phantasmods: (Default)
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...
thatsmymagic: (Default)

whoof sorry this took so long, rl got to me

[personal profile] thatsmymagic 2018-07-18 12:21 pm (UTC)(link)
[She's appreciative, don't get her wrong, but she does wish there was a way to stop these animals without killing them. The fact that they're on fire and clearly aggressive does ease her discomfort with the notion of killing them.]

[It's now that she takes a good look at Kyoko. She can't be terribly much older than herself, but she fights with a spear and seems unbothered by violence? This is something she resolves to dig into at a later date.]


That's such a lovely name! Do you prefer Kyoko or Sakura? [She's assuming Kyoko, but she's been in England for so long, where the naming conventions are different from her hometown in Japan, and it doesn't hurt to check now that she's here. Wherever here is.] My name is Atsuko Kagari, but please, call me Akko.
thatsmymagic: (Tired)

wow rl is the worst, sorry this took 3 days yikes

[personal profile] thatsmymagic 2018-07-18 12:25 pm (UTC)(link)
[Akko blinks, very surprised. What does she mean "what is it"??? This is. Awkward.]

Weren't you following me?
thatsmymagic: (Default)

real life is hell, sorry this took 3 days

[personal profile] thatsmymagic 2018-07-18 12:29 pm (UTC)(link)
[Mission accomplished, she lets the light on her wand go out. Akko slips it back through the loop at her waist for safekeeping. When Pidonus is close enough that neither of them need to shout, the young girl dips her head in a bow of greeting.]

Hi! My name is Atsuko Kagari, but please, call me Akko. I was wondering if you know where we are?
Edited 2018-07-18 12:30 (UTC)
thatsmymagic: (Default)

whoops real life stole my soul, sorry this took 3 days

[personal profile] thatsmymagic 2018-07-18 12:34 pm (UTC)(link)
My name is Atsuko Kagari, by the way. But please, call me Akko.

[She wipes the gathering sweat from her brow with the back of her sleeve and starts off down the street. Best to pick a direction and go - no use wasting time that could be spent getting people to safety.]

What about you? What should I call you?
thatsmymagic: (:D!)

[personal profile] thatsmymagic 2018-07-18 12:39 pm (UTC)(link)
[It takes a lot of focus to keep her broom high enough for anyone to be looking up at her, so when she hears the voice and looks down, it immediately drops, drawing a startled yelp from Akko. When she's steady again, she glares at the handle as if it has personally wronged her before beaming at the boy.]

It's the best way to fly, for sure! Have you ever flown on a broom before?
thatsmymagic: (Ruffled)

[personal profile] thatsmymagic 2018-07-18 12:42 pm (UTC)(link)
Hm?

[Akko peers into the darkness, holding up her wand to cast the light a bit further. It shines off of something metallic and - oh boy howdy is that a gun??? Unnecessary!!]

H-Hey now, let's not get hasty! My name's Atsuko Kagari, but please, call me Akko.
ax_iom: (My penance)

[personal profile] ax_iom 2018-07-18 02:07 pm (UTC)(link)
Yes, you do.
ax_iom: (What do you want from me?)

[personal profile] ax_iom 2018-07-18 02:09 pm (UTC)(link)
Then I'll handle anything we find.

[She hefts her hammer up onto a shoulder.]
riderofcharlemagne: (guh)

[personal profile] riderofcharlemagne 2018-07-18 02:23 pm (UTC)(link)
Why?

[His tone softens, but that nagging curiosity...]
have_hat_will_travel: (Chibi Smile)

No worries about the delay!

[personal profile] have_hat_will_travel 2018-07-18 02:31 pm (UTC)(link)
[Pidonus blinked a bit, bowing awkwardly - a tricky task when trying to stay steady in midair.]

I am Pidonus Marasia, and... Well, the answer is 'kind of'.

Neither of us is on our home world, for one.
riderofcharlemagne: (guh)

[personal profile] riderofcharlemagne 2018-07-18 03:13 pm (UTC)(link)
How come?
thinkingwithmahous: (Alone)

[personal profile] thinkingwithmahous 2018-07-18 03:52 pm (UTC)(link)
I don't know, Lily. I don't have all the answers for you.

