TEST DRIVE MEME ( 005 )

[lifeaftr_mods]

Test Drive Meme #5

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 November 17th and that Applications will open on November 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.

All That Glitters
The caves deep beneath the island's surface are not dimly lit; in fact, they practically sparkle with a strange, unearthly greenish light. Blame it on the crystalline growths that protrude plentifully from every nook and cranny, stalactites and stalagmites alike.

Their glow might be soothing to some, and viscerally terrifying to others, but one thing remains absolutely certain: based on the creaking, groaning noises of shifting rock and the high-pitched tinkle of breaking shards of crystal...

You aren't alone down here. The deeper in you venture, the more the thicker clusters of the things begin to move. And eventually, it will become plain to you that it isn't the crystal at all that's moving, but rather the thing inside of it - something vaguely humanoid shaped, bipedal, with arms and legs and the dull, pale glimmers in the region of what might almost pass for a face.

Formed entirely from crystal.

Upon spotting a living creature, each of them will begin to lurch closer and closer, arms outstretched. Every one is slow and cumbersome and even fragile enough to be smashed, if you dare venture close enough. But once they've trapped you, there is no escaping whatever fate they have in store for you.

And rest assured, it is not a pleasant one.

[The above prompt is a version of our Crystal Clear event from October! Feel free to give the event write-up a read for more information.]

It's High Tide
When you initially wake on the beaches of this strange island with its bleeding, dreamlike edges, you might notice that something seems deeply amiss...something like the fact that you're lying in a whole mess of seawater. Assuming you're not thoroughly soaked already, you'd better figure out a way to get to high ground, because the water level is rising very rapidly. Pretty soon, there might not be anywhere safe to go besides the trees, and even those might not be safe the longer this goes on.

Fortunately for you, if you can find them quickly enough, the island of Mu has helpfully provided some assistance for those who don't feel like doggy-paddling for the duration of the dream. Better hurry and hang onto them before you drown! Unless you'd rather doggy-paddle the whole way out, that is. In which case, we're sure the water feels great.

A Crappy Endeavor
In your travels on this strange new land, you might start to notice something following you. Something...oddly shaped, like a lot of dirt and clay that's consolidated into one great awkward moving lump of a creature. What lies beneath is far more like the common beetle...just much, much larger. And unfortunately for everyone involved, they have a very specific appetite:

Your poop.

Mu has produced a very close approximation of the creatures known as f'rshaymes, animals that go beyond merely being useful for disposing of all that nasty waste. Doiing so comes with significant benefits, as the combined process of mud and excrement as it goes through a F'rshayme's digestive system leaves behind pure clay for the...brave.

Often found in small herds of six to eight individuals, f'rshaymes are extremely docile and would be very easy to turn into a herd of your very own. How nice!

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( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

Comments

[thermalwind]

No. The...clucks. [He pauses, his words a bit stilted. Wait she'd drawn on the ground. He draws his own knife and copies the symbol in the sand. He'll remember it.]

[esper_magic]

Oh. Have you heard of them before? [ Maybe he knows how to destroy them! ]

They're currently one of the most dangerous threats on the island. They're a mass of limbs and body parts, and whatever they come in contact with they absorb into themselves. So far no one has been able to find a way to destroy them, yet, so it's advised that we avoid them whenever possible. [ Don't go being a hero and trying to kill it Keith. ]

[thermalwind]

[Suddenly the bad word he heard in the name doesn’t matter anymore. He climbs to his feet and stores his knife. Even before he wouldn’t have risked something like that with as little equipment as he has.

His hand scanner is on the fritz.]

What are the other dangerous threats? Tell me about each one.

[esper_magic]

[ And here Terra has no idea there was a bad word in it! ]

Well... there's the tiger sharks.. in the ocean. You've probably seen those already..? And.. the centipuppies, and lungblossoms..

The centipuppies are like.. large furry bugs? Doglike bugs. The lungblossoms are ...well, plants, but they still can attack you if they're threatened. [ Fire fungus. Yikes. She luckily has managed to avoid getting targeted by the hallucinogenic gas though. ]

[thermalwind]

How do they attack? [He'll focus on the rest when he learns more intel. He nods once, yes he's seen the sharks. He'd planned to go after one before nightfall. He doesn't have rations on him.]

[esper_magic]

I've never actually seen a centipuppy, I've only heard of them, but the lungblossoms have a kind of gas as one of its defenses - and they've also been known to spit out a kind of spikey spore, and a fiery fungus that it shoots in terms of long range attacks.

[thermalwind]

[Keith’s face is covered by a flickering light then a mask covers his entire face. Two purple circles for eyes and when he speaks his voice comes out distorted.] That won’t be a problem.

I’ll keep watch for the bugs. ...how many people are here? [A pause.] From this island or from somewhere else.

[esper_magic]

Mmm... I'm not sure, actually. I haven't met everyone, but it seems like I meet someone new every time I go outside. ... Oh, but I should let you know that not everyone here is human. [ Herself included, but she doesn't know that yet, so shh. ]