test drive — winter

[villagemod]

WINTER TEST DRIVE
Welcome to the test drive and thank you for your interest in The Village. This test drive is not game canon but will allow players the opportunity to experiment with game mechanics, the setting, and the flexibility of choice allowed by this game. The following prompts are examples of typical situations characters might face in the game. At least one thread from the TDM is required as part of the game's application process.

The setting details and locations are still being unveiled in the game, so prospective players are welcome to play with established locations or create their own within the general setting of Mathias.

( Recommended listening: ♫ )

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INTO THE ENDLESS
Winter has arrived in Mathias. Snow falls steadily, big puffy flakes that pile up quickly in drifts as the wind blows them around town. The trees in the forest are covered in it, the branches bending under the weight and shaking when the piles fall from them to the forest floor. The roofs of buildings become solid white and drifts form in doorways as the wind tries to rush inside anywhere it can.

New arrivals wake in the forest, with its winding paths twisting back on themselves as they branch in either direction. It isn't safe to stray from the path, there is a menacing fog that waits just a few yards inward in any direction, but for now, there is nothing impeding movement along those snow-covered paths that cut through the trees. Continue stumbling in one direction and you'll reach the small town, coming out near the mishmash of quaint houses that nestle beside crumbling ruins that used to be homes. But choose the other and you'll seem to stumble on forever, huddling against the wind until there seems to be a clearing up ahead—

And then nothing. The earth opens up before you in a ravine so deep that the bottom cannot be seen. The other side can be seen, tantalizingly out of reach, and there is the sense that safety is just beyond, if only you could get there. But with that sensation is also the knowledge that if you stay here, you will die. The edge seems unsteady, like getting too close would set it crumbling and send you tumbling into that dark endless nothing that waits below...

BODIES WITHOUT SOULS
Benedict Books is nestled quaintly on the square surrounding Mathias's Town Hall, a thick layer of dirt covering the front windows. Looking through those windows provides a much different view than looking directly into the shop through the doorway — vague shapes and forms of figures seem to be inside, though no details can be determined through the streaks of grime. Flickers that resemble flashlights can be seen passing along the windows from time to time, and on occasion there is even a muffled tapping sound that comes from behind the glass, as if someone is trying to get your attention. The same distorted figures can be seen looking through the windows from the inside outward, but moving from one side or the other reveals... nothing. There is nothing there, and perhaps it is all in your imagination.

A portrait hangs at the front of the store to illustrate the namesake of the little shop... that may, in fact, not be so little. Dust covers everything in sight and detritus litters the wooden floor, as if someone left the door open and allowed half the forest inside.

The books are mostly familiar titles from the 1990s and earlier, but close examination will reveal that key details seem to have been changed. They fill shelves in neat lines along the walls and rows in between, the building almost seeming to stretch on forever until, finally, a small office can be seen tucked away in the back. A glance back toward the front door gives the impression that the room isn't that big, after all. Strange that you previously thought so.

Prying the door open is the only way to get inside the small office; the hinges have rusted and are caked with dirt and grime. Search as you might, there are no interesting bits of information to be found here beyond a few inventory lists on the little desk. There is, however, a green and gold safe in the corner that, no matter how many times one turns the dial, simply clicks and clicks. Scratches around the safe indicate that someone tried to get in at one point, though there's no indication as to whether they succeeded.

THE END APPROACHES
Standing at the center of Mathias, the town hall is a modest two-story building that would be welcoming if not for the faded sign, chipped paint, and deafening silence within its empty halls. It's a typical government building, with a reception desk at the front and rows of identical offices within, the names half faded from each door. But what catches the attention is a large bulletin board on the main wall beside the reception desk, once meant to hold flyers or announcements for the community.

What it holds now is decidedly different. Tacked onto the board are scraps of paper covered in an assortment of handwriting styles — requests for supplies should anyone find them, pieces of information shared in the hopes of someone understanding the strange symbols and mathematical equations, notes about those missing or recently deceased. And over the center of the board, tacked on top of other papers, is a map discolored with age. Mathias Township can be read in the corner, a stretch of forest displayed beneath it, but everything else has been smeared to illegibility with red... ink? Upon close examination, a keen eye will realize that the ink is actually blood, though whether it is human is unknown. And scrawled across that forest, nearly covering the illustration of a clearing and a large house within, are the words

he is coming
A number of tarnished metal pushpins are scattered around the edges of the board, waiting for future messages to be shared, and a stack of pristine white paper and pile of cheap ballpoint pens rest on one of three chairs beside the board. The chairs are clearly meant for those waiting for meetings and are covered in the same layer of grime as everything else in the building — everything except the pens, paper, and bulletin board.

