lifeaftr | October Intro: Louder than Sirens, Louder than Bells

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October Intro: Louder than Sirens, Louder than Bells

INTRO LOG: OCTOBER

Who: Everyone!
What: New souls arrive to the archipelago of LifeAftr
When: October 3rd
Where: Ensō
Warnings: Mark as needed!

The Beach: For All the Rest
The shores of Ensō are far from the tranquil, almost idyllic tropical backdrop that they should be. And so it is that while you fish, or perhaps as you go about your daily business on the islets, the first thing you will note is the persistent sound hammering at the back of your skull.

A drumming.

And it's growing louder.

The source of the drumming will, like it or not, soon become apparent. At the fringes of the trees, wielding slings and hollow, wooden pistols, is a group of large and very displeased simians who have every intent of claiming this spot of beach - yes, traveler, this spot of beach you're standing on right now! - for their own, and by any means necessary.

And they certainly don't look interested in diplomacy.

If you came armed, you might be in luck, because this conflict will require your steady hand in its resolution. If you did not...well, you may be better suited to run, or risk capture at the hands of warriors skilled, cunning, and incredibly vicious. Laugh at their monkey business all you like; they are ingenious fighters and, what's more, they're just as good at killing as they are at capture.

For the uninitiated, this particular brand of chaos doesn't usually sweep across the entire island the way it has. But those who have been here for some time will recognize the monkeys in question, and might even recognize this for what it is: revenge.

Group I: The Squeakquel
Looks like your monkeying around last month has landed you and everyone else in a spot of trouble. The monkeys in question certainly weren't happy to be confronted with others on their lands, nor are they willing to share their territory. While you may have triumphed last time you confronted them, the apes have been planning their revenge in the meantime.

Some of you were unlucky enough to become targets. Overnight, a great deal of them silently invaded the islets. Their blow-dart guns are equipped with a fairly powerful sedative that is more than capable of knocking most living creatures out - and those that were immune were simply snatched up, gagged, and bundled away.

However, it seems that some of their prisoners didn't suit their purposes, for one way or another, and thus weren't retrieved with the intention of long-term capture. Which is why a number of you will awaken in regions of the island that you've already explored.

...the really, really dangerous ones.

Whether it's a Center of Gravity, a parade of centipuppies, a contingent of Lungblossoms, a Fustercluck, or something else entirely, one thing is certain: the monkeys wanted you out of their way.

So get ready to fight for your life.

Group II: Ape Escape
If you're not one of the slightly luckier newcomers that materializes on the shore, then you're one of the unlucky ones that's managed to materialize square in the middle of the jungle. Or rather, in the middle of one of the denser, more populated parts of the jungle. The abodes woven into the canopy are crude, built of mud and sticks, but they're nonetheless sturdy.

And, as an important note - they are also swarming with monkeys. Snarling, baying, armed monkeys. Perhaps they'd be more hostile toward an interloper...if you weren't already in a cage, along with several others.

Fortunately for the newbies, they've all got something the monkeys didn't anticipate, aside from the element of surprise. Most prisoners don't arrive with knapsacks full of newly-acquired gear, and it's a good thing, too - you may very well need it, and the help of the new arrivals, to escape this place. You could always wait for the cavalry to come, but are you really willing to take that risk?

Group III: Pot Luck
As for you, you terribly fortunate third group?

You'll find yourselves suspended in wooden cages as well, though this time, to the hot curtain of whitish steam clouding your vision. It smells an awful lot like smoke down there. An awful lot like something...burning? Unlike your fellows over in the second group, these cages aren't simply a means of containing you, no. These cages are currently hanging over what might be the largest cast iron cauldron you've ever seen. All of this is, of course, for one simple reason:

Some species of monkeys are carnivores.

The acrid scent of smoke is already hot and rancid in your nostrils; the pyre beneath you has been lit, and the hungry flames are beginning to boil the water below quite eagerly. We'd suggest you hurry up in freeing yourself and your fellows - being boiled alive is not a particularly pleasant way to go. At least the monkeys weren't expecting quite so many main courses so soon, which allows you the element of surprise.

As a final note to those who participated in the Test Drive Meme, bear in mind that those threads, if all parties involved would like, can be game canon in the form of dream-like memories involving a place very much like this one, though the layout is considerably different.

All new arrivals will awake with knapsacks with their names stitched to the front. The contents of said knapsacks can be found below!

Feeling a tad adrift? Make sure to check the Locations Page, which has details regarding the starting areas and a handy map for those who feel better with a bird's eye view!

LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Definitely not. [Ginko answers at about the same time Maridian does. It just isn't an option, as far as he's concerned.

He glances over at Maridian, looking doubtful.] Are you sure we can get out faster than they can drop us?

[She looks baffled, not so much by what they say, but the fact they're saying it at all in the first place.]

That's-- Wait, excuse me, but-- [They seem to have utterly dismissed her offer, and the fact that anyone would assume her life means anything anymore is beyond baffling. While she can't presume to speak for anyone, it seems clear to her that she should be the one to go. She's the weakest link here, having no combat skills to speak of or anything like that.

Her hands drops to her lap again, fingers curling into her bundle of extra clothes and the diary she hadn't seen in ages. She would hardly be able to move quickly and the idea of taking off any of the layers was too scandalous to consider.] But... I will only slow you down...

