undyingmods: (Default)
undyingmods ([personal profile] undyingmods) wrote in [community profile] undyingcourt2023-11-30 12:01 pm

Test Drive Meme - New Blood

DEC TEST DRIVE MEME
Welcome to the Undying Court Test Drive Meme! This post will allow players to test drive their AU characters in the setting, as well as meet fresh faces or even connect with those they have preexisting CR with. As with anything involved in the setting, this post will likely contain: violence, enthrallment, torture, and sexual content.

Regarding continuity, all TDM threads can be taken as in-game canon if desired. Please keep in mind that the game proper will begin in mid December, in the Winter Season, so Students/Novices should create their prompts under the assumption that the TDM takes place during the season prior to the one they will be apping as. This means that students planning to app as first season novices will be visiting Castle Courtsheart prior to their Beginning. In other words, if you plan to app a student as a second season, the TDM will take place during their first, and so on.

Feel free to brush up on the Premise, Vampire Powers, and head over to the FAQ/Game Info page if you have any questions!

  • Make sure you are aware of the Rules when posting your top-level. (Content warnings are always welcome!)
  • Please format your Top-level in this format: Character Name (AU Name if different) | Canon | Teacher/Student | Court
  • As a reminder, a Test Drive sample is required in order to app.
  • If you have any questions specific to the TDM, ask them in the Questions thread below!




Top-Level Directory:Chat with NPC: Revar
Ace Attorney - Apollo Justice (Student)
Alice in the Country of Hearts - Alice Liddell (Student)
Attack On Titan - Erwin Smith (Teacher)
Baldur's Gate 3 - Astarion (Teacher)
Baldur's Gate 3 - Halsin (Teacher)
Baldur's Gate 3 - Raphael (Teacher)
Batman - Bruce Wayne (Teacher)
Bridgerton (Netflix) - Anthony Bridgerton (Student)
Castlevania - Soma Cruz (Student)
Castlevania: Nocturne - Maria Renard (Student)
Cosmo Warrior Zero - Harlock (Student)
Critical Role - Percy DeRolo (Teacher)
Daria - Daria Morgendorffer (Teacher)
Devil Summoner - Raidou Kuzunoha XIV (Student)
Dragon Age - Fenris (Teacher)
D&D: Honor Amongst Thieves - Edgin Darvis (Teacher)
D&D: Honor Amongst Thieves - Xenk Yendar (Teacher)
Ensemble STars!! - Mayoi Ayase (Student)
Fate/Zero - Kariya Matou (Kariya Makiri) (Student)
FE: Three Houses - Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd (Student)
FE: Three Houses - Hilda Goneril (Student)
FE: Three Houses - Lorenz Hellman Gloucester (Student)
FE: Three Houses - Marianne von Edmund (Student)
FE: Three Houses - Sylvain Gautier (Student)
Final Fantasy XIV - Estinien Varlineau (Teacher)
Frozen - Prince Hans (Student)
Genshin Impact - Diluc Ragnvindr (Teacher)
Genshin Impact - Tighnari (Teacher)
Hanna Is Not A Boy's Name - Conrad Achenleck (Teacher)
Hannibal (NBC) - Will Graham (Teacher)
Jujutsu Kaisen - Gojo Satoru (Teacher)
Jujutsu Kaisen - Toji Zen'in (Teacher)
Lucifer (Netflix) - Lucifer Morningstar (Teacher)
MCU - Loki Laufeyson (Teacher)
Original - Aurinn Laurentius (Student)
Original - Bellatrix Bakhar (Student)
Original - Christine Delacroix (Teacher)
Original - Hanako 'Rosalina' Nurumi (Teacher)
Original - Jisu (Eden Woods) (Student)
Original - Karma D'Auvergn (Teacher)
Our Flag Means Death - Edward Teach (Teacher)
Our Flag Means Death - Izzy Hands (Student)
Persona 3 Portable - Kotone Shiomi (Student)
Persona 5 R - Goro Akechi (Student)
Persona 5 - Haru Okumura (Student)
Persona 5 - Ren Amamiya (Student)
Pride and Prejudice - Elizabeth Bennet (Student)
Return to Labrynth - Sarah Williams (Teacher)
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs - Snow White (Student)
Stargate: Atlantis - John Sheppard (Teacher)
Star Trek: AOS - James T. Kirk (Student)
Star Wars - Darth Vader (Teacher)
Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order - Trilla Suduri (Student)
The Adventure Zone: Balance - Kravitz (Teacher)
The Adventure Zone: Balance - Lydia (Teacher)
The Adventure Zone: Graduation - Fitzroy Maplecourt (Student)

