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

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

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.

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!

LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Essentially the same situation I found myself in, yes. I have absolutely no idea how I wound up on a raft, save for some dreamlike memories of being on a similar island, none of which appear to contain actual answers. I'm assuming you're similarly baffled.

[ Marcille nodded hesitantly. ]

At first I thought I was still dreaming, or that I'd been caught up in an illusion spell. But this all seems pretty real to me.

...by the way, I overheard you saying that you were looking for seaweed?

Yes- or better quality seaweed, really. I'm a baker by profession, so I thought it would be the best of my time to try and see what was edible in the area.

[She sighs.]

I'm fairly certain I could turn what I've found into a decent meal, but there's still not much of it and I'd rather not use up something that might be useful later, so I suppose I'll need to keep looking.

[ A baker? Well, then, Marcille had had it wrong. And it didn't seem like this stranger was out to eat anyone. ]

Back home, people used seaweed to make salad or broth. Or wraps. I bet it'd be a great way to add salt to food, too...

[ Actually, this idea was seeming better by the minute. Especially compared to the alternative. ]

I think I'll gather some before it gets too dark. Thanks for the tip.

A pleasure to help, dearie.

[She starts to keep looking around the beach, then pauses and adds:]

I'd recommend keeping as close to the shoreline as you can, by the way. I haven't seen anything out there, but if there's something dangerous in the deeper areas... I doubt any of us want to find out the hard way.

Um... you said you were a baker?

[ This spider-person did seem halfway decent. A pleasant surprise, considering the alternative. ]

I did manage to get my hands on some flour. No eggs, but maybe we can pool resources later, and make something really tasty.

[ What she wouldn't do for a nice fruit tart... ]

[Muffet looks delighted- she'd been considering trying to use a rock to finely grind some coconuts or something, actual flour would make things a lot easier.]

Ah, that would be wonderful. I was lucky enough to find some pots and pans in the supplies that I arrived with, so if I can find something to use as a base I should be able to work around some of the missing ingredients and come up with a good meal.

[ Marcille brightened. Awwwww yeah, baked goods! ]

You got cookware? That's great!

Um... you wouldn't happen to have anything you could spare right now, do you? Because I'd be happy to trade for it. I did get something I can cook rice and shellfish in, but it's a bit improvised.

[See, this girl gets it. Baked goods are Important.]

I'm a tad reluctant to let any of it out of my sight for now- for all I know, it might be the only proper equipment I see until I'm back in my own kitchen, and the idea of it getting lost or broken is frankly tragic.

But I'd hate to deprive you of something useful, either. If you don't mind my company for a little while longer, I'd be happy to work with you and take it back once you're done.

[After a moment's thought, she adds:]

If we wind up stranded here longer, I'm willing to make that an extended offer, by the way. Just ask any time you'd care to borrow it.

[ This sounded like a pretty good deal, especially since cookware seemed to be hard to come by so far. ]

Okay, then it's a deal! We'll work together for a while. I haven't seen any signs of civilization so far, so I'm thinking we'll all have to rough it for a while.

[ Plus. Baked goods. ]

I'm Marcille, by the way.

[She smiles, and holds out a hand for her to shake.]

My name is Muffet. A pleasure to meet you, circumstances aside.

I might be able to help with kindling for a fire, too, if you have anything to light it- the supplies I was given included a small saw. I was thinking I could use it for cutting wood, but I didn't have anything to make a spark with and I've got no talent for fire magic at all, so I was planning to figure that out later.

[ Marcille shook her hand. Were there... six of them? ]

As it turns out, my specialty is fire magic! I mean, it's like the only thing we need is an oven!

[ Wow, these pieces were really falling together. Maybe Muffet was also secretly great at constructing brick ovens or something -- then they'd really be in business. ]

[Well, yeah, but she only shook with one of them. It would be unfair to overwhelm people like that.]

How fortunate! I don't think I can manage an oven quite so quickly, but I can certainly dig a decent firepit.

[She gives Marcille a curious look.]

