I mean, probably not. I have a 900 kilo car and haven’t garnered any concern (except for ominous references to last year)
1 Like
good cuz one of my cars is an old sports car and the others a modified old city car, for now at least
1 Like
Well, to start with, getting a DNF is impossible, and there is no requirement to take part in the RPing. So, technically, you could troll the system by entering with this as a main vehicle, having no support vehicle and then put no effort into RPing.
Now, that would be a bit silly, but still legal. You would still finish. But if you’re going to RP your breakdowns, it may require some creativity. Chances are that you won’t carry a spare engine block with you in this one…
So. It is really up to you what you WANT to do and how much you want to challenge your own creativity.
3 Likes
Nope. You could have a Smart car if you wanted, it’d be perfectly doable for a two person team.
You’d have to get creative with fixing breakdowns, at least in the grand scheme of things, but it’s not impossible to run with a small car and minimal stuff.
Things I’d advise having at least in character: Tents, cold and hot weather appropriate clothing, and maybe a tool-kit and a spare tire or two. Everything else is for fun.
Also, if you want a small car and storage, remember, trailers exist and Nehmenweld does not, as of yet, have any trailer towing speed laws.
Team Shift Happens
Driver’s Log 1, March 27, 2023
In the interest of historical preservation and accuracy, I ended up here on Earth, joining a crew who calls their team “Shift Happens.” I’m told it’s a somewhat-funny pun on the Earth phrase “shit happens,” usually said in reference to things going wrong. Much to the team’s dismay, I didn’t allow them to mark up my two vehicles with their stickers, which was accepted as “understandable” when I offered to paint up a flat-bed tow truck in the Interplanetary Historical Preservation Society’s paint scheme as a fair trade. Yes, I’m aware, it’s not a fair trade. However, they did spend a while teaching me how to actually handle confrontations, and worked on building my self-confidence.
As it would be foolish of me not to include the names and roles of my fellow team members in a potentially-historically-relevant event such as this, team Shift Happens is as follows:
Kaylie Malradi is the closest we have to a team captain, and a fairly handy mechanic.
Jayde Malradi is Kaylie’s husband, and he’s both a mechanic and, as I’ve been instructed to call him in public, a “repair specialist.” This really means he has magic, but due to interactions with other teams, we’re not supposed to really use that word around them.
Kayden Grayson is Kaylie’s brother, and will be one of our radio operators. He’s also our field medic, a skill he’s proven to be at least decent in, if a little rough.
Rukari Khakrin-Veldrothan is the other radio operator, and he was a soldier once, though has admitted that with the loss of his right leg below the knee, his military days are done.
Malavera Caller-of-the-Moons, another mechanic, but also the partner of another team member. I’ve not pried into the details of their relationship, but even then, I know far more than I really wanted to.
Kivenaal Khakrin-Marinseien is the last mechanic, also our only other “Repair Specialist,” and is Malavera’s partner. He’s, unfortunately, a prankster, so I fear he’ll upset some of the other teams, or upset our security crew.
Takaraya Wintermoon is the driver for the HD-GV Home Unit, our mobile living space for this event. He is also my father, and is technically still recovering from his accident. While I hope he finds a safer job in the future, I know for now that the military is his passion.
I am Kasiya Wintermoon, the driver for the HD-GV Carry All, our equipment and supply vehicle. My job is to get this rig safely from the start to the finish, but I’m also here to gather historical information on this trip. While I can count on my father for some images, I’ve had to bring my own camera in case I want anything that is not in grayscale, and I’m using the HD-GV Mobile Mainframe units to write my logs.
This, of course, brings us to the reason I’m here. My task, courtesy of the Interplanetary Historical Preservation Society, is to learn all that I reasonably can from Nehmenweld’s history. If we find any artifacts on the trip, I’m supposed to 3D scan them for replication back home.
Of course, the other reason I’m here is to drive this truck and haul one of the two heavy trailers we’re bringing.
