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The Mods of LifeAftr ([personal profile] lifeaftr_mods) wrote in [community profile] aftr_ooc2019-09-16 08:57 pm
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TEST DRIVE MEME ( 027 )

Test Drive Meme #27
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.

In conjunction with our monthly Test Drive Meme, Reserves are now open! 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.

Eye of the Storm
Unlike the calmer waters of other dreams, this particular one is in a frenzy of activity. The sea thrashes and roars and crawls hungrily up the shores of the unassuming island upon which you've found yourself; it assumes the shapes of tridents, swords and, most notably, the snapping heads of serpents.

The sea isn't acting rough for no reason, it turns out. Right now, it's seething in conflict with torrents of fire that seem to have, however improbably, assumed the shape of a three-headed dragon. Whether the serpent is simply coated in fire or it is fire isn't clear. You don't really need to know the specifics. All you need to know is that, at present, there are two dragons furiously crashing against one another in a dichotomy of fire and water. They issue rushing plumes of steam whenever they connect, scourging deep furrows into the earth.
Adventurers will find themselves thrust into a veritable maelstrom of conflict upon waking. Unlike the case in the waking world, everything is simply too indistinct to grasp or engage with in all but the most oblique manner. All you can do is hold on and try not to get lost - or separated - in these new, wild conditions, and seek shelter as these two behemoths ruthlessly duke it out.

The clash of the elements isn't the only thing you have to worry about, either. Little tails of fire and water will occasionally unspool from the giant wyrms and decide they want a taste of something with a little more body. Though their shapes are indistinct due to their elemental makeup, it will still be evident that these are smaller dragons with a taste for destruction. You can dispel them easily enough, and largely through application of common sense - flame-dragons can be reduced to steam by water or blasts of cold air, and water-dragons can be vaporized by heat and fire - but there happens to be a lot of them, and not very many of you.

There is shelter, however, as a respite from all this. Ruined buildings dot the landscape, impervious to both the water and fire and surrounded by a sense of eerie calm. Though they're long abandoned, as long as you hide in such ruins, nothing can touch you there. Not even the smaller, scuttling dragons can breach those walls, held back by whatever unique arcane constraint lives in the smooth, cool stone.

All you have to do is reach one.

Echoes of the Past
Don't be alarmed if you find yourself waking on the floor of a ruined house in a ruined city on a deserted island. Don't be alarmed, either, if it looks like the edges and corners of most of these buildings, built of simple stone and clay and mortar, look as though they have sustained an awful lot of fire damage in the past. That doesn't have to mean anything, you see.

The houses and buildings here are of an unknown purpose, but the signs of civilization are writ large in stone and on the landscape. And yet, no matter how much you might search, there doesn't seem to be anyone else around.. Abandoned and broken, exposed to the elements without proper care, it's clear that the inhabitants of these places are long, long gone.

Wandering between the buildings will certainly help avoid the heat of the day, and as the day winds on, some thought might be put into gathering the necessities to make it through the night - water from barely recognizable wells, or vegetables scavenged from overgrown gardens that have long since abandoned any semblance of order or restriction.
Still, even devoid of their original owners, the contents of those broken structures might well be interesting in their displays of lives left behind. The blocky, square buildings show a sense of efficiency over articulation, with ornate mosaics carved into the walls as a sense of decor. You might even find piles of strange, smooth stones with speckled patterns decorating their exterior, hard as rock and curiously similar in size. Their function can only be guessed at, but they're quite heavy.

...at least, until they shudder and start to crack beneath the pressure of something moving around...inside of them?

Give it five minutes to an hour, and those stones will prove to not really be stones at all, but eggs. To be specific...?
They contain these little guys. Tiny, baby dragons, newly hatched and eager to imprint upon the first venturing hand to give them the time of day. They can vary in size from barely nine inches in length to just over two feet, and their coloration can be just as diverse. However, it will become clear within mere minutes of meeting your new, scaly charge that they're just the same as any other baby animal: they're needy, demanding, curious, and hungry.

It's advised you go looking around for something to feed them. These dragons are omnivorous creatures, and will eat anything from berries to meat, but either way, they're going to be looking to you to care for them.

