aftr_ooc | TEST DRIVE MEME ( 018 )

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*test drive meme

TEST DRIVE MEME ( 018 )

Test Drive Meme #18

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 December 17th! Due to the holiday season, Applications will be opening on December 26th, with an app period shifted to end on January 2nd instead of the usual timeframe!

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.

Upsy Wars: Revenge of the Lift
Over the past sixteen months, adventurers have adjusted to the sight of a wide variety of odd and fantastical creatures, some friendlier than others. Of the more ferocious, it's wise to consider giving them a wide berth - from the indomitable fustercluck to living black holes to the deadly contagious quartzalcoatls. However, only one predator has gained the dubious title of "that weird flying mouth thing."

Invasive to LifeAftr, Upsy the elevator is not satisfied with haunting the memories of those who encountered it during its arrival in July. Now it's here to haunt your dreams, too! While capable of speech and some style of sentience on its home world, it seems LifeAftr has yet to agree with a machine that is equal parts flesh and metal. Driven to silence by whatever forces this world has exposed it to, Upsy is driven by one, basic instinct, and one alone.

To give you a lift, whether you want it or not.

Upsy’s attacks are abrupt and immediate. Swooping down from the sky, it will collect as many living things in its mouth as can fit, before closing its doors and soaring away. Want to leave? Don't worry; Upsy has no intentions of keeping you, or digesting you. Release from that fleshy mouth prison is as immediate as the initial attack. We hope you enjoy flying, because Upsy can spit even the heaviest of creatures a good hundred feet away from itself, at any altitude. Do look out below.

The Emoji Movie
Communication on the islands currently consists of Stones of Far Speech, a relatively adaptable system that is open to requests and suggestions for improvement. One such request has been met with a small bout of confusion, however; as adaptable as the Storyteller attempts to be, you kids with your mobile phones and your texting and emojis get a little beyond them, sometimes.

Beyond Mu as well, it seems.

When you asked for emojis, this is what you wanted, right? Exclusive to Mu, Emojees come in a variety of shapes and sizes; from knee-high yellow orbs with rows of sharp teeth that simply cannot stop laughing, to horse-sized poop emojees that - well. One can guess. Numbering in the hundreds and intending to convey their meaning by any means possible, it's a good idea to avoid prolonged contact with these happy little abominations.

The taller, more objective emojees will simply try to absorb those attached to them in an effort to become even larger, but the smaller infect their prey with the emotions they portray, influencing them into the perfect emotional state for consumption.

In hindsight, this is probably not what the children actually wanted...

Close enough.

Let It Go Snow
LifeAftr may be primarily tropical, but that doesn't mean some of its creatures don't appreciate a good white Christmas - and a white rest of the year, at that.

Gelfs are one such species. While they may be visually reminiscent of Santa's Little Helpers, these small creatures aren't about to start handing out presents. Having snuck onto Mu's metaphysical shores at the beginning of the month, these little critters have immediately set about doing what they do best - spreading ice and snow across the island, in increasingly hazardous quantities.

As the influence of the gelfs settles across Mu, it's quite possible that the abrupt cold snap will lead to severe consequences for any adventurous guests, unless you enjoy the prospect of an avalanche waiting to happen Now may be the best time to hunt these gelfs down, before such disaster can occur.

For those uninterested in massacring a local creature population (again), you may as well enjoy this winter wonderland while it lasts. Ice skating, snowball fights - and for those in the know, the time-honored competition to create the best dabbing ice sculpture. If you're lucky, you might even find a container of piping hot wassail - spiced apple cider - laying around.

LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ It's so cold, and Lucretia can feel herself getting more and more tired as she plods through the snow. She wants nothing more than to rest, to lie down and curl up just for a minute, but she can't. She knows she can't, that if she does there's no way she'll make it out of this.

She's so focused on just keeping herself moving, she doesn't even notice the larger woman coming up beside her until she speaks. Lucretia looks up, blinking snowflakes out of her eyes and squinting up at...well, at what she's mostly interpreting as a mass of dreadlocks and piercings, right now. ]

I'm...I'm afraid not. [ She grimaces, rubbing her arms with stiff, frozen hands. ] Please, I - are you from around here? Is there somewhere to g-get out of the cold?

Here. (Yasha takes one look at her and immediately starts to shrug her way out of a layer of her furs. She's warmed up enough from trudging through the snow, so she has no qualms about offering them to the woman to put over her shoulders and arms. Hopefully that helps.)

I'm... new, (she explains, abruptly feeling like she's in over her head. The only way she knows is where she came from, really.) I– haven't really been here before. Until now, I mean.

(She jerks a thumb lamely over her shoulder.) There is shelter back that way, though it will take a few hours to get there.

Edited 2018-12-18 10:14 (UTC)

[ Lucretia tries to protest, but she's so cold, and as soon as her fingers brush against the soft fur she finds herself losing all will to refuse the offer. She takes it gratefully, wrapping it around her shoulders and pulling it in tight. ]

Thank you. [ It's heartfelt, and the extra layer does help, but not enough to keep her from looking dismayed at the prospect of the nearest shelter being hours away. ]

A few hours? [ She looks back the way she'd come, trying to imagine turning and walking back all that way. Further, even. ] ...There has to be something closer.