New arrivals will be starting their first season in the winter, but they're welcomed to the castle early, under the watchful eyes of the Silver Court. Upon arrival, they will be shown to a room by a human whose eyes glow softly from within, with vacant smiles. Thralls. There, the human thralls will draw them a bath and bring them new clothes to wear to their first meeting. These are rich, expensive things made of high quality fabric. Whether it's a silk dress and a heavy velvet cowl, or a fine pants and a vest made from a brocade, the servants will provide. The new initiate's old clothes will be burned after, in a symbol of the life they are leaving behind. If they are hungry, they will be provided food. If they need anything at all, they need only ask their new servants.

Later that night they are taken to a grand hall, with high arched ceilings and candles burning in chandeliers. There are figures painted overhead, beautiful and entwined. Some have their eyes are colored to match the courts, others are gracefully placed in their death, with blood dripping from necks and wrists.

Balconies line the hall behind a forest of pillars, and vampires all watch as the group walk through (some more hungrily than others).

"Welcome to your first undying season, initiates," a pale, silver-haired vampire calls. They have silver eyes are clad in silver robes, but command the attention of everyone in attendance. They have a beauty that seems neither male nor female. They are standing at the center of a wide semi-circle of other vampires, "As the Silver Court's acting voice at this end of the Autumn season, allow me to introduce you to the Houses that will be your new homes."

The vampire, Revar, gives the newcomers an overview of all of the courts—Blue, Red, Gold, Silver, and Black—and then invites those already claimed by their Courts to join the vampires who will be their Makers.

Revar offers the Foundlings who are left a gentle, knowing smile, and then allows them to be chosen. They are like the last sheep left at the auction, and the vampires who take them may not be the enthused about it. Nevertheless, Revar waits patiently until all have found a maker.

Now that they are paired up it is expected—indeed, required—that the initiate drink from their maker. That is their Beginning. Only once they have truly begun can they can be considered novices.
AUTUMN NOX
Silver Court is in season and for the Autumn Nox it holds a large symposium, inviting all the best vampire minds from around lands nearby and far. The whole castle is abuzz with new activity. The stables are packed full of horses, carriages litter the grounds, but somehow the castle has enough rooms to house all the new arrivals.

Novices will find that some of these vampires have not seen a human-novice in a very, very long time. These vampires might see the human-novices more like specimens, curious about their every move. They won't bite, but novices may find themselves observed as they wander the castle and its grounds.

The symposium itself is open to anyone at the castle. Scholars can present on any topic at all. Novices will find that these range from the incredibly mundane (you've always wanted to attend a history of bottom-feeding river fish, haven't you?) to the truly fascinating (new insights into how vampire hearts work) to the downright strange (the symposium has a range of lectures very close to dawn about the sharing of vampire...fluids). Seasoned novices with their own Autumn classes to attend are expected to keep up with their studies, but some teachers may let them out of a session to attend the lectures and workshops of the symposium.

The Silver Court vampires are incredibly busy between running the symposium and trying to help the new novices get settled in. They may need some volunteers to lend a hand with setting up rooms or helping scholars find their way around. In fact, volunteers might find themselves leading scholars down to the second kitchen for a bite to eat, a strong reminder that even these demure learners are still monsters who must drink blood.

