TEST DRIVE 001

[phantasmods]

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?

Comments

Pidonus Marasia | OC

[have_hat_will_travel]

[Summary: Pidonus is a Succubus, a powerful Bardess, and probably one other thing on top. She dresses like this by default. And she's probably going to be very annoyed at the situation she has found herself in.]

[Option 1, assumes she hasn't met anyone yet.]

Well. Great. Pidonus was, as far as she could tell, in some weird-ass location in the Abyss. The air was maroon, the ocean was probably blood, and she was alone. All by herself. No one here to comfort her or guide her.

The problem with the Abyss being infinite, was it left all these weird-ass places that were vaguely Chaotic and Evil somehow. And when she'd stepped out into the water, she felt a powerful negative energy effect - enough that it had forced her to run back, cast Restoration on herself to make sure she didn't lose levels, and be very, very annoyed.

Her options right now consisted of 'hole up outside in hopes someone non-malicious found her', 'set up that new magic ring that her Queen had given her to provide a portable hideout' (her Queen was so nice to gift her this after her latest successful getting-humiliated-for-a-useful-cause!), or 'fly out in a random direction and hope she found something before she tired out enough to drop into the ocean and probably drown'.

For the moment, she'd try the first; she didn't have anyone angry enough at her to try a scry-and-die, so...

[Option 2]

"YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME! LAND SHARKS. SERIOUSLY. LAND SHARKS. ARE THEY GONNA START SHOUTING 'CANDYGRAM' OR SOMETHING?!?!?"

The Succubus had drawn her sword the moment she saw the shark shift from the water to under the sands, intending to just gut the thing if it approached.

Around the second time it had jumped her, overpowered her swing, and took a very minor cut while it bit into her, she screamed in frustration.

"STUPID SHARK, STUPID SAND, STUPID SHARK IN SAND THAT MAKES LESS SENSE THAN HALF THE ABERRATIONS IN THE MONSTER MANUAL!"

At least it hadn't bit her hard enough that her Damage Reduction couldn't regenerate the damage... Yet. She also hadn't thought to start flying to confuse the sharks, though...

Option 2

[foolishjustice]

"Queen Mab!"

As Goro's voice called out from behind Pidonus, a humanoid figure appeared overhead. The lightning bolt she cast out caught the shark mid-leap, sending it into convulsions that threw it off course. Though only a mid-tier spell, the shark's weakness to electricity turned it into a vicious attack.

As the Persona dissolved into blue flame, reforming as a mask, her owner stepped forward. He kept his eyes on the shark, not willing to assume it was dead from only one hit...particularly from an element that had a chance to paralyze, anyway. His posture, however, indicated that he wasn't particularly worried.

"Are you injured?"

Re: Option 2

[have_hat_will_travel]

"One second."

And then Pidonus stepped in towards the shark, moving to stab it with her sword. Several times. Ranting incoherently with each stab, before finally settling to "Stupid land sharks" once she's sure it's done in.

Then turning towards Goro, a polite smile on her face even as she subconsciously checked them with Detect Good.

[foolishjustice]

He wouldn't even read as a mortal level of Good alignment, tending toward far too much ruthlessness and misanthropy to be anything better than Neutral. The fact that he was covering an amused smile at her rampage might have also been a clue in that direction, since he wasn't doing a very good job of hiding it.

"That doesn't actually answer my question."

[have_hat_will_travel]

She sighed. "I'll be fine. The injuries are minor, so Cure Light Wounds will be enough. You a Cleric or Healer or similar?"

She looked the figure up and down, satisfied that Detect Good hadn't gone off on him, as she considered her position.

[foolishjustice]

"I have some healing abilities, though it's hardly a specialty. You could actually consider me a bit of a Jack-of-all-trades when it comes to magic."

He waved his hand, and a bottle of water appeared in it. As far as Pidonus would be concerned, the liquid was effectively a potion of Cure Light Wounds with a very short shelf life.

"Here, this doesn't actually cost me anything that won't come back fairly soon, and it has minor healing abilities."

[have_hat_will_travel]

"... High-speed alchemy?", Pidonus asks, before using Detect Magic on the water... Then, satisfied at its identity, drinking it.

"That's... How can you do that?"

[foolishjustice]

"It's a sort of...psychic ability. I can conjure any drink I can imagine, and it has the equivalent effect of a low level healing spell for twenty minutes after its creation. Probably what you consider Cure Light Wounds, though we call that ability Dia where I'm from."

He glanced down at the remains of the shark, crouching to poke at the sand around it in case it had dropped a candygram. They weren't worth much as far as training his Personas went, but at least killing them had some tasty benefits.

"The specifics of how I can use that power are a little complicated, and I'm afraid it's not something that everyone can learn."

Option 1

[fantasykiller]

“Hey, are you alright?! What did that weird ocean do to you?”

Touma had witnessed her panicked reaction upon touching the blood red ocean and had rushed over to make sure she was fine. Physically, there didn't seem to be anything wrong with her. However, as evident by the way she reacted, it was obvious something was seriously wrong with the ocean. He had his suspicions given how sinister the ocean appeared, but this absolutely confirmed them. He hoped that whatever nasty effect the ocean had afflicted on her was gone when she had cast that spell on herself.

