phantasmemes | TEST DRIVE 004

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!test drive

TEST DRIVE 004

Hello and welcome to the fourth 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 Keystone Reef, a water-influenced Fissure to the northeast of the station. It is home to numerous fish and coral species, as well as a very interesting magical effect...

OPTION ONE: FINNY FUN

Under the water is where you woke up, and under the water is where you might be stuck for a while. The magic is lodged in you and has changed your form -- maybe a little, maybe a lot. Perhaps you only have gills, but you may also have a full set of changes, fins and no feet to speak of. Don't panic, you'll surely be fine if you just keep swimming...

Aside from the strange changes, it's a pretty cool place to be. If you've ever dreamed about scuba diving on a coral reef, the place that you've found yourself is perfect for that (minus the needing to scuba part). Curious fish swim up and then dart away into rock crevices, coral growths, and even down to bury themselves in the layer of sand at the bottom. The water is also fairly shallow, allowing you to surface if you so desire.

Even the sharks are friendly and just want to have as much a look at you as you want to look at them. Don't harass the glowing eels tucked into cracks between the rocks, though, they bite and don't particularly let go.

OPTION TWO: WORLD'S SMALLEST JUNGLE

This must certainly be an oceanside jungle - in spite of the humidity, the smell of salt on the air is strong. Brilliant greens and the occasional bright flowers, accompanied by island birdsong... It could be a nice place to spend an afternoon. There's not even that many bugs that want to drink your blood (though bugs in general are, well, quite plentiful).

Eventually, though, however far you go, you'll reach the beach and be met with the expanse of the ocean - blue, uncaring, and real big. While one side of the little island thankfully has land visible in the distance, the outer side just overlooks a near-endless expanse of blue. If you're a very good swimmer, you could probably make your way to land past the rocks of the reef itself... Otherwise, though, you might be just a bit stuck on your jungle island paradise.

At least until someone brings a boat.

OPTION THREE: SHIPWRECK

Both above and below the waterline are the remains of ships crashed upon the rocks, just waiting to be explored. Even though it has clearly been an incredibly long time, the chunks of wood and metal are still in fairly good condition, and the chance of finding something nice tucked in with them among the rocks is surely tempting to anyone with an adventurous spirit.

The wrecks beneath the waves also grow coral and seaweed, and provide havens for larger fish, dragon eels, and sharks. Those along the rocks above the waterline, on the other hand, provide a home for seabirds of all varieties. Most notable is the hulking shell of a shipping craft in the distance, looking very much modern if ruined by some centuries of exposure...

For right now, though, you'd best contend with the flotsam a bit closer to you, and the wildlife that might not take too kindly to your exploring. Below the waterline, the dragon eels found in a few places don't take kindly to being disturbed; above, you might run afoul of some overprotective seabirds protecting their nests. Maybe even an invisible seagull (normal sized) - how ridiculous would that be?

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Wha- [Y'know what? Nah, he's not gonna stop the grooming. It's weird but cute! When did Jumpy get so cute? Must be the fur.] You're being fucking ridiculous, and like, I'm pretty sure I'm tripping balls. The weirdest acid trip right now. [But at least his human-looking arms are settled over Junpei because he needs to be hugging something and someone important.]

Dude. The fuck do you mean a month. What the fuck. You're back home with Yuyu and Ruru. We went for drinks the other night.

...I'm not doing amnesia stuff again, dude, I'm gonna flip out if that's the case.

YOU'RE INCREDIBLY STUPID, FUCKING WATERPROOF PHONE BULLSHIT, WHO THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU ARE FLASHING FUCKING ARMIGER MAGIC LIKE YOU'RE FUCKING NOCTIS, FUCKING BULLSHIT IS WHAT YOU ARE--

[it's ya boi]

...Mai.

You're a narwhal. [eh, close enough] You're a fucking sea unicorn.

You're also here in the very worst version of Sea World ever.

Is this as dumb as I think it is? I really want this to be drugs.

[.......Oh right and she needs a hand!] Uh, hold on-- [as he gets his arms around her middle and pulls!]

I got a feeling it's time stuff more than amnesia stuff. None of us feel like anything's missing. Not as far as our heads go, anyway.