The event we’re on is called “Shitbox Rally.” Apparently, the Earth term for any worn-out or old ground-vehicle (they call them “cars” which, I believe is a shortening of “carriages” as they were once “horseless carriages”) is a “shitbox,” which is a vulgar term assigned to “any car worth about as much as a box of shit.” These cars are frequently in rough mechanical condition, worn out, sometimes barely road-worthy.
With $2,000 (or equivalent in their local currency), teams were to pick up a cheap “shitbox” and modify it as they saw fit to get into this run. Of course, this means most vehicles are in rather quite poor condition.
Last year, they had some issues with the local wildlife in Crugandr, which led to, this year, hiring a security crew. I met this crew the other day, and to be honest, they scare me. Not because of the weapons, but because these soldiers were the ones chosen to carry them. According to my father, “If I had recruits who acted like they do, my fur would have turned white from stress.”
Their commander, Rear Admiral Constantin Schrant, is a bit unsettling. Knowing from what I’ve been told of the previous year that Constantin fought “Dyre,” the huge “werewolves” of Crugandr, using nothing more than a bow, well… I really do not feel comfortable around him.
The others we’re working with, on the other hand, are not so bad.
Valentin Schrant, often called “Val” informally, is the operator of Robert II, the road-and-rail-going, self-propelled generator. Valentin’s goal is to provide power on this event to make camping easier and safer.
Njordal Eikeland, often called “Norse” informally, is Valentin’s friend, and is assigned as the designated First Aid first-responder. As the only person with licensed medical knowledge that I know, I hope things will be okay.
A lot of this is information I have heard second-or-third-hand, so details may not be exactly correct.
I know that sometime between the last Shitbox Rally and an event called “the 24 hours of Clunkers” (Clunker is just another name for a worn out car, so it could be considered a less-vulgar synonym for Shitbox), Valentin suffered a severe injury courtesy of a traffic accident. While Valentin was recovering, the first seven members of the Shift Happens crew were keeping him company with video calls until he recovered.
Valentin and Njordal joined the crew momentarily for the 24 hours of Clunkers, helping team Shift Happens achieve a seventh-place finish with a worn out police cruiser. During after-the-race testing, Valentin discovered a problem with the throttle on Robert II. At the same time, the idea of Shitbox Rally was brought up again, with a question about whether Robert could generate usable power for the camp.
Valentin eventually arrived here in Nevada, where he met the crew again in person and was given a basic tour of the garage. When Robert II arrived about one week later, testing began. It was around this time that I’d heard from my father about what was going on, and after hearing that they did have a way to the world of Aetherii, and would be going to Nehmenweld, I asked my father to help set up a meeting between me and the rest of the crew.
Apparently, the attempt at a normal meeting announcement was screwed up a bit by one of the crew, which resulted in… A few issues. Our initial video meeting was, quite honestly, a little awkward. Meeting in person was… A lot harder.
At the time, I was unaware of Earth being a Class 10 Death World. The highest rating one can get. I was very aware of this by the time I arrived, with a head full of nonsense courtesy of some vandals messing with the Planetary Information Archive.
As a result, I was under the mistaken impression that Humans were… Far stronger than I initially believed. My father had to force a meeting between Valentin and me, as both of us were actively avoiding one another. We found some common ground, enough to get past our initial fears. Just enough, in some cases.
Further tests were done with Robert II before Valentin and his steam-powered motor-vehicle left the country and returned to Valentin’s home.
Which… Brings us neatly to yesterday, where we met the security team (Moons help us if we actually need them to fight…) as well as Valentin and his friend Njordal. We did a little field testing with trailers, then a bit of supply gathering.
With only a few days remaining before the official start of the event, I am both excited and nervous in a way that is, honestly, hard to describe. We’re going to a world that has long been considered dead, wiped from some planetary charts, labeled in others as “unable to support life.” A planet where I interviewed someone who witnessed the Fall of Aetherii. And yet, because of magic, we can visit it and see this world, before the Fall.
