TEST DRIVE MEME ( 020 )

[lifeaftr_mods]

Test Drive Meme #20

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.

Due to the shortness of the month, both Reserves AND Applications will open on February 17th!

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.

Hell's Fury Burns the Heart
Back in December, the island of Maati treated travelers to unique Trials, tailored to their own unique sins and vices. Of the seven possible trials for adventurers to undergo, the Trial of the Forgiving, the trial laser-focused to exploit those most predisposed to be wrathful and violent, was among the simplest. Unlike the other trials, there were very few puzzles and mazes. The Trial of the Forgiving was largely, in essence, a trial of temptation.

This Trial takes the shape of a stone-walled spiral, with trial-goers starting at the outermost point and working their way steadily to the exit at the center. The torches lining the hall as it stretches infinitely onward paints the walls with a warm amber tint, giving the entire place a much more welcoming ambiance than will eventually become evident.

Your task is simple: make it to the end in one piece. All you have to do is withstand the constant harassment from the very, very familiar faces that will stalk you throughout the entirety of this gauntlet. Each specter that appears will be one with which you hold a significant grievance - be it a personal antagonist, a long-standing nemesis, a foe you once faced, or even yourself, if your self-hatred runs that deep. All the while, they'll be doing their utmost to incite you to strike at them. Taunting you, acting out, threatening you or the ones you love; while they cannot physically harm you, they don't necessarily need to, in order to strike a nerve.

They want you to attack them. They want you to lash out. In part because all damage you attempt to deal to them will be rebounded back onto you - and whoever might be accompanying you - instead. A poorly-timed attack or well-placed insult might very well be enough to one-shot you, or your companions, into oblivion.

It's a good thing you have, potentially, innumerable chances. Every time you're struck down, you'll simply reappear at the very start of the Trial...and have to start making your way to the end all over again.

The Weakest Link
Once again, Mu has reformatted one of Maati's Trials for its own purposes. This one is based off of the Trial of the Trusting, which focused on building bonds and connections between its victi - er, between its trial-goers. For those prone to paranoia, distrust, or simply being emotionally closed off, this would be the challenge laid out to them: a sequence of puzzles and traps requiring teamwork and faith in one another, at least in the situational sense.

Fortunately - or, perhaps, unfortunately - things here are going to be a little simpler, though you'll still be waking in a tunnel lined with dark green stone, intermittently lit by the odd, irregularly spaced torch. This Trial will make its intentions quite clear from the beginning, for, you see, you're going to be waking up with a friend.

One that happens to be chained, that is. To you. A length of about two feet of chain links the cuffs that bind you, one wrist to another, with whatever other unlucky soul has woken up here beside you. No matter what you do to said chain, it remains stubbornly indestructible. Though you could always try breaking your wrists, or severing your hands instead, or...actually, you know what? Why don't you just try to get through the Trial with your new friend, instead? It's probably going to be at least marginally less painful!

The path that is open to the pair of you is fairly linear. Its difficulty largely stems from the back that you'll be traversing it as a permanently linked pair. Obstacles present will always be surmountable as a team - switches and levers that might involve two people to reach, doors that require dual switches or buttons to be held down, puzzles that require passing of information between the both of you to expedite progress, and so on. There's also the matter of the Rarriers - ogre-like creatures of large stature and a territorial nature. Those under the keen gaze of a Rarrier will find them impossible to attack; their front hide is as tough as steel, and attacks tend to simply glance off. Their backs and sides are of a much more vulnerable nature, however. If only you could reach...or get someone else to do it for you.

Assuming you're not both sick of each other by the time you reach the exit, you'll be rewarded with the breaking of the cuffs that connect you, symbolizing that a friendship forged is stronger than any iron! Though, by the end...maybe "friendship" isn't the word we'd use.

Well Met
This place is hot, dry, and arid - but at least it's brightly lit! The peach-colored swell of dunes seems to be limitless, in nearly every direction, with the stretch of sand fading seemingly infinitely into the dark, purple line of the horizon. The sun overhead is relentless and sweltering; if you're the sort of person who needs to self-regulate, temperature wise, you might be in for a bit of a problem the longer you're stuck out here. Could be a rough time.

Fortunately for you, there's water. Very nearby, in fact. It's the only deviation from the sea of sand: a dark, circular blot that looks very, very much like a water well. As the only landmark in the vicinity, it seems at the very least worth checking out, right? The closer you get, the less it seems like it might be a mirage, or some other elaborate ruse. It looks like a perfectly normal, unassuming well. Which is why, of course, it isn't one at all.

