TEST DRIVE MEME ( 004 )

[lifeaftr_mods]

Test Drive Meme #4

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 October 17th and that Applications will open on October 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.

Gone Apeshit
The peaceful island upon which you've found yourself is pleasant enough, isn't it? Clear turquoise waters, white sand, verdant copses of trees...it might be a little on the humid side, sure, but what's not to love?

The answer will come in the form of some decidedly simian ululations and howls that will inevitably start echoing through the trees, paired with the occasional loud, firework-like bang of some weapon being fired. The beach itself is safe, or as safe as beaches can possibly be, but setting foot into the jungle proper will prompt immediate, firepower-based retaliation from the group of monkeys that have elected to live there.
That's right: monkeys. Monkeys wielding rudimentary technology, no less, the most prominent example of such being the cannon-like, primitive firearms that shoot coconuts at interlopers. While their precision is not excellent, a direct or indirect hit can cause incredibly serious injury. Sure, you could opt to stay on the sidelines...but without any resources on hand, your only remaining solution is to either risk starvation or exposure, or to confront the gun-toting monkeys directly.

A pity Jumpman isn't here, huh?

Motherclucker
Congratulations! After who knows however long you might have spent exploring this strange new land - be it hours or eons or days or mere minutes - you've finally stumbled across some resources that may be viable! You've encountered a flock of bludroc, their nests brimming with speckled eggs that would surely taste delicious sucked raw or fried on a stone.

Unfortunately, this is a rather vast flock of the creatures, and they do not part with their offspring easily. While they lend themselves easily to domestication, these bludroc are quite wild, and quite unwilling to be beset upon by complete strangers. So if you encroach upon their territory, beware...for you may find yourself set upon by an abundance of pecking, flapping, screeching, colorful creatures.

Tick Tock
Mu's world is a curious one, no doubt. Its creatures often bear a strange resemblance to those in the world of LifeAftr proper, but some fauna can be found on no other landscape, in no other context, besides the dreamlike dips and peaks that only Mu can emulate.

One of those creatures is the clockroach.

Today, they seem strangely intent on flocking around those who have crossed into the lands of Mu for the first time; the uninitiated of LifeAftr. Their shapes are indistinct, to start with, but the click-whisper of rustling, mothlike wings almost sounds like your name, being uttered over and over...and over...and over...

They have a curious look to start with, make no mistake. But the longer you look, the more those forms start to solidify into a shadow to mirror your own, devoid of color or feature, but unmistakably resembling your general shape. While their edges are softly blurred and out of focus, their forms rapidly begin to solidify the more you interact with them. Speaking to them, touching them, even acknowledging them by looking their way, failing to ignore them utterly, will gradually start to bring them into greater clarity and focus. They do not speak. They merely follow - a shadow of your very own, unattached and allowed sentience.
Once they're solid enough to touch, you'll begin to hear a sound. A low, repetitive tick-tick of a timepiece, moving ever closer to some unseen deadline with terrifying regularity. It starts quietly, at first, but begins to grow louder, louder, until it drowns out all else.

The apparition may soothe and speak all it likes, but the artificial dread worming in your heart refuses to be shucked away. Everything else is a shadow hostile, a creature mistrusted. The fog is a tripwire that will surely trap you; that person approaching from over that hill? Doubtless here to kill you, and see that your invisible clock winds to an end.

But that dark storm boiling in the shadow behind you? Surely that has nothing to do with it...

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LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

Comments

saaaame let the nasty bloodthirsty boys bond

[cyclopticsadist]

[And now that's his cue to duck. There's not much cover on the beach other than the defensive tank that is his canine compatriot, so that'll have to do. He steps to the side, putting Keaton's body in between himself and the coconut based ballista. They won't have time to do much about the first barrage headed their way, but once the monkeys are forced to pause and reload, they have an opening.]

Charge them, draw their fire, then I can pick them off.

[He's not usually the one to call the shots, but shadowing and attending to Lord Leo for upwards of a decade taught you a few things about strategy and tactics whether you were looking to learn or not.]

[onemanstrash]

[There's not enough time for him to grab his stone for coconuts coming their way, so instead Keaton lifts his arms up to defend himself and Niles. Thankfully he's still tanky without transforming, but yeowch! Those coconuts are leaving a mark.

