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phantasmemes2018-04-12 11:09 pm
phantasmods) wrote in phantasmemes2018-04-12 11:09 pm
Entry tags:
TEST DRIVE 003
Hello, and welcome to the third 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 takes place in the Fissure known as Amesta Forest - a forest filled with silver mist and shrouded in eternal twilight, where your dreams become real! For a certain limited definition of real. This is significantly less awesome than it sounds. On the bright side, anyone within the mists will find themselves with no need to sleep, as though trapped in the same spring evening as the rest of the forest.
OPTION ONE: DREAM A LITTLE DREAM
This first option might happen to you just about anywhere. From the swirls of silver mist comes a shape - or perhaps more than one shape? Who knows, it's your dream -
Well, probably. It could also be someone else's.
Those who stay too long in any one part of the mist will find their subconscious minds influencing it into shapes - the exact sort of things that appear in their dreams. As with their real dreams, the details are sometimes strange - too much detail, or not enough, depending on where your focus is. The character who 'created' the dream specter will instantly understand what it's supposed to be, but other viewers might have some difficulty with it.
Fortunately for those of you prone to violent nightmares, these dream figures are incapable of doing harm - any blows struck by them simply leave behind the dampness of walking through thick mist. A hard enough blow will similarly disperse them - or, in most cases, you can simply move quickly and leave them behind.
OPTION TWO: THE MOVEMENTS OF THE TREES
A forest filled with mist is honestly a kind of spooky place, isn't it?
Well, it's about to get spookier, when you notice that there's a tree... somewhere there wasn't a tree, before. Or maybe it's that you were looking around and realized that a tree wasn't there here there was one before, instead leaving behind only a round, torn-up patch of earth from where the roots were buried.
Either way, there's only one conclusion to be drawn - the trees are moving.
Those who pay close attention will soon realize that it's only one kind of tree that moves - an absolutely unfamiliar kind, with mist-silver bark and thin, almost translucent leaves in large handlike shapes. They aren't very tall, and their branches split low to the ground, the structure something like a less crooked Japanese maple. The Wanderwoods seem prone to following specific people, usually only moving when out of sight, though you might catch them shuffling along if you have quick reflexes for looking over your shoulder.
What do they want? Well, nothing, really. They're just attracted to sapient beings and, especially, the way the mist forms into their dreams. So while they won't do anything in particular to the characters themselves, anyone with a dream-form hanging around them might find that manifestation suddenly papered in thin, grabbing leaves... and swallowed up.
OPTION THREE: WHAT NOW IS FOUND?
Not all of the forest is trapped in eternal spring. One part of it is held in exactly the opposite - a brilliantly colored autumn morning, just before dawn, with the trees overhead colored in brilliant reds and oranges. Leaves drift down in a slow breeze, and pile up in random places among the trees (which never seem to run out of leaves to drop), and silver pools of water gather at the bases of the trees and in any other depressions, their surfaces perfectly still mirrors.
The mist is quite a bit thinner here, too, which allows you to see... What is that familiar shape in the distance, between the trees?
While dream manifestations are uncommon in the region of Fall's Heart, it's not only dreams that manifest here. Instead, characters will see the figures of those they've lost - instantly recognizable, but unreachable and nearly impossible to catch, running through the trees heedless of how you call after them. It's impossible to catch up to them by mundane means, and those who use supernatural means to do so -
- will find that, at their touch, the vision crumbles into silvery mist-water, forming another of those perfect, reflective pools at their feet.
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 Fissure known as Amesta Forest - a forest filled with silver mist and shrouded in eternal twilight, where your dreams become real! For a certain limited definition of real. This is significantly less awesome than it sounds. On the bright side, anyone within the mists will find themselves with no need to sleep, as though trapped in the same spring evening as the rest of the forest.
OPTION ONE: DREAM A LITTLE DREAM
This first option might happen to you just about anywhere. From the swirls of silver mist comes a shape - or perhaps more than one shape? Who knows, it's your dream -
Well, probably. It could also be someone else's.
Those who stay too long in any one part of the mist will find their subconscious minds influencing it into shapes - the exact sort of things that appear in their dreams. As with their real dreams, the details are sometimes strange - too much detail, or not enough, depending on where your focus is. The character who 'created' the dream specter will instantly understand what it's supposed to be, but other viewers might have some difficulty with it.
