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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LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

Comments

High Tide

[mamaterasu]

[Now this is quite the sight. I mean, it's probably only a bit more bizarre than the appearance of a white wolf floating along downstream on a massive lily pad, but... Ammy blinks, looking up at the peculiar-looking ram and tilts her head to one side when she's hailed. Oh dear, this doesn't look good at all. Usually her Lily Pad brush skill ca hold the weight of an adult and herself, no problem, but this big guy here looks to be made up of perhaps three adults. She's, uh...she's not certain it'll be enough.

Gods, but she really should have asked the Storyteller for the Water Tablet. Sigh, but such a feat would require an about of foresight this wolf doesn't readily have (not in the sense that she can call up it at will, anyway), alas. Ammy looks at the huge creature with folded ears, making a low groaning noise as she tries to think. Maybe...maybe she could fell a tree? I mean, a big log should be able to float and hold his weight, right? A Power Slash to chop it down, then she can use her glaive to take care of the branches. Yes, that seems fitting.

Now...where can she find a tree that's not entirely sunk and occupied by the big mangoat thing? Hm...]

[journalname]

[Asgore, meanwhile, figures that his instincts about whether people are just dogs or dog monsters are usually pretty spot-on. Even if they don't seem to speak and he's never met them before? Yeah, probably.]

Oh...do not worry! I will be just fine! [probably? he's lived this long, right?]

[mamaterasu]

[...Yeah, okay, she really needs to rescue this big guy. Ammy sighs, shaking her head, then hurries over the water via a few more lily pads she creates - like a path of stepping stones - and goes on a little journey herself. It may take perhaps a half hour or so to find a good tree that'd support the huge guy, but eventually the sound of a tree being felled (yes, it does make a sound) and slamming into the water will permeate the area. Cracks and snaps of other trees being broken by its fallen path will follow, and...give it a bit more time--

There she is! Ammy tugs an impressive log after her with her teeth, having kept a portion of one branch in tact for that reason. It's difficult to direct the huge log, but she manages a bit, slowly... Only once the big log floats toward where Asgore has, uh...nested, does Amaterasu bark at him to jump down and take hold of it. It's the most bizarre pool noodle ever, but it floats better than the ridiculous 'swan' thing.

Sturdier, too.]

[journalname]

That is very nice magic!

[He calls after her as she hops away on the lilypads. How useful!

Not so much for someone of his size, of course, which is why he'll still be right here when she eventually comes back.]

Oh, golly. Where did you get that? [Asgore doesn't wait for an answer, wasting no time in carefully getting himself back into the water - ugh, wet boss monster - and clinging to the log. A better prospect than the tree, all things considered.] Thank you very much! I am afraid the floating rafts were a little...small, for me.

[mamaterasu]

[Hey, she feels you, man, wet fur is the worst, and Ammy tries to avoid being soggy as much as she can. Baths are plain terrible for us fluffy folk. If only she had enough stories saved up, Ammy would ask for the water tablet, so she could easily just walk on the waves and not get her fur wet. Or...lend it out to this big guy.

Panting a bit, because the effort was certainly a bit even for her, Ammy shakes her head - no problem, that float is, uh...well, it sure is something. And while the log is better to help him float, he's going to have to do the leg work. Literally. Hopefully Asgore s good at paddling, because Ammy can't drag a big log and a boss monster after her. At the ver least, she points a paw toward where she came from - the Storyteller's temple.

Want an escort, large goat friend?]

[journalname]

...ah, there is something that way?

[He had paddled some already, but you can see where it got him, without any clear idea of where he ought to go. Given direction, Asgore shifts his grip on the log for easier movement, claws biting a little into the wood.]

Very good. Ah, and forgive me - I ought to have introduced myself! I am King Asgore Dreemurr. Though, of course, my kingdom is certainly nowhere near here. [It sounds mildly self-deprecating; he wouldn't have anybody thinking more highly of him because of his title. Not because his people are far away, but because he has not been a very good ruler, in the end.]

[mamaterasu]

[The Storyteller's temple should still be above the water - Ammy recalls it was a bit elevated on a hill, so the rising waters shouldn't be too bad there, if at all. Ammy follows after the big guy - Asgore, hm? And a king to boot - as he paddles, her own lily pad moving along easily as she moves the water currents magically every so often. She allows the pad to float mostly, pushing it only just so, to avoid getting caught or stuck going the wrong way.

With a nod of her head the wolf acknowledges his name and bows a bit in greeting. It's nice to meet you, highness, but, ah...well. She certainly has a name, of course, but Amaterasu isn't quite fond of giving it out. Not her actual name, anyway. Talking just isn't a thing she enjoys, and remains ever mute when she can. How about you give her a name yourself, sire?

...J-Just try not to make it sound too bad........]