6 Likes
Public Service Announcement Regarding Participant Arrival
This reply covers some information for those wishing to roleplay their arrival at camp and/ or the preparations for that.
- Teams shall arrive between 1PM and 8PM on March 31st, 2023.
- Departure will be “roughly noon” on April 1st, 2023.
- A Team meeting will be held at 9AM on April 1st, 2023.
→ This meeting will cover some rules that should have been common sense but apparently need telling
as well as distribution of the language rings as seen on last year’s edition. (For those not in the know, this will explain itself when the time comes.) - For those who registered to use Valentin’s generator for power, appropriate cables will be distributed at 8:15PM on March 31st, 2023, to allow the registered teams to draw power while in camp at Nevada. Note that any team registered for power will relevant info for usage in advance from @Elizipeazie.
→ IRL, this will happen after entries have closed, as additional entries might change who can draw what amount of power.
EDIT:
- Teams arriving at the very early end of above arrival window will see a US Army convoy heading away from camp, consisting of 7 HEMTTs (2 semis, 5 fully articulated truck-trailer units and one crane arm flatbed) and 3 HMMWVs
5 Likes
Team J3 has entered the ring! Thats it, J3. It was Johnnys idea. Speaking of which
This is Johnny. He is a part cyborg Kitsune. After one of his races ended with a horrid crash, it was cyborg or be severely handicapped. He chose the former, but of course he isn’t in this alone
This is Jackie, or Jacqueline for her full name. The unwilling sidekick whos coming along because she loves riding in cars. She is more seeing this as a holiday
My autism scanner is off the charts, looks like Jacia (pronounced Ya-sha) is on the scene. She is a Viodian, from the Viodius dimension that was attacked by an unknown force. She’s also very very gay
It doesnt take a genius to realise that J3 is called J3 simply because all thier names start with J. And with that, I bid you all goodnight for now
7 Likes
Team Not-so Slow
Chapter 0, Part 0- The Start… We all start somewhere.
After an hiatus on the forum (I lacked motivation to play Automation), I’ve came back. Gonna rewrite some of my character lore for this, because some of it may not be accurate and/or properly done
Characters
Matthew “Matt” Smith (22M)
Isabella “Izzy” Jackson (24F)
Character Desc (Both, Appearance)
Matt: 5’10 tall figure with a healthy fit build and a healthy gym-like phisique, tidy short brown hair, some sun tan, but not too much. An avid vehicle enjoyer. He has a fairly kind attitude when people are respectful to him back, Not really hot-headed.
Izzy: 5’6 short figure with red hair (ginger), pale and skinny with neck length hair that’s sometimes tied up. She is Matt’s girlfriend. She’s also kind, and willing to help when the time comes.
The RP
Feburary 28th 2023, 1:34PM
Matt throws a Marlboro into the ash bin and goes to Izzy, showing a flyer for another Shitbox Rally event. “You interested?”, he said.
Izzy then replies in a tone of boredom, and says “They’re probably still pissed off at me, But didn’t know you smoked.” She walks outside.
Matt goes and follows her direction and tries to get her attention, he does after some time, and gets her sat down on a chair and then he says
“You haven’t did this last time when we went to Sweden to race, Just don’t do anything dumb and they might be cool, I still love you.”
Izzy then agrees and after that, both of them go onto used car sites and look for a suitable candidate of an automobile.
March 1st 2023, 3:30PM, Day of car shopping.
The two go to the first dealership they can find in town, and start looking for some pile of shit car they’re selling for a low price, because they want to get rid of it to make up for some inventory space, Matt asks the salesman for the cheapest thing they have on the lot.
Salesman: If you follow me to the back, i’m pretty sure we have something that fits your criteria.
Matt: Sure thing
As they get to the back of the dealership, they see a car waiting, an 1999 Schnell L30 1.9 SE Executive, it’s got some aftermarket 18 inch wheels, and a aftermarket exhaust tip, along with an aftermarket spoiler. German engineering may let us down again, but only time can tell.
