aftr_ooc | TEST DRIVE MEME ( 020 )

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*test drive meme

TEST DRIVE MEME ( 020 )

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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No? I never knew. I wouldn't forget that.

(Not going to Xhorhas; Nott's husband; even an attack by Kryn soldiers. Yasha would remember all of that, none of those things are insignificant to her. Jester is looking at her with something that feels like sympathy, and it makes her bristle, rattle the chain in between the both of them.)

I don't understand.

Have you come from another time?

[Jester is about to jump to the conclusion that Yasha got amnesia somehow, but then Yasha suggests something even more unbelievable and way cooler, so of course Jester latches onto it immediately. She emits an exaggerated gasp.]

HOLY SHIT. I'M FROM THE FUTURE. I think I'm supposed to warn you about something but I don't remember what! Yasha, what's the last thing you remember!

Beau is from the future too, (Yasha says, though it's unclear whether or not Jester registers that she's talking at all. That's okay, though. Or at least it is until Jester asks what she can remember last.

Yasha's brow furrows, and she attempts to cross her arms protectively across her chest but she can't, they're chained together. She just jerks Jester's arm around a bit.)

Um... (hmm, how does she say this. She can't think of a gentler way to put it, so bluntly will just have to do.)

... Molly died. I left. I was wandering for a long time, I think... and then I came here.

[Yeah, Jester is too caught up in her sudden excitement to hear the mention of Beau. But she does listen carefully to Yasha's answer, hoping for some kind of clue as to her apparent "purpose" for traveling to the past...

Ah. She sobers immediately at the mention of Molly, fidgeting a little and looking away.]

Oh, um... It's been a few months since all that.

[She tries to move on though, attempting to brighten up the conversation.]

We met up again in Nicodranas! And we met my mom, and then we became pirates, and then Fjord became the captain of the Ball Eater, and then I learned how to tattoo people, and then we went back to the Empire, and then we found out...

[Her eyes widen, in a very... "not sure if that's her secret to tell" way.]

...some stuff, and we're going to go save Nott's husband now.

(Yasha is more than happy to let her move on, she doesn't really want to talk about the Molly thing either. That would require Unpacking It.)

So we were on the sea, for a while? (She's never been out to sea before... or rather, she has but not yet? Yasha's brow furrows, and she shifts her weight slowly in place.) That must have been strange.

What stuff did you find out? (Jester's faces are far too expressive for Yasha to miss 'em completely. Fess up.)

Yeah, Fjord ate sooo many balls. And then we fought a dragon. I don't know if that counts as from when we were on the sea though since I guess it was another plane or something like that?

[STRANGE, YEAH, THAT'S A WORD FOR IT.

But, oh, of course Yasha picked up on Jester's hesitation. Shit.]

Uh, and the stuff we found out was just stuff like, you know... Nott's married, and she has a son, and her husband got kidnapped 'cause of something related to the dodecahedron, and maybe Caleb's friends had something to do with it, I kind of didn't get that part, did you know Caleb's not his real name???

[For some reason Jester imagines Caleb would be way less upsert at her for spilling those beans than Nott would be if she just dumped the worst thing that ever happened in her life all over the place.

And, you know, it serves as a pretty good distraction, hopefully.]

We fought a dragon?

(Wow, they have become pretty powerful in the time that has passed since Yasha came here, huh... has it really only been a couple of months? She wants to know more about this particular story (i.e is it 100% truthful or is Jester embellishing), but Jester is sidetracked pretty easily.)

I– no? (ahhh this is brand new information) Slow down. Nott has a son, too? And a husband and– Caleb's name is not Caleb? What is it?

(She should ask about the dodecahedron too, but... well, honestly? It isn't here with them, and so Yasha had sort of forgotten about it. Oops.)

[Let's be real, Jester is always embellishing.

But in this particular case, she seems way more focused on Caleb than any particular revelation about Nott. Weird!]

I think he said it was Bren! Bren... Aldric... Everdread or Erminedrum or something. He only said it one time, and he wants to be called Caleb still anyway because he's hiding from someone? But isn't it so weird how you can spend so much time with someone and it turns out they were hiding who they were from you the whole time??

