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

[hyperlit]

[A short, formal nod of their head. That would follow logically, wouldn't it? Yes. They should think so. Leading them to their next point - highly pertinent, that which they have been dwelling upon since their arrival.]

mapping?

[unpurify]

You wish to map this place?

[It would make sense to have a map of the island and ruins on had for everyone's convenience. Normally that was something the Batter left up to the Puppeteer, as they could see what he could not. But it would be incredibly valuable to learn.]

I have not done it before. But I will help if you need it

[hyperlit]

map went blank.

[A secondary HUD springs to life from their companion sprite, a wider expanse that remains disconsolately dark. There should be peaks and valleys here, rivers and buildings, but there is no deviation from the uniform blank that signifies an unexplored region.]

start anew.

[unpurify]

[It seems this device of the Drifter was capable of quite a few things. The Batter observes it for a moment before responding.]

What do I do?

[hyperlit]

[Oh, but that's the easy part.]

note what you find.
study landscape.
i will record it.

[unpurify]

[Simple yet effective.]

Okay. Where do we begin?

[hyperlit]

anywhere

[They're not picky - they've got no reason to be.]

cliffs have gotten in the way

[unpurify]

We can begin from here.

[The ruins make a good base, provided there is truly nothing in here that wishes them harm.]

The cliffs will require gear depending on how high or low.

[The smoke stacks in Zone 3 were tall and Enoch taller, but the Batter knew his limits. For now it was best not to push things as far as they could go.]

[hyperlit]

cut through ruins?
have you seen the other side

[It's possible the temple is simply a chokehold point in terms of topography; upon passing through it, they may find their routes expanded significantly.]

[unpurify]

I have not.

[He was currently alone. It would have been foolish to continue any farther alone with only what the purifier had on hand.

But he's not alone now.]

Continue?

[hyperlit]

a way must exist.
if it does not we must make one

[A simplistic, reductive mindset, but the only way around the island they can see - and that is, as an exploratory mindset would dictate, their present goal.]

[unpurify]

[When it came to doing certain things, simple was for the better in the long run. After all, if you could easily go from Point A to Point B, there was no point in doing A, B, and C.]

Agreed. We will need equipment if one does not exist. Let's find out if there is one first.

[Making one would likely take a long time, so this place needed to be searched for every single possibility of an exit before they began making one by hand.]

[hyperlit]

[Fair.]

[The Drifter's head dips in a solemn, respectful nod. Without further prompting or warning, they set off at a steady trot for the ruined building. For all the uncertainty about what may lie within, they cannot yield any results without making that sincere attempt. And so they do - regardless of whether or not the Batter chooses to follow.]