SPRING TEST DRIVE MEME

[spaceshipit]

THE TEST DRIVE MEME

Got someone you want to try out before you app? Well this is the post for it! Feel free to use anything that fits in the setting of Drift Fleet! Want to play bumper shuttles? Want to go wild in a med bay? Play around with the current plot? Have at it!

Threads from the Test-Drive may be made game "canon" but DO NOT count toward AC!

FOR NEW PLAYERS: You DO NOT NEED an invite to participate in the TEST DRIVE! If you decide to APP into the game, ONLY THEN will you need an invite from a current player! Applications for new players open April 1st.

Helpful Info for Ideas!:

April's Star System

Game Details

From now on, Test Drives will be posted SEASONALLY (or every three months!). So the next one will be posted in the summer!

Comments

Maglor | Tolkein (Silmarillion)

[bythewaves]

He steps from one stage to another, faltering as he looks around at a strange place that he does not know. But an audience is an audience, and Maglor sits and brushes his fingers across the strings of his harp, producing a ripple of sound, as bright as the stars. Even under foreign stars, Maglor knows how to captivate an audience.

[child_of_bhaal]

Oh hey, music. There is another musician nearby! There's really no greater siren's call for Syeira than that, and soon she wanders up to the harp player. She sits on the ground, and just listens. She's....never heard the like of this before. Not even Haer'Dalis is this good. Finrod's playing comes closest, but this is in a class all on its own.

She listens, half entranced, watching how the harpists fingers dance across the strings.

[bythewaves]

Maglor plays for a while before lifting up his voice in song - no laments for an audience he does not yet know, but the bright songs and dances of the tavern and the battlefield.

Come and dance, they say. Lift up your heart, and worry about tomorrow later

As the last song ends he bows to the audience and slips down the stage, hoping to perhaps find out where he is and what is going on. He'll pass right by Syeira's table, looking lost.

i know I'm on hiatus but.....

[stefanged]

The music's enchantingly beautiful. Stefan finds himself drawn to it, even though he's not fully aware why. He doesn't normally linger like this either.

Except as he stares up at the stage, his throat tightens because he recognizes the player. Hard not to, when most of his childhood memories revolve around art gallery openings and late night family dinners with him. It felt like a lifetime ago, and yet, Stefan's voice grows quiet.

“Uncle Arnold?”

Eeeeee!

[bythewaves]

Maglor lifts his head at the query and there is no recognition in those eyes, which are very, very old, and far brighter than Arnold's ever were.

"Your pardon but I think you have me confused."

And Arnold's voice never sounded like that, with music trembling beneath it.

❤

[stefanged]

He falters for a second, both at how different this feels and how similar it is at the same time. This can't be the result of lost Echoes; he would've stopped everything for Stefan's sake.

No, this feels worse, like... like he's staring back at the man his uncle was turning into.

"I think so too," he admits, rubbing the back of his neck. "Sorry, I - you looked like someone I knew."

<3 <3

[bythewaves]

Maglor shakes his head in apology.

"Someone dear to you, I see. I am sorry. But I am but newly arrived here, myself - perhaps the person you seek is elsewhere."

[stefanged]

"Maybe," he concedes. Or maybe Uncle Arnold's long gone, a remnant of a world that Stefan hasn't seen in almost a year. He shrugs, trying to act like it doesn't bother him.

"I'm Stefan, by the way. I've been here for a while, so if you have questions... I can probably answer them."

[bythewaves]

"Well met, Stefan." Maglor tips his head in a graceful bow.

"Maglor, at your service. I thank you for your kindness - it will not cause you overmuch pain to deal with one who reminds you of your kin?"

[stefanged]

He hesitates for a split-second. On one hand, it would hurt because no matter how much he'd try to suppress it, the memories would flood back to the surface every time. On the other, it would be like dealing with a doppelganger. A much older, more mystical doppelganger.

