TEST DRIVE MEME ( 017 )

[lifeaftr_mods]

Test Drive Meme #17

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 November 17th, and Applications on November 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.

Is Anyone There?
What initially promises to be a relaxing island getaway is anything but. The tropical backdrop is all there - swaying palms, crystalline shores, white sand beaches, the whole hog. It's as idyllic as Ensō ever gets in the real world, the waters sparkling just that much more with a polish of dream-shine.

The real problem here is that you're not alone.

While they might be little more than a misted, formless shape at first, they'll rapidly take a more solid form as time goes on: a specter of a single person of great emotional significance. Whoever you might be seeing, they're here to rouse some aspect of your life that was not fully resolved. Someone you did not mourn, someone you did not grieve, someone you loved, someone you cut ties with unkindly, someone who represents a chapter in your life that you have thus far sought to repress. Tailing you relentlessly, refusing to be ignored or brushed aside or forgotten, this specter is hungry for your attention to the exclusion of all else. They will bring every painful association to light and rub those wounds raw, to a terrifyingly parasitic extent. They crave your attention, your love, your devotion, your fear. They are tethered to you, and cannot tolerate the thought that you might pay attention to anyone or anything else.

However they might have been in life, however fondly or not you may remember them, this shadow of them is merely that: a shadow. Desperate for your attention, and likely to grow jealous if you dare direct it anywhere else. They can't live without you. Why should you get to live without them?

In fact...why should you get to live at all? If you don't give them the attention they crave, they might start to demand it a shade more vigorously. They're only going to grow more solid as time wears on - and while no one but you can see them, they have the power to affect you very physically if they so choose.

Choose Your Own Adventure
What you have before you, dear traveler, is a very linear path forward. Deep, tropical woodland, jungle-like in texture and evening-dark, and a well-trodden path that stretches onward in a seemingly infinite, winding road. There is no way to go but backwards or forwards. Or, for the particularly brave...well, you could try moving off the beaten path, but we wouldn't recommend it. As it happens, the surrounding vegetation in this area is mostly comprised of a very irritating sort of foe.

As it happens, most traditional mimics take the form of wooden chests to befuddle and then snack upon any intrepid explorers foolish enough to open a container without checking for teeth first. Such is not always the case, however! Mimicries are what we will tentatively dub...distant cousins of your more conventional mimic. In the waking world, most of them prefer to assume the form of bushes, waiting for an unsuspecting traveler to tread upon the roots that will then snap around their ankles and reel them in, leaves parting to reveal a row of very nasty, very pointed jaws. Tonight, on Mu, their aptitude at blending into the vegetation to prey on the absent-minded explorer is out in full force.

While mimicries are very skilled at impersonating their surroundings, there are plenty of holes in their disguise for those keen of eye. An alert enough traveler may glimpse a pair of yellow, reptilian eyes blinking out from the vegetation before they fade just as fast. Mimicries are highly hostile, prone to attacking once they feel you've drawn close enough for them to take a good chomp, and don't tend to let go of their prey until either it is dead or they are. Armed with spiny teeth and a terrier-like refusal of relinquish their grip under any circumstances, mimicries can vary from genuine danger to outright irritant.

The good news is that, despite their number, mimicries are terribly vulnerable to fire. Happy hunting!

Caught in the Rainbow Current
On the more peaceful side of things, you're also liable to wake on a much quieter island destination - and this time, neither ghosts from your past nor RPG-styled foes will be there to spoil your stay!

Instead, you can take heart in the drifting, multicolored lights that shimmer off the seafoam and flotsam. A bale of kaleidoshells are passing through this region, and they're certainly taking their time in doing so. Resembling a cross between turtles and dugongs, kaleidoshells are so named for their distinctive radiance. Their scales and rainbow-colored shells can get as large as six feet across. The shifting colors on their backs are both bright and reflective. A vast enough number of kaleidoshells can allow for the illusion of an underwater aurora borealis, which is precisely what is occurring now. Kaleidoshells are placid and peaceable creatures by nature in addition to being unfailingly pretty to look at. As they are largely sea-dwelling, their presence in the archipelago is usually seasonal. However, despite the autumn season, Mu has elected to make an exception. Kaleidoshells are particularly slow and unwieldy on land, and thus not much of a threat, but you're probably better off not trying to poach their eggs. They do, however, make a very fine sight around the waters of Mu, especially in this artificial evening. Luminescent, their rainbow patterns glow underwater with the dim pulse of drifting mood lights.

So relax, take in the sights...or wade in to swim alongside them, if you like. They won't mind the company, and there's something singularly enchanting about getting to swim in the tide of a rainbow.

---

LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

Comments

[thermalwind]

[He keeps guiding her but his mind races. Sendak. He's gone toe to toe with him before and so had Lotor. Of all the Generals of Zarkon he's the least surprised that Sendak would turn towards Earth and hit it.

As surprised as he is that Allura helped build Shiro a new arm. He nods, clearly listening as he guides her through the forest.] It's alright. It just means we can show you our creatures ourselves.

...we succeeded that's half of the battle right there. And I didn't come up with Ember's name. I asked him what he wanted to be called and he dropped an ember from the fire in front of me.

[Wait. His brain catches up and he visibly perks up.] Wait. Did. Did he tell me his name? Is that why you said Kosmo?

[diplomacycheck]

That is true, I suppose. [She immediately brushes the thought aside, smiling faintly at the idea. Perhaps when they all awaken, or whatever similar creatures exist in this dream world -- like the plant!owl Keith pointed out to her earlier.

Allura thinks of pointing out something glaringly obvious to Keith before he perks up.]

Ah yes. Now that you mention it, I do recall you saying as much when Hunk asked if he had one yet. [Her smile turns a bit sheepish.] Hunk also suggested "Kosmo" and your wolf companion immediately latched on to it.

Ember is a lovely name, though. He chose well.

[thermalwind]

...maybe I should have suggested names to him. [Well, he latched onto one. That's something. Kosmo it is. Keith nods as they clear the forest and he steps onto warm sand.

It shouldn't be warm in this strange nighttime but this is Mu. The rules are skewed in this dream based reflection of reality. Keith glances back and the water beyond the shore is alive with colorful patterns as the sea turtles swim on by.]

Here we are. Take a look. We have a lot of bad things happen here but, just as many good ones. They're called sea turtles. The variety here...pretty cool, right?

[diplomacycheck]

Perhaps. ...Did you ever ask him to point at something? [He didn't have the luxury of being able to understand Kosmo the way she did with Platt, Chulatt, Plachu, and Chuchule. It was an easy way to communicate instead. Pointing with his nose or pawing. He is a smart cosmic wolf; he'd understand.

Her jaw sets as they step out of the forest. It's been easier to ignore it, the shade, but the presence persists. An exhale, and the tension leaves her as she follows Keith's gaze and to the brilliant display of colors beneath the waves.]

They're amazing, especially when the sunlight hits their shells just so. [It had been just further down the beach that Shiro had found her. That reminds her of something she should probably discuss with Keith.] Should I awaken with you all, is there anything you've shared you'd rather I didn't mention to the others?

[It's probably obvious what she means; he'd never told them how he got the scar on his right cheek.]