Test Drive for September 2013 Apps

[highseasmods]

Welcome to our first Test Drive for high_seas! Here is where players can test out their characters' voices, try out new muses, and everyone can help each other get some threads for their applications! Feel free to use one of the prompts below, or come up with something on your own! Comment around, have fun, and remember that any CR formed here does not carry over to the game!

See you during the application round!

♦ So you're new to this world and have just woken up in the Town Square. How do you react? What do you do?

♦ You're lost at sea. Maybe you got separated from your crew. Or perhaps you're on an abandoned island. You need help!

♦ "Pirates off the starboard bow!" It's an enemy ship! Attack!!

♦ You and your crew are hanging out on your ship. Just another day at sea!

♦ "LAND, HO!" Hey look, a new island! How about you go explore it? Tell us what you find!

Comments

Sefton Lowell / original

[polarization]

[ It's a very boring evening. The blue-haired teenager is below decks with a mug of some nice and frothy... er, water. Not frothy at all, actually. Not that anyone can look in to tell because he's resting his chin over the lip while he watches the rest of the crew. They're all in their places for the night, those who aren't above and keeping an eye on things — not that there's anything to watch. Once Sefton's done with dinner, he'll be heading back up to his "room" in the crow's nest, too...

But for now, he just looks exhausted and bored and almost tempted to go and speak with someone, anyone, to lessen break up the muddle of monotony. ]

[allendsmeat]

[if he's sitting in the galley, he might notice a barrel that has seemingly grown legs and sandled feet from the bottom. There's nothing suspicious here even as it bumps into the counter a few times. That stomach growl obviously belonged to something else because this was just an innocent barrel]

[polarization]

[ Sefton jolts. Yeah, he was a bit preoccupied to notice a barrel... well, barreling toward him. He glances at it and glowers heavily. Heavily, I say. ]

What d'you want?

[allendsmeat]

[the barrel stills! Crap! he was caught!]

Umm...food!

[polarization]

[ Sefton glances down at the leftovers of his seconds and rolls his eyes. He shifts it over toward the barrel, hand on the very far end of the plate to avoid any and all possible contact. He's really bad with touching people, don't'cha know. ]

There's more if you ask Chef.

[allendsmeat]

YAHOO! [throws off the barrel and grabs the plate.] Thank you, naa! [eats it all in one bite and burps while patting his stomach.] That was a good snack. Can you make more?

[polarization]

No.

[ Nice as the act may have been, Sefton's not a cook of any sort himself. He can make sandwiches, but that's about it. He's actually scooted away after the rather enthusiastic reveal and everything after. Wow. ]

Ask Chef.

[scryinghope]

[Below decks is a very bad place to be for someone who still gets seasick, even after a few weeks on the ocean. Above decks is a lot more preferable, with the added bonus of the open air making the thoughts on the ship seem a little less claustrophobic. The Larrikin Deuce doesn't usually take on this many people, but they were shipwrecked and Skulduggery had grumblingly bowed to necessity.

[As withdrawn as Sefton is physically, that's how much his mind broadcasts. Not fear, exactly, but anxiety at the state of being stuck on a ship. Which would be why he had taken up position in the crow's nest. Now Descry's seen to everyone else. He's spent enough time over the past few days absorbing Sefton's fears.

[The mug of what smells remarkably like hot chocolate, with a tinge of honey, is set quietly on the table a good couple of feet away from Sefton's elbow.]

This will warm you up better, for when you go back upstairs.

[polarization]

[ Sefton glances over at the mug, his nose already picking up faint traces of the sweet smell over the terribly-salty atmosphere of the ship. He can't help but perk up slightly when it hits him, though he tries to hide it. His mind is less sheltered, if only because the teenager doesn't know he needs to hide his true thoughts from anyone but himself. ]

Where'd you get that?

[scryinghope]

[Descry smiles, the sort of smile more visibly seen in the crinkle around his eyes than anything else.]

I found an island with chocolate trees. I prefer tea with honey, myself, but most people will trade a lot for chocolate. And most of those, I've noticed, are teens.

[He leans back against the bulkhead rather than sitting. One, there isn't a whole lot of room. Two, leaning implies he might leave at any moment, which will only help settle Sefton's mind.]

So I've seen to everyone else, and it's your turn now. Where are you headed?

