Test Drive 001

[atonementmods]

Test Drive #001 Welcome to Atonement's first test drive, and thank you very much for stopping by! Please refer to the prompts below for ideas, or simply make up your own, whichever is easiest for you. Prompts Arrival: You don't quite remember how you arrived here. It appears that you're suddenly in a dead land with eerily red skies. The grass is dead, the trees are dying, and there's absolutely no sounds of life beyond your own footsteps, even if it feels like you're being watched somehow. Eventually along the narrow path you follow, you walk through gates that seem to guard a quiet, abandoned town and a sinking feeling starts to settle in that you are far from home and there may not be an easy way back. The sign hanging above the gates simply says "Welcome to Penance: Home Between Homes" and nothing more. Within the gates, there are the leftovers of what may have once been a lively, welcoming little town, if it didn't look as if people either fled or somehow vanished in the blink of an eye. There are dusty shops that are still stocked with supplies, many with their doors busted out or left open. There are homes that haven't been touched in what feels like an eternity but they still have furniture and the remnants of the people who lived there previously. Cars and bikes are littering the streets that are in varying shapes of usability. The more you look, the more unsettling everything becomes... First Punishment: As a show of good will, your hosts will give you a very easy, albeit potentially embarrassing, task to carry out for your punishment this month. First: There will as few secrets in Penance as possible. Transparency is key to atonement. You will reveal at least one sin in a way that will be permanent, which means via tattoo, scarring, branding, or other permanent means somewhere on your person. For those who are unable to be injured or scarred, there will be enchanted items that will be able to pierce even the toughest skin, cut deeper than even increased healing can recover from. All necessary items will be available at the tattoo parlor in town. If desired, characters may also make an announcement on the network listing their sin(s) for judgement from their peers. Please note that if the character insists they are free of sin, they will be provided a list of what they're guilty of by their hosts. Settling: It's time to settle into a home in Penance, either alone or with roommates. There is comfort and safety in numbers after all... Do try not to fight over housing if you've both accidentally chosen the same home... Your hosts will be very unhappy if you start a fight this early on over such a silly thing. If settling down isn't something you feel like doing, you may go and explore anywhere that you'd like, including outside the gates. Please be aware that there may be demonic forms of all types of common animals living outside them that move swiftly and silently. They will vary in aggressiveness and tamability, so please keep this in mind. As a note, all threads may be considered game canon if all parties agree. Hope you have fun and thank you! Game is set to officially open February 1st or when we reach a minimum of 10 players. premise | faq | taken | reserves | apps | hiatus/drop | network | logs | ooc | mods | requests

Comments

03

[paper_airplanes]

[It takes a few tries before Ray can work out how to send a response, but she can't simply ignore someone who looks about as tired as she feels. She forces a small smile as she speaks, hoping it will help ease their mutual nerves.]

Settling in has gone alright, so far. It's very empty here, [she notes, glancing behind her at the expansiveness of the empty house she'd found,] but everything is relatively clean and well-built, at least. So it isn't all bad.

[noassgardian]

It is, isn't it? [He gives a short smile in return, albeit it seems a little bit tired.] I guess it might be getting more lively around here though... seems like people are popping in.

[Like them. He lets out a sigh, shrugging his shoulder.]

So far, no. The punishment thing... that's not too good. Did you get the same speech as everyone else?

[paper_airplanes]

I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing. If there's more of us, then perhaps we have a better chance of trying to make things less unpleasant here. Though that would assume people working together, which my history classes taught me was never a guarantee.

[She winces at the word punishment.]

I did. That first punishment was... [Ray pauses, trying to find a word that even fit.] I deserved it, but I don't know how I'll get through the next. Or how any of us will. It's all rather brutal.

[noassgardian]

That's true enough, especially without someone who can make people listen, guide them a little. I don't think our hosts are really into playing that game.

[He gives a more sympathetic look.] I know. I didn't like it either, but-- the alternative isn't any better, right? If we don't do it, we don't go home.

But if this was them being easy... [He can't really imagine what them being hard is going to be like. He doesn't really want to either.]

But we probably shouldn't focus on that right now. Um, are you okay? Did you get cleaned it up and everything?

[paper_airplanes]

I agree, but I wouldn't want to try to put one of us in a leader position, either. We're all too new to this place to do it right.

[Ray's expression is blank for a moment, a tangible pause before she makes the decision to reply,] I'm not going back home. They said that isn't an option for the already deceased. [Which meant it was this, or be kicked back into the afterlife for her - a prospect she didn't relish in any way.

She shudders. Ray knows enough about what the military police did back home to guess at what might be coming, and she wants very much to be wrong.]

I'm alright now. Just tired, I think. Don't worry, I'll be alright. What about you, are you okay?

[noassgardian]

Definitely not. But we do all need to try to help each other at least... so hopefully we can do that much.

[Even if Billy is almost inclined to go just lock himself away somewhere and wallow. He can't do that. Not now. He pauses when she continues on, frowning slightly.] Aren't we all dead? I was told I was when I arrived...

[But he'd also been told he could be brought back home, at least. Hopefully, anyway.]

Alright. There are medical supplies in some of the stores if you need help tending to anything though. [He shrugs at the question.] Yeah, I'll be fine, I think. It's over with now.

[paper_airplanes]

I haven't met anyone here yet who wouldn't help another person out. Or at least tolerate them. Things should be stable enough.

Ah, but I was already in Purgatory. From what I've observed, that's not true for the rest of you, is it? [She smiles, briefly, which doesn't reach her eyes at all. If anything, she looks like she'd break down into hysterics if that didn't require far more energy than she could ever hope to have again in her life or afterlife.]

Wouldn't we need money, to get things from the store? I don't have any of this place's currency on me...