lifeaftr | December Intro: Don't Come Home for Christmas

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December Intro: Don't Come Home for Christmas

INTRO LOG: DECEMBER

Who: Everyone!
What: New souls arrive to the archipelago of LifeAftr
When: December 3rd and onward
Where: Monsun
Warnings: Mark as needed!

The Overview: Uncharted Waters
Stay alert, new adventurers; instead of the white-sand beaches of Enso, you will instead be coming to on one of two sides of the relatively uncharted lands of Monsun. Most of the information regarding this peculiar land can be found in the informational post linked, but as a quick-and-dirty rundown: Monsun's western side is a hot wasteland of a desert prone of disasters and mishaps, but will affect your character's emotional and psychological state in a positive sense, while its eastern side is a verdant forest filled with endless resources...as well as a tendency to bring out the absolute worst of your character.

To start with, all new arrivals will be showing up in one of two squares that characters uncovered last month! We are leaving it up to player discretion as to which side of the island your character arrives on, but bear in mind the psychological repercussions!

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

Monsun, C4: These Are Your Good Years
You wake to the hot sun steaming overhead, rapidly drying your clothes and belongings, waterlogged from washing upon this desolate shore. The heatwaves shimmer at your vision, distorting your view of the horizon. But if you really squint, it looks like there might be something dark green fringing that pipecleaner skyline, like a lush woodland awaits you on the other side of this desert nightmare. A mirage, maybe?

Whatever it is, you don't get very long to contemplate it. Beneath your feet, the ground has begun to shake as a many-headed horror erupts from the earth. Great streams of pale sand slough from its dry, scaly hide as multiple horned heads unfurl in a hissing inflorescence. The creature's eyes are all pale as grubs; it is quite blind. But that does not mean it cannot smell you.

Boasting both a thick hide and a chitinous coat of sandy-colored scales that blends them perfectly with their surroundings, Sand Hydras sleep several feet under the sand until they sense the vibrations of potential prey aboveground. While they are significantly smaller than their mythological counterparts - they can only span eight to twelve feet in length - Sand Hydras are cunning creatures nonetheless with a number of heads that can vary from one to as high as ten. Their weakness, on the other hand, is simple: water burns them like acid. It seems they may flourish only in any moisture-poor environment.

Assuming your character lasts that long, remember: as physically destructive as Monsun's west may be, your character's most admirable traits will be amplified to their fullest potential by the twenty-four hour mark.

Monsun, D3: Before You Bury Yourself Alive
Those waking on the eastern side of the island, on the other hand, will face a far more pleasing tableau. The temperature is perfect, the sun shines modestly through the canopy of deciduous greenery above your head, and the air is thick and sweet with the smell of fresh fruit.

That's right - within minutes of their arrival, your character will discover several plants laden with fresh wild blackberries.

Should that temptation arrest their attention, should they be vulnerable to the foibles of greed or hoarding or paranoia, your character may very well wish to keep this treat to themself. Or...perhaps not. Perhaps they'd much rather search out a fight, or try to steal someone else's supplies, or embark on a poorly-advised mission to swim out into Monsun's surrounding waters.

For that is, after all, the catch: as physically soothing as Monsun's east may be, your character's most hateful traits will be amplified to their fullest potential by the twenty-four hour mark.

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 )

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This one isn't me, for once-

[Of course, the river is uncrossable. They'll have to go upstream. Laurent turns away with a huff, before the comment about the horse makes him pause.]

That's not my horse. [wait.] What are you talking about?

[Wait. His voice rings different, with an undercurrent of emotion.]

What's the last thing you remember?

Why are you asking me what I remember? You were there, actively participating.

[He's not about to say "we fucked" out loud, okay? First of all he doesn't know if anyone's spying on them and second of all he's not exactly happy about the fact that they're now in the jungle.]

Although that was before I gifted you the horse, so I suppose that's the absolute last thing I remember.

What?

[SAY IT, COWARD]

I know it's in your nature to be difficult, but- [He cuts himself off with a deep breath. You know, he expected more out of this reunion. So far it's just been awkward and terrible. Laurent, focus. Just- forget the damn horse.]

