lifeaftr | 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

On the presumption that it is a limited resource, it might be the difference between life and death for someone. If I exhaust it when it is not that difference for me, it wouldn't be available for someone else for whom it is.

... You're very noble.

[ And a little... well, even thinking it feels rude. ]

If you insist, though... I wouldn't want to upset a stranger.

Nobility doesn't factor into it, it's pure utilitarianism. [Really, this behavior shouldn't be treated as special. It's Good, but not Great -- it ought to be standard.]

[Roy shoots a quick glance around the chaos and carnage, a slight frown coming to his lips.] Tell you what -- why don't you stick with me? No offense, but you look like you could use someone with a sword nearby during all this.

[ Hm... She'll agree to disagree, then. He's a rare personality, at least compared to what she's used to. ]

... Are you sure? I wouldn't want to trouble you, or make you feel like you have to protect me.

I -- I was offering to protect you. [Now Roy is the confused one.]

I'm sorry. [ It's an automatic response. ] I suppose I meant more that... I wouldn't want you to feel obligated to have even offered.

Well, I like the idea of keeping someone who can heal alive and well better than I like the idea of leaving her to her own devices in the middle of a battlefield. If that's 'obligated', I don't want to meet the person who doesn't agree with the principle.

[ It takes a while for her to answer, if only because she's having trouble reconciling with the idea of putting her safety and life in a stranger's hands for the second time today. ]

... I'd be a fool to turn down an offer like that. Alright. Let's go together, then.

[Well. What's the alternative, really?]

[Roy nods, and without delay turns back to the fray at large. He moves a bit slower than he had before, the better to make sure she can keep up and remain within his effective radius of protection.]

Quick rundown of skills and abilities, please?

[ Quite possibly, death. ]

Magic, mostly. Fire, water, earth, air, and healing, of course. I have a fair bit of stamina, and I'm fast on my feet. As for weapons, mostly a bow, but I can wield a sword if I must.

[That's actually much -- much better than he expected. Which means there's a catch.]

Your healing spells are cast from the same slots as your elemental spells, I'm presuming?

I'm sorry, I don't think I... Slots?

[Roy glances over his shoulder at her, one eyebrow quirked.] You're running off some sort of spell point system? Or invocations?

I suppose invocations, yes, but I don't have anything such as points or slots. It just sort of... happens.

But I have been getting tired after each use... I assume that's the limitation this world has put on me.

[That is way more to digest than Roy is prepared to accept at this moment, so he skims over all the philosophical implications and deeper ramifications and focuses on the task at hand.] Then I think barring great need we ought to reserve your strength for healing. Do you think you could translate bow skills into using one of the coconut-throwing guns they have?

... It depends on the mechanics and design, but aiming should hardly be a problem. If we can secure one, I'd be more than happy to try.

Only one way to find out then. [Roy glances upwards, to one of the crude towers from which gunfire had earlier erupted. Someone had cleared it out at some point, but had they left the weapons behind?] Can you climb?

October Intro: Louder than Sirens, Louder than Bells

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