TEST DRIVE MEME ( 012 )

[lifeaftr_mods]

Test Drive Meme #12

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 June 17th, and Applications on June 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.

There Goes the Neighborhood
Today, you're not merely waking up on an island. Oh, no. You're waking up in the world's most perfect suburb, complete with perfectly-trimmed lawns, white picket fences, and a uniformity that borders on the absurd. Not a fleck of paint is out of place, and not a blade of grass is out of line.

Mu has attempted to imitate the sort of fabricated happiness that adventurers dealt with in the month of May, but without the full power to shape fantasies to the whims of each individuals, has opted instead to attempt for a blanket, painfully generic alternative. It's a cheap attempt to mimic something that was already a falsehood to begin with, rote and uncommitted. Thus, much of this world is patchworked with palpable holes, both visible and otherwise: neighbors are featureless specters performing daily routines with robotic precision, entire swathes of the neighborhood are perfect replicas of the same painfully generic family, and, of course, there's you.

You obviously don't belong here. The framework of the narrative is so structured that it's not hard to realize things are amiss. The more you think about it, the more it seems like this entire fantasy is deeply, deeply amiss.

But then again, maybe not. Maybe you buy into it, completely and utterly. Maybe you're so eager to escape whatever life you lived prior to this one that you're all too eager to live in this Stepford-esque facsimile. The degree to which your character adheres to this structured world, and how much they remember from their true life, is up to you.

Do it for the Vine
This next scenario is far from pleasant, though it is much more real. The thick, tropical woodland might be difficult to traverse at first, but don't worry - it's about to get much harder. Do you like earthquakes? How about massive, twisting vines that swarm out from the undergrowth to attempt to snake up around your ankles and shins and root you in place, perhaps smother you in the dirt? Isn't it fortunate that you're being left to contend with both at once? Mu is compensating for the events of May, it seems; commemorating a god whose demise tore an island apart by mimicking with precision efficiency how that must have felt for everyone to bear dramatic witness.

The good news is that while the vines might be both eerily cunning and vast in number, they still are just plants, and plants can be easily pruned or burned. The subterranean rumbles of the ground as it cracks and ruptures underfoot might be less easy to contend with.

To that, our only suggest is simply to run. Good luck!

Taken for Granite
This particular brand of landscape is striped with cliffs and crags, a lifeless mountain range crooked along the horizon with rock the color of fired clay. And not far off from where you've stirred awake is...a rather eccentric rock formation.

By "eccentric", of course, we mean "moving". And by "moving" we mean "it is extricating itself from the ground like some unholy tectonic zombie and it's coming right at you RUN".

Formed entirely from an amalgamation of earth, rocks, ore, and valuable gems, the earth golem is surprisingly territorial for a glorified lump of mud. Approximately fifteen feet tall and half as wide, this lumbering creature has only one concern: the eradication of anything that steps into its territory. It is sensitive to vibrations in the ground, and is thus very difficult to hide from for those moving on foot. However, it is nearly blind and very stupid, preferring to wallop anything within reach using its massive, boulder-sized fists rather than employ any sort of strategy. Still, unless you're looking to travel to the other side of the area via the Golem Express, avoiding this creature's warpath may be a wise choice. Especially given its talent at re-assembling itself upon destruction.

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Comments

[lightlessfuture]

[ The Knight sometimes wishes that their relationship with light and flame was of a more complimentary nature; it certainly would have come in handy in recent events. But they are what they are, and nothing can change that.

They take a moment to answer; they're a little surprised, in themselves, at how comforting it is to hear someone who speaks the language they're used to.

'Were you the one to yet again call me?' They shake their head in a clear 'no'. There's no lantern in this world - as far as they've seen or know - so the fact Grimm is here at all is strange.

They look around. It's certainly bereft of much else, which is...also puzzling.

They scratch in the ground to express their confusion.

No troupe? ]

[fireindreams]

[Light and flame ran parallel with a wall of dark in-between. The light made its struggles to break through while the flames wandered as they pleased. Dreams and nightmares. But Grimm is not looking for personal change and he would agree the Knight was fine the way they are.

Indeed, the missing members of Grimm's troupe and their location is the million Geo question. They always followed the call together, and while it was not the first time Grimm had not met the one responsible for calling them in the beginning (although a set of carnival tents showing up suddenly in dead kingdoms tended to attract a lot of attention), it was the first time he arrived alone.

He fell asleep alone and woke alone. Grimm merely shakes his head.]

It seems I am to face whatever is coming without my troupe. A first and rather concerning turn of events, I must say. I realize I am asking many things my friend, but is the child with you? I do not see them here.

[Which is also...concerning. Verily.]

[lightlessfuture]

[ The Knight sort of shakes their head again, attempting to convey a 'it's fine, think nothing of it' gesture. They don't mind being asked questions. It's a relief to be asked questions by someone who only expects yes or no answers, to be honest.

"Is the child with you?" They ponder this question, but the answer comes swiftly; another shake of the head, another negative indicator.

They hadn't taken Grimm's child with them in their final battle, though they had enjoyed their company as they wandered through Hallownest. Where they were now, the Knight didn't exactly know. Where Grimm usually lived, perhaps, that realm of nightmares.

They scratch in the dirt again.

not here . woke without them
maybe elsewhere ? in dreams

could ask storyteller

The Storyteller fulfills many requests, after all. Maybe procuring one small child wouldn't be out of the question. ]

[fireindreams]

[Curious. Grimm knows the Grimmchild was not something the Knight would simply lose track of. That bound would continue long after Grimm himself passed into his own nightmares and after, even if the Knight did not consciously use the charm. Yet they are here.