PUMPKINS-GONE-WILD
The symposium isn't all that the autumn season brings. The Silver Court’s talents are on display in other ways—sometimes not in ways another had particularly hoped. An overly zealous youngblood in the Silver Court tried to grow a few extra pumpkins for the occasion and ended up with a few too many! The pumpkin vines break out of the green house and start sprouting pumpkins everywhere. These are no ordinary pumpkins, they will sprout and grow and become fully formed in the course of a night. Better keep an eye out for those vines or else your room might become full of pumpkins! Luckily, the pumpkins aren’t rotting any time soon (they’ll last until winter, or so the Silver Court vampires are saying), but it can be pretty inconvenient for them to grow everywhere. Start cutting those vines to pieces, and hope they don’t try to entangle you in the process.
LIBRARY CLEAN-UP
Meanwhile, with all the scholars in town are making a mess of the library, much to the Silver Court vampire’s dismay. Books are being checked out and not checked back in, passed around from scholar to scholar. You might find those lost books just about anywhere. Who was reading in a tree? Anyone who collects the books and returns them to the library is sure to get a little bit of favor with the librarians, and it’s never a bad thing to have a bit of an in with a Court. If you’re worried about failing Silver Court, it’s time to get searching! Although how you’re going to convince a 300 year old vampire that time is not fake and that deadlines are real (and in fact were two days ago) is anyone’s guess.
UNETHICAL EXPRIMENTS
[CW: Torture, experiments]

Those who venture towards the basement might hear something a little different than normal. The thralls who spend their time down there are normally quiet, commanded to keep silent and pleasant for the vampires they serve. But with the arrival of the new scholars comes disquieting, inhuman screams from the darker reaches of the basement. Novices trying to catch a glimpse will be chased away, but teachers might be invited to watch as these vampires experiment on one another, all in the name of science. What’s a little torture, when you’re undying?

Thanks for joining us for our first TDM! For any questions regarding the TDM prompts, please comment in the thread below. For general game questions, please check the FAQ/Game Info. Remember that the game proper will begin mid December, in the Winter Season, so Students/Novices should create their prompts under the assumption that the TDM takes place during the season prior to the one they will be apping as.

conradachenleck: (Argyle Vampire)

[personal profile] conradachenleck 2023-12-08 04:09 am (UTC)(link)
Oh... Again? [He raises an eyebrow at that and puffs an uneasy breath. And, yes, he definitely has endless sympathy for the thralls. As a decent person and a vampire who clings to his humanity, how could he not?]

I get what you mean, sure. It can't be easy shedding so much blood... I mean, I'm sure it isn't exactly healthy for them. I do try to get them treats, you know, as a little thank you from time to time.

[Conrad depends on them, after all. He's not going out hunting down his dinner. Or wooing anyone to make blood claims with him, either. All his blood meals come from one source.]
unghosting: (In my defense)

[personal profile] unghosting 2023-12-08 04:13 am (UTC)(link)
Kevin is not averse to being touched, in general. But he's fresh out of a time in his life that was spent on the run from the law, and it ended in vampires far stronger than he violently snatching him up and carrying him off. He just barely manages not to smack Satoru's hand away, but he does hunch defensively beneath it, and plants himself firmly in place rather than going along with him.

"-- why?"

There has to be something in it for this guy. Is he expecting that a favor early on will earn him Kevin's loyalty in whatever stupid court drama passes for politics around here, or...?
unghosting: (Fuck all y'all I have fabulous taste)

This is pretty much exactly what I expected, thank you

[personal profile] unghosting 2023-12-08 04:16 am (UTC)(link)
[Who is Kevin's favorite teacher? people will ask, from time to time. Oh, it's Vader, Kevin will say, and refuse to elaborate.

It's because they have never spoken a single word to one another and probably never will. You don't worry about where you stand with a guy who can't be bothered to give you the time of day unless you annoy him!]
karmichealing: (Smile)

[personal profile] karmichealing 2023-12-08 04:18 am (UTC)(link)
Mm, yes, again. [She leaves it ominous and hanging. Afterall, it wouldn't be the first or last time a vampire goes crazy with a dread blade. Or worse yet, old wives tales coming true about werewolves.]

