TEST DRIVE - April 2021

[mistralmods]

TEST DRIVE

Welcome to Shattermoon's very first test drive! Below you'll find an assortment of prompts, arranged in the following fashion:

1. Current Events - Samples of events taking place during the month of April based on the event calendar, and organized by location.
2. Grimm of the Month - A Grimm randomly selected by the mods featured as a threat for characters to deal with.
3. How They Met - Events intended to have taken place before the game started, to be used as a springboard for characters to develop deep and important CR. In addition to this month's provided prompts, you may also choose from any previous calendar events or recent history events. We fully encourage players to create their own 'wildcard' options!

You and your tag partners may decide whether or not any threads written here will remain IC or not. So long as threads don't contradict the game's events or settings, we're happy to allow CR created here to transfer directly to the official game. If you simply want to use the test drive to mess around with no strings attached, you're free to do so, but we recommend you make a note of this so your tag partners know what to expect in the long run.

 

*MOD NOTE: Menagerie is currently not featured as a location in this month's test drive, as we're discussing details of the Faunus with concerned members of the RP community. Once we've come to an agreement about how to best incorporate the Faunus into Shattermoon, a Current Event prompt for Menagerie will be included.

CURRENT EVENTS

Spring Talent Show

The school year is almost at an end, which means it's time for the annual Spring Talent Show once more! The sign-ups are closed and the schedule solidified, placed in the capable hands of the student body vice president. Typical talents include skits, short rounds of stand-up comedy, singing, juggling, and amateur magic. Solo and group performances are all allowed! There's also the ever-popular Battle of the Bands, with a special prize given to the band that garners the loudest applause from the audience. Students have the full weekend to practice and prepare for the Monday night performance! Admission is free to students, although anyone can purchase a ticket and attend. They'll even sell popcorn and soda! Not all students choose to showcase their talents, of course. Some are content to get comfy as an audience member, and others might have signed up to be on the judging panel.

 

 

Shattermoon Eve Happy Hour

Numerous taverns and hotels advertise for the annual Shattermoon Eve Storytelling holiday, where most set up an impromptu stage or clear a large space on the floor for amateur storytellers to step up and tell their wildest tales about how the moon of Remnant came to be broken. Ale flows freely as do orders for platters of fried food as people come together to be entertained by their fellow Valemen and Valewomen. Storytelling in the cities tends to be handled by professional performers, such as actors, reporters, and radio broadcasters, while the surrounding farmlands and small villages have a more 'neighborly' experience. Some bar owners may attempt to spark creativity and impromptu stories by providing a hat full of slips of paper, upon which they wrote a word or phrase that must become a central element in making up the unknown chapter of Remnant's history.

 

 

Film Festival

The winner of the Shattermoon Eve storytelling event isn't decided by locals, but film industry professionals, selecting from submitted scripts for screenplays which become a yearly cinematic feature, much in the same way horror movies tend to appear around Halloween. Most of these films tend to be big dumb action flicks with lots of explosions and special effects, or tragic dramas. The theaters are packed with eager citizens looking to enjoy an evening at the movies. The wealthy elite prefer operatic versions with live actors and singers, middle-class people see new cinematic releases, and poorer citizens treat themselves to B-movie marathons of older moon-shattering classics and the occasional independent film who may not have had access to good quality equipment.

 

 

Shattermoon Eve Festival

In Mistral, street performances are all the rage! Instead of a single person narrating their version of the moon's shattering, one can expect to see actors in bright costumes and painted faces doing dances, puppet shows, pantomimes, or even completely improvised performances where audience members are dragged onto the stage and coaxed to play the part they're given. Numerous stalls go up to sell food and drink, with both sweet and savory moon dumplings being the most popular. Children play a 'Shatter the Moon!' game where they attempt to take bites out of each other's skewered moon dumplings with prizes going to those who take the most bites, and who have the fewest bites taken from their stick. It's not completely uncommon for teenagers or adults to hold their own version of the game as well, especially once they've had a bit too much to drink.

 

 

Moonlight Hunt

Vacuo, too, celebrates Shattermoon Eve with scary stories and tales of buffoonery. More popular than the storytelling is the Moonlight Hunt that follows, which can be somewhat romantic. Warriors and Hunters set out to exterminate any Grimm that may be lurking nearby, clearing out the area and returning home to receive the affection and adulation of the others. Warrior couples find this particular holiday to be rather romantic, and single Hunters may receive cheek kisses, flowers, and handmade charms for luck from fans and admirers. Businesses are closed on the day after as most people are too hung over to work.

 

 

 

GRIMM OF THE MONTH - SULFUR FISH

 

 

The Sulfur Fish's base form is reminiscent of a silverfish. It has a black body with spikes, six legs, and an armored abdomen which leads into three fiery, yellow tails. In Vacuo, the Sulfur Fish has three fiery, red tails.

