AREYTO MODS (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
historiadores) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
chismosos2020-10-17 10:54 pm
historiadores) wrote in chismosos2020-10-17 10:54 pm
Entry tags:
test drive meme #1
TDM #1
LA LLEGADA
The Museum of Art and History is the largest and oldest in Llave, and contains a grand collection spanning from the time the first humans landed on its shores to the modern day. The building encircles an open courtyard where an art installation sits amidst many of the plants important to the settlers of Llave. Behind the museum is a wide, shallow field of hard-packed dirt lined by large stones, the petroglyphs on their surface worn by time—the earliest known playing field in all of the Caribbean. And further out are the areas where excavations are ongoing, uncovering the pottery, jewelry and artifacts of the ancestors.After awakening, things move quickly. The museum is closed, and the characters ushered into the courtyard to wait. Any needing emergency medical attention are kept in one of the air conditioned galleries until the paramedics arrive. A group of women with a military bearing take charge of the situation; identified as the Bajari Bara, they question the healthy and able. They cede authority only to the Prime Minister when she arrives. Two more of their group flank the nation's leader, though they step aside when she begins to walk among the new arrivals to speak with them.
Each side has many questions and few answers. Characters are informed they are in Llave. It's October 2020. And efforts will be made to return them to their homes. But how they came to be here and why remain mysteries…as does how they’ll find their way back.
A hurricane shelter nearby is activated for use by the recent arrivals. There, characters are provided with food and clothing, a cot and other basic supplies. No one is allowed out, but through the windows they can see the lush green of the their surroundings. At night, coquí sing them to sleep. Those taken to a hospital will remain there until they are discharged. Each patient is allowed one visitor to stay with them overnight. Over the next several days, all characters undergo physical and mental evaluations; are provided with their first immunizations; have the next legal steps explained to them; and are taught about Llave. Every character, regardless of age, has a caseworker who checks in with them daily. None have been arrested, they are assured. But they must also complete the quarantine process. To enforce quarantine, at both the hospital and the shelter, the Bajari Bara guard every entrance and exit.
Welcome to Llave.
EL AREYTO
As luck would have it, around the time quarantine ends, all of Llave is in the midst of celebration. Today is the Day of Heroes, celebrated every last weekend in October, which this year happens to fall on the eve of All Saints’ Day. So when the new arrivals venture out for the first time, Nona, the capital, welcomes them with color and music. 
The people of Llave have a special love for music and dance, and it shows. All day, groups gather to play, and many more to dance. The songs center around heroes of Llave with the chief of these being Nuna, a beloved figure who is said to have led her people here to freedom. Those performing wear traditional clothes: guayaberas, long circle skirts, palm hats and headwraps, all brightly colored.From early morning, artisans have set up under tents tables laden with goods. Clothing, jewelry, musical instruments, paintings, and more made from leather and wood, seashells and fish scales, aluminum and copper. Many create right at the table. Most popular are those working on cemís: sculptural objects, said to house the spirits of ancestors. Many carry them as amulets especially on this the eve to the days of the dead.
The food is equally rich and one of the cooks takes an interest in the new arrivals. Those who eat his food find their mood changing depending on what they ate. The tostones he prepared while speaking of his childhood home in Santa Cecilia bring on feelings of joy and contentment. The alcapurrias fried while arguing with a customer about last night’s wrestling match cause those who eat them to feel irritated. And the casabe, a flatbread made of cassava, that he explains he learned to make from his wife who passed, induces a profound nostalgia for lost loves. His wife, recognizable from the photo he keeps on the wall, sits beside those most affected and comforts them until the melancholy passes.
More dead can be found. An old man in a fine guayabera recalls composing the lyrics to a particular song. He points out the man playing the congas and proudly says his great-grandson will soon outplay him. When characters look back to the old man, he’s gone. Those with a sense for it will recognize many dead walking among the living. These next few days honor and celebrate the departed, and the dead have seized the rare opportunity to join the festivities once more.
For those who prefer the sea, the impossibly blue waters of the Caribbean are just a short walk away.
Cobblestone and concrete paths line La Bahía de Nona. On one of the larger rock outcroppings jutting into the bay sits a silver-white dog. If called, he will trot over. Up close, one can see his color is due to the sand and salt that has collected on its coat. Though he allows himself to be petted, he does not step off the rocks. A passerby comments that the dog has been waiting for his master to return. How long? The man shrugs. When he was a boy, the dog was keeping watch; now he’s forty-three, and the dog is still there.EL TRAVIESO
Or perhaps the characters were more distracted by how clean the water was, how clear. Enough so that the sight of a bottle bobbing in the waves seems offensively out of place. Anyone who chooses to snag it out of the water will find it’s a corked bottle of rum, apparently empty.From a nearby restaurant, someone yells and waves their hands—too late. By uncorking it, they have freed the bacoo. Immediately, everyone backs away. Two cross themselves.
Only one stays long enough to warn, “You have to trick it back into the bottle. It likes milk and bananas. Don’t ask it for anything.”
Turn around, and the bacoo is there.