Well mimics are native to the island of Monsun, and they're...well, they're exactly what they sound like. They favor dry, desert-like environments, and hunt by luring travelers and animals alike to the temptingly fresh waters they hold. Mu has been helpful enough to recreate one in vivid detail, just for you.

These creatures are largely tube-shaped animals, buried deep in the sandy earth. They suction fresh water from deep within the earth and hold it in the lowermost parts of themselves. The simple construct that travelers see - the circular, stone shape with the rope and bucket for hauling water - is, in fact, their mouth, carefully adapted to camouflage itself into something that seems perfectly serviceable. Once travelers attempt to grab hold of the rope or bucket, or even the rim of the well itself, they'll discover that the surfaces have all been slicked with a sticky substance that may very well take off a layer of your skin if you attempt to tear away without taking great care.

Once the well mimic has entrapped its prey, the "well" sprouts teeth around its stone rim, lining its rocky gullet all the way to the bottom, as well as a fat red tongue. Rope-like tentacles whip out to seize whatever poor soul has found themselves ensnared. If you don't manage to get free in time, you'll learn just how it feels to be digested over a period of twenty-four hours while your body is broken down into a squishy, delicious mulch for the mimic's consumption.

The best way to kill these creatures is by tricking it into swallowing something lethal - fire, poison, sharp weapons, whatever you have on hand. Well mimics are quite blind and hunt purely by touch, and will seize whatever touches them without any knowledge of what it is. And once it has one victim in hand, it's quite incapable of grabbing hold of another.

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LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

Comments

[technicallytechnically]

The smell of incense hits her and Jester thinks of Caleb. Of course she thinks of Caleb—he's the only one who uses incense now, and she's not keeping full track of Frumpkin's whereabouts. Maybe he's been changed for some reason or another. Jester always likes to note to Caleb that he smells best right after futzing with his familiar.

Jester is so glad she's not alone.

But then an unmistakeably technicolor coat on an unmistakeably technicolor individual walks past her, and her heart does flips in her chest.

She registers Molly's (living, moving, talking, helping) image long enough to gasp and cover her mouth, and then she registers that he's facing his own killer long enough to scream.

"DON'T GO NEAR HIM!!!"

She charges with renewed bravery (or swallowed fear) and bodily blocks Lorenzo's image from Mollymauk's, and she doesn't know if either are real, both are dead, this has got to be a nightmare, but she's summoning a giant lollipop covered in extremely sharp rock candy and bashing Lorenzo's brains in with it so hard he sees stars.

Only Jester also falls to the floor in reaction with a cry of pain, grasping at her head. Her ears are ringing again, blood still dripping. She grits her teeth, pinpricks of tears forming in her eyes.

[devilstongue]

Her scream is awful, and not because how loud it is, but because he can hear the horror and pain in it. It's heartbreaking and he hates it. Molly desperately tries to stop her from joining him, but then she's in his way, she's too close and he wants to scream that he's already dead, don't she dare get hurt because of him.

Then the world explodes in lollipop pain, reflected at the both of them now that he was her 'companion'. Gritting his teeth, he reaches out for Jester's hand, trying to shield her from whatever the fuck Lorenzo is doing. How is he even still alive after that??

(Why are they hurt?)

She doesn't need to see him, she doesn't need to hear him and fuck this place for even putting her in this dream-hallucination-thing. This is madness.

"I got you," he promises. "We're in this together. He can't hurt me anymore, Jester, and I'm not letting him hurt you."

He refuses to look at the man who killed him. He can't afford being affected by that right now.

[technicallytechnically]

Jester feels a hand reach for hers, and though it's a nightmare it's unmistakably his hand, Mollymauk's, and she grips it tightly as she struggles to blink the stars out of her vision. She feels on the edge of concussed, which doesn't make a lick of sense. Lorenzo's not even doing anything. He's not fighting back. He's taking blows like he doesn't care. But somehow, with every attack...

Molly shouldn't be seeing her like this. He shouldn't have to assure her they'll be okay. He shouldn't see how hurt she is—and not the physical pain, that hardly matters to her right now.

She didn't hear him cry out, doesn't recognize that Molly got hit this time too. Instead, she just pulls herself closer to Molly. Quiet, like she's afraid if she says something she'll give something away she doesn't want in the open.

Lorenzo, apparently sensing that he's no longer the center of attention, gloats, "Funny. I don't feel a thing. Guess I really did make you weak."

Jester clenches her eyes shut, almost wishing the ringing in her ears would drown out his voice. That awful fucking voice. But she's not so blinded by fear that she doesn't recognize that something's out of place.