Once they're reloading, that's when Keaton goes for his beaststone.]

All right, guess its on you then. But if anymore coconuts hit me then I'm not telling you where all the good treasure on this island is hidden!

[Of course this is Keaton's idea of treasure but anyway.

In the blink of an eye he transforms, his large body barreling towards the tree with stomp after stomp. He even throws in a howl for good measure.]

Awoooo!! Hey, ugly, over here! And you, and all your ugly friends! Come and get some!!

[cyclopticsadist]

[Niles gives a short bark of laughter in response. He didn't exactly need extra incentive to shoot down enemies currently attacking him, but he wasn't going to say no to bribery if it just fell into his lap.

He shoots the monkeys with insufficient cover quickly and effectively, heavy bodies falling out of the trees one at a time. The rest however he has to wait to fire another round to gauge their positions in the trees. Here's hoping Keaton could dodge just one or two shots.]

[onemanstrash]

[Sure he can handle a couple of shots. That doesn't mean he won't take the time to shout back at Niles about it though.]

You must reaaally not care about all the treasure here if they're still getting shots through! Do your job or I'll do it for you!

[Never mind how well Niles handled those other monkeys. The point is he's still getting shot at by the ones still hiding okay. With one of his large hands, Keaton picks up one of the coconuts that ended up missing him and hurls it back in the direction it came from. A moment later and a high pitched screech fills the air as a monkey crashes out of its tree to the ground.]

That's how it's done! Hey, you watching back there?! [Come on Niles, keep up. You might have downed a bunch of monkeys, but Keaton got one of them. With their own coconut. Points for style right there.]

[cyclopticsadist]

[Niles picks off the last remaining monkey in the trees, then rolls his eye. The monkey that Keaton had 'gotten' was picking itself up off the ground, but Niles stops it from advancing any further with an arrow in its chest.

The edge of the jungle now significantly quieter, Niles slings his bow over a shoulder and walks towards Keaton at an unhurried pace.]

Oh I was watching all right. I thought the tail might obscure my view, but I'm delighted to say I thought wrong. You make quite the pretty picture from the back.

[Even with his good first impression, Keaton isn't an exception to Niles' routine hazing.]

[onemanstrash]

[Thanks for cleaning up all the monkeys Niles. You're a real pal. Of course all the hard work was done by the tank, who flexes his arms to show off a little before poofing back into his more human looking self.]

Glad you saw everything I was doing then! But c'mon, the tail isn't that big. It's not even-- [Wait, let him check... Nope. Not wagging. Good. No way it would ever obscure anything.] Not even moving. And anyway, my tail and I aren't a pretty anything. We're... Rugged. Battle worn!

[Which sounds so much cooler than pretty why would you even call him that. Does he look like a kitsune to you??]

[cyclopticsadist]

[So he's got a thing about his masculinity huh? Easy enough button to press.]

With all the fuss you made about taking a hit or two I'd object to both of those descriptions. You may act the big bad wolf, but you yelp like any other mutt.

[onemanstrash]

You telling me you wouldn't say anything if a coconut crashed into you? Like anyone would just stand there and take it without saying anything... Unless you're Azura or something.

[Okay she would probably say something if you threw a coconut at her, but she's like the walking definition of stoic to Keaton. ANYWAY.

He folds his arms at that, choosing to not even dignify that mutt comment with an answer! Not that he needs to. His tail visible bristles and twitches a little, those ears of his lowering slightly. That's harsh dude.]

[cyclopticsadist]

[Again, the automatic reaction making him easy to read delights Niles. It's a comforting notion, someone so incapable of lying. And now here comes the 180 that Niles is known for. Mood whiplash always brought out the most interesting sides of people.]

So you want to know how long I can stand there and take it huh? Let's go somewhere more private and I'd be happy to show you.

[onemanstrash]

Seriously? If you really wanna do this I'll grab some of the coconuts and throw them at you. Guess we'll find out how long it takes for you to give up this way...

[He even goes so far as to start gathering up the coconuts, collecting a few in his arms before he realises what's really being said. Suddenly all the rumours he's heard around camp about Niles make a whole lot of sense.