A warm congratulations to an unsuspecting parent may very well be in order.

The Sound of Sirens
The idyllic setting of a tropical island might seem perfect for a vacation getaway...or it would be, if this place weren't populated. You aren't here for very long before you hear it - a loud, shrieking siren, shrilling out over the trees. And then another. And another. And another...

Followed by the sound of gunshots.

It turns out you're not in a happy little island getaway at all, but in the middle of a turf war. Stay in one place too long, and you'll realize that you can start to make out blurred, shadowy silhouettes crouched in the underbrush and huddled behind boulders, issuing indistinct shouts as they charge one another with spears and harpoons, or shoot explosive bursts of scattered buckshot with rudimentary firearms.

At first, these shapes merely pass through you. You are but a spectral spectator, lingering on proceedings far removed from you. But as the conflict escalates, you'll find that you're not as immune to this as you might have first thought. The shapes start to sharpen, and before you know it, you'll start to feel those weapons piercing you for real - and they will hurt just the same, too.
But getting caught in the crossfire isn't the worst thing that could happen to you - oh, no. See, if you're not careful, you might find yourself wanting to join them. It might start as a small ember in the pit of your gut - this feeling of displaced upset, that one side of this shadowy war has truly and personally wronged you. Or it might be out of self-preservation, because someone shot you or stabbed you and it hurt, and before you know it, one of the dark, featureless shapes is handing you a weapon for you to pay them back in kind.

There are ways to break out of this, of course. A good shock is all it takes to jolt you back to your senses, though it won't render you immune to the effects of this battle. You'll still have to figure out how to get out of this mess without getting shot or blasted or bled out onto the floor.

Or maybe you can embrace the chaos instead, and decide to wreak a little havoc on the other side. Who are they? Doesn't matter! They're not one of you, so you can make them suffer to the fullest extent, right? Besides, who knows how they might take it if you try to disengage entirely?

One thing is for certain - you won't be getting away from this conflict and out of the battlefield without a fight.

LOGSOOCSTORIESMAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )
mockiri: schnetzle @ tumblr (don’t eat humans okay?)

kiri | critical role

[personal profile] mockiri 2019-09-17 05:45 am (UTC)(link)
( Eye of the Storm )

[What a rude awakening. It feels like she'd only just laid down to sleep, dozing off to the sounds of the nightly raves of Hupperdook, when suddenly the roar of a storm snaps Kiri awake on an unknown beach. There is some panic at first, of course - strange places and frightful battles are things she's grown somewhat used to only while traveling with the Mighty Nein where she can be protected - but a few moments pass and she slowly realizes that oh, it's a dream. Of course. The thought is accompanied by confusion, however. She's never seen a place like this, and she's never been capable of imagining it, either. It's not in her nature. So why...?

Her immediate instinct isn't to fight when the other dragons appear; she's never trained, she has no powers. She does know how to run and avoid trouble at least a little, so that's what she does, ducking and hiding and fleeing wherever she sees them. Her winding path eventually takes her to the ruins where she finds a corner to huddle and hide in, curled up and shivering, occasionally setting free soft, frightened cooing noises. She's clutching her dagger for dear life.

Dream or not, she doesn't like it here.]



( Echoes of the Past )

[Exploring the ruins is nerve-wracking, but Kiri is a curious sort, so she can't really help herself, fascinated by her new surroundings. When one of the stones begins to crack and rumble, she immediately hides, but when a tiny dragon emerges from it and begins crawling around in search of food, she can't resist the urge to go to it. It's so cute and tiny- surely something so small can't be very dangerous. It's a child, just like her! So they should be friends.

Seeking food, it growls hungrily at her, so she growls back. It's taken aback by the identical sound coming from her beak, and after a moment of back-and-forth, it begins to toddle after her as they wander in search of something to nibble.

And that's how she can be found, a short while later: a little bird girl seated next to a berry bush with a dragon curled up in her lap, eating away- one berry for her, one berry for the dragon... and both happily growling in tandem.]