None of this has ever happened before. It is concerning to find the routine changed so much and Grimm's troupe missing. Indeed it's for the best to acknowledge the strangeness of this world. But Grimm is here and so is his friend. And nothing would get done if he stood here panicking.

The show, as always, must go on.]

It appears that while the dance is the same the song has changed. For the first time in a long, long time. My friend, I feel I must ask for your help once again. To speak to this Storyteller, to find the missing members of my troupe and our child within the dreams.

[To find a way back and finish the Ritual and burn the father.]

[lightlessfuture]

[ They give Grimm another firm nod. Getting Grimm's child back is a priority, of course. The ritual is...

(They remember Brumm's words, talking of old cycles and chains. 'Burn the father, feed the child'. It makes them feel almost sad; they are curious about Grimm, in a way they hadn't been back then.)

Well. The ritual may not be possible here, but then again - they're not sure. There have certainly been many signs of old places, old civilisations. The ruins of things that happened long before any of them came.

But they'll help; they always will. And perhaps they might get to know more about the things Grimm has seen, more about what he is like, while they search.

They set off into the brush, clearing an opening with their sword, because it's probably not wise to stand in the clearing for too long. They can already feel the slight tremors that might possibly indicate more vines coming out of the ground.

They stop after a moment, tilting their head, making a graceless little imitation of Grimm's bow. After you? ]

[fireindreams]

[The old saying is still 'the show must go on'. Irregardless of the world the Ritual will continue. Much like how the ground trembles as the vines slowly approach yet again. But they are being cautious this time around and their slow creep does buy them some time to get a move on, but not before Grimm returns the Knight's gesture with a deep bow of his own.

Grimm possesses the ability to teleport and he can make great strides just simply walking due to the length of his legs, yet he'll match the Knight's pace through the growth. He's well acquainted with the Knight's strength despite their size but he's not so cruel to leave them to fend for themselves after he asked for their help.

And he does have some questions while they make their way out.]

This place feels much like a dream. Quite curious it is not a bright warm light or the crimson flames that I am used to! [Although Grimm could take or leave the vines, as easy as they were to deal with.] Is this a shared dream between you and I?

[lightlessfuture]

[ The Knight seems oddly pleased to have the bow returned. They seem a bit livelier here than they did back in Hallownest - less burdened, at least. Though it's vanishingly hard to tell, given their lack of normal ways to express themselves.

The smaller bug seems content to walk by Grimm's side; they're not in any particular hurry to go anywhere, except away from the vines. This is...nice, in its own way.

They ponder the question for a moment, before giving him another nod and sort of...gesturing vaguely around them, at the scenery. It's an island's dream, is perhaps what they're trying to say. It's hard to explain what they want without stopping, but they'll wait to 'talk' until they're more...out of the woods.

Well. They hope they can get out of the woods, anyway. Who knows how this dream works. ]

[fireindreams]

[The Knight is hard to read due to their voiceless nature, if Grimm had to be honest. However actions always spoke more then words and it was telling that a vessel, with their mission encoded into their soul, still found the curiosity to light the lantern and walk into the Troupe's main tent.

Perhaps it was a failure on Wyrm's part for a vessel to posses such curiosity but Grimm had been witness to the Knight's strength. And it seems that it had helped them grow in a way the Pale King had not intended.

Grimm also understands what the Knight means for the most part.]

Fascinating! A dream that expands much farther then the dreams of the fallen kingdoms past. A fine stage even without my Troupe and the apparent hostility of the vines that seek to ensnare us in their thorny grasp. A searing flame may spare us the trouble but will bring its own problems.

[Indeed it has crossed Grimm's mind that he could start a forest fire and just level the vines but he has no idea what was beyond it, along with it being a waste of power. Grimm was showy but he wasn't stupid.

Besides if Brumm and the others were within this forest they probably wouldn't appreciate it burning down around their ears. So they'll just have to endure for now!]

[lightlessfuture]

[ That curiosity, that willingness to participate in something that has no clear gain, marks them a failure - they could never be the perfect Vessel the King desired. Being thrown away so long ago was proof of that, despite the Lady's words. But they've grown beyond their original purpose in many ways, and it's given them a peculiar strength.

They stand still for a little while, attempting to sense the rumble of the vines. When they're satisfied that they can't feel them any more (at least not enough to be a bother) they scratch....actually they reconsider scratching words on the ground, and decide to use a nearby tree instead. Easier to read.

dream of plant god

vines = theirs

destroyed but

island still dreams

It's not a concept they're unfamiliar with. Many lost things can be found again, in dreams, if only for a brief time. They are certain that this dream, too, will move on. ]

[fireindreams]

[It's a concept that Grimm is familiar with as well. Even dying kingdoms still had dreams, had subjects that wished for the past to be theirs once again. Hallownest had been the most peculiar at the time, a King who usurped a God that soon attempted to crawl back through the dreams of others. A blend of then and now.

So this being the dream of a dead God remembered by an island was ground well traveled but intriguing nonetheless.]

A perpetual dream it feels, to remember something so old. [And Gods certainly were a stubborn bunch.] I wonder where we shall stand once the dream finally ends? Will we be returned to our homes or face something entirely different?

[He's fairly curious, as one might be when faced with a new song and dance after so long.]