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

[lifeaftr_mods]

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.

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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

[ohshitsweetflips]

Taako looks much more intrigued by this offer. Not that he's completely averse to being garbage, but there's a difference between leaning into it on occasion and having the lifestyle completely forced onto you by circumstance. "Tell you what. Gonna make you an offer you can't refuse." He grins, showy and conspiratorial, before digging into the knapsack once more and retrieving the bottle of water purifying tablets.

"Meet me half way, make it fifty-fifty, and I'll throw in some a these bad boys." He shakes the bottle enticingly.

[ohnehalfte]

Wow, yep, that bottle of tablets sure got Newt's attention fast. His eyes are narrowing, leaning in a bit to eye the bottle, and holds out his hand for it. "Can I see?" He glances back up at Taako. "I won't take any, I swear."

[ohshitsweetflips]

Yeah, he had a feeling that might tip the scales a bit. He's got plenty of them for now, and there's gotta be water somewhere, just waiting to be boiled. Inconvenient, maybe, but not the end of the world. He should know.

Taako hunkers down, elbow on one knee, and passes Newt the bottle affably enough. He wants to make sure this next bit is personal, so it's good to be on his level. "Yeah you won't, because I will definitely Magic Missile you into a smoking crater if you do." He says this without any detectable reduction in friendliness. "How 'bout it?"

[ohnehalfte]

Newt accepts the bottle then, turning it over in his hands--but at Taako's comment about the whole Magic Missile thing, he laughs. "Dude, are you serious? Are you sure you want to use a spell slot on that?" ...wait. He frowns. "Or...wait. Magic Missile is a cantrip, isn't it?" He can't remember. He was more into playing rogues and rangers, himself.

[ohshitsweetflips]

Taako narrows his eyes. Not the easiest nerd to intimidate, then. And kinda unknowledgeable about magic. Oh well. He settles onto the sand more comfortably, and does a breezy shrug. "Nah dude, level 1, but you gotta do what you gotta do, right?"

[ohnehalfte]

Okay, wait, hold up. Newt stares at Taako for a hot second, blinking, before--"Wait. Are you serious? Can you actually cast Magic Missile?" Because he was making a joke, but this guy totally is totally talking about it like it's a real thing.

[ohshitsweetflips]

You take that back right this second, Taako never talks about anything like it's a real thing and does not intend to start. What, precisely, is this guy's beef? He's not completely foreign to the idea of magic, just maybe not real brushed up on the specifics. "Now, far be it from me to tell you how to be impressed by me, but that's not really that big a deal. What's your damage?"

[ohnehalfte]

"Dude. Magic doesn't exist in my world." Newt's grinning widely, now. "Not real magic, anyway. Only slight-of-hand stuff."

[ohshitsweetflips]

No wonder he's being such an enthusiastic dork about it then, dang. Still weirdly knowledgeable for not having any real experience, but whatever, that's the nerd way. Taako wrinkles his nose in what he believes to be sympathy. "Ugh. Let me tell you, I have been to some shitty worlds, but that one sounds like garbage." He seems to reconsider, and offers a half sincere, "No offense."

[ohnehalfte]

Newt chokes on a laugh that comes out more like a cackle. "It's not so bad! I mean, there's giant alien creatures that came from another world via the ocean to try and wipe out humanity, and they're pretty cool and interesting! So there's that. Also, non-magical technology, so it's not like we're living in the Dark Ages or something. We Muggles have progressed, I promise." It does not occur to Newt that Taako might have zero idea of what a Muggle is.

[ohshitsweetflips]

Okay,those are for sure some priorities on display, he digs the big apocalypse ocean monsters, alright. That was probably a lot of work for someone, somewhere, and Taako does not envy them. "Sure, gotta keep your chin up, life gives you alien monsters, make monsterade. So what'll it be, we got a deal, or what?" Ya boy is serious about his soap and he doesn't see a Fantasy Lush on the horizon. Starting out the gate with a handicap is not a good look and he wants every advantage. "Taako's got places to be."

[ohnehalfte]

Newt blinks--and yep, attention returns to the tablets in his hand, and he offers the bottle back with a quick of his mouth. "I might be tempted to hand over half of my soap, depending on how many tablets you're willing to part with."

[ohshitsweetflips]

What a surprisingly hard-bargaining nerd. "Talk me up from seven with your hammer, and remember you're getting a drill, too. I could always use the metal to make something else. If I get bored." What the hell, right? Dude doesn't need two hammers. "I'm just lookin out for you, here. Don't want you carrying too much." Taako grins like a friendly shark. On the surface at least, this is actually a pretty good deal; blame the stress of his landing, and ingratiating survival instincts kicking in.

