TEST DRIVE MEME #0

[capitalm]

A TIME VORTEX has opened in downtown LA! Some magic folks have been contacted to close it, but they haven't gotten here fast enough for the vortex not to spill out a HECK TON OF DINOSAURS – all kinds of dinosaurs of all kinds of sizes. There are theoretically gentle herbivores among the fierce predators, but they are all pretty pissed off about their sudden, startling relocation, and a lot of them have spikes.

(The vortex is both temporally and spatially unstable, which is why the dinosaurs emerging onto the streets of LA are constrained neither by specific prehistorical era nor geographical location.)

What you do is up to you. Here are some suggestions, though:

Fight some dinosaurs. You might be trying to herd them back to the vortex, or just trying to stop them by any means possible.

Flee or hide. If you're lucky the dinosaurs won't work out how to open doors and you can spend your entire thread hiding behind the bar in a Starbucks with some other hapless civilians without having to confront any of them.

Try to capture the dinosaurs on camera. If you can get some really good photos you might be able to sell them to the local paper in order to supplement your elderly aunt's meagre income. Or just use them to get a bunch of notes on Tumblr, either way.

Take advantage of the chaos to do crime. The forces of law enforcement are preoccupied with all these prehistoric reptiles.

Or pretty much anything else you think your character might be doing. Any location in LA is game, although there's no real need to meticulously look them up – you can just assume a generic street, rooftop, store, etc. (You don't have to look up the dinosaurs, either.)

If you have a character who you'd like to assume is part of a team, but that team hasn't been named or brainstormed OOC yet or anything, feel free to indicate in your opening post that you're assuming your character is operating alongside others and encourage others to tag in as if they are part of the same team! Or just handwave it and assume they got caught without their usual teammates or separated from them. Whatever way works best for you.

Events from this test drive are not automatically assumed game canon, but individual threads can be if you and the people who you thread with end up mutually wanting to keep them.

Comments

[sciencewizard]

[Gnosis mentally notes the woman's endurance; she knows she wouldn't be able to run that fast for that long herself. She doesn't chalk it up to anything other than being in shape.]

That is a confirmation of the existence of said strategy, then. I am glad. I will be observing your tactics as soon as you are ready to commence.

[If her hands were not occupied with steering the motor scooter, she might summon a notepad and pen to take notes.]

[risenridingwolves]

[A simple grunt is all the answer that gets, and the chase continues on for a little longer, until they pass a certain rather conspicuous landmark. Once she's ensured that the dinosaurs have their backs to it, she immediately ceases her flight, spinning around 180 degrees on a dime and raising her hands.]

Look alive!

[Barely a moment after the warning is issued, a great bolt of lightning crashes right into the center of the group from the otherwise clear sky. The air is filled with anguished cries as the current of electricity passes through the horde, but when the screams fade several long seconds later it's clear that despite having dealt great suffering to the creatures the attack was not a fatal one.

That's fine, though; it wasn't intended to be. Thoroughly spooked by the excruciating pain they just experienced, the vast majority of the reptiles turn tail and run... right into the gaping hole in spacetime that spat them out into LA to begin with. Once the dust clears, Spectrum lets out a deep breath, then turns to face her wizardly companion, honestly looking pretty happy with herself.]

...Well, then. Any questions?

[sciencewizard]

[Shortly after the bolt strikes, she stops the scooter. The lightning doesn't startle her much. Being the sort of wizard that she is, Gnosis has experienced plenty of loud, sudden noises combined with bright lights during her studies. It does intrigue her, though, to see such an attack. Is this person one with control over weather, is she one with control over a general sort of magic, or is she something else entirely? This warrants further study, she concludes, or perhaps direct inquiry.]

A sound measure. [She doesn't sound particularly impressed, but not unimpressed either. She simply has something new to study.] I do wonder, however: did you call upon knowledge of the arcane arts, or are you gifted in a meteorological sense? What is the quantity of bolts you are able to conjure in succession? I would hypothesize that the amount is fairly sizable, given the stamina you demonstrated while running.

[risenridingwolves]

[She pauses momentarily; she hadn't actually been expecting questions, and wow this woman uses a lot of unnecessarily big words. She does do her best to answer, though.]

Er, that was magic. I'm told I'm quite good at it... Lightning isn't the only thing I can do, [she performs a small swish of her hand and for a short while flames surround it to illustrate the point,] I just prefer it.

[Another pause as Spectrum taps her chin thoughtfully.]

I can't say I really have a pinpoint on my upper limits, since... well, I try not to push myself to that point.

[sciencewizard]

Fascinating... [Now that the chase is over, she goes ahead with what she would have liked to do earlier: summon a magical notepad and pen. She jots down a couple of notes, then looks at her fellow magic user again.]

What of increasingly intricate incantations? Are you learned in the field of runes? You are unable to identify your magical limitations, yet surely you are aware of your capabilities? [Gnosis seems unaware of the possibility that Spectrum may not want to be her research subject, especially when there are more dinosaurs roaming around. She can't help but keep asking questions; magic is just so interesting.]