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

[prettypurpleparlor]

[Muffet giggles lightly, amused but not mocking.]

I believe there are a few dishes which use that particular method, but I think it's more of a topping than a meal in and of itself.

I'm fairly certain I've seen it in mashed potatoes, people will put just about anything in mashed potatoes for some reason.

[postictal]

Turns out college isn't exactly the best place to learn to cook.

[Or rather, it can be, but he failed in pretty much every capacity. Unsurprisingly. That's just kind of his default state of being.]

What about you? Self-taught?

[prettypurpleparlor]

Largely, yes, although my family did teach me the basics of it when I was younger. I kept up with it on my own as the years passed.

I actually did go to college, but I majored in economics- useful, when you're planning to start your own business.

[postictal]

Lemme guess - bakery? [He's going off on a limb here, but he's pretty sure it's an educated guess, all things considered.]

[prettypurpleparlor]

[She smiles, and replies dryly:]

Why, however did you know?

It's been fairly successful, so far- humans seem to like trying something unusual every now and then.

[postictal]

You know a lotta humans, then?

[He's guessing, based on what he knows of her world, no. But then again, she did say humans plural. Which would indicate that she has more experience with them than just the one.]

[prettypurpleparlor]

Not until relatively recently- up until the Barrier was broken a year ago, we were all sealed underneath a mountain. We've rejoined humanity on the Surface since then.

[postictal]

Huh. [He has a cursory knowledge of that point in her world's history, but most of what goes unsaid he can piece together, just by virtue of knowing a little too much by osmosis.]

Guess this is kind of an adjustment then, huh?

[prettypurpleparlor]

To say the least- when it comes to climate above the ground, I'm used to temperate forest and cliffs every five feet. I've read about other environments, of course, but I was a bit too busy to take a vacation.

[postictal]

And now you've got more vacation time than you know what to do with.

[Does he know the feeling.]

[prettypurpleparlor]

Does it count as a vacation if I didn't actually intend to go? The scenery and company have both been lovely so far, but I can't say I find the situation terribly relaxing.

[postictal]

[All right, fair.]

Change in scenery, then.

Pretty sure this isn't gonna be the relaxing break from it all a vacation would be, anyway.

[prettypurpleparlor]

I suspect you're right. I suppose I'll just enjoy what pleasant moments I can find, in between the stranger parts.

[postictal]

Those might get to be pretty few and far between.

[He's anticipating the arrival of an omnipotent asshole, to borrow Newt's terminology, any moment now, set on making their lives difficult.]

Just as a warning.

[prettypurpleparlor]

[She nods wearily.]

I appreciate the warning. It would be nice if the situation was better than we're expecting, but if it isn't... well, no sense going in unprepared.

[postictal]

...just in my experience. Could be wrong.

[Buuuut he's not exactly optimistic. He's never been one for optimism, least of all in situations like this. But if you keep your expectations low, you're seldom disappointed.]

[prettypurpleparlor]

I hope you are, but I'm not expecting that to be the case, let's put it that way. Besides, it's looking increasingly unlikely that this was in any way accidental, and anyone who'd commit mass kidnapping on purpose...

Well. I won't say there's no way they couldn't have ultimately benevolent intentions, but it's certainly not the option I'd put money on, and even if they do I think I still want to spend some time yelling at them.

[postictal]

[Tim huffs softly, shaking his head. It's an agreement to her words, but it's a solemn one, without a great deal of hope that her plan of "yell at their abductor until they're ashamed of themself" will succeed. Might make her feel better, though.]

[So there's that.]

Doesn't matter if their intentions were good. We're being used for something we didn't agree to.

[prettypurpleparlor]

Mm. I am... reluctant to say I couldn't forgive this under any circumstances, because I have no idea exactly what the circumstances really are yet, but it would take quite a lot to convince me.

[postictal]

Well, it...usually has a pattern. I guess.

[He can only say it has one pattern that he knows of, but if what Newt has to say has any weight, then - yeah. He's guessing this is gonna be the same story he's come to expect.]

There's someone in charge who helps us...gives us what we need. But they're usually what's keeping us here. Kinda defeats the purpose of helping us.

[prettypurpleparlor]

Ah. Yes, saving someone from a danger you put them in to begin with rather averages out to neutral, at best.

[postictal]

At best.

[He nods in grim agreement.]

'S never really a way to get back at them, though. Feels like it, anyway.

[Meaning they're all more or less dependent on the good mood of the bastard that dragged them here.]

[prettypurpleparlor]

At this point, I suppose what we should be hoping for is a way to stay safe...

[She has longer-term goals, but first things first.]

[postictal]

Knowing places like this?

[Tim snorts, plainly and coldly skeptical.]

That's not gonna happen. Not...permanently, anyway.

[prettypurpleparlor]

Why do I get the feeling there's an unhappy story behind that emphasis on 'permanently'?