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

[hellawrath]

It's ok, Lup is a big enough person to be able to share the limelight with a blaze of her own making, at least for a minute. She knows it's hella rad, thanks. At his question she smirks and holds up a hand, fingers twirling briefly to summon another Fire Bolt but holding it back, a small dancing flame on the tip of her pointer finger. "Oh the fire's magic, darling, but making it look this good is my superpower." Then she winks and blows out the flame like a smoking gun. "My name's Lup, by the way."

[ohnehalfte]

Yep, Lup 100% has Newt's attention with that display of magic--and then immediately makes it even cooler when she blows out the flame. Newt laughs, high and sharp and cracking, at that quip, before he's grinning, widely. "Call me Newt." He offers her his hand, then. "I take it magic's a thing in your world, huh?"

[hellawrath]

Aw, people with no clue about magic are adorable. She could really blow his mind if she had a functioning wand, but this'll defs do for now. "Oh you're a real smart cookie, huh?" she teases, but her voice and smile are warm and she shakes his hand readily. "So how do you make the ol trains run on time and whatnot in your world, without magic?" Not that trains actually run on magic, but this boy doesn't know that.

[ohnehalfte]

Newt's grin widens, slightly. "I mean, I do have six doctorates, so yeah, I consider myself a pretty smart cookie." If he does say so himself. "As for the trains, probably by automation? I mean, that's assuming that they run on time, like, ever, which they usually don't."

[hellawrath]

Mm-mm, trains, right? Can't depend on em. She thought maybe he'd spill what flavor nerd he is instead, to see what sort of expertise she might have access to if she plays her cards right, but it's fine. She can roll with his six doctorates or whatever. "Cool cool, I mean I graduated top of my class from wizard school and joined an interplanar research and exploration mish, so I hear ya. To be honest, the planes with futzy or nonexistent magic were preeetty lame. And mostly uninhabited, which I guess is the main bummer, right?" She shrugs and tugs a bit of hair behind a playfully cocked ear like she isn't remembering the absolute bleakness of some such abandoned, totally wrecked planes.

[ohnehalfte]

It's at that point that Newt holds up his hands. "Okay, waiiiiit wait wait wait, I gotta unpack that for a second, because first of all, awesome." He needs to get that out first. "Second of all, you've done the world hopping thing before? With different universes and shit? I wanna hear about this, like major, especially if you had some control over it because this is the third time I've been dragged to one of these places and controlling it totally isn't an option, and that brings me to my third thing which is can we please have a science afternoon or something because hearing about some of the research and science behind magic would literally make my life." Hello, Lup, Newt is very interested in hanging out with you forever.

[hellawrath]

Holy shit what is she, a nerdlord magnet or something? Taako is so going to drag her ass for this when he finds out. When she finds him. The worst part is Taako isn't wrong and she's actually pretty weak for this shit, she can already feel her face doing the thing like a cat that got the cream, enjoying the attention but also the company of someone who asks the right questions.

"Homie, I think we can defs schedule a science hangout sesh once we're all done not starving on this dang beach," she says with warm amusement in her voice. "And yeah, I've done the world hopping thing a couple times. This is myyyy..." she turns up her eyes and twitches an ear, pretending to do the maths, "My 102nd plane. We have a ship, the Starblaster, but we can only cross over under certain circumstances, when the void that separates the planes is traversable. Gotta say, not a fan of getting dragged somewhere without my ship or crew mates, though. You think someone's responsible maybe?" It could be an innocent question, if someone less likely to set things on fire had asked it.

[ohnehalfte]

You are definitely a nerdlord magnet, Lup, and this nerdlord looks pretty fascinated with the idea that you've been to 101 other planes. He's about to ask about it, too, but the question she asks diverts him. Newt huffs, hands going to his hips, and he shrugs his shoulders. "In my experience, when it's a 'drag you here against your will' kind of situation, there usually is some sort of ominipotent fuckface or fuckfaces to blame, yeah."

[hellawrath]

It could be worse, at least Newt seems to be a pretty chill nerd who has seen some shit. She likes that, on a personal as well as an opportunistic level. This boy is hers now. She considers his answer for a moment, and then a very sharp smirk tugs at her lips. "Well you let me know if you've got any intel on that and I'll make sure their asses are nice and toasty. Deal?" Omnipotent, you say? Bring it.

[ohnehalfte]

The corners of Newt's mouth quirk up at that, something in his eyes lighting with intent at that statement, and he's got a certain sharpness to his grin as well. "Fuck yeah, we've got a deal." He holds out his hand for a shake. "Whatever I learn on these bastards, I'll take it to you first." Part of him whispers, quietly, asking what Hermann would think--but he quickly smothers that. He can't think about that right now.

[hellawrath]

She shakes on that, natch, very pleased with the arrangement. Seems like she's met a kindred spirit in blowing up whoever fucks with them. "Sweet. And what about you, buddy? Anything I should keep an eye out for, anything you might like to get your hands on?" What's his poison, rocket science, lore books, medicine or something?

[ohnehalfte]

"Generator parts." He doesn't even have to think about it. "I had the parts for a spare generator in my backpack, but whatever fucker brought us here took them. So if you see anything like that, that's pretty high on my list."