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my oath shall be sped;
WHO? Everybody!
WHAT? The January TDM.
WHEN? The mythic dimension of Vorspiel.
ANYTHING ELSE? Violence, as always. Please warn in subject lines for anything beyond physical violence, and move to a personal journal if things go beyond PG-13.
WHAT? The January TDM.
WHEN? The mythic dimension of Vorspiel.
ANYTHING ELSE? Violence, as always. Please warn in subject lines for anything beyond physical violence, and move to a personal journal if things go beyond PG-13.
JANUARY TEST DRIVE MEME;
Vorspiel; a land of song.
arrival for new recruits
You wake up in a patch of verdant forest, with the birds chirping all around you. You're not in a clearing; your body lies between the trees. Near you, a frail woman with tired eyes rocks back and forth. You have none of your clothing, just black military-issued underwear, and none of your previous possessions beyond the one you chose (if you remember choosing) to bring with you.
When the tired woman notices you've come to, she speaks in a tongue you won't recognize, but somehow understand, in tilting tones that somehow always rhyme. Tired and sorrowful though she is, if you have questions as to what's going on, she'll answer: you are a member of COST, a paramilitary organization of time travelers fighting against the Regency, a tyrannous kingdom of the future who are trying to stamp out freedom and individuality in the name of peace.
She will provide you with the clothing necessary to fit in, and show you how to use your BCE implant to look up information on this dimension and its social and political mores. She won't let you leave until you're properly dressed to fit in, but once you are, she'll wish you luck. She thinks you'll need it.
And, she says as you depart, if you see the Gods, spit on them. They will do you no favors here.
ARRIVAL FOR VETERANS
While on BASE, you'll receive a message on your BCE.
URGENT MISSION: VORSPIEL UNDER MAJOR ATTACK. ALL POSSIBLE VOLUNTEERS NEEDED TO PROVIDE AID.Selecting 'Y' will instantly teleport you to Vorspiel. Or maybe you're not the volunteering type, but your BCE glitches and signs you up anyway. Them's the breaks.
ACCEPT: Y / N ?
When you appear in Vorspiel, you'll find yourself in that same forest with the same woman who is ushering new recruits. She will give you clothes and wish you luck-- though luck, she says, is something true heroes have in short supply.
VORSPIEL
Regardless of how you got here, your BCE will have a short rundown of the situation once you arrive.
Vorspiel is a mythical, magical dimension rich in rare and precious resources. During the course of the war, it's been fought over by both sides. The Regency has recently allied with the leader of the misty country of Nibelheim to issue what is known as a Time Break; a sort of spell only possible in ancient dimensions such as these. Essentially, linear time has been destroyed in this dimension. Everything is happening at once, simultaneously and perpetually, a never ending cycle of lives and deaths and battles. While Vorspiel is a vast dimension, its borders have become warped; it is possible to walk from one country to another across the sea in a matter of moments, by accident. While the BCE is trying to send people to Nibelheim, it's entirely possible it misses the mark completely, or sends them to several places before they reach Nibelheim.
This chaos is meant to be a punishment: bow down before the Regency, or nothing will ever be the same again.
There is good news, though. Vorspiel is a dimension of inherent magic; singing or humming or whistling certain magical tunes will have an inherent effect upon one's surroundings. The BCE lists all the spells, though it notes that some have varying results (AKA go wild, guys, have fun), and the ones named after people will do little unless the person in question is present (a statistical unlikelihood).
As you enter different parts of Vorspiel, the BCE will sometimes give you different assignments, prompting you to take this action or that. If you have any questions about how this setting works, feel free to ask!
THE RHEINAs a final note: This will not be the main mission for January. This TDM is meant as a one-off to dump characters into a setting they don't have to read a ton of infopages for, while still getting a sense of what Agoge could be (and as always, this TDM is game canon).
You come upon a giant river with clear and beautiful water. The sun shines down upon it in yellow light, and wherever the light touches it, gold floats to the surface of the water. The BCE will prompt you to fetch as much of this gold as you can-- it is an extremely powerful magical resource, rheingold-- but it will not warn you about the Rheinmaidens.
The rheinmaidens are mermaids, essentially, and at first, they are very friendly and gentle, singing nonsense songs and welcoming you to their home. But as soon as you begin to make any moves toward the gold, they will curse you, dive for you with surprising speed, and attempt to drown you. They will be vicious, and their natural element is water. You're in their territory, taking their things, as far as they are concerned. They have every right to kill you.
