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

[They finish off the two apes on the ground whilst they have the chance; better to extinguish the potential threat of a spear aimed at them from the ground. The simians are getting more and more nervous; if they had the ability to think of it, Chara's almost certain the things would have run, by now.

But they don't. The child ends up rolling across the muddy ground to avoid a heavy fist that tries to come down on their head, catching sight of the Batter for the first time since the fight had begun.

It takes every ounce of their personal restraint to continue seeing him as an ally, and not the true enemy. And even then, there is

Something

Terrible.

They don't want to think about this, anymore.]

["Please don't think about this anymore."

Funny thing, those words. Someone says it more and more, to remind themselves to not think about whatever 'this' is, but simply doing that is still thinking about 'it'. You get caught in a loop and begging yourself not to think about it anymore doesn't help.

It won't stop. So forget both.

Despite using a weapon he was unfamiliar with, the Batter was doing fine. The apes were still clearly afraid of him for some reason and were trying to group together, but he wasn't letting them. The Batter knew what they were seeing and as cumbersome as it could be, it had some advantages. Getting in-between them sent the apes reeling back and put them in a prime position of having their throats slashed when he gets the chance.

Children may bring knives but monsters, actual monsters, had claws and teeth. And everyone was afraid of the one found in closets and under their beds.

...but it doesn't matter. And if Chara can see what the apes see, he doesn't care.]

[For perhaps the first time, they feel that their role has been shifted. They are no longer the demon in this duo- instead, there's something akin to MERCY in their countenance- a swift death by their blade the far better alternative to coming face to face with the Batter as he purifies this domain.

Purification in process, he said, and yet the very air itself feels tainted. As if something in the world has been lost, and can never return. As one of the apes attempts to run from the Batter, Chara is there to meet it.

The hoots and howls are no longer within their immediate vicinity.

You won!

It's never felt more costly.]

Purification complete.

[A stopping point, since the enemy has been purified. If there were anymore watching from the shadows, they have likely fled. Both the monster and the child have proven themselves more then a match for the apes and something not to be messed with. It likely would not keep them safe forever, but they had a respite for now.

The Batter frees one hand from the death grip it had on the spear and flexes his fingers. That was the most cumbersome thing about that form. He was a being ruled by perspectives and his own counted, if in a rather abstract way then others. And if he was to continue being 'the Batter', then he must not let the fear spread.

If you wished to fight then you must deaden everything about yourself. There was no escape from that.

He turns to the child covered in muck and possibly blood.]

Why are you here.

[He doesn't say it out of concern. Chara had proven themselves adequate when it came to fighting with those knives. However they did not seem like someone to do something without reason and they clearly did not like him.

So what was the point?]

[Purification complete. And just like that, they feel like they can breathe again.

And the ire that comes along with it is fierce, dead gaze drifting to the Batter as they slowly wipe their blade across an already blood spattered shirt. Weapons are far more important than clothes. Always.]

Did you not expect me to come here?

[There's a fight. There are people trapped. They had already made clear to him that they would not stand for him harming the people under their unspoken protection.

Why wouldn't that threat extend to creatures outside of him?]

There was a fight to be had- I joined it. Nothing more, nothing less.

[The Batter stares back, meeting their gaze with nothing at all. But it's to be expected of a man who's mere existence was nothing but a paper knife.

He remembered their 'warning'. And the child likely knew more people then just him, those they actually liked and were fond of. Souls who were trapped here by those creatures, although in a physical sense rather then a metaphorical one.]

Fine.

[If aiding him meant less of those creatures and safety for those they cared about, so be it. It was their decision and they would have to accept it. He switches hands holding the spear to flex the fingers of his other hand. Practice would be needed if he wished to keep using weapons such as these.]

Anything else?

[They don't need to stick around, now that the battle was done.]

[At any other time, they would take his words as a challenge. To remain, to place pressure on him purely though their presence. Judgement always is, and always will be, a heavy shadow. A hooded figure, watching from the distance.

But they have things to do. People they care about, who they haven't found yet. Strangers who, without trying, have earned far more of their time and care than he has.]

No.

[Which is why, when they turn and walk off, Chara is capable of telling themself that they aren't running away.

It's not running away, when you have greater priorities.

It's not.]

October Intro: Louder than Sirens, Louder than Bells

heck yeah

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