TEST DRIVE MEME ( 006 )

[lifeaftr_mods]

Test Drive Meme #6

Hello, and welcome to LifeAftr! We’re pleased that you’re expressing an interest in the game. Here, you can test the waters, gauge how your character may fare in the world of LifeAftr, and even gain some in-game incentives, if you so choose.

Remember that Reserves will open on December 17th! Due to the holiday season, Applications will be opening on December 26th, with an app period shifted to end on January 2nd instead of the usual timeframe!

Two important notes:

1. LifeAftr's test drives take place on the island of Mu, which exists apart from the real world and possesses a dream-like quality that characters are innately aware of from the moment they appear on its shores. No need to panic or fret. Dreams are odd things, after all - and anything can happen in them. Why would anyone question where their mind chooses to wander in its sleep?

2. Due to the nature of Mu, threads in our test drive can not only be accepted as thread samples in your application, but can be accepted as game canon as well. In fact, certain choices your character makes in Mu have the potential to bear in-game consequences, largely in the form of test drive reward items.

United We Stand
This particular month, Mu has seen fit to recreate the strange, dichotomous island of Monsun. Most of the information regarding this peculiar land can be found in the informational post linked, but as a quick rundown: Monsun's western side is a hot wasteland of a desert prone of disasters and mishaps, but will affect your character's emotional and psychological state in a positive sense, while its eastern side is a verdant forest filled with endless resources...as well as a tendency to bring out the absolute worst of your character.

The western region blazes with a vengeance, the imaginary sun roasting overhead. The psychological effects of this area of island will shine far more kindly upon you than the sun does; your character's best qualities have been brought to light, and the longer they remain here, the more profound those qualities will become.

This is probably a good thing, too. Because those cactus plants on the horizon seem to be moving closer...and closer...

In fact, they aren't really plants at all. Those who squint may find themselves thinking of another, cuter version of sentient cacti found on other worlds, but the mutual relation to a certain desert plant is where the similarities come to an end. Walking cacti are silent predators who prefer to slowly approach their prey, avoiding being noticed by their targets until it is too late.

Luckily, these creatures do not rely on projectiles to attack. Rather, their needle thin spikes can extend up to one foot out of their bodies in a fast, powerful motion - more than enough to puncture flesh and muscle. If you've ever wanted to try death by acupuncture, these are your kind of monster... but if not, a sharp weapon or fire will certainly help whittle down their numbers.

Regardless, all of your best qualities will come to light quickly in a fight, whether it be courage, diplomacy, compassion, earnest hope, or whatever other positive traits you might bear. Such is Monsun's boon to you.

Divided We Fall
The east, on the other hand, is the polar opposite to that desert wasteland. The sun shines evenly through the thick spread of deciduous canopies, which shade you from the worst of that unforgiving heat. The verdant greenery is perfectly temperate and even tranquil.

A pity that you'll soon find your worst qualities manifesting at a rather rapid rate. The proper Monsun generally gives you a twenty-four hour window before your most despicable traits start to flourish, but Mu, it seems, has sped up the clock significantly.

Scattered across the rich landscape, a herd of deer can be found prancing eagerly about, seemingly oblivious to their potentiality as a food source. In fact, they hardly seem to react to the approach of foreign entities at all. They're quite placid, and content to sit idly back until attacked - at which point they'll do little more than flee at a brisk pace. What an ideal set of circumstances, truly. But should anyone else impose upon your peace, you'd better hope they don't mind encountering you at your absolute worst.

Don't Fear the Succ
You wake on a boat. It's a very nice boat, make no mistake, weatherbeaten and worn as it may seem, but it's still a boat, and you're still surrounded with lapping waves, as far as the eye can see. Or as far as the eye can sea.

Still, no reason not to make the best of this, right? Just sit back, relax, and let the wind take you wherever it may. You hardly need to eat or sleep in the regular sense in dreams, and this might be a good deal more picturesque than many of the dreams you're probably used to. All told, this is really quite a nice diversion -

Hold on. Did something just bump up against the hull?

Yes, in fact. Something did. Something with long, long, reaching tentacles that will soon snake over the deck to try and grasp your vessel in a death grip much like that of a boa constrictor: designed to crush and destroy.

It seems you've run afoul of that legendary creature of the depths; the one that every sailor most fears.

A kraken. Hope you're not averse to a little hentai.

---

LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

Comments

[attheclocktower]

Don't worry about it, keep going!