Short and rugged with large eyes, long arms and legs, covered in unkempt hair and its fingers and toes ending in claws, the bacoo is a strange little creature. Stranger still, it can grant any wish—so long as it is kept appeased with a steady diet of milk and bananas.
A hungry bacoo will pelt walls with stones, move objects, keep its owner up at night, and otherwise wreak havoc until it is fed. A shapeshifter, they can be difficult to locate, much less trap. And a starving bacoo will turn vicious and its pranks malicious.
Best find a way to trick it into the bottle. Fast.
OOC NOTES
This TDM covers from mid-to-end of October. The first prompt lasts approximately two weeks; the second, a day. For now, all characters are restricted to Nona. Any attempting to leave will be gently, but firmly escorted back.The TDM will also double as the first IC post of the game. Threads between any two or more characters who were all apped and approved will be considered game canon. As such, actions characters take in this TDM will impact the game once it opens. How characters behave will shape the inhabitants’ first impressions of them. Make it count.
Questions regarding this TDM can be asked below, while questions regarding the game at large should be directed to the FAQ.
Thank you for your interest and we hope to have you join!
no subject
[ mal drops her gaze to her hands. her engagement ring sits alone on her left hand. on her right, sitting on her index finger, she wears ben's signet ring with its beast face. around her thumb is another gift, though not from ben: a black oval onyx, its surface smooth as sin and as reflective as a mirror. she coveted it as a child and, one day, when she managed to please her mother, maleficent had seen fit to gift it to her. she wonders what her mother would have to say of her: a fairy, a dragon, the future queen of auradon…lost again.
her smile is rueful, her eyes bright. ]
Story of my life honestly. Something always happens.
no subject
And then there's the rest of what she says, the stuff about Ben. It's a strange thing to learn that the sister he's only just met is getting married. He knows it's weird to worry and it isn't worry really, she can obviously take care of herself. Still if Mal is marrying someone, he wants it to be someone who'll love her the way she deserves.
From the way she describes Ben, he doesn't need to be concerned.
He was the first one to see me. Really see me For a moment, Nico's throat grows thick and he swallows over a lump forming for no reason in particular. (It's just, he can relate, that's all.)]
I'm happy for you. And you'll get back there somehow, I promise. No way I'd let my sister not get to have her fairy tale.
no subject
Uh-huh. I know what angling for an invitation looks like.
[ despite her teasing, she takes his hand, mindful of the iv, and squeezes it warmly.
the snow has stopped, and mal sits up. her eyes flash green, the same bright shade as the flames she produced. when she blows at the gathered snow, the snow and cold both dissipate in a small poof of steam.
settling back, she quirks at nico her typical uneven smirk. ]
Before you also catch pneumonia.
no subject
I'm not that fragile. [It would be more convincing probably if she hadn't seen him trying to hobble out of the hospital.]
...and I better get an invite. [He smirks, raising his eyes and turning his head to meets hers for a moment.]
I'm glad you have Ben. I'm glad you're happy, even if you are stuck here right now.
no subject
You can be the ring bearer.
[ they still have no idea how they came to be here or what keeps them. no idea how to return or if they would see one another again once they did. but for a moment, it's sweet to imagine. ]
So, what about you? Anyone special I should know about?
no subject
Then her question sinks in and his cheeks get a little more red.]
Uh, yeah. [His hand in her tightens just the slightest bit and his pulse speeds up a fraction, but there's a smile tugging at his lips when he faces her again. It isn't so hard to say these days, not when Will is...well. Not when shame has no place between them.]
I have a boyfriend. His name is Will, and it's kind of like what you said. Um...[His eyes find the blanket and he mumbles, blushing harder.]
He was one of the first people to see me too.
[One of. The second actually, but that's. He won't think about that right now. Not when he's here with Mal, feeling lighter than he has in a while.]
no subject
[ she pokes his cheek for good measure because he's cute and she's terrible. ]
You can tell him he's invited too. I need to meet my potential brother-in-law.
no subject
Shut up, you're the worst!
no subject
So you have a little crush on your boyfriend! It's cute!
[ laughing, mal tries to pry his hand away from his face. so focused is she on nico smiling and blushing like a lovesick puppy that she does not notice the new addition to the room until the woman clears her throat.
a nurse raises an eyebrow at them, and orders mal off the bed. patients only allowed.
mal holds up her hands in the universal sign of surrender and slides off the bed, returning to the chair that hates her. she hides her own smile while the nurse swaps nico's iv bag and checks him over before leaving.
after the nurse has left, mal playfully utters, ] Oops.
no subject
Anyway. I wanna hear about Ben. What's he like?
