aftr_ooc | TEST DRIVE MEME ( 004 )

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...

LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"'Pick one of them off'?" Y'shtola repeated, looking his way with an expression of bemused scrutiny. "Mayhap you've mistaken my meaning. When I said 'catch', I meant precisely that. One of these birds dead is one meal. Alive it is several, if we keep it cared for so that it provides eggs. We must ever think to the long term, when our rescue from this... place is no sure thing."

"Oh. Right... Yeah, we are on totally different wavelengths." Keaton replies, not sounding the slightest bit abashed for getting the wrong idea. "Let's change picking one off to picking one up then, easy! It's the same thing, just less messy."

The only change he would have to make to his usual hunting technique would be to keep all fangs and claws to himself, simple enough. However the sound of his stomach rumbling soon makes itself heard. "But y'know, there's nothing wrong with bagging one for later and a second for now... Yeah?"

"The sensible part of me says I ought not to agree, until I am certain the numbers on this island are sustainable even with our influence..." She lifted her fingers to her mouth, the better to hide a somewhat sheepish smile. "Yet I also admit there is some logic in saying we would need to survive long enough to make such a study."

"See, there you go! We won't be doing anything with our stomachs on empty. Two of 'em it is." His tail behind him starts to wag slowly, happy knowing food and hunting are in the near future. "Make your sensible side take a seat while we do this. You can't be getting cold feet once we're set on a plan."

Granted, considering the number of islanders in this dreamy place and finding a sustainable food source is absolutely sensible and should be considered. Let it be said that Keaton is not the brightest spark around however. It seems as though his stomach is doing most of the thinking for him right now.

With a gloved finger he points at one of the larger nests, brimming with eggs. "Bet if you walk anywhere near that big nest you'll become their biggest enemy in no time. While they're all doing their angry bird thing I'll pounce on two of them." It all sounds so simple, especially when he's making out that Y'shtola will be playing the role of the distraction here.

"A bold plan." Y'shtola knew precisely how to inflect these words so that it was impossible to tell if she was being sarcastic or not. "Ordinarily I could withstand them for as long as need be, but the aether of this island is..."

How to put it. She thought a moment, then simply gestured with a hand. "Troubled. Does your strategy include my escape?"

There's no point in worrying himself over if Y'shtola was being sincere or sarcastic when she called his plan bold. He just opts to take it as a compliment, simple as that. "Thanks! And hey, I bet you'll be able to stand up to them no problem. It'll just take a couple of seconds! So don't worry about the, uh... Aether?"

Not that he has the slightest clue what aether might be. As for her question, he places a thumb and finger to his chin and hums for a moment as though deep in thought. "Your escape is running." ... "Really fast. Get in, birds look at you, get out. Done!"

"I'm gratified to know you think so highly of my athletic prowess," she said, in that exact same tone of voice. "I should inform you, however, that I am a conjurer -- not a rogue, a gladiator, or even an arcanist with a Carbuncle to aid me. Relying on my physical skills may not be the wisest choice."

In other words, try again, with a plan that doesn't involve her getting vigorously nibbled by bludrocs, if you would be so kind.

"So you're saying you're not up for it, that's fine!" That's the gist of what he's hearing anyway. "If you don't think your legs are gonna get you out of there fast enough I'll do that part. That means you're on bird nabbing duty though. That more your speed?"

Either way he gets to eat something, no matter who ends up doing the bludroc-napping. He's had previous run-ins with the birds before, and while things might get a little hectic he's confident he can make it out without getting pecked... Too badly anyway. As if right on cue, he looks up and spies a blue feather poking out of his hair. In one quick movement he snatches the feather away and stuffs it into one of his pockets.

"That should be simple enough. I certainly can accomplish that much, even with the majority of my spells being unreliable."

You don't sneak a motion like that past someone using aether to supplant her sundered vision, but Y'shtola had a poker face for the ages, and didn't so much as twitch an ear at his sudden motion.

"I think a simple spell is not beyond my reach, however, if you will allow me?"

"Aaah who needs a spell for what you're doing? If you can't magic something away just grab the birds and go. Grip 'em tight though, don't want them wriggling about and getting away from you."

He tilts his head curiously when she asks for permission for a spell. Perhaps this is just her way of getting into things though? With a quick shrug and a nod, Keaton agrees.

"You're pretty eager, huh? If you wanna try something now go right ahead! But uh, if you're aiming at the birds I should probably get ready to run in so we do this right." ... Or is this perhaps a spell aimed at him? The idea hardly enters his mind.

"I had hoped to distract or befuddle a bird, but it is not in the cards." She drew her staff with a swift motion, stepping forward with one foot to bend over slightly and channel aether through it.

"This spell is for you," she said, as the light grew around her. "It will lessen blows against you, should the birds attack."

She threw one hand wide and brought the staff out with the other, crashing the magic over them both as the Protect spell flashed into existence, then faded into invisibility. "Ordinarily it lasts long enough for all concerns, though I make no promises here."

TEST DRIVE MEME ( 004 )

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