"Molly," and she has to swallow before she lets herself say his name, "he won't attack. I don't know what's going on. He's supposed to be dead. This is a stupid, stupid dream."

How could it be anything else?

[devilstongue]

It's a warm hand full of random rings, calluses and scars. Unmistakably Molly's, right there as he holds her own hand tightly to stop her from getting close to Lorenzo again or away from him. Part of it to protect her and... well, he's missed her terribly.

His ears are still ringing and it hurts, but physical pain is nothing right now. It's the rest that's tearing him from the inside. This was not fair to Jester. She doesn't deserve this bullshit, or this cursed fucking place.

"Shut up!" He snarls at Lorenzo as the asshole dares to try to mock her. No fucking way. Molly's gonna shut that down at once, even if the image of Lorenzo doesn't seem to give a shit.

His other hand comes to settle on a blue cheek, and he tries to turn her away from the nightmare and to look at him instead. Red eyes meeting violet. "Hey. He's not real, darling. Just some bullshit made by this place. You're fine."

He might not know how the fuck to get out of here and past this asshole, but he's happy to give anything a go right now. "We'll just leave. You say he hasn't attacked, so it might just be an illusion."

[technicallytechnically]

Jester doesn't need to be persuaded. Molly's hand against her cheek is a long lost comfort, his voice equal parts painful and healing. Of course it's a dream. Both of these people are dead. It's been months. She bites her lip to stop tears from spilling, sniffles.

"Okay. Okay okay okay."

She's fine. She's fine. None of this is real. She's going to wake up and... Molly will be gone again, but she'll just curl up with Yasha for a while. Maybe Caduceus, too. He gives really good hugs.

Her hand comes up over Molly's as she starts to try to rise back up, pointedly not looking in Lorenzo's direction.

Lorenzo, meanwhile, perhaps sensing a shift in Jester's intent now, switches tactics from mocking to threatening.

"Run, then. I'll find you. Maybe I'll kill that pale woman with the face paint next time. Slower, though. I remember how she likes it."

Jester shivers, her grip on Molly tightening. She steels herself, tells herself not to look at him, don't grant him that, he doesn't deserve it, he's dead he's dead he's dead. He can't hurt Yasha anymore.

But she's frozen in place, now. She can't make herself run. She can hardly remember to breathe.

[devilstongue]

Molly helps getting Jester on her feet, red eyes focused on her rather than his own killer, that bastard still taunting them. The way Lorenzo speaks about Yasha makes him bite his lip to not spit infernal in the illusion's face, disgusted and angry. He knows she's okay. He knows she's alive, she got out, they saved her.

He didn't know how the man had hurt her, and it's so fucking bitter to hear. That he wasn't there to help her.

The way Jester's grip tightens makes him snap out of the rage that was building, and he quickly squeezes a little back and starts to move, trying to lead her. Trying to snap her out of it.

"Yasha's fine. He can't hurt her, he's dead. He can't hurt you, Jester. He's gone, this is just some bullshit challenge."

[technicallytechnically]

Jester keeps her eyes locked onto Molly's, just as determined to ignore Lorenzo now. But it's... hard. It's hard when your trauma looks you right in the face and tells you that you'll never be okay. She knows he's dead. She listens to Molly's logic, she can find the reasoning in it.

But there's one flaw. Jester's expression starts to break, and her claws might be digging a little into him now, and it's taking all her strength not to just lie down and give up again.

"But... so are you."

The only thing keeping her going in that cell was making sure Fjord wouldn't give up hope. But when they made him sleep, she lied awake. She stared at the wall. She mouthed prayers. She listened to horrifying things happen around her.

And her friends came for her. All but one.

[devilstongue]

He reaches up and gently cups her face in his hands. "I know, darling. I'm so sorry about that." She's grieving for him, and that was not what this moment was about. It was getting her safe and sound out of here.

Then they could process this. (That's at least what he tells himself.)

"I need you to hold on, though. I need to you move with me, ignore his ass and get back in the came. There's time for this later." Just like with Caleb, he kisses her forehead gently.

"Let's go."

[technicallytechnically]

"Why are you sorry!? I was..."

She instantly reacts, but he's right. They have to get out of here. They have to escape this weird, horrible nightmare.

He kisses her forehead and she chokes back what threatens to become a sob. It comes out as a gulp, instead, a shaky breath, and a nod.

"I love you, Molly." She says it now because she never got to back then. He died for her and she could never say thank you.

Struggling, she pulls herself together and hooks her elbow with his. He says it's time to go.

So they'll go. If he disappears after this is over... Then that's fine. He was already gone, anyway.