January - February Test drive

[indigo_events]

➞ Post with a character you wish to test drive in this game's setting.
➞ Tag other people's starters and thread out shenanigans!
➞ Invite your friends! Try out new characters! Come play with us!
➞ Have fun!

NOT SURE WHERE TO BEGIN YOUR TEST-DRIVE JOURNEY?
CHECK OUT ALL THE LOCATIONS WE HAVE AVAILABLE IN:

JOHTO | KANTO | SEVII ISLANDS

Feel free to make various prompts in multiple locations!

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OTHER USEFUL LINKS:
NAVIGATION | RESERVES | APPLICATIONS

Comments

[jasidian]

I mean, same here, honestly.

That said, I'm...mostly just not all that amused about being suddenly transmogrified. It's just...

I mean, honestly, that's the only thing I've got a problem with. I suppose it's not all that much of an issue with you elves, but just talking was kind of an ordeal here, after waking up and finding out my entire mouth just shifted and my tusks are gone and...well, you know.

[ Given his bulky frame and strong jaw and the fact that he looks to be about seven feet tall if you're using nearby objects to gauge his height, it is Incredibly Obvious what fantasy race he was prior to coming here. ]

[strawberryprotector]

"Lemme check." Ichigo scanned each pokemon again to see if she could find out. "Looks like they're level five. Cubone needs to get to level twenty to evolve."

[insidegalra]

I'll start heading your way then, after I tell my partner--

[The word Thace uses for partner definitely has strong romantic connotations.]

If he wanted to come along to meet you, would you want to meet him?

[copykiri]

[No hesitation.]

Mudsdale!

[The rest takes a bit longer.]

Biggest and strongest. Slow but sturdy. Goes over rough ground best.

[nevercaught]

I wonder, then, is there anything I might catch and trade you for a Mudsdale egg?

[cryopathy]

[In his defense, Aymeric doesn't know that their first instinct is to toy with others so that they feel in control, even though they have no more say in all of this than he does.]

Never heard of it. I'm from Renova -- the capital. Little thing nestled west of the mountains. Great wine country.

[For a moment, they think, and eventually decide that gathering information has overtaken causing mischief as their priority.]

Do you happen to recall what you were doing before you landed here?

[spacetogrow]

[ Ilphyl freezes as they hadn't realized someone was approaching until they were close enough to grab the stray squid. Their own Pokemon moved to peer at the newcomer, perhaps to see what has alarmed their trainer.

All right, everyone here was human and had no powers, and lacked weapons. But old instincts died hard. ]

Cozying up to humanoids is a survival strategy. It may or may not be a successful one.

Re: New Bark Town/Route 29

[nevercaught]

"... it claims that they enjoy it," he says after a moment. "I suppose the thing to do would be to ask my companion."

The man pulls his cloak aside and a little purple jewel-eyed imp, which has been thus-far clinging to his back, hops down.

"Now Euol," he says, crouching to meet its eyes. "Would you like to battle on my behalf in order to win money and prizes?"

The little imp nods enthusiastically. He rubs the top of its head, before straightening his lanky body.

"There you have it," he says, cheerfully. "Euol is fine with it."

(By this point it has likely not escaped Ilphyl that the stranger has named his companion after the drow word for 'gem.')

Re: New Bark Town/Route 29

[spacetogrow]

Yes, there was a flicker of recognition and even concern. Ilphyl is used to going through a world where any sort of elf will have an opinion on dark elves, and there's a non-trivial chance that any dark elf would be a devotee of the Spider Queen (Ilphyl won't even think Her name; it is entirely reasonable to be terrified of a goddess that actually does exist and may actually think She has a claim to his soul).

Not that they wouldn't have approached Jarlaxle anyway, but they might have taken a different tack. Basically, they haven't spent that much time with their people since they left the Underdark, and never outside the context of knowing the politics of the group before going in.

Jarlaxle would notice Ilphyl's body language has closed off a bit more, though they are looking a bit more neutral after the recognition. "Is that what you named your new pet? No one is ever allowed to give me shit about my names."

Re: New Bark Town/Route 29

[nevercaught]

"It seemed apropos," the mercenary says with a shrug. "But I take it from your criticism that you at least speak the same birth tongue as I—and by your now-guarded demeanor, you've certainly realized that as well. But come now—I am the same fellow I was a minute ago, as are you. Does knowing we are both drow really change things so much?"

[nevercaught]

[So it is. Well, Jarlaxle is a man of the world. Why shouldn't this perfectly friendly man also be an orc? Much like drow, they are likely not inherently malicious, merely shaped by their society to be so.]

Oh, I can imagine. Truly, I'm sorry about your difficulties with your new body. I cannot imagine what it must be like to be so radically altered in shape—at least my teeth are the same.

Re: New Bark Town/Route 29

[spacetogrow]

"More that it narrows down your history. Which may or may not be relevant to 'something is transporting people to another plane where magic doesn't work and everyone is human'. Of course, assuming you're even from the same plane as me."

On the other hand, one of their most recent long-term problems were rakshasa infiltrating the upper echelons of Waterdavian society. Humanoid-eating fiends were generally speaking a worse problem than whatever a lone dark elf could bring.

