phantasmods: (Default)
Phantasmal Rift Mods ([personal profile] phantasmods) wrote in [community profile] phantasmemes2018-03-01 07:08 am
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TEST DRIVE 002

Hello, and welcome to the second test drive for Phantasmal Rift!

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 is based in the Fissure nearest to the Station, same as last time! But this time you're coming at the shoreline from a bit of a different angle...

If you really want, though, you can reuse prompts from the first test drive! In particular, there's still landsharks around the new area of beach. Otherwise, here's three new prompts!

OPTION ONE: OCEAN BREEZE

The cavern you find yourself in smells of the sea... And looks like it, too. Large crystal formations, usually in blue or a light yellow-green, glow along the walls and ceiling of the cavern, providing more than enough light to see by. The whole place is damp and a little chilly, and occasional pools of water rise and fall with gentle waves - some outside tide flowing in through underground passages.

More chilling, though, is the wind that flows through the caves, never ever quite going still but varying wildly in intensity. In fact, characters will discover that they have some control over the intensity of the wind - or perhaps some lack of control, depending on their exact response to waking up in an unexpected place. Strong emotions of any sort make the wind stronger in turn; while calm leaves the wind gentle, panic will send it whipping around corners and drive already-distressed characters to take whatever shelter they can, lest they get blown into some cavern wall.

Other than the wind and the crystals, the caverns seem mostly normal for a place that's clearly underwater at least part of the time. The lower reaches of the caverns are full of barnacles, mussels, and other shellfish that await the rising of the tide for their survival, as well as the occasional crab (some of them surprisingly large, up to about the same of a man's head), and bits of seaweed catch on rocky corners.

OPTION TWO: SAY NYA

What's that sound? Is it... a cat?

... No, it's not. It's a meowing seagull, for some reason.

Except for their strange vocalizations (all feline in nature), the seagulls found outside around the cliffs and beaches are all reasonably normal. (Specifically, anyone familiar with the Gulf Coast on Earth will find that they look much like Laughing Gulls in their black-headed plumage.) They're normal-sized and not at all afraid of people...

In fact, they're so unafraid of people, that they'll come right up close to you and nick your stuff! And not just food, mind. Anything they can carry that isn't attached is fair game to be taken and winged up the cliffs to their roosts. Magpies have nothing on these guys.

Good luck chasing them down for whatever it is they've taken, or climbing up the cliffs to get it back. It belongs to the seacats now.

OPTION THREE: ALL THAT GLITTERS

This gravel beach is absolutely splendid in the sunlight, looking like someone shattered a thousand stained glass windows and left the wreckage to sparkle. Protected from the worst of the waves by some rocky outcrops in the distance, the water here is gentle and doesn't disturb the beach much.

Luckily, the glitter does not, in fact, come from glass. Close examination will reveal that the gravel of the beach contains an impressive number of fragments of some kind of hard scale - about a third, if one's going by volume. They vary in size from a large thumb-nail down to nothing, and most transparent in every color imaginable. They're quite hard, and more likely to break into fragments than they are to be ground down by the sand.

But what is it that these scales come from? The answer can be found only at night, when the sun's light disappears. Then, large reptilian-looking creatures - somewhere between snakes and fish - make their way out of the crannies hidden in the rocks around and across from the small beach. In many different colors, they glow beneath the waves, some internal light filtered through their skin and scales to make each appear a different color.

The serpents aren't violent, at least for now, but given that the largest of them is at least twenty feet long... Perhaps it's best not to hassle them.
dontcallmedeku: (Did you see that?!)

[personal profile] dontcallmedeku 2018-03-05 03:14 am (UTC)(link)
"That's good to know. Maybe something from home is sitting around here somewhere then," Izuku said with a glance around the beach. If he could find his Villain outfit, then he could keep it for a rainy day. He just had to hope it was in the case if they found it. He moved to stretch his arms and then his legs. If they were going to do this, he needed to get ready.

"Alright. I do have a question. Do you have a Quirk?" He asked.

[personal profile] part_time_person 2018-03-05 03:18 am (UTC)(link)
I didn't know. But I can't swim very well, so I figured I should try not to hang around to find out just in case.

[Glasmpauki had a range of clicks when they were happy. Smiling was a human trick, and one Julian had never really mastered. Eventually he'd given up on trying. He tries to keep talking as if the wind thing didn't happen. He's gotten around a lot of awkward moments by talking right through them.]

Thank you. Are, um, are all crystals free for people to collect?
newlawtolight: (Default)

2

[personal profile] newlawtolight 2018-03-05 03:19 am (UTC)(link)
[She smiles.]

