aftr_ooc | TEST DRIVE MEME ( 013 )

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*test drive meme

TEST DRIVE MEME ( 013 )

Test Drive Meme #13

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 July 17th, and Applications on July 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.

Sit Down, You're Rocking the Boat
When you wake, it's to the bucking of tumultuous ocean waves and the heavy sluice of rain. The boat you've found yourself on was probably seaworthy at some point, but it's been wind-battered and weatherbeaten to the point where it's begun, quite steadily, to sink into the choppy waves. Looks like you're all in the same, sinking vessel.

To make matters worse, it seems that the storm itself has a nasty sense of humor. It seems almost intuitive in its attempts to toss you from your footing on the deck and into the frothing waters below. Gusts of powerful wind try to tear you from the mast if you climb it, and the boat rocks perilously to try and tip you into the churning waves. Oh, and did we mention the lightning? Because there's lightning, and it seems to have a personal interest in incinerating your pitifully wooden little boat on the spot.

That doesn't mean you're completely helpless. There is an island in sight, one that resembles the waking land of Ensō, albeit somewhat far off, its silhouette fuzzy and indistinct from the curtains of rain. But if you can make it...

Well, anywhere's got to be better than here, right?

Gibbon No Quarter
It's been a year since the first adventurers were initially drawn to Mu's shores, and then, later, to Ensō's. And so, in celebration, the dream-island has cribbed only the best bits of the previous year for prospective explorers to sample on their way in.

Take now, for instance. You'll find yourself in a cage of all things, with the pound of drums and excited hoots of hungry simians to greet you upon waking. This particular breed of monkeys was once unique to Ensō, before travelers were forced to more or less thoroughly exterminate them. Devilishly smart and naturally inventive, gun monkeys are so named for their trademark weaponry - coconut guns, naturally - and their generally cunning capacity to craft tools out of very rudimentary resources.

And oh, right - they're also very carnivorous. They've set up a smoking bonfire in the center of the jungle clearing that makes up their temporary home, and if you don't figure out a way to come out of your cage (have you been doing just fine, perhaps?), then you're going to be next on the menu.

Think fast, or work with whoever's nearby, and you might have a chance. Or you could always call for help. That always works out, right?

To Be Continued
Stories, stories, stories. Anyone who's hung around the block for any length of time can tell you, dear newcomers, that those little things are of the utmost importance in this neck of the woods. There's no mistaking the purpose behind this inviting scene - log seats set up around a roaring campfire, and even a packet or two of marshmallows if you're feeling hungry.

It almost might be enough to distract you from the fact that there's no fuel for said fire. And what's more, the darkness surrounding the woodland backdrop is so impenetrable that you may as well be an isolated blot of warmth in an otherwise unforgiving void. And within that void, if you listen close, you might hear something - a snarling, an indistinct rumble of massive jaws parting, hungrily, in search of something alive.

If that flame burns out...well, something out there isn't fond of fire, and that's the only thing keeping it from claiming everyone seated here for its own enjoyment. But the good news is that there's a very easy way to keep this fire blazing well through the danger. Can you tell where this is going?

It's stories, of course. Regale us with tales of your past exploits, or with fairytales or nursery rhymes you remember from your childhood. Relay your tales of triumph and of grief, of laughter and of agony, of anything you can possibly imagine. As long as a story of some sort is being told, the fire will burn merrily onward, and the blanket of all-consuming darkness will be kept at bay.

Just try not to embellish too much. If your story is too vague, if it is more lies than it is something genuine, the fire might start to gutter dangerously low as a consequence. And that beast, whatever it is - oh, it's hungry.

LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

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[He can't help but chuckle in the way she instantly takes interest, and he finds himself grinning and puffing himself up a bit. Yeah, you hear that Lup, people are interested. In stuff he has to say. So hah.]

Well, there's been a lot of stories. It was my job, after all. Uh-- goodness, I don't know if there's been a favorite or anything.

[He stops to consider it, curling his fingers around his jaw as he thinks.]

I did find someone who was trying to turn it into a corner service, that was... odd. Just open up a shop on the street offering to revive corpses. Like-- who thinks they can just do that? Because you most certainly can't.