Treats are fine of course, they need other things like fruits and vegetables to maintain their health, but it's just good to keep their blood count up. It wouldn't do to run the poor things ragged.

[Karma had some sympathy towards Thralls, but they were also a means to an end. Which was the continued survival of vampires, so it wouldn't do to treat them poorly. Half of Silver's job was the upkeep of thralls afterall.]

Liver and lentils should just be a common staple amongst their diet.
partybabysitter: (36)

[personal profile] partybabysitter 2023-12-08 04:18 am (UTC)(link)
[ It's what makes him so easy to mess with...

He remains frustrated, but he really should know better.
]

Or, perhaps, you could simply return the books as we have been asked.
serpendipity: (F2)

[personal profile] serpendipity 2023-12-08 04:19 am (UTC)(link)
Ah, so it really can end up happening just like that. I was wondering.

[ She paused to ask if there was any pumpkin pie around, just because it had been the curiosity earlier. Either someone else was asking for some to be made, or they were being instructed to do something with the gourds- they were apparently just cooling off. Well, she was fine with waiting for a bit. It would be a treat she'd never had before. ]

It was my first time ever seeing, much less being a part of one. I don't know how often they were done, but I made trips to the two towns at least once a week without seeing it before. So I was a little confused as to what was going on at first.
flagofbone: (Hah... tell me more)

[personal profile] flagofbone 2023-12-08 04:28 am (UTC)(link)
Maybe I am.

[He answers matter of factly, noticing how Kevin is no longer focused on the tubers.]
timidheart: _7_HR@twitter (93)

[personal profile] timidheart 2023-12-08 04:28 am (UTC)(link)
[There is ...a weirdly sympathetic way Mayoi takes that in. Someone who is very out of sorts in being here ...just like he is. It's not that strange of an occurrence, really, when vampires like to just pick and grab people as they see fit, but only a few particular kind are truly out of their depth here for this reason or that.]

I-I see... You would like to find where ...the lines are drawn, yes?

[He mumbles a little to himself but its loud enough for Kevin to hear, for sure.]

Better to know what they will or won't do to punish us if we cross it...
stardiving: (6)

[personal profile] stardiving 2023-12-08 04:28 am (UTC)(link)
[He doesn't look exactly comfortable with what's happening - he's a hunter, not a tormentor, and it's not like this is serving any purpose--just as Halsin observed. But, with some Black Court vicious practicality:]

If someone gets themselves injured enough to not survive the extra thirty seconds, perhaps that would be for the best.

[Harsh. Maybe enough to distract him?]
partybabysitter: (68)

[personal profile] partybabysitter 2023-12-08 04:29 am (UTC)(link)
[ Xenk nods, as if taking her suggestion quite seriously. And he is -- he takes almost everything seriously. It's part of what makes it so easy for him to loom. ]

This is not inaccurate. I am sure some of them are looking forward to receiving their chosen Novices. Or perhaps guide a Foundling through their undying seasons. Though as you say, just as many of them do see your kind as potential meals.

[ He draws his hand behind his back. ]

You need not worry. The castle's thralls provide more than enough sustenance.
flagofbone: (Hah... tell me more)

[personal profile] flagofbone 2023-12-08 04:33 am (UTC)(link)
[His eyes flick back, and a wry smile appears ever so briefly]

I am aware of the principle - but you'll have to forgive that someone new to - well everything here - is still trying to assess the situation.

[If he were with his fellow bandits or a place he's familiar with, he'd be more at ease - but alone and still adjusting, he'll remain cautious]
partybabysitter: (115)

[personal profile] partybabysitter 2023-12-08 04:34 am (UTC)(link)
[ Lest you worry, Xenk holds no contempt for Diluc. Their past is their past. What Xenk's maker did is not his crime to carry. Though whether all believe that is another matter entirely...