It was clear some young person owned this car, Other than the fact it can’t be upgraded to AWD because of the torsion beam rear suspension, Unlike the previous XL53 from last year, the new SR car is a hatchback! (Liftback)
The purchase!
Izzy: This might prove that SUVs are a waste of time, just fold down the rear seats and you might get a ton of space back there.
Matt: You might be onto something,
Izzy: Thank me later!
As they buy the car and drive home, they start planning on what to get to make it ready for Shitbox Rally.
TO BE CONTINUED (I will try get my SR entry in a shitbox ready form soon)
5 Likes
Rules have been updated to close a loophole regarding ignition timing.
Please leave it at 0 and run Low-Quality Unleaded.
Yes, I’m aware that it alters reliability in both directions, but it’s one more thing we have to check while logging vehicles in, to make sure your fuel octane matches the fuel octane we’re expecting.
Rules have been updated again permitting the ability to remove catalytic converters from engines.
This will result in a comment on tech inspection, however.
3 Likes
Les Ambassadeurs
THE AMBASSADORS
-- Meet the Team --
I made some pictures in an app called Hero Forge, you may find these pictures below.
Landon Sabourne
Details
Gender: Male
Age: 47 (Earth Age: 47)
Appearance: 6’ 6” (200 cm) , 210 pounds with a well toned, swimmer physique, with the general appearance of a bipedal red fox. Rare purple eye color, possibly a side effect of genetic engineering and the signature orange fur color.
Species: Red Fox
Ethnicity: Velkaristani
Special skills: Skilled marksman, experienced investigator, extremely loyal and brave soldier, good sense of humor and worryingly charismatic, also has first aid training and has significant experience with military and security tactics.
Military/Law Enforcement rank: Supreme General, Velkaristan Armed Forces.
Landon Sabourne, joined the team “at the orders” of the Velkaristan High Council, to assist Karl Von Heislingburg, who happens to be a close friend, to find the chalice to retrieve the chalice to prevent it from falling into the wrong hands, both sides share the same goal; find it, recover it and keep it safe.
For the primary vehicle, Sabourne was unsure of what to bring, so he left Karl to make that decision. But, much to his annoyance, Landon’s older brother, Andrew, wanted his two identical twin sons to get out of the house and spend some time with their uncle and as such, they will pilot a camper shell equipped IVERA Executive as the secondary support vehicle along side a third female team member who is in a relationship with the older of the two brothers.
In the end, Sabourne knows he’s in for a rough ride, and he can only hope all hell doesn’t break loose.
Karl von Heislingberg
Details
Gender: Male
Age: 24 (Earth age: 26)
Appearance: 6’ 5” (196 cm), 205 lbs, complemented by a fit athletic build, but a little more slender and less heavy compared to most Caracalians. General appearance of a bipedal caracal with normal pale green eyes, and reddish gold pelt.
Species: Caracalian (Caracal)
Special Skills: Great hunter / survival expert. Exceptional situational awareness, lightning fast reflexes and well balanced. Basically all the traits of any wild cat species.
Military/Law Enforcement rank: Civilian
The heir to the Heislingberg fortune, Karl often finds himself a target of scrutiny from his 7 siblings, who do little to respect his archeological skills and prowess, despite none of them knowing about how difficult archeology is. For the past 2 years, Karl had been plunged into several adventures, and was nearly killed on some of them, all due to his family’s ignorance of how dangerous archeology can be.
However, things seemed to calm down over the past 6 months, but Karl remained worried that he would be sent on another adventure soon.
His fear was confirmed after his mother and father discovered a journal that used to belong to his grandfather in law, who was hunting for a mythical cup, known to him as the Sacred Chalice of Nehmenweld. The cup, made of solid gold, is rumored to possess supernatural properties that can heal any ailment or sickness no matter the severity, be used to increase effectiveness of any weapon, firearm or otherwise, be used as a weapon of mass destruction or even be used to enact a curse on the enemy. As a result, the Von Heislingburgs have decided they must retrieve it before anyone else, so that it doesn’t fall into the wrong hands and jeopardize the lives of millions. So, Karl being the most experienced in archeology, is sent to the planet Decarro (and the nation of Velkaristan) along with a very special 1970 Mayland Ambassador, where his friend, Supreme General Landon Sabourne is waiting for him.
