[JULY] Test Drive

[rubycitymods]

Thinking of apping a character but not sure they'll fit in the city walls?

Have no fear, a meme for you is here.

Directions:

• Use an RNG to choose a location and prompt, or wait for someone else to tag.


• Post with your character with their name and canon on top!


• If you'd like, leave contact info for people to get in contact for plotting and other such shenans.


• Tag around! Make friends. Don't be afraid to chat OOC while tagging.

Locations

1.TRAIN STATION - The place where everyone gets dumped off at. Your first view of Ruby City, complete with informational posters telling you all about where you've ended up.
2. THE BEACH - Lovely year-round, though in the winter months, you're probably not likely to dip your toes in.
3. THE BLACK STALLION - A rather quaint bar. Supposedly, the burgers are great, but you don't see anyone immediately who's willing to serve you. Maybe you're meant to get it yourself.
4. THE OBELISK - The tall monolith in the center of the city marks the gathering place of many events, though right now it seems to be cold and dark.
5. THE CLOCKTOWER - Offering an impressive view of the city, several residents come here to clear their heads, if they don't mind braving the narrow staircase.
6. THE COFFEE JOINT - the front windows are warm and welcoming, and it seems there's always someone friendly enough to fix you a cup when you wander through.
7. THE CATACOMBS - Intrepid, aren't you? Those weird holes may beg exploring, but go too deep and you're going to be in a lot of trouble, considering the viciousness of the creatures held within.
8. THE CITY STREETS - All told, Ruby City is a lovely place, once you get past the fact that several of the buildings look derelict and on the verge of falling down. There's no harm in doing a little sightseeing.
9. THE PARK - You thought it'd be a lovely stroll, but the park is anything but friendly, if those approaching wolf-like creatures are any indication.
10. CHOOSE YOUR OWN - Don't like what we've come up with? Feel like picking your own place? There's a whole host of lovely locations to choose from in the City.


Scenarios


1. NEW ARRIVAL - Step off that train, walk down the street. People usually latch on to newcomers to try and help them out. Even if you look shy, the other residents probably won't be!
2. WATCH TALK - Feeling lost? Disoriented? Don't worry, everyone feels that way on their first day. Fortunately - if the signs at the station are to believed - the watch in your pocket can be used to talk to whoever else might be here.
3. BAD WEATHER - Aw, man. Whether it's snow, or rain, or just plain cold, today was definitely the wrong day to get dumped off in a City in the middle of nowhere.
4. A RUN-IN - Maybe you weren't watching. Maybe they weren't. Either way, you just bumped into someone. Perhaps apologies are in order?
5. HELP, IT HURTS - Clumsy, aren't you? Perhaps wherever the train brought you from wasn't so friendly, or you just tripped and twisted your ankle. Either way, you're in a bit of pain. Hopefully someone will notice your booboos and help patch you up.
6. HUNGRY - It isn't very obvious sometimes that restaurants are what they are, especially in a place like Ruby City. Where can a person go to get a bite to eat around here?
7. MISTAKEN IDENTITY - Hey, there's someone you know! --Or maybe not.
8. BEING FOLLOWED - Maybe you're just being paranoid, or maybe you've got a reason to be afraid. Whatever it is, it feels like there's eyes on you...
9. EVENTS - Feel free to look through our event tag!
10. CHOOSE YOUR OWN - Don't like any of these ideas? Feel free to come up with your own!

Comments

Re: Yona – i

[arken7]

[He's not someone she knows, but he's not averse to meeting newcomers. So, when he hears the sobs fade and the girl steps out of the alley again, he walks over to her from the far side of the street with his boots purposefully making a respectable amount of noise on the surface of the street.]

Hey.

You look new.

[He's fatigued from all of the events that have happened recently, but he's doing his best to not let it show. Still, his brevity was unusual; most people knew him as verbose, even if they didn't know the word for it.]

[His blade was somewhat obvious, his jacket far more so. The nineteen-year-old's attempt at a smile was probably the last thing a person would notice, but it was genuine.]

