TEST DRIVE MEME ( 019 )

[lifeaftr_mods]

Test Drive Meme #19

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 January 17th, and Applications on January 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.

Let's Be Heroes
Back in December on the recent island of Maati, the Trial of the Brave was intended to challenge those who approached life with hesitation; the timid, the uncertain, and those who trend too easily toward inaction. Mu, of course, has a habit of neglecting the finer details. And thus...here you are, whether you need the intended lesson or not.

Armed with nothing more than a torch, a short sword, and the clothes on your back, you're sure to enjoy the scenic view of labyrinthine stone walls, low-hanging ceilings, sharp corners hiding all sorts of secrets, and a thick, foreboding darkness. Your light, and the torches of others making their way through the dark, are the only breaks in the seemingly uniform dark.

Those and the lights of the eyes of the other things down here with you, of course. Hidden throughout the maze are scattered innumerable creatures, all of them happy to take advantage of those wandering about on their own. Nighthooks are fiendish, shadowy monsters that appear in the shape of a long-fingered hand. While they cannot physically hurt anything, they specialize in slinking out of the darkness to snuff out any light source they can find...like your torch, for example. Also abundand are the grimlings, hulking, dog-like creatures composed of a seaweed-like blackness and glowing coals for eyes. Should you come across one, several more are bound to be nearby, as they travel in packs. And they are always hungry.

For those lucky enough not to stumble across these creatures? Enjoy your stumble through the dark. There's an exit around here somewhere, if you look hard enough. Probably.

The Waiting Game
The second trial Mu has appropriated is the Trial of the Patient. This test was named for those who exhibit the very antithesis of patience, initially intended to draw in the brash, the reckless, those easily incited into action, and so on. Instead of a dark and lengthy maze, Mu has instead concocted a brightly lit room to test your patience, and lack thereof.

So you should have no trouble at all seeing the entirety of the expansive, gaping void that stretches between you and the only way out.

Stranded on a singular ledge, the space in which you wake is white and seemingly infinite. No ceilings or walls are visible, and peering over the edge of the small platform reveals no flooring below to catch you. The only distinct characteristics to this room are the door opposite you, positioned some couple hundred feet away. There's nothing for you to grab or cling to in order to make your way over there faster. In fact, nothing else seems to help, either. Flight, teleportation, gadgets, you name it - each attempt will inevitably fail, and give you just enough time to contemplate all the ways you went wrong as you go plummeting down (or is it up?) into that endless void. What a shame. Luckily for you, this dream is happy to give you a second chance! And a third, and a fourth...and however many it takes, really. Those who fall will, just as the initial adrenaline shock starts to run out, abruptly find themselves standing right back on the platform where they started. Once again, they'll find themselves staring at that infuriating, impossible-to-reach door. Seems like you may be stuck where you are, for the time being.

We say "for the time being," because the other distinct attribute of this loosely defined room is a second platform, drifting steadily from the doorway to your position. Once it reaches you, you'll be able to climb aboard, and be safely ferried across the room to the exit you so greatly desire. Once it reaches you. Once it...well, it seems to be taking some time. A few minutes. An hour. Something in that ballpark, maybe. Got a good book on you? No? Guess you'll have to find some other way to wile away the time.

You, and whoever else you happen to be stuck with.

Water Rising
The island of Ensō is a relatively flat island, aside from a lone, steep mountain to the north. Mu is less so. It tends to mold itself to whatever shape best suits it, and in this case? It has chosen Ensō. And so that is where you find yourself - positioned at the base of its mountain, no less, only several feet up the beginnings of its slope. Unfortunately, there's not much time to take in the new scenery. Stretched out along the island's coast is a beach of glittering white sand. Further inland, the green sprawl of a jungle blots the horizon. But there's also plenty of ocean. And therein lies the problem.

Creeping through the treelines and rapidly pooling about the mountain's base, said ocean levels are rising quickly. Very quickly. Those who wish to stay and enjoy the view of an island underwater are welcome to it. For everyone else, the only other option is the obvious one: to climb.

To climb very, very quickly. As luck would have it, the rising waters aren't the only danger present. Those too slow to escape its wrath will surely drown, but the higher up you go, the thinner the air becomes, and the more searing the heat. To the west, a crop of dangerous creatures known as lungblossoms claim the wooded thickets that offer reprieve from the intense and unrelenting rays of dream-sun. A confrontation with these living plants may expose you to hallucinogenic spores fit to fill your senses with horrific, nightmarish visions, so tread lightly...but not slowly.