Re: Option 1

[have_hat_will_travel]

Pidonus, after a few seconds, just kind of dropped onto the sand (which couldn't be good for the fancy lace in her outfit).

"Energy drain. Meaning going out any real distance isn't gonna work. Any idea where we are?"

[fantasykiller]

“Don't just fall over and start talking like nothing happened! If you can't stand anymore, lets at least have you sitting up.”

Touma simply couldn't let her just lie there. Instead of answering her question, he walked over to her and attempted to lift her up from the sand.

[have_hat_will_travel]

The woman just kind of spun, remaining sitting for the moment. "... It's not that bad, I cast Restoration. It's just... frustrating, to be in a place where I have no idea how I got here nor how to get back to... Safety."

The lair of her Queen was safe. For her, at least.And was the first place she was thinking of now...

Option 2

[byanyother_name]

Rose Whip!

[The whip itself is a blur of motion as it cuts through the shark with no apparent trouble, slicing it apart into pieces as it jumps at her again. The pretty redhead in the bondage trenchcoat holding the whip is quite visible, though.

He sighs a little as he draws back the thorny green whip, coiling it up loosely.]

They don't start shouting it but they actually do drop them. I'm sure if you poke around the remains you'll find some manner of heart-shaped candy. Are you alright?

Re: Option 2

[have_hat_will_travel]

... Wait. They 'drop' candy?

[Pidonus blinked, the surprise of seeing the shark sliced into neat cutlets surprising her. But, indeed, she looked, and indeed, that was definitely some sort of candy.]

So... Uh.

[What.]

This is certainly a place. Where in the Abyss am I?!

[byanyother_name]

We have absolutely no idea why as of yet. And the meat tastes rather like chocolate.

[Kurama picks up the piece of candy and brushes the sand off it delicately. It looks like this one is a heart-shaped lollipop. Does she want it?]

As to your question, if you mean it literally, I doubt we're in the 'Abyss' at all. If you don't, I can't say I'm sure. It's some sort of strange, mashed-together world.

[have_hat_will_travel]

[Pidonus blinked a bit.]

That's. Very, very weird.

A mash-up of many worlds... The number of sourcebooks that could be involved could get absurd...

[byanyother_name]

I must admit my standards of weird were skewed to start with and have only been climbing.

[If she doesn't want it, Kurama will pop the lollipop into his own mouth, tongue curling around the red candy. He hums thoughtfully as the whip in his hand turns into a rose that he tucks away in his hair.]

Sourcebooks? [He never really had the right friends to get into tabletop, sadly.]

[have_hat_will_travel]

... Oh. Great. Your world isn't rules-aware, is it.

[By now, Pidonus is adjusted to this possibility.]

The sourcebooks are the works of the gods, setting the rules of the world for us down beneath their realms. Which might not be a thing where you're from...

[byanyother_name]

Hm. Not in the way it sounds like you mean, at least. If there are any gods actually dictating how the world operates where I come from, then no, I'm certainly not aware of them.

I'm not sure if something like that would be a convenient resource, or terribly frustrating in its implications.

[He shakes his head and sighs a little, slipping his hands into his pockets.]

Ah, my apologies, I quite forgot. My name is Kurama.

2

[stormkingofshepherds]

Suddenly, a red-and-white sphere comes flying at the lunging landshark from the side, seeming to stun it momentarily. "Macy, get it!" calls a man's voice. A bright red light shines forth, resolving into the form of a giant flytrap creature that immediately snaps a vine at the landshark's nose. The man circles around, watching the battle and also moving over to see if the woman is alright.

"Doesn't look like something from the Gible line at all..."

Re: 2

[have_hat_will_travel]

As the sphere struck the shark, and a creature popped out, Pidonus looked very confused.

"Wait, what the heck is-"

She seems less injured than taking two shark bites should have done to her. And she's gone from angry to looking at the flytrap creature with confusion.

"-Gible line?"

Different worlds. Right.

[stormkingofshepherds]

"Yeah, that's what I thought of when I heard 'landshark,'" says Nathaniel, as if that would explain it. "This doesn't really look like any Pokemon I know, though." He rubs his forehead a bit. "Don't tell me this is another Zygarde situation."

Macy has managed to wrap up the shark in her vines now, and is just holding it in place for now. He nods at her. "Don't think it'll bother us again. You can just throw it back...wherever it came from."

[have_hat_will_travel]

"... Yeah, you're definitely talking terms from a different world, because 'Zygarde' and 'Pokemon' make no sense to me."

At least she pronounced them both right.

"And... Uh, any reason we're not gonna finish that off?"

[stormkingofshepherds]

Well, that gets him to rub his forehead again. "Another world...? As if things weren't weird enough already." He glances over at Macy, who's dragging the shark back towards the water.

"It doesn't seem necessary. Macy already showed that she can subdue it pretty easily, after all, so it's not like she's going to learn much from fighting it more." Grapplers can shut down a lot of opponents, honestly.

[have_hat_will_travel]

"Mmm. I guess," Pidonus responded. Mercy wasn't one of her standard suits, but if this person were insisting, she'd play along for now.

"I am Pidonus Marasia. And you would be?"