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Phantasmal Rift Mods ([personal profile] phantasmods) wrote in [community profile] phantasmemes2018-07-12 11:56 pm
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TEST DRIVE 005

Hello and welcome to the fifth 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 time, the Test Drive takes place in Incendia - a less-ruined-than-expected city that has been abandoned for over a century, due to the magical effects of the Fissure (unstable reality region) that have made it impossible to live in. What effects are these, you ask?

Well...

BY DAY

By day, the city is lovely, if oddly empty. The sun shines down, and magical lights along the sidewalk - the equivalent of power lines - flow energy throughout the city. It's possible to think that the little sparks you sometimes see at the corner of your vision are related. After all, there's a great deal of magic in the air...

But in spite of this, the city lies abandoned, for no immediately apparent reason. You might have found yourself in a wide-open shipping yard, where large metal containers levitate about, moving without any help or oversight from human hands. Be careful; these containers changing positions make it easy to get lost for quite a long time, since few of them have much in the way of identifying traits over than color. Didn't you already pass that arrangement of two red ones on top of a blue one before...?

Or perhaps you're in the massive park in the center of town, with its blatantly magical fountain (a half-dome of water just hanging in the air) and the tents of an abandoned festival. Two stages and a long line of street food booths stand empty - surely no one will mind if you use them for something, right?

Or perhaps you're just suddenly on the streets, among stalled-out taxis and cars that go nowhere and lack the familiar smell of gasoline. There's apartments and shops all around, with little gardens spilling out over balconies... Maybe if you go knock on some doors, you'll find people.

Wherever it is you are, surely there's got to be someone around who can tell you what's going on, right...?

BY DUSK

As night falls, rather than dropping the way you might expect, the temperature begins to rise. And then the sparks in the edges of your vision are very much more than simply at the edges of your vision. They catch first on the plants, the papers stuck to the now-lit magical streetlights, the trash cans... And then, increasingly so, on the buildings proper, the shops, the skyscrapers, the cars in the street.

Within half an hour, an inferno is starting to build, and it's clear that there's not going to be anywhere above ground safe from it. But fortunately, there's safety beneath the level of the streets - if you can make your way fast enough to an underground station.

BY NIGHT

In the remains of these subway tunnels, lit mostly by the dim glow of magical energy lines, you're at least safe from the inferno above. Unlike the aboveground parts of the city, however, the tunnels are in an obvious state of disrepair, with broken concrete, rot, and mildew. The stations might have once been clean, but they quite transparently are not now, and the tunnels themselves are as bad or worse.

Thankfully, no trains run anymore, so you're not at risk of being run down on the broken tracks. There's also not any full-on collapses blocking the way, and the tunnels seem well-enough made that there's probably not risk of a cave-in.

Less pleasantly, you aren't the only thing taking shelter in the tunnels from the firestorm above. And the magic of that flame has touched the feral dogs that rove the tunnels, turning them into barking, howling creatures of as much flame as flesh themselves. And then there's the occasional patch of mold, mildew, and slime in the darkest parts of the tunnels, where even the magical circuits have gone out, that moves to douse any light that comes near it...
royalmint: (Shock ☢ where's Bambi's mom)

[personal profile] royalmint 2018-07-14 04:12 pm (UTC)(link)
Ah-!

[Pepper nearly jumps out of his skin when Mai suddenly appears, pressing a hand to his chest as he turns to face her.]

Oh...g-goodness, you startled me. Me, I- ...new is a word for it, I suppose.
wantstoexist: art by galactickohipot.tumblr.com (04. Power of will.)

Re: Night

[personal profile] wantstoexist 2018-07-14 04:36 pm (UTC)(link)
[Lucatiel's eyes widen behind her own mask, as she watches the stranger activate her fetch modus. Some form of sorcery, clearly.

Almost as jarring is Jetshard's appearance. Humanoid, but distinctly different enough to show that she most certainly isn't really human. For many, this would be cause for alarm, but in Lucatiel's case...

Well, she's really in no position to judge such things, being undead herself.
]

...Yes, well, I try to avoid fiery deaths when possible. You say you arrived her of your own accord?

[That's certainly a first. For the most part, shes only met other newcomers to this world.]
Edited 2018-07-14 16:43 (UTC)
wantstoexist: art by badasserywomen.tumblr.com (02. Twenty percent skill)

[personal profile] wantstoexist 2018-07-14 04:41 pm (UTC)(link)
[She squints at the wolf, but doesn't escalate her hostility. This wasn't the sort of answer she'd hoped for, but at least he doesn't seem antagonistic about it.]

