reallybadeggs | Test Drive for January 2014 Apps

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test drive

Test Drive for January 2014 Apps

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!

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Soon?

[The immense man looks out over the rolling seas, wondering exactly what it is that has her so lost in thought. A long trail of cigar smoke leaves his mouth.]

Why does finding this island matter, now? What does the population have to do with it?

[She does her best to keep herself distant from everyone else on the ship, so she doesn't really expect to be reached for. Much less she expected her words to be heard, she hadn't realized she had been saying them out loud.

Elsa turns around at the man's voice, the wood under her freezing more at her surprise as she steps back against the handrail instinctively. She doesn't realize that she has placed her hand on the handrail until it's too late, and a burst of ice covers part of it, causing her to flinch away and bring her hands together to avoid touching anything else. That went wrong fast, but she can't start to panic now, she must keep herself under control somehow.]

S-Sorry.

[Her voice shakes and she pauses to try again, not daring to look at the man.]

I apologize, I didn't realize I was speaking out loud, I didn't expect the company either. Don't worry yourself with that, please, it's just a personal matter of no importance.

[Truth be told, Crocodile had been assessing her and the rest of the crew since the moment they met. People never meant much to him, beyond what they could do FOR him. He inspected the frozen areas she left in her wake, taking an interest in them.]

I knew a man with such an ability as yours. I wonder, can you turn into ice as well, or is transforming your environment the extent of your mastery? Such a power is quite useful on any ship.

[She frowns slightly, she knows now that there are more powers than the ones she posses, and that in this world many people with those powers are being gathered. Still it feels strange to be told that it's not the first time someone sees a power like hers. At his question she shakes her head.]

I... I don't think I can do that. Though I've only recently started to explore the extent of my abilities, so I don't know yet everything I can do.

I can't see how this would be useful on a ship, though.

This is an unknown sea, with unknown dangers. Much like the world that I came from.

[Crocodile leans against the side, inhaling from his cigar again and blowing out a few smoke rings. Few things unnerved him as much as the unknown. He always surmised that he could beat anything as long as he KNEW about it. It was always what you didn't know about that killed you. Even he wasn't immortal.]

The difference was that I knew the rules, there. Here, it's different. The enemies and islands entirely mysterious. Every bit of offensive power is needed, and that is why you are indispensable as well. Ice is one of the most underestimated dangers on a sailing vessel.

Icy weather is an insidious enemy. It builds upon the ship, bit-by-bit. It freezes lines, tears and weighs down riggings and sails, drains the stamina of the crew, renders food inedible, traps ships between solid floes. One of nature's most dangerous weapons.

[She doesn't cheer at the idea of her power being needed offensively, but she knows it's the truth, and she understood well what she was signing up for when she enrolled on the ship. Pirates they are supposed to be and pirate will she be. Until they find an unpopulated island at least.]

In that case, yes, I can see how my abilities would be useful. It's the only use they have after all.

[To harm others, that was why she had left after all.]

You say that almost as if it's a bad thing. Having a fearsome reputation can be a great mental weapon, as much as a physical one.

[She smiles politely and nods.]

I apologize, that wasn't my intention. It's true that having a fearsome reputation is very important, specially in this line of work. Though as you said before, reputation isn't something we have here so it matters little as of now.

Not yet. We will, I'm going to make sure of that.

[He raises his hand, forming a small tornado of sand over the center of his palm.]

Tell me more about your powers. What are you capable of?

[If she were to be honest and to herself she can be, out of all the members in the crew, this man was the one who worries her the most. She knows next to nothing about him, but just with the few words that they have exchanged so far she can tell that he's someone to be careful of. And if someone in the crew could have an issue with a member abandoning it, such as she hopes to do in pursue of solitude and isolation, that would be him. Not because of her specifically, but because of losing offensive power basically.

It's also why she's cautious as to what to reveal about her powers, it's better if he doesn't know the extent of her powers. Fortunately, lying isn't a thing she will have to do. She herself isn't aware of the extent of them. Elsa keeps her distance, glancing curiously at the small tornado of sand but she doesn't do any show of power of her own.]

What you have seen is basically it, sir. I freeze everything I touch, I can manipulate ice and I can summon snow storms, but so far that's all I know that I can do. Unless you're interested in having an ice palace, though that would fall in the ice manipulation category.

Edited 2013-12-26 23:12 (UTC)

You can even create structures from them? I see. Fortuitous, in case we end up in a situation where we are caught away from the ship. Creating proper shelter is a necessity.

How is your control? I would much rather ice be turned on our enemies, than on our ship.

So long as I don't panic or get stressed it should be good. I do my best to keep my hands to myself as well, to avoid damaging the ship.

[And if she has to touch something she tries to wear gloves. She glances at the mess she caused in just a moment.]

I really didn't expect any company, that's why I slipped. I apologize for it.

