Test Drive

[medietas_mods]

Welcome to Medietas! Are you interested in joining the game? Do you have an old muse you want to dust off? Are you looking for a place to voice test a brand new character and would like to do so in our little island setting? Well, you've come to the right place!

You all know what to do but if you don’t, just follow the instructions and HAVE FUN!

How To Play:

→ Comment with the character you’d like to test drive. Don’t forget to add their name and canon in the subject line.
→ Choose a scenario, or start your own!
→ Tag around!

Possible Scenarios:

1. New Arrival: You have just arrived on the island of Medietas, in the city of Aerilon via a floating boat with people you may or may not know. Of course, you can't help wondering what the heck is going on here, or how you even got on the boat in the first place. But as soon as the vessel docks you are greeted by some lovely locals who offer you a map and a communications device before leaving you to your own. You probably have questions and there seems to be a number of people there already who may or may not have those answers. Talk to them! Or, get on the network and introduce yourself!

2. Getting Settled: So, you've arrived, but now there's five islands you should get yourself acquainted with. Meet your starter home neighbors! Start your new job! Check out the market on Aerilon. Or, attend one of the many block parties!

3. Lost!: Somehow you got yourself turned around and confused and getting back to where you want to be is looking impossible.

4. Wild Card: Got something else in mind and want to create your own scenario? Go for it!

Comments

[iron_beneath_beauty]

Since Ned's arrival, Lyanna stopped regularly visiting the docks. Already the Gods had smiled on her once, granting her Ned's appearance. It seemed greedy to hope and expect anything more, but it didn't extinguish her curiosity or interest in others that were brought to the island. There were so many that had come that she hadn't expected: nieces and nephews that she might have never known, a Targaryen queen with dragons that hatched from stone eggs, and figures that had been aged past her memory.

It almost seemed like a game to guess who might be next.

But never in all of her trying would she have expected another of her brothers to appear. Fate had been cruel in so much else, why would it offer her another glimmer of happiness in her life? After all she had learned of what her choices had lead to, she should not be so blessed.

The sight of Benjen stilled those thoughts and questions, forcing them to seep away from her conscious mind. He was older, as Ned had been, cold and pale in a way she didn't recognize. He was battle hardened and scarred, but his eyes still held the boy she remembered from her youth. The child that she had played at swords with.

"Benjen?" She asked, approaching him slowly. "Is that you?" She didn't need to ask. She knew it was him.

[nightwatcher]

He froze instantly once he heard someone call his name.

It didn't take Benjen long to spot her among the crowd but once he did, Benjen couldn't ignore the ache within his heart. "...Lyanna?" He whispers as he inches his way towards her. His face is contorted with confusion and disbelief.

There's simply no possible way that his dear sister is alive and well. No, he knows she's gone. Lyanna died so long ago that he almost couldn't recognize naught else other than her voice. How could he forget his sister's voice? The two had been terribly close in their youth and even so prior to her death. Neither Ned or he fully healed after losing their dear sister.

The Starks have forever been plagued with misfortune but it seems as if Fate makes it a sport. This is why Benjen is hesitant to believe that Lyanna stands before him now.

"Have I crossed to the other side?" He asks more to himself than to the supposed specter before him. "Is that...no, it can't--" Benjen doesn't exactly trust his eyes anymore but he can't deny the truth before him.

That's Lyanna. That's...really her!

[iron_beneath_beauty]

It was a question she heard repeatedly, as well as the details of her own death. She could almost recite it for him, but his amazement and emotion sparked a longing in her that put aside everything else. They had played together as children, found mischief and been the bane of Old Nan's existence. There was so much of each other that they shared in their hearts and spirits, that for the first time in a long while, she felt whole again.

She didn't bother to reassure him, darting forward instead, seeking his embrace. Her smile was so wide, it hurt. Two brothers that were said to be dead, both returned to her. Death had a funny fascination with the Starks, but it didn't seem to extend to this realm. They had been plucked from the Stranger's hold and deposited in a place where things could be just as they were before.

Long before her brothers grew older and she had died.

"It's the magic of this place." She offered him gently. "Time from our world has no meaning. It's why I am here and Ned's children are as well. Ned too. Now you! You haven't changed at all!"

[nightwatcher]

It isn't until she embraced him that he realizes that she's indeed real.

