aftr_ooc | TEST DRIVE MEME ( 001 )

Test Drive Meme #1

Hello, and welcome to our very first test drive! 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 July 17th and that Applications will open on July 24th, in preparation for the game’s official opening on August 3rd!

But first, two important notes!

1. The island of Mu 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.

Shipwrecked
The white sand of the beach ridges the island’s edge, even if the clear water soon becomes murky the further out you look across the horizon until the turquoise gleam of the tide disappears in a coil of surrounding fog. Indeed, your best prospects may very well be to strike out among the trees or the crags looming out over the foam-capped waves. There’s lumber to be found and made from the palm-like trees, potentially fruit or edible tubers of some kind if you forage about some. The further you travel, however, the more of your surroundings will reveal themselves in a steady unspooling of curiosities.

One corner of Mu’s current construct drops away into a sheer cliff, initially too dangerous to brave for all but the more daredevilish, but if one starts to scan the sharp rocks below, you might catch sight of what appears to be sodden planks of wood - a wreckage tossed up against the rocks. And a little further...a bobbing, shattered wreck of a lifeboat’s remains, potentially bearing supplies that might yet be salvageable.

Fashion what you can from the wood and stone around you or scavenge from the ruin of the land, if you like. But you can’t simply stand around and wait forever. It’s going to get dark sometime - and if a creature of unknown terror doesn’t catch you, the elements surely will.

Storytime

There’s a sense of camaraderie in this cove, you think. As the sun hangs low over the horizon, the world cast into orange hues, long shadows dispersed by roaring fires that dot across the beach.

That’s right, folks: it’s storytime.

There’s no one to preside over this meeting of the minds in Mu. Call it a vague recreation of things to come, if you like, some vaguely fatidic dreamlike state where you may find yourself drawn to the heat and company that awaits you by the fire. And from there, compelled to default to that old instinct that most of intelligent civilization has revered since they were advanced enough to paint geometric shapes on cave walls.

You tell a story.

Perhaps it’s a tragedy, a tale of woe and of personal loss. Perhaps it’s the sort of thing you’d break out after a few rounds of your alcoholic beverage of choice, clapping hands to your knees as you try to bite back your mirth long enough to spill the punchline. Perhaps it’s an adventure of some sort, some unbelievable rendition of your past exploits. The only common thread to be had, as those gathered around the fire share their tales, is the fundamental rule of a ritualistic sharing of stories such as this: its truth.

But how one chooses to define "truth" is, in its own way, another story entirely...

Dance, Sucker, Dance!
The beat of your heart in your chest is difficult to ignore. It judders with a pulsing, rhythmic quality. If you’re one of those that lacks a heart, the beat is still omnipresent and all-encompassing, until your entire body is unwittingly bobbing in time to a metronomic tune that seems ingrained into your very soul. It’s inescapable. You can’t seem to move unless it’s in time to the rhythm that’s now singing in every atom of your being.

But rest assured, you’re not alone in this musical curse. Everything, from the swaying trees to the waves against the beach, jumps in time to the music. And so do the monsters approaching you, that - wait a minute.

Monsters?

Oh, yes. Did we mention those?

It seems you’ve encountered the wrath of the Boogieman, who curses you to only dance to his infernal beat. If you wish to best him, you’ll have to either evade or destroy the blobs of greenish slime that serve as his minions, all in time to the hard beat of the tune in your head. Clear the radius of his curse or risk an open confrontation, if you dare. Don’t worry if you look foolish; chances are anyone else caught in the Boogieman’s thrall feels just the same.

Mu isn’t pulling any punches to start with. It is a flighty creation, after all, and seems to revel in displacing people into new and uncomfortable situations.

LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Ed lets out a soft huff of breath and settles to the ground, folding his wings tightly to his back and shaking a bit more water out of his arms.]

I'm not really interested in frisking a kid. Would you even know how to use any of this if you did take it?

[The comment is half sarcastic, half genuine. Unless a village of some sort reveals itself, the kid is going to need to make some kind of shelter before nightfall.]

How lenient of you.

[Said even as they lean back, ever so slightly. Flick your water away from them, sir. Eyes casting back down upon his spoils, Chara shakes their head, seemingly not bothered.]

I imagine I'd learn, if the need called for it. And you? Or is this simply material to enable trade for other goods and services?

[If any water gets onto them, it's not intentional on Ed's part. He shoves his hands into his pockets once he's done and looks down at the meager haul.]

I've survived in the wilderness before with less. Rope is good to rig up a shelter, and the wood that isn't big enough to build with can be dried out for burning later. Not sure if the canvas will work well enough as a tarp yet, but it's worth taking along, at least. Saves me the time of finding vines and branches to build with.

[He glances up at them again, brows faintly furrowed.]

Is there anyone else here with you?

How resourceful.

[They might have even asked him if he would mind them watching, if they expected to stay. Or rather, if they were at all certain they were not alone.]

I am uncertain, though I imagine my Partner is somewhere close by. [A casual shrug; an unconcerned smile.] They're attracted to garbage.

Partner, huh?

[He's not sure what the implication is with that term, if there is one, but if this kid has someone they're expecting to find...Edward stoops down to pull the bundle together and start tying it up into a package he can more easily carry.]

Could help you find them, if you want. Won't take too long to show you both how to put a lean-to together and set a snare for small game, either. [His tone remains easy and neutral, making sure to not treat the kid like some kind of burden. He sure as hell knows he would have balked at treatment like that, but they also definitely need to have some assistance if they're stuck on this island, too.]

[He's an interesting one, isn't he? Chara looks without comment, for several moments; assessing.

He would have been the type of person they'd seek out, in Sol Raveh. Obviously resourceful- perhaps not as neutral towards their apparent age as some, but there were advantages to that, too.

It's a pity.]

I appreciate your offer, sir. Should we have need of a lesson, I'm sure we will come looking.

[Not quite a no, but a way out.

What he doesn't know won't hurt him.]

[Edward considers them for a moment more before shrugging and lifting his load up onto his shoulder.] If you say so. I'll probably be camping somewhere close to the shore, but I doubt it'll be hard to find me.

[He tends to stick out a bit, you know.]

Of course.

[He isn't who they're looking for, and his pile has had nothing of particular note, either. They should move on, away from a narrative that is far too late in appearing for them to truly include themself within it.

But curiosity has always been a weak point.]

Forgive my prying, however- I wouldn't have taken you for someone used to surviving in terrain such as this.

Hm? [One ear flicks and he raises an eyebrow, then huffs out an amused half-laugh.] Oh, I got stuck on a deserted island once before--'bout when I was your age, actually. It was part of a test to see if my little brother and I would be taken on for training. And I've had to rough it a few times since; we traveled around a lot, and there wasn't always a train line going where we were headed to.

[...A train line.

Well, that narrows down his original time period, somewhat. Perhaps not quite enough, but somewhat.]

I see. I didn't realize it was the norm to dump twelve year olds on deserted islands- I shouldn't be surprised.

My thanks for your patience, sir.

[Edward snorts out a laugh and shakes his head, grinning but not exactly amused.]

Oh, there's nothing normal about my life, trust me.

TEST DRIVE MEME ( 001 )

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