phantasmemes | TEST DRIVE 001

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!test drive

TEST DRIVE 001

Hello, and welcome to the first 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.

(In the future, characters who are in-game can also earn themselves an extra item of loot for tagging in to top levels on the test drive, to be distributed with the rest of their loot upon dungeon completion.)

This first test drive is based in the Fissure nearest to the Station, and comes with three potential options, all with a distinctly watery bent -

OPTION 1: MAROONED

Hey, uh... What's that maroon film distorting your vision? And how did you get on this beach, anyway?
So long as the sun is shining, there doesn't seem to be a problem out here on the beach, aside from the strange maroon tint to everything. But when clouds pass over, the tint grows darker, and darker, and the water grows redder, and redder...

That... can't be blood, can it?

Characters who remain beneath the patchy cloud cover will find themselves filled with increasing anxiety that the ocean is made of blood, until either the cloud passes or they check the water for themselves. The bad news is, that while it isn't actually an ocean of blood, contact with the red water will drain characters of energy very rapidly, causing sudden fits of exhaustion as though they were suffering from anemia. By itself, this isn't particularly dangerous...

...Except that the return of the sun doesn't mean the return of that lost energy, and if you've waded out too far, the shifting sand and pull of the waves underfoot can easily pull you down and under.

OPTION 2: LANDSHARK

You really hope that isn't a shark fin moving through the sand. That's just not possible, right?

(Yes, yes it is.)

Landsharks are amphibious, predatory creatures just as at home in the sand as below the waves, and always hungry. They track their prey via disturbances in the sand or water, but fortunately, you can track them the same way - they're large enough to be easily visible in the relatively clear waters near the beach, and their bulk causes a patch of shifting sand above them as they roam for more terrestrial prey.

As a result, they're most dangerous near the waterline, where the shifting sand is hard to see due to the motion of the waves (though they can, of course, pop up further up the beach). Fortunately, they're not large enough to swallow a person whole. Unfortunately, they're still between nine and twelve feet long depending on the individual and easily large enough to take a good chunk out of you.

Like any other shark, they're vulnerable to being sliced open with something sharp, kicked in the gills, or punched in the snout to establish dominance. On the magical end, they have a particular weakness to electricity.

On the bright side, if you're hungry enough, the landsharks are very edible once cooked (or, you know, if you like sushi). For some reason, the meat tastes faintly of chocolate...?

Drops: Meat, shark teeth, candygrams.

OPTION 3: JUST IN TIDE

A bit further down from the beach, the water comes up to the base of the rocky cliffs, leaving numerous nooks and crannies to climb over and explore. In fact, they're practically begging for it.

What might you find? Well, there's the usual beach refuse, for a start - sand, seaweed, shells and fragments of shells, and big barnacles and mussels tucked into the cracks. However, other debris finds its way into the cracks, ocean-going refuse from a thousand worlds... There's also a number of pointy blue-green crystals that tingle to the touch and remain wet no matter how characters attempt to dry them.

And finally, there's a bunch of bottle crabs - overlarge hermit crabs that look more at home in half-broken beer bottles or soda cans at their size than they do in shells (though they'll live in anything that seems protective enough - the largest seem prone to making their homes in rusty helmets). The crabs are not aggressive unless you harass them first, but they can give a nasty pinch if provoked.

...Did you lose track of time out there among the rocks, or did time lose track of you?

Either way, you're now stuck out as the tide comes in. If you can swim, good for you! You probably won't have too much of a problem, at least once you're far enough from the rocks that you aren't at risk of getting thrown against them and having some important swimming limb broken...

On second thought, maybe it's better to stay here and wait it out, whether you can swim or not. Hope you're ready for a couple hours stuck on a rock with some weird-looking, too-big hermit crabs and...

Who is this other person, anyway?

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Mm, beef sounds good right now...

[His mind drifts off for a moment, lost in thought about all the different delicacies he wishes he had on hand.

He snaps out of it, and into action.]

Right, so we're gonna need a fire then! [He casts a cursory gaze over the shark.] Unless we could eat it raw?

It wouldn't be a good idea. We don't know what sort of parasites it might have.

[He's trying to ignore how appealing a nice, juicy steak sounds around now as he glances around the beach.]

If we can gather enough flammable material, I can start a fire easily.

Got it!

[He rushes off in search of kindling. He scours the beach for anything that might be even vaguely flammable, and returns a short while after with arms full of driftwood and dried palm leaves.]

Any good?

[He's gathered up his own armful of driftwood and sets it down in a pile.]

That should work just fine, yes.

[He nods and adds his collection to the pile, then looks expectantly to the young man..]

Alright-! Time to light it up!

[He steps back and puts a hand to his mask, which dissolves into red flames as he switches Personas. Before the new mask can appear, he holds out his left hand.]

Loki!

[A figure appears behind him, and throws out a sheet of fire that zeroes in on the pile of kindling.]

[Astolfo watches in awe at the display, completely taken by surprise at the boy’s power. Was this some kind of magecraft?

Whatever it is, it’s cool as hell.]

Woah! How did you do that? Who are you?

[The red flame surrounding Loki shifts back to blue as he turns back into a mask, Goro quickly shifting Personas to avoid scaring his new acquaintance with his other outfit.

The excited awe makes his eyes glitter, a grin showing he's eating it up. He takes a bow, the forked cape lifting up behind him, evidently made of something light to follow his movements.]

It's a special power of mine. As for who I am, you can call me Crow.

[Astolfo gives him an enthusiastic applaud, not unlike the one he received earlier.]

Nice to meet you, Crow!

[He scrambles to take his hand and give it a good, hearty shake.

The dazzling entrance and exit of Crow's familiar still occupies his mind, and he struggles to keep his curiosity at bay for long.]