Long enough, dear sorrow.

[Her eyes cast down towards his hips. She might be looking to check for eye-shaped bulges where your pockets might be.]
founderinglight: ([late with spacebucks])

[personal profile] founderinglight 2018-03-05 03:21 am (UTC)(link)
No, caution is definitely the safer policy.

[Says the man in a blatantly uncautious place wiggling a large and obviously magical crystal out of the wall. Come on...]

And I can't imagine why not, though taking too many might disrupt whatever passes for an ecosystem here. This is the largest one I've tried to take.

[And... There we go! just a little more wiggling to pull it free, but there's a sound of something mineral snapping and it definitely gives a bit more.]

[personal profile] part_time_person 2018-03-05 03:21 am (UTC)(link)
[Admittedly, it was a boring kind of help, but it was vital. He couldn't help people on any social or emotional level; he didn't know how. He didn't know how to do a lot of things that other people could, like comfort one another or make others laugh. Science, though, that he understood. That, he could use.]

In any way we can except you doing physical labor until we're sure you're not concussed. I don't want anyone to get hurt here, including you.

[personal profile] part_time_person 2018-03-05 03:26 am (UTC)(link)
Don't call me that.

[He backs away from her, edging back toward the cliff. His pockets are empty, and he's keenly aware suddenly that if someone wanted to turn violent on him for being what he is, he wouldn't really have anywhere to run except, possibly, up, for whatever good that might do.

His eyes flash green again, though his voice stays flat.]
I don't want any trouble, ma'am.

[personal profile] part_time_person 2018-03-05 03:29 am (UTC)(link)
That's what my mother always says. If only her students would listen more often. [He doesn't comment on the lack of caution going on here. He once dangled from the ceiling as a spider in front of a fire just to feel the heat, he has absolutely no room to talk.]

I won't take that many. Actually, right now I'm not going to take any at all. I don't know if the locals here are alright with that.
dontcallmedeku: (It's it a nice day?)

[personal profile] dontcallmedeku 2018-03-05 03:31 am (UTC)(link)
Of course! We wouldn't want to push ourselves beyond our limits. I won't do anything too rigorous until we find a doctor and I get my head checked. I promise.

[He nodded and looked around the beach again.]

Sitting here is nice. We can enjoy the scenery and just talk. This is nice.
newlawtolight: (exile's rose)

[personal profile] newlawtolight 2018-03-05 03:33 am (UTC)(link)
Are you not spider, then?

[Oh, hm. Interesting.]

You assume that I am that interested in doing harm to you. Hardly, yet I am also aware of where loyalties of the whole, such as they are, might lie.

[Casually adjusting her sunglasses.]

You understand my caution, surely.
foolishjustice: (Strange isn't it?)

[personal profile] foolishjustice 2018-03-05 03:35 am (UTC)(link)
Personally, I think they have an unfair reputation, but some people are simply unnerved by things with more than four legs. People seemed mostly alright with the beehive I brought back, however, so hopefully it won't be an issue.

[personal profile] part_time_person 2018-03-05 03:38 am (UTC)(link)
I - I mean - my father was a glasmpauki but my mother was human, so...? [Does that answer her question?

Every muscle tensed, he continued to back up, slipping his earring into his pocket without taking his unblinking blue eyes off of her. Is she asking if he's literally a spider? If he's glasmpauki? He doesn't know, but he does know exactly where this talk usually led, historically speaking.]


I'm not loyal to anybody except my parents. My adopted parents, I mean. They're humans. They're... the best humans, and the best parents, anyone could ever ask for. They don't deserve to lose their son to someone else's caution.
superstylishsquid: (Oh yeah...)

[personal profile] superstylishsquid 2018-03-05 03:40 am (UTC)(link)
[Flapping wings are something Alastor's used to keeping an ear out for, not to mention demonic energy...even if something feels a little off. It's still enough for him to tense a bit, knowing his reputation among his own kind can't exactly be great.]

A superhero movie. I'm guessing you aren't exactly up to speed on modern human culture?
have_hat_will_travel: (Sigh)

[personal profile] have_hat_will_travel 2018-03-05 03:41 am (UTC)(link)
Careful with the 'Modern' word around here. We've got people from a massive array of tech levels and such.

Mine just happens to be from a lower-tech world, though, yes.

[personal profile] part_time_person 2018-03-05 03:43 am (UTC)(link)
Good. You seem like a nice person. I wouldn't want to push you.

