October Intro: Louder than Sirens, Louder than Bells

[lifeaftr_mods]

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.

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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!

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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!

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LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

Comments

[maku]

It takes another few thwacks of her fist before the screen of Karin's phone lights up and she immediately squints at it in confusion once it does. All the apps she'd expected to see (like a way to contact someone from home maybe) are just... gone. It's not her usual homescreen -- it's the one she sees whenever the Jukai spring up. That's not right in the slightest.

"Bladed weapons, huh?" she says slowly, tapping the one remaining app icon on the screen and hoping against hope that it works. There's a heartstopping moment where her phone just locks up and she's sure the whole thing is going to shut down again. But then the app fills the screen with that familiar icon in the middle and Karin feels herself grin.

Alright. Okay. Wherever she is might not be home but that doesn't mean the Shinju-sama's just abandoned her. Slowly, she rises to her feet, clutching her phone like a talisman and when she speaks up, there's a curious mix of confidence and childish excitement in her voice.

"I think I can do one better than that. How d'you guys feel about explosions? Big, loud, distracting explosions?"

[esper_magic]

Terra glanced over at Ignis, a little troubled. Was that really the kind of thing someone should joke about? "Well...that could be useful if you make something out there blow up to get their attention. Then they won't notice what we're doing in here." Because Karin didn't mean blowing up the CAGE - that would be insane. So using the bladed weapons to cut through the ropes and/or wood, Karin to provide the distraction and Terra could ambush them before they could regroup. "I think it could work." Maybe? That's just her opinion though, she much preferred the input of people who were more familiar with the sort of thing. So naturally she defers to senpai. Senpai notice meeeeeeeeeee Ignis.

[shatteredlenses]

Quite honestly, Ignis would prefer to pull no attention to themselves until they are freed, but with so many monkeys turning their eyes the direction of their cage at one time or another, he understands the need for some kind of distraction first. In this case, the bigger the better.

"As long as the explosion occurs a good distance away from us or any other nearby cages, then it sounds like our best course of action," as he can't see the troubled look Terra turns him, he continues without acknowledging it, turning the handle of one of his daggers toward her, though not offering it yet.

If the black humor truly worries her, it is something best talked about at another time anyway.

"We have two options for who is doing the cutting. You can either guide me to the door and explain what it looks like so I know where to set to work, or I can offer my blades to one of you to do it. Terra, ideally, since I'm sure cutting bindings and creating explosions are two mutually exclusive actions."

[maku]

"You'd be surprised." says Karin and that grin, that shit-eating grin on her face is steeped into every single word coming out of her mouth. She sounds maybe a little too cheery for a girl still stuck helplessly in a cage but she keeps coming back to the icon still lit up on her phone. The Shinju-sama and the Taisha still have her back and hell, for all she knows, they could still be getting performance reports from her phone pinging back her activities to them. She has to make sure she's acting appropriately for a Hero.

"It's gonna be a little flashy when I transform, though. That'll probably get a few eyes pointing over here but if we blow something up quick enough they'll probably all be too worried about that to come check on us. How's that sound?"

[esper_magic]

It was a little concerning, but not enough for her to talk to him about it. Yet. So it will definitely be a topic for another time, yes. She didn't get what Karin meant when she was talking about transforming, and flashy wasn't an issue for Ignis, obviously. But.. uh. Y'know with all these explosions and fire spells being flung around, ...no no, it was fine. This is fine.

She nodded again as Karin confirmed her guess earlier, a little relieved because she was not used to or familiar with jailbreak scenarios. "All right." Go for it Karin! You do that Flashy Thang!(tm) Terra turned towards Ignis, "I'll describe them for you, Ignis." The ropes - so with that plan in place, she'll let Karin start the fireworks. Literally. She'll also guide Ignis over to the spot to cut through the ropes when everyone is ready.

[shatteredlenses]

Transform? Ignis is as lost on the whole 'transforming' thing as Terra is, but he brushes his curiosity aside for later, nodding his approval to Karin and then allowing Terra to guide him to the ropes. As she describes the door set up, he lets one hand trail over it, finding the best places to set to work with her help. Once he's ready, he turns toward Karin again, giving her one more nod.

"When you are set, we may begin. Terra, be ready as soon as the door opens. It won't take me long to get through bindings like these."

His daggers are meant to cut through daemon and behemoth hide, after all. Ropes are nothing.