I have been out here for a year, including months in this wasteland, so do not try my patience.

[Said in a hiss, because he is ten snakes in a trenchcoat.]

We need to cross the river.

Edited (CODE FUCKUP) 2017-12-03 10:49 (UTC)

I'm not - that isn't possible, Laurent. You were with me, at the palace. [In my bed, he doesn't say. He doesn't think he needs to.] You attended me in the bath, told me that Nikandros was teaching you wrestling. We -

[He wants to stop, reach out and touch Laurent so that he knows what is being said is real. It's not an imaginary thing, not one of his idle fancies but a real and tangible thing that happened.]

- you watched the road for me, waiting for me to arrive.

[He’s staring at Damen as he talks. The blue eyes grow wider and wider.

… … … …

Abruptly he turns away.

… … … … … … …

When he speaks again his voice is frantically stripped of emotion; there is no eye contact.]

Do you remember the Kingsmeet? A red-eyed demon came and offered me a deal, when you were kneeling there about to get your head cut off. My soul, for a miracle of my choosing.

[The silence stretches out between them, filled only with birdsong. This is his choice. There is no more kingdom.]

You should be home, marrying your- whomever.

Laurent, look at me.

[It's not soft or fond, because he's . . . angry. It's always like this, Laurent unilaterally making choices that affect the both of them because he believes he knows what's best. Instead, Damen uses the voice he uses on his troops when he commands. He steps closer, letting the horse's lead fall out of his hand. The horse isn't stupid enough to run off if he does - it's in unfamiliar territory just like he is and it knows who feeds it.]

I don't know how it is, but the stars would always lead to you. You may have made a deal with a demon to save me, but I choose this. [He gestures between them.] After . . . They put you on trial and I threw away the world on the chance that I could have you.

[There's a part of him that wants to - he doesn't know. It's not Laurent he's angry at, he knows, but the person he's angry at is dead. They're all dead now, and he had thought that they had each other and that was enough. It was enough, maybe, for the Laurent he knew that is but isn't this Laurent standing in front of him.]

You no longer have say over what I do and you have never controlled how I feel, Laurent. My feelings for you are not disposable, and just because you say you sold your soul does not mean you have the right to sell mine to some imaginary wife.

So this is how you want to do it.

[He can't think.]

You're always right, aren't you? You and your recklessness and your idiocy is all fine, because you're ‘King of Akielos’. So what- do you want me to kneel and apologise? Throw me in the back of a wagon like Jokaste?

She slept with Kastor to give you an out because you wouldn’t listen, and of course you’re still the hero. Fuck you.

Loving you is a fool’s errand.

[He's going to find himself some breathing space. Holy shit this took a bad turn.]

Loving you is no better, Ice Prince of Vere!

[It's yelled at Laurent's back, because for a moment Damen is too angry to remember why he came to love Laurent. It's like something erased all that happened on the way where they are and all that's left is where they were: two people who hate each other but seem inexplicably tied together.

He can't remember the crushing way it felt to know that he would have to give Laurent up. That the thing he held in his hands, precious and beautiful, would be the price he had to pay to face Kastor. The way it felt to know that he could have a kingdom or Laurent and he so badly wanted to hold what they had and make a new kingdom. Maybe if they had done that, held the center and made a life if it, this would not be happening.

By the time he's calmed down enough to be anything other than angry that Laurent once again was twisting situations to suit him, Laurent is . . . nowhere to be found. He's about to head back into the jungle and look for him when he remembers that they were going to cross the river for some reason, before they'd gotten into an argument over nothing, really.]

Laurent? [He doesn't expect an answer, but.] I'm crossing the river, should you need me.

[Which, quite obviously, he doesn't.]

[He won't get an answer, because Laurent's already on the other side. Damen will find him facing the desert, hands lifted to shield his face from the unforgiving sun. He has not forgotten at all; his Soul Gem means he's set on this path one way or another. Damen, even if he is stupid and judgemental and unforgiving, is not a mistake. If Damen is a mistake, then Laurent has nothing left.]