Killing the rhienmaidens will work... for a minute or so. And then they will rise again. Wounds will undo themselves-- whether they're inflicted by the rheinmaidens or you. Drowning doesn't seem permanent either-- you're pulled under, and all air escapes you, death befalls you... and then you wake up a moment later, standing on the shore.
Time has been fundamentally broken. Nothing done here is permanent.
WALHALL
You stand outside a fortress bathed in rainbow light atop a glorious mountain. Around you, the air is cool and still, and the roof of the sky seems terribly close. No matter how far toward the fortress you run, you can never make it inside. And thundering footsteps are coming just around the mountain pass, coming for you.
Lumbering giants wander around the fortress, searching for something they mutter and murmur is theirs. If they see anyone around, they will attempt to carry them off, kidnapping them for unknown purposes. They do not seem interested in eating their catch; they seem more interested in kidnapping it. Still, they are dangerous, brutish and sloppy with their strength. It is best to avoid them if possible, hiding in the trees.
Or perhaps you'd rather fight these fifteen-foot monstrosities on your own?
Of course, if you kill them, they just... come back. Death cannot be permanent in a place where time has been caught in an endless loop.
NIBELHEIM
The misty country of Nibelheim is located within a network of caverns dug into the side of a great mountain. It's a foggy, polluted place that brings to mind a city on the brink of the industrial revolution, not unlike Victorian London, though Nibelheim is entirely underground. There is smoke and smog everywhere, and living conditions are generally poor. The rich class is one family, ruled by a Nibelung named Alberich. He has various objects of great power that keep him enslaving his fellow Nibelung, working constantly in factories of his making. He has allied with the Regency to achieve this goal, and the time break within his home dimension is due in large part to his planning and plotting.
Human visitors to Nibelheim aren't unheard of, due to trade, though they are in a minority. Nibelungs, for the record, look and feel and act completely human, but they are ultimately alien, averaging a foot shorter in height at least, having naturally sallow skin, large eyes, hairless regardless of gender, and long, nimble fingers. They are a race of people made to live underground, and it shows; most can see in the dark, and climb nearly any surface. They are famed as smiths and metalworkers. Most just want to make a living and feed their families, though Alberich's clan keeps them in line.
Your duty here, the BCE says, is to try and befriend these people, the average Nibelung, and spark some kind of revolt. There are Regency spies everywhere, however, so be careful; you cannot call for rebellion in an open voice on every street corner. No, it's better, safer, to be subtle about it. Win the trust of a local businessman, seek out influential Nibelungs and figure out their opinions. Be tactical, be clever, be quick.
And avoid Alberich and his family at any cost.
But if you can, try and save some of the Nibelungs. Due to Alberich's machinations, Nibelheim is the only part of Vorspiel that has been untouched by the time break, but that will only stay true for so long. If you can convince any Nibelungs to join COST, they will do so willingly; you'll just have to escort them to safe places in hidden back rooms within dingy bars and forgotten libraries, the places where COST cells have been fermenting under the nose of the Regency. Don't get caught, and be careful; save as many as you can.
AT THE BASE OF A GREAT TREE
A man lays dying. He looks very much like the woman who introduced you to this place. Regardless, he lies in a pool of his own blood, a stab wound through his heart. The time break keeps him from ever truly passing into the next life; as soon as he dies, his eyes open, and he begins the process of his last painful moments once again.
Each time, he begs you to avenge him and find his love (or sometimes his sister; he seems very confused), and if you ask him his name, he will only respond that he is, "the woeful one". And then he will die again, for the hundredth time.
In the trees, warriors watch, poised to attack. They see you communing with their enemy, and they wish to defeat you as well. These warriors care little for your protest; they are locked in an endless battle that they cannot free themselves from, and you have just joined it.
IN THE FOREST
There is a serpent, larger than anything you have ever seen, sitting at the mouth of a cave. It sits upon a hoard of gold that may be familiar to you. It may not, but the BCE will inform you of what it is: rheingold, an incredibly potent and valuable magical resource.
Regardless, the serpent will attack anyone that comes near it or its hoard, even by accident. It, too, is caught in an endless loop of battle long over, for it calls you boy and foolish young man regardless of who or what you are. It speaks in a deep and sonorous voice, and will not stop until its head is cut off. The creature is obnoxiously large and highly dangerous, and battle with it will be long and painful, not least because, like everything in this place where time has been so fundamentally broken, it is very bad at staying dead.
Be careful when you fight it -- if you accidentally get some of its blood in your mouth, you will be suddenly and temporarily able to understand the language of birds. Which is cool, but also, you know, distracting.
The birds will tell you to find the Valkyries, who will bring you great fame and glory. They will also tell you to run, for Fafnir does not die so easy.