Fortunately for those of you prone to violent nightmares, these dream figures are incapable of doing harm - any blows struck by them simply leave behind the dampness of walking through thick mist. A hard enough blow will similarly disperse them - or, in most cases, you can simply move quickly and leave them behind.
OPTION TWO: THE MOVEMENTS OF THE TREES
A forest filled with mist is honestly a kind of spooky place, isn't it?
Well, it's about to get spookier, when you notice that there's a tree... somewhere there wasn't a tree, before. Or maybe it's that you were looking around and realized that a tree wasn't there here there was one before, instead leaving behind only a round, torn-up patch of earth from where the roots were buried.
Either way, there's only one conclusion to be drawn - the trees are moving.
Those who pay close attention will soon realize that it's only one kind of tree that moves - an absolutely unfamiliar kind, with mist-silver bark and thin, almost translucent leaves in large handlike shapes. They aren't very tall, and their branches split low to the ground, the structure something like a less crooked Japanese maple. The Wanderwoods seem prone to following specific people, usually only moving when out of sight, though you might catch them shuffling along if you have quick reflexes for looking over your shoulder.
What do they want? Well, nothing, really. They're just attracted to sapient beings and, especially, the way the mist forms into their dreams. So while they won't do anything in particular to the characters themselves, anyone with a dream-form hanging around them might find that manifestation suddenly papered in thin, grabbing leaves... and swallowed up.
OPTION THREE: WHAT NOW IS FOUND?
Not all of the forest is trapped in eternal spring. One part of it is held in exactly the opposite - a brilliantly colored autumn morning, just before dawn, with the trees overhead colored in brilliant reds and oranges. Leaves drift down in a slow breeze, and pile up in random places among the trees (which never seem to run out of leaves to drop), and silver pools of water gather at the bases of the trees and in any other depressions, their surfaces perfectly still mirrors.
The mist is quite a bit thinner here, too, which allows you to see... What is that familiar shape in the distance, between the trees?
While dream manifestations are uncommon in the region of Fall's Heart, it's not only dreams that manifest here. Instead, characters will see the figures of those they've lost - instantly recognizable, but unreachable and nearly impossible to catch, running through the trees heedless of how you call after them. It's impossible to catch up to them by mundane means, and those who use supernatural means to do so -
- will find that, at their touch, the vision crumbles into silvery mist-water, forming another of those perfect, reflective pools at their feet.
no subject
[Oh look, your kitty is suddenly all fluffed up in bewildered worry, and bounding into your lap. Somehow, this doesn't sound like the sort of thing Diarahan or Me Patra or anything like that could help..... If they did anything, then he would be fine, right?]
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Sorry for scaring you. Just listen.
The operation at the end of Sae's Palace was altered.
...Goro wasn't there as planned, but someone else. And the drugs they used on me during the interrogation... Compared to another Akira I've met, the dosage they gave me was probably much, much higher. I don't really remember much.
Then there's the case of entities called Noise eating at me back home.
As a result of the drugs, my sense of reality and the passage of time was completely shot. My center of balance is also still damaged.
The fact that I'm cognizant at all right now is an improvement. It took a few weeks to even return to this state.
Just by being by my side all this time, you've helped me a lot.
no subject
There are too many questions trying to burst out all at once in his bewilderment; in the end, none of them manage to escape at all. He squirms a little in Akira's arms instead, tail lashing in distress, and braces his front paws against the boy's chest to gently butt his head up against the underside of his chin.
He just..... he doesn't understand. Any of it. How could something like this happen? What sort of cruel god feels the need to play with Akira's fate like this, when he's never deserved anything that's happened to him? If this is some sort of test, then it's far too harsh.....]
no subject
It'll be alright, Mona.
[He tilts his head a bit to let Morgana touch him more firmly, if he wants to.]
I'm still here. Still fighting. Back home, I have a theory that the Metaverse - and my cognition of myself in that space - may make it easier for me to even temporarily return to my usual self, so I won't be a liability on the field, but for now, this is what I'm living with.
I'm not going to stop fighting, okay? I may have turned out like this, but I don't plan on staying like this forever.