[Really, really, not the time for any kind of scoldings or... whatever really. Also not the place. In many different ways.]

They don't attack at range, only if you're close. We just have to lose them.

[hyperresonance]

Do you know some place we'll be safe--?!

[ Really, he's never even MET this girl, let alone know why she's helping him. Then again... that feeling is pretty familiar too, isn't it? ]

[attheclocktower]

[Sorry. Time for explanations will come later, when they don't have little needled terrors.]

A lot of us have a camp set up over by the river.

[hyperresonance]

A ca-- wait, where am I?! Am I really alive? Is this Auldrant?

[ Let's be real, cactus monster is not out of place. ]

[attheclocktower]

[She hadn't gotten a chance to actually... see his face yet, to tell the truth. Too busy running and preventing sneaky monster attacks. It's at that familiar name that she glances back for a second, slightly startled. Shit, of course, his voice had sounded familiar, hadn't it?]

No, it's not. [It's hard to talk and run.] It's... I don't know the name yet. But you got brought here, we all did.

[... now that she thinks about it, if he's new new, does that mean this isn't Monsun? It's that other place?]

[hyperresonance]

... what an afterlife. Er-- pretend I didn't say that, okay? When you're just spirited away somewhere, you kinda assume...

[ Liar. Luke got shot across his planet by accident and didn't question whether or not he was still on Auldrant, but nonetheless he sticks to his lie and follows her as dutifully as he can. ]

[attheclocktower]

[Okay, that makes her trip for half a second. Not enough to fall, but enough to stumble.]

S-sorry.

[Don't think she isn't filing that away for further consideration, though.]

We'll talk more once we lose 'em.

[hyperresonance]

Right!

[ And they escape back to the camp, with a few close encounters... despite their constant pursuit, something inside Luke feels... good? Considering his situation before, that's a stark contrast to how he was feeling back home. ]

... haa... I didn't even get your name!

[attheclocktower]

[Xion's a bit out of breath herself, hands on her knees for a moment as she pants, before finally standing back up.]

Xion. It's Xion. And I didn't get yours.

[She knows it, sure, but it felt... rude? To just act like she knew.]

[hyperresonance]

... Luke. It's nice to meet you. Thanks for snapping me out of it back there, I mean-- I've fought monsters and all, so I didn't really... know what I was doing.

[attheclocktower]

It's all right. Getting here is... strange, like that. I'm glad you're okay.

[Glad she got there in time. Glad that his arrival didn't hit him as hard in the wrong ways like hers did.]

[hyperresonance]

Where is here...? I don't recognize any islands like this from home, and by now, I've been all over the world-- I-I shouldn't even...

[ He gives her this pitiful look like he's not sure if this is some secret info or not. He's on his own, though, he can make his own choices in what to tell other people. ]

I shouldn't even exist.

[attheclocktower]

[Well she hadn't meant to tackle this already but...]

Is that what you meant, earlier? When we were running? Did... you die, back home?

[Shit. Asch never mentioned that.]

[hyperresonance]

I... keep it a secret? But yeah, I... bit the dust, so to speak.

[ He dissolved, as most RPG deaths love to do. Goreless, painless, as your atoms disperse. ]

Don't tell anyone I said that, okay? [ He's suddenly worried from her reaction that it might not have been the right thing to say... ]

[attheclocktower]

I won't.

[Kind of... a hard thing to keep secret, though?]

Well, it's not the same story for everyone here. Sometimes they're just... brought here. Even if they were in the middle of something. Some of us even came from places like this, before.

[hyperresonance]

... somehow, I'm too tired to question even that. Just what is this place? Why am I here...? There should be no way I --

[ He stops, defeated. He thinks, therefore he exists. Just have to accept it and move onto something more sensible, like Tear would do. ]

A better question's probably that someone brought me here, isn't it?

[attheclocktower]

Yeah, someone did.

[If he hasn't gotten the Storyteller's explanation, then this is definitely Mu.]

You'll... you'll hear it from them directly later, probably, but... the Storyteller's been watching us. They don't know who brought us here though, or why. We're still trying to find that out.

[hyperresonance]

The Storyteller? That name sounds kind of ominous, don't you think? Like a guy who'd deliberately keep secrets so we don't get 'spoiled'...?

[ Luke is just Instantly Suspicious because boy, is he easy to manipulate into thinking greater powers are secretly assholes. ]