TDM #8

[vivalamods]

TEST DRIVE #8

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
The attacks on Bluvink and Vindess were wildly successful, but it also created the largest risk to Imperial citizens ever. Due to the heavy dealing with certain elements of the imperial citizenry, there has been a heightened risk at the Empire cracking down on them. In an effort to protect them, the Corsairs have welcomed a large number of refugees from Imperial settlements for the first time. While some servants were also liberated in the operation, a great deal of the Corsair’s airship resources were devoted to evacuation.

As such, the Vault is filled to the brim with people being processed and temporarily housed. Whole families have been displaced, and it’s hard to determine who might be willing to sell out the Corsairs for a chance to return when offered. Please be patient, like as not, you’ll be here for a while.


UNDERGROUND OVERCROWDING

In addition to the refugees, many of Flotsam’s regulars are currently residing in the Vault. While the settlement is quite large, even its capacity is starting to become overloaded. And with the clashing personalities of typical Vault and Flotsam residents, to say nothing of all of the Imperial refugees who have been ripped from their former lives and are now residing in an unfamiliar and, for Isle-dwellers disconcerting new home, tensions are running high. It’s pretty common for brawls to break out, although if you’re taking part or attempting to keep the peace is another story entirely.


CRITICAL REPAIRS

The fighting in the Isles Above was intense, and the airships did not escape unscathed. The ships have been brought into the Vault for intensive inspection and repairs, and those who are on duty are working day and night to get them fixed up in time for the next major operation. Whether you’re a craftsperson, hunter, gatherer, or salvager, chances are high that you’ve been tapped to procure or create material for these repairs, and you haven’t really had much time to rest.

It’s all right though, the foremen kindly left free pizza in the mess hall. That makes it fine, right?


WHEN YOU’RE LAND-BOUND, BETTER DRINK

Many of the Flotsam residents are going more than a little stir-crazy hiding out in the Vault. In what is certainly an extremely cunning plan without any potential downsides, the Vault has mobilized all of the Waterlogged Row’s purveyors of grog and set them up centrally within the Vault. And thus, the Flotsam citizens are able to engage in their favorite past-time. Getting extremely drunk. In enclosed quarters. In a city full of scholars that’s under constant bombardment.

Surely nothing will go wrong.


WILDCARD

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OOC
Welcome to the eighth 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 5th of February at midnight.
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Matt Murdock | MCU | AU, God Hades

[blessmefather]

I. Lurker [cw: ableism, potential oncoming fight]

The increased presence of soldiers on city streets was such a bother. Matt had been peacefully standing on a street corner near the place he once worked in life, hoping to listen in on his old partner and hear that his coworkers and best friends were still doing well in his long absence. He wears a long dark cloak and hood, careful not to get so close to the windows or doors of the private investigator's office he had once help run that he'd draw their attention.

"Hey, no beggars are allowed on this block. Off to the slums with you!" a soldier interrupts his concentration, stomping over to shoo him off.

"I'm sorry?" Matt frowns in the direction of the soldier. "What precisely makes you think that I am a beggar?" He knows arguing about the stigma of the lower class is useless here, but he'd like to know why he's being accused.

"You've been standing on this street corner all day, and you don't look like the kind who can handle a job!" the soldier insists.

"That's a wild exaggeration; I've been here less than an hour waiting for a friend, and why do you think I can't work?" Matt snaps back.

"I see that cane you were tapping around with earlier."

Matt rolls his eyes. "Rude. Ah! Here comes my friend now! I'll be leaving." Matt steps up to the closest person who happens to be walking by and greets them with a wide smile. "Mind helping me across the street, Old Friend?" he asks, tapping the end of his cane against the curb.

II. A Glimpse of Death

After wandering about The Vault to see how the Corsairs truly treated refugees, Matt had finally made up his mind about revealing himself to the Corsairs. He throws back the hood and folds his cloak over a shoulder, showing the dark colored clothes of what might be a local city man. Tapping his way through the halls, he finds a Corsair who he senses to be of some influence among the other rebels.

"I wish to speak with the first available leader of the Corsairs. It is of the utmost importance, and I'd rather not enter uninvited," he tries to explain himself. He likely could enter by opening a portal from the throne room, but he would prefer to do this without scaring anyone and accidentally starting a fight. Despite the god title, he imagines he would lose a fight to one of the strongest Corsairs with such a depleted amount of power.

Hopefully he picked the right person to speak to.

[ Feel free to WILDCARD or contact me to plot something. thoughtbubble I am flexible! ]

[frost_and_shinies]

Kaitlyn Saunders, a bit shorter than the man, saw the guards harassing him and responded, "But naturally."

Calmly, she placed a hand out, and took the first step only when he was ready, ignoring the guards entirely. While she was dressed a bit more typically, she had one thing that might jump out as odd to Matt: The glove on her hand was a rather heavy leather. Almost like she was trying to hide something underneath.