Benjen's confusion turned into relief and his surprise into happiness. Tears dampened his cold cheeks as he hugged his sister as tightly as he could. The warmth that radiated from her warmed his heart literally and figuratively. He's longed to see Lyanna again but only could see her in his dreams. "It's really you." He whispers as he reluctantly pulls back. Benjen stares down at her with a look of sheer joy upon his weathered face. Lyanna looks exactly as he remembered her. Young and full of wild eagerness. It's almost as if she hadn't aged a day since her death and was left immortal and flawless.

"The magic...?" Benjen pauses for a moment as he glances along the pier briefly. This place is indeed magical but it seems oddly mundane to him. "They're here too?" He can't help but be elated to hear that. As he laid there dying on the snow, Benjen longed to see his family again. He missed the little ones and missed his brother most.

"Ha, you humor me! I know I'm old." He says with a grin.

[iron_beneath_beauty]

After seeing Ned, there was less shock to how much her siblings had aged and how long they had lived after her. With his dark features, he bore the traces of their mother, the lingering reminders of the woman who had passed far too soon. Something that could be said for each of them. It was strange for Lyanna to see him so much older. He had been her younger brother, the boy at her heels. The pair of them forever pestering Ned and Brandon to let them join them in their games.

Now, he was the age of their father, something that had been hard for her to picture as a child. Her brothers were far ahead of her while she remained the age when last she saw them.

The cold of his body sent a shiver up her spine, his form leaner and more muscular than the boy she used to push in the mud. But he was still Benjen. His smile, his eyes, his warm heart...he was always her brother.

"It's hard to explain. This place seems to have some sort of magic about it. You noticed the floating islands and ships that could sail across the sky!" It wouldn't surprise him to know that when she arrived, she was practically leaning over the sides.

"Yes, Sansa, Arya and Jon. There are others that I didn't know. Poderick Payne, he is apparently in service to Sansa's husband, Tyrion Lannister." That earns a look of disgust. "A Tyrell girl. Rhaegar and his sister are here too."

She laughed in return. "You really are old. You're almost as old as Old Nan!"

[nightwatcher]

Benjen could still remember the follies of his youth here and now. His brothers had always made it a point to try and leave Lyanna and him out of all the fun but they honestly couldn't. Wherever they went, Benjen would follow. He was the youngest pup in the pack but the second-most mischievous. He looked up to his brothers back then and even now still somewhat does. Though, Benjen honestly misses Brandon more than he could ever say. He wishes that Ned's children could've met their uncle. Brandon would've loved to all of his nieces and nephews as much as he does.

"Believe me, I noticed that this island floats." He still doesn't bloody know what to think about this island. They're so close to the sun that he swears he could touch it. "I never thought that men could fly but I must admit, I'm true believer now." Benjen says with a jovial chuckle.

"Sansa is married?" His laughter dies suddenly at that bit of news. "To Tyrion?" Now just wait a minute here! Benjen's dear niece was supposed to be married to Robert's first born, Joffery and yet Lyanna claims she married "The Imp" instead?

His brows knit together in confusion.

[iron_beneath_beauty]

"Wait until you see the dragon." Lyanna said with obvious glee in her voice. "They young Targaryen princess hatched them from stone eggs. She has one with her and I've seen it flying in the sky. It's incredible." It was almost like stepping into the stories they heard as children. They played at being dragons when they were small. Lyanna had even named one of their father's hounds "Balerion." But never did she imagine seeing one flying above her.

"It is what she told me." She doesn't know very much about the state of the family from when Sansa or Benjen were taken from. She only heard snippets and had to piece together their lives from there. It seemed minuscule compared to the war everyone spoke of, the war that toppled the Mad King.

"So much seems to have happened since Ned..." she hadn't been there to witness it, but the idea still hurt her all the same. "He didn't...die? Not the way they said..." Would he know? Had he heard?

[nightwatcher]

Dragon? There's an actual dragon here and a Targaryen at that?!

Benjen's face shifts from muted surprise to something akin to wonder. "But the last dragon that Westeros ever seen died thousands of years ago--" He pauses for a moment as he tries to muddle through his thoughts.

After the rebellion, House Baratheon slaughtered anyone bearing the Targaryen name. There were rumors that two children of House Targaryen escaped but Benjen made certain to keep his mouth shut in regards to that matter. He has no need for idle gossip and has even little need to hear it. Though, if this alleged princess is truly a Targaryen; she better damn well look like one.

For good or ill, the three Starks could easily spot a fake after dealing so closely with the Targaryens.