Two or three? (Yasha guesses, feeling a little better once the woman takes her proffered furs, drawing them in tight around herself. She'd give her one more if only she had another to spare.)

... If we keep walking, we'll come across something eventually.

(right?????

Honestly, Yasha isn't too worried about it. She's fine as she is, and has no problems with sloughing her way back the way she'd came if she has to. She has her stone of farspeech too, safe in her pocket, so she isn't without outside contact.)

There's n-no guarantee of that.

[ Which they both know. Lucretia pauses, thinking.

At one point in her life, she would have told the stranger to go back without her. Back to safety, if she thought she had a chance of making it. Lucretia would keep moving on her own. If she found shelter, good. If not, well...

But she can't afford to be that cavalier with her life anymore. She looks up at the stranger, better dressed and, it seems, better prepared for the weather overall. As loath as she is to ask for help these days, she knows she has no choice. She's lost, and freezing, and without any of the resources of the Bureau at her back.

She can't take any chances here. Her work is too important. ]

Please, will you help me? I can't -

I can't die.

Of course, (Yasha says carefully, taken aback by their situation's dire turn; the woman is still shivering, looking lost and little where she stands. She really does need an extra layer. Yasha decides she can provide that after all, in a pinch. She unwraps the second fur from around her shoulders and neck and hands it firmly over.)

... Please, take this. Until you warm up a little more. Then I will take it back.

(Straightforward enough? She's left in her shawl and tunic, neither of which will withstand the cold for very long, but she doesn't appear to mind. She's suffered through worse. Once they start walking again, she'll be fine. She exhales, her breath puffing out in front of her, and glances ahead.)

I think that we should keep going forward.

[ She starts to shake her head, not willing to take any more of this woman's clothes off her back - but she recognizes that look in her eyes, that refusal to take no for an answer. And she's so cold. Reluctantly, Lucretia nods, taking the fur gratefuly and bundling up in it. ]

Just for a few minutes. Thank you.

[ She won't watch this woman suffer on her behalf. Buoyed a little by the extra layer, and without the cold wind cutting right through to her skin, she stands a little taller, peering forward into the expanse of white. ]

I think...it's our only option.

[ Staying here certainly isn't one. It's cold enough already, and the light won't last forever. Glancing up at her companion for confirmation, she starts to walk forward again, not willing to waste time or energy they may not have. ]

(Yes, it's starting to snow again... Yasha stands for a moment, transfixed by the sight, then shivers, and that kick starts her pace anew. She has quite a large stride, so she's careful not to pull too far ahead of her new companion. She'll bring up the lead, however, and perhaps this is a calculated move, just to block the wind as much as she can from hitting the smaller woman bringing up the rear behind her.)

I am not used to snow, (she says, by way of discussion. Starting a conversation is probably best, just to distract them from their current situation.)

I came from the... (she gestures, thinking,) swamp? Something more marsh-like. In any case, it was much drier than this.

[ She's cold and not a little scared, but Lucretia's still sharp enough to notice how the other woman takes the lead, cutting off the worst of the wind.

She notices, but she's also not stupid, so she accepts the unspoken kindness without protest, simply doing her best to keep up. Better for both of them to get out of the elements as quickly as possible. She's determined not to be responsible for delaying their pace. ]

Drier?

[ A marsh? Lucretia frowns, trying to reconcile this...and then her frown deepens as the more important point hits home. ]

If you're not used to the cold, then you should take this back.

[ Unwrapping the second layer of furs from her shoulders, she tromps through the snow enough to get close, holding the garment out ahead of her insistently in stiff, frozen fingers. ]

Here. Please.

Well... (Muddier... it was dry where Yasha lived with her tribe, the air was humid. She shrugs a shoulder awkwardly.) I mean... it was not like this, you know.

(Certainly never any snow. She's quite taken with it, despite the bitter temperature. The woman reacts to this news by promptly taking off the furs Yasha had just offered her and handing them back to her. Yasha opens her mouth to argue the point but she looks very determined, and. Well, she is cold. No point in pretending she isn't. Yasha takes it from her, holds it in her hands for a moment, then pulls them back around her shoulders.)

... Thank you.

(Is it redundant to thank somebody for returning something you gave to them in the first place? Yasha looks embarrassed, and promptly continues to walk, her head slightly bowed against the oncoming weather.)

Thank you. For your kindness.

[ She didn't have to offer Lucretia her clothes, didn't have to stay with her, didn't have to venture forward into the unknown rather than turning back to where she knows shelter and safety await. But she had. And Lucretia's grateful.

She falls silent too, simply concentrating on putting one foot ahead of the other for a while, keeping her head down, until the cold and the unrelenting sound of the wind become too much and she can feel her eyelids drooping again. She shakes herself alert, forcing herself to speak. ]

Tell me...please...about your home.

(Yasha doesn't answer that, because she feels it is not a kindness, rather something that anybody with common sense would do. Either way, she sees no point in contesting the gratitude. She hunches her shoulders, so that the fur brushes comfortably against her jaw and cheeks.