All the same, he decides not to call out Diluc's reaction. It's his way of being kind.
]

Indeed. While their failure means the castle is never wanting for thralls, one can't help but hope they'll surprise us.
unghosting: (Eeeeeeeew)

No worries, I'm a slow tagger!

[personal profile] unghosting 2023-12-08 04:37 am (UTC)(link)
[Kevin opens his mouth and shuts it again a few times, as the realization that he has been had and is not sure exactly how settles over him. Where does he even start here? What problem with his trap? He glances at it. He wasn't trying? He just stuck a pumpkin somewhere with very little consideration? That this is some sort of an "assignment" at all is bullshit and he would bet money this vampire knows that which means if he admits it out loud Kevin has probably lost a game he did not know he was playing and this sudden turn of events has taken about five seconds?

No, he does not want to become a vampire, actually...? He's just --

You can practically see the gears turning in his head as he attempts to sort out just what bit of this he ought to care about. In the end, what really gets his goat is the C+. Kevin is the sort of person who has to be chased down and bullied into doing tasks he hates, but when he wants to do something well, he turns into a hideous perfectionist who can't stand to lose. The swordsman may not be completely clear on what he's just been graded in, but a C+ is mediocre, and simply cannot stand.

He fidgets like a bird with ruffled feathers and stalls for time by bitchily popping another jelly bean into his mouth.]


...then, may I ask how Mister Vampire Teacher Sir might improve upon it...?
partybabysitter: (27)

[personal profile] partybabysitter 2023-12-08 04:38 am (UTC)(link)
I see.

[ Xenk hums. It's not the worst way to be, certainly. ]

Vampires hold grudges. He may wish to make his manipulations more subtle, if he wishes to survive here.
Edited (icon) 2023-12-08 04:38 (UTC)
serpendipity: (F1)

[personal profile] serpendipity 2023-12-08 04:40 am (UTC)(link)
Ah, that's another reason to make sure you all handle your hungers first.

[ Even before the ceremony had started, those with a maker gossiped about how the 'beginning' was supposed to go. So while there was no experience with the way things worked in this society, she was already applying the logic she had already learned about a body's balance. ]

Are the ones that are planning or expected to be makers made sure to have something before the ceremony? Doesn't doing something like that leave a drain on the body? It'd be better to make sure there's a surplus that's brought back to even instead of causing a deficit.

[ Eden, you're literally mentally jumping ahead further than where your courses are meant to start. Stop that. ]
partybabysitter: (45)

[personal profile] partybabysitter 2023-12-08 04:46 am (UTC)(link)
[ That makes one of them, but Xenk knows better than to start an argument with a man wielding a sword. Especially when that man is skilled in killing vampires. ]

So you say.

[ He can't deny it, when his own Maker tried to plot against, well, everyone. But that was before Fenris' time. ]

We must remain ever vigilant, regardless of court.

[ Maybe Xenk will be even harder on his students, just to prove a point. I mean, uh, just to make sure Gold Court stays in good standing. Obviously. ]
partybabysitter: (65)

[personal profile] partybabysitter 2023-12-08 04:53 am (UTC)(link)
[ Xenk makes it a point not to be intimidated by novices, but like. He's not completely immune. And he would be lying if there wasn't just something about Kirk's face that made Xenk want to grab his hair and teach him a lesson.

But he wouldn't take advantage of a student like that, for all that Kirk is clearly willing. Well, he wouldn't take advantage because he'd have to ask first. But also Xenk isn't one to do this kind of thing in the open, so there's that too.
]

You score top marks in all of your classes. You are more intelligent and capable than you try to appear to be. And...

[ This time he places a hand on Kirk's shoulder, something almost condescending but also warm. ]

You wish to impress me. Whether this is simply to secure your standing with your professor, or for personal reasons.
unghosting: (Noticing)

[personal profile] unghosting 2023-12-08 04:56 am (UTC)(link)
[Oh dear, what a direly unpleasant noise. Kevin bets the pumpkin gore beneath the table looks just as bad as that explosion sounded, and that the prissy fellow he's caught is going to have a world of trouble getting all that out of his long hair.

