December Intro: Don't Come Home for Christmas

[lifeaftr_mods]

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.

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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

[dedamastai]

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.]

[crosslaced]

[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.

[dedamastai]

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.

[crosslaced]

[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?

[dedamastai]

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?

[crosslaced]

[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.

[dedamastai]

[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.]

[crosslaced]

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?

[dedamastai]

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.

[crosslaced]

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?

[dedamastai]

Here. [Damen holds out the jar, which he uncapped, as he takes the offered peach half.] It's meant to be spread on the fruit, but there's also - at least there's supposed to be - bread.

[He's not 100% on that one because he hasn't actually looked in the saddle bag yet, but he remembers telling someone to pack it so realistically speaking it should be in there if nobody ate it.]