[polarization]

[ Sefton watches the mug for a moment before deciding to pull it over and give it a stronger sniff once he's satisfied that Descry is settled in enough that he won't reach for Sefton. It isn't something outright noticed, but peripherally approved of that it looks like the redhead won't be staying very long. ]

Same place's everybody else. [ He mumbles into the mug as he takes a tentative sip. Homemade chocolate straight from the tree, huh? ] We're on a ship together.

[scryinghope]

[Bear in mind, Sefton, that when Descry says 'chocolate trees' he is not actually talking about cocoa, but actual real chocolate trees. You're technically drinking bark. Chocolate-tree bark, but still.]

Everybody else is going to various and sundry islands to find new ships for themselves or meet up with friends who already have ships. Some of which we're having trouble actually marking on the map, but I'm sure we'll get there in the end.

[Once Descry has been able to sit down, meditate on their thoughts and plot a backtracking course for Skulduggery, anyway.]

[polarization]

[ That's too weird. Everything about this place is weird. Don't tell him that, silly, he'll just stare at you. ]

So... same place's everyone else. Various 'n sundry islands.

[scryinghope]

[Hence him not saying it out loud. Descry's eyes crinkle further with unvoiced humour.]

Any one of them in particular, or should we just roll a pair of dice across the map?

[polarization]

S' it matter? We're not there yet or anything.

[ His emotional state of Perpetually Lost is now transplanting into his physical state. Stupid ocean-planet not being Earth and limiting his options to stupid degrees and argh. ]

[scryinghope]

No, but if there's anywhere you want to be we need to know it before we can get there. Although that's not an issue if you don't have any particular place to be.

[Teenagers are funny and exasperating like that. Emotionally immature, with all the amusements experience can bring behind it. All the frustrations as well. In this case, more amusement than frustration, though the lostness takes the edge off that enough that Descry doesn't have to try to hide said amusement. He remembers what lostness feels like, though his tends to be slightly different in nature.]

My crewmate says we're going to have a storm sometime in the next few days. We should be able to rustle up a spare bit of sailcloth so you can make a tent on the crow's nest.

[skeletonenigma]

[Any evening is a boring evening for someone who doesn't need to sleep, eat, or drink. He could meditate, but as the only crew member who doesn't get tired, Skulduggery unfortunately makes the perfect lookout.

Or he would, if there was anything to look out for.

Eventually, he goes below decks to search for a chess set he saw down here at some point, and notices that someone isn't actually in a bunk.]

Can't sleep?

[polarization]

Not right now.

[ As someone whose body demands eleven hours or so of sleep a day to be in tip-top shape, Sefton's schedule is surprisingly all over the place. He usually supplements with naps, but considering he's on an odd ship with odd people (case in point, he is talking to a skeleton and resolutely trying to not look at him too hard right now), it's gotten even worse than usual. ]

Just waiting for everyone else to hit the hay first.

[skeletonenigma]

You'll be waiting for a while. I don't sleep.

[His head tilts to the side. Sailing leaves a surprising amount of time to get to know your shipmates, but for some reason Skulduggery cannot even begin to fathom, most people have been trying to avoid him.

That's not strictly true. He can fathom. Which is why the fact that he's only seen this boy once or twice before doesn't surprise him.]

You're usually in the crow's nest, aren't you?

[polarization]

Mhmm. You're usually not.

[ What? They're stating the obvious now, right? ]

Didn't mean I was waiting for you, anyway.

[skeletonenigma]

I never said you were. The fact that you're so quick to say so, of course, belies your argument. It suggests you're as bored as I am, and willing to do anything to stave off that boredom, even if it means talking to someone as impressively intimidating as myself.

[He's wandering over to one of the chests now. It may or may not be his, but he's fairly sure it contains what he's looking for, either way.]

How are you at chess?

[polarization]

Uh... 've played it?

[ Sefton blinks while Skulduggery's back is turned. Wait, is the skeleton inviting him to play chess to stave off boredom on the pirate ship on the other planet where people from hundreds of different universes have been dragged in? What? ]

Not that good, though.

[skeletonenigma]

[Why, yes. Yes he is.

He gets bored very easily.]

Excellent. You can learn. I'm assuming you know all the basic rules.

[polarization]

Well, yeah, but... Couldn't you read your journal or something?

[ i'm 15 and what is positive social interaction ]

[skeletonenigma]

I could, but I already have. Cover to cover. You'd be amazed how much time you gain when you don't need to sleep.

[Ah-ha! A chess set. Skulduggery lifts it out of the chest and carries it over, seemingly unaware of Sefton's antisocial tendencies or how much the boy really isn't enamoured by chess.]