Aryton Sabourne
Details
Gender: Male
Age: 23 (Earth Age: 23)
Appearance: 6’ 2” (188cm), 190 lbs, very fit, muscular and sturdy appearance, with the general appearance of a bipedal red fox, sporting green eyes, and a warm orange pelt.
Species: Red Fox
Ethnicity: Velkaristani
Special skills: Proficient in hand to hand combat, a decent driver, calm in most high pressure situations.
Military/Law Enforcement rank: None (Waiting to be accepted into the Police Academy)
Aryton is the older of the two nephews Landon is bringing along, about 5 minutes older than his twin brother Amell, and unlike his brother, he feels that living a laid back lifestyle is the way to go. However, when it comes time to be serious, Aryton is surprisingly knowledgeable and skilled in the field. He remains composed in many situations, but will often avoid danger. He is usually a mature adult, but may sometimes give into… certain interests, more often than he should.
His purpose for being here is that he had no choice, but since he is very willing to help, doesn’t mind it that much. He enjoys being helpful and finds it empowering to provide an extra pair of hands should they be needed. But, he wants no part in the escapade involving the chalice, because he believes that it is, quote: “Dangerous fuckery that will get [him] killed.” But, he is still willing to provide backup should they need it because “Sabournes never leave a man behind.”
Denali Bassett
Summary
Gender: Female
Age: 21
Appearance: 5’ 9” (176 cm), 133 lbs, slender athletic physique, general appearance of a red fox. Blue eyes, and the signature orange fur color, that pretty much every red fox has.
Species: Red Fox
Ethnicity: Velkaristani
Special skills:
Military/Law Enforcement rank: Civilian
The only female of the group, and Aryton’s better half, Denali is not a person to mess with. She may look unimposing but with her father being in the armed forces as a member of the Special Commando Unit can handle herself in a fight pretty well. That said, she does not have the greatest judgment in many situations and often underestimates others, especially General Sabourne who doesn’t take shit from anyone. Also, her relationship with Aryton seems to annoy the general quite a lot, and she is unable to fully understand why, but it has something to do with night time.
Regardless, Aryton had convinced her to join him on this journey as a way to spend time together away from home, and experience new things all the while learning more about each other. However, plans are unlikely to go the expected way because of the pretty major side mission the general has forced them to be a part of. So, Bassett, much to the annoyance of General Sabourne, is going to be a part of the team no matter what happens, to be by their side because at the end of the day they are a team.
Amell Sabourne
Summary
Gender: Male
Age: 23
Appearance: 6’ 2” (189 cm), 185 lbs, almost identical physical appearance as his brother, same muscle build, nearly identical level of fitness, but less heavily set and slightly weaker. Like his brother, he has green eyes and a slightly lighter shade of orange fur, but for the most part, Amell is exactly identical to his twin brother. Again, he has the same general appearance of a bipedal red fox like his uncle, and twin brother.
Species: Red Fox
Ethnicity: Velkaristani
Special skills: Expert mechanic. Doesn’t matter the car, Amell will always fix it.
Military/Law Enforcement rank: Corporal (Military Mechanic)
The team’s mechanic, and owner of the support car, a 1986 IVERA Executive, fitted with a toppola style camper shell, Amell is the most willing to be a part of the team, and because of where the rally is going, he is more than excited for the challenge that awaits him. The IVERA will either be driven by him, Aryton, or Denali throughout the challenge depending on whoever got the most sleep.
