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

[yondu]

I ain't got half a clue what you're talkin' about, squirt. Closest I know to a "forest spirit" was a big twiggy wood man.

[He looks at the space between Links fingers before planting himself on a railing outside of a tavern, badly wishing he could go in for a pint. But again, that moneylessness. Maybe he can get a job as an assassin and kill some people for a few quick bucks. That'll work, right?]

[Oh yeah, fairies.]

You show me flying people that little and I'll show someone in bad need of swatter insurance. I guarantee there'd be some bad mistakes made here and there if they wound up in this neck of the woods.

So how'd one o' those little things help keep you outa trouble?

[childhero]

[Link frowns just at the very idea of hitting a fairy with a swatter. It's the strongest reaction Yondu's gotten out of him yet.]

They look out for you. And they're very smart. They know all kinds of things, like how to read, and monsters' strong and weak points, and they can sense evil magic.

[... wait. Something else the blue man said is catching up to Link.] "Wood man"? [he echoes belatedly.]

goddammit still editing.

[yondu]

[He sees now! Bring these little fairy people into it and that's where this boy's been hidin' all his gumption. Right there.]

So they help you pick people off better and heal you up after you've gotten your ass handed to you? Sounds like a good person to have at your back.

And yeah, good to have in a place like this. Though I figure so far everybody's gonna have the same weak points.

Here- [he taps his head] -and here- [he taps his chest]. The usual suspects. At least for the time bein'. As for that wood fella, I ain't got a clue about him other'n he's made of wood an' his name is Groot.