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The Mods of LifeAftr ([personal profile] lifeaftr_mods) wrote in [community profile] aftr_ooc2017-07-04 10:46 pm
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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.


LOGSOOCSTORIESMAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )
prettypurpleparlor: Alas, alas (I do not wish to see)

Cliffs

[personal profile] prettypurpleparlor 2017-07-15 05:08 am (UTC)(link)
[She blinks, surprised at the loud exclamation- although she really can't blame him for it, considering the circumstances. She walks briskly across the beach, and calls out:]

Are you all right?
solperierat: (UGH)

[personal profile] solperierat 2017-07-15 05:17 am (UTC)(link)
Oh, yeah, I just dunk myself into cold-as-hell water for laughs!

[A few moments more of only slightly coordinated swimming, and Edward manages to climb up onto one of the rocks sticking out of the water. He shoves his hair back out of his face and looks around before spotting the young-looking arachne standing on the beach.]

Hey, you seen any other monsters around? I've been trying to find people, but this place is deserted.

[Ah, the beauty of assumptions and similar language choices.]
prettypurpleparlor: I have within my pantry (Table ready)

I typo'd fun as gun in that first sentence and I was so tempted to just leave it.

[personal profile] prettypurpleparlor 2017-07-15 05:31 am (UTC)(link)
I've never met you, how would I know what you do for fun? It's your own business, I'm sure.

[Well, he's definitely not wrong...]

None so far, although I heard some noise from further inland. Too faint to tell if it was anything more than the local wildlife, though, so it seemed safer to search in the more open areas before I tried somewhere more risky.
solperierat: (Wary)

spider cider and gun

[personal profile] solperierat 2017-07-16 05:31 am (UTC)(link)
[He grumbles a little at the shot on his supposed leisure activities, tail lashing a few times, but graciously lets the subject drop. Even prideful as he is, he knows he looked like a moron just now. Two flaps of his wings flick off most of the water, and then he soars back over to the beach to bundle his haul together--nothing much, but enough to help rig a shelter at least.]

Hopefully it's nothing too big to deal with. Two of us together would be safer checking it out. [Edward's tone suggesting the idea is light enough, but he watches her sharply for her reaction. He's willing to work with people, but even among monsters feuds could easily arise out of seemingly nothing.]
prettypurpleparlor: Thinking only (And I've a many curious things)

Breakfast of champions.

[personal profile] prettypurpleparlor 2017-07-16 06:07 pm (UTC)(link)
[She doesn't tease him further- no sense in being rude about it. At his suggestion, she nods thoughtfully.]

Yes, it would probably be best to be cautious. I don't know if there's anything too dangerous around here, but I'd certainly rather not find out the hard way.

If you're not adverse to working with me...?
solperierat: (Fondness)

[personal profile] solperierat 2017-07-20 04:49 am (UTC)(link)
[Edward grins and relaxes, easily hefting his haul up over a shoulder.]

Not at all! Wouldn't have suggested it if I was. Name's Edward.
prettypurpleparlor: Warm affection that I've always felt (Sweet creature)

[personal profile] prettypurpleparlor 2017-07-20 02:10 pm (UTC)(link)
Excellent.

[Muffet gives him a brief, polite curtsy.]

My name is Muffet. It's nice to meet you, if under... trying circumstances.
solperierat: (did i leave the oven on)

[personal profile] solperierat 2017-07-29 08:50 am (UTC)(link)
[...Muffet.]

[And she's an arachne.]

[...is the Fog God for fucking real holy bajeesus. He's kind of hoping that's a nickname she took after being changed, but is is also literally employed by a demon named Greed.]

Ah, heh, same. Don't worry about it--my life is nothing but trying circumstances, in all honestly. [Straightening up, Ed peers into the trees before nodding in the direction of a small path just visible in the dense foliage.] That game trail should lead us to something useful. Fresh water or maybe some edible plants.
prettypurpleparlor: I have within my pantry (Table ready)

[personal profile] prettypurpleparlor 2017-07-29 02:17 pm (UTC)(link)
[She nods thoughtfully.]

Potentially useful for finding other people, too- they might have had the same idea we did.