[adenophora]

[Yona turns towards the sound of approaching footsteps, as much as she doesn't want to because her eyes are a little red and puffy and her face still looks a little flushed from crying. But she doesn't have much choice because she's being addressed directly now.]

I am, [she says with a small nod.]

[Looking him over, he seems to be older than her and closer to Hak or Soo Won's age. Her gaze does get caught on his blade though and Yona reflexively takes a small half-step back when she notices it. She forces herself to look away from it quickly, back to his face.]

My name is Rina.

[She lies about her name smoothly as she's able to sometimes. It's always a hard decision to make, but it's made easier with the visible weapon. The others would want her to be careful if she doesn't know which way that weapon will point, and they're probably right. For all she knows, this place is just like Awa and he's an official of some sort. It's better to not hesitate or debate about whether she's Yona or Rina today.]

[arken7]

Rina, huh.

[It doesn't escape his notice, her eyes catching on the hilt over his shoulder. But he's too tired to care about the little things at the moment.]

I'm Julian.

As you've probably read on the posters, this is Ruby City. Populated by seventy-something people who've stepped off that train.

[A pause follows, but he fills the silence before it gets too long.]

Three things:

You're probably going to be stuck here for a while. I've been here more than five months, or near two seasons' time. The train only comes 'round to bring new people and there's no other way off this island.

And don't worry about anyone that's back home – the way time works 'round here, they won't notice you're gone. There's a few people who're related to each other that arrived at different times and never noticed their family went missing.

Lastly, everything's free. One of the mercies about this place. If you want to live in one of the houses, step inside and see if it looks lived in – the current residents probably won't mind. Food can be found in the city centre, where most of the shops are.

[adenophora]

[That's... That's a lot to take in all at once. Yona's gaze lowers as she worries her lower lip, mulling it over piece by piece. So, she's going to be stuck here for a while, but time doesn't move back home? The others won't even notice that she's gone. In some ways, that's a huge relief and she can feel a weight lifting off her chest. It's never Yona's intention to ever make anyone worry about her and she does her best to never give them a reason to even if she knows that's more or less futile. Hak will always worry about her because he's her bodyguard and he's going to see things through to the end. Yoon will always worry because that's simply what he does for each of them no matter what despite what he might say. And Kija, Shin-Ah, Jae-Ha, and Zeno can't exactly help it with their dragon's blood and their belief in her as their master even if she never feels that way herself. In others ways, however, that worries her that they'll never notice because what if something does happen to her here? Or to anyone else for that matter? What happens then?]

[But looking at Julian, she doesn't think he probably has the answer to that question. Maybe he does to her other question.]

Free? [Once, Yona might not have questioned this. She never knew what it was like to not have money or to go without. But now she does and she understands that money is somewhat of a double-edged sword. It creates stability, an easy means of exchange and value upon goods, but it also creates want and debt. It's the latter that she's immediately concerned with. Free... There has to be a catch somewhere.] How is that possible if there are shops?

[arken7]

Shops is just the term people use. Most rely on the city's stocks replenishing themselves as they do. Others, like the forge and the leather store, work pretty much independently of that and use bartering. If you've nothing to barter, then it shouldn't be a problem for now – you've just arrived, after all.

[Having noted that she was uncomfortable with his blade earlier, he decides to inform her of why he has it out.]

Unless you're confident that you can handle yourself in a fight and have a hunter's senses, don't step too far outside the city. All kinds of creatures roam this island – wargs, wendigos, kelpies and worse. There are non-aggressive creatures as well, but you'll have to keep watch for those three primarily.

… If you want to improve your skills, there's a training school next to the old police station. The headmaster knows most mêlée weapons and there's another instructor who's mastered all kinds of ranged weapons. I spend at least an hour a day there to maintain my proficiencies.

We don't have any instructors for magic of any kind, though.

[adenophora]

[She smiles and she knows it's probably coming off a little nervous, but she can't quite help it. He's telling her a lot — it feels like too much, too fast, and she's not really sure she's going to be able to remember it by the time they part ways (provided she can get away from him).]