With the IVERA being his car, Amell is willing to share it with his two teammates provided they don’t try to use it for something other than sleeping. While Aryton did promise he wouldn’t even think about it, Amell is skeptical and is hesitant to trust his brother because it has happened before. Even so, they are teammates and brothers and they must learn to get along or they’ll end up in trouble.
H-Forge Depictions (80% - 85% accurate, or close enough)
General Sabourne
This image depicts Landon dressed in his civilian clothing as the app I’m using doesn’t have anything remotely close to replicate a military uniform. The machine gun demonstrates that he has got military grade firepower, while the backpack shows that he’s someone who makes sure to be prepared.
Amell Sabourne and Aryton Sabourne
Amell (left) and Aryton (right) are shown standing almost back to back, Amell is clutching a wrench to signify that he’s a mechanic, while Aryton stands in the background judging him to denote they are brothers. The very similar appearances also show that they are twins.
Denali Basset
Denali is holding her personal sidearm, a Colt M1911, taking up a slightly combative pose, keeping her weapon close but not aiming it. Goes to show that she does know her way around a weapon and is more than ready to fight, despite being an amateur.
Unfortunately, due to limitations with Hero Forge, and because I suck at drawing and don’t have the money to commission any artists, You’ll have to use your imagination to see what Karl looks like. Think of a bipedal caracal and then apply the description I gave him, and then you might have a rough idea of what he looks like.
(the cars are coming up shortly, standby)
6 Likes
The Cars
The 1971 Mayland Ambassador and The 1986 IVERA Executive LXT
In charge of the competing car, Karl decided to bring his 1970 Mayland Ambassador, a car that has been sitting in his garage barely driven for the past two months. It is effectively the most luxurious car next to a full on Bentley or Rolls Royce, a true land yacht. 6.8L of big block V8, leather lined interior and so many gadgets you don’t know where to start. So why did it fail? Well, the Ambassador was the first ever attempt at a true full size luxury sedan Mayland did, and boy did it have a presence. However, it’s large size made it difficult to drive on narrow city streets, its big V8 drank fuel like there was no tomorrow and it weighed nearly two tons and so not very many people bought it, mostly it was the super rich titans of industry and probably a few world leaders (Looking at you Josip Broz Tito) who invested in an Ambassador. The Ambie’s model years were from 1970 to 1974, and its production run ran from February 1969, to October 1973, with only about 6500 units ever being produced. While the Ambassador did fail, it spawned the much more successful Meteor (See LHC for that) which was based from the Ambassador albeit with a much better and sleeker design.
This example has around 75k miles, has a minor coolant leak from an improperly installed o-ring, some curb rash around the wheels, light damage around the interior, with some tears and holes around the seams of the seats, cracked wood veneer, a damaged but still working rear dome light, heavily faded rear parcel shelf, and less faded upper dashboard, lightly worn leather and some minor electrical issues.
Hence why it makes the perfect vehicle to run in this challenge.
The next car, the 1986 IVERA Executive, is a more common automobile, but it’s a little weirder, it was made from 1986 to 1992, available only as a liftback and offered with several engines, the LXT being the top of the range model with Hydropneumatic suspension and a 5 liter V8. This example belongs to Amell the mechanic, and is the support vehicle for the challenge. It has around a hundred thousand miles racked up, the interior is a lot more hard wearing than the Ambassador but it still has some damage, including slightly worn leather around the interior with some torn seams around the edges of the seats but nothing severe. Unlike a Bentley Turbo R, the hydraulic suspension is not part of the brake system, but Amell sorted out any leaks it may have had several months before this challenge.
The other thing of note is the Toppola style camper shell that is mated to the car via the rear hatch, (which has been removed and stowed in a safe place back home) and secured to the specifically designed roof rack.
Both cars will function as sleeping arrangements for the team as well.
11 Likes
now thats what I call a sleeper car
2 Likes
Team Sinesian Rejects
The Team
Tolok-Javon 'TJ' Hyrteyn
Male North Idene, 24
5’10" (178cm), 159lbs (72kg). Pretty lanky build, brown eyes, spiky red hair, fur occaisionally striped with red.