But it did suggest that Ilphyl probably needs to work on this, and hadn't, given the main time they were interacting with a diverse group of people was in Waterdeep, where there was some element of anonymity of a large city.

[psionicmolotov]

[ Ilphyl's reaction doesn't escape him. Kimmuriel has no investment in making someone uncomfortable right now, so he takes a few steps back to allow for space. It's not as if he doesn't understand. ]

I would guess that this is less for survival and more due to simple good nature. What little that is worth. [ He turns the Inkay around so he can look into its eyes for a moment.

....It just beams at him and gently plaps his forehead with a tentacle. He sighs again, his frown softening ever so slightly. ]

Far too trusting. [ It sounds like a reprimand. ]

[psionicmolotov]

It would be a boon if it developed as such. [ He understands the sarcasm and chooses to avoid it on purpose. A thin smile lingers on his face for a moment. ]

[ He's never been interested in an illithid's life cycle, but he has to admit the appeal of seeing something grow more powerful under tutelage isn't an entirely unappealing thought. He's already taught the Archmage, so he supposes a squid-creature wouldn't be more difficult. ]

It is, yes. And what of yours? [ He hasn't seen a creature around her. Yet, at least. ]

[spacetogrow]

This world seems very peaceful. Outside of the wildlife.

[ But no walled towns, no fear of sending even children on the road with nothing but a pet. No one even is carrying weapons or armor, though the omnipresence of magical animals might help. ]

Re: New Bark Town/Route 29

[nevercaught]

"I think that can be solved fairly easily," the mercenary says. "The matter of if we are of the same plane, at least, for I doubt geography would be consistent between planes. Does the name of Menzoberranzan, the City of Spiders, seem at all familiar to you? For it was where I was born, though I have primarily dwelt among surface folk this past century or so."

Re: New Bark Town/Route 29

[spacetogrow]

This does get a brief teenager look of 'do you think I'm an idiot' out of reflex before Ilphyl remembers that, no, extradimensional travel means that a valid question. "Yes. I've never been, but I've certainly heard of it. I'd give you my own birthplace, but it's unlikely you've heard of it. I'm mostly based out of Waterdeep right now. I've been on the surface for a few decades."

Ilphyl is not yet an adult, but they do look old enough that they would have been the equivalent of a young- to mid-teen when they made it to the surface. Since they didn't gain any height or bulk on becoming human (and were on the short side even as an elf), they may look younger as a human than they might otherwise.

[OOC: Also the mun needs to come up with a name for some middle of nowhere settlement in the Underdark.]

Re: New Bark Town/Route 29

[nevercaught]

That gets a bark of laughter from the older drow—well, drow turned human. "How very curious—I too was in Waterdeep before being drawn here. I'd only just arrived, in fact—how very curious!"

In that moment, Jarlaxle makes a decision and commits wholly to it.

"But it occurs to me that I've been remiss in introducing myself. I am Jarlaxle. Perhaps you may have heard of me?"

(He omits the surname that he has only just begun to use among his men, for his house has never officially claimed him and he dared not use it publicly for many centuries, for fear of inciting civil war. But Menzoberranzan is on the brink of civil war in any case and there was the appeal of declaring just who he was... but not with this skittish and defensive youth. The Baenre name would only spook them.)

[ourstosee]

I am afraid I am just as unfamiliar. Though... [He trails off, thoughtful.] Wine country? [If nothing else, Aymeric perks up, just a little. Now they're speaking his language.

In any case, he's quick to nod his assent to the second question.]

I was en route to the frontlines after returning my comrades to their base of operations. I must have closed my eyes to rest for a brief moment and nodded off. Then I was here.

Re: New Bark Town/Route 29

[spacetogrow]

Probably for the best; any of Menzoberranzan's Great Houses were so far above Ilphyl's pay grade even if they hadn't completely rejected their own birth family (which, hopefully, still assumed Ilphyl was dead).

"In passing." Ilphyl was a lot more comfortable eavesdropping around Waterdeep, where 'unusual person' was a high bar. Especially given Skullport beneath the city meant that there was access to the Underdark. Ilphyl was more likely to be backup when someone else was gathering information.

"I'm Ilphyl." They could probably claim the druid circle that had finished their training, but they hadn't been back there in a while.

Re: New Bark Town/Route 29

[nevercaught]

Jarlaxle notes the singular nature of young Ilphyl's name and wonders if the lack of surname is due to the youth's caution or to lacking a house altogether.

"Well! I hope what you have heard is favorable, then! I must confess I had yet to hear of you—but I really had just arrived in Waterdeep." And not under his own name, either.

Re: New Bark Town/Route 29

[spacetogrow]

"Well, any bounties on my head are out of date," Ilphyl said. They were smiling when they said it. That didn't mean they were joking, mind.

Re: New Bark Town/Route 29

[nevercaught]

"I try not to give my real name to surface folk when I can," Jarlaxle says with a smile of his own. "It tends to help with the bounties."

Re: New Bark Town/Route 29

[spacetogrow]

"Useful life lesson," Ilphyl nodded. "Sadly, they also had a good description and a picture."

Video;

[nightyorb]

It's good to meet another adventurer here. Most people here don't know the first thing about it.

[They couldn't quest their way out of a paper bag!!]