AT THE END OF THE WORLD
You are at a funeral. A golden-haired woman stands upon an unlit pyre, standing next to the man who, she sings, is her dead husband. Her song is beautiful and loud and incomprehensible, and when the pyre is lit, the fire swallows her whole. But the burning doesn't stop there; it begins to destroy the assembled mourners, the forest around it, the castle, the very river burns. The fabric of the world crackles and sets to flame.
Run from the flame all you like, but it always licks at your heels.
There is a trick, though, to saving your life. If one is truly unafraid of death, the fire cannot harm you, or anyone you touch. The BCE won't warn you of this; it doesn't know. But if you are unafraid, you can simply walk through the flames unharmed.
It will bring you to a wide field atop a mountain, where a woman lies sleeping. It's the same woman at the funeral, peaceful in sleep, unmoving, unsinged. She can be awoken by a kiss.
Of course, awakening her will begin the cycle again: the pyre, the fire, the fearlessness, the clearing. Over and over again, endlessly, until the BCE manages to pull you out.
This is the will of the Regency.
The main mission for January will be the Gallipoli campaign, as detailed here. Future missions for Agoge are always listed here months in advance.
Shinobu Jacobs | Just barely a vet | HOPE YOU LIKE FIGHTING (OTA)
[Thievery wasn't exactly Shinobu's idea of a good time, as it seemed to be a bit of a step down from what she was more used to in her former job as an assassin. However, if that's the orders she was given, she had no problem with complying – even if the quick and flashy was more her style, she had plenty of experience in doing more stealthy kills on contracts too, so she could adapt to that if that were required.
So, she decides to try to stalk the perimeter of the river, trying to keep to the areas with boulders to take cover behind. However, no order given to her was able to prepare her for the eventual sight of what appeared to be mermaids, who were already in the process of entertaining another intruder. Shinobu stares on, for a couple of seconds, just to take in the purely bizarre sight of them singing to their guest. However, she's quick to try to take advantage of the situation, figuring that if they were distracted that she could try to make way with some of the gold gathered nearby them.
However, even as she keeps a steady eye on the rheinmaidens, as soon as she's able to lay a hand on the rheingold, the scene takes a dramatic shift. Turning sharply toward her, even Shinobu's quick reflexes only give her enough time to draw her blade before a couple of rheinmaidens dive toward her, as well as whoever was there before her.]
So much for that idea. [It's all Shinobu's able to get out before she's brought under the water. She drew her blade, she was probably going to be okay, but you might have your own problems to deal with.]
FIGHT 2: WALHALL
[No matter where Shinobu turned to, it was starting to get frustrating that she could never really seem to make way to the fortress that was clearly there, in plain sight. However, her attempts to scale the mountain come to an abrupt stop as she hears the booming of footsteps advance toward her. Knowing enough to know that's probably a good cue that she should probably hide, she's quick to find some cover behind a rock formation in the area. To her surprise, it seemed that someone else was hiding there was well.
She's initially quiet as the lumbering figure passes by them. However, as she turns her head around the rock, she finds that there's another one just standing there from the side she just came from – essentially, they were being pincered in the area by two giants that were (as of now) unaware of exactly where they were.
Turning her head to the other person there, she finally speaks in a quieted tone.] Looks like we have no choice, guess we're gonna have to fight at least one of them.
[The smile that spreads on her face is evident of how she was entirely too happy about this prospect.] Can you give me a boost? I might be able to jump one of them.
FIGHT 3: FANFIR
[At least this time when the BCE tells her to go steal some more rheingold, Shinobu goes in fully expecting to run into some kind of fight. And honestly? That was more her style than just plain theivery anyway.
As she enters the cave, though, she notes with a little amusement in mind that the way this giant snake berates and tries to put her down before an inevitable fight is almost cut and paste to how other assassins (particularly the male ones) would try to break her down before a rankings fight (but hey, at least this one seemed to somehow get the gender confused, it was at least a step up from the misogyny). By now, she learned that the best way to deal with that, though, was to just stand there and listen to it, not bothering to argue back.
However, allowing this thing to go on and on might give your character the chance to strike first or to try to take the gold for themselves. Though they might find that that Fanfir wasn't quite as arrogant as it seemed, quickly trying to entangle your character with its tail, leaving Shinobu a little peeved, in the process.]
[Feel free to make adjustments to this prompts as you see fit! I'm not all that picky.]