Past employment: Taxi driver
Self-proclaimed mechanic and moderately skilled driver. He’s worked on cars his entire life, especially on the manky sort, with his family’s connections to the owner of a junkyard. Bit of a coward in some situations, but somewhat likeable nonetheless.
Alauran Caere
Male South Idene, 24
5’7" (170cm), 165lbs (75kg). Pretty strong for his (compared to other participants) short size, somewhat athletic build. Very dark grey fur without externally defining features, though with blue eyes and brown hair. He does however have thinner fur and skin, leading to an increased tolerance for heat, at the expense of a reduced tolerance for the cold, and being susceptible to cuts.
Past employment: Cartographer
Alauran briefly had a stint as a cartographer for a couple of years. Not because he liked maps, but more because he loved getting on the road and seeing places. Because of his experience creating maps and navigating, he will serve as one of the navigators. Additionally, he received first aid training at some point.
Ianis Solani
Male North Idene, 30
6’2" (188cm), 194lbs (88kg). Tallest of the team, and strongest. Grey fur, striped with a darker shade on his back. Brown eyes, blond hair. Quite fit, being ex-military.
Past employment: Military medevac driver
Ianis served for the military as a medical evacuation transport driver. Due to this, he’s no stranger to driving extremely fast and forgoing other’s safety to reach the destination quicker. Skilled driver because of this, if not extremely socially abrasive. Never tell him to slow down.
Jas Kan'aan
Male South Idene, 22
5’10" (178cm), 154lbs (70kg). White fur with darker stripes all across the body. Brown eyes, blond hair. Weakest of all the four, though he’s pretty precise when it comes to motoric functions.
Past employment: None
Jas really doesn’t have a role, only tagging along for the funsies. Therefore, since he never got a driving license, he will be reading the map notes that Alauran made, though there’s no guarrantee he’ll do that well either. But you know, this rally wouldn’t be complete without almost crashing in to other participants driving the wrong way!
The heck is an Idene?
Idene are, to put it simply, humans with the head replaced with animal heads. Call me uncreative and a furry, but I’m not a biologist willing to create a whole new species. Oopsie daisy.
Idene have two regional subspecies; North and South.
North Idene are characterised to resemble wolves and the like. They’re usually a bit bigger and heavier. They have longer ears and a longer muzzle. They usually are some shade of grey, rarely being red. Most have splotched colours on the fur, but some have inherited stripe patterns. (TJ and Ianis)
South Idene are characterised to more resemble big cats. Smaller and a little lighter, with the opposite of the northern variety. Triangular ears, short muzzle. Usually in some shade of black or white with stripes of some kind. Some south Idene, like Alauran, have thinner fur and skin, which increases their tolerance for heat.
Science doesn’t exactly know how they evolved, or were made, or can get on earth seemingly by choosing their breakfast, but they exist.
The vehicles
1983 Ilaris Itan Ute
The world-famous, one-and-only Team Sinesian Rejects failure-at-pink camper.
Its existence, and how well it is doing at existing
This 1983 Ilaris Itan was sourced from an Ilaris dealership. Unfortunately for it, the vehicle’s engine was hydrolocked after trying to reach a customer whose car was stuck across a river, and thus it was being sold out front for less than scrap value, since apparently the people at the dealership wanted it to continue existing after making memories in the car. Now most people working trade jobs wouldn’t care that it barely runs, but it didn’t, so we were the first to look at it and bought it right then and there for about 200 dollars. Barely any rust, just dirty and no running engine.
We tried to remove the Ilaris Service writing on the side by Jas’s brilliant idea to paint it hot pink (taking note of previous editions of Shitbox Rally). Unfortunately, he forgot that buckets of hot pink metallic paint with flake in them are expensive as all hell, and we couldn’t justify buying more of them, and thusly ran out of paint halfway through.