[Fluff fluff fluff. Did you know baby sea otters' fur is different from adults and the first thing a mama otter does is fluff them up and fill their fur with so much air they float like a cork on the waves and can't dive at all? Cute.]

Of course, Dad's missed you. And I guess the rest of us have, too. We can go out for drinks again once we get back to the Station, I dunno what alcohol will do to us when I'm a furry and you're a sailor's fishy wet dream.

[It's the boy. Izunia lets him yell a little bit to get the point across, then turns off speakerphone and jams it against the ide of his face.

Of course, as much as he might try to cover the mike, they're still underwater, sound carries, there's probably still some Church yelling in the background. Izunia's own voice is chipper, in the "oh god please help me" kind of way.]

So! We're over in the eastern section, not too far from the sandbars, I figure if he keeps up this level of noise you'll be able to find us perfectly well once you get close.

...

. . .

I’m on my way.

Okay, hold--hold on, I think you need to start from the top? Also, handsome fish though I might be, I don't think I want to think about how...any of that would wo--

Am I stuck like this now?

[Mai is yanked out, bleeding a little from slivers of wood, but free. She starts to nod, realizes that she probably shouldn't, and settles for shaking her head.]

Thank you. ...Not drugs. Reality in flux. Developing itself in biomes.

I'm gonna rip the tentacles right off your body and have sushi tonight! I don't know if octopus counts as sushi and I don't care!

Oh good. It's just reality in flux. And I thought maybe I partied too hard last night. [/sarcasm]

Are you...okay, do I need to get some band--bandages won't work with water, will they. Uh. Seaweed??

[Luckily for you, Church, the boy you've flagged down has...absolutely no idea what's going on! He does seem like he fits right in, though, what with the white tail and fins and the red splotches tying in with his split, white-and-red hair.

Well, the splotch on his face isn't the same shade of red as everything else, but that's. Fine.]

...?

[Also, he's not exactly the best at, you know. People. He does wave back, at least, but he looks confused. He's confused. Hello there, mister.]

[To Church, dryly; ]

That's cannabalism.

[At least the yelling has given him a chance to finally fully distangle and instead curl up on the outcrop of rock.

And back into the phone to Ardyn; ]

Do you want me to stay on the line? He's already panic-zapped us once, I don't really want to risk my phone.

Noooo, come on! It's a temporary thing. ...I'm pretty sure. I mean, if it works like the other place did, it's just localized to this, uh. Location.

We should probably get you back in the water before I fill you in for real, though. Need a hand?

Maybe. Or cloth. If there's any. But I've had worse.

[So say the claw scars on her throat and the impalement scar on her chest, both of which are in view with the top she's wearing, but neither of which she seems to much care about.]

We knew you'd come. But I'm glad you're here. We miss you. Ardyn... Unhappy.

It’s calamari.

[ARDYN]

Tell him I’m fine and I’ll be there in a minute.

I'm not a squid-dude, I'm a-!

A...fish...maid! Fin person! Finnish! Finnish-American!

One: Splashdown

The last thing Ravus remembers is falling - one blast of fell magic too many, sending him back over the railing into the abyss at the core of Zegnautus Keep. He doesn't remember hitting the ground, but he must have, mustn't he? That is the nature of falls, and their terror: the abrupt landing. And yet he feels no hard surface beneath him.

Ravus opens his eyes, and then jerks upright with a shout - or tries to, at any rate. He doesn't seem to have the relationship with gravity he's used to, and his sudden movement mostly serves to send him spinning through the... it's water, isn't it? It feels like water, but before he realized this he distinctly recalls taking an easy breath.

It certainly looks like water, when he finally processes what he's seeing. There is coral, and sand, and fish going about their business as if he isn't there. It certainly is much more colorful than anything to be found in the Keep.

"Perhaps I struck my head in the fall," he observes aloud to himself, somewhat surprised to hear his own voice so clearly underwater. Then a fin drifts into his vision, and all thoughts of his voice leave him.

