lifeaftr | August Intro: You Think...You Wink...You Do A Double Blink...

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August Intro: You Think...You Wink...You Do A Double Blink...

INTRO LOG: AUGUST

Who: Everyone!
What: New souls arrive to the archipelago of LifeAftr.
When: August 3rd
Where: Ensō
Warnings: Mark as needed!

Part I: Get Wrekt
You rouse to a splash of sea salt drying on your skin. A haze of glass-white sand glitters in your vision, dappled by lush palms and thick, curling foliage that disappears into a jungle of deep jade. From behind, crackling wood and sawing rope groan from a mangled life raft ran ashore. A petering wash of tide over pebbled sand fills your ears as you struggle to gain your bearings in a vast portrait of tropical color…

No...no, no, that’s not precisely how this story starts.

Why don't we start over?

You rouse to a splash of sea salt, spraying across yourself and the wooden floor beneath you as it breaks across the edge of the platform. The light as it dances across the sea is blinding, dappling white spots across your vision as you slowly come back to consciousness and realize that - this is not where you last remember being.

The middle of the ocean is likely not a place most recall being at all. As you struggle to fully comprehend the new scenario in which you have found yourself, three things become quickly apparent. The raft you find yourself upon barely constitutes as something that should float, never mind a boat. In the distance, perhaps a few hours away at most, a large island beckons to you, a wide strip of beach surrounded by cliffs making it very clear where the most fortuitous of directions shall be.

Lastly, of course, you’re not alone. Hopefully your new companion(s) are just as keen to get ashore before nightfall as you, or voyaging together will not be the most positive experience. At your side you will find a knapsack, one to every member of your raft party, and upon inspecting its contents, you will discover any rewards you may have accrued - as well as a few other items to give you a fighting chance.

A note to those who participated in the Test Drive Meme: 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.

Part II: Choose Your Own Adventure

By fortune (or misfortune, as it were), you eventually find your feet meeting sand, blessed shore to stagger upon as you shake off your newly found sea-legs. There are those that may find this place familiar, as though it appeared in a dream, though the expanse of shore certainly seems larger. The beach stretches off into the distance on both sides, curving around sharp ridges and cliffs, mist obscuring the view the farther along it goes.

So here you are. You’ve found land. Company. Supplies. The sun is now beginning to trek rather low upon the horizon…spending the night outside in such an unfamiliar land is unappealing at best and outright dangerous at the worst.

There is one silver lining in the midst of this mess. Directly ahead, the beach curves up a gentle slope until it meets forest, some manner of building visible through the trees. Further exploration of this area will reveal a dilapidated building of sorts; the architecture is indiscernible to even the most skilled eye. Despite looking as if it has seen better days, there are areas that offer some form of shelter...and who knows what else. Just because it appears uninhabited doesn’t mean you won’t wind up pleasantly, or unpleasantly, surprised.

So what shall you do from here, traveller? There is land to be explored, strangers to meet, friends to reunite with. Supplies to inspect and plenty of questions in need of being said aloud. Choose your path, make haste, and above all else: survive. And whatever you will, take heart.

Your story is about to begin anew.

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

[The trip to shore was...an adventure. Enough adventure for one day as far as he's concerned, especially with the sun starting to arc downwards. Sun and heat like this is a killer, and in a strange land like this the first priority is always shelter. Fortunately, there's what looks like a ruin beneath the trees not far away. Roof or no, the trees will at least provide shade and shelter. It's as good a place as any.]

[He finds the place less rundown than he thought, parts of the walls and roof still intact. It's certainly more intact than most buildings he's come across. He finds a good corner and puts his back to the wall and starts taking inventory. He didn't manage to check everything in his knapsack before coming ashore.]

[Soap. Pots. A small jar of something white and powdery. Closer inspection reveals it to be baking soda. He's not much for cooking, but maybe it has some other uses. A wood saw--very useful. His hammer, his shield, his City Crest. And a very strange weapon of some sort that looks like it's crafted from various, still-living sea creatures.]

[He's in and out of the temple for the next few hours, heading down to the beach to look for salvage or checking the nearby forest for anything edible. He doesn't wander too far. Feel free to catch him anywhere.]

[The ruin is large, of course, so running into people might be hard. But resources, once found, have a way of bringing people together and Shepard has been out into the forest a couple of times now in search of freshwater. The next time she's out there she spies someone else drinking and she approaches slowly. She doesn't recognize them at all.]

Hey.

[That's all she says, an indication that she's here. She doesn't know if he's the type to be territorial but she's not taking any chances. Her scythe is out and ready but she isn't being outwardly menacing. She just looks ready.]

[The sound of fresh water is distinctive, so Kid found the spring in the ruins fairly quickly. At least he's pretty sure it's a spring. He's never seen an actual spring before, plus the water tastes almost too clean to have come from a spring. Still, he's filled two of his tin pots with water to carry around when he heads out of the ruins. It's absurdly hot out there.]

[He's stopped to take a sip after foraging for food when someone approaches. One hand rests casually on the shaft of his hammer. She's got one of those weird sickle things like he found in his own pack, oddly enough. She's also built like a fighter. You can always tell.]

H'lo.

[Quite frankly, he has no idea what to do with all the people here. And there's so many of them. He'd gotten so used to the idea that the whole world consisted of four people, and however many Ura there were left--and the latter barely even count, seeing as they're not likely to cross paths ever again. Yet he's seen a dozen or more people in the last few hours. Dark skinned people, but not Caelondian. Pale people, but not Ura. People who look just slightly left of full human.]

[He doesn't know what to think about any of it.]

[So he just holds out his pot of water toward her.]

