blood & sand

[groundrules]

Hi folks! Welcome to Eastbound’s last test drive meme and the second event of the Ephes Arc, stretching until 25 October. Applications next open over 20-25 October, with invitations required for new players (but not returning ones). Individual cast and game caps are off.

Test driving characters can use this space for both network and log prompts, as well as play both the newcomer and shared prompts. Enjoy!

BLOOD & SAND

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NEWCOMERS-ONLY PROMPTS

You wake to the creaky swaying of a large wooden cage, in the back of a cart. Balmy sun pinches your cracked, dried skin. Haziness and nausea assail you, your legs weak. Your supernatural powers are muted, due to recover within 48 hours. Several other carts trot by. You share your cage with a dozen others — largely farmers — and sacks of freshly harvested wheat, their bottoms stained dark.

The farmers point you towards a heap of rusted pendants that allow you to speak and glean local tongues, and access a network. They say you were recovered following an earthquake at a Hive — one of the agricultural clusters feeding the extravagant Senate-led city of Ephes. The Ephes army, the elite Hand, was patrolling nearby and is taking you to the citadel for healing.

■ Gather your bearings and distribute the scant water that Hand soldiers dole out — the earthquake, you hear, has dried the Hive wells.

■ You quickly learn why the Hand encaged all of you, as one of the Hive farmers starts to jerk, growl and shake, weeping black water as he strikes at anyone around him. Fend for yourself, before the Hand soldiers come to remove him!

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You arrive at the main gate of Ephes, where crowds vie for passage. Your carts are inspected, and an irritable woman enters each cage, checking each passenger — before taking you and a handful of others for ‘further customs investigations.’

In the back of an alley, she introduces herself as the sorceress Karsa — and says you are otherworlders brought into the realm of Akhuras by undead lieges of the Brotherhood, who seek to weaponise you in their wars. Her patron, the Merchant, leads otherworlders to ancient transport beacons that can deliver you home.

One beacon sleeps in Ephes, where the rest of Karsa’s party is scattered. The citadel has mysteriously accrued an elite, nearly supernaturally strong army that the undead lady Messalina seeks to borrow from the Senate, in her quest to free her undead companions from the Brotherhood. The Senate is yet to vote on her request.

The black water that has touched you, Karsa says, has previously been found where the undead rally. For now, Karsa gives you a little coin, passport papers identifying you under various civilian roles (player’s choice, but keep it Ancient Rome-themed) and an iron pin of an eye with a sun for a pupil to identify other party members.

SHARED PROMPTS

Decadent Ephes is overrun by rumours, after several Senators who intended to support undead lady Messalina were mysteriously assassinated at the banquet of prominent Senator Maximus Faustus — who, Karsa informs, is one of Messalina’s shapeshifting creatures. Messalina offers her protegees demonic hound escorts.

Hand army recruits protect official buildings, while the rich hire gladiators to watch their homes. Both move freely.

The Senate fears further retaliation against those who champion the dead. Senate leader Caius Justus distantly mourns the Senatorial murders from seclusion at the temple of the Chained God.

Civilians face increased tensions and whispers of curfews in the market. Crowds frequently quarrel over undead allegiances

Following an exercise in divination, priests of the city’s patron, the Chained God, spread word that the deity holds strong despite his Chaining, and he still wishes to destroy and rebirth the world.

Karsa informs the existing party that more otherworlders joined Ephes and wear iron pins depicting an eye with a sun for a pupil. She gives the party similar pins for identification purposes. Newcomers and old timers can recognise each other by their pins or engage over the network!

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THE PROSCRIPTIONS
OBJECTIVE: procure proscription lists.

You hear from the city crowds that partial target lists are circulating with the names of politicians targeted for bounties. Karsa tasks the team to recover the lists, which can be used as political currency. Find them by either:

■ Infiltrating a tavern run by the ruthless city gang of Livius Decimus and packed with unscrupulous bounty hunters, thugs and professional assassins.
A local ‘delicacy’ drink of wine and pickle juice is often inflicted on strangers. Brawls erupt randomly. Coax shady patrons to share target lists.

■ Visit the empty marketplaces just before dawns and raid the chained wooden submission boxes of news shouters, who receive anonymous tip-offs about fresh bounty lists. The boxes are pinned to the ground and tightly locked, but rusty from the cold seasons — allowing you to break them or pick their locks, while someone keeps watch. Tampering with a news shouter’s box is a jailable offence.

