the lecturing vampire get the vampire on display suspended and then (begrudgingly) takes a seat next to Xenk. ]

Doesn't Gold Court dissuade you from enjoying things like this?

[partybabysitter]

[ Xenk watches with great intent, taking notes as they set everything up for the lecture. It really is exhilarating to watch. The intricacy of it all is beautiful, as well as appealing. ]

Why would it? Appreciation of the body and the arts is not forbidden.

[subigito]

I would think it a distraction from all the ruling.

[ That's why the Red Court members often quip that it's he who sits upon he who sits upon the throne who really has the power. ]

[partybabysitter]

[ Xenk quirks an eyebrow, clearly surprised to hear this. I mean, sure, people say that about Gold Court, but the reality is that they have thralls for all the boring stuff. Usually. ]

A proper ruler need not rule at all times. There is room for leisure, if one makes time for it. Finding proper balance is a key lesson.

[ Xenk likes the boring stuff too, but he's still a vampire. ]

[subigito]

So this wasn't purely academic after all.

[ He says it like he's caught Xenk in a lie. He's proud of himself. ]

[partybabysitter]

[ Wow!! Xenk's eyes narrow slightly. It's not a lie!! ]

If the subject of the lecture happens to be enjoyable, I fail to see that as a detriment.

[ Ehem. It can be both! ]

[subigito]

This is cute.

[ yeah he's just going to say that out loud ]

[partybabysitter]

[ Were he not undead, Xenk would feel his face flush. Instead he is just looking very confused. ]

I beg your pardon?

[ He's been called many things in his life. "Cute" is not among that list... ]

[subigito]

Watching you try and justify yourself. It's cute.

[ he said what he meant and he meant what he said you know ]

[partybabysitter]

[ Xenk splutters. Founders!! He is not some child, but. ]

That is a baseless accusation. There is nothing in the Gold Court's tenets that would keep me from enjoying this lecture.

[subigito]

Of course not.

[ Just in Xenk's rigidity!! ]

Such a diligent learner, taking notes and everything.

[partybabysitter]

[ He's rigid and he wants to get better at fucking creatively, he has layers. Like a stuffy, golden onion. ]

Of course. One attends these to learn, not to simply observe. That is the purpose of a symposium.

[subigito]

And what will you do, after you learn? Will you put it to good use?

[ Look, Xenk is....how he is, but he's still hot. Astarion has eyes. ]

[partybabysitter]

[ Xenk gives him a level stare. This is where you remember that he's a vampire, despite being... well, himself. ]

That is the intent, yes. Are you asking so you might join me?

[subigito]

If you want to tie me up, darling, you need only ask.

[ Astarion is still himself always! ]

[partybabysitter]

[ Xenk pauses to consider this. He's going to miss out on the rest of the symposium if he does this... but let's be honest, Red Court and Gold Court do have a reputation of working side-by-side. Or in many other directions, as the case may be. ]

Would you be amenable, or are you seeking to tease me?

[subigito]

Please. I take these matters very seriously. I owe it to my Court, after all.

[ He's a professional! ]

[partybabysitter]

It would be practical to try out what I've learned.

[ Yes, practical. That's what it is. ]