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

shellfishy

[catpiper]

[From the moment she stepped off the raft and onto dry land, Ren hasn't stayed in one place for too long. She spent years in isolation, only recently coming into contact with another living human being, and it's made her cautious. The only reason she had moved close enough to be noticed is to see what this person is doing. She doesn't expect her to turn around and being spoken to causes her to step back, tightly gripping the straps of her knapsack.]

No.

[But, cookware? For the weird rocks she's digging up? Look, Ren's never seen a shellfish okay. She can't tell they're living creatures from this far away.]

But you can't eat rocks. They hurt your teeth and taste bad.

[manasponge]

Rocks?

[ That threw her for a second. Marcille opened her palm, revealing the shell of the animal she'd just dug up. ]

No way, this is a mollusc! I think it's a type of clam, actually.

[ Maybe this girl just wasn't familiar with seafood? There were people who basically lived in town their whole life, so... ]

It's an animal that lives in a shell. It closes up to protect itself when there's danger, see?

[catpiper]

[Mollusc, clam-those are all words she's never heard before, but animal catches her attention. Her eyes falling on girl's palm, she looks at the weird rock creature with a curious expression.]

Animal?

[Ren takes a couple steps, tilting her head to eyeball the shell. It's way different than cats or dogs, that's for sure. It's hard for her to believe anything is alive in there, let alone something you can cook and eat.]

How do you get it out of its home?

[manasponge]

Hahaha. Well, you see, the simplest way is to drop it in some hot water and boil it.

[ BOIL IT ALIVE 8D ]

Then the shells open by themselves. They're absolutely delicious! Chewy and savory. You really ought to try it!

[ Marcille looked happy just remembering the taste of past shellfish cooked and consumed. Mmm boy, seafood. ]

[catpiper]

[Ren doesn't look disturbed by this information at least.Though she's having a difficult time understanding how they open and inside there's something delicious. Eating trash for years will make a person skeptical that food can taste good.

Without another word, she slides down to her knees and turns the knapsack upside down, shaking the contents onto the ground. There's the useful stuff given to her-a rope, baking soda, toothbrush and a multi-tool and the useless items, which is what she's going for now. Feeling proud, she holds up a shiny rock.]

Is this chewy and savory too?

[HELPING!!!!]

[manasponge]

No, that's a rock.

[ Let no one say that bluntness wasn't Marcille's talents. ]

So you didn't get any food with your supplies, huh? I got a coconut, but that was it. That's why I'm foraging now. As long as I don't have to eat any more mo -- um, weird food. Do you wanna join me?

[catpiper]

[That's disappointing. Ren eyes the rock one more time before shoving it back into her bag for safekeeping, meticulously going through the rest of her items piece by piece until they're all back into the knapsack.

The offer is met with silence at first and she looks from the girl to the potential food. She doesn't look or act scary. It should be okay, right? If something happens, she can always run away. Plus, it helps that her last meal was yesterday and she's having a difficult time discerning what's edible on this island. It shouldn't take this long for a person to say 'okay', but Ren goes through a whole slew of options before settling on an answer.

This is hard.]

...Yes.

[But she should help? Probably? Seto took care of most of the work while they were together, but she remembers what he used to do. They have to boil the food so they need fire, right? And she asked for cookware earlier.]

We have to find wood and a place called a 'kitchen' for a pot. That's what Seto would say.

[manasponge]

Yes, but I don't think we'll find a kitchen around here. Hmm...

[ Suddenly, Marcille perked up -- including the tips of her ears. ]

Well, I'll just have to improvise. Right? I think I remember hearing that you can use coconut shells to boil rice, in a pinch. If that's true, then I bet you can boil clams in 'em, too!

...with the help of a protection spell.

Anyway, who's this Seto? Your friend?

[catpiper]

Protection spell?

[It's a blessing this girl knows what she's doing because after her kitchen idea is rightfully shut down, she's lost. A coconut though? Yeah, they can manage to find that.]

Yes, Seto is my friend. He's a boy that's alive, just like you and me.

[How specific.]

Have you seen him?

[manasponge]

Umm... he wouldn't happen to be wearing a baseball cap, would he?

[ Seto? Seto. Maybe this was an eastern name? ]

[catpiper]

No.

[A baseball cap? No, she can't imagine him wearing one. A part of her truly hoped she had seen him, but regardless of where he is on this island, she's confident he'll find her.]

Seto only has brown hair on his head.

[manasponge]

A lot of humans have brown hair, but... no I don't think I've seen anyone around your age matching that description.

He could be on another part of the beach, though! Don't let me discourage you.

[catpiper]

They do?

[And here she thought his brown hair made him unique. To her, he certainly was. She hadn't seen enough humans to know better. The woman offers a comforting thought though-he could be on another part of the beach or the island. Maybe he's still on a raft somewhere.]

Okay, then I'll save food for him. When he finds me, he can eat too.

[manasponge]

[ Hmmm. At first Marcille had just thought this stranger was sheltered, but maybe... ]

Say, I'm not very good with human ages. How old are you?

[catpiper]

It's on the clipboard. I don't remember the number.

[Which is back in the hospital somewhere. She doesn't know where. The doctors would write it down when she was little, but they died a long time ago and she hasn't bothered to keep track.

And the way this girl keeps saying human makes her curious. Long ears aside, Ren assumed from the beginning she was still human. She's not floating, so that rules out ghost. Definitely not a cat. What else is there?]

How old are you?

[manasponge]

Clipboard?

[ ????????????

Maybe she was registered somewhere? Was this girl an orphan or something? ]

Oh, I'm a couple hundred, give or take! I know, I look young for my age!

[ Imagine a noblewoman's laugh right here. ]

[catpiper]

Hundreds.

[Even with her minor experience on the matter, she knows that's an abnormal age for a person to have.

Still, the dots start to connect in her mind and the next words that come out are probably something Marcille doesn't want to hear. Lighting up, she excitedly says-]

You're a grandma!

[Basic Ren additions goes old+woman=grandma. This is why you stay in school kids.]

[manasponge]

Huh?

[ Marcille scowled at her. Even for a human, this was a little much. ]

I don't have any grandchildren -- and I'm not even that old for my kind. Being young isn't an excuse for being rude, you know.

[catpiper]

It's rude?

[The reprimand doesn't bother her. Now she's just confused. Is that not what you call old people? Have the storybooks lied to her? Tragedia.]

You're not human?