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.

---

LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

Comments

[stormblooded]

[Oh hey, a person! Lyse smiles, and she's about to go join him, but then he says that looking past her... She freezes, listening. Sure enough, in addition to the crackling of her torch, she can make out the sound of wet breathing.

That's not something to freak out about, as far as she's concerned, but she doesn't want to leave her back exposed to it. So instead of walking toward him, she waits a second or two, then suddenly whirls and delivers a roundhouse kick to its head. Pow! It's a glancing blow, but it fazes the creature long enough for her to backstep to Quentin.]

Thanks for the heads-up.

[From the growling, it sounds like we've officially pulled aggro, but Lyse is ready to throw down, putting up her dukes. Or at least the one duke that doesn't have a torch in it currently.]

[blindfoster]

...Oh.

[Okay. This is Quentin looking pretty impressed because that was a pretty great move. He's got his sword in case the thing decides to come at them after the kick to the head.

It probably will. That's his luck.

He glances at her at the thanks. She's definitely not Fae if she's saying thank you, and he wonders if he shouldn't have crafted himself a human illusion even with the dark. Oh well. Too late now.]

That was pretty great.

[And here comes the grimling who is definitely taking offense to being kicked. Quentin steps forward, sword slashing out, grateful that he's been concentrating on swordplay in his training lately.]

[stormblooded]

[Great? She's a little surprised to hear that - all she did was kick a beast in the head, it's not as if they're fighting a primal or anything. But she doesn't spare it any further thought.

The grimling lunges, slavering, and as Quentin steps forward to meet it, Lyse darts around to its flank. Her moment momentarily distracts it, leaving it open to Quentin's blade, which slices into its neck and shoulder in a spray of thick, black blood. It's not enough to kill it, though, and it doesn't recoil from the pain like an animal might, but snarls and snaps at him with its teeth.

But now Lyse attacks, with a straight kick to its ribs. This one, properly braced, lands a lot harder than the last, with an audible thud. The grimling is knocked off its feet and gets rolled completely over. It ends more or less right-side up, but will need a second to get back up...]

[blindfoster]

[Also pretty great. Quentin tries not to wince as blood sprays. Back home, Toby is usually the one who winds up covered in blood. Usually her own. And he's Daoine Sidhe, and blood magic is his birthright. But that doesn't mean he likes it.

But no time to think about that at all. The grimling is down but not out. So Quentin moves to finish it, taking advantage of the creature being knocked off its feet, driving his sword into the grimling.

It... should stay down now.]

So... hi.

[He glances back up almost sheepish. This is one of the weirdest introductions he's ever had, and he's had many odd ones.]