[He doesn't know if he can be cured, but he damn well isn't ready to just give up.]
no subject
[Ha..... hahaha..... It's funny, isn't it? He should be the one comforting Akira, but instead he's the one being comforted. How is he supposed to stay calm when the shock of this entire fiasco is dumped on him all at once, and he's helpless to do anything about it? He nuzzles insistently against Akira; it's the only thing he can do, at this point.
Using the Metaverse to help revert himself to how he should be is a good idea..... but how far will it actually work? Will he be in danger in Mementos and Palaces? Will they be able to keep him safe? Will it have any impact at all in the normal world? How can they help him in the normal world? He'd improved from being basically comatose, so that must mean it can be fixed..... right? Right?]
Yeah, you'd better not give up!
[Because being bristly and indignant is helpful, right? It's better than being scared and upset, at least.]
no subject
[Bittersweetly smiling, Akira hugs him a little tighter and closes his eyes. He wishes he could hide it better. Then, maybe, Mona wouldn't have caught on and worried.]
If I space out, just pull on my shirt. I'll wake up in a blink.
no subject
[He'd have worried even more if he found out you were hiding it, dummy. Morgana settles in for cuddles, half-sitting in Akira's lap with his head and paws resting against his chest, and starts purring. Humans find that soothing, right?]
no subject
[Purring is familiar to him, at least. He hones in on it easily, and his expression softens. Gently, he pets Morgana's head and back, even gently scratching beneath his scarf.]
As a leader, I'm... I feel like I'm supposed to be stronger than this.
[Goro, other Akira, and Kurama... Goro's done a lot to help him, but he's impatient. He wants to be better now.
[Never mind that the fact that some of this damage done to him may very well be permanent.]
...
[Gently, with his fingertips, he starts smooshing Morgana's face. Cute face.]
no subject
[They had researched it together, after all--between Futaba and Makoto's expertise, even the drugs Joker was likely to be subjected to had been carefully studied and accounted for in their plans. The types, their typical dosages and at what point overdose became dangerous, their interactions, their effects, their side effects, any competing substances that might be able to inhibit them being processed..... All of them knew what a huge gamble they would be taking. And Akira had taken all that danger and risk upon his own shoulders without a second thought..... whether it had gone smoothly or ended like this, how could he ever doubt how strong and courageous he was? All of them owed him their lives countless times, now--it was a debt none of them would probably ever fully be able to repay.
Even in spite of all those deep thoughts, though, his appreciative purring (he really does sound just like an engine, even as a cat, doesn't he?) from all the gentle petting dissolves into a bewildered meow as Akira starts smooshing his face. Not even words of protest--just a meow as his front paws flail a little.]
M-mrow?!
no subject
Sorry, I'll stop.
Your face is just... cute and squishable.
[Surely that explains everything ever.]
no subject
[That explains nothing at all! It's more a show of being huffy at the indignity of it all than anything else; excuse him while he starts licking his paws and grooming his face to straighten everything back out.]
no subject
[Mona may not be a real cat, but... it's hard to resist when he looks like one.]
no subject
no subject
no subject
It's going to be okay. They can fight their way through this. Akira will recover--and if he can't do it by himself, maybe they can beg Dr. Takemi to help him. The Metaverse will help Joker be his old self again, and even if it doesn't work as well as they'd like, they'll protect him for sure. Even..... even staying as a cat isn't such a bad thing, especially if the alternative is turning into some weird..... thing, like he's seen in his nightmares. They can still have peaceful times like this.
It's a few minutes before he speaks up again.]
Where are we, anyway?
no subject
[After a moment, he gently coaxes Morgana to lean against his shoulder with one hand - which he supports him from below - while he carefully, shakily stands up. Morgana will probably notice immediately how oddly, Akira's balance wobbles longer than it should before it centers itself.]
Besides, I'll also.. need to see if there's any way I can keep taking my medication, or finding a new kind that works better. Tae told me it would be bad if I suddenly stopped taking it, instead of tapering it.
no subject
.....Uh-oh. We'd better get moving, then. Do you have any with you?
no subject
Nope. I already took my morning dose, so I'm okay until the next one in about twelve hours. But it's... on a nightstand I found and put in the attic.
Which... yeah. That's not gonna help.
no subject
[If they can find people, then they can probably find civilization. And finding civilization means they should be able to find a drug store or doctor's office.....]