[He idly pushes his hair behind his ears, blinking in the sun.] Mmm. Reminds me of going to the beach with my parents. It's been a while since we got the chance to do that... I should ask them when the weather gets nice back home again.
founderinglight: ([late with spacebucks])

[personal profile] founderinglight 2018-03-05 03:43 am (UTC)(link)
Not terribly many locals to object, and the androids certainly don't seem to mind. I'm reasonably sure at least some of them can be bribed with research samples, actually. Aha!

[The crystal finally comes free, a complex angled shape sliding into Izunia's arms. It's a bit bigger than his head, and he grins before rapping a knuckle on it.]

This ought to last a few experiments, at least.

[And then he lifts the crystal slightly and... it vanishes, in a flicker of blue lights. Izunia dusts his hands off as though he's done nothing particularly special.]

Now then - I know there's a stairway up to the top of the cliffs and an exit to the beach to the south, but I haven't fully explored what might lie to the northern side. Take your option as you please.

[personal profile] part_time_person 2018-03-05 03:45 am (UTC)(link)
I won't let it be an issue. I've been hiding for eleven years, a few more wouldn't hurt. [He shrugs, voice flat and resigned. At some point, he learned to accept defeat before it even happened and never truly unlearned it.]

...I hope nobody's allergic to bees. That's a bit of risk if they are.
superstylishsquid: (Huh?)

[personal profile] superstylishsquid 2018-03-05 03:48 am (UTC)(link)
So expect some sci-fi mumbo jumbo, got it.

Now what's this about "the Rift"? Is that supposed to sound ominous, or...?
dontcallmedeku: (Hey there!)

[personal profile] dontcallmedeku 2018-03-05 03:49 am (UTC)(link)
You seem like a nice person too.

[He looks out at the ocean and nods.] I should do the same with my mom. We haven't had a day out together in so long. We will do what we can here and get home so we can do that.

[personal profile] part_time_person 2018-03-05 03:49 am (UTC)(link)
Androids?

[As a Star Trek fan, that's the best part of this place so far, and he raises his eyebrows, interested despite how surreal this entire day has been so far.

The trick with the vanishing crystal makes him blink rapidly. He really wants to know how that works, but he's not sure how to ask that without sounding stupid.]


If there's somewhere with people, I guess I should probably head there, wherever that is.

[personal profile] part_time_person 2018-03-05 03:53 am (UTC)(link)
Thanks.

I hope we're not here too long. My parents will be really worried.
foolishjustice: (Crow-Simple deduction.)

[personal profile] foolishjustice 2018-03-05 03:53 am (UTC)(link)
I asked regarding that before I opened the hive.

[He tilts his head, regarding Julian thoughtfully.]

You don't sound too content to be hiding your abilities.
founderinglight: ([hold])

[personal profile] founderinglight 2018-03-05 03:54 am (UTC)(link)
Yes, six of them. They're the native residents of this area - the rest of us are...

[He makes a gesture that manages to be both small and sweeping, before pulling his legs free of where they're holding him against the water crystal and dropping to the ground. The way he lands is practiced, fluid, easy.]

Well, we found ourselves here as suddenly as I imagine you did, a few weeks ago.
newlawtolight: (the art of beauty)

[personal profile] newlawtolight 2018-03-05 03:55 am (UTC)(link)
Ah. Do forgive me, then.

[It seems to, at least.]

That is not quite what I thought you were. The commingling I had already figured, but the manner of spider...well. Not important as you are not what I had cautioned for.

[A dismissive wave.]

Truly, it was quite presumptuous to press that on you.

[personal profile] part_time_person 2018-03-05 03:57 am (UTC)(link)
Oh, good.

[Julian looked over at him for a moment, blue eyes vibrant in color but clearly troubled, or perhaps tired was a better word for it. He looked away and did his best to sound fine.]

It's just how things are. There's no point in being upset about things I can't change. It's safer, anyway.

[personal profile] part_time_person 2018-03-05 04:02 am (UTC)(link)
[His eyebrows lower as he tilts his head for a moment. The word 'commingling' clearly holds no set meaning for him, but he doesn't want to ask for context. He wants to get out of this alive.]

I don't understand what you presumed or what you're talking about but I swear, I'm not dangerous. And I will never bother you again.

[Julian hasn't had flashbacks of his birth mother in years. Right now, though, he can practically hear her screaming at him in his mind as if it happened only yesterday. Human women and his inhuman form are an unsteady combination for him, and he buries his hands in his hair for a moment, breathing in slowly.]

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