lifeaftr | November Intro: Red Sun Rises Like an Early Warning

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November Intro: Red Sun Rises Like an Early Warning

INTRO LOG: NOVEMBER

Who: Everyone!
What: New souls arrive to the archipelago of LifeAftr
When: November 3rd and beyond
Where: Ensō
Warnings: Mark as needed!

The New Arrivals: Hold My Hand
When you wake, it will be to the lapping of waves, frothed with foam...pulling at your hair, your skin, your clothing. The sand is soft and wet beneath you, but it's several inches submerged. And the longer you stay here, the more obvious it will be that the water level of the ocean ringing this strip of island has begun to to rise, and not merely because the tide has started to come in.

And what's more? You can tell that something else about this entire situation is horribly, horribly wrong.

Perhaps you've lost some special power. Perhaps some piece of your memory is freshly and disconcertingly blank. Perhaps you've just discovered that one of your senses is missing, or that you've been rendered unable to speak, or you've been struck by a debilitating fatigue. Not only are you stranded in some unfamiliar place, stuck on a rapidly flooding beach, but you aren't even doing it in full possession of all your faculties.

For those who agreed to put themselves at a disadvantage for a stranger, these are your consequences. If you're unclear as to the handicap your character has been assigned, if any, please check your initial acceptance notice!

All new arrivals will additionally awake with knapsacks, their names stitched to the front. The contents of said knapsacks can also be found in your acceptance notices!

For All: It's a Long Way Down
The water isn't a problem for the newest arrivals, either. It seems that the waters all over Ensō have started to rise, slowly at first, and then with a steadily increasing rate. At first, you might be forgiven for assuming the tide must simply be unusually high, or maybe that the island's begun to sink. But the longer it endures, the more obvious it becomes that neither is the case.

The water has begun to rise. Something is wrong with the island itself, or the being living on it, and now there is nothing preventing the water's inexorable approach as it steadily washes over and over the mainland. In fact, if you listen closely, you might even be able to hear a peculiar sound tearing over the cold rush of the coastal wind; something akin to a desolate wailing.

Either get to high ground - and quickly - or find out what's causing this. But either way, we suggest you hurry...because there are a great deal of newly arrived, very disoriented folk on the beach that could really, really use your help.

As a final note to those who participated in the Test Drive Meme, bear in mind that 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.

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

[Another influx of newcomers, again at a terrible time. Somehow, Muffet can't bring herself to be surprised about it.]

[Looking around for those who might be in need of help, she hears Maka's cries and approaches the unfamiliar girl cautiously, her tone gentle and concerned as she asks:]

Dearie, are you all right?

[The girl is up on her feet in an instant, a knife made of rough wood and broken glass held up to guard against the monster. She's not attacking, but she's also not opening herself up to any potential attacks by the spider in front of her.

Sorry, Muffet, this girl's levels of killing intent are through the roof.]

[Ohhhh, that's a bad sign.]

[Muffet can practically taste the willingness to attack in the air, and it's unnerving, but she keeps her calm demeanor. She doesn't try to get any closer, but doesn't retreat either, simply stopping where she is and holding all her hands up and open, clearly showing that she isn't carrying a weapon of her own. Not that she'd be likely to go for a physical weapon when magic was an option, but it's the principle of the thing.]

My apologies if I've startled you- I assure you I intend you no harm, but I'm aware you have no reason to trust the word of a stranger. I simply want to make sure that no one is swept away by the rising tide.

[Maka tries to activate her soul perception, but it slams against the inside of her skull and burns inside her eyes until she can't think. She rubs at her eyes with her free hand as another burst of tears threatens.

The Storyteller had said "small side effects". This isn't small.

But.... right. She can do this. The creature in front of her is clearly friendly. She lowers her knife, slowly.]

[Muffet tries not to sigh openly in relief, feeling the situation become at least a little bit less dangerous. The way the girl is holding her head makes her worry, wondering about concussions or other injuries she might not be able to see.]

My thanks, dearie.

[She gives a small, polite curtsey, making sure to still keep her hands visible and not move too suddenly.]

Even under trying circumstances, I should still try to introduce myself properly- my name is Muffet. May I ask yours?

[Muffet can worry all she wants, Maka isn't going to let her that close just yet. She's dealt with one too many spider witches to let anything like a spider near her.

And there's nothing to write with. Maka assumes that this creature doesn't know sign language, but she fingerspells her name anyway.]

M-A-K-A

[Muffet doesn't try to move closer, knowing better than to risk upsetting the girl further.]

[She shakes her head apologetically, recognizing that Maka is fingerspelling something but not knowing how to translate it. First the Drifter, now this- she's really regretting not putting in more of an effort to learn sign language when she was back in school.]

I'm afraid I know very little of sign language, although there is another one of our motley little group who does use it.

You needn't allow me close if you'd prefer otherwise, but may I show you the way to safer ground? We don't know how far or how long the water will rise, yet.

[She wasn't expecting to be understood, though it would have been nice.

Trust. Maka should trust this... creature. The spider isn't being threatening, in fact she's actively trying to be inoffensive. There's no reason to doubt her intentions.

So Maka steps forward, with a little smile. She isn't going to like, hug the spider or anything, but she is willing to step a little closer and follow her.]

