phantasmods: (Default)
Phantasmal Rift Mods ([personal profile] phantasmods) wrote in [community profile] phantasmemes2018-12-07 12:25 am
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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.
dubiouslychthonic: (go on)

[personal profile] dubiouslychthonic 2018-12-09 02:52 am (UTC)(link)
Ah, thanks. [You don't have to tell Jetshard twice. The medic's job in a fight is to stay alive, after all. Can't patch everyone else up if she's taken out.

She starts heading in the direction of the indicated path; the snow's slowing her down, of course, but she's not struggling with it too much, and she's careful to keep the woman between her and the remaining snowmen. Not that there are a great many remaining snowmen; at the rate that the newcomer is melting them away, this little band of them is likely going to be gone by the time Jetshard makes it to the relative safety of the path.

Which she does, and pauses once she's on the magic-warmed gravel, to look back and see if the other woman is following.]
demonbloodblade: (Default)

[personal profile] demonbloodblade 2018-12-09 03:02 am (UTC)(link)
[ The other woman is following. In fact, she appears to be walking on top of the snow, not falling through at all, which makes it easier to cover the withdrawal ]

Not sure where these paths came from, but makes it easier to get to a safe place. I've seen some cabins, but wasn't sure if anyone else was stuck here.
dubiouslychthonic: (Skeptical)

[personal profile] dubiouslychthonic 2018-12-09 06:33 am (UTC)(link)
The area was sparsely inhabited before the fissure opened, I believe. It's not as well preserved as the city was, but it's much better than most of the other fissures have been.

[She smiles a little apologetically, and adds -] Although I suppose if you haven't run into anyone else, I probably sound like I'm talking nonsense, huh?
demonbloodblade: (Default)

[personal profile] demonbloodblade 2018-12-09 01:25 pm (UTC)(link)
[ This gets a slightly wry smile. ]

Considering the last time I was pulled off Faerun, I received effectively "nice to meet you, welcome to our huge war" before getting sent out to fight, this is actually much less unpleasant.

[ The Very Large Sword gets put away in a complex motion, and a hand, clad in a heavy gauntlet, is extended. ] Meliantha, no last name I care to use. Perhaps you can give me a summary once we're safer.
dubiouslychthonic: (Skeptical)

[personal profile] dubiouslychthonic 2018-12-10 03:58 am (UTC)(link)
Fair enough.

[She meets the offered handshake with her own gloved hand; her own gear is definitely cold-weather insulation rather than any kind of obvious armor - warm gloves matched with a thick, hooded coat, the hood of which fastens in buttoned flaps around the bases of her horns. It's a little hard to tell what color her eyes are behind the red-lensed goggles she wears, but her skin is deep grey and spotted with greenish freckles across her cheekbones.]

Sawbones Jetshard. Let's find somewhere out of the open, then.
demonbloodblade: (Default)

[personal profile] demonbloodblade 2018-12-10 02:08 pm (UTC)(link)
[ And yet, not the strangest appearance nor name Meliantha's ever seen. And considering the whole 'not your original plane' thing, Meliantha's very deliberately not making judgements. ]

I've seen a couple of cabins along the way, but I wanted to see if people were in trouble before settling down. One of those might be good.
dubiouslychthonic: (you did not just say that)

[personal profile] dubiouslychthonic 2018-12-11 01:07 am (UTC)(link)
It's the best we're likely to come by on this part of the mountain, unless you've got access to some kind of extradimensional space big enough it won't suffocate us. Let's get moving.

[At at that she's not going to wait around for further pleasantries; it's too cold for too much formality.

She might not be equipped for combat, but the troll is hardy enough that the hike gives her no difficulty, and it's not long before one of the half-buried cabins comes into view.]
demonbloodblade: (Default)

[personal profile] demonbloodblade 2018-12-11 02:38 am (UTC)(link)
Agreed.

[ The walk is almost pleasant, with the snowmen apparently not active for a bit, not disturbing things. ]

I've got some food with me - was traveling before I came here - so if there's no food in here I've got something.
dubiouslychthonic: (Skeptical)

[personal profile] dubiouslychthonic 2018-12-12 07:12 am (UTC)(link)
Oh, don't worry, I'm well supplied. [She says, but she doesn't appear to be carrying any sort of bag with her.] I'm out here on purpose this time, I do try to come equipped. I'm just not much of a fighter. Thanks again for the rescue.
demonbloodblade: (Default)

[personal profile] demonbloodblade 2018-12-12 02:58 pm (UTC)(link)
It's a religious thing to me, in a way. I follow a god whose precepts are protect those in danger. It makes me get in between people and trouble.

Which is a longwinded way of saying "You're welcome," I think.
dubiouslychthonic: (sorry were you still talking)

[personal profile] dubiouslychthonic 2018-12-18 02:56 am (UTC)(link)
[She smiles thinly.]

I'll take that kind of religion over death cults any night.

[She pauses, as they come up on the cabin. Luckily, while the snow's drifted high enough to block the door, it's not so high as to hide where the door of the cabin is.]

You have anything that can melt it out without endangering the structure, or are we going to have to dig?
demonbloodblade: (Default)

[personal profile] demonbloodblade 2018-12-18 01:05 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Meliantha unsheathes that large sword again, and licks of flame appear around the edge of the blade. ]

I think I might have something that can help a bit.

[ It takes a couple of minutes, but the door is mostly cleared away with a bit of expertly-placed sword. ]