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The Mods of LifeAftr ([personal profile] lifeaftr_mods) wrote in [community profile] aftr_ooc2018-02-15 08:56 pm
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TEST DRIVE MEME ( 008 )

Test Drive Meme #8
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 open on February 16th, and Applications on February 23rd!

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.

Bring on the Night
It's dark.

It's overwhelmingly, impossibly dark, the sky both starless and moonless, and as soon as you awake, the chill of a perpetual night begins to set in. The dream has been kind enough to provide you with a torch, thrust into the sand of the beach upon which you've awakened, and that may be for the best, too, for you are not alone here. A deep, terrible growl will start to roll out from the surrounding shadows. It's soon joined by a rumbling chorus. Whatever it is lingering beyond the fringes of your vision, it's clear that it's not the only one. The torchlight may catch the odd prowling shape: the impression of a rough, kelp-like coat, parted jaws, and smoldering eyes.
Grimlings are black-furred, quadrupedal beasts with ropy, greasy coats that gives them an almost seaweed-like appearance. The creatures resembles dogs superficially, but the proportions are nightmarishly wrong, as though certain parts of it were swollen and others atrophied beyond all use. No two Grimlings have the same general look, but all tend to travel in gurgling, snarling packs. They tend to surround their targets and swiftly overwhelm them.

However, they have one simple weakness: pack mentality. If one of their number grows too injured or overcome, Grimlings will quickly set upon their weakest member and tear it hungrily to pieces. And as they are creatures of the night, the guttering torchlight will be quite effective in keeping them at bay, as long as you don't grow too tired of swiping at the pack of the curs to keep them back.

Because once they've scented prey, they're loathe to let it go to waste.

An Attention Horse
The soft hush of waves against the sands are a soothing regularity in this pitch-dark dream, though Mu sees fit to allow you an impromptu torch, even if it is rudimentary at best: little more than a chunk of driftwood with one end lit up in guttering orange-red.

And unfortunately, even that light will offer little protection against the soft, musical cry of something standing in the shallows.
Those familiar with the stories of water-horses or kelpies may find this creature familiar in some respects, though their function is far more similar to that of a siren. With a tall, powerful stature, Uskal resemble ordinary horses but for their size and the webbed, water-slick quality of their glossy coats.

Those who grow too close may be caught in the strange aura of the Uskal's ululating cry, which invites one to come close enough to touch its silky, beautiful coat. Provided you cannot resist the lure of the Uskal's song, physical contact with its coat will reveal it to be quite adhesive. Those who do not manage to cut, burn, or tear themselves free are dragged into deep waters and drowned for the Uskal's next meal.

Let There Be Light
But eventually, the proverbial sun does rise, just as it did for the islands of LifeAftr themselves. The "sun," in this instance, appears to be quite regular, though the snow raining from the bright blue sky is far from it, especially given that the temperature seems to have climbed a little too much for that sort of nippy weather.. Those grayish white flakes cascading from above? That's not snow at all - it's ash.

And borne on the winds of that ash are creatures small and helpless and wrinkled, little tufts of tawny-orange that squeak and croak rather pitiably as they come streaking to earth in wispy little trails of flame.
Instead of one great firebird to light up the sky, Mu has granted you several dozen little phoenix chicks, all freshly hatched and all in all, rather helpless. You could certainly take advantage of that, if you wanted to, but honestly, the benefits of ensuring that none of them die on your watch are far greater, as long as you don't mind the odd first-degree burn, or the chicks' somewhat alarming habit of spontaneously bursting into flames. Not only do they freely provide light and warmth against the bitter winter cold, but you'll find they don't need much of anything in the way of sustenance.

Congratulations on your successful adoption!

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cainhurst: (12)

lady maria | bloodborne

[personal profile] cainhurst 2018-02-26 07:48 pm (UTC)(link)
ONE;

[Let them come, she thinks, those teeth flashing in the dark. She hears their growling, the way they gnash in her direction, and Maria turns to face the sound. Her expression still, as if carved from porcelain, with the smallest exception of how her brow knits together — to peer out in the dark proves challenging, when there is not even starlight nor moonlight to be guided by. Maria has only the aid of a burning torch in one hand, and a strangely shaped blade gripped by its hilt in the other.

Odd, twisted creatures. Hounds, but not quite. But perhaps they can be cut open all the same, and with a flick of her wrist, she turns her blade to prominently face the pack. It casts a thin, long shadow in the flickering fire.]


Beasts always hunger for blood. Even in this strange place.

[Another gnashes its fangs at her again, growling, then lurches forward. Maria catches her blade in its teeth, twisting, before it can reach its aim — her neck. A successful parry, but there are still many left, and they all begin to encroach in a semi-circle.

Perhaps some aid would not go amiss?]


TWO;

[She stands so close to the water’s edge that the toes of her boots are wet. But she does not move in farther, only listening to the siren’s call beckoning, not adhering to it. She knows, vaguely, that ethereal song does not equate to safety. Best to observe from afar, with the sorry excuse of a torch she’s found, its fire already waning.

She hears another approach, however, and sees fit to give an appropriate warning-]


Do not tread farther into the shallows. Listen only. More than that would be foolish.


THREE;

[There is light now, and she’s been given a charge as a result. A small, chirping thing, warm to the touch. Maria wears her gloves so that her skin does not burn, picking up the chick from the ground. She holds it close to her chest, smiling faintly, and her voice is soft.]

Hush, little one. …Ah, your warmth and light is a welcome thing.

[What’s there to do, other than to sit and rest a while with it? Maria sets her sword down, sitting cross-legged moments later. She hums in amusement.]

Should I give you a name?