TEST DRIVE MEME ( 003 )

[lifeaftr_mods]

Test Drive Meme #3

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 September 17th and that Applications will open on September 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.

Don't Go into the Light
Night has fallen, so to speak - or the appearance of night has - and with it has come a curious phenomenon. All throughout the land of Mu, the odd flickering light has started to lick at your periphery. It looks almost like someone bearing a torch or a lantern, and if you listen hard enough, if you really squint...it almost feels like it must be someone familiar, calling you to their aid. Maybe it's a loved one, or a friend. Maybe it's just someone who's liable to spark your curiosity, or for those who are particularly tender of heart, the crying of a child in need of help.

Either way, it's undeniable: someone out there needs you. And the only solution is to follow the light until you find them, because surely that must be the origin of that voice and that disturbance, right..? The phenomenon of ghost lights, of ignis fatuus, may or may not be familiar to those falling prey to the siren call of these mysterious, hovering lights. But their end purpose is very similar. They intend to lead you gently along, calling to you with memories of those you love or remember, until you reach an inevitable, potentially fatal roadblock.

The island of Mu enjoys mimicking the dangers and pitfalls of LifeAftr, and your journey is liable to end in a variety of equally unpleasant ways if someone does not see fit to stop you and pull you free from your trance. Perils such as quicksand, drowning, walking off the edges of cliffs, or simply being led directly into the nest of some great predator, are more than abundant.

Better hope that someone finds you before they do.

No Swiping!
Enjoying your time on Mu? Succeeded in amassing some meager resources, retrieving some food or supplies?

Not for long you haven't!

Mu has done its best to mimic a creature found on the mainland, complete with all its annoying, scavenging tendencies. Slypers are almost foxlike in appearance, orange-red with a white-tipped tail and a long, triangular snout, and are notorious thieves. Anything that isn't bolted to the floor has the potential to be snatched should you turn your back for a second, thus rendering all your hard-earned work in hunting and gathering utterly pointless when your food or water ends up in a slyper's belly instead of your own.

They're not easy to trap or snare by any means, but if you're fast enough, you might be able to keep your belongings from being the crowning achievement in a dirty little thief's den.

Which might be easier said than done. On Mu, slypers work in packs.

What the Cluck!?
Someone on the island embarked on some well-advised exploration, but discovered, in the process, something decidedly less pleasant than what they were no doubt hoping to discover. And now Mu has taken the example of its more reality-based counterpart, and elected for devise a threat of its own, modeled after the threat in question.

The trees will tremble and the ground will shake. And drawing ever closer approaches...the fustercluck.

Initially, one might mistake the fustercluck as a hillock of some kind. A moving hillock. With talons and wings and fins and claws and teeth protruding out of it? Come to think of it, it's not a hillock at all.
(While the Fustercluck doesn't look anything like this, we still thought this gif was both topically relevant and too good not to include.)
It instead appears to be a vaguely gelatinous mass of appropriated limbs and body parts, tangled and gelled together. Thick with moss, grass, and accumulated body parts, this creature functions more or less like a katamari: propelling itself along, devouring and appropriating any living thing unfortunate enough to cross its path. Once ensnared by its many clawing, grabbing appendages, it will reel you into itself until you're thoroughly embedded in the mass, organs dissolved and digested, leaving nothing more than a collection of limbs that it will then use to carry itself across the island.

There is no known manner with which to destroy this creature. Only the foolish will engage; everyone else should run.

Though of course, on Mu, you could always try fighting it...

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LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

Comments

[mamaterasu]

[It's a shame, really, had Ammy known she were being followed, she would have either used a less, erm...aggressive brush skill, or not used one at all. But the aura she feels from the lights mingled too closely to that of her little interloper, and she didn't catch herself in time to stop from possibly harming them. Her ears do catch their yelp nearby, and she perk right up - that sounded far too real to be part of this illusion the dancing lights were casting - her nostrils flaring to try and catch a scent.

...O-Other than charred wood and grass, ahah, whoops.

Oh, but--hello there! Ammy startles just a bit at the person suddenly rushing at her, and jumps back a step with practiced ease, but it's just a...human? Mm, not quite. Her godly powers may have been whisked away from a few hours, but her perception is still pretty on the money. Approaching again, slowly, Ammy snuffles around the youngster's clothes curiously. Mm, they smell almost like the imps back in Nippon - demonic, but not necessarily evil. Not truly, in any regard. The imps were more mischievous tricksters, only able to do some real harm when they were in large groups.

Curious. She pulls back, sitting on her rump and tilting her head at them with a questioning sound rumbling in her throat.]

Hrrn?

[demonpuppy]

[The startling is mutual, and Chip stumbles to a halt when she jumps in surprise. Holding still with their hands fisted up against their chest, Chip watches the wolf inspect them with wide, nervous eyes, and relaxes minutely when she sits down rather than attack them.]

I...uh. Hullo.

[Chip's brow furrows, and they glance away nervously for a moment.]

I was...I saw you earlier, and...I don't wanna hurt you. Honest. But those--those lights, I think they're fae. 'S not worth listening to them.

