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

[centipuppies are gross. Look at them all, trying to get to him, slobbering and wiggling their hundreds of arms. Yick. Osomatsu watches Ichimatsu for a moment, then turns to the centipuppies again, and sighs]

Yanno, I'm probably delicious. Not only am I good-looking, but I eat a lot. Well, at least, I did, back home. When there was more food to eat. Actually, I think me an' my brothers are losing weight! ...But don't let stop you! I've still got some meat on me.

[the beasts may not understand what he's saying, but they snap their sharp teeth at him hungrily]

Whoa, have any of you ever been to a dentist? Geez, it's like, cavity-central up in here!

[Good job, Oso. In the time it takes him to heckle the centipuppies about their dental hygiene, Ichimatsu has managed to make it to the end of his branch, his arm entirely loaded with bits of wood and dried-out foliage. He shimmies into a sitting position and ropes his collection together with a vine, making sure it's packed together all nice and tight.]

[And then he draws something small, metal, and square out of his pocket. With a faint click, he shoves it up under his bundle, which begins to smoke in time with the gradual smile creeping across Ichimatsu's face.]

Ooi, Osomatsu-niisan! If they're really that hungry... they can eat this.

[Abruptly, the mound of tinder erupts into a veritable fireball. And that's when Ichimatsu shoves it off of his branch with his foot, the vine burning away within seconds, leaving a rainfall of flaming debris soaring down towards the centipuppies. The roar of gleeful laughter accompanying it seems to give no regard to potential forest fires.]

[Scatter, vermin.]

[holy crap! What the hell, Ichimatsu?!

Actually, Osomatsu is quite surprised, in a good way. He watches in awe as the fiery debris tumbles down. The beasts whimper and yelp, and some even try snapping their jaws at their enemy. But the end result is what is important, and Osomatsu joins Ichimatsu in laughter as they all flee]

Haha! Look at 'em go! [he turns to beam at Ichimatsu] That was kickass! Good job, Ichimatsu!

[If he were paying attention, Ichimatsu would definitely be basking in such high praise from his eldest brother... but he seems a little bit distracted at the moment, balancing upright on the branch and pointing ecstatically down at the fleeing centipuppies.]

That's right, vermin! Before you try eating this face again, remember it belongs to Ichimatsu-sama! Heh heh...!

[Maybe you'd be better off just climbing down for now, Osomatsu.]

[er.......... Osomatsu sweats at that.

He decides to just start sliding out of the tree. He is a little roughed up, but otherwise, all in one piece. He sighs] Phhhhewwww.

[After some continued posturing and cackling, eventually the last centipuppy whirls off into the trees, leaving nothing but the twins and some smoldering branches littered about the ground. Ichimatsu surveys his work with a self-satisfied sneer.]

[Looks like his helpless big brother is fine. No centipuppies in sight. Now all he has to do is climb down.]

[.... yep. Just gotta climb down from this tree, as easy as he climbed up.]

[Just.]

.....

[..........

Osomatsu is still snickering, when he notices that Ichimatsu has been up in that tree for a while. A long while. Is he coming down?]

...? [then he looks up in the tree, as though he were waiting]

[He is not coming down. In fact, Ichimatsu has shuffled back to the trunk of the tree, resting his back against it with his knees drawn up and his arms wrapped around his legs. He peers down at Osomatsu with a look of faint distress.]

... can't get down.

[Ichimatsu-sama is stuck in a tree.]

[oh.........

A slow blink. Huh. How is he going to fix this?]

Okay. Ichimatsu. Pretend that I'm a cat, and I'm drowning. [he puts up his hands by his cheeks, curling them like paws] Meow! Help me, daddy!

[stop Osomatsu]

[jESUs chRKIST]

Gross! Why the hell would that make me wanna come down?! I'd rather let the tree get cut down while I'm still in it!

[OW. That hurts]

I-I'm not gross! You're the one that was poppin' a boner from picking on those centipuppies!

Y-you...

[A vein pulsates in his temple so violently, it'd be a wonder if Osomatsu can't see it from down there. Stupid, ungratelful shitty eldest.... lucky Ichimatsu needs him to get down, or he'd throttle him. He still might tbh.]

Shut up and get me down already! And if you call me that again I'll kill you.

[leans back and forth, holding up his hands like paws again]

Daddy! Daddy! Meow!

[yeah, right. Come on down here and kill him, daddy]

[If you insist.]

[No really. There's about five seconds' warning, which comes in the form of Ichimatsu propping one hand flat against the tree trunk and slowly dragging himself to his feet, staring blankly down at his brother. Fifteen-ish feet? Whatever, no one lives forever.]

[ever seen a cat-man divebomb at his identical twin screeching like a banshee yOU SURE HAVE NOW BUDDY]

[ah. Here comes Ichimatsu.

Osomatsu was not expecting him to freaking jump from the branch. In a way, he's happy, because he got Ichimatsu to come down from the tree.

Of course, he's sacrificing his life in an effort to help his brother. Everyone's a critic.

He moves to scramble away, but he's not exactly fast enough. Ichimatsu is on him in a second, screeching and clawing like a cat. It wasn't the centipuppies that killed Osomatsu Matsuno, it was his own brother. We're not surprised, honestly]

October Intro: Louder than Sirens, Louder than Bells

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i actually rng'd this but alas no jungle fire

That's all right i love this

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