Must you come back every time?

[It’s frustrated. There's a raw quality to the emotion. then, quieter:]

Don’t answer that. Are you still mad at me?

I thought I'd be here, in case you want me. [There's enough residual anger that he just ignores Laurent's request not to answer.] And I'm not mad at you, I'm mad at -

[Now that he's thinking clearly, he realizes something that he didn't before: if Laurent doesn't know what happened past that moment, then he doesn't know about Kastor or even -]

You don't know they're dead, do you? My brother, your uncle.

[He certainly reacts like this is news. Laurent looks up at Damen again as the words sink in- dead, Kastor, his uncle-] They really are gone.

[He sounds a little breathless.]

And you- there's a Laurent back home with you.

[Someone attending Damen in the baths, wrestling with Nikandros. He knows what he asked from Kyuubey, but this wasn't something he'd ever expected confirmation on. ]

We won.

We won.

[Damen, of course, does not mention Kastor stabbed him and he's actually spent the last several weeks trying not to die. It's not relevant.]

You're happy, if it matters. I know you don't think you deserve to be, but you are.

[He's not going to refer to this Laurent and the one he left like they're different. They probably are, but until someone expressly proves that to him he's going to work under the assumption that they aren't. He doesn't like to think about what it might mean if they're not.]

[He really wants a hug but he doesn't know how to ask about this shit so he…. just…. touches Damen’s arm…. yeah.]

It worked out. [He's repeating it to himself as if trying to nail it down, trying to convince himself it's real. He's breathless; he's smiling.] It worked out.

[Next coping instinct: ride off somewhere to deal with everything (also figure out how to ask for affection damnit.)Except-]

Why doesn't she have a saddle? Now i have to deal with- everything- I'm talking gibberish. Stop my mouth.

[fdgfjghksdghfl;]

[Damen listens to Laurent ramble and he remembers, finally, why he would throw away anything for one more chance at this. It might be foolish, but he would rather have Laurent and no kingdom than a kingdom with no Laurent.

Gently, he presses their lips together. It's not a kiss to start anything, more like a kiss to say hello - a brief, chaste thing before Damen pulls away and smiles down at Laurent.]

We can ride bareback. You don't need to solve every problem you encounter.

[His grip tightens in the sensation of the kiss, the giddy anticipation of its deepening- but just like that, it's over. ]

As I'm coming to learn.

That's it?

[His face and voice are petulant, but there's the glimmer of a plea in his gaze. It's a suggestion of how touch-starved he is beneath the daily indifference, and now Damen is here, a wellspring in the desert, and he. He wants more than this in case this is all he gets.

Laurent turns his face up, waiting, the only way he knows how to ask.

Let him steal another kiss for the road. ]

You're impossible.

[At some point, it will probably occur to Damen to teach Laurent to ask for what he wants with words, rather than giving in every time Laurent even so much as looks in his direction. In the meantime, he kisses Laurent again. You know, for good luck on their journey or something and definitely not because he's terrible at saying no to Laurent.]

[But why fix a system that works? ;)]

That's what you like about me.

[There’s some of Laurent's usual mischief as he pulls away- no wait, let him say one more thing into the curve of Damen’s neck.] (I missed you.) [Alright, now to get back on his bullshit. He turns to stare back across the river, a hand again making an unsuccessful attempt to keep the sun off. The flush on his face is totally from the heat. ]

Alright. There's a camp nearby. We should stop there first- to get off this island we have to cross water, as far as I'm aware, and that route goes through the forest.

Have you worked out the trick of this place? That side of the river gets to your head.

Off the island? Gets to your head? [You can't say sappy shit and expect him to have higher brain function, Laurent.] Why do you always start at the end and make me figure out the beginning?

[It's not really angry, more exasperated and fond, but he's been having a rough day. Waking up in a strange place, finding out Laurent made deals with demons - none of it is even surprising, exactly, but it is a lot of information and he hasn't really processed any of it.