( The Sound of Sirens )

[Ohhhh no, this is not a good place for her, either. Kiri hid immediately as soon as things grew dangerous, of course, but she has no idea where to go or what to do next, and it scares her. And with all the shadowy creatures around, she can't discern friend from foe in this place. Her best defense: make it sound like she's a danger, so that no one comes near her. Maybe the conflict will quiet down. She'll just have to wait it out.

Anyone approaching where she is will suddenly hear the sound of a gunshot, an echo of the gunfire going on around them, but strangely, there's no pain or actual bullets hitting them. Take another step, and there it is again, and again, and again. Each time with no wounds. Maybe investigate what could be going on over there...?]



(( ooc: for those canonblind, kiri is a kenku who can only speak through mimicry of learned phrases. fair warning as her dialogue can be somewhat limited! but please protect the good bird child. ))
shatteredlenses: Huh (Huh)

( Echoes of the Past )

[personal profile] shatteredlenses 2019-09-18 03:01 am (UTC)(link)
[How long has it been since Mu pulled Ignis to its shores? There is some small hope in him that perhaps one of the others have returned, but it becomes clear after a short time, there are not many here...if there is anyone but him at all. He follows the soft sounds of the empty area, hands moving carefully over ruins, feet nudging, but thankfully not tripping, over rocks.

It's the cracking sound of the latest rock he's nudged that catches his attention, the sound loud in the mostly silent area, reminiscent of, oddly enough, a chocobo egg hatching. Carefully, Ignis gets to his knees to find the stone and is surprised when he finds not stone, but a tiny creature.

A tiny dragon!

Ignis can't help but laugh at the absurdity of it all. Why are there baby dragons here? Ah, but if those sounds are anything like the sounds the chocobo chicks had made, it means the little baby is hungry and absurd or not, he can't just leave the little creature when it's hungry.

The little dragon proves to be quite a good food hunter and it's not too long before they find some berry bushes. There is growling nearby, but the dragon isn't concerned at all. In fact, he growls back at them!

How very strange Mu is today.]
mockiri: diamancris @ tumblr (go fuck yourself!)

[personal profile] mockiri 2019-09-18 03:13 am (UTC)(link)
[There's a long pause, as the growling on the other side of the bush goes quiet. Even the chewing noises coming from that direction have stopped. And then, probably unexpectedly, a woman's voice calls out,]

Go fuck yourself!

[Don't you growl at her new baby, whoever you are.]
shatteredlenses: Huh (Huh)

[personal profile] shatteredlenses 2019-09-18 10:08 pm (UTC)(link)
[Ignis starts, surprised by the way they have been greeted. Slowly, he moves so that he can step between the baby dragon and whoever else is there should they show signs of being violent.

The dragon, for his part, continues to happily eat berries.]


Pardon?
mockiri: seboostianillustrations @ tumblr (get into trouble.)

[personal profile] mockiri 2019-09-19 02:02 am (UTC)(link)
[Oh, that's a person. Kiri cautiously peers her head around the bush, eyes wide, and ducks back slightly at the sight of the stranger. Clutching her dagger just to be safe, she trills softly, bird-like, and glances out again.]

Be careful.

[He has a cute little dragon, too. Maybe it's okay?]
yallstupid: (Frustration)

ii. Echoes

[personal profile] yallstupid 2019-09-20 01:20 am (UTC)(link)
Ugh, c'mon...scram. Yo, I ain't your mom, your freaky little Charmander, and I sure as heck ain't your dad, either.

[The sound comes from a moderate distance away, perhaps a few yards. A large, almost towering man with a monochrome undercut and some...bizarre clothing tries to nudge away a bright, red dragon hatchling with his foot. The child keens loudly, hopping away from the offending foot, growling at it and puffing out its (very small) wings and shaking its tail above its head like a warning. Guzma walks maybe another two feet, and the child continues to follow. He takes a deep breath, rubbing his face with one hand before he hears growling from the bushes.]

There, look, y'all's fam is probably in there, yeah? Why don't you bug off and go back to your nest. 'Fore I punt you there myself...
shatteredlenses: Rain (Rain)

[personal profile] shatteredlenses 2019-09-20 10:00 pm (UTC)(link)
I apologize if I startled you. It was not my intention.

