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

[ There's a pause before she replies, one that could easily be chalked up to the heavy snowdrift they're currently struggling through, Lucretia raising her legs up high to step carefully into the footprints the other woman leaves behind.

She's been so careful about giving her name out these days, mostly in her effort to maintain a professional facade - leading the Bureau is a bigger project than she's ever taken on alone, and she lies awake some nights, convinced that the organization she'd built from scratch would crumble away to nothing, all the authority she's worked so hard to build slipping away overnight, if the people working underneath her had the slightest idea of how lost and alone she really feels sometimes. Part of it, too, had been the need to keep Merle, Magnus, and Taako in the dark. There's no reason why hearing her name should trigger any of the memories she'd erased, but just controlling her own expression had been hard, the first time Magnus had called her by name at Candlenights, and...

None of that applies now, though. There is no Bureau here, no Director, nothing to conceal. ]

Lucretia.

[ She looks up, squinting at the back of the woman's head through the snow. ]

What's yours?

(Yasha almost writes it off as having spoken too quietly for the other woman to hear her. After all, she is facing forward and the snow tends to muffle sound, especially when you are concentrating on making your way through a drift. That's okay, she can ask again later when they're settled; she answers then, just as Yasha has decided this.

She likes the name Lucretia.)

Yasha, (she replies. Overall, this has been a strange meeting, but she doesn't begrudge it.)

If you need to stop and rest, let me know.

Yasha. [ Lucretia repeats the name slowly, testing the way it feels in her mouth. ] What a beautiful name.

[ She is starting to feel tired, maybe the very beginning of a headache. She should eat, pretty soon. Drink some water? Do they even have anything to eat? But no, they can't stop and rest again. Shouldn't, because if she sits down she doesn't know if she'll be able to get up again.

She doesn't say any of this to Yasha, of course. ]

Thank you. I will.

(It's a good thing she has her back to Lucretia, she doesn't have to work any harder to hide her instinctive fluster, the awkwardness of her expression.)

... Thank you.

(It is not often that people find Xhorhassian names beautiful.

The silence that falls after this short exchange is welcome. It is easy for Yasha to simply walk and think about things. She has a lot to think about it, and it is starting to get quite cold... she pulls her furs in a little tighter, and continues to lead the both of them dutifully through the snow.

The appearance of a little cabin off in the distance provides a staggering relief. Yasha stops and lifts her head a little more, squinting through the snow fall.)

Lucretia. (She lifts an arm to point it out to her.)

[ It's a long time between the two of them falling silent and Yasha calling Lucretia's name again. Or at least, it feels like a long time. Lucretia's been spending all her energy just concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other, fighting to match Yasha's pace despite the cold and the biting wind and how very tired she is. She hums vaguely at the sound of her name, though it takes her a few seconds longer to actually drag her head up and focus on what Yasha's pointing at.

She stares dumbly for a moment, mental acuity made dull by the cold, and then it clicks what she's looking at, and she gasps, struggling forward the last few feet to stop at Yasha's side. She's shivering hard, even under the thick fur Yasha had loaned her. ]

Is that...a cabin?

... Yes.

(She's picked up the pace, invigorated at the thought of having found a place to shelter and now that they're closer she can confirm: it's a goddamn cabin. She sighs, relieved, and her breath expels from her mouth in a puff of cloud. It is very, very cold now. She's impressed that Lucretia is still going, quite frankly.)

Come on. Let's get a fire going.

(She has a tinderbox with her, thankfully. The cabin door is jammed shut, but that proves no problem to Yasha and her big ol' plus three to strength, she all but rips the door off its hinges in her haste to get out of the wind. She'll still pause to usher Lucretia in first, though. She doesn't look so good, she is shivering quite a lot.)

[ A fire. Why hadn't she conjured a fire to keep warm? She doesn't have her staff. Had she ever had her staff here? Had she lost it in the snow?

She can't think, even about how awful, how catastrophic it would be to have lost her staff somewhere in the blizzard. It would ruin everything, all of her plans, but right now, the possibility's just too terrible to face, and she's so cold she doesn't even care. She stumbles past Yasha and into the cabin, and has just enough dignity left to collapse blindly onto the first piece of furniture she sees, rather than right onto the floor. The cabin isn't anywhere near warm, but at least she can breathe without feeling like she's sucking down knives, and so she does, taking deep, shuddering breaths as she wraps her arms around herself and just appreciates not walking for a moment. ]

Hang on.

(Her shuddering breathing sounds awful, like she can't get enough air into her lungs. Yasha feels momentarily helpless; she is no healer. She has a single, healing cantrip and she's not sure that will be much help in this situation. All she can do for now is take her layer of fur off- as much as her bare skin stings in reaction to the cold air inside- and bundle her up in that too while she gets the fire started.