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Comments

[minuteofangle]

[ Learned a little from a friend. Great. Well, at least his nanotech hasn't given up the ghost just yet, or they'd be really screwed. Gabe shrugs, flexing his hands briefly. It's better to offer out small motions than to go completely still. People notice when you go stock-still. It makes them nervous. ]

I get by.

[ He'd feel better with his rifle, but apparently the universe hates him and wants him to suffer. ]

Call me Gabe.

[ An afterthought. But it's the polite thing, isn't it? ]

[livener]

[She wonders if it's short for Gabriel, like the angel. Something about that makes it feel like a sign. That she needs to stick close to him, at least for the time being. Maybe he has people nearby and he'll go his own way eventually. It's what she's hoping for herself too.

When she lifts her head, it's just in time to take notice of the flex of his hands. She can slightly see something beneath his sleeve move along with the motion, but she doesn't make any comment on it. It's not her place to ask just yet.]

Do you want to look around and see if we can find anything? It'd be better to stick together and get supplies.

[She doesn't want to come across as a liability, so she tries to stand a little taller. It starts to finally dawn on her that he isn't directly looking at her in the way that someone like Rick or Daryl might when faced with the possibility of being stuck with someone that can't fight. He doesn't seem to be studying her, isn't sizing her up. Part of her wonders if it's something she should ask about, but it doesn't feel any better than asking about what's beneath his sleeve. She keeps any questions stored in the back of her head for now. What's more important is moving forward and trying to establish a sense of safety.]

[minuteofangle]

[ It'd be the logical thing, looking around. Getting a lay of the land, figure out if there's anything salvageable. They're going to need water if this turns out to be a long game. Food too, probably. He'd commit violence easily for the chance to get his hands on a rifle, but that seems a touch too easy. But hunting around for shit means taking the risk she'll size him up and realize something's off.

Refusing isn't going to get him anything, though. Ain't that a bitch.

Gabe shrugs. He keeps his head angled slightly away from her, so it'll look like his gaze is on something in the distance. Not on her, so it won't matter that his eyes don't track her movement. ]

Somebody dumped us here for reason. Might as well see if there's anything worth taking.

[livener]

[She nods in agreement. The motion is maybe a little too eager, as is the smile that ends up plastered on her face. After dealing with The Governor and countless other terrible people, this is a breath of fresh air.]

Well, come on then. We can get some supplies and find someplace to lay low for the rest of the day. I'll make us something, if we can find any food.

[The smile on her face is evident in her bright tone of voice, and she brushes past him to make her way over toward the door.]

[minuteofangle]

[ Well okay then. Gabe snorts, tipping his head back. Eager, isn't she? ]

Lead on.

[ She can take point, he'll follow. See what that gets him. ]

Where're you from, Beth?

[livener]

[And he's letting her lead? Beth feels like she's walking on a cloud right now. No one's ever been so willing to let her put herself in danger before. She readily takes the lead and keeps an eye on their surroundings as best as she can while they walk. She's still looking for any sign of people that might jump out at them, but her focus is primarily on Gabe. He's asked a question, it would be rude not to answer.]

I grew up in Georgia.

[She thinks of her earlier encounter with someone who didn't seem to know about the virus or the walkers or any of the awful things that she had to deal with in her neck of the woods.]

This may sound crazy, but where you come from, were there any...undead things walking around? Like people that used to be alive but come back.

[minuteofangle]

[ Georgia. Not a name he recognizes, but he'll roll with that. Universe is a big place. Plenty of colonies tucked away in corners he's never been to. But the follow up question, now that's a touch more interesting.

Gabe raises an eyebrow. ]

Heard some stories. Some of 'em were probably true.

