TEST DRIVE MEME ( 007 )

[lifeaftr_mods]

Test Drive Meme #7

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 January 15th, and Applications on January 24th!

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.

Ice of You to Drop By
The winter has well and truly settled in, both on LifeAftr and here in Mu; when you wake, you may discover that it isn't on dry land at all, but on a thick crust of ice. In fact, there doesn't seem to be any land in sight, in any direction - just ice, stretching on and on for as far as the eye can see.

Assuming the chill doesn't get to you first, you'll find that there are much more pressing matters than frostbite. One of those things will start cutting to the chase rather quickly in the form of a wickedly pointed fin, glinting beneath the weak winter sun, shearing through the mantle of ice like a hot knife through butter. Ice sharks sound like something out of a sci-fi B-movie and probably are something out of a sci-fi B-movie, but rest assured: they are still quite dangerous. Fragments of undersea ice animated to suit a particularly sadistic shape and size, ice sharks almost look like delicately worked sculptures of glass or diamond, right up until the point where one of them gets their jaws around you. Their preternatural strength and tenacity allows them to "swim" through ice as easily as water. In fact, that happens to be one of their hunting tactics, as they tend to circle a target and break at the ice around them until they're surrounded by icy water, with no means of escape.

Much like real sharks, they can smell blood, and will set upon it eagerly. Unlike real sharks, they are also innately hostile. Anyone who looks like they might be an easy target will be quickly zeroed in upon by several ravenous, but nonetheless quite pretty, of these glittering creatures.

With Our Wassailing Bowl
The rest of Mu might be more forgiving in terms of setting, but that does not mean you're safe. Waking on dry land is generally considered preferable to waking on nothing more than a layer of ice, even if said dry land is nothing more than a jagged spurt of dark, coastal cliff. It's obvious from the start that nothing truly lives here. The island itself is simply some fragment of rock, eroded away from its mainland until it is all that remains.

The island itself isn't special, no. What is special is what is at its center. A massive clay pot of piping-hot wassail steams temptingly at the island's heart, nestled between the crags of rock. Just looking at it, you can know that drinking that heated, blissful drink of cider and cinnamon will surely chase away the unforgiving winter chill, and warm you from your bones to your toes.

Really, the only problem here is that everyone else wants it too.

The second you lay eyes on that treasure, you'll be seized with an instinctive, inescapable need to have it. No one else can be allowed to partake; it is yours by right. You saw it first, after all, didn't you? You'll have to race with your peers to seize it before anyone else does, and you might even have to start fighting dirty to claim your prize. Sure, you could fight that initial instinct, but where's the fun in that?

Dig a Little Deeper
It's not as though actual, real dry land is out of the question for Mu this go around. It's just that there aren't very many desirable options, evidently, when it comes to the manner of islands that resemble those in the proper archipelago. This island in question might be a bit cold, brisk as the winter air is, but it is otherwise quite ordinary. In fact, one would not be remiss in thinking it bears more than a passing resemblance to the island of Chol.

Unfortunately, it's also chosen to emulate a rather unpleasant, if rare, aspect of Chol's landscape: quicksand. No getting out of this one, we're afraid - Mu has dropped you right smack in the middle of a patch of it.

The myth that one can "drown" in quicksand is largely without much scientific bearing. Indeed, the most prominent danger is that one will start to sink and quickly become mired in the stuff, but eventually they'll cease to properly sink at all. No; the real peril lies in the fact that, once stuck, it is nearly impossible to get out of it. Most victims of quicksand risk death by dehydration or starvation, though we wouldn't fault you for fearing death by, er, sand. Who doesn't hate sand? It's coarse, it's rough, it's irritating, and it gets everywhere.
There doesn't seem to be much in the way of ropes or branches one might grab onto for purchase, once stuck. You'll have to ask passersby for a helping hand, and hope they're feeling charitable...or just drag them in with you, if you're that sort of person.

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LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

Comments

[hurt_comforting]

“It better,” Merry says, not harshly. Likewise, his strength will have to do.

But they don’t have to be strong, just patient. She takes one step, loops the scarf around to pick up the slack, and takes another. It seems to be working.

“Thank you for your timely assistance,” she says. “No problem at all.” She seems to have convinced herself anyway.

[finethanks]

"Of course. Though, I feel as though I'm fading quickly..."

As much as he wants to hold it back, he has to admit it. His grip is growing weaker with each pull, his face looks a little pale, he's still freezing. His body isn't reacting well to this place at all. "That is to say, manual labor like this is especially exhausting for someone like me. Are you nearly out?"

[hurt_comforting]

“Just a bit more,” she says, and indeed she’s gaining ground - and pulls herself out of the worst, flopping onto solid ground, taking a deep breath.

She hauls herself up and leans on him. “Keep the scarf for now,” she says. “I can see about warming us up. Thank you.”

[finethanks]

"We should leave this area, shouldn't we?"

Eichi is breathing heavier than her, it sounds like, even if he wasn't the one lifting himself out of anything. He's stable, at least, able to hold her weight when she leans against him, and still grasping at that scarf. With the permission to keep it for now, he wraps it around his neck, then takes a look around. "I don't believe any of this ground can be trusted."

[hurt_comforting]

She breaks off contact, nods agreement. "Yes. Yes, we should," she says. "Find sticks, tap the ground in front of us. Might help."

She frowns. "I'm Meredith, by the way. Meredith Baker. Pleased to meet you," she says. "Let's find someplace warmer? And, hmn." She pats her sides. "And let's find an explanation, if one's forthcoming."

[finethanks]

"There doesn't seem to be much in the way of sticks, does there, Baker-san?"

He says it with a sheepish laugh, staring out at all of this sand. No branches or anything. Maybe further along...? "But I have to agree with your goals. My name is Eichi Tenshouin. It's nice to meet you."

[hurt_comforting]

"Less similar to those pulps, now," she sighs. "It's just been ice and sinkholes. No swamp, no cover..."

She steps very lightly and carefully. "If we're slow and steady I think we can manage," she says.

[finethanks]

"I wouldn't be able to move quickly even if I'd like to, so it's a relief that this is a solution of sorts."

He doesn't wait to start moving, whether or not she steps along with him. He assumes she will, after that, but he's not too sure. He keeps his arms crossed. "Did you also appear here out of nowhere, Baker-san?"