And where, exactly, have I fallen to? How do I climb out? I must return to Drangleic.

[She's kind of operating on a time table here. ]
Edited 2018-07-14 16:41 (UTC)
nojohnyouare: Turning around. (you can't choose what stays)

[personal profile] nojohnyouare 2018-07-14 04:48 pm (UTC)(link)
Sorry. [She bows.] Lost, then. Like the rest of us. Falling through cracks in reality. Or... Pulled through. That's the current theory.
joyinastrangeplace: Jude Law as John Watson, holding a cane over his shoulder (Default)

John Watson | The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes X Gheist: Sin Eaters

[personal profile] joyinastrangeplace 2018-07-14 05:32 pm (UTC)(link)
[[OOC: Hi, I'm new! Also, this version of Watson is crossed over with a TTRPG, hence the more mystical aspects]]

By Day: Option 1

[What's this gentleman doing arguing with himself? From his style of dress, one can tell he is either really into Steampunk or from the time that inspired it, and he has a cane he can't seem to stop fiddling with.

The emptiness of the city seems to bother him, as does the heat, but he hasn't done more than unbutton his jacket. His hair and beard are just this side of unkempt, as though he's used to having them done by someone else.

A black medical bag sits at his feet.]



By Day: Option 2

[Perhaps, instead, you've find yourself near what could be the city hospital, and you find him looking at it from a respectful distance. He's holding his bag in one hand, the cane in the other, and is in his shirtsleeves. Something more than just his shadow is hovering behind him.]

Well, then, there aren't any here, too. Least none that I can sense.

By Dusk
[Here, he is dressed much less formally, which is still formal by the standards of any other time. He is fleeing towards the subway tunnels.

Upon seeing the grime below, he looks almost relieved.]


Finally, something familiar.

Edited 2018-07-14 17:35 (UTC)
joyinastrangeplace: Jude Law as John Watson, holding a cane over his shoulder (Default)

By day

[personal profile] joyinastrangeplace 2018-07-14 05:41 pm (UTC)(link)
[A well dressed gentleman walks in, holding a black medical bag and using a cane. He seems to be muttering to himself, but stops upon noticing both the interior and the woman behind the counter.]

So much for the familiar.

[This seems to be addressed to... himself? He has a upper-middle class British accent, almost like something out of a movie.]

Excuse me, madam, is this a cafe?
Edited 2018-07-14 17:47 (UTC)
redmeguca: (Default)

[personal profile] redmeguca 2018-07-14 05:48 pm (UTC)(link)
What difference does it make?

[Yeah, this girl never went to school. She was homeschooled, but stuff like that never showed up on the curriculum.]
founderinglight: ([sketchyplaceholder])

whoops i missed this last night somehow

[personal profile] founderinglight 2018-07-14 07:20 pm (UTC)(link)
Mmm... Somewhere around fifty at the station who came on the expedition, plus however many appeared this time. I've only run into a handful, but I imagine we're a bit more spread out than usual with an entire city...

[Izunia's own rapier vanishes entirely in an outline of blue light that quickly fades away.]
daughterofthemark: (04F. A soaring shadow above)

[personal profile] daughterofthemark 2018-07-14 07:29 pm (UTC)(link)
Two nights? Goodness...

[Holy shit Kyoko take better care of yourself. Sleeping in a Fissure isn't generally a good idea, but... well, she'll have Arianna to protect her, at least. Arianna adjusts her position a bit, positioning Kyoko so she'll be leaning more on clothes and skin and less on armor.]

I will. Goodnight, Kyoko-san.
redmeguca: (Default)

[personal profile] redmeguca 2018-07-14 07:34 pm (UTC)(link)
[Yaaaawn. Her eyes close completely as her resting spot gets more comfortable.]

G'night...zzz.

[And just like that, she's out like a light.]
einherjarista: (walking disaster)

[personal profile] einherjarista 2018-07-14 07:43 pm (UTC)(link)
Dog...san? [ Signe questions this while stabbing another dog-san with her spear. Look, it's on fire, this ain't a normal dog-san, okay? ]
theserpentsmiles: (It's time to burn it down)

[personal profile] theserpentsmiles 2018-07-14 07:51 pm (UTC)(link)
[Oh, company. He isn't crying, at least, but he's got that smile people wear when they could be. Tired, not exactly unhappy, but definitely not happy.]

If anyone could have, sensei would. He accounted for every conceivable variation of a 'kidnapped during a class trip' scenario...