Her hands are numb. She fumbles with the flint, dropping it once before she can get her fingers to hold it properly. There is a little pile of logs hunkered up beside the dusty fireplace and she stocks it with a few, coming in close to light it. They take on the first go: the wood must be very dry. At least that means the cabin won't leak.

Lucretia is curled in an old armchair. Yasha holds her hands in front of the little spark of flame, watching it slowly light the logs and when she can feel her skin again she stands, rubbing her arms, and gets up to shift Lucretia's chair closer to the fire. Hopefully that helps. It's the most that she can do, right now. She takes a seat next to the armchair so she can be close to the fire too, and shivers as she hunches up in front of it as best she can.)

[ Lucretia falls into a bit of a fugue state as Yasha moves around her, kneeling in front of the hearth, struggling to get the fire lit. The next thing she knows, she's being bodily dragged across the room, chair and all. It's a move that reminds her so strikingly of Magnus that she has to laugh, a small, weak chuckle with no obvious catalyst. ]

You're very strong, [ she murmurs, as if in explanation, her head falling heavily back against the chair. She's so tired. But between the furs and the fire and the windbreak the cabin provides, she's also growing warmer by the minute, her breaths evening out and her head starting to clear as the seemingly-unending pain and misery of the cold outside finally starts to subside.

She blinks, taking in her surroundings for a moment. The fire's big enough now to be giving off real heat, the flames crackling brightly. What little of the cabin she can see from this vantage point is fairly bare, obviously abandoned. God, she hopes there's some kind of food here.

A movement in the corner of her eye catches her attention, and she looks down to see Yasha, on the floor beside her chair, arms bare and pressed up as close to the fireplace as she can comfortably get. Lucretia frowns at how cold she still looks, and reaches a hand down - to brush against her shoulder, to take hers, just to get her attention, she doesn't know. ]

...Thank you.

Yes.

(It's not the first time somebody has pointed it out and it won't be the last, either. People love to point out the obvious when it comes to Yasha's strength. She lets it rest there, though. Lucretia seems almost out of it, still shivering in her furs, and Yasha gathers she probably needs a good couple minutes of silence in order to gather herself. Fine with her, she's good at sitting still and quietly thinking about things.

She's rewarded after about ten minutes; Lucretia's fingertips, brushing against her shoulder. Yasha starts, tearing her eyes away from the fire, and glances across and then up at her. Oh, she looks much better now. The colour has come back into her cheeks, where before her skin had been dull from the cold.)

How do you feel?

Alive. ...Maybe a little frostbitten.

[ She sighs, snuggling a little further into her furs, and manages a weak smile. She's not exactly ready to run a marathon here, and there's a telling, unpleasant tingling in her fingertips, but it's not anywhere near as bad as it could have been. She'll recover, with time.

For now, though, she's content to enjoy the warmth of the fire, and to gaze down at Yasha at her side. She's still a little glassy-eyed, but after a moment her eyes soften, her expression growing sober. ]

I wouldn't have made it without you.

Good.

(Yasha holds that soft gaze for a beat before she looks away, glancing down at her hands in her lap. Her hands are still stiff and cold, slow to warm up. At least the fire is doing its job, albeit slowly.)

That- you are alive, I mean. (She clarifies eventually, with a huff of breath.) ... Not frostbitten. (Just in case there was any doubt.)

I'm glad that I could help.

[ Lucretia bites her lip, trying to hide her smile as Yasha stumbles over her words. It's charming, the way she does that. Kind of cute.

She'd done more than just help, though. She'd saved Lucretia's life. Lucretia opens her mouth, ready to press the point, when she notices the tense way Yasha still holds herself, the way she's leaning in close to the fire. ]

Here -

[ She reaches back, tugging the second fur off her shoulders - when had Yasha tucked that over her again? - and holding it out insistently. ]

Take it, please. You still look like you're freezing.

(She accepts it without protest, drawing it over her shoulders immediately. Lucretia has warmed it right up, and it's heaven on her exposed skin. Yasha hunkers into it gratefully, closing her eyes. She had been cold, but she hadn't wanted to say so when Lucretia had been in more obvious need of a heat source.)

Thanks.

(It will warm up in here eventually, and then Yasha can set about trying to find something to eat. She's starving, she realises with a pang of hunger. Dragging her legs through the snow like that had worn her out very quickly.)

We should stay here until it stops snowing.

Mmm.

[ Lucretia hums in agreement, her gaze drifting to the window. Yasha's right. They'd been beyond lucky to find this place when they had. Going out in it again before the blizzard at least slows a little would be suicide. ]

I guess we'd better get comfortable, then.

[ Who knows how long they'll be stuck here? She stays where she is for a few minutes, just enjoying the warmth and comfort, but something about this seems...wrong. She's sitting up here like she's back on that dais at the Bureau, like she's on some stupid throne, while Yasha is still shivering on the floor.