■ Turn in a finished thread to receive a clue!

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AT SEA
OBJECTIVE: investigate abandoned ships and rescue sailors.

One early morning (OOCly: Oct. 13), as you entertain sailors for gossip on the docks or fish breakfast, you witness the port authorities screaming for help as several small merchant ships appear abandoned at nearby sea for reasons unknown.

Lookouts spot no activity on board, while sailors organise rescues.

■ Row a small boat some 15-20 minutes to one of the merchant vessels. All merchant ships have roughly three hours afloat, as they slowly sink from numerous small erosion holes in their sides.

■ You find no crew on deck, and doorways to the cabins below are locked from within. Below deck, you find numerous sacks of wheat from the Ephes agricultural clusters, the Hives. A black liquid, thick and tar-like, is seeping out of the sacks — corroding the ship’s wood and creating leaking holes.

■ You find a handful of dazed sailors who claim a dark, slithering creature knocked them out. They were selected by Narula, leader of the elite Ephes army of the Hand, to transfer grain onto the vessels of the ‘merchant’ Matthias, much farther at sea. If you mention Matthias to Karsa later, she reveals he is a man (?) who potentially created the undead Brotherhood.

■ Seven sailors who did not know each other were chosen to man the ship. Eight men are in the room, meaning one ‘man’ is the assailing creature. You must decide who to release upstairs for evacuation.

■ Tips: the creature, disguised as a human sailor, has no pain receptors and isn’t afraid of typical dangers (fire, drowning). It does not bleed if hurt. It sometimes forgets to blink and increasingly, unwillingly, slowly morphs its features into yours, the longer it speaks with you. Lastly, the creature has a tattoo on its forearm identifying it as a soldier of the Hand.

■ Once found, the creature turns violent, dissolving into wisps of shadow and materialising once more to strike from behind you. The shadow creature cannot be outright killed — but you can lock it inside the ship.

■ Leave by small boat before the vessel sinks & claim a question if you saved sailors. Merchant vessels can be patched up, if successfully returned to port.

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THE RATTLING
OBJECTIVE: survive & explore the arena.

To stoke her popularity in Ephes, undead mistress Messalina organises a sumptuous gladiator game at the Colosseum (OOCly around Oct. 20), inviting plebes, patricians, politicians, soldiers — and you.

Gladiators may be hired (or coerced) to perform, while servants supply copious amounts of wines, oysters and honey pastries. A tiny mechanical golden mouse, passing by each seat, drops folded pieces of parchment with fortunes and riddles, ranging from teasing to morbid to philosophical or sweet. Pick up yours and make sense of it with your neighbour!

Politicians often interrupt the games to announce donations or make elaborate speeches. Toss peanuts to signal your discontent — or join in with your own speech.

■ The games start with matches between humans, but are building up to face-offs with reptilian demons, mounted rhinoceros and flying gargolyes whose voices thrall you frozen put.

■ During the games, you feel slight vibrations, and — if supernaturally sensitive — an undefined magical tension. By 15:00, this ramps up into earth tremors that worsen over 12 minutes — as columns and seats topple over, and the ground breaks in deep rifts, releasing black, chilled, tar-like water.

■ Crazed mobs rush for the exit, stampeding carelessly, while columns and decorations tumble down.

■ Dozens of the monsters brought to gladiate free themselves and hunt down spectators. Soldiers of the army of the Hand — disturbingly fast, strong and disciplined — intervene but it’s best you look after yourselves. Some spectators shout these Hand recruits practise some of the techniques performed by a recently missing gladiator — the Beast of Brenne.

■ Passing by the earthquake rifts, you see wisps of the tar-like liquid that gushes from them is gradually assuming the shadowy shape of humans. Stalking after you, they do not speak or bring you harm, but slowly steal your likeness and drain you of vigour and stamina. You get the sense that all they want is a shape. Encountering shadow creatures leaves you with a sense of bitter loneliness that only living company can soothe.

■ If you study the arena, you see the same black liquid is gathering around freshly downed corpses, slowly reanimating them. These newly-crafted undead struggle to walk and speak naturally and remember their lives, often unaware they died. Anguished, they beg help to escape, before inevitably succumbing to the instinct to harm you. Remind or convince them they are dead, and they withdraw.

