November Intro: Red Sun Rises Like an Early Warning

[lifeaftr_mods]

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.

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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.

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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

[crosslaced]

Not quite. They're similar to those, but they speak “neigh” instead. Come see.

[He backs out the house and calls out to the horse, leaning against the low fence.]

Maribelle!

[In a thud of hooves, she comes; lavishing her human with nose boops. Horses are a lot bigger up close.]

[catpiper]

[HORSES ARE BIGGER UP CLOSE and despite Maribelle's friendly attitude towards her owner, Ren keeps herself planted at the doorway of house. She wants to see how this is gonna go down first.

She even looks back to her cat to see what his reaction is. He offers nothing more than a sleepy look towards the horse before curling up, heading back to his afternoon nap. Which is comforting to Ren, at least. He's not running away, so it must be safe.]

Is Maribelle your friend?

[crosslaced]

Yes, hold on-

[He loops something over the horse’s head, some kind of woven harness. Maribelle is a little nervous today, but her human’s whispering calms her down quickly.]

Don't worry about the wind, I'll take care of it.

You can come over now, if you like. She can get nervous, but she's very friendly.

[catpiper]

[The wind? The wailing noise is something she's trying not to focus on and hears only when she's still for too long. She's not an investigator and it makes her want to run away-so she does.

Let's look at the nice horse instead. She takes a few steps forward, standing by Laurent instead of in front of the creature. It's huge? It's weird? It's different?]

Does she like fish?

[Is she like a giant cat is the real question here.]

[crosslaced]

She likes grass.

[He stands at ease, with a firm hand on Maribelle’s lead. As Ren is partially hidden behind him the horse doesn't really react to her, placidly looking around as Laurent pets her neck with his free hand.

He'll wait for Ren to take the lead. Hopefully her now-unsupervised cat isn't some kind of property destroyer.]

[catpiper]

[EXCUSE U the cat is the property supervisor-Ren is the destroyer. She's got a degree in it.

It takes a few seconds of her watching Laurent pet the calm animal to work up the courage to move away from him. She takes a couple steps back and leans down to pluck a few short pieces of grass from the ground. And then she inspects them. For what? Who knows. But once she confirms these are Good Pieces, she holds them out for Laurent to take.]

You can't whistle with this.

[In case he was curious about that?? Because who wouldn't be. Whistle grasses are special pieces and while she can find them, it'll take longer than nabbing some from the field that surrounds them. ]

Will she still like these?

[crosslaced]

I don't know how to whistle with grass. She’ll like it nonetheless, I'm sure.

[The horse turns her head at the sight of someone holding out grass-a universal feeding symbol. Neigh!!

He takes the grass from her and puts it under Maribelle’s snout. Indeed, she snuffes it up, nosing into her human’s hand for more.]

Is this comfortable for you? Too scary?

[catpiper]

[Her default answer is usually yes in any situation. Whether it's weird animals, strangers or noises in the trees. That's how it is when you survive an apocalypse.

But she has her cat, basking under the sunlight in the shack behind them, who isn't reacting to anything the horse does. Which is a blessing. The horse is definitely safe. And any doubts about her would be gone the second Laurent feeds her some grass and she watches her try to look for more in his palm.]

It's not scary. It's okay.

[But she still looks hungry!! And Ren kneels down to pluck more grass from the ground, holding it out towards the horse with her grubby little hands.]

Has she been your friend for a long time?

[crosslaced]

[The horse reaches over and snuffles the grass right out of her hand. It draws back, munching contentedly. Laurent's voice is gentle.]

She has. She took care of me when- when my brother died.

And what about you? Is anyone taking care of you now?

[catpiper]

[The elation she felt when the horse took the grass from her hand vanishes when his words reach her. Died? You can't drop a bombshell like that move on, pal. She's no stranger to death-her world's completely decayed and bodies litter every home, every building. Even the children in the lab, under the care of doctors and scientists, perished one by one. It became a natural occurrence that every surviving child understood, accepted and came to terms with because they would all meet the same fate.

But she's been around siblings now and understands how close they are. Recognizes how different that relationship is from the one shared by a group of kids stuck together for a single purpose. Who didn't live long enough to become friends, let alone a family.]

Taako and Lup let me stay with them.

[In the awesome elf village!! It's great.]

Laurent's brother didn't wake up?

[crosslaced]

No, he didn't.

[He's glad to hear that she's taken care of. He’s less glad about what just came out of his mouth- it was an impulse, and a bad idea, and Laurent is frantically hoping that she'll take this well. Why does he let himself near children. It has never ended well.]

I- I'm sorry, I don't know why I said that. Don't worry, he's been sleeping peacefully for a long time.

[catpiper]

[It must hurt, she realizes. But if he's worried about her reaction, then it's fine. She takes the information surprisingly well, like she had already heard it once before.

He went to sleep a long time ago and didn't wake up.

She understands that feeling enough to not push for more information. His brother is dead-that's all there is to it. Nothing will bring him back.

Her eyes fall back to the ground and she kneels to pull out more small pieces of grass, handing them to Laurent this time. Maybe a clump extra, for the brother that isn't here by his side.]