This might be terribly rude of me to ask, but what is your species? You look quite similar to human, to me, save for the ears- but where I come from, humans almost never have magic.

Human? Me? No way, I'm an elf! You've really never heard of us? We have great magical aptitude, and many of us devote ourselves to learning and study.

[ Marcille seemed really proud of that for some reason. ELF PRIDE. ]

Of course, it's not that humans can't learn magic or anything!

[ ~~It was just that elves were better she whispered into the void~~ ]

In fact, almost anyone can learn, as far as I know. It's just that most don't go beyond the basics, if that.

[Muffet shakes her head.]

I'm afraid not, no- where I come from, the only two species around are humans and monsters.

We're all born with some degree of magical ability, although some people are more skilled than others. Humans are born with their own kind of magic on occasion, but it's incredibly rare.

Wait, so you're... a...

[ oh god it was true it was all true ]

...A spider monster?

[Muffet notes her worried expression, and explains:]

I've heard that humans use the term differently, but to us 'monster' is just a species name. It's not really my field, but we'd generally define it as something like 'an inhuman being with natural magical talent and full capability to think and feel'.

Come to think of it, by that one you might qualify, too.

No way! I'm not a monster! Absolutely not!

[ Marcille waved her arms frantically in front of her, as if to ward off the moniker. Oh god if she was a monster then she'd be

she'd be

better not finish that train of thought. ]

I mean... where I'm from, it means something totally different. No one truly knows where they're come from, but they resemble animals. They don't talk, and chances are they'll try to eat you... or worse.

[Thankfully, Muffet seems more amused than offended by her flailing, although she politely refrains from laughing at her.]

I think we've simply got a confusing overlap in terms, then- we do occasionally cultivate plants or animals with useful magical properties, but monster is definitely only used for magical people.

Some of us do resemble animals, or elemental forces, or even inanimate objects, but it's always easy to tell that they're not just those. Even monsters who can't speak verbally write and use very clear forms of sign language.

As for where we come from... well, as far as anyone can tell we started off on the surface just like humans did. We lived underground for a time, after losing a war with humanity, but eventually we managed to make peace and return to living beside them.

[She's choosing to believe that's what Marcille meant by 'where they come from', because she's not going to give the This Is How Little Spider Monster Eggs Get Made (But Don't Do It Until You're Older) talk to a total stranger, okay. It's been a strange enough day as it is.]

[ She really wanted to ask how they lost the war, especially if humans weren't able to use magic, but perhaps this really wasn't the time. ]

Elves and humans mostly get along -- in fact, my party used to be mostly made up of humans. It's orcs that we have bad blood with.

[ And... maybe the dwarves sometimes? But eyyy it was such a long time ago, right? ]

...I'm not sure we'll be mending fences anytime soon, though.

I'm sorry to hear that- I haven't heard of orcs, either, so lacking any further knowledge all I can say is that I hope things in your world change for the better in the future.

There are still a few individual humans and monsters who dislike each other, but overall the situation is amiable.

I suppose so...

[ Her tone sounded doubtful, but hey. There was at least one group of orcs that didn't immediately try to eat her...? ]

So it's just human and not-human, huh? You don't have spider tribes or... other groups amongst yourselves?

Not really? There's a wide variety of different subspecies, of course, but we all count as monsters and we're all part of the same kingdom.

It's actually called the Kingdom of Monsters. Our king is a lovely man, really, but he's frankly awful at naming things.

Well... at least it's accurate.

[ This coming from someone who named her staff. Eh. ]

Either way, if he can get his subjects to praise him, he must be a pretty fair ruler! Um... so what kind of monster is he?

There is that. Back when we lived underground, he named the region where I used to live 'Hotland'.

Guess what it was like there.

[Hint: there was lava.]

He's a rather unusual species of monster, like all of our royalty- there's a formal name for them, I think, but everybody just uses the common term 'boss monsters'. They look like... mm, picture a tall, human-shaped person with white fur, long fluffy ears, paws, and goatlike features- including horns.

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