(Lucretia looks shocked for a beat, then laughs, albeit nervously. Her curiousity with regards to necrotic magic certainly toes the line of revulsion. Hard not to be grossed out at the thought of somebody bringing dead people back to life.)

No, I– uh, definitely not.

And you've made a job out of... stitching these people up? If you'll pardon the pun.

[Yeah it's not the best! He's far from squicked by it at this point, but-- hardly a fan.]

Well, more like the role was given to me, many years ago. But it's still important. Preserving the natural order is vital to the continuation of, well, the universe. So I serve my Lady and keep the balance of the world. It's rather simple, underneath it all.

(how is he saying this so casually??)

Oh sure, sure, (Lucretia says, as if the man sitting next to her has not just confessed to being an agent of the universe, what,) who... exactly do you work for, then?

[He's kind of forgetting everyone doesn't just know this about him.Plus, it's-- well, a little bit of it is certainly feeling pride about the whole thing.]

I serve my Lady, the Raven Queen, the Goddess of Death and the Natural Order.

[You know, like a normal person.]

I've had many titles over the years, but I think I liked the term the Grim Reaper best.

(Lucretia can't help but stare.)

The– you work for the Raven Queen?

(She didn't even know that was a thing! How do you get a job working for a goddess? And a job ferrying the dead, no less. Lucretia knows her mouth is hanging slightly open, but she can't help it.)

[He puffs up a little at her confusion, knowing he'll have to elaborate for the fire but also really wanting to now that he's getting a positive reaction.]

I do! Well, when I'm not here. She chose me many years ago, and well- she was in need of a task completed, and I was in need of something to do. Or I suppose anything, since I was quite dead at that point.

[And all points thereafter, until pretty recently.]

I do still serve her, of course, even if we may have become... temporarily disconnected. As it were.

Hold on.

(There's so much to parse out here. Lucretia knows this isn't in the spirit of the fire's rules: the flame does flicker in very telltale manner in response to silence, so she tries to think out loud instead.)

You're disconnected from her... here? Because of the location, or because of other circumstances?

(It kinda sounded like the first one! Lucretia has never considered that before. She always figured the likes of the Raven Queen had control that spanned across the planarverse, but it's not like any of them had ever tried to test that theory. Merle can still use his magic, after all. They'd assumed.

Lucretia stares at the fire, thinking hard.)

And... you're dead? Is that why you're disconnected? Am– am I dead?

You're probably not dead just on virtue of being here-- this is the furthest thing from the Astral Plane that I can imagine.

[With that cleared up, though, he can move on to what he does know.]

That said, this space is... liminal. It's likely this is all a dream. But it does make connections difficult.

[Is that everything? No, wait, one more question.]

But uhm, yes, I am quite undead on the regular. A servant of death going to and from the Astral Plane can't very well be alive.

... Okay.

(It seems he knows what he's talking about, but Lucretia is still uncertain. If only the one person in their group who regularly blinks himself into the Astral Plane were here with her. She fidgets in front of the fire, and sighs when it darkly flickers in response to her silence.)

Of course it's a dream, (she says darkly, and glances up, wondering if she should go so far as to pinch herself,) Taako is going to have a field day if I try to ask him about a dream that I've had.

(Maybe she'll skip this one after all.) How long have you been dead?

[He has a response he was going to say. She agrees, and he thinks he has a follow up, and then she says a Very Specific Word and his whole brain goes down like a train crash. He immediately goes from being more poised to just outright staring at her, eyes wider than they should be, and looking just a little afraid. Oh gods. Oh this is not some stranger most likely, oh no, oh noooooo.]

Y... you... Taako? You know Taako??

[internalscreaming.mp4]

(This last question provokes a very strange reaction. Lucretia is about to apologise for it, having immediately leapt to the conclusion that asking such a thing is very offensive to dead people, but Kravitz beats her to talking first.)

... Yes?

(Are they... both thinking of the same Taako?

what a stupid question)

Taako the... wizard? I work with him, on the Starblaster. How do you know him?