■ The largest earthquake rift in the arena is overrun by the black liquid and by nearby undead. Within it, you notice a bloodless hand that seems to never sink — Enter a RNG draw to collect it and its clue.

■ As you gather your wits outside, you see followers of the Chained God rallying in the streets, comforting the traumatised crowd that all will be well now — for the Chained God’s destruction will be mercifully swift.

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THE QUIET HOUSE
OBJECTIVE: Explore the abandoned gladiator barracks.

NOTE: a Halloween special, this area is entirely opt-in and features several frights. Mind the warnings!

As chaos consumes the Colosseum, you notice the earthquake has destroyed a previously locked arena gate, revealing a decayed tunnel. The corridor leads inside a closed-off barrack whose doors and windows have been barred from the outside with wood planks and chains. Touch these restraints, and your unhurt hand leaves behind a fading blood print.

The barracks building is withered and clearly abandoned, with scarce furniture and a few weapons in a training room.

Several discarded torches stay alight on wall fixtures. Pre-prepared braziers have been filled with spirit-fending incense of sandalwood and sage. Explore for clues.

■ THE HALLWAYS ( cw: guilt haunting ): corridors flow into each other, often leading back where you started. You run into shifting wall engravings, some listing the name and ranks of Hand soldiers, or precepts such as GODS OF THE ARENA and BECOME AS STRONG / AS FAST, AS NIMBLE / AS GLADIATORS. A large portrait of Hand leader Narula is increasingly more scratched, every time you encounter it, while the painted man looks healthier, younger and stronger. Inevitably, you hear heavy steps — a deep-shadowed spectre, the Drillmaster, who starts to stalk you with slow persistence. Visible to you and your companions, the Drillmaster fluctuates between assuming the appearance of Narula and the distorted, monstrous figure of someone from your past, who heavily criticised or intimidated you. The corridor lighting changes depending on your proximity to the Drillmaster: green for safe passage, white to tread lightly, red to stop. You can make the Drillmaster disappear out of your way by facing or acknowledging whatever weakness (true or self-perceived) you have that has caused extensive criticism or self-doubt.

■ THE BATHS ( cw: doppelgangers): a long marble hall featuring a large swimming pool, now drained and filled with mould and debris. Steam overwhelms the room, except for a wall-length black mirror at the end of the hall. The more you look into the mirror, the more the black substance that covers it slips down, flooding the floors and also dripping from walls and the ceiling. As the mirror clears, you see your black-eyed reflection that suddenly screams out verbal abuse or plunges at you. Once you subdue the doppelganger (claim a clue), it dissolves into more black water, while the mirror shows scratched inscriptions of A RIGHTEOUS HAND SHAPES EACH OF ITS FINGERS.

■ THE DORMITORIES ( cw: membranous cocoons): hollow, empty, quiet, the dormitories sport strange membranous cocoons in the walls, from which shadowy hands reach out. You hear young wo/men, whimpering and murmuring that they aren’t afraid and want to change to make Brother Narula proud, before erupting into screams or laughter. Break the cocoons without getting trapped into their webs — only to find nothing inside, except stone dog tags, engraved with the names of Hand soldiers. On the floor, you find primitive tattoo needles and ink.

Luck strikes at sunset, when a previously barred door opens to release you from the house — back into Ephes.

NOTES:

■ QUESTIONS

■ NPC inbox (for test drivers)

■ Event title shamelessly pilfered from a gory gladiator show!

Comments

zoro → one piece (la) | test-driving

[serio]

▷ AT SEA

( hearing about the merchant ships that have been spotted out at sea, roronoa zoro decides to head out on a small boat in search of survivors -- specifically, he's looking for any of the straw hat pirates. the ship he'd been traveling on right before he'd found himself in ephes, the going merry, is nowhere to be seen amongst the vessels remaining afloat, but he's still holding out hope he might find a familiar face somehow... )

i.