Less obvious would be how pale she was.

[blessmefather]

It would seem his attempt at a ruse was successful. The young lady who offers her hand replies so naturally, he likes to think the guards will look silly if they chase after them.

"Thanks!" Matt says, smiling rather smugly knowing full well the guards can see his expression, as he takes the gloved arm she offers and follows her lead in whichever direction she decides to lead.

The guards grumble in an attempt to get the last word, tossing insults in their direction.

It's cold outside, making it no surprise he happened upon someone wearing thick gloves, though most people in the city prefer to bundle up with something softer than leather. Protective gloves? he wonders. To his sensitive touch, he can feel that she doesn't seem to carry the body heat others do, making him wonder if she's a species other than human. A cold blooded type? All the reptile beastkin he had met preferred to bundle up heavily and if possible stay inside in these months though.

"Your gloves feel like they're well made," he says. He's too curious about her story now to simply walk in silence.

[frost_and_shinies]

"A good sense you have," Kaitlyn responded. "They help against a... Condition, I have."

Once they're well clear of the guards, she speaks a hint more openly. "Kaitlyn Saunders. Whom might I have had the pleasure of getting out of the way of the guards?"

[blessmefather]

"I hope it's nothing too troublesome," he replies, wondering if leather gloves would help against a chilly body temperature any better than something softer. Without knowing the details he can only guess.

Normally, Matt would simply introduce himself as Matthias Meerdock. But he's too close to what remains of his past life to let that name slip out. It would be very confusing if she was local and had heard about his business and death.

"Hades," he says, trying his best to speak with confidence. As a lifelong worshipper of the old gods, he hardly feels he deserves the name. Perhaps later he can tell her his other name.

"Thank you for your help, Kaitlyn. Seems the local soldiers have become emboldened ever since the Emperor's speech. They used to be slightly better at minding their business." He sighs.

[frost_and_shinies]

"I'm used to it, to say the least," she responds casually.

She could tell there was some... Appraising, going on. Which combined with that name... Hades was a myth of... At least a few worlds, it seemed.

"An interesting moniker," she observes. "With such a name, no wonder the guards give you such attention. No different than people spotting certain bits about me, sadly."

Coded, guarded language. An important tool.

[blessmefather]

"I don't tell the guards my name. Too much trouble," he explains, giving a weary chuckle. "They don't like anyone who seems a little different though. Jokes on them; the Empire made me this way." He lifts his cane and gestures towards his eyes. He means it in more than one way though; both the accident and the end of his first life involved the Empire.

"I can handle myself, but I worry about the increase of soldier presence passed off as protection for the people," he says, testing the waters of her stance on the state of the world with the kind of suggestion a number of people in the city whispered to each other day to day.

[frost_and_shinies]

"That's a way to put it," Kaitlyn proffered. Still coded language, one step more open. "The guards certainly don't put too much stock in their proclaimed 'mission and duty'. Seem more interested in picking fights, and barely caring with who."

"Their role... Sometimes I wonder what it really is. If they even know themselves."

[blessmefather]

Matt hums in agreement. They seem to be on the same page on the soldiers at least.

"If you ask me, they're not sure what to do with themselves because their purpose is to intimidate everyone else with their presence. It doesn't matter if they stand at attention or pick fights with citizens. As long as they wear their armor and remind the people the Empire is watching them."

He lowers his voice. "They do more to invade the privacy of citizens than intimidate the Crimson Corsairs the Emperor claims are dangerous to the people."

[frost_and_shinies]

Kaitlyn chuckled, lowering her voice in turn. "Yup. The Corsairs are becoming bolder, bit by bit... And deploying the soldiers like this is only letting more water through that tightened fist, or something like that."

She wasn't going to let on that she knew more, of course. But that much probably made clear where her sympathies lay without giving much away.

[blessmefather]

"Something like that," he agrees, laughing. "Between you and me, I wouldn't mind if they continued giving the Emperor something to stress about. And seeing resistance grow among the people just might cause some soldiers to put down their arms and realize what kind of man they serve."

He has no reason to assume she is a Corsair herself, but her viewpoint and her unusual choice of gloves and body temperature have him curious.

"Do you live in the city?" he asks her. "I used to. I've been travelling for a while now."

[frost_and_shinies]

"Elysium. Work for a courier firm. Good work for my condition, overall."

A bit circumspect, but no lies. No full truths until she knew this figure could be trusted.

"What has brought you to travel?"

[blessmefather]

"Are protective gloves normal for a courier?" he wonders.

"I went through major life change," he explains. Quite the life change at that. "I guess you could say I'm getting in touch with my roots. My mother's people are nomadic, much to the Empire's chagrin. They like all their subjects in a row, not wandering around the map."

