aftr_ooc | TEST DRIVE MEME ( 029 )

Test Drive Meme #29

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 weekend.

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.

Hee Ho!
It's cold, wherever you are - in a world blanketed thickly with snow. Dense clusters of evergreens, their branches heavy with ice crystals, paired with skeletal deciduous trees, pepper the region. Overhead, scattered flakes of snow drift from the slate-gray sky. The forest is thickly wooded, but that's not terribly sufficient in the way of insulation from the cold. You should probably find somewhere warm, unless this is agreeable weather to you.

It's chilly enough for the proverbial Jack Frost to be nipping at your nose. Or maybe...not so proverbial. These woods are packed with all sorts of little creatures. Wait for long enough, and you might see one of them coming your way.

Jack Frosts are snow demons that only appear in the wintertime, and revel in creating mischief. With bodies made of ice and snow and an alarmingly high constitution, Jack Frosts are generally not hostile, but they do enjoy causing all sorts of mischief. They're known to spit ice and freeze unsuspecting travelers, and use their deceptively cute appearance to lure their prey in. And these woods...well, these woods happen to be full of them.

The good news is that this fate only awaits you if you provoke them. It's even possible to befriend them. One of the best and easiest ways to do this is with gifts and offerings, such as clothing items. A pair of boots or a vest or a hat that will fit these cute little creatures will buy you a friend for a while! You can tell when you've managed to make friends with one, too. They're sure to leave you a little token of their appreciation...and it is extremely cuddly.

If you piss them off, on the other hand, they tend to react...poorly. They'll gust ice and snow your way in copious amounts, and even try to freeze you solid in blocks of ice or impale you on falling icicles. By and large, it's recommended that you play nice. Or, at the very least, have a reliable method of dealing with them if you choose not to. They probably melt very easily, after all.

Unearthly Delights
In the waking world, the harvest island of Nuidan has seen fit to shower adventurers with celebrations in full swing, and the island of Mu has seen fit to reflect such a joyous celebration. However, dreams are tricky things, and nothing carries over quite as it should.

Like the harvest festival in reality, Mu has provided tables laden full of food and drink alike. Unlike its more realistic counterpart, however, the food is just a little strange - in color, in texture, taste, or smell - and the drinks, no matter how much you pour to fill your cup, are seemingly bottomless. Maybe those vegetables are a few shades off, or maybe this sweet pudding tastes a little on the savory side. It's not outright revolting, in most cases, but it's definitely noticeably odd. Andhey smell strange, too; a little too sweet, a little too heady.

For those who are brave enough to sample these dreamed-up delicacies, however, they'll find the world proves to be exceptionally malleable. Partaking of the food and drink that comes from Mu's tables will make your emotions, whatever they may be, leak out into the dreaming world.

If you're feeling mellow and happy, for example, the world around you will change to suit; filling up with your favorite colours, your favorite smells, and anything else that you find cheerful and relaxing. It will manifest as shifting lights, textures, and sounds around you. Suddenly, the food and drink you're eating tastes, looks and feels just like your favorite things, even if they're not quite as you remember them.

If you're not feeling so positive, however...well, we'll leave that up to your imagination as to how the dream could shift. While nothing at this table will ever outright harm you, that doesn't mean your mind can't get creative about the things it might conjure in the meantime. Maybe the food and drink will turn to dust and ashes in your mouth. Maybe it'll start to look a little off, like the meat's gone bad, or the milk's started to sour. Maybe you'll be struck with a sensation of bitter melancholy.

All in all, it's better to try and enjoy yourself...for everyone's sakes.

Let's Have a Blast
In less pleasant news, the waking world has also been stricken with an influx of devilish creatures known only as creepers, and...yes, they're exactly what you thinking. With features frozen in a gaping grimace, a greenish complexion, and a hated proclivity to sneak up silently behind people and explode with only a sinister hiss as warning, creepers are the bane of any builder. And it's certainly not fun to have one blow up in your face, either - you try climbing out of the crater these things always leave behind while dealing with third degree burns.

Whereas the waking world only has the one type to deal with, you adventurers in Mu won't be nearly so lucky. For starters, Mu has dropped you in a thick, steaming jungle, and the dense vegetation can make it awful hard to pick out what's around you. It'd be bad enough trying to pick out ordinary creepers in this mess, thanks to their mottled green texture, but you're not dealing with just ordinary creepers in this dream-world. No, you're dealing with different species of them.

In addition to your run-of-the-mill, "aw, man" style of creeper, you'll be able to encounter all sorts in what would ordinarily be a tropical paradise. Some of them are harmless, like the cookie creeper that does little besides shower you with soft, chewy confectionaries when it explodes, or the friendly creeper, which does little besides stick around and keep you company.

Most, however, aren't. Spider creepers tend to coat you with sticky webs and can even poison you if you get too close to them when they pop, and magma creepers carry with them the unfortunate possibility of starting a full-on forest fire if they explode in a place with thick enough vegetation. And, really, if it's on the list, if you can think of it, a variant of it probably exists. Mu doesn't discriminate; it's happy to let your imagination fill in the blanks of whatever variants of these explosive complications you can dream up!

