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

[alittleditty]

[Absolutely none of that is remotely reassuring. To talk about the situation with such flippancy... it makes her stomach churn a bit.]

But- what are you- oh don't apologize! Twelve above, what happened?

[achievementhunter]

You aren't aware? [She must have been separated from the very beginning, then. Forgotten amidst the rush on the beach; perhaps simply lost in the jungle.] There was a skirmish at the southern end of the island; multiple people were taken captive.

Fortunately, there doesn't appear to have been a casualty on our side.

[alittleditty]

[Gods that sounds... really terrible, actually. A nasty situation to be thrown into the middle of with only half an idea what's going on. But what's more, it niggles at something in her memory, something from that vague dreamlike place. A concern that she'd had about a certain someone, big enough to drive her worry about this blood-coated child away for the moment.]

Do we know by whom? Or why?

[achievementhunter]

Monkeys. [That may not be the expected answer, but it is the truth.] As for the why of it, I have no ideas.

Maybe they thought we looked tasty.

[alittleditty]

[If Chara is trying to unnerve her, they're doing a very good job, though probably not for the most predictable of reasons. That niggling worry in the back of her head is getting worse.]

You don't think... Could the Storyteller be involved, at all?

[achievementhunter]

Who knows? If they were, it's not like they're going to outright say it, are they?

[That's the kind of question that will keep you up at night, Tataru. The one that will never have a solid answer.]

For now, the island is still dangerous- there's no telling how many simians remain. I would suggest heading towards the safety of numbers.

[alittleditty]

...I understand.

[If this child didn't know, then there really wasn't much point in pursuing this line of thought. Not to mention, what was she even planning to do if she were right?

She purses her lips together, steeling herself.]

Slightly to the left of the mountain, you said?

[achievementhunter]

That is correct. There are ruins of a building there, which should make it easy to tell you have arrived. Should you come across a beach, you've gone too far.

[Pulling their hand into their sleeve, they push it back out- a rather wilted narcissus flower in their palm.]

At the back of these ruins is a round pool with green water. You'll want to pick one of these flowers, and cast it into the pool. The waters act as a method of passage- it will take you somewhere safe.