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.

---

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 )

Comments

[ungrieved]

He stares at the offering for half a moment more before snatching it from Zacharie's hands abruptly and without preamble. He runs fingertips around the edges of the packaging, turning it over and over in his hands in a slow, continuous revolution, inspecting it as though it might be poisoned.

"You just carry stuff like this around." His gaze darts back up to him, briefly, simultaneously curious and skeptical. "Waiting to give it to people."

[creditless]

"I sell it, actually. For a profit. It actually truly pains me to give one away. That's the only one that didn't get swept away in the ocean."

The dead weight in his voice somewhat speaks for the truth. The metal bats sticking out of his backpack with price tags on them seem to confirm this, but who the hell knows with Gabe.

[ungrieved]

"You're not selling it now." Unless there's some hidden price tag attached to all this, which...well, he wouldn't be surprised. He doesn't know this man, but he's said enough things that border on the uncomfortably esoteric for Gabe to have his suspicions as to his motives.

"Why is that?"

[creditless]

"Because you seem unwell, and it's making me anxious."

Wow, Zacharie. Rude as fuck.

"But also, I have some desire to help you too. This is, after all, my first living act of charity!"

[ungrieved]

It’s largely the first part of that sentence that arrests Gabe’s attention. Depression. Anxiety. Maybe nascent, for now, but easily mushrooomed. Isn’t it?

“Do I bother you?” He seems rather pleased at the notion.

[creditless]

"Ah, yes, this gambit. The one who plays with fear and weaknesses and enjoys when they sniff out submission like a fox sniffs out a rabbit hole. Obviously you bother me, but it's a new feeling from a new person, which is nice, so in a strange way, you don't."

He pauses.

"If you're not going to eat the madness jerky, then give it back."

[ungrieved]

That’s a little too on par with what Gabe himself is beginning to experience. He’s never not been able to seize effortless control over this kind situation, but the fact that he doesn’t is something new, isn’t it? Is this just part of being alive, then?

That can’t be so bad, right? He’s not completely helpless here, is he?

“No.” He smirks and shoves it into his pocket. “You gave it to me. I can do whatever I want with it.”

[creditless]

"It is how it is. I offered, you took."

Asshole, he thinks to himself. The vocabulary the puppeteer had through playing the game would certainly come in handy here.

"So, are we going to continue with the posturing antagonism or shall we carry on?"

[ungrieved]

“We?” Is he really so eager to tether himself to this flesh-and-blood specter? Maybe he’s just detailing to what he knows. Or what he expects.

“Who says there’s a ‘we’ in any of this?”

[creditless]

"Oh, that is true, my mistake."

He clears his throat.

"So, are you going to continue with the posturing antagonism or shall I carry on?"

[ungrieved]

"You don't know that it's posturing." Don't @ him like this, Zacharie. Just because he's only ever had control of other people's emotions and could influence other people's lives through sheer application of malicious will doesn't mean he can't do other things. He has no idea what those other things yet. It's fascinating, in a way.

Except this person here keeps ruining it.

"I told you that you didn't know anything about me."

[creditless]

"And now that I have autonomy, I can safely say I don't care to know much about you."

What's cooler than being cool? Ice cold. He starts to walk away from this stranger, who he had wasted a valuable (more valuable than that boy would notice) item on him. Really, he might have to steal it back if he doesn't eat it first.

[ungrieved]

“Feeling’s mutual.” But he’s still smiling, and he’s not about to take his leave of the premises just yet. He just got here. He plans to stay a while. Maybe inspect his teasure a bit more to better discern what it is

The possibilities are endless.