... Keaton drops his little coconut hoard onto the sand.]

Know what? Let's forget the coconut thing. Man, you made that weird fast. [He won't get angry or flustered though. After all he is a cool, collected wolfskin. His cheeks are quick to turn red however.]

[cyclopticsadist]

[As Keaton started gathering coconuts Niles crossed his arms and held his head in one hand, an exasperated expression on his face. Was this going to be another Felicia scenario all over again? Of all the things he assumed about Keaton, naive was not one of them.

And then, mercifully, he gets it. With the added bonus of getting the coconut topic dropped, which was Niles' ultimate goal.]

Took a minute for that to sink in, huh? I find it rare that I have to make myself less subtle.

[onemanstrash]

Well sorry it took me a second to get my head in the trash!

[Which is impressive really given how much time he spends in the trash anyway- Less so the mental trash however.]

I wasn't expecting you to drop something like that just outta the blue... Buuut I guess I should've expected it really. [Stop living up to all the crap people say about you Niles, sheesh.] Next time you start getting filthy I'll be on your tail about it way faster.

Gonna say it now: Niles would be 100% up for dog/cat roleplay lmao.

[cyclopticsadist]

[Niles decides to go ahead and put that theory to the test right now.]

Oh my, is that a promise? I'd love to have someone like you all over my tail.

[For emphasis he turns his back on Keaton, (keeping an eye on him over his shoulder), and shakes his butt a little.]

Pfft I bet he would be. What would Niles not be up for, really.

[onemanstrash]

[Is he really... He is. Well, okay then. At least he was ready for it this time.]

Alright, I walked into that. But I'm gonna have to pass. Normally I'd be all over stuff that's been places I don't know about... Your tail? Yeah, that's an exception.

[He stares at Niles as he looks back. This is the only reaction you're getting this time!]

Missionary position, lights off, for the sole purpose of procreation. Total boner-kill.

[cyclopticsadist]

[Niles turns around with a hmph, but there's no venom in it. Just a some mild, (but expected), disappointment]

My tail may be well traveled, but I assure you I'm rigorous when it comes to maintenance and quality assurance. [He snags an arrow out of his quiver, twirling it quickly in his fingers once before gesturing at the dead monkeys at the tree line.] Should we bother gathering those carcasses too? The ones you already brought will be plenty for now, and I'm not sure we have the tools for preserving meat available to us here.

... YEAH OKAY that sounds about right.

[onemanstrash]

All the upkeep in the world can't account for distance traveled, especially wherever you've gone. [There's nothing cold about his response, if anything Keaton smiles and lets out a laugh.] Anyway, yeah, we can never have too much so we might as well bunch 'em together. If we can't keep it all we could slice it up and make jerky!

[Which sounds like a fantastic idea to Keaton at first, but... Yeah, that's a lot of monkeys. Hmm.]

We could live off these things forever. Think of all the branches lined with drying meat... [What a sight. Now he kind of wants to do it just to see it.]

Good thing that's literally impossible with these two.

[cyclopticsadist]

[Niles will remember that.


For now he decides against retaliation for the insult in favor of getting down to the business of dealing with the monkeys. Skinning and butchering some corpses out to put him in a better mood.]

Mm, fair point, and there are many more people on the island to feed. Maybe someone knows how to construct a primitive smoke house.

[Niles looks from side to side along the beach. Sand isn't an ideal platform for butchering, but luckily not too far away is an outcropping of rock with a relatively flat surface. Niles grabs a knife from a sheath on his belt, and points over at the platform.]

Bring the carcasses over there and we can get started.

Keaton might be down for simple in the dark! It's not like he's a wolf or something. Yup.

[onemanstrash]

Hey there you go, we could feed the entire island this way with dried meat. Smoking the stuff is fine if you wanna do it that way, but I think letting it dry out in the sun gives it that extra kick.

[Though this is a wolfskin talking who would eat it raw if it came to it so. Maybe he isn't the best authority on handling meat here.

On Niles' directions, Keaton takes his beaststone out with a nod.]

Can do. You ever prepped a monkey before?

[In a flash he's transformed into his wolf form again. Keaton stomps over and starts gathering up the bodies, his larger form making easy work of carrying them all.]