Test Drive for February 2015 Apps

[highseasmods]

Welcome to your monthly Test Drive for high_seas! Here is where new players can test out their characters' voices, old players can 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!

♦ Arrr, here be buried treasure, but not all that glitters is gold! Will ye be telling your mateys what ye found, or keeping it for yourselves?

Comments

[skyfaring_swordsman]

Hm...Well, I can't say that I know any air nomads. Almost all extensive, large-scale trade is done through the air back home, via large air ships. A working knowledge of travel routes and how patrols move in the sky makes raids very profitable.

[divinerighttorule]

Fascinating.

[The word is almost hissed, and the amber eyes of the young woman likely visibly flash at the idea.]

Where I come from, my father ruled most of the world. Much of the travel occurred over water, so I am always happy to meet others familiar with such matters.

I don't believe you've told me your name, sir.

[skyfaring_swordsman]

Forgive my lack of manners, Highness. Johnny's the name! A rather well-known one, to the authorities of my Earth. Aside from running the Jellyfish Air Pirates, I'm also successor to the Unchou Shihan school of Iaido.

[divinerighttorule]

Johnny. An unusual name, but not a bad one.

[Direct enough without being mean, she thought. But, then, she was better at politics than direct dealings.]

Your... Earth? Curious.

We have an Earth Kingdom where I am from.

[skyfaring_swordsman]

Oh, well...Hm, how to explain it. I'm learning people from many lands and technology levels exist here, so context becomes necessary. Earth is the name of my entire world, comprised of all the oceans and land on it. A massive sphere with a few billion people, spinning silently in the vast void of space.

[divinerighttorule]

That's very interesting.

[She smiles easily enough, bowing her head.]

Perhaps, then, you'll join me this evening as my guest for dinner and tea.

I'd love to hear more about your world and your pirates.

I could use a proper second-in-command.

[skyfaring_swordsman]

How fortuitous, ha ha! I find myself without a crew, so this truly must be a fated meeting.

[Another slight bow, before putting his hat back on.]

I'd be remiss if I refused the request of a beautiful woman. I will gladly dine with you. Truth be told, I haven't eaten for two days.

[divinerighttorule]

Excellent.

[An easy smile as she motions to the door to the cabin.]

There's fresh water and a basin in my cabin, if you'd care to clean up.

[skyfaring_swordsman]

Once again, you have my gratitude. You have no idea how much I pride myself on good hygiene.

[He gave her a half-salute, then ran to the water, eager to get the salt and sea off himself. It doesn't take him very long, not wanting to waste water. Johnny takes the chance to wash off his clothing as well, squeezing the leather out before slapping it back onto his body and heading back to her.]

Ah, Johnny's heart shines brightly once more! Such generosity is never forgotten.

[divinerighttorule]

[By the time he returned, Azula had brewed the promised tea. The fish would take a little longer to finish cooking. Neither the fish nor tea were... good. But they weren't bad either.

She was used to staff. Men and women paid to feed her, clothe her, and generally make her life easy.

Her uncle would say her tea had no soul. He'd said it before, when she was younger and he'd tried to teach her the 'art.' But it was still tea and decently brewed.

She sat primly at a low table set up and bowed her head politely, resting her chin on her folded hands.]

You're welcome.

Please, sit.

[skyfaring_swordsman]

small>[As he sat down, he removed his hat and sunglasses, revealing two piercing blue eyes.]

It must be odd, being a Princess in this environment. I can't imagine how you must have suffered such hard living. Do you have experience in survival?

[divinerighttorule]

[The sigh she gave was, perhaps, a little much, but the exaggeration was surely warranted. The life had been far more difficult than she had ever anticipated.]

I am no stranger to battle, but such base accommodations are unusual.

I was with another crew for some time, to be sure my skills were adequate, before... personal differences... put us on separate paths.

Some in this place seem to think that titles from other worlds have no bearing on one's status in this world.

Naturally, I disagreed.

[skyfaring_swordsman]

I believe that myself, but I also believe that making people comfortable is important. Being able to hold onto pieces of your homeland can be very good, even if it's something as simple as a title. A little piece of home, no?

[After taking a few sips, he looks out of a porthole.]

Your tea is good. I look forward to the meal.

[divinerighttorule]

Some titles are meaningless, even in the world they're held.

[After all, she'd meant numerous monarchs who didn't deserve what they had. And she'd watched them all fall.]

But some of us...

[She sips her tea, smiles faintly -- though, more of a smirk -- and let a few flickers of blue flame flicker around her fingertips before it vanishes and she sips the further heated tea calmly.]

Have more than a title.

We have the right to that title.

[skyfaring_swordsman]

[He didn't believe anyone had the right to rule anything, but he was keeping that to himself for now. It'd be rude to his host.]

I find titles I have to work for are a bit more...satisfying, I suppose.

Though it seems you've a few tricks, yourself. You can fire-cast?

[divinerighttorule]

Firebend.

[The thought that she hasn't had to work for her title makes her smirk a bit more prominent.]

I've trained since I was a child. One has to be born a bender, but what one does with it...

That is where the true power lays.

[Her title as princess was, to her, much the same.]

[skyfaring_swordsman]

Sounds a lot like ki, where I'm from. All humans have it, to a degree, but only a dedicated few can use it offensively. It can augment one's power to quite the degree. It's a very versatile power. There's also magic, of course, but that's a whole other thing, which I understand little about.

[divinerighttorule]

There were four elements in my world, and benders come from those.

Both my brother and I were blessed with the ability to bend fire.

[skyfaring_swordsman]

The elements all belong to the magic side of things, for the most part. Most people require special tools to properly channel that sort of power. You seem to have very fine control of yours.

[Johnny removes one of his finger-gloves, concentrating for a moment before firing a small plume of energy out the window.]

There's the difference, where I'm from. Magic channels elements from nature, while ki is channeled from within. I haven't mastered it, but it does help me fight.

[divinerighttorule]

I've trained most of my life to do so.

[It's second nature to her, in a way. Her firebending is what she has, what sets her apart from everyone. Mind and body honed to be perfect at what she does.]

I wouldn't be fit to call myself a child of the Fire Lord if I didn't.

[But hearing it called magic... That's interesting.]

Ours is both. The element and power within.

[skyfaring_swordsman]

You should meet a man named Sol Badguy. This is nothing compared to the flame that man generates. He could burn a city to ashes, were his power to blaze out of control. Not a fun man to fight. So grumpy, all the time.

[divinerighttorule]

Anyone whose fire can burn outside their control is foolish in their use of the flames.

[Powerful but deadly. Something to be respected and contained.]

One of my father's generals was very powerful, but he had no self-control. A boy with barely tolerable skills bested him because of it.

[skyfaring_swordsman]

My style is more focused on speed and precision, than raw power.

[divinerighttorule]

You should hone every aspect, if you wish to win.

You must be faster than your opponent's strikes, stronger in your attack, more secure in your defense, and wasting no energy. Every blow much reach the best target at the right speed and in the correct order.

Mind and body must be one.

[skyfaring_swordsman]

A simple thing to say among men, but I've come up against opponents that are far beyond human. Gears are not so easy to over-power.