[ohnehalfte]

Taako grins, and Newt barks out a laugh. "Gee, dude, thanks so much. What would I do without you?" That's definitely a joke, without any malice. He's enjoying this back and forth. "Make it fourteen tablets--enough for two weeks--and I'll throw in the hammer. I know you magic-users need shit to make your spells and rituals work sometimes."

[ohshitsweetflips]

You know, he kinda wants to come back with ten, to see how far he can push this game, and it is a very fun game, Newt's not wrong about that. But he's really not even that attached to the tablets, except as currency, and as such they are functioning as intended as far as he's concerned. Taako is feeling generous, he can make this work, this dude's breezy demeanor in the face of a cosmic fuckup despite his native nerd handicap is winning him redeemable points in the Taako general store (cool name tbd). This dude has seen some shit, it seems like; let him have two weeks of potable water, damn. Even if this beach campout horseshit still isn't Taako's responsibility, for the record. "Alright, we got a deal. What's your name, dude? I want you to go down in the books as the first guy to ever hustle Taako."

[ohnehalfte]

"Newt." And said person-who-is-not-an-actual-amphibian is going to hold out his hand, still grinning, pleased with the deal struck. "Newt Geiszler."

[ohshitsweetflips]

Well, that's unfortunate, Taako doesn't say out loud, paragon of tact that he is. He shakes the nerd's hand, just as happy with the deal, and then starts portioning out the tablets. He doesn't even try to cheat. "Pleasure doing business with you, lizard man. And don't forget to let me know if you find any more good loot. I do transmutation, I can definitely make it worth your while."

[ohnehalfte]

"Newts are amphibians, man, not lizards." He's not particularly irked when he says it, though, and reaches to lightly shove at Taako's shoulder--not really anywhere near enough force to actually move him. "And besides, if I'm assuming that was you referring to yourself in third person rather than telling me you were hungry, you don't have too much room to talk, dude."

[ohshitsweetflips]

God, he even shoves like a nerd; this is surprisingly well tolerated by Taako, who grins indulgently, like a small cat is maybe fighting his hand and he is waiting for it to kick itself in the face. "If you say so, my dude. It's your name, you probably know better than me." You know, if he just gave like half a shit about spell components, he'd probably have known what a newt exactly was for sure. At least he wasn't being insensitive, except to taxonomy. "What are you trying to say, here?" Go on, do it, coward.

[ohnehalfte]

"I"m just sayin' that in terms of interesting, unique choices in names, you're on that list too, food truck." Newt shrugs, though his face betrays him as he smirks, clearly pleased with himself.

[ohshitsweetflips]

Newt is clearly pretty sure that's a good joke, but Taako is gonna have to squint and chalk that one up to cultural differences for now. He appreciates the spirit, at least; he is already being a boon to this godsforsaken hell island with his scintillating personality alone, fuck magic. Maybe he's just got that food truck aura on top of that. "I didn't mean anything by it, I have actual lizard friends. And friends with really dumb names. I'm not here to judge." He might be about to have to give up his self-awarded 'most accepting of weird shit' mantle, though. "I'm guessing you aren't either. Most people are less into monsters trying to wipe out humanity. In my real actual literal experience." Let's unpack that.

[ohnehalfte]

"...you have actual friends who are lizards?" He looks more bemused about this news than anything, the corner of his mouth quirking upwards. But as for the monsters trying to wipe out humanity--Newt huffs, itching idly at the face of one of the kaiju on his upper arm, the designed marred by the scarring of what looks like some sort of puncture wound. "Well, people were more into them when we were winning before we were losing, but it's less that I'm "in to" them and more that they're my field of study. I'm the world's foremost kaiju expert. It's my job to figure out who or what they are and why they're attacking us."

Not to brag or anything.

[ohshitsweetflips]

Taako nods along, looking only somewhat mockingly impressed where that seems appropriate, making the right uh huh's and sure's at the right intervals during this recital of nerd pedigree. Look, he heard you the first time, when what you said was basically 'the world's not all bad, there are huge fuckoff monsters!' and yeah sometimes that's a mood, and sometimes it's what keeps someone else having a job, but it's almost never the socially acceptable response, is what. Even with all that Parlay stuff, no one probably ever went as far as calling the Hunger 'cool and interesting.' "So what'd you find out? Were they having an existential crisis, or what? That's how it was, with our thing."

[ohnehalfte]

If there's one person who is good at picking up on social cues, then it is certainly not Newt. So the 'uh huh's and 'sure's are more than enough to keep Newt talking. As for that question..."Turns out they were attacking us under orders from their masters, who were connected to them via this mass hivemind. The whole hivemind thing was pretty fascinating, and the way their consciousness worked was pretty different from ours." Newt pauses, though, blinking. "...wait, what thing was having an existential crisis?"