[Except this one, apparently. Interdimensional kidnapping is beyond even the reach of those tentacles....]
einherjarista: (done but in gold)

[personal profile] einherjarista 2018-07-14 07:58 pm (UTC)(link)
And we're all from different universes... for the most part?

I thought I was done with crazy shit. [ A deep, regretful sigh. ]
theserpentsmiles: (This one goes to the castaways)

[personal profile] theserpentsmiles 2018-07-14 08:00 pm (UTC)(link)
[It's worth noting that he moves easily around obstacles, quickly weaving through the flames and vaulting over things to find the quickest route.]

No- well, yes, but- I need to get something.
biddentodance: (I will shut the world away)

[personal profile] biddentodance 2018-07-14 08:11 pm (UTC)(link)
WooooOOOOoooooOOOoo. [Have the most deadpan wailing the world has ever heard.

Minato, stop that, you're not even dead yet.]
einherjarista: (distracted by nothing)

[personal profile] einherjarista 2018-07-14 08:11 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Honestly, Signe is more used to British than American, being from Norway herself. In fact, this guy's attire is reminding her a lot of the kind of things people wore when she was actually alive. Despite her modern appearance, including a T-shit branded with CAFE SCANDE, she was born in the 1700s.

So she does start for a moment, seeing this man come in... but barista training kicks in immediately. ]


I mean, yes it is. It's not mine, but uh... looks like we got coffee, your regular assortment of espresso beverages, and a... [ she pops open the display case for a second, peering inside ...variety of pastries.
founderinglight: ([my place plz])

[personal profile] founderinglight 2018-07-14 08:13 pm (UTC)(link)
For the most part, yes.

[Sorry, crazy shit just keeps happening. He pulls a half-full water bottle from ... wherever he vanished the sword to, apparently, and opens it to drink with a tired sigh.]
einherjarista: (walking disaster)

[personal profile] einherjarista 2018-07-14 08:34 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Signe closes her eyes for a moment. The wheel of reincarnation turns backwards, and the black tunic is immediately replaced with a brown T-shirt that reads CAFE SCANDE and a blue jacket.

She's also human now, if that's something Izunia would notice. ]


So what's the deal. Who's the bad guy I have to beat up to go home?
einherjarista: (distracted by nothing)

[personal profile] einherjarista 2018-07-14 08:35 pm (UTC)(link)
Is that... a band? [ A band... of aliens? ]
bulletnews: (I've already written the headline)

[personal profile] bulletnews 2018-07-14 08:45 pm (UTC)(link)
Underground! Not somewhere I try to spend much time, but it's either that or so much burning.

[Aya does not grab the bird, she's plenty fast on her own!]
founderinglight: ([sketchyplaceholder])

[personal profile] founderinglight 2018-07-14 08:46 pm (UTC)(link)
[He hasn't noticed at all, and will probably assume it to be a situation more like Local Magical Girl Keeps a Secret Identity until otherwise told.]

Ah - no one, at the moment. The general situation is that there's something unstable about this world that pulls people into Fissures - places like this - and so until we can stabilize and repair those, we're rather stuck.

[He doesn't sound especially concerned about it.]
bloodyashes: ([D] Hybrid)

[personal profile] bloodyashes 2018-07-14 08:52 pm (UTC)(link)
Worth a try.

[Just give him a minute to get up and get his shit together.]

Though I doubt it will do much good as far as getting anyone back where they came from. ... Asch, by the way.

[Still, what kind of JRPG character would he be if he turned down exploring a dungeon?]
plentyfriendly: (phi$ worry)

[personal profile] plentyfriendly 2018-07-14 08:54 pm (UTC)(link)
"I'm kind of attached to my face, I would prefer not to lose it again."

She's still not buying it but that is some very odd word choice from her.
bloodyashes: ([F] You saw NOTHIN)

I am objectively making this After Ardyn fight me

[personal profile] bloodyashes 2018-07-14 08:56 pm (UTC)(link)
[Hello, hungry people.

Asch starts visibly at the voice, though maybe not for the reasons Goro expects, and gives him an intent look-over for a minute before nodding.]


I can work with that.
shipoutofluck: (003)

[personal profile] shipoutofluck 2018-07-14 08:57 pm (UTC)(link)
A disease that turns people into daemons. An actual disease like that... [That's... so dumb. That's dumb and he hates it.] More of a curse than an illness.

[But he takes the deck and he does mind the edges. In fact, he's extremely careful with it, so the fact that it still manages to cut through his glove seems... almost ludicrous. And yet, that is exactly what happens.

Though Eizen barely cares to notice, far too busy staring at the cards, going through them one by one.]


Remarkable...