[That would explain the previous response, though, and it is possible he is dealing with someone young considering the short phrases she is answering with.]

My name is Ignis. What is yours?
mockiri: artist unknown, searching for source (i killed people!)

[personal profile] mockiri 2019-09-21 06:25 am (UTC)(link)
[Someone sounds grumpy over there. Kiri tugs her dragon closer, hugging him close to her chest in case he feels the need to venture closer to whoever it is.]

If it bleeds, we can kill it.

[Though it's a lot harder to stick something that walks and talks.]
mockiri: diamancris @ tumblr (this means we are friends.)

[personal profile] mockiri 2019-09-21 06:28 am (UTC)(link)
[Oh! She can answer that. Bless Jester for helping her, it's much easier to talk to people these days.]

I am Kiri!

[He seems nice enough that he isn't going to attack, so she lifts up her dragon and toddles over to the other one, chirping as she sets him down nearby. Go on, make friends. You can eat together!]
yallstupid: (/squints)

[personal profile] yallstupid 2019-09-22 11:29 pm (UTC)(link)
[Well, that's not what Guzma expected to hear from the bushes. His head nearly snaps up as his brows knit together, a deep frown on his ace. That's...not a voice he recognizes, and he's not exactly sure if these dragons have the intellect or not to speak as they age. Or, you know, maybe someone new got lost and is, uh...a little more unsavory than the others. Arceus knows there's all kinds in the multiverse.

He digs through his pockets and takes out Golisopod's pokeball, readying to throw...just in case.]


Hey, bro, why not save the bloodshed or when it's needed, yeah? These little Salandits don't got no bone to pick with no one. [For now anyway.] And don't no one need'a mess with no one today.
shatteredlenses: Profile Smile (Profile Smile)

[personal profile] shatteredlenses 2019-09-22 11:34 pm (UTC)(link)
It's a pleasure to meet you, Kiri.

[Ignis listens to the sound of her moving closer and smiles down at the dragons as they greet each other with growls before settling down to eat together...or perhaps challenge each other to see who can eat more berries faster if the sound of their chewing is anything to go by.

Since he has a feeling the dragons might be at this for a while, Ignis kneels down, feeling out a clear spot and sitting down.]

Have you seen anyone else since you arrived here?
lesbeau: (« [Scream] NO FUCK YOU)

rolls in late to Scream, eye of the storm!!

[personal profile] lesbeau 2019-09-23 03:36 am (UTC)(link)
[All of this seems pretty normal to Beau, dream or not- there's been a lot of water-related bullshit on the islands in the last two months, so dreaming about a great fight with it is hardly surprising. She's not sure why she's out here bolting around though, what she's supposed to be looking for--

Until she sees a blur of feathers in the rainfall, and twists herself into a fighting stance with her staff, thinking she's about to be jumped by a monster.]


Hey! Don't even think about attacking me unless you want a whole bunch of fist!

[This is absolutely not going to backfire in the future now that she's taught Kiri that sentence.]
mockiri: diamancris @ tumblr (go fuck yourself!)

GASP!

[personal profile] mockiri 2019-09-23 08:04 am (UTC)(link)
[Oh, hey, she knows that voice. Not someone she'd expected to hear, all things considered, but welcome nonetheless. She chirps a greeting, waving (with knife in claw) and echoes the sentiment right back, voice and all.]

You want a whole bunch of fist!
mockiri: artist unknown, searching for source (ok ok ok.)

[personal profile] mockiri 2019-09-23 08:12 am (UTC)(link)
A pleasure to meet you.

[He might be surprised to hear a mimicry of his own voice returning the sentiment. Chew on that for a minute.

There's a brief pause as she tilts her head, considering the actual question (and the appropriate response to give). She hadn't really seen anyone, no.]


There’s lots of creatures around that could hurt.

[The monsters outside are just about all she's seen, at this point. Until him.]
mockiri: seboostianillustrations @ tumblr (get into trouble.)

