TEST DRIVE MEME ( 002 )

[lifeaftr_mods]

Test Drive Meme #2

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 August 17th and that Applications will open on August 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.

I'm on a Boat
The rhythmic rocking may be soothing to start with - perhaps reminiscent of how an infant might feel, rocked in the cradle. Well, up until you wake up long enough to take stock of your surroundings. You're on a flimsy wooden raft, comprised of logs lashed together with straw-like twine. You're surrounded by water on four sides, with the only landmass for miles rearing like an inkblot on the horizon.

Right - and you're not alone, either. You have a raftmate, and they're probably just as shocked and displeased to be here as you are. Good thing the boat appears to have come with a pair of oars - as well as a pair of very large butcher knives.

Those, ah...are probably just for survival's sake.

Probably. Though that's rather up to you, isn't it?

The Beast of the Bay
A roaring bonfire, the sound of waves lapping up against the sand, the uniform dark blanketing all but the orange glow of the embers at your feet - what more could you ask for? Those who huddle around the flames for warmth will find themselves oddly compelled to make something of the setting. It's simply too perfect to resist.

It's time, once again, to tell a story.

In fact, your lives may very well depend on it. As long as there is silence, the fires begin to dim, and the flames sink low. And in the distance, you swear you can hear...a snarling, a liquid yip-growl of a great stalking thing with slavering jaws. Maybe you glimpse it in the corner of your eye, dark-furred and clawed with golden slits for eyes that glow like molten amber.

For as long as your fire burns, you're safe. But you'll need a story to fuel it...and if the story is insufficient, if it's more lie than it is truth, then there's a beast that's hungry for your failure.

Get Spelunked On
The caves built into the cliffs lining the beach may be imposing, but you're going to need protection from the elements, and you might not have much choice if you want to last the night. In you inevitably go - or maybe you simply wake up there, having bypassed the need for a raft and a bad-tempered boatmate.

Never fear if you lack a natural means of producing light - it seems that there's all manner of round, glowing orbs buried in the ceiling of each sea cave. Isn't that thoughtful?
Maybe it would have been, if those orbs dispensing that faint cerulean glow weren't sentient - and annoyed at the sight of so many people invading their dark, secluded, peaceful habitat.

Glowgrubs are pale, wormlike creatures that like to dangle from the ceiling like very peculiar stalactites. Most don't grow any larger than two or three feet, but they can be remarkably fast on the ground when they like to be - and they do like to be, when there are intruders afoot. Armed with fanged mouths on both ends of their slightly striated bodies, glowgrubs can deliver a nasty bite that, while not fatal, is dangerous in its own right.

Those who succumb to the bite of a glowgrub will find themselves drawn, trancelike, to deep water. But while a glowgrub can survive submerging itself in those murky depths for hours at a time, most oxygen-breathing creatures cannot.

So don't go wandering about all alone, all right?

---

LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

Comments

Crow | Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon

[tomodachi]

[Everybody look at me, cause I'm sailin on a boat]

[When finding oneself on a boat, there's only one appropriate reaction: assume your position as the captain and act as the authority figure, obviously.]

You! Start rowing the ship toward the west! An island of treasure is ahead and within our grasp!

[You're not a pirate, Crow...]

[Heed the sign that says, "Beware the Beast of Pirate's Bay!"]

[Crow doesn't actually need fire to keep warm, but having it available as a source of light is definitely useful. As for stories to tell--]

Alright, gather 'round, 'cause I've got some great stories to tell from my adventures, living the pirate life and looking for only the coolest of treasures! For I am the Great Crow-sama that... wait.

[He pauses, head tilting to the side.]

Did ya hear something just now?

[... Maybe someone should make sure the kid here sticks close to the truth about these adventures he has to tell.]

beware!

[catpiper]

Eh?

[That turns her attention away from this strange boy towards the beach surrounding them. She listens for a moment and the creature makes another noise, causing her to tense up.

Nope. Nope Nope Nope.]

I heard it. A scary noise.

[She wants to run, but the bonfire is safer than the dark forest. It's not like she can fend off the creature and she doesn't know what this guy will do. Where's Seto when you need him??]

We have to stay here. The fire makes bad things stay away.

[tomodachi]

Heh. I ain't afraid of no bad things or weird noises. I can take'em.

[There is a pause though, as he considers Ren here.]

I guess you are kind'a scrawny though. You wouldn't stand a chance if something does come out at us.

[Gee, thanks Crow.]

[catpiper]

[W O W]

You're small too.

[What is with you brave people? It's not like this kid has a weapon, unless he's hiding it somewhere on his person. They'll both have to book it if the monster appears and she's hoping it doesn't come to that.]

We have to keep the fire going. And make it really, really big.

[Because it's starting to dwindle, or it looks that way out of the corner of her eye.]

