TEST DRIVE 001b

[pyracy]

Try on those ridiculous clothes, sample the catering, and run through your lines. It's time for the Long 18th Test Drive.

ARRIVAL: Characters come to in a dark, tropical forest in a huddle. There are the sounds of strange birds, animals, and insects all around, some of them perhaps worryingly close. With a closer inspection, arrivals realize they're on an incline: Going up will prove fruitless, no matter who they are. The ground there starts to grow rocky the further they climb, and they may find themselves slipping back down to their arrival point, even if they're expert mountain climbers. The ground sloping downward will eventually level out leading toward light, music, and noise. But for the moment, they're simply a group of lost people (or monsters/bipedal animals/robots/etc) with no idea where they are or how they got here. Now's probably a good time to ask, "Who the hell are you? Where am I?" Time to use the buddy system.

TORTUGA: There's a town off the coast of Hispaniola that never sleeps, and that town is Tortuga. It's swapped hands more times than anyone can count, but for now, the French have it. And they do like the extra money the pirates that frequent it bring in; they like it so much that they imported over 1600 prostitutes from Europe to keep them happy. So you might as well relax while you're here, as much as you can with random gunshots and fist fights, anyway. Drop in for a drink at the Faithful Bride, check out the wares for sale (provided to you tax-free thanks to piracy) near the dock front. Visit the warehouse where those ill-gotten goods are stored and distributed. Maybe you're looking for work on a ship? The captains can usually be found - frazzled and busy - in the taverns and at the shipwrights and everywhere in between (just look for the hats), and if they're in a good mood, they might be willing. But the key point of Tortuga is this: Have fun. Some examples might include: A barfight! Wandering into a brothel (maybe by mistake)! Getting duped into joining a crew! There's no end of trouble to get into.

MIRROR POST: When they arrived, every person found, in a pocket or a bag or tucked away somewhere on their person, a little compact mirror. It's nothing fancy: Square, with hinges and a latch that keep it closed, the outer casing carved from seashell, the inner mirror a little spotted with age. But if it's played around with enough, it quickly becomes apparent it works as a communication device. Here you have access to all of the marked folks, no matter how far and wide they might spread. Need to have a heart to heart with a buddy in Singapore? Want to send out a general ad to everyone at large? Looking for answers to questions? This is the quickest way to get all of that.

CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE: The world is open, and it's full of pearls that are just waiting for you to take them. Maybe you want to have some quiet time to scrub clean in a bathhouse in Singapore. Perhaps you're visiting the fabled pirate city of Libertalia in Madagascar. Maybe you've found yourself lost in Mayan ruins or stranded on an island. Or you were shipwrecked in a hurricane. Or you've decided to relocate to Port Royal or one of the American colonies for a quieter sort of life. Either way, this is your story, might as well make it a good one.

Comments

[freedomrun]

I'm not one t' look t' God for reason. That belongs to mankind. If I've a divine path, it just so happens I chose it m'self, so it 'ardly matters. I've m' own mad reasons.

[She tosses the mango up in the air, testing its weight, thinking.]

Though, I crawled my way out of Hell. Some small part is tempted t' put that to a greater plan. [Mary looks from from the fruit to Harry] Not that of God, however.

[Reason. Man. She thinks behind this all is a man with magic too strong to control, as it is with all major disasters.]

[pottering]

[Harry accepts all of this with a shrug, staring across the beach at the water. He'd never visited the seaside as a child, certainly wouldn't have seen a place like this. Shame he's too distracted to enjoy it.]

I've no idea what's decided on my path. I haven't had much say in it.

[But then he replays that and frowns.]

What, you actually crawled out? Is that sort of like, like a metaphor?

[freedomrun]

[Mary gives this boy a neutral, considering look, as if seeing him for the first time. A future decided for him, huh? She'll have to touch on that later. Never let people push you around, kid.]

It's no metaphor, mate. I truly and honestly bargained my way out of Hell. [Nevermind that she can't remember exactly what. Only that it happened.] I must have been mad.

Though, that leaves the question: who was on the other side o' that bargain?

[pottering]

[He doesn't know the half of it yet, but he's starting to suspect. Could be useful in the coming years to have had a few chats with someone who doesn't care for the idea of Destiny though.]

Dunno if you were mad. Could've been, I suppose, but I've seen some weird things, and I know they happened. I'm glad you got out.

[His expression darkens a little as he shifts to sit cross-legged on the log.] I don't know who's decided I'm the one meant to be doing all this, but I know who's on the other side of whatever I'm meant to be doing. I met him last year, sort of. And first year as well. [It's complicated.] But he's not going to win.

[freedomrun]

[She waves a dismissive hand at the kind sentiment. The boy is perfectly nice enough to strangers, and she doesn't quite know what to do with it.]

The chosen hero of a tragic tale, then? That's not a line o' work ye let others decide for ye, mate.

[Heroes always meet a sticky end, afterall]