[mamaterasu]

[Oh my, this is new. Usually humans are more than happy to greet her and play with her, likening her to a friendly stray or a very good-natured wolf. It helps that the tale of Shiranui (or, really, herself) made the people of Nippon so good-spirited to wolves like herself, especially a white wolf, but there are still a few who are a little more wary. Is it perhaps because this child smells so strongly like a demon or imp?

Mm, yes, seems that way, what with their words being so withdrawn and timid. Ammy snorts out a puff of air - child, you have nothing to worry about. She met all sorts!! There were even kindred souls amongst the imps she's encountered, to be perfectly honest. Some she's bought wares from, and others she's assisted in cooking their, erm...peculiar dinner appetizers.

Her tail thumps against the ground and the wolf calmly leans her weight against the child, nosing their knees before she's reminded of the lights. Fae...? That word is unfamiliar, but she's sure it's similar to a spirit or a ghost of some sort. Either way, she's fully aware those lights are not to be trusted. They reek of malevolence, and Ammy can still feel their dark auras hanging in the air, just beyond the ring of charred earth she created. They're no doubt waiting for the remaining embers to die, or for them to wander out past the circle of protection, but now that Ammy's aware, she's more keen to ignore their cries. She looks out into the gloom, and spies a few - dancing across the blackness like mock fireflies. How clever, to mask their identities to those of guiding light. Her nose wrinkles, and her teeth show for a just a moment, as she growls quietly at the lights.]

[demonpuppy]

[Chip isn't particularly well-versed in wolf body language, but the dismissive whuff and warm press of her bulk against them reminds Chip so strongly of Grant the first time they went down into the basement that they can't help but laugh a little, reaching out to bury their hand in the thick fur around her neck and start scratching. One thing that's good about being the kid of a werewolf: they know all the itchy spots.]

[The growl makes them still for a moment, but even paranoid as they are Chip knows that it's not them the wolf is mad at.] Yeah, I don't like 'em much either. But they can't do anything if we don't invite it...right? [Man, they really need to pay attention more in class...]

[mamaterasu]

[Ammy can feel the stiffness especially at this proximity, and she eases the poor child's fears with a few affectionate nuzzles, and a lick if she can manage it. She's rarely come across anyone from Nippon who was afraid of her - perhaps one or two people - as the legend of Shiranui was prevalent over all of Nippon, even the Northlands, and people took well to a white wolf afterwards. Besides that, she looked more like a friendly, stray dog than a wild animal.

She is rewarded for her kind gestures - or so she thinks - with some of the best scritches she's ever encountered, and Ammy throws her head back with an elated howl, though it's soft and rather brief. My goodness, children truly are the best at giving her attention!! Erm, well, that is, when they're not petting too hard or pulling her ears and tail. A few of the Sei-An kids were a bit, erm...zealous sometimes. Yeah.]

Mmnnaaaahh... [The wolf yawns, licking her nose, then glances back at the lights, who're still flickering in and out of the circle she's made. It's probably best that they get away from them entirely. She's aware of what they are, and probably won't be fooled again, but it's never wise to linger in a space with malevolent spirits. There could be something far worse than just the lights herein.

Nudging her little friend's arm with her nose, the wolf walk towards the edge of the circle, on the opposite side of where she was going earlier. Let's find somewhere safe, kid.]

[demonpuppy]

[Chip laughs, happy to keep the scratches coming for a response like that! Their hand goes down under her chin, and they marvel at how very soft her fur is. They always thought wolf fur would be more scratchy than this!]

[Then she yawns, and nudges at them, and Chip can take a hint when they get one. Nodding, they turn to follow alongside the wolf, though they still keep one hand on her shoulder. Just for...guidance. Yeah.]

Um...you wanna go to the beach? I think I remember which way it was.

[mamaterasu]

[Soft and, oddly enough, very warm as well - like snuggling into a blanket fresh from the dryer, or sticking out one's hand into a beam of sunlight. For, uh...for now, anyway. Surely that luminescent coat will become dirty and matted in no time; Amaterasu is still a wild animal, and she's never been a fan of bath time. The snow-white glow of her coat will get sandy and stinky over time, and it'll be an Endeavor to get her clean again.

The hand on her shoulder is barely noticed - she'd let Chip ride her if he really wanted, despite her diminutive size, even for a wolf - but he makes no gestures to do so. Ammy keeps the pace, then flicks her ear towards the comment. Beach? Are they close to the Ryoshima Coastline? No, that...that's not it, is it? She'd know the area of trees and ground if this was near the coast of her homeland.

Anyway, yes, she'd like that. The beach has far less to hide in the darkness. With a nod of her head, the wolf allows herself to be lead instead.]

[demonpuppy]

[Chip beams and hurries along, ducking through trails and small gaps in the greenery in their somewhat winding trek. To their credit they only become turned around a few times, and soon enough the trees open up to a view of a wide sandy beach.]

Here, see? Told you I'd find it! [Maybe it's not the best beach, with the bits of wreckage scattered around, but...well, it's the only one they've ever seen.]