[THIS APPLIES TO NO ONE OTHER THAN CALEB, OBVIOUSLY.]

(Of all the questions Yasha just asked 'what is Caleb's name' was the one she wanted answered the least of all but that's cool, she can work with it.)

It is weird... I wonder why he didn't tell us before now? (Probably because he didn't trust them all at first, now that she's thinking about it. Perhaps he feels safer with them all now, safe enough to tell them things like that. That's a nice thought.

Her expression is slightly bemused, now.)

What other secrets do you know?

[Jester feigns innocence as she tries to think of other secrets!!!]

Oh, I know all kinds of secrets! You know this guy from across the ocean, his name is, hmm, I think it was Something Lahad? Anyway, his secret is he really likes it when he doesn't orgasm.

[The completely matter-of-fact way Jester just lays that all out there is incredibly jarring, probably.]

Oh, and there's this guy Duke Kernowy, super famous noble guy, he really likes feet. Like, in a sexy way. Also, he's cheating on his husband.

(Oh, it's sexy sexy secrets that have nothing to do with anything. Yasha makes a face like she is trying very hard not to laugh.)

Okay. I'm glad that you know these.

(... Are they even real, or did she make them up on the spot? Either way, it's all terrible.) What are you going to do with all of this forbidden knowledge?

[Don't worry, it's absolutely all real. Jester would never lie about someone's kinks.]

I guess if we ever run into them we could be like, "Oh, we know all your secrets, I bet you don't want us to tell anyone," and they'll both just give us a bunch of gold, maybe.

[Jester, that's blackmail.]

Or we could just write it real big on a building somewhere and see what happens.

You think we'll run into them here? (Like, is everybody going to come to this island at some point? They're going to run out of room...)

I think writing it on a building might be a bad idea... there are kids around. You know.

(She's thinking of Ren. She's thinking about Ren asking questions about such a message, if she saw something like that. So really she's only saving everybody a lot of embarrassment and trouble, and you're welcome.)

Oh, I guess so?

[As blasé as her experience with sex was growing up, she also kind of knows that's not totally the norm. Enough that she's willing to concede here, this time.

Yasha sacrifices more on the daily than any US marine.]

I didn't think they'd show up here, though, but maybe? They're boring though. I think this place only likes cool people. I was thinking we'd do it when we go back!

... I guess Caleb isn't going to show up after all then.

(Is that a rare Yasha joke? The corner of her mouth even does a little twitch before she glances away from Jester again.)

We're going to need to get another bed, if you stay with us.

[Jester gasps at the joke, though her expression makes it clear she's delighted even as she gives Yasha a playful little shove.]

Caleb is very cool! Just in his own way. Like you are cool in a Yasha way. You both pretend you're not.

[She's got y'all's numbers. At the mention of the bed, though...]

Wait, there's... four of us, right?

[Jester counts on her fingers to double check.]

Can we take a bed from somewhere else? Is there a... furniture store? Like a carpenter's?

[The way she squints when she says it makes it clear she highly doubts there's a furniture store.]

(Yasha snorts.) I know. (But that's nice, though. She gives Jester a nudge back.)

There isn't a carpenters, but... we could always ask the Story Teller for a bed. I think.

(That's how this all works, right. Honestly, Yasha hasn't had a lot of interaction with them save for secretly telling stories.) They'll give us one if we have something to trade.

Will they trade for... a pair of handcuffs?

[Jester jiggles the chain between them yet again. They have not made much progress to uh, rectifying this situation. Partly because Jester knows this is a dream at this point, and also she doesn't mind being chained to Yasha. At least not yet.

Yasha sure can't run away now!]

'Cause I know where we can get some really good manacles, you know.

Oh, right.

(She can do something about this. Except not, because I got a natural fucking one, so what really happens is that Yasha wraps the slack chain between them around her fist and yanks it and absolutely nothing happens. To the chain.)

Ouch- (Fuck, she just crushed the ever loving shit out of her hand just then. She lets the chain slither loose from around her hand, shaking it gingerly out. That's probably going to bruise.)

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TEST DRIVE MEME ( 020 )

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NSFW TALK

i dont knwo what i expected

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