Test Drive Meme #1

[vivalamods]

TEST DRIVE #1

The day begins as any other, you’re going about your day, living your life, when, without warning, you feel the world around you shift on its axis. You feel a great tear, welling from the depths of your soul as you are ripped from all you have known. If you’re lucky, you arrive in the wilderness of an unfamiliar world, where the language is foreign and the people are hostile. To make your escape, you must learn some language, flee, and occasionally fight, all to find your way off the floating isles you find yourself on and to the great ocean below, where rebel forces will welcome you.

If you’re unlucky, you materialize within a room full of armed guards and are quickly subdued with charged nets, stripped of your belongings, fitted with strange devices that suppress your powers and pressed into servitude. Your days are unimaginable pain and toil.

Fortunately, even in this world, there is still hope. For the denizens of this world have not given up. And it is for that dream of salvation that the Crimson Corsairs raise their flags and sail - for liberation. Perhaps you are one who has lived their entire life under the oppressive yoke of the Empire. Perhaps you have seen first hand your family and friends cut down by nobles hunting men for sport, or perhaps you have run afoul with the church and barely escaped with your life. No matter your origin, the Corsairs sail for you, for your freedom, for your life. And today, a taste of freedom will be won for all.


ARRIVAL/LIBERATION
This month, the Crimson Corsairs raided a Larendt labor camp in order to obtain much-needed parts and textiles as well as liberate another batch of servants for the cause. The raid was executed under the cover of night, with one team sweeping the dormitories and gathering as many servants as they could while the other team hit factories as they could, focusing on taking important items like ship parts and clothing, loading them into prepared trams and fleeing before the guard could mobilize. The operation, thankfully, went off without a hitch, and the Corsairs were able to usher a number of servants into their waiting ships.

As dawn breaks, the raiding fleet docks at Flotsam as the city-fleet begins the long journey away from the continent before a retaliation fleet can be mobilized. The former servants are finally let above deck. The sun is beating down hard on them, its brilliance marking their first step into freedom.

Corsairs on the fleet will have a lot to do - the new arrivals will need to be sorted, clothed, and fed. Many are emaciated from the conditions in the labor camp, and the former servants will be immediately ushered to a mess hall for their first meal as free folk. Corsairs will be needed to organize the movement, prepare and serve the food, and also just sit with them and talk to them, helping them adjust and filling them in on the situation.

Former servants will have found the entire process exhausting to say the least. They were awoken in the dead of night by heavily armed people quickly moving through, shattering their chains and ushering them into ships. The entire night was spent sailing, and while the hull is dark it is crowded and difficult to sleep in. Finally, upon arrival they are ushered into a meal hall and served a humble meal - but a meal that far exceeds anything that was ever served at the servant’s table. What is known is that they are now free.


MEANWHILE IN THE WATERLOGGED ROW…

With another successful mission under their belt and their duties more or less complete, the triumphant Corsairs observe a time-honored tradition: heading to the Waterlogged Row and getting absolutely shitfaced on awful grog.

The mood is jubilant and self-congratulatory, with drinking songs ringing out across Flotsam. In consideration to other residents, the Row is currently moored a good distance from the residential areas to keep the celebrations from disturbing what little peace there is in the chaotic town that is Flotsam. But for those who participated in the mission, tonight is about celebration. Singing, storytelling, socializing, this is the glue that holds the operations team together. And as the Crimson Corsairs do not officially recognize a drinking age, everyone is welcome! Even if they probably shouldn’t be!

New arrivals are, of course, not at all restricted so those who finish their meal and go exploring will quickly find the Row, as well as many Corsairs eager to buy them a pint to toast their newfound freedom.


MAKING THE GOOD STUFF

Elysium often serves as the crux of Corsair operations, and the next operation is no different. While the operations team is carousing and toasting their success, the planning team is hard at work preparing for the next mission.

The order of the day is gathering, which has brought the team to the forests outside of Elysium. In the coming month, Elysium will host a lavish party for the guards of a certain continent, and it is the duty of the gatherers to ensure that any drink served is “enhanced”, with such potency that they won’t be in any position to do their duty when the raiders strike.

Any herbology specialists will be absolutely vital for this operation. While the Corsairs have some documents and know, generally, what they’re looking for, there are a wide variety of things that grow within the forest, many of which can be quite dangerous.

Those new to gathering will really need to watch their step. Elysium is rich in hallucinogens, and a whiff of the wrong flower or mushroom could leave them contemplating their navel for the next hour. Tasting is out of the question, but what they don’t know can’t hurt them right? After all, the Elysium workers spend a lot of time eradicating poisoned growths to keep wandering nobles safe so anything they find can’t be THAT bad. Right?

And of course, for experienced foragers, they will find an entirely new duty thrust upon them - keeping the newbies in line. Really, how can they expect anything productive to be done when they send a bunch of green recruits into a forest full of hallucinogens?


EDUCATION AS THE BOMBS FALL

New Corsairs almost always find themselves in the Vault. Nestled in the earth and subject to the constant pounding of munitions overhead, the Vault is the repository of knowledge for the Crimson Corsairs and the place where new inductees are educated. Language instruction, education on the world and its people, writing, reading, arithmetic, just about any kind of learning can be done in the Vault’s halls.

Notable about the Vault’s education is how deeply tied it is to the Crimson Corsair’s broader philosophy - everyone’s unique talents and insight have value. As such, Corsairs are often called to the Vault to share their specialized expertise. While many Corsairs do choose to become full-time teachers, any Corsair can come and teach a class.