Do try to keep it that way, then. Though if you should "flare up" on accident, I should be able to rectify it.

[Elsa isn't sure if it's just her own personal paranoia, worried for years about revealing her powers, about hurting others without intending to, coupled with her actual experience of being chased and threatened, called a monster for just one slip much like the one she just had... Or if there is really a threat in the man's words just now.

She tries to not make judgements based on appearances or attitudes, and she questions the efficacy of threatening someone who just admitted having problems with their control under situations of panic and stress. It would be like throwing someone who started shooting at everything around them and had claustrophobia into the tiniest barrel they had. So maybe it is just her after all, she can't deny to be almost counting the minutes before someone points at her and yells "monster" before chasing her away just for being there. At any rate she's sure that she doesn't want to know which is it, so she merely nods in understanding, all signs of her inner discomfort being reduced to her hands tightening their hold against each other in front of her and a small increase of the extension of the faint trail of ice and snow that she leaves whenever she moves.]

I will, it's far from my intention to damage the ship or our crew, after all. I also have no wish to be a hindrance rather than a help during the travel, at least no more than what I already am with my lacking sailing knowledge.

[After so many years as a pirate, Crocodile has learned to read people fairly well. Elsa does well to hide her trepidation in front of him, but he still focuses for a moment, studying any minute changes in body language. After a few moments of silence, he reaches into his coat to check his pocket-watch.]

...Ah, it seems the afternoon is upon us, Elsa. Do you wish to partake in some tea that I've been brewing? I only drink the best and I feel it might do well in calming any worries you might have. I won't take long for me to bring it out on the deck.

[The silence feels tense, but Elsa doesn't mind it, neither finds it weighting more on her other than due the hesitation between staying or leaving, considering the conversation done. She is reluctant, however, to be the first to leave as she has no suitable excuse at the moment, and one made up could be easily spotted by someone far more experienced in the sailing life, which could be read as a weakness. And if there's something she can't allow herself to appear as is weak at the moment.

So she stays put, simply distracting her attention with the horizon as if she had no intention, or need, to leave. When he talks again her eyes shine and brighten at the mention of tea, even if she's still wary of the man. No, it's not just the man whom she's wary about, but the whole crew, her general situation in fact. It only seems to be focusing on him now because she's talking to him, but she wouldn't be much open and friendly to anyone else. She nods, offering a calm smile at him.]

That sounds like a delicious idea, Mister Crocodile. I would be honoured and pleased to have a taste of your brew, it has been quite a while since I was able to indulge in such a pleasure.

[Crocodile's arm turns to sand immediately, tendrils snaking out and into the next room. They wrap around the base and legs of a small table, hauling it out onto the deck. A small demonstration of ability, perhaps, but enough to show that his power wasn't quite like her own. On top of it was a freshly brewed pot and two cups.]

You'll find this blend needs no doctoring. It almost seems to adapt to the palate of the taster.

[He drags over two chairs, one on each side.]

Please. Sit.

[The demonstration doesn't go unnoticed but Elsa takes care to not stare openly, instead showing polite curiosity. No wonder he said it wouldn't take long for him to bring the things, but now the woman wonders if there's a particular point in the power demonstration. Unless he always reaches for everything that way, which is impressive for his control, but also a quite lazy attitude.

She feels grateful that the sides are each on one side of the table and inclines her head politely at the request. She takes a seat easily, keeping her hands to herself and placing them over her lap once she's sitting. Her attention is pretty much divided between the pot and the man himself.]

What blend is it, exactly? If you don't mind me asking.

Something from one of the local islands, where plants grow particularly large. In high demand during the colder seasons. I wish to become familiar with all the most popular natural resources these lands have to offer.

[One could wonder what kind of interest could a pirate have in natural resources, but Elsa has an idea. Treasure has more than one form, but its most essential form is money, and that can come from several aspects. Much like a kingdom would aim to become the only source for a certain popular product in order to increase the trade agreements and power... What would happen if a pirate managed to get control on those things? They could very well end having the world in their hands in exchange of relatively little work.

Of course that may not be the case, it's possible Crocodile is simply a curious man. But she thinks that if she were to think as a pirate and look after her own benefit, and the benefit of her crew at most, she would aim for something like that. Not much different than politics, really, just with less manners and more threats and dangers.]

I have to confess I wouldn't expect any of us to be particularly interested in those things. As popular as natural resources may be I doubt they would lead us to the fragments of the gem or to valuable spoils.

[And once more she's not lying, but simply failing to comment on all her thoughts. She has little intention of getting involved in anyone's plans, be it Crocodile's plans or anyone else's, and thus has little interest in them. Though it's true that if Crocodile has a particular curiosity on natural resources, she will have to keep an eye on which island she chooses to stay in. It wouldn't be good to go to one unpopulated but rich in something he or anyone else may desire.]

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Test Drive for January 2014 Apps

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