TEST DRIVE - BELLMARE MOUNTAINS

[phantasmods]

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.

Comments

[maru_kyutie]

Yes, it's how all of my team did. Of course, I had to be saved from my own berserk Shadow after I rejected it before that could happen. But when I did, it was one of the most important moments in my life.

[foolishjustice]

It sounds like a more satisfying method than ours...by its nature, I don't think it can happen as a result of something being resolved.

[maru_kyutie]

How do you guys do it then?

[foolishjustice]

...By reaching a breaking point. When someone is backed into a corner in the Metaverse and makes a decision to discard the idea of keeping your head down and fight back, even if it means rebelling against society's expectations, they'll hear their Shadow's voice. The Shadow encourages them to accept their rebellious will, and agreeing allows them to Awaken to their Persona.

It's...a difficult process, both physically and emotionally. We didn't have to face our Shadows directly, but it's not something that can happen if you don't accept the truth of the world and who you really are.

[maru_kyutie]

...I don't know, that sounds like a resolution to me. A resolution to not just stand there and do nothing so long as there's something you can do. It may not be as personal as facing yourself, but I wouldn't say it doesn't resolve anything.

[foolishjustice]

I see it more as...a beginning. The point when you start trying to face your problems directly, because you can't keep pretending hiding from them is going to work.

[maru_kyutie]

Why can't it be both? I know that resolving one thing sometimes opens up new issues itself.

[foolishjustice]

I suppose...I just find it hard to think of something like embracing anger as a resolution.

[maru_kyutie]

I think embracing anger is fine as long as you don't give in to it. Anger can give you the will to do great things if you don't let it control you.

[foolishjustice]

Indulging anger is a slippery slope to the Dark Side, and it's very tempting to give in when you're submerged in it. That's why...it's very important for Persona users like us to not work alone.

[maru_kyutie]

Yeah, my team very nearly... punished the wrong person before cooler heads prevailed.

[She's not going to mention that they wanted to kill him, but. It's implied.]

[foolishjustice]

That's always a risk in mysteries. I'm guessing it was too personal, and difficult to not act without proof once you had a suspect?

[maru_kyutie]

...It was the kidnapper. He had taken Senpai's seven year old cousin into the TV World. She was in a coma when we got her back. Ironically, it was Senpai who kept it together best.

[foolishjustice]

Ah...I can't say I blame you. I don't keep my temper very well, either, over things involving hurting children.

[maru_kyutie]

The only reason Naoto-kun didn't throw him into the TV herself was because Senpai realized things didn't quite add up.

[foolishjustice]

It's good that someone was able to stay calm enough to notice the inconsistencies, then. And that people listened...it's been remarkably difficult to convince people that the mental shutdowns aren't consistent with the Phantom Thieves' known behavior.

[maru_kyutie]

They only listened when Senpai lost his temper at them himself. He's normally pretty much unflappable, so it was really surprising.

[foolishjustice]

I'm sure it also helped that they were Persona users, and so couldn't have had Palaces like Sae-san.

[maru_kyutie]

Palaces? What are those?

[foolishjustice]

The reflections of a distorted heart, manifested in the Metaverse. They're where we find Shadows, and the mechanism that allows for both Changes of Heart and mental shutdowns.

[maru_kyutie]

Uh, Metaverse? Is that like the TV World or the Dark Hour?

[foolishjustice]

I'm not directly familiar with the TV World, but it's a world built on the conscious beliefs of humanity, their perceptions and associations. When someoen's perceptions are significantly skewed away from the truth, it can create an area based on those distorted beliefs.

[maru_kyutie]

Then the TV World is kind of like a counterpart to the Metaverse. It runs off of subconscious thought, what you know or believe, but don't really realize. It's sort of like a collective unconscious.

[foolishjustice]

I wonder if there's a direct connection between them...does the TV World also allow you to take advantage of common beliefs to accomplish things that should be impossible?

[maru_kyutie]

Not as far as I know. If it did, it would have to be so ingrained that people think of it as fact.