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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Look, Taako has done them a good turn in the past, and both he and Lup have taken good care of the child living alongside them. It is for those reasons, if not additionally some sense of duty, that there is hardly a question here. Duty. Self-preservation, too; if the creatures who abducted Lup could get through these defenses, who can say however many others they may have hurt, or captured?

The Drifter opens one hand, palm up, in Ren's direction, both to gesture at her and as an offer to have something to hold onto.

not safe here
where will she go

There aren't exactly alternatives here. If the Drifter and Taako evaded capture, surely Ren would be safest with them, wouldn't she?

She hates this. All of this. The fact there's even a discussion about heading off into a lair of dangerous creatures, that Lup is there and they have to go. It's nice that Drifter offers their hand and she takes it quickly, latching on with every ounce of strength she has. That's all she can do to ground herself and just go with this impromptu plan to attack monkey village. The important thing is to get back Lup. Once they do that, they don't have to fight anymore. They can just run and hide again. That's her freaking plan.

"I-It's fine. I'll be fine. I won't fight," Because if it looks sketchy, she's gonna bolt and hide regardless. It would be impossible for her to feel safe at camp right now, even with the elves, let alone without them. "I can come. It's okay."

Well, he's not gonna argue, not past making sure Ren knows not to mix in with any throwdowns, and he knows her well enough by now to know that was pretty unlikely even without his stern(?) warning. There's room in all his anger and fear to feel concern for Ren, but maybe not enough room just now to figure out how to express it usefully beyond that warning. But he knows this is REAL DAMN FAR outside her wheelhouse, and he's grateful to the Drifter for being, y'know, a stoic whatever in the face of this.

"Alright. Good, and great! Glad we got that settled." He resists the urge to continue saying things, some of which would probably have slid into unnecessary snark with his impatience, and channels that energy into a ground-eating trot camp-wards instead. Discussion over, as far as he's concerned, anything else, you better walk'n'talk.

They hit elf-camp fast, though they hit some obvious signs of ape destructiveness faster. Not right now, but defs later, he is going to be pissed at the state of the place. Their camp got no business looking like this. He plucks the umbra staff out of the wreckage, puts on his shoes in record time, grabs his hat and with only a moment of deliberation, adds the horrible seafood sickle too. It is not the most fortifying montage imaginable, actually, he's definitely done better.

That accomplished, he looks a bit less driven and a bit more lost. It's all fine and well to talk about fucking up monkeys, but his magic is mostly useless and his melee abilities amount to about a fart in a whirlwind at the best of times. Last chance to back the fuck out of this dumb mission! "We uh. We good for this?"

No backing out here. Ren's fear is apparent, her grip around their hand tight and unrelenting. The camp is a clear indication that the simians had their way with the place and snatched Lup in the process. They recognize the tidepool sickle extricated from the wreckage; evidently Taako is arming up.

A quick mental double-check with their sprite assures them that they're fully stocked in turn.

ready

They're not about to abandon this effort now. Not when Ren is distressed, Taako is on the verge of something violent and immediate, and Lup is missing. A quick glance down in Ren's direction, and their shoulders sink slightly.

carry?

If it wasn't already apparent by her absolute silence the entire way back, she still hates this idea, and Ren's immediate answer to Taako's question would be, honestly, no. But she can't find it in herself to vocalize that fear and while she looks the opposite of prepared with her bare feet and flimsy outfit, she nods. It's just her and no garbage filled bag to buffer whatever attack is going to come. "We can go."

The camp is unnerving now, lacking the warmth it had only a few hours before. While a part of her was tempted to stay here, it's reminiscent of her world now and she can remember how packs of wild dogs would wait and surround their prey in areas just like this. This enemy works on a larger scale with far more planning that dogs could ever muster up and Ren doesn't have the confidence she could outrun them like ghosts. Not yet.

She's about to start walking, not leading the way so much as getting the heck out of there before they're spotted, when Drifter's question catches her by surprise. Ren wants tell them it's fine-she's fine-in weak attempt to hide her obvious distress. She can walk, but her feet already feel like lead with the one step she took towards the Danger Zone and she doesn't want to slow them down. Cautiously, she places a hand on their shoulder, ready to get on when they give the okay. "It won't hurt you?"

Why would--? Aw, dunk. Taako narrows his eyes in confusion, and then it occurs to him, health kits; it seemed like a reasonable thing to shop for at the time, but he's putting two and two a little more together now. Or maybe Ren is just super concerned this armor-wearing, charmingly inscrutable being is somehow gonna be damaged by hoisting up a scrubby jungle gremlin like her? He'd rather it be that one. For a couple reasons. It's not his business if Drifter has some weakness, some hurt or ailment that they haven't chosen to make known to a frivolous island shopkeeper they barely know. Well, it kinda is, if they're about to get in a big fight, but they probably know best and they didn't back out given the chance, so. What a good dude. He really hopes this doesn't turn out too badly.

"I can, I can spell you, if you get tired. Not like with magic, I realize how that sounded, Taako's had a long night," and it's not over, and he's got a party now? Still pretty fucking weird, hasn't stopped being a thing. He grins like a nervous tic, sheepish and fleeting. "Just, you know, say the word," he winces, a minor faux pas, "And I can carry Ren." He's pretty sure that's actually true. He's carried things before, how hard can it be. They're in this together now.

The Drifter is already lowering into a kneeling position. They may be thin and fragile, it's true, and it will surely hamper their speed, but - but they've ranged weapons, and it's not a hopeless battle. Should things grow to be too untenable, they can press onward from there.

They've done worse.

can
don't worry

Perhaps not the most reassuring of promises, but they're willing to try. And that's the important part. And, should that be enough, they'll allow her.

should not wait

There's a couple benefits to having a skittish child latched onto your back and one of them is you don't have to worry about making sure they don't fall, because she's already got a firm grip on their shoulders. The second one is that she's already looking to the trees and scanning the area around them for the 100th time. It's still safe for now and maybe the help of a second pair of eyes will make up for the burden they're taking on by carrying her.

Taako's offer itself is kind and she can't believe this many people are willing to literally carry her into battle, but he needs to be able to reach his sister at a second's notice. He won't be able to do that with her weighing him down. And all this talk of spells makes Ren add her own little bit of encouragement from the 0.01% understanding she has about all of this. "Taako's good at that. He can smile at you if you get tired and it'll make you feel happy."

So you know Drifter. Just let them know if you need a second to rest. Ren can jump off and Taako can smile at them and their journey can continue as normal. It's great. What a blast.

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October Intro: Louder than Sirens, Louder than Bells

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