[Muffet returns her smile with one of her own, and turns to begin the walk to the mana pool.]

Most of us have been staying on the islets, which thankfully don't appear to be flooding the way this place is. The gateway to them is a glowing pool, which can transport people from one place to another.

[Maka gives the spider an incredulous look. A glowing pool that transports people?]

[Muffet correctly interprets the look and laughs slightly, a surprisingly sweet sound for her sinister appearance.]

Quite odd, yes, I know- in my defense, I'm not the one who made it. You'd have to take that one up with the Storyteller.

[She nods, expression determined. Oh, she will. She's got a lot to take up with the Storyteller.]

[Yeah, there's a queue forming for that one.]

[Muffet keeps walking, leading her to the temple. Just as she said, there's a small pool of glowing green water sitting just outside the wall. She delicately plucks one of the narcissus flowers growing around it and drops it in the water with an expression of concentration, causing the light to flare brighter.]

I'll go first, shall I?

[Given Maka's understandable wariness, it seems polite to prove it isn't a trap by demonstrating.]

[Maka nods, then taps the side of her head with a questioning expression. Should she be focusing on something when she steps into the pond?]

[Assuming that Maka wants more details, she explains:]

I've primed it by picturing the islets, so we need only hop in like so...

[Suiting words to actions, Muffet steps neatly into the pool and vanishes as she touches the surface of the water.]

[The pool has to be primed, directed at a certain location, and that's an important detail to know. Muffet steps in and is gone, and Maka takes a deep breath and copies her.

It's probably magic. She should probably hate it, should destroy it, but she's gotten a little bit more used to magic now.

The setting has changed around her, and Maka looks around to assess the situation before turning to Muffet and giving the spider a thumbs up and a grin.]

[The islets seem much as Muffet described them, a series of smaller pieces of land high enough to be safely out of the water, connected to each other by rope bridges in varying degrees of repair. Houses, also in varying degrees of repair, are scattered around at irregular intervals.]

[Muffet giggles at the gesture, and returns her thumbs up with one of her own hands.]

Last I checked, a few of the houses were still unoccupied, although I admit that was before our latest sudden batch of new arrivals. I can get you some food, though, if you're hungry.

[This is a little more familiar, a little more like the ruined towns of the Box.

She takes a deep breath, and looks around, expression gone a little somber. Another house, another set of repairs, another attempt at setting up her own space and finding her own sort of home underneath another wrong sun. Here she is again. Time to start over.

But Muffet's question gets Maka's attention. Any mention of food would get her attention, that's what prolonged periods of near-starvation do to a kid suddenly thrust into it. Yeah, she's hungry. She's always hungry. She nods cautiously, not willing to take food away from someone just because she's hungry.]

[Muffet doesn't know quite enough about humans, even now, to pick out the physical signs of starvation- but something in Maka's expression tugs at her nevertheless, and firms her resolve to get this girl a decent meal.]

I'm a baker by trade, back in my home world, so I do a fair bit of cooking here to keep in practice. I still have a decent amount of stew left over from yesterday, if I recall correctly- assuming you don't mind potatoes.

[Maka's been living off of stew for over a year now, but she certainly isn't going to complain, especially when potatoes are involved. She smiles, and gives another thumbs up.]

[Muffet smiles cheerfully.]

Then you can follow me, if you'd like to eat at my house- or you can wait here and I can bring you some, if you'd prefer.

[She doesn't want to strain Maka's clearly fragile new trust in her by insisting that she come into her house instead of an open area that she can easily escape from, but she also doesn't want to seem cold by not allowing her into her home, so letting her choose seems the most reasonable compromise.]

[She'll follow, but not all the way into Muffet's house. Maka just hangs out outside, and pulls her cat out of her backpack while Muffet goes inside to grab the soup. When the spider comes out, Maka will be sitting on a log and playing with something that is.... probably cat-like. Pumpkin is a pretty purple-grey sort of color, very obviously a cat with the requisite head and ears and fur and meows, but also with very obvious octopus tentacles instead of any kind of appendages.]

[Muffet returns fairly quickly, carrying a wooden bowl full of warm, pleasant-smelling carrot stew in one hand- and, in another, a small bundle of coconut cookies. This girl seems like she could use a treat.]

Here we are- oh my, what a dear little creature. A friend of yours, dearie?

[She's assuming that they're not a threat, given how Maka is playing with them- which means she has no problems with finding this thing completely adorable.]

[Maka nods, and holds Pumpkin up for Muffet to see. He has no real interest in being seen, and he wraps his tentacles around Maka's arm.

With her free hand, Maka takes the stew and starts drinking. It's really good, and she's extremely hungry, so her table manners suffer somewhat.]

[Muffet spends a moment cooing over the cute little octokitty, but she doesn't get any closer- both out of respect for his personal space and that of his owner.]

[She's not offended by the lack of proper table manners, even if she herself wouldn't eat so messily if she could ever avoid it- she keeps to her odd, polite little mannerisms because she enjoys them, not because she insists on them for everyone.]

[Besides, it's always good to see someone enjoying her food.]

[Once Maka is done with the stew, Muffet holds out the bundle of cookies for her to take.]

Here, dearie, these are for you, too.

November Intro: Red Sun Rises Like an Early Warning

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Probably wrapping soon?

sounds good!

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