For the new Corsairs, now is a time to learn and train, acclimate themselves to their situation and figure out where they want to go from here. For established Corsairs, this is an opportunity to meet the new recruits and help train them so they can help with the cause. Those who might be students today will be comrades standing at your side tomorrow, so teach them well.


DANGER AT SEA

As the most mobile of the Corsair’s settlements and the only obvious Imperial target, Flotsam is well equipped to deal with any number of dangers. One such danger is the enormous sea monsters who dwell within the Eternal Ocean. While many are not too keen to tangle with such a large fleet, occasionally a monster will become angry or territorial enough to try to attack the fleet.

And it is for that reason that the Corsairs now find themselves battling a massive sea serpent that has stretched itself across the western edge of the fleet. New Corsairs aren’t expected to assist in this battle, but as the sinking of Flotsam would be VERY BAD for those who are currently trying to live on it, many will jump in anyway, especially as they should have been issued weapons. As to established Corsairs, well, you know the drill by now. Monster bad, try to sink ship, let’s convince it that there are easier marks than the pride of the Corsair fleet.

Some Corsairs will need to man the cannons to blow it away, but many will get up close and personal, jumping into melee range to drive it away from the ships and mitigate as much damage as they can. Others still will provide support from the back with magic or ranged weaponry, and still others will need to weave their way in between the battle to carry out wounded Corsairs for medical attention. Whatever your specialty, your city needs you. Best get to work.


WILDCARD

Have an idea for your own prompt? Feel free to make any prompt that you think would fit!

OOC
Welcome to the first Test-Drive Meme for Viva La! All threads here may be considered canon once characters have entered the game. Threads here are eligible for use as a roleplay sample for applications, which will open on the 15th of June at midnight.

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Comments

[2mao]

Maomao's eyes turn to her rescuer as the man mutters obviously-unmeant excuses, the rescuer's confidence seeming to distract from the fact he was also a servant. The suppression bands were a surprise to Maomao, given the way her rescuer carried himself, but perhaps not overly much so. Elysium was, after all, the playground of the Empire's nobility, even while it served double purpose as a hub for the Crimson Corsairs.

Maomao perhaps knew that better than most - being both a member of the Corsairs and a servant of the nobility.

Still, the man's courage in standing up for Maomao managed to turn some of the actual customers to the pushy would-be assaulter. With criticism coming in from all sides, the man added in some forced apologies and left, metaphorical tail between his legs.

"Thank you for that," Maomao said, a little quietly as to not make an even larger scene out of this ordeal.

[guidingbookworm]

Sirius was used to pretending he was more confident than he felt. He wasn't sure this would work and it showed in the subtle way he tensed under the man's excuses and when the confrontation caught the attention of other customers. Honestly he was just as relieved as Maomao when it worked. His starry eyes flickered a bit brighter as a hint of his relief slipped into the polite smile he gave her.

"It was my pleasure. I'm sorry you had to deal with that. Are you alright?"

[2mao]

Huh. There's something weird about this man's eyes. And not the way she was used to - drugged out or under some sort of influence. This was something else.

She shouldn't pry.

"I'm all right." A sigh. "Usually, I'd expect my body type-" that being, scrawny and short, "-and freckles to have most people at a distance, but I suppose all types come here." Seriously, why does she even bother painting on fake freckles if people will come onto her anyway?

A glance back to the man's wrists. "I don't have any way to repay you for the service, but I suppose us servants of the nobility need to stick together, hm?"

[guidingbookworm]

His glowing eyes were proof he was a mage, something he thought he could be proud of once. Now he had conflicted feelings about his magic and his eyes flickered uneasily under her scrutiny.

He was grateful she didn't pry and it made him relaxed more. "Really? I think you're pretty." Ah! Maybe he shouldn't have mentioned that after what the poor girl had just been through and his eyes sparked brighter as he changed the subject with a quick shake of his head.

"You don't need to repay me, although I wouldn't mind having a friend in this place."

He felt a bit self conscious of the suppression bands around his wrists and he hesitated before holding out his hand to Maomao. "I'm Sirius."

[2mao]

Maomao isn't used to frank compliments on her appearance. Still, she judges these things on an odd criteria - sure, this man - Sirius? - might be objectively not bad looking, but what mattered more were the tone of the words, how practiced or rehearsed they might be, or how genuine. They seemed off the cuff, so to speak, so she chose not to take offense at them, even if the timing was awkward.

Rather, she ignored it and moved onto the rest of the conversation. It was clear he was trying to move on from the comment as well, and she had no desire to linger on it.

"Maomao. I'm the local apothecary, which is why I was visiting. I'm lucky my noble patron allows me to continue working as such in between my duties for her." It was a bit of a stab to see how he felt about nobles, given his apparent situation. She even gives a dramatic sigh, as if to say: Man, those nobles, huh?

She continues on. "I don't know if I'd make a very good friend, but it's the least I can offer to the man who stood up for me."

[guidingbookworm]

It was hard to miss the subtle stab at nobles in her words, especially with that dramatic sigh. Well, this was a bit awkward. He was a former noble himself but he couldn't argue with her either, especially after how terribly he had been treated here. A hint of his repressed feelings slipped into his small chuckle as he agreed with her. "That's quite generous of her." They were in a public place so they had to be subtle about their displeasure with nobles.

He could say the same about himself and he offered her a small smile.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that. Friends can be invaluable sometimes."

The bright glow from his eyes dimmed with a soft smile as his thoughts wandered to the precious friends he left behind. Honestly he felt lost without them.