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 )

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Shame, I'm usually so good at that.

[he said, not being good at negotiating functional peace treaties whatsoever.

Terrible shame, but crowd control is another of my myriad talents.

So if it looks like a monkey, kill it. Simple enough plan.

[Like the one he just decapitated. Why won't these things get the hint that the guys with big swords = death?]

I'm Soma. Do you have a name, Mr. Talented?

Ardyn Izunia.

[He gestured with his free hand, throwing a small burst of flames to keep the worst of the group away--shame most of their weaponry was flammable. Magic felt like far more of a drain than it should have, but so be it, he wasn't dealing with this just using a dagger.]

Please, just call me Ardyn.

Ardyn, then.

[So this man has magic as well. Soma can still feel his Dominated demons but they're somehow diminished, restrained. He doesn't want to use them unless he has no choice. At least his weapons are enough for now.]

Did you just wake up here, too? Maybe standing in quicksand?

Goodness, no. I've been here for...hm, I have difficulty keeping track of time but I suspect it's a month or so? Quicksand, though, that's a problem I've not encountered yet.

So whoever's doing this is bringing us in groups. Wonder what their plan is....

[Huh, seems like the monkeys are finally getting the idea and leaving them alone. Either that or most of them are dead. Good, the smell of blood is getting to him, even though it's not driving him crazy like human blood would.

Come to think of it...

Yeah, he's staring at Ardyn with a rather piercing gaze now. What the hell is that scent?]

... are you okay?

[He raised an eyebrow at Soma, greatsword lowered once the immediate threat finally decided to back off. Apart from the occasional bloodstain from casual monkey-based slaughter, he didn't look to have so much as a scratch on him.]

Quite fine, all things considered. Why do you ask?

I....

[Nope. NOPE. Not gonna ask. He doesn't want to know what will happen if he calls Ardyn out with "hey your blood smells really weird." He just shakes his head.]

Just making sure you weren't wounded. Looks like we both got out unscathed.

[a lot of deflecting and smartassery, mostly]

Indeed, a stunning performance. Your proficiency with that weapon should be commended.

Fighting for your life can kinda make you proficient in a hurry.

[Never mind having centuries of combat experience crammed in his head. And the vampire strength to back it up. He flicks the blood off his blade with another of those ringing vibrations in the steel and locks it into the holster on his back. This is going to take some getting used to.]

Not just here, I mean. Where I was before, too.

Experience is certainly the best teacher, I should think.

[boy didn't he know it]

And where might that have been?

[Crimson eyes search Ardyn's face again, looking for even the smallest twitch of recognition at the words Soma says next. Even Graham was friendly at first, but Soma has learned to be careful.]

Dracula's castle. I was pulled there through a solar eclipse.

[The smile didn't flicker or falter, and the only thing that gave away what Ardyn was thinking was the fact that he blinked once or twice; processing this information, checking it against everything he knew, and coming up empty-handed.]

That certainly sounds like an odd set of circumstances. It's not a location I'm familiar with, but it sounds rather difficult to find.

It was supposed to be impossible to find, actually. It was sealed in an eclipse in 1999, supposedly forever, but the seal broke in 2035.

[Just in time for Soma to come of age, to provide Dracula's soul with a young, powerful body....]

The castle is filled with monsters, and the place itself is alive, possibly sentient. It changes layout every time it's summoned. Basically, every inch of it is saturated with chaotic energy, so there are those trying to seal it again before its master awakens.

Sounds like quite the interesting bit of real estate.

[is he serious is he joking IT IS A MYSTERY]

That's the understatement of the millennium.

[If Arikado joked, he'd probably sound just like Ardyn. Dry wit is... oddly appreciated right now.]

So the embodiment of Chaos in the core of the castle took over the eclipse and tried to kill me. ... That's not a phrase I think anyone else has ever said before in all of history.

It's one I don't think I've heard before, which may just be saying something in itself.

I guess you've heard a lot of weird things in your lifetime, then. Probably seen a lot of crazy stuff, too. Hope it's not as completely insane as my little trip, at least.

Yes, well--in my terribly old age I have learned that life is rather full of surprises. Once one's come across enough of them, one does tend to be rather unfazed by most things.

You look like you're the same age as my dad, maybe younger. That's not bad.

[He sniffs again, his brows pinching together slightly. That bizarre smell....]

This might sound really weird, but... are you sure you're okay? You didn't get scratched by any weapons or anything, right?

[he sure does look about that, soma. funny, innit.]

Hm? [Ardyn glanced over himself with hardly anything more than mild interest, settling on dusting off his coat. He already knew the answer to the question, but whatever.] No, it would seem I'm quite unhurt. Why do you ask?

Because you, um....

[Wow, this is going to be awkward. How does he explain without Ardyn suddenly becoming super suspicious of what he is?]

W-- well, I think I can smell... poison? Or disease? Something's not right. Maybe it's one of the dead monkeys, or somebody nearby is sick.

[Soma wasn't the only one quickly fumbling for an explanation to avoid suspicion. As much as the secret was far more thinly veiled these days, turning it to common knowledge sounded annoyingly troublesome.]

Is that right? Hm, that could end up being a problem; the last thing we need is some kind of outbreak around here.

All these corpses will attract bacteria and scavengers. There must be a way to get rid of them. I doubt there's a crematorium here, though.

[Focus on that rather than what Soma knows: the smell is definitely coming from Ardyn. Something about it is dimly terrifying, yet another part of him feels almost... fascinated. The longer he spends in the man's presence, the stronger that feeling becomes.]

Hm...it's rather medieval in nature, but I suppose we might just be relegated to a simple pyre for the sake of efficiency.

[Ardyn shrugged, casually dodging the idea that he had the slightest clue what might just smell like poison.]

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October Intro: Louder than Sirens, Louder than Bells

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