TEST DRIVE #6

[fairyfoes]

TEST DRIVE MEME

Considering apping to EACHDRAIDH? Why not give the setting a test run here! OPTIONAL SCENARIOS 01. ARRIVING IN THE DRABWURLD. The Seelie and Unseelie courts welcome you with mirthful revelry and hearty food. After you have been briefed on your purpose here, you will find an endless feast and a night filled with entertainment to placate your concerns. Mingle with new arrivals, sneak down the castle halls and make sure your eyes are always on your glass; fairies and imps have no bias when it comes to tricks! 02. THE STATION. Looking for a little slice of home? The Station gives you all that and more. Take advantage of the wifi, have a cup of fairy-brewed coffee (the one they didn't spit in) or sit back and relax on the patio. You can even move your things into one of the available rooms! 03. WILDCARD. Your own scenario! Explore the Drabwurld or simply take advantage of your Locket!

Comments

Randolph Carter | Cthulhu Mythos | Unseelie

[questdreamer]

At the Feast

[Wow. That's. Certainly a thing, sitting at that there table. Maybe it's human, but at seven feet tall, swaddled in rough brown robes, clumsy mittens on its hands and a blank white mask covering its face, it seems unlikely. Whatever it is, though, it isn't causing any trouble. It's just calmly tearing bits of bread off of a loaf and soaking them in broth, then tucking them underneath its mask.

Maybe you're both reaching for the same bit of food, and you bump hands. Maybe you're staring rudely, and that mask turns toward you, something glittering in the black behind the eye-holes. Or maybe you're brave enough to just say hi...?]

[thebreakingwave]

[ At first, when he spots Carter from behind, he wonders if he's another troll, like Vol'jin. Although, coming closer, he realizes that while they've the height in common, this stranger doesn't seem to have visible tusks. Or, well, visible anything really. ]

Sorry, didn't mean to stare. I'd thought you might be someone I knew.

I'm Harry.

[questdreamer]

[Carter tilts his head, fixing his attention on Harry when the young man approaches him. And there is a sound from behind his mask, some soft clicking... but then, a reply in perfect (albeit strangely forced and buzzing) english.]

I apologise for the confusion. [He dips his head, slowly. So polite!]

I am Randolph Carter. Of Massachusetts. It is my pleasure to meet you, Harry. [And he offers a mittened hand.]

[thebreakingwave]

There's no need to apologize. It was my mistake.

[ Harry smiles, bright and easy, and from the little bits of snow still melting in his hair it's clear he's just come in from the outside. He has no problem shaking hands with someone wearing mitts.]

A pleasure to meet you, Mr Carter. I've never been over to America, but I'd heard plenty about it.

[questdreamer]

[He's got a good grip, if one that is -- decidedly not human, all the fingers the wrong length and in the wrong places. (Though if, at this point, you're still thinking this gentleman is human, or even humanoid, you might be a bit dim.]

It is a wonderful country. In places. And you? You are from where? [The accent seems British, and the familiarity with the Americas would hint at his origin being terrestrial, but gods know that an accent can be a very poor indicator.]

[thebreakingwave]

I was working in London when the imps got me.

[ Definitely inhuman, but it doesn't seem to bother or faze Harry in the slightest. ]

Mind if I join you? I've been out in the woods for the last little while and food over a campfire has its merits, this is all a bit better than I can make.

[questdreamer]

Not at all. [He skootches his chair over a little, giving Harry more space to beside him.]

I cannot enjoy as much as I would like, in any case.

[ophiocordyceps]

[ They seem to have set their minds on the same bit of food, and their hands touch. Very briefly, since Caroline immediately withdraws hers. It's nothing personal, initially, just a remnant of what all those scars on her hand already indicate - she's got good reason to be extra careful with her hands. ]

I'm sorry, it's all --

[ Oh dear fuck. ]

-- yours.

[ She has relatively good control over her voice, the pitch only changed ever so slightly. She casually reaches for something else now, because this seems like the best course. Act as if nothing at all unsettling is going on. ]

Are you enjoying the feast?

[questdreamer]

[Oh, how embarrassing.]

Ah. No, please -- help yourself.

[Carter backs off a bit, gesturing that she should feel free to enjoy that last bit of crusty bread. He isn't blind to her reaction, of course, but it isn't shrieking and fainting and having a fatal heart attack, so it's really going fairly well. By his standards. Just keep acting like a polite New England gentleman.]

I am, ma'am. As unexpected as the circumstances are. And you?

[ophiocordyceps]

Thank you. That's very kind.

[ His offer seems to be as startling to her as his appearance. Where she is from, food had become a scarce thing, time and time again.

Alright, he may not be human. Probably. Highly likely. But he is sentient, polite, and her curiosity is about as strong as her fear. She was a regular scientist at some point, after all. ]

I may have been kidnapped, or am experiencing vivid hallucinations of having been kidnapped, but otherwise this is ... surprisingly enjoyable. It's the hallucinations, most likely.

[questdreamer]

Ha. [He says it, a soft statement of amusement. He knows how his 'laughter' sounds.]

If it is a hallucination, it is a shared one, and very well-constructed. I doubt it is that simple, though. [Gently, gently trying to present to her other possibilities.]. There is much that lies beyond human reckoning, I have found.

[ophiocordyceps]

Of course a hallucination would do best to prove itself as real. In the same way, someone who found himself in the same predicament as I do would reassure me of that very fact.

[ She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. Thinks. What has last been her downfall? The assumption of an easy solution. Easy being relative and loosely used. ]

I'll play. Assuming you are real, are you something that would, how do did you put it, lie beyond human reckoning?

[questdreamer]

There is, however, a flavor to dreams that this land lacks. Like perfume. Fragnant, but insubstantial. Look to your hands. Solid. Familiar. [He holds up a mitten, in possibly-helpful, possibly-just-weird demonstration.]

I am well-convinced that this is real. And I would beg, ma'am, that even if you do not, that you treat it as such.

[And with that creepy bit of advice dispensed, he addresses her question. Somewhat.]

I was born as human as any other. My name is Randolph Carter. Of Arkham, Massachusetts.

[ophiocordyceps]

[ She nods her agreement to his advice - message sent, message received, so to say. ]

Dr Caroline Caldwell. Of [ London, England. Beacon, what remains of Britain. Hotel Echo military base/research facility, far away from civilization. She hesitates, if not for long. ] London, England.

[ When in doubt, go with the place of your death. ]

I suppose I shouldn't press the matter of your humanity, Mr Carter?

[questdreamer]

I would prefer if you did not. The -- complexities of my condition do not affect the basic fact. Despite all appearances. [And he really wishes he could put more intonation into his voice, because that deserves more dryness than he is capable of.]

Are you a doctor of medicine, or or academics?