Its head appears to resemble an amalgamation of a jackal and feline skull, with horns or tentacles rising out of its eye sockets. It has a singular eye where the skull's nose would be, and a spider-like marking on its forehead. Most Sulfur Fish are very small, about three inches long, but some can grow to ten times that size, especially in Vacuo where they're most common.

A Sulfur Fish will usually flee from humans or watch them from a distance if by itself or in very few numbers. But should a hunter finds themselves in the midst of a sulfur swarm, they are known to be quite ravenous. They attack by latching onto their prey, then repeatedly stab or slash them with long, barbed tails. These barbs are super-heated, which can cause intense burns, especially when being attacked by multiple Sulfur Fish.

In severe cases of Sulfur swarms, they gain the tendency to tightly clump together and synchronize their movements to form larger bodies in order to overpower their prey. The type of body the swarm forms into (usually that of a humanoid golem or a serpentine head and neck) depends on how many Sulfur Fish are present.

A few Sulfur may be little more than a nuisance. Most can't get through Dust Barriers, though a few might be able to tunnel their way beneath the poles to seek out someone who's having a bad day. They're far more dangerous encountered in big swarms, as they will attempt to isolate and overwhelm travelers and Hunters. Finding a den of Sulfur Fish could result in a tough fight, especially if they cluster together to assume a larger, nastier combo form.

 

HOW THEY MET

School Meetings

• First Day of School (September) - The first day of school can be nerve-wracking, exciting, or both! The large airship, piloted by Headmistress Quase, makes a stop at every city and village to pick up new students and escort them to Beacon Academy. The trip is comfortable with several couches and seats arranged for the students, a full cafeteria offering free food (with ginger ale for those who get airsick), and a couple of bunk rooms where students can catch a quick nap. The teachers and older students are there at the courtyard to greet new arrivals and show them around, explaining the rules and boundaries as they go. At night, everyone gets comfortable in their sleeping bags in the mass common area where they're free to mingle and talk about the future days to come.
• Forming Teams (October) - After a month, people get pretty sick of living in a big communal pile, and the chance to get outdoors and find their future teammates is a big fat bright spot in the hearts of young first-year students. Early in the morning, they grab a quick breakfast to eat on the way as they head out to the Emerald Forest on foot, with the only instructions being to 'bring your weapons.' Upon reaching the Forest, the Headmistress lays out the objective: make your way as fast as you can to the other end of the forest, where several neon-colored puzzle pieces can be found. There are only four of each color, and those with matching colors are destined to be teammates for the rest of their time at Beacon (and sometimes longer). The teachers are close by to supervise and keep students safe, but there are a few Grimm lurking in the forest that may need to be dispatched. Work together to complete the journey, find the puzzle pieces, and find out who your new roommates are. Even if you don't know or like them much, at least now you get your own room to share!
• Food Fight - It happens every year, sooner or later. Someone in the cafeteria gets a little too much energy and starts lobbing food at their friends and rivals, resulting in a chaotic over-the-top food fight with Auras and Semblances ablaze! The janitors might hate this event, but the teachers secretly enjoy seeing the students have a good time.

Non-School Meetings

• Ship Ride - The most common method of travel between continents is by boat or airship, with the former being exponentially more affordable. Passengers must pass a brief psychological examination to make sure they're not experiencing any pronounced grief or stress so they don't attract Grimm during the journey. After that, they're assigned a cabin where they can store their luggage, and the thrifty may share a room with up to three other passengers. There's not much to do on a boat or an aircraft except wait, so many people decide to mingle with other passengers and discuss where they're going or why. Unfortunately, no trip is guaranteed to be 100% safe, and Grimm may attack anyway. Hopefully there's a Hunter or other experienced fighter on board to fight back in the case of an emergency! And if not, you could wind up shipwrecked with a few other survivors.
• Hunter for Hire - Hunters are sought out by other people all the time for any number of reasons. Villages might need help fending off Grimm or bandits. Travelers might need protection when making a long journey, or an archaeological expedition to Grimm-infested territory. Even other Hunters may hire or team up with a Hunter if they know they're up against a particularly strong or lethal Grimm. Some Hunters leave their scroll numbers posted in bars or town halls, others join city guilds.
• Bandit Attack - Unfortunately, Grimm aren't the only threat people have to face. There are rumors of bandits lying in wait along the shadowy paths and roads, looking for merchants and unarmed travelers to rob. Big tribes may also be plotting an ambush on an unprotected village! Residents may be taking precautions to defend themselves by setting traps or training with more experienced fighters. Or they may suddenly wake up one night to the smell of smoke, only to find that their home is on fire! Help!

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IC Community: shattermoon | OOC Community: shatterooc

Mod Contact: mistralmods

Comments

Zelda | Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

[sealteam6]

first

[OOC: Plotting post is here! Definitely planning on Zelda starting out as a first-year, possibly enrolling this September, possibly assuming she's already at the end of her first year.]