Long hair is awful for this sort of thing. Kevin should know.

He could simply slink away to enjoy this brief burst of amusement in private, for what little time it sticks around before he's back to his own gloom. But his handiwork is presently underneath a table, and he would really like to see it, he thinks. A nice little mental image that he can think about instead of remembered massacres. So, depending on how Reyson is oriented beneath the table, he may see a long white ponytail swinging into view, followed by a pretty face with a pleasant expression that doesn't completely disguise how gaunt and worn-out its owner still is.]


...ohhhh. That's a proper mess.
notimefordreams: (012)

[personal profile] notimefordreams 2023-12-08 05:05 am (UTC)(link)
Mmm, can't say I'm surprised. You always seem like you're assisting.

[Maybe he is or maybe he isn't but it's all a bit of harmless banter. Sarah settles her own stack of books down.]

So did you find yours around the school or actually contained to the library this time?
beigeacademia: (smile2)

[personal profile] beigeacademia 2023-12-08 05:08 am (UTC)(link)
It's just fascinating how it works. So there are two to three three metal rings mounted onto each other around an axis…

[If not interrupted, Elias launches into a spiel about how a gyroscope works. He also pulls out a notepad to sketch out a gyroscope’s interlocking gimbals to better illustrate what he's talking about.

He seems to just really like the novelty of mechanical inventions!]
Edited (linked to the wrong part of the wiki article :P) 2023-12-08 05:12 (UTC)
beigeacademia: (smile2)

[personal profile] beigeacademia 2023-12-08 05:13 am (UTC)(link)
[That's why he's boogie-ing. He knows it's a rare victory! It feels very gratifying.]

It's not that bad, [Elias lies, because he's learnt from none other than the Red Court itself that if you bluff something enough it becomes “true”.] -this may be shocking to you, but I passed Revelry classes.
veardant: (019)

[personal profile] veardant 2023-12-08 05:18 am (UTC)(link)
[ tighnari watches carefully, then once he sees the young man beginning to relax further, he smiles, exhaling slowly through his nose. ]

Of course.

[ tighnari approaches. the stone sill is large enough that he's able to lean his elbows onto it, his fingers laced loosely together, tail swaying behind him as he looks out across the blanket of stars. ]

I was nervous too, at my beginning, despite having been groomed for it since I was born. It's.. a lot to take in. A lot of people. A lot of noise. A lot of change.
unghosting: (Over my shoulder)

[personal profile] unghosting 2023-12-08 05:21 am (UTC)(link)
Ah?

[Kevin halts and turns, as though he wasn't half-expecting to be addressed.]

Is swearing at them not working?
beigeacademia: (sideglance)

[personal profile] beigeacademia 2023-12-08 05:25 am (UTC)(link)
Mhm.

[Elias acknowledges the apology with a nod and a faint air of stern approval. He'll say nothing of the boy’s moral conflict, but the instinct to self-correct is a promising sign that he'll be able to adapt to this place. That's really all Elias looks for. The rest can come later.]

There's nothing wrong with self-preservation, otherwise. It's useful here, [he adds, trying to be reassuring,] -though a word of caution, the Black Court does chase runaways. You'd better have a very good escape plan.

[That's immediately kind of a downer isn't it. But it's important to address.]

Who's your Maker again?
veardant: (009)

[personal profile] veardant 2023-12-08 05:25 am (UTC)(link)
[ feel free my friend, the smushy sofa is all yours.

tighnari, instead, sits back in his chair with his legs extended, crossed at the ankles, his tail resting on the seat beside him with the tip curling back and forth. he idly swirls his bloodwine, his expression thoughtful, before he gives it a sip. ]


Well, I enjoy teaching, I suppose. It gives me purpose. And I find it a great privilege to help mold the minds of the new generations.. I can make a difference in their existences.

[ a difference for the better, though he doesn't say as much aloud. other vampires already look down on him for his gentle heart. ]