phantasmemes | TEST DRIVE - BELLMARE MOUNTAINS

Hello and welcome to Phantasmal Rift's Test Drive Meme!

Test drive threads are assumed to be game canon for accepted characters unless otherwise noted, so don't feel like you'll have to introduce yourself a second time to everyone you meet! As an added bonus, participation in the test drive comes with the chance to earn up to two items of loot for your trouble! Characters who are accepted can earn one item for having a top level, and one for tagging out to someone else's top level! Your SWEET LOOT will be included with your acceptance notice.

Additionally, characters currently in game can earn themselves a piece of bonus loot for the dungeon by tagging people's top-levels on the test drive! Existing characters get their bonus loot along with the rest of their loot at the conclusion of the dungeon.

This test drive takes place in the Bellmare Mountain range, a chilly environment even when it's not locked in the dead of winter. Considering that November is just starting to bite - or is it, with the Fissure's time-displacement effect in place? - that makes for an extremely chilly reception for all of the new arrivals. If you're a person at risk of frostbite, you'd better hunker down in one of the scattered mountain cabins or find someone with extra snow gear, and quick.

Once you're a bit more warmed up, exploration of the area will reveal that it's largely abandoned, but there's still some evidence of past human habitation. Old chair lifts stand guard over untouched ski slopes, the remains of what was once a resort, and a handful of hiking paths twist back and forth through the mountain forests, the snow melting off them due to the magical crystals in the gravel that lines the paths.

LET IT SNOW

Chances are that, upon arriving, you find yourself outside in the snowfall. Hopefully you weren't from somewhere too terribly warm, but chances are that unless you were specifically in a cold environment before, you're going to be feeling the chill now. (Unless, of course, you're not human and don't get bothered by the cold. That happens.)

Fortunately, there are plenty of paths scattered around that are warm enough to keep the snow melted off of them - it shouldn't be that hard to stumble across one. The question then becomes, which way to shelter and civilization? You'll have to take a bit of a gamble, but it's almost certainly better than staying where you are and freezing.

LOCKED IN

How fortunate, then, that you were able to find shelter against the cold - at least for the time being. The wooden cabin is the exact opposite of luxury, but there's a bed and wood to make a fire in the fireplace, so you can't ask for terribly much else. Especially once night falls - or when the snow outside begins to fall in more than flurries - it's far better to be outside than in. Even if you can't figure out how to start the fire, the dimly glowing crystals that serve as fire starter will at least keep your hands warm.

Of course, with only a limited amount of shelter to go around in these mountain trails, it's fairly inevitable that you would have to share with someone... Hope they're friendly, otherwise this place is going to get awkward fast.

FROSTY THE - OH, MAN!

And if you're still running around outside, sooner or later you're almost certain to run into a deep patch of snow that rises up to meet you. These giant snowmen, ten feet tall and aggressive, stand up in response to anything that isn't the local wildlife approaching - and their goal is quite simple. Better watch out, because these guys are your own personal avalanche, seeking to bury you under themselves until either the cold or the weight saps the life out of you.

One's dangerous, but it's not uncommon to find them in groups of 3-5, either, which is where things start getting to be a problem. Luckily, it's possible to melt them down to nothing, or just blast them apart with pure force - the scattered snow won't rise again, at least not any time soon.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I think I have a few things in the lair...

[Pidonus raises a hand, an extradimensional gate showing up in between two trees... Revealing a rather nice wooden lounge on the other side.]

A magic ring gives me an extradimensional space I can manipulate. I kept a buncha stuff from Incendia in one of the side rooms, so...

A coat would definitely be nice, and maybe some gloves too.

Got plenty! Come in and look!

[Pidonus will quickly show the way to a... Semi-organized room of various clothes of odd styles. Lots of rainbows.]

[Rise walks in and looks around, hands behind her back.]

That's certainly some wardrobe you've got here.

It's mostly for setting people up with stuff. I can shapeshift my clothes as I want, but most don't have that power. But, of course, others don't have that luxury. Or a bunch of others.

So, a few hundred cubes of space turned into a portable medbay, supply storage, and source of a luxury or two? Not a bad plan, I don't think.

Pidonus, this place is amazing! It must be handy having a portable base like this.

[Rise will select some winter wear and turn back to Pidonus.]

Where's a changing room?

We have some restrooms set up, but not dedicated changing spaces.

[Pidonus points to some... Well, exactly what she said.]

Just please be aware, the water is from a limited tank.

That's fine, I just need somewhere to change.

Then please, enjoy the privacy!

[Pidonus smiles sincerely.]

It's half the point of what I built, after all!

[Rise enters the bathroom, and comes out a few minutes later dressed for the weather.]

Thank you, this is just what I needed.

Glad to be of help.

Could I hear a bit about yourself in return, though?

Well, I'm an actress in my home world. Wow, that's weird to say. Anyway, I helped stop a god from enveloping the world in a fog of lies, so there's that. My birthday is June 1st, and my blood type is AB positive.

... Wait, your blood type? How does that influence things?

... Wait, Blood has types?

[Pidonus is obviously from a less modern world.]

Oh, it's a cultural thing. Japan has this superstition about your blood type affecting your personality. People with type AB blood are supposedly a mixture of opposites.

Ah... I see.

I'm not used to that sort of thing; there's the Astrologist's Signs where I'm from, which I guess might be similar maybe?

Not that it matters for beings like me; we're not 'born' in the same way mortal beings are.

Astrologist's Signs? They're probably something completely different from what I'm thinking of, but I'm curious.

I kinda just viewed it as a weird superstition, so I didn't much study it, sadly.

A lot of junk like that's a thing in my world. Sometimes, but not often, it was a useful tool for my previous work, so I only learned bits and pieces.

... I wouldn't suggest going to my world to learn more, sadly.

Not a pleasent place, huh?

Lemme put it this way. The Abyssal Lair of Lust, the home of my now-thankfully-former queen, was about as good as it got for anyone. And it was only good for her minions.

Ouch. You must be glad to be away from it then.

Glad? Yeah, in retrospect.

... Lost would also be the word I'm using, though. It's... Kinda awkward being what I am without my purpose.

Hey, all that means is that you get to choose your own purpose now. Heck, us humans don't even have a specific purpose and we get by just fine.

... I know you're right, but emotionally, it's... Not something I've fully understood as yet.

There's a lot of 'well that doesn't help' factors, like my trying to be good while I'm here. Which... Isn't easy, on several levels.

What matters is that you're trying. Understanding comes with time, but only effort brings change.

You do have a point.

... Related, we should probably get out to work. We have a rift region to stabilize, after all.

(no subject)

maru_kyutie - 2018-12-08 20:12 (UTC) - Expand

have_hat_will_travel - 2018-12-09 01:33 (UTC) - Expand