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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[The Drifter turns a slow, patient revolution on the spot, noting the battlefield and scanning their surroundings for any sign of that which may menace them further. Nothing emerges. The blade returns to its position, secreted somewhere beneath the folds of their cloak. The toes of their shoes gleam with the tacky red of countless drops of blood spilled.]

[A necessary havoc, but not a pleasurable one.]

[With a moment to breathe, the Drifter lifts a hand to their cloth-wrapped face, the area where a mouth might be located. They cough several times, shoulders jerking in that silent, pained motion.]

[Then, without further hesitation, they drop to one knee with their head bowed in a clear genuflection before that which is undeniably a powerful deity; a sign of respect and reverence as it is owed.]

[Ammy too has her head lifted, body stiff and ears up and out, turning to and fro as she picks up sounds of battles still nearby, but none right in their general area. Of course her instincts prickle at her to get going toward others who may need her help, but she has to be wise, and careful. Without her godhood - her powers, strength, and weapons - she's not near as powerful. As much as she could do good, she could also do harm.

Her head snaps back to the strange, blue imp though, thoughts derailed entirely when they take a bow before her. Ammy blinks, a long and startled sound emerging from her throat. Oh, my! Now this is very new, and very different. She has never, ever, had anyone bow to her before, and she...w-well, she's not quite sure she's fond of it, actually. God though she may be, Amaterasu has never once taken that title to mean she is better than any being. Respect, and praise, is fine - as is faith and worship through prayer - but this is a little much.

She approaches the Drifter, nudging them gently with her nose, trying to get them to stand again. There's really no need for that, brave one, it was her honor to fight alongside you - and she should be the one thank you! It was your gallant heart that came to her aid when her ink was spent, reducing her to nothing more than a powerless canine. She wags her tail, pressing her nose to their clothed face affectionately, giving them one or two loving licks. You strange, strange creature...and precious friend in arms - please.

Rise.]

[The nudge of a soft, wet, undeniably canid nose lifts their head once more to gaze at her in apparent awe - there's a glint in their dark eyes that softens the ordinarily stoic, locked edges, something built of wonderment. The god...is she perhaps not the same sort of god they'd thought her to be? Everything from her appearance to her actions implied as such, but unlike the silent jackal or the aloof Storyteller, this god is far more expressive.]

[Her tail wags, and a great, pink tongue swipes at the cloth muzzling the lower half of their face. For a moment, the utter shock that action provokes is entirely too much to bear. Yes, it seems that gods do not engage in the same moral barriers that mortals do - but such earnest and immediate acceptance of their objectively revolting nature is still more than they've come to expect from even gods.]

[The companion sprite chirps quietly at long last. They cannot speak, not in the conventional sense, but they can offer the solemn words as they rise, plainly hesitant.]

thank you.

[Well, the Drifter is certainly correct about something - Amaterasu is certainly her own breed of god. Countless times she has been coined as 'not god-like enough', once even by her own little companion and very best friend. Her partner. It may very well be true, she isn't like any conventional god, or even like her so-called 'children', the 12 other brush gods, born of her power when she died one hundred years ago. She is far more like a dog than a god, but...well, acting more unconditionally loving and loyal is better to liken her to those she has sworn her very existence to.

There's a gentleness in her eyes as well, and she steps back to let this little imp rise to their feet. Her eyes flicker to the little...fairy? Ahaha, it almost reminds her of a Poncle, in a way - small, fluttering, and certainly some sort of companion that speaks for them, like Issun was to her. Her face pulls up in a fond, dog-like smile as she regards it happily, then turns back to the Drifter, bowing her head.

No need for thanks, brave one, she is above no one here. We all stand on equal ground.]

[They are unfamiliar to her, they must assume - the look she gives their companion is similar in many ways to the sort of inquisitive, uncertain looks that others of the more presumably mortal persuasion tend to deliver in turn, prior to their understanding of what it is.]

[Not as talkative as the Storyteller and just as silent as the jackal, but certainly just as regal in her own right.]

[They've never known this many gods before. It is a good thing they are each of them so very distinct.]

did not hurt you?

[It's a bit difficult to keep looking back at the wall of text to converse, when Amaterasu is so used to people actually talking (her attention span is probably not great for this), but she jerks her head back to the little fairy they have and blinks a bit.

Hurt? Ah, they must mean the lack of her Divine Instruments and her godly form. Shaking her head slowly, Ammy looks over herself, the lack of her reflector is a bit saddening, but she knows it'll return in time. She simple used too much energy is all, and her ink was spent fighting the apes just a moment ago. It's a bit odd, she can usually use far more of her brush skills than this without exhausting her ink supply, but...mm. Something to consider for the future. It's not like she's been weakened like this before - it was just a very long time ago, on her journey through Nippon.]

[Unfortunately, they've no other means of communication, save for words formed with their hands and fingers in the air - a method they've deemed unreliable. Seldom does anyone understand such a thing, and while they've been lucky enough to encounter several who can, it is imprudent to assume.]

[The god, at least, is kind enough to continue indulging them. This is a greater form of sustained interest than they think they have ever encountered.]

not safe yet

[They indicate the not-terribly-distant sounds of calamity, the screeches and hammerings of simians engaged in vicious combat. Sooner or later, someone will take notice of the pair of them, and they will have to fight once more.]

[It will not be peaceful.]

[Not safe...yes, they're right - the battle is far from over, and they've barely made a dent in the challenges they need to overcome. All of them. This time, the wolf nods, and her ears twitch towards the sounds of fighting not far in the distance. It's like a war...and it's such a sad, painful sort of sound, one Ammy is not fond of in the slightest, but fully aware of. War is so prevalent among mortals.

Her head follows the sound she hears, staring at the distance where fires burn and other sort of magic and blasts resound along with the cries of both human, ape, and otherwise unknown to her. Her body is tense and claws rake the ground - she can hear screams, and it makes the fur on her back stand up - despite her lack of godly powers, she's still willing to do what she can. It is her sworn duty. But...she has someone here, too, and Ammy glances back at the little, blue imp and nudges their hand with her head before sitting down before them and looking from the distant noises and back to their face.

Will you be alright without her?]

[It is a good thing, truly, that they are so accustomed to communicating and being communicated to without words. The sweeping of her glance, the intent in her stance, her gentle nudge against the gloved gray of their hand - all of it communicates well enough, what she desires.]

[They will live. They will do everything in their power to live.]

require help?

[That's quite the question, and it takes a moment or two for Ammy to respond. It's very true she is at a large disadvantage without her godhood, but she's loathe to make anyone g into danger for her. It's not something she regularly practices, and this blue imp here is very capable. She's certain they can keep on without her, and she...well, she's quite a survivor herself, that's for certain. Even without her weapons or her powers, she still has her teeth and claws, and the intellect and experience of many battles fought. It will be difficult, but she, too, will survive.

Thank you, little Drifter, for all you have done thus far, but she cannot put you in harm's way for her any longer. The wolf shakes her head slowly, but bows in thanks, for the kind offer.]

[They will not question that. A god would know truly and earnestly, if they require aid or do not, and they are no sort of person to challenge that. And so the Drifter lowers their head once in a deep nod of acknowledgment, of acquiescence, and straightens slowly.]

until we once again meet

[Thank you, goddess, for your help.]

[Their blade is yours.]

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October Intro: Louder than Sirens, Louder than Bells

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