fairynuff | TEST DRIVE MEME #4

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TEST DRIVE MEME #4

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!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Lead the way, then.

[Awww yeah time for a slightly tipsy briefing!]

[Waver's pace is steady enough, which is good because the walk is a longish one.

The bedroom Waver walks into is neat to the point where it doesn't look lived in. Books sit on the bedside table, piled with the biggest on bottom and smallest on top. VH sits pooled in a large washtub at the end of the bed, making little waves to entertain itself.

Waver seats himself on top of the desk that he's commandeered for the room, and waits for Rider to get comfy.]

Sorry for the level of secrecy, but this isn't something I want overheard.

[When Rider sits on the bed, it actually creaks under his weight. And droops.

He also notices VH in the tub and raises his eyebrows]

I take it that came with the new title?

[Oh right, briefing]

So what is the situation?

Yes. [Waver nudges the tub gently. After a moment's irritated splashing, VH helps itself out of the tub, and slips into it's human form.] Volumen Hydragyrum, Rider. Rider, Volumen Hydragyrum. Formally Kayneth's mystic code, now mine.

[VH offers a silvery hand, one that ripples in mid-air. Waver's found that while human form can be maintained, there's always some motion with it.]

The situation is this, as far as I know: both sides claim the usual propaganda nonsense over the other and have summoned people from all over time and space in order to fight in their war. The conflict has gone on for centuries in a constant state of stalemate, with neither court pulling out ahead of the other. Take that as you will.

Through conversation with others, the stakes are not what the monarchs of either court are willing to tell their shard holders. Supposedly, and I take this with a grain of salt even though I generally trust the individual who told me, the reality of the situation is that there's a proper end of the universe happening on every level. The Unseelie want to stop this from happening, whereas the Seelie see that universe-end as a natural thing that shouldn't be fought against. Now, how factual this statement is is up for question, and it is something I've been trying to confirm.

[Waver takes a scant moment to regather his thoughts, and leans forward, forearms resting atop his knees.]

That would be all well and good to fight for if it wasn't screamingly clear that the courts tend to use the people that they've summoned to accomplish ends. Watching the wave after wave of people show up, it comes off as if the courts expect loyalty upon summons, rather than work to earn it or go out of their way to lead people into cohesive groups. There's inevitable chatter about defection, but it's hard to bring up questions like that when you're in controlled territory.

And that's all pre-text. The Unseelie have made major gains and are relying on raising a beast in order to cause grievous harm to the other side. It has, according to another source, been used before and the destruction it created was devastating. The Seelie equivalent's already been taken out, and I'm not sure what their defenses are.

[He shakes his head, a small bitter laugh escapes.]

And this is all to say that whenever one side wins, the other will probably cease to be. The length of the conflict along suggests that the victor won't be inclined towards mercy.

[This is the firmest handshake Volumen Hydragyrum is likely to ever see. Although after that's over, Rider looks pretty serious]

I see. Those are grave stakes indeed.

One is given to wonder if those are really the Seelie's motivation, though. It seems contradictory to fight so hard to simply allow something that's bound to happen anyway. And it isn't as if the people who have been brought here to fight would know any different if we asked them.

We need to find the heart of the matter.

I agree, but the whole thing is easier said than done. I tried to make use of the giant library that lies in the northwest, but it had been torched to ashes by the time I got there. Plus, there's that whole Unseelie-with-massive-weapons-of-destruction thing. It suggests that things right now need to be stalled, in order to encourage a more complete investigation.

Stalling weapons of mass destruction, you say? That sounds right up my alley.

What kinds of destruction are we speaking of here?

It's a creature, called a Jabberwocky. I haven't gotten any idea of what it looks like, only of what it can do. There's nothing I can compare it too either. But I can tell you that the Unseelie have been securing their fronts too, and re-commanding loyalties in preparation.

[Something Waver's been involved with, but for now he won't bring that up.]

And what is it that it does? It sounds like they're planning to use it.

If they were so certain of its efficiency, why bring more of us here?

They're definitely planning to use it.

[At the question, Waver shakes his head.]

No idea. They may need assists, or from what I've gathered, they've been struggling with bringing people in for a while. While things at working, why not sure up one's numbers could be their logic.

I hesitate to propose this, but...

...what if it requires our sacrifice?

[Not like a certain other war they could think of, right?]

[Well fuck.]

Part of me wants to argue that it's stupid to kill your own side and to be a monarchy without people to rule, but that's entirely plausible and I wouldn't be surprised.

If even half of the motivation you've ascribed to them is true, they are probably less concerned with ruling and more concerned with whatever objective it is they seek.

[You can reason with the greedy, after all. Zealots, not so much]

Mmm. And even if you're not one hundred percent correct, what you're describing isn't a bad or illogical assumption to work under.

No, I don't believe it is.

Then the long and short of it is to feign loyalty to this cause while doing as little to aid it as possible, until such time as we're able to ascertain more information.

[About that.]

I've been doing the former and unfortunately the latter. But I have figured out a better way to get information, and get in touch with people who share similar sentiments.

Hoh?

A network of spies?

Well, the first step towards something like that, more or less. I acquired property that's on roughly neutral territory, and am building on it.

And a base as well!

I'm proud of you, Waver! You've become quite the General in my absence!

A base where people can speak freely. I've been buying all the literature I can to put in there, since it'll serve as a public space.

[A small smile flick across Waver's face.]

I'm glad it seems like that. I've been unsure of things so far since the situation here is so different from Clock Tower.

Ah yes - you did mention that place.

What is it like now? Do you have all the respect you always wanted?

It's still crawling with assholes who are caught up in class and the power of generations, and perpetuating the same ignorance that made me angry when we first met. I'm horrified that I wanted the respect of the people there in the first place.

I suspected that might be the case when we first met. Seeking the approval of others above all else rarely turns out well.

But you have certainly grown past all that. Are you unhappy there?

It's... [Waver pauses. Phrasing it is has always been odd. Doubly so to the person that got him over so much of his anger and misplaced ambition too.]

I get to do research, I get to slowly nudge people away from narrowminded thinking, and I get to be more clever than everyone else. I can go from hating it one day to being in my element the next.

Then you are saying that even though you dislike your surroundings, your work is fulfilling for you.

You aren't sacrificing your own happiness for it, though, are you?

TEST DRIVE MEME #4

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