lifeaftr | 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 )

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Yeah, I'm fine. My armor is as sturdy as yours. [His voice is distorted, coming through black mask. He leaves it on, it will shield his face from sand and anything thrown at them. The hydra bellows and smashes the ground with enough force to attempt to knock them off balance.

Fortunately, that dislodges Keith's blade and it falls. He catches it, changing it back into a sword.]

First time dealing with one of these, got a plan?

[Roy minds all the man's motions more by instinct and training than by direct observation -- his attention remains entirely on the hydra, which he watches over the edge of his blade.]

Raw physical damage. Severing their heads has a good chance of causing it to regrow two heads in place of the lost one. Torso wounds are best, unless you have some means of cauterizing the stump. [Roy is pretty sure his sword can't do that even if he calls on its power.]

So attacking the joints won’t slow them down? [A head drops and Keith leaps to the side. He snaps his blade out to slash at it but the head lifts too fast.]

Can’t cauterize anything. Don’t have a gun on me. [All the Galra rifles and pistols are with his fellow Blades.]

I typically find such techniques unreliable, particularly when it comes to monstrous anatomy. [And you know, hit points are an abstract concept in a system not designed to reflect complicated ramifications of specific injury.]

[And also, Roy has a lot going for him without needing to deliver that. As the monster strikes out at Keith, he steps forward and swings his sword in a simple, efficient, effective blow that puts his incredible strength to full use. The blade lays open a massive wound on the hydra's torso, sending it roaring and reeling back.]

[Keith bursts into motion, like an arrow released from a bow. This time he’s ready for the heads sweeping down. He dives to avoid one. The beast is slower. With all the blood it’s losing he’s hardly surprised. He slides under the monster and swings his sword at the inside of the legs.

The blade bites deep and he retreats out the side. Blood gushes from the wound. He had done his task. He rolls out the side and shouts.] Keep the heads busy!

Make him move! [If he’d cut an artery they can bleed him out. He’ll have to cut more to be sure.]

[Hit points! Arbitra-- oh, screw it. Roy ducks his shoulder, then rams forward into the hydra.]

[As much as this doesn't look like it ought to work, it does, thanks in no small part to the magic of his belt augmenting his strength far past appearances. The hydra staggers backwards as Roy slams into it, shuddering back a few feet, which only makes the blood flow all the more freely.]

[He ducks under the body again, slicing at the inside of another leg and retreating. The beast tries to turn to lash out as him and he circles around. If Roy intercepts he keeps moving.

Two arteries cut is enough. The Hydra lets put a weakened roar and crashes into the sand. Keith jogs around the beast to join him. He flicks his blade and.it returns to a knife.]

Well, that’s over.

I'm honestly getting really sick of these things.

[Roy lowers his sword slightly, takes a deep breath, then swings his weapon back over his shoulder to the straps on his back.]

Nice fighting, though -- I'm not familiar with the technique, but it definitely gets results.

[He nods once and stares at the beast. The claws, scales, and how large it is - he commits it all to memory.] How many of these have you encountered?

[Keith cleans his blade and slides it back into its sheathe.] Is there a pattern to their attacks?

Four, five? Honestly, I think they're just opportunistic predators trying to take advantage of what appear to be convenient snacks that have suddenly showed up in number in their terrain. [To that extent, Roy feels bad about needing to kill them -- but ultimately, they have no real choice. Roy's version of 'Good' is not one in which innocent people get eaten as part of some cosmic natural balance.]

I’m talking about the pattern to how they attack prey. I know you can feel tremors when they approach but I was attacked too soon to guess anything else.

[More important than anything else was the intelligence the Hydra has shown. He’d seen it try to dodge his whirling blade. He might not get the drop on another one if they decide he’s food.]

...any reason why we’d be appearing? I was in space before I woke up in the sand.

Oh, it seems to depend on the heads. Ones with more heads are significantly more aggressive, perhaps not surprisingly.

[To the man's other question, though... Roy frowns, though he unconsciously glances up as if some immense object far above the sky would be visible.]

That is one long story. Did you happen to have a dream before you woke up...?

December Intro: Don't Come Home for Christmas

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject