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.

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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

[shineinside]

She peers at the strip of green. Aren't things like that supposed to be mirages or something? Well, it's better than nothing. She returns the steady nod, and starts walking, staying alert for signs of any more monsters.

"...I'm Yuka." They don't seem like much for conversation, and she halfway doesn't expect an answer, but it seems rude not to at least offer her name.

[hyperlit]

They aren’t, really. People on these lands have a tendency to introduce themselves, though the Drifter has nothing but a title that most will accept without much pleading or cajoling. The Drifter bobs their head in a polite nod nonetheless.

ok

And they’ll start off for that half of the island now, without further preamble, apparently assuming she will follow.

[shineinside]

Yeah, that's about what she expected.

Well, if they don't want to chat, that's fine, really. They're probably wondering about the same things, anyway, so might as well just focus on reaching safety instead.

Yuka quietly falls in step next to the Drifter as they head towards what's hopefully safe territory.

[hyperlit]

At the edge of the sandy waste, a ribbon of dark water flows easily between desert and woodland. The Drifter pauses to gauge the depth and swiftness of the current. For whatever reason, they seem hesitant to cross.

They turn to her at last.

shallow

[shineinside]

"Shallow? There should be no problem crossing it then, right?"

Despite being in possibly the exact opposite of practical swimwear, Yuka starts wading into the river. Not far in, she had a sudden thought, brought on by all the time she spent in the desert on the way here. "I don't suppose your pod can tell whether or not this water is safe to drink."

[hyperlit]

No problem crossing it, in theory. But they would prefer some bridge or raft or means of reaching the other side without needing to wade through the current itself.

But Yuka sets off without hesitation, and the Drifter draws to the very edge of the sand with an undeniable rigidity to their stance, the only indication of their apparent alarm. They do not yet follow.

cannot say
not deep?

[shineinside]

"We'll probably have to swim a bit in the middle, but it's pretty shallow."

Now that she looks, their demeanor is somewhat odd. They haven't set foot in the river...

"...Is the problem that you can't swim?"

[hyperlit]

do not

The words are abruptly highlighted and deleted and are gone just as swiftly as they appeared. Their dark eyes skate away from the streamlined flow of water, then back again, eyeing it with trepidation.

too much water

[shineinside]

"That's fine, that's fine! Except, hmm..." It does make things harder when there's a river between them and the end of the desert.

Ah, an idea. "What if I threw you across?"

[hyperlit]

Their reaction to the suggestion is not strictly obvious, but they stand a little straighter and their gaze snaps to her with unblinking fierceness. Perhaps it is not apparent, subdued as their expressions usually are, but their immediate response is one of muted shock.

True, they are perhaps not very heavy - small and lithe, wasted in most areas of their muscle structure, pocked with blood sores in others. But surely she cannot think to simply throw them like a rag doll?

high risk?

[shineinside]

Hmm... Admittedly, it was a pretty long shot, even for her. Kyouko could probably clear it easy.

"It's not zero risk, but I think I could make it. Worst case scenario, you'd land in the shallow part on the far side, and just be able to wade to the shore. Beyond that, it's just a question of how well you can handle landing at that kind of speed..."

[hyperlit]

It is not the speed that concerns them. They are not fond of the water, to be certain. The water where they come from usually spelled death, or injury, or worse. They are far from eager to embark upon an experiment to see if the waters here are of the same persuasion.

Still. The alternative is stranding Yuka here, alone and potentially unprepared.

The Drifter holds up a finger - wait. They shuck off the pack strapped to their shoulders, winding carefully back before hurling it across the river in a high parabolic arc. It lands in a dusty tumble on the other side.

They turn to her next.

ok

They're ready.

[shineinside]

Whoa, they're pretty strong, too, if they can throw their pack that far. The landing shouldn't be a problem.

"All right, then, with your permission..."

Yuka picks up the Drifter as comfortably as possible, and takes aim. She's had practice with throwing Kyouko at monsters before, but this person's bigger and balanced differently, so hopefully that won't cause any problems...

With a yell, she throws with all her strength, launching the Drifter into the air and - ideally - to the far side of the river.

[hyperlit]

It is, to be certain, uncomfortable. She handles them deftly, as though they are not disgusting, as though the tint of their skin does not unsettle her. It should. It ought to. It unsettles most people, with a handful of notable exceptions, and yet there is no indication of that. There is only -

The rush of air, similar to a dash but far less controlled, as they go sailing in an arc similar to their pack. They land in a tumble of dust and limbs bracing against the ground. The impact rouses a faint splash from the river, and they scramble away from it as though burned.

A cursory check of their vitals via their sprite - no permanent damage sustained.

Good.

They stick a thumb straight up in the air in a gesture they know means something generally positive, a little dusty and bedraggled, but otherwise unhurt.

[shineinside]

Yuka exhales when they indicate success - looks like she's still got it. She gives a wave, then sets about crossing the river herself. She stops, though, before getting to the deeper water, the Drifter's safe traversal giving her a better idea.

