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 )

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Hm... Well, you're not exactly dressed for the weather, but you don't actually have to worry about getting heatstroke, so that's not really a problem.

[Also, if he wears crocs with the rest of that outfit she may actually cry.]

[ In all fairness, crocs would survive the setting a lot better than those dust-mop slippers he's got currently. They were a gift from a friend, when his old slippers got so vile and threadbare said friend couldn't stand seeing them anymore. Now look at them, so clotted with sand clumped together with sea water that the slippers probably weigh five times more than they normally would. ]

Lucky me, none of this heat gets under my skin.

[ Actually, it kinda feels pleasant, the way a bath does. Bones don't generate heat, nor do they hold it in. Being warm is not typical. Still a shame so many humans here are languishing while they struggle to scavenge up food or whatever else they attribute to their immediate survival. ]

Do you actually feel temperature? I'd always wondered, what with your living in Snowdin.

[Bluh, ice. You couldn't pay her enough to live there. ...Well, okay, you'd have to pay a lot.]

[ Sans's move had nothing to do with the climate and everything to do with the problems he was running from, but that's neither here nor there (not anymore). But he can work with this. ]

Sure I can. Just not the same way as you, pal.

'Sides, I find the snow pretty ice and pleasant.

[Ah yes, here's the inevitable punning.]

Well, I give you credit for your ability to weather the elements, even if I don't care for it myself.

[She looks up at the sky and frowns thoughtfully.]

Speaking of weather, I wonder how often it rains here? I've found that part of being on the Surface rather enjoyable, but I suspect getting caught out in it with no shelter is much less pleasant.

[ Why, Muffet, you never told him you were a connoisseur of puns. They might have something in common after all.

Besides a fascination with rain. ]

Real rain is somethin' else. The sound it makes, whether it's a light drizzle or a real downpour, I tell ya, pal. One outta one skeletons recommend it.

Just, uh, don't go mistaking a thunderstorm for a tunnel collapse.

[She's not as much of a fan as some, but she can enjoy them from time to time. Besides, she knows her audience.]

It is a wonderfully soothing feeling, to be somewhere where you can watch the storm and not have to be out in it.

[She winces at his description of the thunder. There are enough spider monsters living in small, out-of-the-way burrows for her to be familiar with the danger.]

Ah, yes, that would be substantially less soothing, to say the least.

Heh, yeah.

[ Can't help but consider it might be an allusion to something else, like some sort of sick amusement at the drama swirling around other people's lives without having to take active part in it yourself. But, hey, he can't go jumping to those kinds of conclusions, it ain't like he's done a enough business with the spider to judge. ]

I think I read somewhere that places like this one get some intense storms. Guess that's somethin' to watch for.

[ Lest they be swept out to sea by torrential rains and hurricane-force gales. ]

[For once, she wasn't intending some kind of sly hidden meaning- rain's just prettier to look at when it's not soaking through your shoes. Good boots aren't cheap, after all.]

[She is rather amused by more petty dramas, but anything less harmless generally leaves her more concerned than entertained.]

[Regrettably, this island seems far more likely to be worrying than funny.]

I am concerned about how windy it might get- we could probably find high enough ground to avoid flooding, and I'm fairly certain I could weave something to keep the rain off in time, but that's not going to do any good if we all wind up being blown away.

Still, there doesn't seem to be any way to tell just yet. Hopefully the weather here is more mild than that.

You can do that?

[ Of course she can do that. It's just that Sans, like a lot of other monsters, doesn't know her much beyond being that ruthless businesswoman who commands a financial empire selling spider cider and other baked goods.

Had Sans been in any position to assume (or want) his own survival past the next 48 hours, he might have inquired about what else she could make. He knows the spiders can make incredibly strong thread (and rope, assumedly), stuff like that is useful as heck. ]

Hey, you ever think about bartering fishing line or nets or... I dunno, rope with these guys? Betcha they'd be real interested.

Could give it a shot, pal.

[In all fairness, she goes out of her way to cultivate an intimidating reputation for the sake of her business. It's less of a priority here.]

I've already made some for one person, it seemed to work well enough. The real trouble is going to be figuring out how many people are here and what everyone needs- I keep finding people scattered all over the place, we're not exactly organized.

Yeah? Ever consider doin' the job?

[ She organized one hell of a company, but then, they're all family, keeping the business within the clan of spiders is probably a completely different ball game. This ragtag bunch still needs some leadership, though.

And Sans is absolutely uninterested in having anything to do with that responsibility. ]

It's certainly a thought- I do enjoy that kind of work, but it's a bit early to say that's exactly what we need here. Better to get to know people and figure out more about the situation before I suggest anything, I think.

[Muffet would be flattered to know that he thinks well of her skills, but she's also aware that there's a difference between organizing your family and friends, or even your employees, and barging into a group of strangers and demanding they do things your way.]

Probably. I wouldn't know.

[ Sans is much more of a wait and see, and maybe do absolutely nothing about anything because it's not really like it makes a difference. Or just sheer laziness. He hasn't decided, procrastinating in every aspect of his life.

Or, uh, re-life? Whatever this place is. ]

Anyway, on the subject of your arts and crafts, the only kinda web I wanna get in is a hammock. Don't suppose you can make one of those, heh heh.

[An aftr-life, perhaps.]

Hm... you know, I probably could make one, although it'd take a rather annoyingly long time to make one of proper size.

[ Yeah, something like that. ]

Sounds expensive. Fuhgeddaboudit. I don't got the means to pay you back.

[ Aaaaand he doesn't plan on being here for very long. It'd just be a waste. ]

Just a thought. Anyway, I was thinkin' I'd catch a few here. You mind?

[ Yes, he's seriously going to nap right here. ]

[She rolls her eyes, but looks amused despite that.]

As long as you can sleep through my gathering up a few more shellfish, I suppose.

[ Looks like he's scarcely waited for her answer before he's dropped off to sleep right there. Look at him go.

Useless. ]

[And no one is surprised.]

[She shakes her head in fond exasperation- as lazy as he is, it's still nice to be reminded of home in such a strange place- and carefully gathers up a decent amount of edible critters from the tidepool.]

[She's careful to leave enough that she's not wiping out the population... and to avoid nudging Sans while she does it, so he can nap uninterrupted.]

[She's feeling charitable towards him, just this once.]

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

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