You sure do know a lot... [She comments carefully, not even knowing what to say to any of it.] Are you an official, Julian?

[arken7]

No, no. I've just got a good memory and have been here long enough to know a lot about this place.

[He takes a moment to realise what the nervous smile means. Normally, he'd get it pretty quickly – but he's not had peace and quiet for very long between all these events.]

If you feel I'm overloading you, I'm really sorry. I ramble when I'm tired.

…

Would you mind a tour of the place?

[adenophora]

[Some of the nervousness disappears, replaced with genuine enthusiasm.]

If you have the time! I've never been to a city like this before.

[arken7]

I have more than enough time. [He finally manages a proper smile, then. Well, a proper half-smile.]

We can head to the city centre and work out where best to start from there.

[Julian was subconsciously glad he'd gotten a second lightweight coat, since his first could be so disorienting – vantablack was useful, but only sometimes. The open outerwear fluttered slightly as he turned in the direction of the centre with its obelisk.]

What d'you think you'd be most interested in: a library, a an old theatre, an observatory or a lake?

[adenophora]

[It's a tough decision that he's presenting her with. She's not an avid reader — not like Yoon is — but she doesn't mind a good book every now and again. A theatre sounds nice, too. She misses the sound of music at her father's court and all the lively performances of various arts. She's not entirely sure what an observatory is, but she can imagine if he's mentioning it, then there must be something extraordinary about it. The same with the lake.]

Mmm... [She worries her lower lip for a moment before looking up at him.] They all sound wonderful. We should go to whichever's closest to the center of the city!

[arken7]

That would be the Library. It's large and a bit confusing to navigate, since – as far as I know – no-one here knows what organisation system it uses.

[He realised that he'd inadvertently left out the Overseers, but left that topic for the time being. It wouldn't do to ruin her happiness like that.]

I've been wanting to grab a few more books to read myself, so this would fit into my schedule nicely – if I had one.

[He slowed down a bit to let her better take in the city centre when they arrived. The obelisk pulsed faintly as it always did, sitting on its plinth as the most easily noticed feature. It was being its usual ominous self, so Julian mostly ignored it.]

We've come from the northwest and we're headed for the eastern side.

[adenophora]

[Northwest to the eastern side? Yona nods a little to herself. Got it. Strange to think how it wasn't too long ago that probably wouldn't have meant all that much to her. Not that she didn't know her east from west, but her whole world existed within the walls of the castle. There wasn't any guesswork involved in finding things.]

[She does, however, spare a glance at the obelisk as they pass it.]

Um... Has that, [she says, pointing to it, although likely unnecessarily,] always been here?

[arken7]

Yeah. Don't mind it unless there are cracks running through. It keeps the less friendly creatures out of the city, so it's important that it stays in one piece.

[He only cast a brief glance its way, enough for him to be sure that it wasn't about to shatter.]

You'll get used to it being there, eventually.

[The young man led them down the road that led to the Library.]

There it is. If you don't want to get lost for an hour or more, it'd be best for you to tell me now. It's like a maze in there, trust me.

sorry this is late, i had company over!

[adenophora]

[There's something trouble about the idea of an inanimate object keeping any kind of creatures out to Yona. Not that she'd exactly want creatures running through the city that could hurt people or anything like that, but who knows what kind of effect something like that has on the people who live here? But he dismisses it so quickly, only sparing it a passing glance as they go past it toward the library that Yona bites back her questions and allows him to continue leading the way without slowing or stopping. She can (probably) find someone else to ask a little later if she doesn't get the chance to ask him.]

[She comes to a stop beside him outside the library. She looks up at the building first and then at him, questioningly.]

A maze?

All good!

[arken7]

More a figure of speech than a reality, but it is hard to find what you're looking for inside.

[He stops walking long enough to open the doors and let her enter first.]

The system of categorisation is one I don't recognise and books rarely are in the same place two days in a row, even though there's few enough people who frequent the building. There are ghosts that sometimes wander through, though. They're usually unobtrusive and pretty friendly, but they don't talk; they might mess up the organisation.

Also, surest way to the front if you can't remember is to follow one wall.