no subject
moving the chair closer to the bed, mal thinks of where to start. her body language, though, speaks volume before she ever utters a word. her green eyes are bright. a grin dimples both cheeks as if she cannot help but smile when she thinks upon ben. she cups her chin in one hand, elbow propped on the armrest, an almost dreamy expression transforming her features. mal seems to glow from within: the warmth and joy of true love sits upon her crown and wraps her in its glittering veil. ]
Ben is…the kindest person you will meet. He's— He's so good and he's so sweet. He wants the best for everyone. He wants to protect everyone. [ she bites her lip, still smiling as she does. ] I don't know why this is so hard! Everything I say seems to fall short. Um…
So he's a king. Like I told you. He's the king of Auradon, which is this magical realm adjacent to the mortal one. It had been composed of independent kingdoms and regions before full of…every sort of magical being you can imagine and the mortals who came with. Like Neverland, which is the fairy isles. And Olympus has moved there too. They…mostly enjoy watching what's going on below them. You know. Gods. [ she pairs it with a little roll of her eyes. gods be gods, it is known. ] A little over twenty years ago Ben's dad managed to unite all of the different kingdoms under one crown. That's the crown Ben inherited when he turned sixteen.
no subject
He has this…beautiful dream. Of what Auradon can be. A place where there's forgiveness and…and children aren't judged on the crimes of their parents. A place where there are no barriers. [ a soft smile touches her lips. ] I think that's when I first loved him. This sweet, handsome, painfully mortal prince, with the loftiest dreams I had ever known.
[ her smile is rueful when she meets nico's eyes again. ]
It's not easy for a dreamer to be king.
no subject
Even if the words alone hadn't painted a picture of a kindhearted sweet boy who clearly loved his sister, Nico would have been convinced by her expression alone. In the (admittedly short) time he's known Mal, he's never seen her look like that. It's not too dissimilar from the way Percy looked at Annabeth. There is possibly another comparison to make here, but he still has some dignity left, so he refuses to make it. He's glad at the kind of person Ben is because Mal deserves the best.
The description brings up plenty of questions as well, like everything about Olympus and wondering what happened twenty years ago. Asking about what the other kingdoms are like. He files them away for later though, instead focusing on the rest of what she has to say.
Mal is a daughter of Hades and from the sounds of it, her mother wasn't exactly well loved by the community either. What was it now? Mistress of evil. It couldn't have been easy for her. It never was for children of Hades.]
He sounds great. Still, if he doesn't treat you right, I might have to get a zombie to chase him around a bit. [It doesn't seem like it'll be necessary, but he feels obligated to say it. Just so Mal knows he cares.]
no subject
...was it hard for you because of your parents? I know at Camp, people didn't know what to do with Hades kids for a long time. I thought, well. I hoped it might have been different for you.
no subject
It was different. Because no one knows Hades is my father. [ mal meets nico's eyes. ] The only people I've ever told are Evie, my best friend, and Celia, this little kid who got a job as Hades' errand-runner. And now, you.
[ she shakes her head. ]
It was bad enough being Maleficent's only child. If news of my dad had got out? I'd have been clapped in chains and tossed down the darkest hole in the Isle the moment I was born.
no subject
But Ben knows? The kings knows and he isn't like that? You're safe, right, without having to hide?
no subject
Ben isn’t like that. When we met, I was actually trying to help my mother get her revenge on all of Auradon. He knows who I am…and what I am and aren't capable of.
[ ben knows her. ben loves her. but— ]
He doesn't know about my dad. And he won't.
Hades knew what kind of person my mother is. He left me with her. As soon as I was born, he left. My father.
[ anger sharpens her features. it sculpts her from alabaster…and like that same rock, she looks brittle to the touch. a slight pressure and she might crumble. ]
He had eighteen years to make me a part of his life. He never did. So tell me why I should make him a part of mine.
no subject
You shouldn't, not if you don't want to.
[His own journey with his father had been very different from Mal's, starting at cold indifference and moving into something warmer, something awkward and confusing that neither he nor his father quite understood. It was nice though. He liked it now. Still, he never expected Hades to be a real dad, to be present, or even to care much. He was a god. They didn't do that sort of thing.]
You shouldn't...I just...I hate the idea that you'll get in trouble for it with anyone. [It isn't about keeping it a secret, it's about if there'll be consequences about it if it ever comes out.]
no subject
[ she slips her hand free from his and leans back in her chair. her eyebrows lift in pointed fashion as if to say and, clearly, I am still here. when she crosses her arm, she feels the hard press of the ember against her chest. an emotion she cannot name unfurls black petals in her chest. ]
Now, can we please change the subject? I'd rather not think about Hades a second longer than I have to.
no subject
Noting her agitation, he reaches for his chocolate and takes another bite, hoping it'll help to sooth her.]
Okay. [Pause.] We don't need him anyways, not when we have each other.
no subject
mal snorts and looks out the window.
she frowns. ]
What happened to the tree?
no subject
What tree?
no subject
What do you mean 'what tree'?
[ and this is the moment that mal considers whether "the tree that wasn't brown two minutes ago, but is now" is the hill she wants to die on.
she rolls her eyes. ]
Never mind. I'm going to get myself a soda.
no subject
Okay. I'll see you in a bit? [And maybe while she's gone he'll just. Slide those blinds closed. No need to pay attention to any of the foliage, Mal.]
no subject
[ her attention is just for you. (for now.) ]
(no subject)
(no subject)