[This is about to become the worst conversation he's ever had, and he's suddenly thankful that the others clustered here don't seem to be paying any attention. His heart is doing some weird tango of wanting to seize up and thrumming at Taako's name, and he would very much like to be dead again right now thank you.]

I... yes, Taako the wizard. He, uhm... well, we're.

[Taako did tell him he could say it, sort of. He hasn't stopped him. So... let's make the worst introduction he's ever goddamn done, then.]

We're dating. I'm his boyfriend. Er... maybe in your future?

[This is gonna go great.]

Excuse me?

(Hey, fuck the fire, fuck everything else. The darkness can get Lucretia if it wants, she doesn't care. She's far more interested in the story associated with the man sitting next to her. He looks incredibly nervous all of a sudden, but he does appear to be genuine... why else would he have had such a reaction the moment she mentioned Taako by name?

She takes out her journal. To the Lucretia uninitiated, it probably looks like she's about to start taking fucking minutes or something. She wets her fingers, flips to a new page, finds a ballpoint pen in her pocket and gives the page a heading. The heading just says: 'Dream Notes'.)

Care to elaborate?

[Yeah, he kinda feels like he's being interrogated by the fuckin' cops. Is he on trial? Is he being arrested for dating one (1) boy?? Maybe she doesn't like him. Maybe she likes him. There's so much going on.]

I, uh... I mean, I don't really know how to begin, here. I know he used to work on a ship called the Starblaster, but I met him after that mission. So, perhaps, we are from different... er, instances, in time.

Okay...

(Jury is out on whether she likes him or not, she needs much more information first! Lucretia nods, and scribbles something down. She's too used to being around people who ignore her while she does this... it doesn't really occur to her that it must be extremely strange to him.)

You could start with your name, (she says, glancing up, realising that she hasn't even introduced herself.

Wait, does he know her? Has Taako mentioned her name? That's a strange thought.)

<[Kravitz doesn't have a lot of memories of being alive, much less being a child, but he's getting the distinct impression right now that she's the authority here and he just needs to do what she says. It's not unlike how he used to feel with his Lady, but it would be improper to imagine she's on the same level as his Goddess.

He's feeling judged like it is, though. What if he doesn't measure up? What if he doesn't get along with Taako's friends?]

Oh, I'm-- terribly sorry. I'm Kravitz. And, uhm...

[He sort of twists his wrist towards her as if to say 'and you?']

(She does notice the way he reverts back to politeness; it makes her smile a little, amused by the twirling of his wrist. Perhaps he doesn't know her after all. That doesn't really surprise her; Taako is first and foremost about himself, and then about Lup, so:)

Lucretia. Hail and well met.

(If his attention drops to her notebook, he might see her pause thoughtfully after writing a capital C, then an R, and an A. She taps her pen on the paper, crossing it out neatly, then snaps the book shut and puts it away again.)

How long have you been together? (this is just gossip, now. she kind of loves it??)

[He's kind of peering over at her as she writes, trying to be inconspicuous about it. Oh no, she absolutely just spelled it with a c. Does he say something? Is it impolite to say something? Maybe he should ask her for the spelling of her name too, is that allowed, how do you do this.

He does manage to sputter out, quickly--]

Uhm, with a K. If that helps.

[--before she addresses him with her next question.]

Well, uhm, this place makes things a little... confusing, I think, since it doesn't record time as accurately. What I mean is, we both have slightly different, uhm, timelines, so it's difficult to say an exact number. About six months, I imagine? I mean, we weren't dating when we met, we didn't start that until a few months past, so, ah... three or four? Plus our time here, so another three or four.

[Hmmm, that seems like nothing when he says it, and that makes him feel even stupider. She is going to laugh at him, he can feel it.]

(Oh, that does help! Lucretia whips her book out real quick and adds that in. Now she has 'Kravits' written down in neat cursive halfway down the page. She turns her book toward him to see. If he reads up he'll notice that the rest of the writing is fairly mundane: all she's done is note the fact that this is a dream, the current circumstances of sitting about the fire, and that she's run into Taako's partner. More chronicling than any personal note-taking.)

Like this?