Why don't you let me row? ( because they seem to be going at a snail's pace... )


ii. ➳ OPTION A

( the green-haired man is just standing quietly in a corner of the room observing the interrogation, one hand resting on his trusty sword. zoro gets the gist of what's going on here. seven hired sailors, so who's the eighth guy? )

I've got a question. ( finally, he decides to say something. ) Which one of you can tell me where you stash the liquor around here? ( because all he's found so far are sacks of wheat and more wheat. there's silence for a good few seconds before one of the sailors lifts a shaky hand up, nervously mumbling something about a hidden stash of rum in the galley. zoro lifts an eyebrow up. )


ii. ➳ OPTION B

( if no one stops him from taking the mousy sailor with him, and if for some reason or other, someone else decides to come along on this rum hunt, they're going to head below deck. the plan is to retrieve the liquor and whatever else they can get their hands on, bring the sailor back to shore with them before the ship sinks, and profit. judging by how much the vessel's creaking, and how they're almost ankle deep in seawater, they really haven't got much time. )

Can you swim?


▷ THE QUIET HOUSE


i. ➳ GENERAL CHIT CHAT

( zoro isn't sure how he ended up in this part of the colosseum, but now that he's walked through the corridor, he can't seem to find his way out. he's strolling casually through the barracks building, looking up, down, left, right... well. he's definitely lost, but also being very blasé about it. like, this happens a lot. no big deal. )


ii. ➳ THE HALLWAY

( sitting crosslegged on the floor with his back to the wall, zoro's been staring blankly at the drillmaster for the past thirty minutes or so. the only time he seems to react, flinching slightly as he looks away, is when a young girl with blue hair and a distorted face appears in front of him.

when he hears someone approaching, relief is evident on his face as he looks up. )

Tag. You're it. ( getting up, he wipes the dirt off his pants. he knows he's not off the hook, but with someone else here, he might not be the only one that damn drillmaster's stalking. what's that saying? misery loves company? )


▷ WILDCARD
Anything goes! Or PM me for a closed starter.



[ooc: zoro is coming in post the end of the first season of opla. i've kept this as spoiler-free as possible, but if you don't want any spoilers in our threads, pls pm to lemme know. also, will mark for spoilers in threads. and now -- take a drink for every time you read the word spoiler(s) in here! cheers! 🍻]

at sea | option a.

[catherding]

( Three elements of a nauseating equation: the sea, abandoned ships and killers on the loose. Charmingly ticked.

Far from Hector to question this fine opportunity to become another nautical murder statistic — but the circumstances leave something to be desired. The space is dank, morose, tension thick with anticipation. A symphony of bedbugs and fleas is waving regards from one of the sailors' unwashed person. There is likely an element of supernatural malice at play, they've advanced too far into the belly of the ship to make a dash for the exit —

...and his guard, protector and designated chance of survival is about to do the vessel's perpetrator a kindness by knocking himself out. Hector takes this fine moment to remind everyone, blandly: )

Look at them. One of them is likely an abductor or a killer. ( Can you not gently postpone the wining and inevitable whoring for one minu — )

They won't have cups. ( The real tragedy here. )

[serio]

( no cups. like that's the actual problem, right? he huffs out a breath, barely a chuckle. look, he gets it. they don't have a lot of time, and there's still one too many sailors to evacuate. zoro crouches down, taking a look at the men who are all seated in a circle in the middle of the room. he's seeing what's plainly written on some of their faces -- anxious anticipation, nervousness, exhaustion, fright. they're thinking: is this gonna be a rescue or an execution? )

What was it they said? That it was something dark and slimy? ( he hadn't really been paying attention. his sole purpose for getting on this ship hadn't been to rescue a bunch of sailors. these men have been trained to deal with the rough seas. if they'd only let them go already, half of these fellas would make it to shore before he can even get to that stash of rum below deck. see, now that's the real tragedy. )

[catherding]

They all suit the part. ( Blithely, arms crossing in the perfect visage of a man inconvenienced by the latest going rate of market produce. One of the sailors, visited by every pox that's come into being and a few awaiting their mutant debut, bears a distinct resemblance to an over-ripe potato. Yes, Hector nods: you.

But then, open disdain won't achieve where natural selection failed. The villain of this story won't politely succumb because Hector can't be troubled to find personal value in any of these men. Time to change tack, slipping his companion a sharp-cut gaze, while the room's temperature rises with the sickly, balmy quality of trapped stale spaces. )

We could leave them all behind. ( A bluff is no better than the poker face that delivers it. Hector's is undeniably unshaking. ) I'm not in the spirit of knives in my back.