Now the bread and butter of the build was swapping the dead 2.6L V6 which would have made about 120 horsepower with an engine that actually ran. TJ suggested we take a peek at the junkyard, and sure enough, we found a 2010 ACR Alakis hatchback which had the entire rear end caved in. Fortunately, the engine was completely mint, and after agreeing on a couple hundred bucks for the engine, we began work fitting the 2.2L engine and modifying the engine mounts accordingly.
This new engine made 165 horsepower, noticeable improvement from the 120 of the V6. We could have looked around the junkyard for the higher-trim V8 engine, but that wouldn’t have been as much fun. Who doesn’t want to swap a completely different engine in to their shitbox ute?
Jas refuses to admit he painted the strangely phallic-shaped object on the fender. We all know he did though.
Bit of history: the Ilaris Itan is a series of coupe utility (ute) vehicles. They’re pretty basic, though this particular model was configured with a premium interior, for some reason, while retaining the poverty-spec V6 engine. Either way, they’re known for being used and abused by tradesmen across the globe, being pretty okay for their price bracket.
Ilaris Imbe Sport S 1.3
We like to refer to it as the ‘frankencar’, though that’s not the most creative thing, so we called it the ‘redhead’.
Why does it exist? What did I do to you? Why must you torture my eyes?
This…car-shaped object is two Ilaris Imbe Sport-S’s welded back together. The white car, according to the owner of the yard, had a headon collision with some large animal and then subsequently skidded off the road, sideswiped a tree, then rolled over. Now the second, red car was T-boned, and the side was caved in. Fortunately, the 100-horsepower 1.3L four-banger still ran, though we’re pretty sure it’s 80 horsepower now.
Excuse us for this, but we welded the two together, and cut out the shitty bits. We also harvested a fiberglass hood from another car, though no other parts were used from it. Since the Imbe was originally a rally car, it’s made entirely from aluminium, with steel reinforcements throughout, to make it as light as possible. Same goes for the engine, which made it have a history of engine troubles. It is still moderately reliable, the government giving it a 70.6 reliability rating. Now, you might be asking “you welded aluminium together?” and we say “yes, yes we did.” We did reinforce the welds with rivets, but this car only exists because we had money left over, and otherwise we’d have to carry around the four of us in a ute that has two seats. Not practical at all, and I’m sure we’d need spinal surgery by the end of it.
Furthermore, we added a rollcage to make sure we didn’t end up on a NBC Dateline: Consumer Alert edition by the time we inevitably rolled over, though we don’t have racing harnesses, since if we do roll over we’re going to be fucked either way, considering this car doesn’t even weigh a thousand kilos.
We also added a frunk. Because why not?
Now, the Ilaris Imbe was originally a rally car at heart. Unfortunately, they actually had to…produce consumer versions. Therefore, for lack of a better term, they engineered it backwards, removing all the rally bits and the extreme optimisations, but retaining most of the core rally heart. This made for a car that weighed just under 1900lbs (860kg) stock, and was pretty fast. Produced from 1990 to 2000, it sold pretty well, and pioneered aluminium bodies. There were four ‘sporty’ trim levels, the Imbe Sport, Sport-S (this one), GT and GT-Sport. Additionally, there was a limited production PowerStar GT-Sport model. All, except for the PowerStar GT-Sport, were front-wheel-drive, unusual for a sports car. It was well-received though, being exceptionally fun to drive, and didn’t hurt the pocket that much either.
8 Likes
question. Where would the characters get changed into different clothes?
2 Likes
I mean, unless someone is deeply uncomfortable with seeing someone partially unclothed I don’t think everyone requires their own changing room
1 Like
eheheheh, well Johnny is a failed romantic who is just girl obsessed, and his teammates are both women soooooo…guess hes getting changed in the car
1 Like
that is a problem for you to solve
some just do it wherever there is space
in their RVs, in the car, in a tent, behind a bush, whatever fits the theme of your team and what they have at their disposal
1 Like
behind a bush sounds the funniest, which brings me to my next question. Bathroom arrangements, is it just outhouses?
2 Likes