Kin have sum. S'enuff t'share. Explorin's thirsty work.

[He's got the manner of a man who has fought and has fought well. He's got some kind of hammer with him, which seems like a primitive weapon overall but it falls in line with everything else here.

Just as she's thinking of trying to push for more communication, he responds. Greets her. Holds out a pot of water. It's an unexpected kindness. An offering. A test. They taught her in N7 training not to trust everything given to you by any locals. They might be pulling something on you.

It was the first test she failed during her N2 level, trusting too much in the kindness of other people in situations like this. Her own teammates had been looking out for each other, the instructors harsh about taking in context and making judgement calls. When they got to the tests about trust though, she aced those with flying colors.

And you have to admit, the context here implies a lot variables that could make this safe. She takes the pot and gingerly takes a sip.]

Thank you. And you're right. It is.

[She's not relaxed by any stretch of thought but she doesn't grip her sickle as tight.]

What's your name, kid?

[She hesitates, no doubt sizing him up and wondering if the offer can be trusted. He doesn't take offense. It's an odd situation, and as far as he can figure, it's an odd situation that everyone is in. Everyone he's seen so far is a stranger--and more than just strangers, but foreigners, some of them downright alien. Not a soul out here looks Caelondian or even Ura, though he's seen a few folk who look close to Ura. Not that he'd expect to see another Caelondian at this point.]

[It stands to reason that people are going to be cautious. Waking up on a raft in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by strangers--it kind of puts you off-balance.]

[She accepts the water after a few moments, though, and his posture relaxes. If you can share any sort of drink with someone, then they're alright. You don't go attacking someone after you've shared a drink. It's practically a custom.]

'S a spring back in the ruins. [He points.] Bin keepin' 'n eye out fer streams an' suchall.

[Nothing so far, but he hasn't made it too deep into the jungle yet. If this place is anything like the Wilds, there will be water all over the place.]

[Just so long as there are no bogs.]

Kid.

[He relaxes and she finds herself relaxing just a little more.]

Hm. That's good to know.

[She raises an eyebrow, slightly amused at the name he has.]

Really now? Your name's Kid. Mine's Shepard.

[Short and sweet. That seems to be how he talks.]

How long have you been out here?

Water tastes funny. Not bad funny. Jus' real clean. Like s'comin' from a real nice well.

[It's possible that no one has touched that spring in decades, so that might also explain it. Untouched water always tastes better.]

[He shrugs. It's a little weird; he's never actually introduced himself by that name until coming here. He gave his name back on the Bastion only once, and Rucks and Zulf seemed to forget it pretty quickly, defaulting to Kid. Zia did the same once she showed up. His real name has just lost all relevance, gone with the rest of Caelondia.]

S'what I go by.

[He could comment on the fact that her name, as far as she knows, just refers to her profession--but he's not really one for talking needlessly. Besides, she looks awful tough to just be an ordinary shepherd.]

Landed this mornin'. Bin explorin' few hour now.

[That statement says a lot about the water and about the kid she's talking to. He's not used to clean water it seems. But it's a good sign for life here on the island.]

Finding the source of it might be the best thing to do then.

[It's more a goal she gives herself rather than suggesting they do it together. She knows there is no way her crew is here so she can't depend on them but she's not going to kidnap random people into her shenanigans.

...Not on purpose at least.]

Heh. Well. I understand that feeling.

[No one has asked for her first name in a very, very long time. It's better that way.

And hey. Sometimes your flock is the entire galaxy. A flock that big requires the toughest shepherd of all.]

It sounds like you're in the same position as me then. No idea how you got here?

[Caelondia did have clean, running water, but that was--well, when Caelondia existed. It's been mostly rainwater since then. Plus water always tastes different when it comes out of pipes.]

'F it's a spring, be undergroun', yeah?

[He thinks that's how it works. But she has a point. There might also be a river or something.]

[He nods. Yeah, she must understand it, if her name is Shepard. He wonders how often people start talking to her about sheep.]

Nope. Don' think anyone does. Woke up onna raft wi' strangers.

Could be. If anything finding it might lead to finding out more information about who lives here on this island.

[If they're even around anymore. She gets a vaguely Prothean feel to this place, of a culture long dead. At least she hasn't gotten any hints of any great extinction though she knows it is impossible for the Reapers to not have touched this place if it once had sentient life.]

Sounds exactly like what happened with me. Buncha kids I ended up with. ...No offense.

[He doesn't look that young but if he's going by kid, who is she to judge?]

[He makes a thoughtful sound and folds his arms, staring off into the trees.]

Y'think theys might be people 'ere? Dunno. Ruins look fair ruined.

[It sounds like everyone arrived the same way. But who built the rafts, and who put them on them? Who dropped them off near the island? Who knitted names into their backpacks?]

S'fine.

[He knows he looks young. He's going to be mistaken for a kid plenty of times here, just like always. The fact that he's chosen it for his name will just add a streak of irony.]

Three 'f us, Laurent 'n Ren. None 'f us ever bin raftin' afore. Hadda figger it righ' quick.

I mean. Speaking from experience, some people just don't stay dead.

[Especially if they are an avatar for Vengeance.]

I woke up with a girl and a boy, J and Prompto, respectively. Good kids themselves, though Prompto nearly drowned himself in the ocean in his attempts to help us both get to shore. They must be somewhere out on this island now...

[If she runs into them again she'll make sure they're doing all right.]

[He snorts a little.] Tha's fer sure.

[He's pretty sure he's one of those.]

Total strangers, yeah?

[It's sounding like that's how it was for everyone.]

Ain't seen th' other two since we landed.

The Kid | OTA

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Re: The Kid | OTA

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