[serio]

( zoro looks at hector through the corner of his eyes. he would've said he's not in the spirit of murdering innocents -- like what, lock the door behind them as they leave and let these men drown? but before he can say a word, one of the sailors starts screaming and yelling obscenities at them. the rest join in soon enough, urged on by the first man, and now they're talking all at once about how they shouldn't be left to die, they've got family back home, mouths to feed! oddly enough, only one of the sailors remain silent, his gaze unflinching as he simply stares at them. )

Hm. No family then? ( zoro tilts his head at the quiet one. ) Guess I can relate.

( another one of the sailors tosses a coin purse aimed at hector's feet. it's a bad aim though and it hits the white-haired man's knee instead. nevertheless, the bid for release has been made. )

[catherding]

( 'lo, behold! He is hit, he is targeted, man down — or, at the very least, crouching, as Hector dips in and recovers the fat and handsome bribe, opening it quizzically to reveal a modest sea of coins, a pair of buttons, far too many golden teeth and... prayer beads, for the heavens-lent among them.

Nodding helpfully, Hector shares the deep-dive view of his lucky winnings with his companions, because one man's trash may well prove to be their treasure. And he's never been bribed before, besides. It's always threats and torture with most people. )

Is... is this a large sum? ( Are they... flattered? Pleased? Should they be? He releases the purse in Zoro's hand with deliberate, theatrical negligence. And he murmurs: )

Gentlemen. ( This, to the flock of men who seem increasingly incensed as they wait out Hector's approval. Tick, tock, tick, tock. ) May I interest all of you in dropping down to your undergarments? Thank you.

( And a cutting side whisper, because if he is about to consign his good name to hell and take up the coat of a pervert, someone might as well know why: ) If this is a case of a shape-learning thing, it won't know to replicate what it hasn't seen.

( In other words, what to recreate under a sailor's clothes, the limbs and body parts that come with human anatomy.

Sadly, immune to this excellence of academic thinking, the line-up of sailors look utterly unconvinced, even as some grudgingly start to peel away their shirts. 'Ain't no weird sort, is he?' )

[serio]

( gold teeth? guess he's pocketing the purse for a certain orange-haired girl.

zoro continues to stand in place, not at all judging hector for getting the men to strip down to their undergarments, mostly just curious, and when he gets the explanation, he's thinking, good thing someone here's got a plan because he sure wasn't gonna be contributing shit in that department. not because he won't -- it's just not his thing. )

Might wanna hurry it up. ( judging by how wet the wooden floorboard is, it's likely the ship's taking in more water. well, that, or the toilet's leaking. noticing that has some of the men stripping down a little quicker. keeping his voice low, zoro asks: )

What're we gonna do when we find it? ( all he knows about this thing they're dealing with is that it's some kind of a creature. but can it even be taken down by normal means? behind him one of the sailor is raising his arm up high, attempting to get hector's attention. apparently, his friend's not looking too good. the guy's face is all weird. like he's experiencing some kind of a facial paralysis. )

The hallway

[mustact]

[ Somewhere in the back of his mind, he can hear Achilles admonish him for rushing in here without second thought. But if he doesn't inspect everything that looks suspicious, with everything going on, what kind of Assassin would he be, really? For all that the place seems to be doing its best to make him regret it, he keeps walking through the rooms and halls, until ...

He watches with bewilderment at Zoro as he stands. Tag, is it? His gaze flits between Zoro and the girl a couple of times, and he wonders idly if it's someone this stranger this knows, like the statues would change shapes in front of your eyes in that house he first arrived in. And, really, there's only one way to answer that question. With a sound of recognition, he steps past Zoro, and only stops when the figure takes a step. The hallway turns red, and the figure stops too, though its shape remains the same. ]

[serio]

( resting a hand on the hilt of his sword, zoro presses a finger to his forehead, like he's trying to work off a damn headache. because this is what it is. it's a pain to deal with. even with this guy waltzing in here, somehow he's still the one who's being targeted because kuina's form hasn't yet disappeared. )

You know a way out of this place? ( obviously, he's going to keep ignoring the elephant in the room. the spectre seems to distort its form even more, the face of his childhood friend becoming almost unrecognizable except for the hair. the grip on his sword tightens before he releases his hold on it, returning his gaze to the man, looking him over once in search of that iron pin, curious to see if he might be one of them. what was it that woman said? something about them being otherworlders? it's a mouthful.

well, zoro has the gaudy thing pinned to his collar. )

[mustact]

[ It's definitely shifting, though not as he expected. He'd thought maybe if he stepped in front of the stranger, it would focus on him instead. But it seems not.