Carefully, wincing a little, Lucretia climbs out of the chair to settle down on the floor with her back resting against it, closer to the fire, and to Yasha. She sighs quietly, reaching her hands out toward the flames. ]

(She watches Lucretia shift herself out of the chair and onto the floor with slight confusion, wondering why she'd abandon something softer for the hardwood. Though she won't say no to the closer company. It has been a long time since she has taken a watch while the majority of the Nein slept, sitting in front of the fire with one of the others, engaged in simple conversation or comfortable silence.

It's good that it isn't actually a watch, though. She could fall asleep sitting up, face buried in her furs.)

Hmm, (she says, and closes her eyes for a moment, enjoying the flickering warmth across her forehead.)

We should sort out places to sleep, and things to eat too. (Though she isn't showing signs of moving any time soon!)

That's a good idea. Take stock of what we have.

[ If they have anything. But as nice as food and a real bed sound, Lucretia isn't in any hurry to go anywhere either. It's too nice right here, in front of the fire, the chair at her back and Yasha at her side. She feels warm and cozy. Safe. ]

Just...as soon as it warms up a little.

Agreed.

(Usually she would mind being this close to somebody she doesn't know, but Lucretia is very warm, and Yasha has not yet finished being cold. So it's okay, for now. She tucks the fur in a little more underneath her chin, and settles.

It's a good couple minutes before she speaks again.)

I suppose you don't have a place to stay. I-- my friends and I have a house, here. On another island. You're welcome to be with us until you make other arrangements, if you like.

[ Lucretia's let her eyes slip closed, luxuriating in the warmth and quiet companionship, but Yasha's unprompted offer is enough to make her open them again, looking over at her in surprise. ]

Oh.

[ Honestly, she hadn't thought nearly that far ahead, at least in that much detail. Her focus has been on surviving, getting through the blizzard, getting through the night. The big picture goal after that is just finding a way out of this place, back home where she belongs. Where she needs to be.

But of course it won't be that easy. Who knows how long she'll be here? Weeks? Months? Longer, maybe. She'll need to find someplace to stay.

She smiles, genuinely touched. ]

Thank you, Yasha. That's...incredibly generous of you.

(Yasha flusters a little, made awkward by the sincerity of her smile. It's nice to see her happy, especially after how worried and tired she had been before.)

... It's nothing.

(Anybody would offer to help. Yasha found her lost in the snow, dying of cold. She can't just leave her to her own devices after that, and she has a feeling the rest of the Nein will agree with her. Besides, it must be about her turn to bring a stray briefly into the party.)

No, it's not.

[ Yasha had already saved her life. She doesn't owe her anything else, and yet here she is, offering solutions to problems Lucretia hasn't even thought of yet.

She leaves it there, though. Yasha's obviously uncomfortable with any kind of praise, no matter how much Lucretia thinks she deserves it, and the last thing she wants to do is put her on the spot - or, God forbid, drive her away. So she falls silent, content to just sit there and enjoy the warmth and the company, until her stomach rumbles loudly, and she groans. ]

I guess that's our cue to find dinner.

(Yasha chuckles. She's starting to get cozy now, thanks especially to the extra layer tucked around her shoulders and arms, but it's a little sore to keep sitting on the floor so she'll take the excuse to get up. As she stands, she stretches her arms above her head and tips her head from side to side until her neck cracks, sighing. The cabin is so much warmer already.)

Okay. If there is nothing in here, I... could always go out, and try to find something.

(This is empty sentiment. Or rather, a useless one: it's snowing very, very hard now. It would be really difficult to find anything in the storm.)

Absolutely not.

[ Even Yasha sounds uncertain about that one, and even if she hadn't, there's no way Lucretia's about to let her walk out of her sight and back into the storm. She watches a little enviously as Yasha gets easily to her feet, then follows suit a little more awkwardly, pushing down against the chair for purchase. ]

Let's see what we have here before we start volunteering ourselves as tribute, shall we?

(Yeah, okay, fair. She nods. Yasha is more than happy to concede that point because she's pretty reluctant to leave their new found warmth and shelter for anything. She's gone hungry before, and she'll do it again if she has to. They can always go looking for food in the morning, when it's much lighter out.

She's going to stride over and start looking in cupboards in that case, nosing through everything that will open. There are... canned goods in some of them, but Yasha has never seen canned anything before. Vague, medieval-esque D&D era times, you understand. She pulls a can of baked beans out of the back of a cupboard and turns it slowly over in her hand, staring at it. Then she shows it to Lucretia.)

I... think there's food in here.

[ Lucretia starts at the other end of the small kitchen, though the cabinets she opens contain nothing but plates, bowls and glassware. Potentially useful, though not without the main event.

But they're in luck. She takes the can from Yasha, examining it, and smiles. ]

Oh yeah, it's food. I mean, I know an elf who would disagree, but...

[ She trails off. No, she's not going to think about Taako right now or how he might react to being offered canned baked beans for dinner. Instead she looks back up at Yasha, setting the can aside on the counter. ]

What else have we got?

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