The good news is that they can all be killed the same way. All creepers are vulnerable at a distance - they can be sniped or shot from a distance without exploding and spewing all of their mess everywhere. You can also deal with them up close, as long as you're fast on your feet and don't let them implode all over you. And, if you happen to have a cat nearby, you're in luck! They'll steer clear from you no matter what.

Just watch your back. These things are completely silent when they're creeping up on you. Oftentimes, you won't know that there's one right behind you until you hear it: the dreaded, telltale hsssssss...

LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

hee ho

[By now, he's gotten used to the bitter cold. He's thankful for the clothing Tataru made him wear - it made Ishgard and it's surrounds bearable, and it's keeping him warm in this wasteland.

Still, being able to tolerate the cold does not prepare him to deal with those that live in such a place. He blinks at the demon, momentarily confused, but...

Well. Time to see if he can communicate with these things.]

You may call me Alphinaud - do you have any name I can call you by?

[The creature seems to acknowledge what he says, but it doesn't respond.

Well. He tried.]

let's have a blast;
[It doesn't take him long to clock what the deal with these explosive green things is. They're peculiar creatures, but no different from a bomb, he supposes. Still, they've gotten him on edge.

So once he hears the tell-tale hiss of one about to explode, he slides his tome free and prepares to cast when he gets hit by a harmless cookie. Several harmless cookies, actually.

He blinks, standing in the remains of a cookie creeper, book in hand and looking completely befuddled.]

[ooc note - alphinaud is only from HW currently because i don't have the patience to wait to get through all the expansions before voice testing him.]

Alphin-

[BOOM, and...cookies, instead of fiery death. Which was a relief, to be sure, but what exactly did one make of that?]

[Investigation was required. Scintilla sheathed both daggers, plucking half a cookie off Alphinaud's shoulder and shoving it in her mouth.]

Don' ffre me li' tha'.

[Don't talk with your mouth full.]

It was not my intention to scare you.

[It wasn't his intention to get showered in cookies, either, but what can you do?

He closes the tome with a snap, though he doesn't put it away quite yet.]

Are you sure they're safe to eat?

[She was not, and the briefly thoughtful look was answer enough. There was a reason she left the thinking to people like Alphinaud and Y'shtola, clearly. Still, she chewed on her bad decision for a moment and swallowed, pausing to process if she felt off at all.]

Only the one way to find out. I think I'm well enough.

[Gods forbid she accept a drink from anyone, but a cookie from a mysterious explosion was worth a try.]

[Honestly, he can't even say he's necessarily shocked by this, and the huff he lets out is fond if a little exasperated.]

We'll see if that holds true in the moments to come.

[But he is, at least, confident he could keep her hale and healthy.]

[Scintilla put her hands on her hips with a thoughtful hum, tail waving restlessly behind her. Nope, still not dead.]

What do you make of that creature, poisoned or otherwise? More often when a beast explodes it doesn't leave a gift behind.

[He puts a hand to his chin, thinking on it for a moment. Certainly a strange creature, to be sure, and he's not sure what to make of it.]

It would be safe to assume the treats themselves are poisoned or otherwise dangerous. It would make a poor defense mechanism otherwise.

Wise enough logic, but on the other hand the average monster is edible enough with a bit of cooking. This isn't exactly muscle and fat, but my point is that those aren't oft laced with poison either.

[Can you tell she's not allowed in the Culinarians' Guild?]

[Someone comes to an abrupt stop behind him in the snow and sends a wave of it in their wake. Keith stands there with his eyes still wide and pupils narrow slits as he takes in that this stranger isn't as hurt as he worried they would be.

He straightens and slowly lowers the hand that had almost yanked Alpinaud to safety.]

Sorry, I thought it was going to- [Keith straightens up and takes a step back. He stands out against the snow, the red accents on his armor making him too easy to spot.]

We should get out of this area. Where there's one there's always more of them.

[Alphinaud looks over at the man, taking in the odd appearance of his armor and the shape of his pupils, before closing the tome he pulled free.

He doesn't put it away just yet, but he tucks it under his arm.]

You've a good point.

[And he doubts all of them are as harmless. He glances at the mess of cookies, before looking up at his new companion.]

Are you familiar with this place?

[He nods once and glances around, keeping his eyes on their surroundings. No hissing. No horrible sounds of some other predator.

He reaches behind him and draws a knife, holding it point down at the ground.] It's called Mu, it tries to reflect the waking realm it's tied to. Events here are twisted versions of what's happening there.

[Something hisses in the bushes and he tenses, bringing the blade up and adjusting his grip. He is ready to throw it.] It doesn't always make sense but that ...cookie thing showed up a bit ago but only the green version that explodes.

TEST DRIVE MEME ( 029 )

alphinaud leveilleur | final fantasy xiv

blast

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

Blast

no subject

no subject