phantasmods: (Default)
Phantasmal Rift Mods ([personal profile] phantasmods) wrote in [community profile] phantasmemes2018-01-19 12:29 pm
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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?
riderofcharlemagne: (makasete yo scoob)

[personal profile] riderofcharlemagne 2018-01-31 11:52 pm (UTC)(link)
[There is absolutely no signs of recognition in his face when Prompto says where he's from. He's curious about why he was so hesitant, so he's definitely gonna bug him about it later.]

Last place I was in was Trifas. A little place in Romania.

I've never heard of your Kingdom of Lucis. What do your knights ride if they don't even have horses?

[Or hippogriffs, even.]
photoshooter: (GROSS πŸ“· Put a shirt on!)

[personal profile] photoshooter 2018-02-02 10:18 am (UTC)(link)
Cars, usually? Public transportation? Uh, chocobos if there aren't any roads, but they don't really do so well in the city...?

[Birds too big for they goddamn street.]

--Okay, no, that's not the point. What's--where's "Romania?" Another planet? It sounds made-up, dude.
riderofcharlemagne: (mordred is asshole. why astolfo hate?)

[personal profile] riderofcharlemagne 2018-02-03 10:14 pm (UTC)(link)
Wh- what's a chocobo? I know those other things, but...

[He tilts his head in confusion.]

It's on Earth, dude.
Edited 2018-02-03 22:15 (UTC)
photoshooter: (SKETCHY πŸ“· Come again?)

[personal profile] photoshooter 2018-02-04 01:17 pm (UTC)(link)
Aren't most things that happen to be on a planet on some kind of earth? I guess unless it's on the water like half of Altissia. Or. Most of Altissia, now.

[That's a sobering thought. Prompto's face falls, but he shakes it off.]

What I'm saying is, saying it's on land doesn't really clear things up a whole lot.
riderofcharlemagne: (guh)

[personal profile] riderofcharlemagne 2018-02-04 08:52 pm (UTC)(link)
[Is...is he serious? He genuinely can't tell if Prompto's fucking with him or not.]

It's called Earth.

Are you...not from there?

[Talking to an Alien wouldn't be too strange, come to think of it. Actually, it's pretty exciting. He'd prefer it if he looked less human, but you take what you get and all.]
photoshooter: (DOUBLE TAKE πŸ“· Eh?)

[personal profile] photoshooter 2018-02-08 05:33 am (UTC)(link)
I wasn't born in the ocean, no.

[Wwwwaaaaait a minute.]

Do you mean the planet's called Earth? You're... not from Eos? Like, at all?
riderofcharlemagne: (mordred is asshole. why astolfo hate?)

[personal profile] riderofcharlemagne 2018-02-08 06:19 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah.

[Duh.]

What's 'Eos'?
photoshooter: (HUH πŸ“· Wait what?)

[personal profile] photoshooter 2018-02-08 06:47 pm (UTC)(link)
The planet? Or... my planet.

[His voice drops to a whisper.]

Are you an alien?
riderofcharlemagne: (uwah)

[personal profile] riderofcharlemagne 2018-02-08 10:46 pm (UTC)(link)
You're the alien here!
photoshooter: (MUSS πŸ“· Shut up about Homestuck!)

[personal profile] photoshooter 2018-02-09 09:52 am (UTC)(link)
What? Am not! I'm human, I can't be an alien!
riderofcharlemagne: (ive got boxes full of pepe!)

[personal profile] riderofcharlemagne 2018-02-10 11:29 pm (UTC)(link)
But humans come from Earth.

[If you're gonna pretend not to be an Alien at least put more effort into it.]
photoshooter: (PUNCH πŸ“· You hold. I'll punch.)

[personal profile] photoshooter 2018-02-15 11:56 am (UTC)(link)
Maybe where you're from they do! On Eos, humans come from--well--Eos!
riderofcharlemagne: (guh)

[personal profile] riderofcharlemagne 2018-02-15 07:16 pm (UTC)(link)
But if you're from a different planet, and you're still human...

[Give him a moment.]
photoshooter: (SKDLFGJH?? πŸ“· kweLglkdpt;;;???)

[personal profile] photoshooter 2018-02-15 09:27 pm (UTC)(link)
There's no "if," I'm as human as you are!

[Oh, honey.]
riderofcharlemagne: (makasete yo scoob)

[personal profile] riderofcharlemagne 2018-02-15 09:40 pm (UTC)(link)
[About that...]

That wouldn't be very human.
photoshooter: (SMELL πŸ“· Is that Gladio?)

[personal profile] photoshooter 2018-02-15 09:49 pm (UTC)(link)
[Dot dot dot.]

Uh. What?
riderofcharlemagne: (regrettably)

[personal profile] riderofcharlemagne 2018-02-15 10:03 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm not human.

[Well, not anymore.]
photoshooter: (GROSS πŸ“· Put a shirt on!)

[personal profile] photoshooter 2018-02-15 10:04 pm (UTC)(link)
...

. . .

[Points.]

So you are an alien!
riderofcharlemagne: (sumanai)

[personal profile] riderofcharlemagne 2018-02-15 10:34 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm not an alien!

[You put that finger down!]
photoshooter: (DRAMA πŸ“· Then he WARPED off a CLIFF!)

[personal profile] photoshooter 2018-02-16 08:19 pm (UTC)(link)
You're not human and you're from another planet! Isn't that the definition of an alien?

[JUS' SAYING!]
riderofcharlemagne: (mordred is asshole. why astolfo hate?)

[personal profile] riderofcharlemagne 2018-02-16 09:24 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm not human anymore. I was once.

[Still not an alien!]
photoshooter: (SCARED πŸ“· No no no...)

[personal profile] photoshooter 2018-02-17 01:13 am (UTC)(link)
[Prompto freezes, and the blood visibly drains from his face.]

Wh... what. Do you mean. Once?
riderofcharlemagne: (sumanai)

[personal profile] riderofcharlemagne 2018-02-17 01:21 am (UTC)(link)
[The sudden change in Prompto’s demeanour isn’t lost on Astolfo. He shows slight concern in his face, whilst his tone softens from being so defensive before.]

I was human, and then I died and became a heroic spirit.
photoshooter: (WHISPER πŸ“· So what's the plan?)

[personal profile] photoshooter 2018-02-17 01:31 am (UTC)(link)
[Well, at least some of the abject terror has to give, to make way for the confusion settling in.]

A what spirit?
riderofcharlemagne: (you know what it is bitch)

[personal profile] riderofcharlemagne 2018-02-17 04:40 pm (UTC)(link)
A heroic spirit. My deeds were legendary enough that my soul was immortalized, and kept in the Throne of Heroes so that I could be summoned as a Servant.

[No big deal.]

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