So he shifts to focus on Zoro instead, looking down at the pin. His own can be found in roughly the same spot. ]

No.

[serio]

( yeah, somehow he figured that would be the case. this hallway's got them walking around in an endless circle. )

You see a lot of these? ( he nods towards the spectre. ) You don't seem particularly bothered by it. ( despite that pin on the guy's collar, zoro's not gonna immediately assume they're on the same side. karsa had mentioned they've been brought here because some assholes are seeking to weaponize them in their wars. definitely not the first time someone's tried to force him into joining their brotherhood or syndicate or whatever. he really hates these recruitment drives. )

[mustact]

[ There's a slight twitch to his lips, a sort of 'not exactly' expression. ]

I have seen similar beings in the past, though they were originally statues.

[serio]

Statues that come to life? ( really? guess he's learning something new every day. still, probably not as weird as a clown that can split itself apart in many ways. that one was annoying to deal with. )

What happened then? ( he doesn't mind listening to a good story, especially if it involves a fight. and this guy looks like he might be a fighter. )

The Quiet House - hallway

[makemeasong]

[ Clara happens upon someone sitting, and then she looks at the young ghost before it looks at her and shifts back into the drillmaster. She's been dealing with ghosts in this place a long time, she's fed up with the arses of this planet, living and dead. ]

You don't have to put up with this you know.

[ Looking back at the ghost, all five feet two inches of her stomps up to the apparition and she shouts, pointing away from them. ]

Oi, you! Go away. Leave. Him. Alone.

[ There's a pause, a staredown; she can almost see the spirit shaking, and then it disappears with a flourish. Lowering her arm, Clara lets out a ragged breath, eyes wide with success. ]

Holy shit, I didn't think that would work.

[ For how long? She has no idea. But for now, maybe he can catch his breath. Once she has, she turns to look at him. ]

You okay?

[serio]

( zoro had been in the midst of getting into some kind of a meditative state almost, or more like, he was trying to take a damn nap despite the circumstances when a voice jerks him fully awake and he watches as this petite brunette chases the spectre away. his gaze travels to where the form of his childhood friend had been before going back to clara. )

Yeah... Didn't think that would work either. ( he picks up his sword as he gets up, taking a moment to adjust the haramaki around his waist, securing the weapon by his side before he takes a step towards her, bowing slightly in respect. )

Thanks. ( he's not the kind of guy who scares easy, but this was something else entirely. ) My name is Roronoa Zoro. You can call me Zoro. ( there's an iron pin on his collar, indicating that he's an otherworlder. )

[makemeasong]

To be fair, it probably won't last long, but it doesn't look like these ghosts are out to hurt us, they're just pricks.

[ She offers a gentle smile, noting the sword with a nod of approval. Not that she's great at using her own (which is currently the size of a pocketknife and not in her hand), but having a weapon is smart. Spying the pin, she takes in his name, making the Zorro joke in her head but keeping it to herself. No one ever gets her pop culture references. ]

Nice to meet you, Zoro. I'm Clara Oswald. Clara works just fine for me. [ She gives him another smile and then looks around. ] We can walk, see if we find anything that means something. Are you newish?

[serio]

This place is weird. ( the comment comes out of nowhere, but it's what he's thinking off the top of his head as he's considering the situation he's in. zoro commits her name to memory, letting out a nod when she suggests they take a walk, waiting for her to decide on the direction before he simply follows along. he'd done the walking thing for a while now, but maybe this time round, he won't be going in circles because, hell, everyone else has a better sense of direction than he does. it's not something he'd admit out loud, but he's aware he's got a tendency to lose his way. )

Yeah, I'm newish. ( he gets the term. he is a recent addition to this world. ) You're oldish then? ( judging by the slight tilt at the corner of his mouth, revealing the tiniest of smirks, he's aware of how that might seem like a double entendre, but a man should never ask a woman her age. ) I got here a couple of days ago. Was on my way to the Grand Line. ( he says it with the assumption she'd know what that is; not even thinking that clara might be from another world entirely. )

[makemeasong]

Oh, super weird. I've never been anywhere as weird as this planet.