What are you, some kind of mage?

[Yep, soaking it in. He gives the handshake a firm grip, looking especially pleased if Astolfo thought to reach for the hand he's been leading with rather than his right.]

I'm a Persona user. It is a sort of magic, though it might be more accurate to call it a psychic ability.

[He's never heard of such a thing, but he gives a nod as if he understands.

He goes about preparing the shark for roasting as he continues the barrage of questions, starting off with brushing the sand off of it. If he weren't wearing his gloves, he'd be uncomfortably reminded of how rough sharkskin can be.]

Was that thing your familiar, then?

It was one of my Personas. They're a part of my own psyche, manifested in the form of creatures from various legends. They're how I channel most of my powers.

[He is...completely useless when it comes to cooking, so he'll just watch.]

[Now we're getting into familiar territory.]

Creatures of legend, huh? They're kind of similar to me, then. [Loosely speaking.] Did it take you long to master it?

[Astolfo himself is...not much better at cooking either. He uses the lance as a spit, turning it every so often to cook the shark all over, but often forgetting and letting it get charred in certain patches.

Somewhere, the lance's original owner is crying.]

[Aren't they such great campers? At least he's used to eating slightly charred food...]

Hmm...that particular one took about about a year to reach its full potential. I haven't fully mastered the others, though...admittedly, several of them I only obtained yesterday. They have less potential than Loki, though, so it shouldn't take as long to unlock all of their abilities.

[Because the JRPG mechanics are canon in his world, go figure.]

[Hope you like burnt shark, Crow.]

Huh... [He gives it a little think. Whilst he's not adept at magic, he at least knows most people dedicate years to learning it.] Sounds like you're a natural, then!

[It's better than going hungry.]

Something like that. [Said with a chuckle.] Using multiple Personas the way I do is an incredibly rare ability. I know eight other Persona users, and only one of them has the same power as me. But really, the most difficult part is awakening the ability in the first place, it's fairly easy to strengthen it through repeated use once you've done that. They are a part of us, after all.

Ah, by the way. What would you like to drink? Any liquid you can name that someone from Japan is likely to recognize.

[He nods emphatically, in more sincere understanding than before.

When Crow asks him about what he'd like to drink, he doesn't stop to think about where he might even be getting it from.]

Ah...something sweet and cold would be nice, like maybe a fruit juice? One with tropical fruit or, oh, maybe summer berries, or a milkshake, or-or one of those cute iced coffee drinks with the whipped cream and syrup on top--

[His train of thought is suddenly interrupted by the smell of something burning. Sure enough, he forgot to keep turning the shark over and some smoke has started to come off of one of the fins.

With an alarmed yelp, he lifts it away from the fire and begins to blow on the scorched area.]

[Ah well, it's not like there isn't plenty of meat that isn't (yet) scorched, right?]

Whipped cream and syrup are a little outside my abilities, but...

[He reaches his hand past Astolfo's head, just out of his field of peripheral vision, then pulls it back holding a glass full of cold, sweetened coffee. It has just enough cream in it to match a swirl of whipped cream's worth mixed in.]

Coffee is something of a specialty of mine, even if I do prefer it hot, myself.

Whoah-!

[He drives the handle of the lance into the sand to keep it upright whilst he goes to grab the coffee. He gives it a generous trial taste to check if it's the real thing, and his opinion is clear from the grin on his face.]

How did you do that? Was that another Persona thing?

No, that was one of my other abilities. It's one of my more recent ones, but also my most useful outside of combat...aside from flight, anyway. I can do that three times every twenty minutes.

[To illustrate his point, he holds up a cup of hot coffee that absolutely wasn't there a second ago. If Astolfo has any minor injuries, he'll also notice that those have stated healing just from one gulp.]

It can be any drink I can imagine.

That's so cool...so many possibilities...

[Astolfo actually has no need to drink, or eat for that matter, but he downs the rest of the coffee purely for the taste.

...and then he catches up.]

You can fly too?!

I can. Another of my more recent abilities. Admittedly, its usefulness is mostly theoretical at this point, but I expect it to be useful for getting around.

I expect creating drinks to become much more practically useful if we can't find actual civilization here, though.

I can't even fly without my steed, so I'm a little jealous...

[Downing the rest of the coffee, he examines the shark to see if its decently cooked, awkwardly picking off some of the black bits.]

Do you really think we won't find anything?

It is one of those 'comes with great responsibilities' powers, so you shouldn't be too jealous. Well, unless you enjoy bureaucracy, that is.

[He reaches into a pocket of his outfit and draws out a switchknife. With a casual flick, he opens it and starts cutting off the worst of the scorch marks from the shark.]

Anyway, it's hard to say. There might be a thriving city waiting for us at the top of those cliffs, or we could be dozens of miles away from any hint of settlement. For the moment, it's best to hope for the former, while still considering our options in case we have to manage on our own for a while.

Bureaucracy...?

[He doesn't quite get it, but simply shrugs it off.

He appreciates Crow's assistance in making the shark more edible, and can't help but grin at how well-prepared he is.]

I guess we just take it as it comes. Civilization would be nice...I bet there'd be all kinds of fun things to do! Better food than burnt shark, too.

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P5 spoilers

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This CR is adorable, by the way.

i love it...

Crow is eating up Astolfo's awe at his abilities.

He's never gonna stop, jsyk

Crow is perfectly okay with this! He loves attention.

now they're friends, Astolfo will now die for him.

But...that's not until rank 9 in his game!

don't underestimate him

He is Unsure of this arrangement...it seems a little extreme.

You mean you *don't* throw your life on the line for relative strangers?

You mean you don't throw your life on the line for relative strangers?