Ravus stares down at himself. From the waist up, he looks normal, from his magitek arm to his white coat bearing Tenebrae's crest. He even still has King Regis's glaive in his right hand. But at the waist, beneath the drifting fabric of his coat, he feels not two legs but one translucent tail. And he can see - is that his spine? Ravus has unfortunately had the experience of seeing many parts of the human body light was not meant to touch, but this may be a little much even for him.

Could he have imagined such a sight, such a sensation? Ravus doubts it. But then where could he be? Is this - he has heard many stories of the Beyond, all different. Perhaps it is an ocean. And if he is dead, then -

"Lunafreya!" Calling for his sister, Ravus swims in a random direction, uncaring of the fish sent scattering in his wake.

Three: Look at this stuff, isn't it neat? No.

Once informed that this is not the Beyond, Ravus has taken to searching the shipwrecks, looking for any clue to the nature of this location. It is a long shot, he is aware, but lacking legs he finds himself with few other options. (Beaching himself in the hopes of the strange magic wearing off proved to be futile, and the sand itched.)

These must be centuries of ships, he observes. Some of the structures he recognizes vaguely, while others are too old - or on the other hand too new.

Ravus finds also that his magitek arm is more than a little awkward in the water: it drags him down with its weight, forcing him to work harder to stay on one level as he uses the other hand to explore.

That's squid, brother dear, not octopus. See you soon.

[He hangs up and immediately puts that phone back into the Armiger before it goes zappy.]

And we're both human outside the range of this magical effect, therefore, it's cannibalism.

Dude, I am genuinely considering doing what is probably gonna actually end up being some grievous bodily harm to myself on the off chance I can make legs for myself.

[He hugs his fluffy friend a little tighter.] So, uh, I guess uh...I guess getting back in the water would be good. I'm sssssorta getting the hang of the swimming thing here. Do I have to eat raw fish? Not like sushi-raw, like grab a fish with my bare hands and eat it like a shark?

There are also sharks. What if I look like food to them.

Dude. [He's met many a person and he's not gonna start off by making fun of someone's looks, because there's probably a traumatic story to it and he's not about that (right now).] Hi? H-hey, do you have any idea what is going on? Are you, uh, native? Or did you...did you wake up here?

Hup. Dude, you're too big to look like food to a shark. You could probably eat a shark.

[It's a little awkward, the business of tugging Church back to the water, particularly when Junpei can't really stand two-legged for very long. It ends up being a lot more dragging and rolling than probably either of them want. Kinda fun though. SPLOOSH.

Junpei rolls onto his back to float. He can probably buoy both of them up.]

Anyway, you don't have to eat raw fish, probably? Here, I've got some potato chips in the Armiger. [Eyyo, chips. Feel free to use Junpei as a floating table, that's what sea otters do.] Also, what the hell, the effect'll either go away when we stabilize this place or when we leave, don't slice your tail off, that's not even how it worked in the Little Mermaid. At least wait until we try the kissing royalty remedy.

[Mm! Those are. unfortunate. And he doesn't super want to think about those! Are they new? Or were they from before? Let's not consider it! Currently!]

Yeah, you've had worse, doesn't mean you don't need a little treatment when you can get it. Uh, dunno about cloth, unless we can find the remains of the crew, but then that's dead person cloth. And. No. That's how you get infections.

...'We'. [Ardyn.] Is this...another game?

Did we...?

Oh, fucking hell.

[Said the former Chancellor of Niflheim, hair longer and tied in a low ponytail. Amidst the scattered mess of scars on his upper body was a stylized black phoenix tattoo on his right forearm; probably more notable was the favt that he was an octopus from the waist down.]

[Almost definitely more notable was the fact that he was looking at Ravus like he’d literally seen a ghost.]

No. But... There was one.

[She frowns slightly.]

Before. Four survivors are here. Unrelated to Airlocked!

[So it's already been a day and Izunia has happily left a happy couple to do whatever the hell they want to do with Ardyn's tentacles, and then he hears

that voice.

And all he can fucking do is sigh, his tentacles turning briefly from orange to a darker brownish-purple. The water causes his mutter to carry quite far anyway, even as low-volume as it is.]

Of course. It's just not an expedition unless someone tries to kill me while mistaking me for Ardyn, is it.

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TEST DRIVE 004

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Ravus Nox Fleuret | Final Fantasy XV

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