2
Jake's done questioning things for now, and being thrown into the midst of chaos while wondering what the hell is going on isn't anything new for an ex-mercenary who used to hunt massive bioweapons. While he's crouched - in these incredibly uncomfortable clothes that he actually hates - Jake is not all that concerned about taking on the giants. They're puny compared to his regular kill list.
Glancing at the stranger, he gives her somewhat of a less impressed look before slowly turning, hands folded over each other and pointed downward. Yeah, he can give her a boost. Gave Sherry a million of 'em.]
Hurry it up.
[Sounding less snippy than he does exasperated he even has to deal with a couple of monsters, as if it's such an inconvenience. After launching the girl up with an amount of strength that might be startling, Jake turns again and rises, staring down the other one.]
-- Guess that means I've got dibs on Ugly Number Two. [His head cranes to one side in a crack, beginning to approach the creature.]
no subject
Not bad. [In regards to his toss. Yeah, he did a pretty remarkable job of launching her up, but Shinobu was used to being in contact with a whole lot of strong individuals, through her profession. Basically, if he wasn't able to do what he just did, she'd likely be making fun of him about now.
However, Shinobu has to move fast, as the giant was pretty pissed off from the sudden prick in its arm, reaching its other arm to try to grab her. Fortunately, she's able to roll out of the way in time, using the momentum to travel to his shoulder blade, climbing up to the shoulder shortly after.]
If you're scared, you could leave 'em both to me. [Ah yes, even now she feels the need to shout down a little banter.] Might miss out on the fun, though.
2
Getting into a kneeling position, he readies his hands by lacing them together. He calls back to her in a hushed tone. ]
Ready whenever you are. I'll provide some distration for the other.
no subject
She doesn't think too consciously about it, though, as she's quick to take advantage of the footing offered to her, launching herself surprisingly high into the air. Using her prosthetic arm, she grips onto the leather of the giant's belt, turning around long enough to acknowledge Henry's offer.]
All right, don't get too bored over there, then.
A bit of a smug smile passes through her lips briefly as she turns to try to climb up the giant's back. She actually laments not having high heels around, as she was more used to scaling terrain with them on, but she still could make do with the clothing offered to them before this mission. By now, though the giant had definitely noticed something was amiss behind him, turning around to try to swat at Shinobu, but missing completely as she was climbing up a strap near its shoulder now.
In any case, it looked like Shinobu had giant #1 covered for now, though the second one had since turned from its position to try to survey the area.]
no subject
I never get bored.
[ He returns with a bit of a sing-song tone. Saber still turned off, he skirts behind another tree closer to the second giant and as it slowly turns, he activates his cross saber. With a soft electrical hum, it comes to life and he swings a single energy orb towards its face. The damage isn't strong enough to be fatal, but leaves a burn in its wake.
The giant roars, grabbing its face, and Henry leaps from the group to latch onto its belt. This is going to become a regular rodeo for these two. ]
no subject
As she had hung around too long, however, the giant became suspicious again, reaching for her position near his shoulder blade. She's able to dodge the grab, but just barely, having to use her blade to lodge her position and not fall off completely. The giant growls in pain, stumbling forward a couple of steps, catching the suspicion of the other giant in the area.
Knowing this fight was far from over, Shinobu decides to climb up the giant's hair, to try to advance toward the face – she was going to need to make some kind of handicap for herself, as loathe as she was to admit it. However, this was proving to be a little difficult as the other giant had since spotted her, making this a bit of a 2v1.]
no subject
It swipes at him, he jumps onto its opposite shoulder. It slams its back into a tree and he flips over its head to land on the ground in front of it, eyes wide with exhilaration. Finding a slight incline of a foothold on its knee, he kicks off the ground and uses the giant's knee to climb up to eye level. Midair, he executes a flashy series of attacks, mostly to its already injured eye area to further disable it.
He's had plenty of experience scaling large objects. Even if Letz Shake was stationary, it was a solid mechanism of steel and electricity. Flesh and bone are no match for his cross saber.
Roaring and groaning, the giant tries to escape and is on a path to collide into the other giant that Shinobu is riding. ]
no subject
So, with no other options available to her, she spots a group of trees nearby. She jumps to the nearest thick branch, jumping to another tree as the two opponents collide with each other, sending both of them to stumble a few paces back. Seeing an opportunity presents itself in that moment, Shinobu dives down from above, positioning her blade to pierce directly in the throat of the giant she had been fighting previously.
