phantasmemes | TEST DRIVE 001

Entry tags:

!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?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[1]

[It's peaceful on this beach. Quiet. The waves roll in and out. Clouds scud by overhead. Someone groans. The breeze is gentle.

Uh.

A young man lies sprawled out face-down a few feet above the shoreline, dressed in black, a gun in his hand. He lifts his face lethargically, goes pfft to try to get the grit off his face, and then just lets his head thunk back down into the sand.]

Uggghhh...

[Well. Maybe it's naptime?]

[3]

Aw, man!

[Prompto, with an armful of damp crystals gathered in the crook of his arm, looks out in dismay at the risen tide.]

This is a disaster. Come on, guys, where are you...?

[He sighs and sits on what rocky land remains outside the mouth of the small cave he's been exploring and examines the weird, definitely magic crystals. For reasons unknown, he can't seem to access Noct's Armiger, so Prompto's had to resort to carrying his gun as well as the crystals around manually, like a plebe. But it's better than not having it at all. He can't put things in, but he can't take them out, either, and he feels better armed than not.

But he'd feel even better if he knew where the guys were. Or, better yet, where he is in relation to them.

He pulls his phone out of his pocket once more and dials, bringing it back to his ear. Hope springs eternal! Or something.]

Seriously... Pick up, pick up, pick up...

[BRRRT, no signal. Poor Promptophone.

On the bright side, a few rocks further along, out of the corner of his eye, there's a flash of black fabric and warp-light and -

Okay no that's definitely not Noctis. Too tall, also, Noctis would never wear any kind of feathered hat.

> INVESTIGATE? ]

[Prompto freezes, then pockets his phone to take his gun in his hand once more. His heart's in his mouth. He rises, though he keeps as much cover as he can, and calls across the waves:]

Uh, hello? Is someone there?

Hello!

[Hopefully Prompto notices that the clothes are wrong first because the voice is exactly the same as Ardyn's and please don't shoot the cheerful old guy in the fancy dress coat]

[UNFORTUNATELY,

He shoots.

He shoots Izunia's hat right off his head and immediately reaches up with his other hand to stabilize his aim, because Prompto wasn't aiming for the hat.]

You.

[His voice is shaking.]

Ardyn.

Prompto Argentum | FFXV

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