[personal profile] mockiri 2019-09-23 08:14 am (UTC)(link)
[He's not charging over... or attacking, either. Very cautiously she peers her head out enough to catch a glimpse of him, chirping inquisitively. He sure looks grumpy, but considering her more recent company, that doesn't always mean bad.]
devilstongue: (🔮 59)

Sirens

[personal profile] devilstongue 2019-09-23 09:48 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Moonweaver, why is he back in this fucking place? The shadows of the battles make him want to jump in agai, but he'd done enough of that last time, and instead Molly pulls away and starts heading towards any possible moon pool to get out.

That's when he gets shot at - or at least it sounds that way.He immediately ducks for cover. The purple tiefling really hates guns, who the fuck was responsible for inventing such things? Must have been a real asshole.

...but there's no pain and no sprays of dirt and ground as it should be when bullets hit. Just the sound, even the sound of the ricochets that didn't happen. Maybe it was just a memory today. Just some more mind-messing bullshit. ]


Fuck off!

[ Molly hollers, flopping around so he's on his back. ]

I'm not playing these games!
mockiri: umbrellaville.com (i don't know if it's smart.)

[personal profile] mockiri 2019-09-24 03:14 am (UTC)(link)
[She's a breath away from repeating the gunfire noise when she pauses to think for a moment. That voice- she knows it. Could it possibly...?

She's not quite brave enough to venture out yet, but she does take a chance and call out in a voice that he ought to find equally familiar- Jester's.]


What are you going to do?
yallstupid: (>:\)

[personal profile] yallstupid 2019-09-25 12:58 am (UTC)(link)
[Oh, it's...a bird? Guzma blinks, his serious expression becoming a far more vexed one as his brows knit together. What the fu--

...

Does that bird have a knife?]


Whoa there, Farfetch'd, you wanna put down your piece?
mockiri: diamancris @ tumblr (go fuck yourself!)

[personal profile] mockiri 2019-09-25 03:33 am (UTC)(link)
[She chirps at him, ducking slightly into a defensive stance, and grips her dagger more tightly.]

Go fuck yourself.

[It's her dagger. You can't have it.]
sess: (1)

syenite / broken earth trilogy

[personal profile] sess 2019-09-25 11:45 pm (UTC)(link)
eye of the storm
(It's not the first time that Syen's felt the world end; she should be used to it by now.

When she wakes, hazy and confused and flat out on her stomach, the only thing that saves her from one of the smaller dragons coming straight at her is the insistent jab of her sessapinae, and the following lurch of the ground beneath her. She rolls, pulls from the air around her, but her orogeny sputters, dents uselessly against the floor.

The fire dragon looms over her as best it can, snarling, jabbing at where she's trying to shove herself away and upward. Syen's mind keeps spinning uselessly. What the rust is wrong with her?? She's trying to pull heat from the earth but her orogeny is like a dull shovel, smacking against the ground and bouncing away– she can't pull heat from the dragon, either, which is a laugh and a half. It's made of flame, and she recoils from it as it advances upon her, drawing itself up. It's not large, but it's just the two of them out here and she's cut off from her power. Fantastic.)


What the rusting fuck are you, (she shouts. Because shouting at it is going to do her a world of good. She's running out of options here, okay??)

echoes of the past
No, (says Syne, exasperated. The baby dragon clambering up into her lap and trying to steal her bite of food looks put-out, and then gently puts its entire mouth over her hand anyway; Syenite reluctantly lets it have the last of the apple. While she certainly doesn't want to have to be saddled with looking after this thing, she doesn't want to be held responsible for it starving to death either. Or walking off and getting killed. It might be irritating her, but it's a child. That's what children do.

She's only calling it so because she still has no idea what kind of animal it is. She hasn't seen anything mammalian that also has wings. She watches it curiously, touching her fingertips to the spines down its little yellow back.)


Scapolite, (she says. Unsure of why she's giving it such a name,) Scap. Maybe. ... Fuck.