Also technically true. He was visiting sites where remains of shrines to the Old Gods stood. He had been to some in his youth. His mother's caravan worshipped the Old Gods and were on the move to avoid the Empire's rules on religion. He too was a devout follower. Never would he have guessed his connection to the old religion would pay off by giving him a second chance at life.

"It might sound funny for a blind man to travel, but there's more to places than what you can see."

II

[redprayer]

How much importance Rezo is of to the Corsairs is debatable- he's not among the upper brass, but he's a frequent presence at the clinics treating everything from scraped knees to surgeries. People have come to know that if they're having an issue, Rezo is someone they can go to for help.

Thus, it's not a surprise for him to be approached as he's leaving the clinic. What is more of a surprise is the request itself.

"May I ask who this request is coming from?" Rezo asks carefully.

[blessmefather]

Matt draws in a breath and gives a soft chuckle to himself. "I don't mean to toot my horn, but I guess it's important in this situation..."

He holds his cane in one hand, standing a little straighter as he introduces himself.

"Tell them it is Matthias Meerdock, the new heir to the title of Hades, God of Death. And that I will gladly prove I am who I say I am at their request."

[redprayer]

The introduction needs a half-beat to sink in properly, and Rezo feels an odd internal tremor at the words.

Hades. He who judges the souls of the dead. Rezo is aware of that figure from the books he's read in the Vault library- as a sorcerer and a priest, of course he'd been interested in understanding the gods of Esthere.

And this man, this Matthias, claims to be a god's... heir?

"That's an audacious claim," Rezo says. "Why would Hades' heir seek out the Corsairs?"

[blessmefather]

"Yeah. It sounds like a wild claim, I'm sure," Matt admits. His posture melts into something less straight and formal as he nods his head. "If I was told that a year ago by someone, I would have scoffed. Maybe even called them blasphemous if it was safe to tell them I've grown up praying to the Old Gods."

He fiddles with the end of his cane as he debates how to approach his explanation. "I don't know how much you know about the Gods. The Empire's done a good job burning the religious texts and killing the people who still worship." He pauses with the weight of those words. People he loved had been killed.

"I'm seeking to exchange power for power with Corsairs. They aid my efforts to save the common people from oncoming natural disasters and help reestablish the Old Religion to stabalize this world. In return, I will aid in the fight against the Empire as much as my oath to the Will of Hades allows me to."

[redprayer]

One of the things that Rezo had been considering is that Matthias might be some poor lunatic. He's still considering it, really, but Matthias's demeanor is admittedly quite stable. Of course, such things can be deceptive, but as Matthias explains himself, everything he says seems logical enough. Familiar, even.

The Incarnation War predates Rezo's own lifespan by several centuries, but he'd learned plenty about how the mazoku had systematically destroyed the Aqualord's temples and killed her priests. Much knowledge had been lost in his own world too.

"I'm not in a position to take you directly to the High Scholar," Rezo says, "But I can introduce you to some of the Academy staff. If they're convinced of your story, they'll be able to arrange a meeting with High Scholar Nicholas."

[blessmefather]

"I appreciate it- speaking to anyone with the right connections would be a big help. Thank you!" Matt smiles, not hiding the relief in his voice. Sincerity is surely the best policy when asking for a favor under such odd circumstances.

"Fancy titles aside, please, call me Matt. May I ask your name?" he asks, tapping his cane as he steps a little closer to the other man instead of hovering afar.

[redprayer]

The blatant relief gives Rezo a bit of pause. For a god's heir, Matt is more expressive than what Rezo would have pictured. In his experience, the gods are more distant types.

"...My name is Rezo," he says, absently noting the odd tapping noise. A cane? "I'm a healer who works here and there for the Corsairs."

[blessmefather]

"That's an admirable profession choice. I considered it when I was young. I picked up a few helpful medical skills using my strong senses, but ended up using them more for investigations instead, as a job," he explains. "Helps me to navigate without the cane too, though I prefer to use one so I can walk without having to think so hard about it."

[redprayer]

And finally it clicks. Rezo tilts his head in Matt's direction. "...You are also blind?"

And here he is, leading Matt to the Academy. Rare is the time when the blind leading the blind is so literal.

(Rezo's always been a little offended by that metaphor, honestly.)

[blessmefather]

Matt's eyebrows raise for a second, followed by a delighted grin. "I am. Always nice to meet someone else in the same boat. Most of my friends are sighted, but there are some things people don't understand unless they've experienced it."

[redprayer]

"...No, they don't, do they."

Matt's obvious pleasure takes Rezo aback, even if he can intellectually understand it. He's also used to most of his social circle being sighted people.

(He's also used to other blind people not staying blind after he meets them.)

[blessmefather]

"I'll never understand why sighted people find the fact they can be recognized by smell a bad thing. It's not that they smell bad. They're simply unique like the sounds they make."