"Easy there--" He pleas with his sister. "So much seems to have happened since Ned---what?" Benjen doesn't dare fill in the blanks but it seems that he didn't have to. "Who are they? Lyanna, who told you this?" A sense of dread washes over him. "Ned is here, isn't he? He's alive, yes?"

No one told him.

[iron_beneath_beauty]

"I thought the same!" She said excitedly, clutching at him in the same manner she had whenever a good bad idea struck her. It always resulted in them being punished by there father, but it didn't mute her enthusiasm, no matter the result. "But somehow dragons have come back!"

Given the resemblance and Rhaegar's response to Dany, it was hard to doubt the woman was anything other than what she claimed to be. It was hard to replicate those eyes and that hair. A Targaryen bore their name on their features, plain for all to see. Their beauty was close to a badge of honor, as rare and precious as a true dragon.

She shook her head, lowering her eyes. So he didn't know. It was strange to speak to someone as lost about the future as she was. Somehow, she never expected to be the one to tell him, to deliver the painful blow. "His children. They told me that Ned was killed...the Lannisters." She whispered the words, trying to shield her heart from the pain and anger that heated her blood. "He was treated little better than a dog! The Others take them!"

[nightwatcher]

All this talk about dragons and Targaryens will have to wait. As of right now, Benjen is having some trouble processing the possible truth of his dear brother being dead.

The shock upon his face is clear as the day itself. It's almost as if the wind was knocked out of him by a hardy jab to the gut. He stands there in complete silence with muted terror upon his face. Benjen shakily raises his hand to his hair and brushes the long unkempt strands back. "The Lannisters." He says their name with enough venom to curse all of their line. "The Lannisters killed our brother?" He stares at Lyanna for a long time in silence before suddenly turning away.

This is a bit much. Not only did he somehow cheat death but he meets with his sister again in some magical island only to find out his brother is dead. How? Just how does any of this makes any sense?

Benjen let's out a quiet sigh. It's taking all of his willpower not to scream and curse at the heavens right now. He's so angry. He's livid. His lips fall into a grim line and his brows knit together in muted anger and pain. His breathing is harsher now and the pulse quickened a bit.

Ned is dead. His brother was killed.

[iron_beneath_beauty]

The moment she saw those tell tale signs of his anger (always quiet but fierce as a wolf's), she pulls him into a tight hug. If he was hurt and fuming, let it be in the safety of her embrace, shutting out the rest of the world, save for their mutual pain. They were Starks. They could not survive alone, always meant to be in a pack. If the Lannisters declared war on their family, they would come to fear their combined fury.

It wasn't as though this was the first blow they suffered...or at least he suffered. He had likely lived through Brandon's death, their father's death. Her death. Losing the last of his family, it had to be too much for him.

Without his parents and siblings, he was the last surviving pup. It was a heavy burden to bear, one that she feared would break his strength. Perhaps it was a mercy that this world had granted them the chance to be a family again. Whatever happened in Westeros, it was a distant memory. They were reunited, as they should have been there.

"He's here now. He's safe."

[nightwatcher]

Her embrace brings Benjen back to reality in a heartbeat.

It brings him out of his dark thoughts and the murderous rage that boils his blood but it also spares him for the fear that crept into his heart. Ned is the patriarch of their family now, the one who carried on their father's legacy. For Ned to be killed by one of the other noble houses not only dishonors him but their family name. Such a injustice can only be repaid in blood and Benjen is more than willing to have that debt paid for the sake of his brother. That much is certain given the murderous look that lingers in Benjen's dark gaze. He doesn't dare voice such a morbid thought especially since he knows, without asking, that Lyanna feels the same.

Benjen isn't a petty man but hearing of Ned's death makes him wish he could be one. That alone scares him a little.

He holds onto his sister like his very sanity depends upon her. It isn't until Lyanna proclaims that their brother is safe that he finally speaks. "...Good." Benjen replies in a harsh whisper.

"If I had known sooner---" Benjen would've gone home.

[iron_beneath_beauty]

"If we had the gift of foresight, a great many things would be different." Her voice soft and pained. Had she known what would happen to Westeros, she would have found a way to calm Brandon and keep him from igniting the Mad King's paranoia. Had she been aware what Robert Baratheon would do, she would have fought her father about the betrothal all together. Had she known that she would die without her lover, she would have prevented him from going to war.

Unfortunately, foresight was not a gift that the Gods readily bestowed. It was only hindsight that they were permitted.

"What happened to you?" She asked him, curious to know if he had been spared some dark fate. Starks seemed cursed of late. Yet Benjen had only been missing. There was a chance that he had survived peril.