(And she presses her wet, dribbled on hand against her forehead, knuckling between her brows.)

sound of sirens
(The sirens don't scare Syenite, but as she extends her awareness out across the island, what does give her pause is the regularity of the earth. She quells a microshake, extends her reach a little farther, and hits the water. Nothing happening there, either. Yet the shake sirens continue, blaring and warring and she almost wants to cover her ears in confusion.

But then the gunshots start, and she is surrounded.

Syen finds respite behind a bolder, and comes face to face with one of the shadowy silhouettes, faceless and dark, and a bubble of fear builds in the back of her throat until she realises it isn't here to attack her. It's holding out something sharp– a glassknife, glittering prettily. Syen stares at it, and then at the silhouette, and her hand aches in warning, a dull, low throb.)


No. No. (But the silhouette is nodding, and Syen's heart shoots into her throat, dread clutching at her insides; she peers out from around the rock, searching for a flash of burgundy.

You probably aren't wearing such an inauspicious colour, but that doesn't matter to Syen, who comes charging at the first person to approach her with a low shout, glassknife clutched tight in her fist, blinded by both fear and wild, hot anger.)
Edited 2019-09-25 23:59 (UTC)
lesbeau: (« [Shock] hahaha Oh No)

HENLO

[personal profile] lesbeau 2019-09-26 04:10 am (UTC)(link)
[For a moment, she just thinks someone's got some magic or tech that repeats her voice. Past them having left Kiri in Hupperdook a few months before she got here, a year on the islands do nothing for trying to recall an accurate sequence of events, but the fact that it's not her entire statement gives her pause. Beau whips around until she can follow the voice to...]

Kiri?

[Aw hell. Well, not the worst person to ever get here, but now she's taught her more swears. Whoops?? That's not important as she drops her fighting stance and comes in closer.]

What are you doing here? You okay?
mockiri: pocketghosts @ tumblr (wrapped around his weenie.)

[personal profile] mockiri 2019-09-26 06:33 am (UTC)(link)
[Oh thank goodness, it's not some kind of monster or hallucination. As Beau approaches, Kiri breaks away from her hidey-hole and scurries over, all but colliding with her legs, small feathered arms wrapping around. She's usually a very brave girl! But this place has been loud and scary so far, and she's not using to facing such things alone.]

I’m okay. [She pauses, trilling softly, and switches from Jester's voice to Fjord's.] Stay quiet.

[She'd done what she had been taught- she ran away, she stayed hidden, she kept silent. (mostly.) Now maybe she can be safe at last.]
vamos: (♥ there's no way you can save it now)

sound of sirens!

[personal profile] vamos 2019-09-26 07:40 pm (UTC)(link)
[Pink hair is close enough to red, right? If it's not the hair, then it's the style - high-heeled boots, a shirt striped with black and red, and the gun that they're clutching in their hand, too...bright green. Stupid bright. Everything about Vamos is, as a rule, stupid right.]

[They've mostly been shooting. Shooting, and missing, 'cause oohhh god they were not joking when they said they're a terrible shot. No one's really noticed yet. And, actually, that's good? Why are they fighting when this isn't their fight? They're done with fights. All done. Been in too many, come to think of it, which means that now's a good time to get the hell out of heeEROH GOD SOMEONE'S RUSHING THEM WITH A KNIFE ]


AAAAA -

[Vamos is very articulate. They're also shooting their raygun with very little regard for whether or not they hit anything.]
shatteredlenses: Tilt (Tilt)

[personal profile] shatteredlenses 2019-09-27 12:07 am (UTC)(link)
[Ignis is surprised to hear his own voice coming back so perfectly at him. In fact, he blinks hard in response, tilting his head as if he is studying her even though that is impossible considering he's blind. After a moment, he finally speaks.]

How did you do that?

[Vocal mystery aside, he can't help but frown at her response.]

Mu has always been mysterious and full of dangers, but it usually is not so lacking in people.
mockiri: artist unknown, searching for source (mimicking things!)

[personal profile] mockiri 2019-09-27 07:18 am (UTC)(link)
[She chirps thoughtfully. She could try to write it down, but she doesn't have any paper on hand. not that it would help with him]

How did you do that?

[His voice again, followed quickly by a woman's,]

Mimicking things.

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