TEST DRIVE 006

[phantasmods]

Hello and welcome to Phantasmal Rift's Test Drive Meme!

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 the Telovia Mines, an extremely abandoned magical crystal mine and the town and infrastructure that one supported it. The tunnels are in reasonably good condition and would be reasonably navigable... Except for one thing.

ONE MINOR THING

The magical effects of the Fissure cause those within it to lose something when they arrive - for most people, it's a sense such as touch or hearing, but it's also possible to lose a more esoteric sense (such as your sense of balance or temperature, but NOT things like "sense of morals" or "sense of style"), the ability to speak, or the ability to recognize faces. As a general guideline, whatever characters lose should be non-supernatural in nature, and something they would have taken for granted as a part of their ability to function.

ODDS AND ENDS

Just because the mines are empty of people doesn't mean that they've gone still. While for the most part, the carts full of crystals remain in one place, the huge amount of magic has left more than a few of the miners' abandoned tools still going through their motions. Rusted pickaxes swing at the walls, and dead lanterns swing from the ceiling. Crystals occasionally free themselves from shards of rock to pile into bins, which then empty into already-overflowing mine carts.

As long as you leave them to their jobs, everything will be fine. If you try to stop the tools (and it is the tools themselves, for anyone who might be looking for ghosts) from doing their jobs, they'll chase you down until you leave their general vicinity.

Of course, the eternally working tools don't care much about the structural integrity of the mine tunnels...

THEY ALL PILE UP

...And so, inevitably, there are cave-ins.

Most of them are fairly minor, and you can see them (well, if you can see) enough to just work around them. Some of them are big enough that you're going to have to dig through them first, if you can.

And then there's the handful that block passages entirely. But don't panic! The tunnels are designed around the possibility of this happening - rather than coming to an end, the majority of them loop back around to the main arteries of the mine.

E... ventually...

But you and whoever is stuck with you on this side of the cave-in might be wandering for quite a while before you get there. Hopefully one of you still has a sense of direction, assuming either of you ever had one in the first place.

Comments

[tiefleaf]

[ Welp, Molly's a little unsure about what he sees in the distance, mostly because you look kind of like him or some kinda weird long-lost relative, except wearing a helmet. Still, you are the only source of light here, so he'll come forward, with a shit eating grin. ]

Boo.

[superstylishsquid]

[He'd noticed another figure moving in the gloom, but to be approached like that by someone who appears to be another demon, albeit a weak one, has his wings flaring and tail swishing defensively. His movements don't seem afraid, but wary...like he's sizing up a potential threat.]

Boo yourself. You seem pretty relaxed, for a lost newbie who just bumped into an armed stranger.

[tiefleaf]

[ He's gonna throw up his hands and shrug. ]

I mean, I'm just thinking about the chances you're specifically looking to gut me.

[ His own tail is swishing around too, as he ponders this. ]

My guess is that if you were looking to actually do anything, you've had more than enough time.

[superstylishsquid]

Well, you're not exactly wrong. Guess I'll take that as confidence that you don't expect to give me any reason to want to gut you.

[His wings fold back in, seeming to even shrink, and his tail lowers slightly.]

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and guess you're hoping I know the way out.

[tiefleaf]

...you know, if you don't, that's fine too. Honestly, I wouldn't find it too surprising.

[superstylishsquid]

I've got it more or less down. Teleportation isn't reliable in areas like this, so I've been paying attention to my turns.

On the other hand, I'm a little bit busy at the moment.

[tiefleaf]

I mean, depending on what you're busy with, I can probably help you with that.

[superstylishsquid]

Probably, though you might want a flashlight of your own, unless light doesn't matter to you.

[He reaches into a bag hanging from his shoulder and holds out a device roughly the same shape as a virus, pointing to a button with his other hand.]

I'm supposed to be setting these up. You just put it somewhere solid, press the button, and it'll eventually stabilize the magic in the area.

[tiefleaf]

...Right. I'd do that, but um, I kind of showed up here without any torches or lanterns or...anything.

[ He's never heard the term "flashlight" before, but he's smart enough to pick out the context clues and get a general idea of what it is.

If you were anyone who didn't also look like a tiefling or one of the roughly 90% of D&D races with darkvision, he wouldn't disclose this, but: ]

Hey, you notice anything weird when you came here?

[superstylishsquid]

Yeah, my sense of smell went out to lunch. Sometimes areas of unstable magic like this can affect the people in them, and this one's decided we don't need all our senses.

[tiefleaf]

...

[ You know what, you went first, so he'll bite. ]

I'm usually better at seeing in the dark than this.

[superstylishsquid]

Sheesh, talk about inconvenient. And no light casting magic either, I guess, or you'd already have something going.

[He gestures at the floating orbs of electricity, which bob around his head.]

Guess I might as well take you back above ground, then. There's unstable areas with plenty of sunlight, too.

[tiefleaf]

Yeah, that sounds a hell of a lot better than just having rocks smashed into my face every five minutes. You wanna lead the way?

[superstylishsquid]

Alright. Just watch your step, you'd better not kick my tail.

[Fortunately, when he turns, he leaves one of the lightning orbs floating behind him. Off they go, he guesses.]

And be careful if you see any minecarts full of magic crystals.

[tiefleaf]

Let me guess, you touch the crystal, something bad happens. Wouldn't be surprised if I lost something else along the way...

[ He's gonna follow. ]

[superstylishsquid]

It's not guaranteed, but there's a lot of conflicting elemental energy in those bins. Think of it like a powder keg, and any careless movement could set off a spark.