[maku]

For all her confidence before, Karin finds herself suddenly hesitant in the moment before actually tapping the icon. What's she going to do if she presses it and then... nothing happens? What if it turns out she's here alone and the Shinju-sama's abandoned her? She forces herself to push the thought aside, crush it into dust but she can't pretend it hadn't been there. Can't pretend it hadn't filled her with dread.

She sucks in a breath and finally makes herself tap the flower icon on the screen. And it happens, like she promised, in a flash. It's only a moment but Karin's swallowed up by a warm red light that scatters apart into petals, leaving her stood tall and dressed markedly different than she was a moment ago. There's a strong scent of flowers in the air, azaleas, and Karin looks down at herself as if dumbfounded for a moment but then she gives a huff of relief.

And then grins.

"Alright, I'm ready. Point me where you need and let's get this started!"

[esper_magic]

"Right." Terra nodded to Ignis, moving her hands away from him, the air warming slightly as she started to ready her spells. And then Karin does ... the thing that, to Terra, is really weird. So weird she can't even properly put to words what the heck she just saw. So Karin gets an odd stare from Terra for a second. Alas she knows nothing about job classes or it might seem less strange to her - in any case, the scent of flowers is a vast improvement on the smell of monkeys and god knows what else, and she immediately points, "The structure there, to the left of the cages." A nest maybe? Well it'll definitely get the attention of their captors when Karin blows it up, and she moves back to give Ignis plenty of room to work on the door, readying herself for the next step.

[shatteredlenses]

Well, the floral explosion is certainly not what Ignis was expecting, but at this point he's not even going to question it. After all, he wasn't expecting to wake up a captive in a cage this morning either.

"It seems you have little to worry about should the job in explosions not pan out. Why, florists are going to be knocking each other out left and right to hire you," Ignis grins, setting his blade against the first set of ropes. "If that structure is made of the same stuff this cage is, it will be a prefect target. Do deconstruct it with the utmost abandon, won't you my dear?"

[maku]

You know what? This guy might be alright. Karin grins to herself more than either of her fellow captives and turns to follow the trajectory of Terra's pointing arm. Alright. That doesn't look too hard. With her teeth still bared in that overconfident smile, she nods.

"This is gonna be a peace of cake. Just brace yourselves, yeah?" she tells them before bouncing the hilt of the blade lightly in her hand and drawing her arm back. It'll take some careful aim but... she thinks she can do it. After a moment she wings her arm forward and the blade goes spinning through the air. She's terrified for a moment that it won't pass through the bars of the cage but whizzes straight at her target and the blade stabs straight in.

She only has a moment or two to feel triumphant, though. Only a second later, the blade detonates. It's not an explosion of fire but of heat and light and an overpowering scent of flowers. Just enough to net them a distraction.

"Alright, that's our cue! You done with the door yet or what?"

[esper_magic]

It was something she learned about Ignis in the first few minutes of meeting him. Not just that he was really, REALLY nice, but he's also really, REALLY wordy. But he was also really smart so that was probably to be expected. Smart People Equals Wordy People.

..at least way more wordy than HER. She flexed her hands a little, rubbing her fingers together as she watched Karin curiously as the blade zipped through the the bars of the cage and into the other structure and... that wasn't fire, but a Glade explosion. It was kind of interesting to see, though she half expected to see flower petals fluttering out from the explosion as well.

"They're moving," Terra reported as the monkeys on the wall, offended by the pleasant flowery scent, immediately started to run over to discover who just blew stuff up and covered up the smell of Grossness - even for only a moment. That was a very flashy explosion after all. And she had no doubt Ignis would have the door unlocked by then, so the moment the door was open, Terra glanced at her fellow captives, "I'll go first," so she could cover their escape. That said, she was ready to jump out, (making sure the area below was safe to jump onto first, of course), magic gathering and igniting the monkeys that were distracted from the contents of the cage, and soon more distracted by the fact that they were ON FIRE.

Maybe Karin's flower scented explosion is stronger than the smell of burning monkey though?

[shatteredlenses]

Ignis can't see the explosion, but he can certainly smell it and hear the confusion it causes the monkeys. A grin crosses his face as the ropes part below his daggers like butter.

"Well done!" That's all he has time to say before the door is open and he's moving back away from it to let Terra through to do her part of their escape. He motions for Karin to follow her knowing his blindness will make him the slowest of the three. Ignis has no intention of allowing himself to remain captive, but he also doesn't want to slow either girl down unnecessarily.

Give them hell girls. You're going to be able to do more damage than he can unfortunately.