So he manages a smile as he returns the bowed head. "Nah. I'm sure that he'd want me to help, wherever he is."

[bythewaves]

"It sounds as if your uncle is a good Man." Maglor says almost wistfully.

"Thank you. You can probably see that I am lost - anything you can tell me would be welcome."

[stefanged]

"He was," Stefan admits, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "But um, I'm sure you got the gist from most people. We're on reality TV, we get paid based on how much our audience loves us, and once a month, we visit distant planets and do whatever the place has to offer."

Like they're doing now, though he'd rather stay on his ship than visit the toxic, toxic moon.

"Beyond that, I can't answer a lot. We've only met our captors a couple of times, and we still have no clue who's watching us."

[bythewaves]

"I have been told such." Maglor nods "But I confess that many of these words are unknown to me - what is a 'teevee', and how does the audience watch us. Also, am I understanding correctly that we are journeying amongst the stars?"

[stefanged]

Oh. Wow. Yeah, this guy isn't even remotely like his uncle or his uncle's doppelganger, to not know about television.

Stefan stops in his tracks, trying to gather the right explanation....

"Um, so think of TV as a giant stage, and we're the actors on it. The audience watches us from very, very far away, since they use magic to watch us on uh, glass screens." Not super accurate, but it's the best he can do under the circumstances. "Right. We're traveling from planet to planet, which is why you'll meet people here from all sorts of places."

[bythewaves]

"Ah." Maglor nods slowly. "Some form of...remote viewing. And no word or sign as to how we got here or how we might return?"

[stefanged]

“Sorry, not that I know of.” He would've left the Fleet a long time ago, were that the case. “Most of us have been trying to find a way out, but nothing's worked so far.”

[bythewaves]

"I suppose twas far too much to hope for! Ah well. Thank you, Stefan. How long have you been here?"

[stefanged]

"About nine months now?" He sighs at the realization. "It's been long enough."

[bythewaves]

"I am sorry." Maglor says softly. "It can be difficult to be sundered from kin, whether long a time or short. Will they come seeking you?"

[faithfulwisdom]

Without warning, another harp joins the music, weaving in a harmony, subtle and deep. It's distant at first, but as it comes closer, Maglor will, no doubt, recognize not only the distinctive style of playing, but the man responsible.

Finrod's smile is light and welcoming, and he steps up to meet Maglor with a little nod and a small musical flourish on his harp.

[bythewaves]

At first he thinks himself dreaming, having conjured his ghosts. No one else has ever played with him the way Finrod can.

But his cousin steps into view, alive, and for the first time in centuries, Maglor falters, the harp falling from nerveless hands, and he stumbles down the stairs, voice hoarse and disbelieving.

"Finrod?"

[faithfulwisdom]

That reaction is incredibly telling and Finrod almost repents of how casually he had made his approach. As Maglor moves down the steps, it almost seems like he's going to fall and Finrod quickens his steps to meet him and place a hand on his shoulder- a real, solid hand of flesh and blood.

"Yes, cousin, it's me. The Atroma seem to have a great deal of power, though they also have an odd notion of how best to wield it."

[bythewaves]

Maglor clings tightly, disbelieving.

"Finrod, Finrod! Do my eyes decieve me? Oh my cousin, what joy is this?"

[faithfulwisdom]

"Your eyes do not deceive you, Maglor. I am here, hearty and hale once more." His smile falters a little. "I am sorry I have caused you such grief."

But he tightens his grip on Maglor's shoulder and gestures at some nearby chairs.

"Come, sit with me and I will explain as best I can- but, pray, be discrete. Very few here know of what happened at Tol Sirion and I would prefer it remain so."

[bythewaves]

"No." Maglor smiles at him weakly.

"Do not apologise to me. It is as much on me, as it is on my brothers. I am sorry Finrod - I am sorry I could not stop them. I am sorry that if I was there, I cannot say if my behaviour would have been any better."