[ Clara turns back the way she came, somewhat confident she knows where she's going but not trusting the place to not screw with their minds and sense of direction. When he asks if she's old, she lets out a laugh and glances over. ]

Been here a year now, went home once for a blink, and then came right back. I wasn't even gone long enough for the person right next to me to realize it. [ Clara glances over at Zoro, wondering if that place rings any bells from all the different planets she's been to, but no dice. ] Grand Line? Is that a train station? [ because it sounds like Grand Central, so she makes a leap. ]

[serio]

No. ( he's not exactly surprised she hasn't heard of it. he wouldn't have known about the grand line either if he hadn't left his village in search of mihawk. ) It's a sea route. Was traveling on a ship headed towards it. ( good thing his captain's here too, and so's most of the rest of the crew. he figures, together, they'll find the beacons, get back to the merry and continue along their journey. so far, the straw hats have proven themselves capable of handling just about anything. he's not too worried. )

Why'd you come back?

AT SEA - option B

[stomacles]

[Ben's not the biggest fan of drinking away good sense, but a little liquor, the taste on his tongue, doesn't sound like the worst idea ever. Or maybe it's sheer habit of looking after his junkie brother for so long, someone wants to go on a rum hunt, instinctively, he needs to follow.]

[Whichever it was, he's there. He looks at Zoro, frowns a little, and looks down at the water. The water lapping at his ankles, making his pants so heavy, it should be annoying, but he almost appreciates the feel of it.]

It's been a while. Should be like riding a bike. Right?

[serio]

( he pauses in his motion forward, closing his eyes briefly at the guy's response because he can already tell this isn't a good idea, but there's rum, so he decides to push on anyhow, shoving the sailor in the back when he freaks out at something skittering across the hallway. just a few damn rats. it seems even they're abandoning the ship. )

I'm guessing you're not from this world either. ( zoro's got that iron pin on his collar, indicating he's an otherworlder. the creaking sounds get louder and louder still, echoing throughout the entire ship as it starts tilting off to the side a little, the seawater splashing up to his knees before settling back at his ankles. )

[stomacles]

( It's either a terrible idea or a great idea, but Ben is ready in other ways, in case they run into anything questionable. )

( This should be annoying, the wet, heavy clothes, treading water - or at least discomforting - but Ben might just be mildly splashing around with his legs, taking longer or shorter than needed strides, kicking up water here and there. He does stop at Zoro's question, however. )

Yeah. Haven't been here very long.

My world is...really different. Yours?

[serio]

( he turns his head slightly at hearing that. sure, he's dealing with some things he's never dealt with before, but it hadn't occurred to him to think his world might be that different, considering he hasn't see it all just yet. )

Can't really say. I haven't been all over the world yet. ( the straw hat crew had only set out on their journey towards the grand line when he'd found himself here. )

What's different about it for you?

[stomacles]

( That is one thing Ben hasn't considered yet - he hasn't seen all of this world yet. There could be still be more things he recognizes. But he's already made up his mind about that. )

Well, ( Ben continues to slosh through, almost joyfully) there's no technology here. But it seems magic works? Or whatever the pendant is that lets us understand each other.

There are no cars. I don't think anyone here knows what a car is. Except those of us from other worlds.

[serio]

( since he started out on his journey to become the world's greatest swordsman, and after teaming up with luffy, zoro's had nonstop encounters with stuff he wouldn't have known about had he stayed put in his village. it seems like not knowing shit and being surprised by the existence of the unthinkable and unimaginable is just par for the course.

as they're getting closer to the galley, zoro puts his hand out to stop ben from moving forward any further before he shoves him back against the wall. a large crate sweeps past, barely missing them as some kind of a loud commotion can be heard coming from upstairs. interrogation gone wrong, maybe? )

Let's keep moving... ( no point going back up there now. not much time left until the whole damn ship sinks. ) So, what's a car? Is it some kinda of an animal or something? ( there are more crates blocking their path now and they'll have to climb over it to get to where the rum's at. the sailor just beckons for them to go ahead, mumbling something about how they'll be able to find what they're looking for inside one of the steel cabinets by the counter. )