They continue to walk in silence. Yasha does not mind the slog, she is more than used to walking great distances without pause, but of course, not everybody can keep up in the way that she can. She is careful to keep the woman close behind her, checking every so often to make sure she has not fallen behind. If she lost her in the snow... hmm. Yasha would rather not think about that.)

Um, (she says in response, hesitating... and then relenting again, her gaze swiveling back to the front.) I am from Xhorhas. In the south.

(How does one talk about Xhorhas to somebody who has never been there before? At least Yasha has not been tasked with selling the place to her stranger.) It is not a very nice place. It is... brown. There are no trees, and there are no plants, or flowers there. It is mostly full of dangerous beasts.

Home sweet home.

[ Well, at least it sounds...warmer. They come to a deeper snowdrift, Lucretia's leg plunging unexpectedly down almost to the knee, and she takes a moment to pull herself out and struggle through to slightly firmer ground before continuing. ]

Do you miss it?

[ It may not sound very welcoming, but sometimes, home is home. ]

Edited 2018-12-26 18:46 (UTC)

Sometimes I do.

(She shrugs, glancing back behind her as she wrenches her leg free from the snow. Oh, she's struggling back there a bit, huh? Yasha pauses, and points at the ground.)

... You should try to step in my footprints. That will help you.

Of course.

[ It's obvious, and Lucretia frowns, annoyed with herself at having had to be told. The stranger must already think she's helpless enough, caught out here unprepared for the cold and reduced to begging for help. ]

Don't worry - I can keep up.

Okay.

(She won't push it. The both of them are doing the best with what they have, after all, and it was not so long ago that Yasha woke up in the middle of a field on an island she had never been to, with a stampede of wild animals almost on top of her. So. She gets it.)

Whereabouts is home for you?

[ It's an innocent enough question, and likely meant to be an easy one - idle chatter to keep them both awake and alert as they make their way through the snow. Unfortunately, it's anything but easy for Lucretia.

Where is home for her now? The Bureau? Faerûn? Either would be the obvious answer, but neither is really true, despite how long she's been there.

The Starblaster?

Almost involuntarily, she looks up towards the sky. There's nothing there, of course. No artificial moon, no spaceship hovering overhead. Only the blinding white of the snow. ]

Somewhere...somewhere a very long way from here, I'm afraid.

[ The words come out softer than she means them too, more melancholy, and she swallows past the sudden lump in her throat. ]

(That answer is the same for Yasha, for everybody who has come to be stuck here on the islands, but the weight of the woman's words put a different meaning behind it entirely. She glances back at her. She is looking up at the sky.)

It's not so bad here, (she says, feeling a little guilty for bringing up what seems to be a sore subject,) it is... usually warmer than this too, you know? I have never seen snow here before now, so it cannot happen often.

[ Lucretia smiles. It's a little sad still, but she recognizes that the other woman is trying to make her feel better, and she's grateful for the effort. ]

Have you been here long, then?

[ The thought of being here long enough to see the weather change is...not a great one, but she supposes it's better than dying in the snow. ]

No. Only two months.

(They have gone by very quickly, actually... a lot has happened.)

But... I still don't know how to leave.

...I'm sorry.

[ She is. A little alarmed and concerned on her own behalf to hear that leaving this place won't be as quick or sudden as arriving had been, but...she is sorry, thinking of this woman being trapped here in a strange land for so long, presumably without anything or anyone familiar to bring her comfort. Swamp or not, she clearly does miss her home, if she's still trying to get back.

But. Only two months. She swallows, trying to keep the tremor from her voice. ]

There are others...who have been kept captive here longer?

Yes. Some people I know from home were already here, when I arrived.

(It's clear from her tone that she doesn't really understand that.) And I have talked to other people yet who have been here for years.

(She might not have said it if she had realised it was making the other women uncomfortable to think about it, but Yasha is simply walking and talking. These are the facts. She hasn't decided how she feels about them just yet.)

[ Lucretia still doesn't understand the mechanics of being pulled into this world from her own, or the likely reason behind the other woman's confusion. If one person could be brought from Faerun, or Xhorhas, or anyplace else, why not more than one?

But it's what she says next that really hits home. Lucretia stops in her tracks, heedless of the snow and the cold, her eyes going wide as her heart sinks right down into her toes. ]

Years?

Yes.

(Oh, that struck a very wrong note, didn't it. Yasha pauses as the sound of footsteps crunching in the snow behind her abruptly ceases, glancing over her shoulder. The woman looks very shocked by this news.)

I'm... sorry, (she offers, hesitant. She isn't really sure how to go about comforting somebody over this. There's not a lot she can do to change the situation, after all.) If there is a faster way to leave this place, I don't know of it yet.

I can't stay here for years.

[ She's talking almost to herself, a look of faint horror still on her face. It's been years. It's been years, it's been far too long already, and she can't afford this kind of delay. ]

There are people -

[ Peope waiting for her? Well, no. Not exactly. That would require them to know there was anything out there to wait for. ]

...There are people who need me.

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sorry for the slow reply!

no problem!! i'm enjoying this thread

yay me too! your lucretia is wonderful

asklfdj thank you!

np :-)

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