If I offered to kill myself here and now so you would get away you wouldn't accept, so what makes you think we'd accept the same offer from you?

[Long and the short of it, and a little more blunt than Mar normally goes -- but he can't think of a time when he'd been in quite this situation, and he really didn't like it. Though at this, a thought presents itself.]

I'm sure it's a better shot than staying here, and I'm pretty tough. Can you carry her, do you think?

We can't jump to leaving someone to die as our first option. [Speaking of which, he still doesn't seem to be totally convinced by Maridian's plan.] Is there anything I could do to... I don't know, make this easier on you? Tough or not, there are a lot of those guys.

I can definitely carry her if need be-- [He glances back to Ouse, his tail flicking.] --If that's alright with you, that is.

[He definitely doesn't intend to leave her behind, however this ends up having to work, but it seems best to at least give her the opportunity to agree to this plan or not.]

[Ouse bristles somewhat, lips pursing tightly in an expression of mild offense. Carrying her?? How undignified, even if she understands it might be a necessity right now. But Ginko is right in that there's a lot of those monkeys (and she's trying not to think too hard about militarized monkeys here) and if he's carrying her that leaves only one person fighting them off.

At length though, she bows her head in acceptance] I will have my knife, so I can at least attempt to stop any that might jump the two of us. I apologize for being such a burden right now and thank you. [Her priestess robes offered a lot more freedom of movement, but there was no way she was going to be changing right here.

After a moment she presses her fingertips lightly to the ground and bows low] I am Kurosawa Ouse. Please take care of me.

NOW we're talking! [Abnout the plan coming together, not about her being a burden. He immediately begins looking around, testing the bars of the cage -- not to pull them apart yet, but to see if any are loose so he can grab them.] I know it's a long shot, but if either of you have something I can use as a weapon it'd probably help. I can punch, but you know, there's an efficiency issue there.

[Yyyyeah he can see she doesn't love this plan. But they don't have a lot of other options. He shifts uncomfortably where he's sitting, as unsure as ever about how to handle formalities.]

Uh... yeah, that would be helpful. And I'm Ginko.

[He has to shake his head at Maridian's request.] I've... got a whistle. I guess the sound might hurt their ears, but that's about it. [...Then he glances toward the cliff face, and the glimpse of sunlight creeping around it.] ...I can give it to you just in case. Whatever we're doing should probably happen soon.

[Before he goes from vaguely useful to completely useless.]

The knapsack has a hatchet it in, and rope. [And a toothbrush and salt, but she doesn't know if that could be used for anything useful.

Ginko's insistence on timing gets her curious though and she turns her gaze towards him once she straightens up] Is there a time limit?

A hatchet would be perfect! [Okay -- NOT perfect, FAR from perfect, but adequate? Yes.] May I borrow it?

...Kind of. I... don't do great with sunlight these days. [He nods in the direction of the (so far blocked-off) sunrise.] The brighter it gets, the less help I'm going to be.

[She digs the hatchet out of the bag and pushes herself to her feet, handing it over handle-first.]

Then we should make haste. I do not wish for you to overexert yourself. Please do not feel the need to carry me more than necessary. [For both their sakes.]

I'm ready when you are. [Mar flips the hatchet in his hand, testing its weight and balance, then shifts his grip on it and rolls his shoulders.] With the Sunwell as my witness, I shall stand between you two and danger until I break -- and I have never broken! For the glory of Quel'thelas!

[Look, he's working up to bellowing battle cries -- maybe now is a good time to put this plan into motion.]

Right. I'll let you know if I have to stop; if we move fast we should at least be able to get some distance between us and them first. [And if it gets to the point where he can't keep moving, he'd absolutely rather she leave him behind and run as well as she can, because Ginko is a hypocrite.

Aaand... that sounds like they should get moving. Right. Ginko swears under his breath, and shifts to steady himself better.] Here we go.

[He throws himself at the bars, gritting his teeth as he crushes through the wood with claws and sheer monster-strength. The moment he's broken through, he'll pick Ouse up - as gently as he can, under the circumstances - and jump through to the ground with a final, worried glance at Maridian.]

[Ouse makes a small noise in the back of her throat, a mild disapproval still despite knowing that she'd agreed to this in the first place. She's surprisingly light, but the weight mostly comes from the layers of her kimono.

The display of raw strength is awe-inspiring enough though that she on't argue too much more about things-- Clearly Ginko's able to take care of himself, for a...whatever he was. Some kind of demon? Maybe?? She has no idea.

She's pretty sure she doesn't know anything anymore.]

[Mar rips a piece of wood off the cage as it crumbles, using it as shield to the best of his abilities. Even as the howls of apes come their way, he holds up both weapon and wood and drops down to guard the rear -- just as he promised.] Yell if anything comes at you from that direction!

Right. Careful! [He calls over his shoulder as he runs, but doesn't keep looking in that direction for long. He's got to keep his eyes ahead of him, find a way to get to safety.

...Speaking of which, shit. It's looking like there are... a lot of those monkeys. Besides the ones they already saw.] ...Hope there's somewhere we can hide.

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October Intro: Louder than Sirens, Louder than Bells

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