[tomodachi]

Am not.

[...]

But it would probably be annoying if it shows up and gets rid of our only light here.

[Which is probably the closest you're going to get to him agreeing with you.]

[catpiper]

[To her, the idea is terrifying and hearing the noises the creature makes is enough to make her uneasy. Also, is it her imagination or is the fire dying down?

That can't be right.

She tries to ignore it.]

...What treasures did you find?

[Might as well ask the great Crow. It sounded like he was going to talk about it earlier.]

[tomodachi]

... Oh, right, I was in the middle of talking about that: during the course of my travels, I've found all kinds of objects! Just take a look at these!

[And here, he indicates the shiny medals he's wearing, as well as taking the kettle off his hip to show off to her.]

Amazing, right? I found these when I came across a place that had the coolest stuff. Not only did it have treasure, but you could climb up these huge metal structures, taller than even those trees!

[Despite these treasures being junk, the honesty of his enthusiasm here does bring back some life into the fire...]

[catpiper]

[That same enthusiasm grabs her attention, as she's one of two people in the world who can appreciate an old kettle. What a cool find. She doesn't attempt to touch it, but her arm goes out and she points at the kettle.]

It's pretty! You can hide seashells in that. Lots of them.

[Because that's the next logical course of action, right? Sure.]

You climbed up by yourself? Wasn't it scary?

[tomodachi]

Seashells?

[what are those...]

Nah, not really. I ain't scared of a little thing like heights.

[catpiper]

You're brave.

[Since it's not often Ren gets to show someone a cool thing, she flips her bag around to her front and begins shuffling through. Despite the junk inside, it doesn't take long for her to find a small seashell and she holds out for him to see.]

These are my treasures. The ocean makes them.

[tomodachi]

The ocean makes them? [HOW] Isn't the ocean just a bunch of water?

Boat!

[esper_magic]

[ Terra didn't know who this person was, but they seemed to know what they were doing. So they should be listened to, right? Also rowing.. she supposes he means with those stick things? So she picks one up, not really sure what to do with it, but first off -- ]

Um....which way is "West"?

[tomodachi]

It's... uh.

[A pause, before he points in a random direction.]

That way?

[esper_magic]

[ "That way" was as good a direction as any to her. ]

All right. [ She put the stick oar thing to the water and tried guiding the raft in an the direction that was pointed out, and not.. in circles. She figures things out relatively quickly though, and soon the raft is heading a hopefully westerly direction! That will also hopefully not lead to a horrible horrible death. ]

[tomodachi]

[After a moment of quiet, Crow speaks again.]

So, who the heck are you, anyway?

[esper_magic]

[ Terra glanced up from her focused job of rowing, almost in surprise. ]

Oh... my name is Terra. What's yours?

[tomodachi]

You can call me Crow: C-R-O-W!

[He even punctuates the spelling of his name with a slight fist pump into the air.]

[esper_magic]

[ Is that how you're supposed to introduce yourself? Terra started to ask about the fist pumping, but felt a little odd about it, so she decided to move on. ]

It's nice to meet you, Crow. ... Um. Why are we going after treasure?

[tomodachi]

Huh? Isn't it obvious? When you're on a ship, you go to places that have treasure, just like any pirate would do.

[esper_magic]

Is it obvious? [ Maybe to everyone but you, Terra. ] Well.. what do you do with it?

[tomodachi]

You keep it, duh. You collect more and more shiny treasures as you travel, until you become the richest pirate of the seven seas!

boat

[tripleaxels]

Right. I'll be the only one rowing, while you wear yourself out doing nothing, until we find our way to an island that may or may not have treasure on it and is probably just further from wherever it is we came from, leaving us stranded in an even worse position than we were in when we started, and...

[ This is some very dry, very fast muttering that Yuuri is doing. What's even happening right now? Can anyone explain why he's on a raft with a boy who's convinced that they're pirates?

He's picking up an oar anyway. Yuuri frowns at it. ]

I don't even know which way is west.

[tomodachi]

What was that? Are you back-talking to the Captain? That's grounds for getting tossed overboard on most ships, you know.

[... But then, we wouldn't have a rower, so Crow appears to grant mercy.]

It's that way, obviously.

[Crow points ahead slightly to their right somewhere.

... There is no telling if Crow actually knows for sure or if he's just pointing in a random direction.]

[tripleaxels]

[ Yuuri eyes him with a sigh, just enough of a glance to size him up, and then shrugs. ]

Well, if you toss me overboard, you'll have no one to row your ship.

[ He spends enough time getting egregious threats from a fifteen-year-old to know how to brush them off. Yuuri begins rowing. ]

How did we even get into this situation?

[tomodachi]

Beats me. But there's no use in whining about it now, so we'd better keep rowing until we hit land.