First Day

[It makes sense that the airship would make Atlas its second stop instead of its first, but oh how dearly Zelda wishes she could have seen Vacuo along the way! Mistral is beautiful too, but there are a lot of mysteries hidden in Vacuo's desert sands. Someday, she'll help unearth those mysteries.]

[It's a long flight, and someone might have expected the young lady to have relaxed by now, but she's still antsy with excitement -- constantly leaving her chair to pace about the deck, craning her neck to see past taller students to the windows beyond, flashing a quick and nervous smile at other soon-to-be Rooks.]

[Soon, the headmistress's voice announces the airship's arrival and imminent docking at Beacon Academy. Zelda's eyes widen, shining with anticipation, and in a heartbeat she's bolted straight from her seat to the window, hands pressed against the glass. Hopefully no one got in the way, she might not have noticed if she managed to bowl anybody over.]

--There it is! Beacon!

[The spires of the school stand proudly against a beautiful green backdrop of grass and tall trees. Ah, that's right, spring means flowers in Vale.]

It's splendid.

[Her smile softens as she watches, unable to tear her eyes away from the sight. And getting fingerprints all over the glass. Realizing her exuberance has earned her a well-deserved stare, Zelda turns her head to meet the other person's gaze.]

And who might you be? Do you live in this kingdom?

* * * * *

Rook Trials

[Zelda forges ahead through the woods, turning sideways to slip through the gap between two thorny shrubs and batting away one of the branches that clings to her tunic. It's not as if she's never been to a forest before! She's seen plenty of them when her father brought her along on his frequent diplomatic visits to Mistral. She just...hasn't...been inside of a forest before. It's not at all the dark and shadowy place stuffed with savage man-eating beasts and lurking Grimm that she imagined. All those scary stories and movies make her feel quite silly now, since she'd been absurdly nervous the night before and could scarcely sleep a wink. She smiles, talking to herself to make up for the lack of company.]

Well this isn't so bad. It's rather pleasant, actually.

[She'd heard the first year trials were supposed to be chaotic and grueling, that students were catapulted off of cliffs and expected to survive the drop somehow. She supposes, with one's Aura, it's possible. But it sounds so horrible just the same! It seems she won't need to make use of her Dust capsules just yet, and can save them for an emergency. No sense showing off her Dust resources so early in the school year.]

[To her right, a branch breaks, and Zelda freezes on the spot. A fellow student? Her heartbeat quickens.]

Hello?

[The bushes thrash as something too big to be a student lumbers through them. This is it. This is it. This is really it, that has to be a Grimm. Her hands move quickly, assembling her bladebow with practiced ease. That part she's practiced for hours and hours until it was second nature. She proudly proclaimed in her application that her accuracy against targets, both still and moving, was exceptionally high, and that was true. But she'd never faced a living target before, especially not a Grimm! Her only experience was lived out in her mind as she dreamed about what it'd be like to fight as her mother did, a fearless Huntress who never flinched from her duties.]

[The arrow she nocks and draws glitters with green light from being laced with Wind Dust, which will add extra speed. Zelda holds her breath, and--!]

[There's no time to aim. The Ursa barrels through the foliage, heavy clawed feet thudding against the ground as it charges Zelda. Startled, she fires, and the arrow goes amiss. Frantically she fumbles for another arrow but the Grimm is nearly on top of her. Zelda's breath leaves her in quick, staggered gasps as she wheels around to run.]

AAAAHHHHHH!!!!

* * * * *

Food Fight

[Zelda's 'good breeding' is never more obvious than it is when she sits to join her teammates in the cafeteria: she's the only one who primly makes use of a knife and fork on pizza day. And burrito bar day. And beef patty sandwich hamburger day. She's endured the friendly ribbing that comes with her excessive manners; she's not about to change, so the teasing must continue. It's actually quite nice, being around others who like her enough to treat her with such casual warmth.]

[Suddenly a glob of mashed potatoes smears across the table, coming to a rest inches away from Zelda's tray. She stares at the errant edibles, perplexed, until she hears a second year call out an apology from the next table over.]

[Someone has...thrown...their food? Why would they do this?]

[Then her teammate gets hit full in the face with an even bigger mass of mashed potatoes, rocked clean out of his seat with a gravy-soaked squawk. Zelda leaps to her feet, both of her utensils firmly placed on the table with savage indignance.]

You mustn't fling your food about like that. How wasteful! It's utterly b--AAGH!?

[A slice of cheesy pizza slaps into the right side of her chest, and sticks there. Zelda's mouth falls agape, and before she knows it, she's snatched up her spoon and loaded it with chocolate pudding to fling it right back at her teammate's assailant.]

It's utterly barbaric!