I just don't want you to die.
ax_iom: (What else was I good for?)

[personal profile] ax_iom 2018-07-18 03:55 pm (UTC)(link)
And I do want to die.

Everyone in the world already thinks I'm evil. Everyone hates me. So if I be what they want me to be and then die, everyone's happy
anarchia: (no awoo)

[personal profile] anarchia 2018-07-18 04:24 pm (UTC)(link)
A deceptively long time, from what I know.
nojohnyouare: Victorious with a kendo stick. (through the crowd i was crying out)

[personal profile] nojohnyouare 2018-07-18 05:51 pm (UTC)(link)
[She finally looks back at her. If the scar that's barely visible over Mai's heart with her top didn't look fatal, the claw mark scars on her neck sure do.]

I can handle it. More than one person can protect everyone.
ax_iom: (This hidden war)

[personal profile] ax_iom 2018-07-18 05:54 pm (UTC)(link)
Let me rephrase.

[She slams the end of her hammer's shaft into the ground.]

You need to be fireproof, or else I will keep you here.
redmeguca: (If you say so.)

[personal profile] redmeguca 2018-07-18 05:55 pm (UTC)(link)
A nickname already? You're the friendly sort, aren't you. Call me Kyoko then, I'm not really one for formalities anyway.
nojohnyouare: Full-body shot with the sword. (in plain sight)

[personal profile] nojohnyouare 2018-07-18 05:59 pm (UTC)(link)
I can handle it.

[Wow, that's probably a record for the fastest someone can get Mai to emote. She's trying to keep it down, maybe recognizing that she's still angry about the dog-san, maybe just knowing what it's like to think you have to do everything yourself. So she doesn't snap at Lily, just makes herself quiet and calm.]

If I have to.
redmeguca: (I'm sorry...)

[personal profile] redmeguca 2018-07-18 06:04 pm (UTC)(link)
Hehe... She almost regretted saving one of her friends from a monster because they both liked the same boy. It's pretty stupid. But she didn't think so, especially when she found out we're just corpses piloted around by our Soul Gems. She got it into her head that fighting Witches was the only thing she was good for anymore, and she wasn't even good at that.

[Kyoko stares at the ring that's now on her right hand.]

She gave in to despair and became the very thing she had been fighting. That's how Magical Girls work, the more people we help with our wish, the more people we curse when we become Witches.
redmeguca: (Default)

[personal profile] redmeguca 2018-07-18 06:10 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah. I can also do chain walls and change the size of my spears.
nor_iron_bars: Alone that soar above (Keep doing what you're doing)

[personal profile] nor_iron_bars 2018-07-18 06:18 pm (UTC)(link)
Uh, lemme think... You know what a train is? Like a train, but underground and for just one city.

[Do they even have trains on Auldrant?]
nor_iron_bars: And in my soul am free (No that ain't your style)

[personal profile] nor_iron_bars 2018-07-18 06:25 pm (UTC)(link)
[That officially raises her eyebrows.]

Well shit, that sounds like a fun recipe for a downward spiral. Any way to reverse this shit once it gets started?
nor_iron_bars: Enjoy such liberty (Default)

[personal profile] nor_iron_bars 2018-07-18 06:31 pm (UTC)(link)
[She waves a hand casually.]

Only at night. It's like... noon-thirty, we're cool for now.
nor_iron_bars: Enjoy such liberty (Default)

[personal profile] nor_iron_bars 2018-07-18 06:37 pm (UTC)(link)
Hey, somebody's gotta be the comic relief 'round here, right?

[She grins under her mask and casually slings an arm around Lily's shoulders, gesturing dramatically in the direction of an as-yet un-ransacked shop.]

Follow me, princess. We're gonna go treasure hunting.
redmeguca: (I'm sorry...)

[personal profile] redmeguca 2018-07-18 06:39 pm (UTC)(link)
Using a Grief Seed will clear your Soul Gem for a while.

[she holds out a small round object with a needle like point on one end. It seems to defy gravity to rest squarely on the tip.]

But once a Mahou Shoujo becomes a Witch... There's nothing that can be done except put them out of their misery. I know from experience.