As it gasps for air, Shinobu pulls her blade out, taking a few moments to charge it up. Normally, she wouldn't need to charge it up like this, against a regular opponent, but she had the feeling she'd need the extra charge to cut through a neck circumference that large. This was going to take a little while, but the stumbling giant might be a hazard on its own.]
no subject
Vaulting off the branch and into the air, he creates enough momentum to execute a move that will surely kill off a giant. What better than his signature one-hit KO, right? Once reaching the maximum altitude of his jump, he slings his cross saber straight into his target's chest. The force of the throw isn't enough to send it crashing, but that's fine. He starts to fall and aiming his feet just right, he slams down onto the end of his cross saber which finally sends the giant crashing onto the ground.
Sorry if that disrupted any of your attack plans, Shinobu. ]
no subject
So, once her blade is fully charged, she swipes forward to her stumbling giant. However, soon she's doing something akin to shadow-stepping rapidly around the giant, slashing at various limbs in the process, her pace going faster and faster until her movements can't be tracked by an untrained eye. Eventually, she lands to the ground, picking herself up to angle her blade behind her in a flourish, as the limbs fell on the ground with a large splattering of blood.
Not showing her up today, asshole.]
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He claps, slowly. ]
Beautiful. Wherever did you learn moves like that?
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Just something I picked up, in my upbringing. [From her dad. That Henry may or may not know about, but she wasn't going to really question right now when there were plenty of beam katana users she needed to investigate, in the unviverse.] Tricks of the trade, to keep up with everyone else.
[Or rather, beat them into oblivion, if it was really needed.] The same goes for you too, I suppose?
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He cants his head slightly. He figures it was her father that taught her everything she knew, which he feels is their only similarity. ]
Something like that. Certainly kept me ahead of the game.
[ He could be meaning that quite literally, but who knows... actually, she might. Travis might. ]
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Giving a slight shrug of her head, she glances around, making sure there aren't any more in the area. It was almost a damned shame there weren't, as it was actually a little fun to figure out how to kill the two that crossed their path. Even if they did, perhaps, go a little more overboard than necessary.
However, there's a bit of a rumble on the ground, not too far away from the two of them soon after. Turning to see what the commotion was, Shinobu's lips form into a straight line as she watched the giants reconstruct themselves together. These fuckers were just reviving themselves and Shinobu felt more peeved than she normally would because of it.]
Are you fucking kidding me.
no subject
With adrenaline coursing through his veins, it's hard not to just go looking for trouble now. That bit of excitement, however, is short-lived because the moment he hears the tell-tale slapping and squelching of flesh being pieced back together, he also groans. It's a mild disappointment, and done under his breath that it's barely noticeable, but it's still there. ]
Honestly? I'm all for getting out of here. I refuse to kill the same thing twice.
[ This also applies to zombies, time-shenanigans, and fantasicial reconstructions such as this. ]
no subject
What point was there in even killing these things? Not much at all. No money, no glory, no rank, nothing. So, as loathe as she was to admit it, she had to agree that fleeing was probably the best option here.]
Ugh, this really blows. [She huffs, turning to look for the best option of escape. At the very least, the giants fell in a pretty close spot, so there was a pretty wide area to run in.] Fine. Let's get out of here.
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I've been noticing a pattern with the whole... unable to die bit around here. Time shenanigans. They're the worst.
[ He sticks to the treetops, preferring height and feeling much more at ease up here than down below. At least for now. ]
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[By now, Shinobu had already had a couple of different experiences with shit that wouldn't die. While it was pretty cool to take on something not human (or mostly human) for once, the fact that they couldn't die kind of made the entire point of fighting futile. Perhaps the goal was to steal gold, in a couple of cases, but that mattered little to her in the end.
With the giants still attempting to chase them, Shinobu soon retreats to the treetops as well, eventually stopping quite a ways ahead. As she charges her blade, she glances around an area, eventually unleashing a couple crescent beams of energy toward another tree, knocking the tree trunk in the path to the two of them. Yes, she was too rushed to call out her attack.]
That should buy us a little time, hurry up!
no subject
Say— [ He slices through one more tree trunk ahead of him, letting it crash in their path. ] —know where you're headin' to?
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Nope! Anywhere that isn't here sounds pretty damned good to me, though.
[As she hears the loud thud of another trunk falling, she quickly looks back to confirm what it was, but otherwise keeps speeding off ahead.]
Why? Do you have some brilliant idea?
no subject
[ He climbs a little higher up to gain some altitude, pausing just a little to see if there's anything ahead. Just more forest... does this go on like this forever? Time glitches or whatever it is that's happening around here don't seem to help, either. ]
I don't think we'll make much progress though, if my hunches are correct.
no subject
[She just keeps going forward, sometimes taking the time to cut down a large branch off of trees here and there, as she doubted trying to fight them again was going to be a good choice.]