. . . Besides the fact that Laurent missed him, which is obviously the most important fact.]

It doesn't matter. Wherever you go, I'll follow.

[damen. this is his step one.]

Be serious.

[It should sound frustrated, but that compliment Damen pulls makes it come out flustered instead. He's forgotten quite a few details about this arrangement, like exactly how large and poised and also obtuse his lover is. How is he going to scaffold Damen up to figuring out mana pools? He has to do it. This is one cat he must herd. Laurent finds himself blushing. Or can he dump Damen off on Ignis? Wherever you go, I'll follow. No no no, what he really wants now is to find a remote corner of forest and beat his emotions with a rolled-up parchment. Fuck.

Maybe Ignis can explain the mana pools for him.]

It matters because you have a world of things to catch up on. Alright, follow with me. How do you feel while we were in the forest? And how do you feel now?

Edited (wrong icon :P) 2017-12-05 14:24 (UTC)

Angry - not at you, exactly, although I hope you realize at some point we're going to have a very long conversation about this deal you made with a demon.

[He's still frustrated about that, but in a fond way and not an "actually, I want to strangle you" way. Eventually Damen wants to hear that whole saga, though, because it seems Important to Laurent and therefore it's Important to him.]

Now I just feel like maybe you've decided to start communicating only in Vaskian. It can't be Veretian - we both know I speak that adequately. The beginning, Laurent: where are we?

[He's overestimated Damen’s ability to figure out game mechanics, it seems. A few months in this kind of environment and you forget the vocabulary you're using is completely learned: magi, mana pools, contracts. They will need to have that talk; he will need to figure out how to word being a Wraith. Laurent purses his lips, inhales, and starts.]

We're on an archipelago presided over by various deities. The only one we've seen so far is a white rabbit.

[People who absolutely paid attention to their dream with the Storyteller, had Several Questions, then woke up and dismissed it all: Damen.]

The Storyteller. [See? He pays attention sometimes.] He said something about . . . stories providing power and important ponds, but I don't really understand how ponds can be used to transport a person.

[This is one of the reasons why he figured the dream was just a dream: when it was run through the universal translator, "mana pool" may or may not have been just been translated as "la mare" for him. The universal translation thing may or may not work so well when it's using your second language and your vocabulary isn't as large.]

The Storyteller, yes. His power comes from the essence of telling a story- you’ll see him again.

[alright!! he can work with this!!]

Once we find an “important pond”, I can demonstrate.

[He’s not going to namedrop magique so early….. so “important pond” it is for now.

Now that he’s found some purchase, they can work from here. At the back of his mind Laurent knows the only mana pool is across water- but having Damen pre-convinced that some dinghy pond is worth the travel is one obstacle down. The next thing is to stave off death by heatstroke until then. He’s going to start walking in the direction of the camp- now that they have some momentum, Damen can probably walk and use his brain at the same time. His own is starting to liquefy.]

Let’s keep this format. What else do you want to know?

If this is the island we've been brought to, why do we have to get off of it? Also: are you hungry?

[He's holding out a peach because that was the first thing he pulled out of the saddle bag, but he's also got a jar of what looks like cream cheese. Honestly, he's more worried about the cheese in the heat, but it's sort of for the fruit so . . . You know. He can't just offer cheese.]

There's other fruit, if you don't want this, but it's the cheese that's likely to go bad.

This particular island isn't the Storyteller’s jurisdiction-

[He glances back, registering the peach, and lets out a soft uncertain oh. Like he's just remembered that sometimes people want to give him things. Despite staying in the forest almost all this time, he's not very good at feeding himself without a chef around.]

Yes, thank you.

[He accepts the peach with an unusually calculative look, before retrieving a knife from his pocket and slicing the fruit in half. One half he offers back to Damen.]

Did you mention cheese?

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dedamastai - 2017-12-14 08:18 (UTC) - Expand

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December Intro: Don't Come Home for Christmas

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[belatedly, CAPTIVE PRINCE SPOILERS THIS WHOLE THREAD IS FULL OF EM]

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