(Getting the little details right is very important to her. It kept her in work for a good couple years before the IPRE came along, after all! She listens very attentively while he continues to talk for this reason, pausing every so often to write something neatly down. May as well, now that she's got her journal out again.)

Okay... (she's trying to put a little timeline together but it's a bit difficult... she squints, then glances up at him. He looks really nervous! It makes her smile slightly, amused.) Congratulations, in that case. You... don't have to worry, you know, I'm not here to deliver the 'break his heart I break your legs' speech or anything.

(... because that honour belongs to lup, but she won't say it)

[She looks so eager, and he feels so goddamn weird.]

Uhm, ends with a z, but. Close.

[At the very least she seems to be friendly, which is making it easier for him to talk and not just have a heart attack right here. She tries to reassure him, and he manages what he hopes is a shrug, even though it mostly just looks like a shoulder wiggle.]

It's not that I think you're going to hurt me or anything, I just... haven't particularly had the chance to interact with many of Taako's friends. I met him at the same time as two other men by the name of Magnus and Merle that he was traveling with, and I've since had the... pleasure of meeting his sister. But she was the first person I really met from his life.

[He certainly hasn't been fully integrated into the group, as it were.]

Forgive me for any awkwardness. I haven't really had the chance to interact with people at all on this level for quite some time. I suppose I'm a bit rusty, especially when it considers, uhm. Him.

Sorry. (Lucretia gives him a little embarrassed half-smile, then hurriedly corrects her work.) Third time lucky, huh?

(He looks so awkward... it seems like she is really weirding him out! She pauses with her pen still balanced, point on the paper, suddenly quite aware of the way that he's holding himself. It's probably the note taking thing, it probably isn't helping. She stashes her book away again, resolving not to take it out again until she has left this particular conversation.)

Oh. (Despite her own anxiety over making him uncomfortable, she can't help but snigger at what he says.) You met Lup first? (that's rough, buddy) Well, you've all but– survived the crash course, so to speak. It's all downhill from here.

And where I'm from in the timeline, Taako isn't... I haven't seen him date anybody before, not really. So you'll have to excuse my awkwardness too. But it is good to meet you, Kravitz.

[He's just working up both of their anxieties now and he knows it, but this is so off base for Kravitz he just has no clue how to deal with this everything. Obviously he knows cerebrally that Taako has friends, but his first meeting with Lup went so badly he feels like he's just waiting for someone to bust out and kick his ass at any available opportunity. Who knows what Lucretia is capable of. Probably a lot! It would do him well not to underestimate that.]

Really? Well, excuse my bad luck then. I have, uhm, spoken to... Barry? Do you know Barry? He's been much more pleasant.

[Even if they are both liches but he's supposed to have chilled the fuck out on that a little goddamn bit. At least he can put aside that there's nothing he can do here so sometimes you just die a little bit. It's fine.]

And, uhm... he hasn't? Would it be-- you don't have to tell me if it's rude, but how long have you known him? I don't think I got to meet him until he'd been around for quite some time, so it's difficult to say exactly where I know him versus... you? I guess? I'm sorry, I'm sure you know more than me here.

I'm aware of Barry, (she says, and her face remains completely neutral because she's just instinctively messing with him now. He's dating Taako and that goes hand in hand with having to interact with the six of them, and that comes with razzing. S'how it is, Lucretia doesn't make the rules.)

It's not rude. (He's angling for info, she gets it. This time she does smile.) I've known him for seventy-eight years. He's not very good at keeping these kinds of things secret, so...

(Strange, that she's only hearing about it now. It must be dream logic?)

[This is what he's expecting, honestly. Anyone who's friends with Taako in a capacity that spans seventy-eight years is here to drag his ass to the next dimension. He's at least getting a conversation out of her, not the shouting match that meeting Lup was. It had been a very stressful day. This has decidedly lower stakes.]

Oh. Yep, yes, that's a long time.

[She looks pretty young for seventy eight. Don't humans age more than that? That isn't important right now.]

I'm really not sure how his whole thing has worked. I've had some discussions here about his travel to the plane we met on but it's all a bit fuzzy. I.. assume I'll meet you eventually, in our actual world.

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