TEST DRIVE MEME ( 028 )

[lifeaftr_mods]

Test Drive Meme #28

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.

Reserves and Applications are always open, and are processed every Sunday, EST.

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.

Hard to Swallow
It's a little dark when you wake, and you'd be forgiven for thinking that you might be in a cave of some kind. After all, the ceiling is high and curved, and it's more than a little damp underfoot, and there doesn't seem to be any natural lighting. Touch the walls, and you'll find them slick with some kind of substance. Water, maybe?

You'll find that you've been provided with a complimentary light that will never go out, which is quite a useful thing. Hold it up, and you'll get a good look at the premises, and learn firsthand that, unfortunately for you, you're not inside a cave at all. You're inside something else - but fortunately, this specimen is long-dead. It can just be a bit startling to look up and realize that the smooth architecture of this cavern has a lot to do with the massive, curved rib bones...and that the moisture greasing the walls is probably a lot less sanitary than simple water.

But, hey! At least you're not being digested in here! The massive dragon you're inside has long since departed this world, after all. You just have to figure out how to get out of it. Cutting, phasing, or otherwise blasting through the thick, meaty texture of the walls will prove to be...just about impossible, really. Looks like the only way out is to look for the, ah, natural exit. We recommend moving uphill - you're probably going to want to exit via the mouth than the alternative route. It's not the most ideal sort of work environment for most. The "ground" is slippery and squelchy, and on occasion you'll find that the ceiling drips from injuries of a vague etiology, which means that you might find yourself showered with drizzles of dragon blood if you're not careful. And we do suggest that you be careful: dragon blood can burn through most materials like acid, including skin.

If that wasn't bad enough, it seems that this beast's health wasn't all that great to begin with. This thing, as it turns out, has a flurry of pests plumbing its, uh, plumbing, if you get our drift. Flesh-eating monstrosities the size of small dogs have been skittering throughout its digestive system, and now that their host creature is dead, they're starving for some real food. They can be easy enough to dispatch of, if you know how to fight, but they can be fast, and they don't tend to retreat once they have a target on lock.

But if you're able to brave all these horrors, eventually you'll be rewarded by a thinning passageway as you scale the creature's esophagus, and finally the jagged fangs of its mouth...its closed mouth.

Ever tried prying open a giant dragon's mouth from the inside? It might take a bit of work, but we're confident you can do it. Or that you can enlist a little help in the effort.

There's Something in the Water
There's something peaceful about being in a boat at night. The open expanse of the starry sky, the gentle rocking of the waves, the smell of the salt and the spray...it can be very peaceful. Calming, even. There's nothing, on first glance, to really worry about, either: the boat is sturdy, large enough to house plenty of people, and the skies are clear. No storms on the way. It's a bit quiet, but of course it would be. You're in the middle of the ocean, after all.

That's when it'll probably occur to you that, as it is nighttime, it should probably be a bit darker than it is. And the waters around your boat, well...they seem to be glowing. Or, more specifically, what's in them.

Jellybrights are jellyfish-like creatures that lump together in massive swarms of well over a hundred, and exhibit a natural bioluminescent glow that actually manages to be quite pretty. It's just that most jellyfish don't tend to start climbing onto land - or, in your case, climbing aboard without an invitation. Relax! They're not here to hurt you, technically. They just need a dry place to lay their eggs, delicate little things that resemble glistening drops of dew, and this just happens to be the nearest dry spot in miles. It keeps their young safe from predators until they can hatch and scuttle into the ocean waters. These creatures are, however, very protective of their unhatched spawn, and as they rapidly climb onto the boat and start laying their eggs, you might find that it's going to get awfully hard to walk anywhere without risking stepping on any.

And if you do? Well, that's when they decide that they're here to hurt you. Their gentle, bluish glow will immediately switch over to a glaring red, and they'll promptly sting you in retaliation. It hurts quite a bit, though the site of the attack soon starts to go numb afterward.

The good news, if it can be called that, is that the level of punishment is directly proportional to how badly you misstep. If you only tread in the wrong spot once or twice, you'll have some fresh welts to rub at and maybe some newfound paranoia regarding jellyfish, but will remain otherwise unscathed. If you stomp all over those eggs without any regard for their well-being...well, that's when you might want to try swimming, because your boat's going to get awfully unsafe for you in the near future.

Walking With Water
The ocean floor can be a scary place to be. It's dark, uncharted, and full of things with an awful lot of teeth that would be happy to take a bite out of you. So it might be something of a relief to not be truly underwater, even while you're stuck down here.

How is that possible, you might ask? Well....

The waves to either side of you are high - impossibly high, reaching almost infinitely skyward. The water streams down freely in a seething, jellied mass to either side of you, but it's as though it's all being held back by some massive, invisible force. The ground beneath your feet is silty and faintly spongey, clearly quite damp from having been, until recently, submerged, but it's stable enough to walk upon, though jagged bits of rock poke up and out here and there.

What this allows you is a beautiful panorama of the deep-sea ocean life as it all flows idly past. The odd fish might even occasionally breach the tremendous walls of water and lie flopping, gasping on the ground. You yourself can easily stick your arm into the water with no consequences, or even swim through it...though we don't necessarily recommend that. That's a lot of water pressure over your head, after all. This can be quite a breathtaking journey. There's nothing quite like being neck and neck with a school of silvery fish, or walking beside the hulking silhouette of a whale, separated only by whatever force keeps these waves from crashing down over your head. And, if you're fortunate, it will simply be a peaceful, if inexplicable, sightseeing trip. You might find yourself accosted by roving, playful dolphins or sea otters, some of which might be delighted enough by the company to leave you a seashell or a leaf of kelp as a gift.

If you're especially lucky, you might find that, along your way, a very special type of coral has been left bare to the dry air. Its vibrant coloration will almost certainly catch your eye. While it can make for a useful light in a pinch, it's more useful if it's...consumed. It might run counter to common sense, but you can trust us on this one: consumption of this coral will render the user capable of swimming through deep waters for up to twelve hours at a time. They'll find themselves quite able to swim very fast, find themselves immune to water pressure, and will breathe as easily as if they had sprouted gills.

That also means that anything down here that's carnivorous won't have any reason to hold back on this strange, potentially edible intruder that's come swanning in through its waters. So watch out for sharks - and for tigersharks. And yes, we mean that literally.

All in all, it's much safer stay on the dry land down here.

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( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

Comments

[thermalwind]

Keith turns and his eyes light up, a little literally, the glow of his eyes is a bit more Galra. "Yeah, like that." He combs about near the edge of the teeth and the sudden heat near his leg catches his attention.

He kneels down and a grin spreads across his face. "And like this." He closes his hand around the hilt and pulls the blade free. The sun blade begins to glow, carving through the darkness as if it were made of thin paper. He swings the sword to his left to warm up his wrist. "When we carved up this corpse on the islands these blades could cut through the teeth pretty easily."

He sheathes the blade again and closes the distance between them, putting a hand on the teeth to their left. "If we cut a door in the teeth, we can block it when we're out so those things can't follow us." He pauses, adding. "Or block it if what's outside is worse."