[ Universe is a big place. People go strange. ]

Ran into a soldier once who swore he'd been cursed. Said he couldn't die, that he'd been shot before and gotten right back up. Didn't test it, but he sounded convinced. There's all sorts of crazy shit these days.

[livener]

But he could talk and make sense? That doesn't sound like the walkers back where I'm from. They're mindless. Like zombies.

[But clearly he was from a place that didn't have the same problem. That makes her worry even more about how far away from her friends and family she was. The worry nearly overcame her and she had to stop walking long enough to focus on not getting visibly upset.]

Do you remember how you got here?

[minuteofangle]

[ There was more ranting than anything else. Gabe shrugs. He hasn't thought about that man for a while, doesn't remember if they learned his name or not. He hadn't bene the target. Just some stranger who ran up to them, going on and on about curses and nanotech that clicked under the skin. Eli gave the man some water and then they went on their way. Just another story, just another stranger in some fucked up corner of the universe.

Maybe he should've paid more attention. ]

He could talk. Didn't make much sense. Thought he'd gotten his head knocked around one too many times.

[ Maybe, maybe not. ]

Woke up on the ground.

[ He frowns. ]

Might've gotten drugged before. Can't remember.

[livener]

[The panic she's feeling starts to ebb when she hears he may have been drugged. She can only nod a little at first as her breathing quickens and she feels tears coming. She can't cry in front of someone she just met, especially not when she's trying to prove that she's useful.]

I could've been drugged. But the last thing I remember before I woke up here was being shot.

[She wipes at her eyes before continuing along. She has to keep putting one foot in front of the other here.]

[minuteofangle]

[ Her breathing changes. Hitches a little. He's close enough to pick it up, but he can't see her face to read her expression. That might be a problem if he misjudges things. ]

Shot where?

[ People can survive that, if they're lucky. If they're armored, or if they've got a good corpsman. But she doesn't move like she's injured. ]

[livener]

[Beth touches at her forehead. She traces her fingers across her face. She can feel the injuries she obtained at Grady, ones that are still painful and stitched together. The gashes above her eyebrow and across her cheek are the worst. But there's no sign of injury across her forehead.]

My head.

[She murmurs in response after a long delay.]

Or maybe it was somewhere else. I can't really remember what happened.

[minuteofangle]

[ Gabe pauses, considering. Sometimes people take killing blows and just don't realize, keep on walking right up until they can't anymore. The way she moves doesn't speak to an injury, though. She's too coherent, too steady for shock to have killed the worst of the pain. Something else is going on. ]

Could've been a beanbag round. They'll drop you like a rock and they sound like the real thing.

[ Usually they leave a mark, though, and she's touching her head like she can't find a wound. ]

Somebody's playing games.

[livener]

Yeah, no shit.

[She dryly laughs and tries to act tough so she doesn't cry. She fails and winds up sniffling a little. But she wipes at her eyes to try and get rid of the evidence of her tears.]

When we figure out who's doing this, maybe we can get some answers.

[Until then -

Beth moves past him and reaches over to tap at his arm on her way by. She's guessing any of these buildings around the town hall they were just in is good to start looking for supplies.]

[minuteofangle]

[ Gabe goes very still as she touches his arm, as good as flinching. He bares his teeth and doesn't say a goddamn word about it. This is the reality now. He's adjusting. Surviving. All he has to do is keep his cool long enough to find his team, hook back up with Missy and Prior, and then none of this shit matters.

He follows Beth. What else is he gonna do? ]

Since we're sharing, why'd anyone want to play games with you?

[livener]

Nobody wants to mess with me. They'd wanna use me to get to the people I'm close to.

[She fiddles with the door to the building and finds it's locked. Beth curse under her breath and kicks at it, but knows it's not going to do any good. They'll have to move on and try somewhere else.]

[minuteofangle]

[ Hostage, then. Gabe goes very still. ]

Think me and you have that in common.

[ That's a worrying thought. She doesn't talk like a company woman, but there's no telling who people know. What their families get up to. Could be somebody tossed her in to make a point to her people. Could be they're doing the same to his.

He frowns, listening to the rattling lock. ]

Won't give?

[ He doesn't have his lock picks with him, but he could probably put his shoulder through the door if it's not too heavy. ]