At the mountain's very peak, an empty temple awaits those who can make it to the end of this terrible and impromptu gauntlet. It will provide shade and a space for the exhausted survivors to congregate. Tend to yourself and others, if you like- or head back out to locate those who haven't had such luck in reaching this haven.

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LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

Comments

[blindfoster]

[Quentin squawks, a sound that is not quite as dignified as he'd have liked, as he's grabbed. But it's a person and not something canine and hungry, so squawking aside he at least doesn't attack. Of course some of the worst things he's faced have been people shaped -- fae shaped, if he's being specific. But specifics can wait for a time when he's not in danger of becoming puppy chow.

Except. That might be now? He hears the strange words, wrinkles his nose for a moment trying to make sense of what he's heard and not quite able to place it. Then he's more focused on what she's done. Oh. Well. Whatever it was, it's magic. Magic is good. Magic is familiar. Familiar is also good. Not that he knows what sort of magic can do that and what sort of fae being able to do that sort of magic makes her -- because what other explanation could there be? He bets Toby would know. Toby always seems to know.

He peers at her through the dark, nodding.]

Yeah. I'm... [...out of breath and lost and confused and in danger of sending Faerie into an international incident if he's gotten himself kidnapped and...] ...okay. I'm good.

[And since it doesn't seem like he needs to pretend himself human at the moment and he's missing his torch, he murmurs, half singing as the steel and heather scent of his magic rises in the air,] We spend our days amid the waves, working water, hook and twine. We would go for weeks with blistered cheeks waiting for the sun to shine. [A small, bright orb of light rises from his hands to hover between them so he can get a better look at his rescuer.] What sort of magic was that?

[bookthefts]

( Safety. Or something like it. Irene is inclined to believe it's merely something like it and that they're more than likely to run into more trouble somehow. It would be nice to imagine that this is the end of the quest, but practical experience tells her it's an impossibility.

Well, there's nothing saying she can't have a moment of freedom before the Language's effects wear off on the wall and they're in danger of monsters chasing them both. A chance to catch their breath and formulate a plan on where to go from here. He creates new light in a way Irene doesn't recognise, the scent tinging each breath she takes. Nothing quite like she's seen from either Fae or Dragons back on any alternate of Earth, but isn't surprising considering everything else in this strange, dreamlike place. )

I could ask you the same thing.

( So that means he doesn't recognise the powers of The Library, but — once again — that makes a certain amount of sense, given their situation.

But if he doesn't, she's not about to tell him. This may not be a world connected to The Library's network, but she's still a Librarian and maintaining a concealed identity is still important. )

[blindfoster]

You could.

[Quentin agrees. She could. But he's looking at her in the light now, and she looks human. That's... unexpected. Humans can't use magic. Maybe it's a disguise? Could be, right? But his own is definitely not in place at the moment, and that thought has him shifting back from the light hovering between them.]

But it might be a better idea if we try to find out way out of here before those dog things find a way around.

[He looks around, frowning.] If there is a way out.

[And on that cheery, cheery thought.] I'm Quentin, by the way.

[He'd thank her for the help, if saying thanks weren't a social taboo in Faerie.]

[bookthefts]

It won't last.

( There's no shame admitting that. In this situation, it seems better to tell the truths which need to be told. (That, obviously, excludes her actual job and an explanation about her powers.) The Language can affect reality, but it can't do so forever.

Thanks would be appreciated, but it pales somewhat in comparison to the actual scenario they're facing. Cut off from the crossroads they'd met at with an uncertain amount of passage ahead of them.

This is yet another place the Language fails her. It changes things, it can't direct her. The lack of Kai's presence, yet again, is a sore spot. He could identify any water sources in the area, giving them some sort of direction. )

Irene.

( But her troubles don't mean she isn't polite enough to offer her name, without much fear that she should need an alias for this part of it all. Nor do they mean she's about to stand still and cry, he's quite right that they need to keep moving, and so she does. It's a straight corridor, an almost unnervingly straight corridor. )

Have you been down here very long?

[blindfoster]

Then that's even better reason to get going.

[Quentin doesn't question this fact. It makes sense to him. Not all spells are permanent. And he doesn't know what sort of magic shes working with, but he assumes she does. So he'll listen to her about it.

He hesitates though.]

Not very long... maybe half an hour? Enough time to realize I'm definitely lost.

[Which is reassuring, right?] What about you?

[And since straight seems to be their option, he'll head that way along with her, sending his light a few feet ahead of them to light the way.]