Taking a few steps back, she stops out of habit to do a couple pre-sprint stretches. Then, she launches herself forward at full speed and jumps, hurtling even higher than the Drifter did when thrown. She lands still a bit short of dry land, and stumbles awkwardly when she lands, but it's better than getting soaked in this outfit.

"Sorry had to deal with that." It doesn't take a genius to tell that the Drifter isn't fond of water. "Do you know where we're going, or is this just another wilderness that's slightly more hospitable than the desert?"

[hyperlit]

She is nothing if not adept and adaptable. They watch her clear the water under her own power with something like admiration, though it may be far from obvious, given their lack of apparent emotion at nearly any given time.

The other side is indeed rich with green, as though the wasteland preceding it were sliced away from this point on.

unknown
only traversed west region

[shineinside]

"So it's still down to exploring..." That's just great. What would be the smart thing to do from here? They might be here for a while.

"...Sorry for asking a weird question, but do you need to drink water to live? I don't know how long we'll be out here, so it might be worth risking the river..."

[hyperlit]

It is a preferable question to the manner they keep bracing themself for; queries as to the tint of their skin and the reason they cover their face, or why they cannot speak or why their blood is the bright pink hue it is, or why they cannot seem to stop coughing it up when the days and nights are truly untenable.

Do you need to drink water? It is innocent enough.

i do
purity of water unknown

you?

[shineinside]

As far as Yuka's concerned, their race might just look like that normally. She has no frame of reference, after all.

"Yeah. I've been out in the desert for a while, so I'm already pretty thirsty..."

She weights her options for a moment. The water looks clear, but there's no way to be sure. If she gets sick, there might not be medicine available. Maybe a Reflector body is resistant to disease, too? It's pretty tough in other ways, but it's never come up.

Ultimately, what it comes down to is this: Neither of them knows how to check for safe water, so any other water sources they find will be just as uncertain as this one. So, Yuka kneels down by the edge of the water to drink. Alphine fresh bottled water it isn't, but she's thirsty enough that she isn't about to complain.

"...It's bitter, but that's about it. I don't know if that means it's unsafe or anything, but that won't really matter if we get dehydrated later."

[hyperlit]

Perhaps. The Drifter, on the other hand, evidently chooses not to risk it. Far better for one of their number to be stricken with some foreign contaminant or illness, they reason, than both of them.

wait for effects

In the meantime, perhaps they can stay in proximity to the river. Flowing water makes for a relatively stable landmark. Ordinarily they might mention this to her in a visual sense, but their goal is in sight, and with it comes a single-minded persistence to see it yield.

They start trotting along the flowing strip of water in an effort to see where it may lead, without so much as an acknowledgment in Yuka's direction.

[shineinside]

She nods, and follows. At least if she gets horribly sick, maybe they can carry her to safety. Or... to something, at least.

Yuka doesn't feel especially compelled to break the silence, so she spends it trying to sort out what she's learned about her traveling companion. Name, unknown. Gender, unknown. Motivations, unknown. Species, unknown. That's not much to start with.

Not nothing, though. They're quiet, but strong. Some kind of health problems. Seems pretty in his element exploring a strange wilderness. Hates water. What does that add up to? Some kind of wandering desert warrior?

She could ask directly, but she suspects they wouldn't have much to say about it. Whatever their background, they seem like someone she can trust.

[hyperlit]

The water fosters dense vegetation, sprouting in bursts of unfurling green in a verdurous display completely at odds with the dry yellow of the desert on the other side. The division is stark and so complete to be unnerving, in some respects - but they have witnessed peculiar landmarks before.

They cannot be certain, but from the position of the sun, they would venture that they are currently heading north. Eventually, the Drifter stops to consult their sprite, opening a secondary HUD. A patchwork of squares with abstruse, squarish markings denoting meanings they've not seen fit to label or explain.

With a soft chirp from their sprite, they begin marking the river's weaving presence on their map.

[shineinside]

The chirp shakes Yuka out of her thoughts, and she leans over to peer at the HUD. She had seen plenty of fantasy in her life, but not so much sci-fi.

"Is that a map? That thing seems really useful!" Hopefully it isn't a living, sapient companion that takes offense at being called 'useful'.

[hyperlit]

It is not sentient, but a standard tool - though plenty seem to call it "fairy" or "friend" or any number of things that the Drifter does not wholly understand, but will not contest nonetheless. The reminder that they are not braving this land alone seems to have been required to shake them back into a state where they can converse.

They are not well-versed in such things, it seems.

yes
most territory unknown

[shineinside]

Looking at the map, she doesn't understand a lot of it - it seems fairly abstract, mostly empty, and missing a key to explain what all the different symbols mean. All she gets from it is a sense that this island is pretty big.

"Say, is this your first day here, like me? Or have you been around longer?"