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

[Muffet is watching just as intently, speaking to Chara without lifting her gaze from the sand around them.]

No one else is in this place but us right now. It would be both safer and more effective to wait at the edges of this creature's territory and warn people away from it, I think.

We have no way of knowing how far this creature's territory extends. It will do little good to assume the direction others may approach, as well.

[A sound attempt at logic, but flawed, miss Muffet. Looking to her, their expression is set. Stubborn.

Determined, one could say.]

I refuse to rely on chance.

[She sighs quietly, and then gives a brisk nod of understanding, planting her feet and squaring her shoulders in preparation for a fight.]

If that's the case, then I must insist on joining you. Just as you cannot leave the safety of others to chance, I refuse to do so with yours.

[Congratulations, Chara, you're not in a single player game anymore. Muffet has joined your party.]

[She eyes the ground around them like it's a customer trying to pass her counterfeit money, trying to pick out the smallest flaw or hint of trouble.]

[They open their mouth to continue arguing, before giving her a curt, if not reluctant, nod. They could tell her, that they don't really matter by comparison.

But sometimes honesty isn't the best policy.

And aside from that, the ground is shifting, only a few feet from where they stand. Eyes fixing on the spot, Chara exhales slowly, waiting.

Let it move first, before they do.]

[A sensible reaction- oddly so, for someone so stubborn, but she's not going to look a gift horse in the mouth right now.]

[Muffet tenses as soon as she sees the ground shift, hands coming up in preparation to cast the second it tries to strike.]

[Surprisingly, the ground begins to break open a few feet away from them. And Chara doesn't hesitate, dashing to the side- with practically no time to spare, as the serpent lunges towards the spot they just vacated with ferocious speed.]

You need to stop! If you continue, we shall be forced to take action!

[Muffet calls out to Chara, shifting restlessly on her feet in case she needs to dodge or run.]

I'm not sensing a soul, I don't think it's sapient enough to negotiate with!

[Unfortunately while the sand hydra is only an animal, it doesn't need to be particularly intelligent to hear the sound of new prey, one of the creature's heads twisting around to face Muffet.]

[The serpent rears before it crashes headfirst back into the ground, hissing as it turns towards the source of the noise- Muffet. And desperate times call for desperate measures.

In response to Muffet's words, Chara's own SOUL appears in front of their chest, held aloft in their free hand as they reach out. It is not how resonance works-- they are fully aware, and yet, it only takes one fraction of a second to reach out blindly, attempt to call to a SOUL that can respond with fierce DETERMINATION.

Untrained and entirely unwieldy, their search isn't graceful, a SOUL that is full of the determination to protect, to SAVE, grasping for the briefest of contact with any SOUL possible.]

[Muffet winces as the creature burrows back into the sand, well aware that it's almost certainly about to come up after her this time- although better her than Chara, in her opinion.]

[She shifts lightly on her feet, preparing to jump away the second she sees the dirt beneath her shifting...]

[And then something-]

[-reaches-]

[-out to her.]

[It's just a brief brushing of hands in the dark, her soul responding to the fierce call of another so close by, only the slightest moment of actual contact. But that single moment should be enough for Chara to hear her, in a way that has nothing to do with sound: a sense of deep love for all those she can call her people, worry for the small (incredibly strong, infinitely fragile, already so important to her in ways she doesn't fully understand herself yet) human before her, persistent refusal to be defeated by what does not kill her outright... all overlaid with the more immediate sense of shocked, confused what just happened that she's feeling right now.]

[Behind her, the sand begins to shift.]

[The connection snaps near instantly, as expected. But for that fraction of a second, it is not the creature they feel, but Muffet, inhaling sharply as they palm their knife in a firmer grip. They see the ground moving behind her, feel, in that instance, a sense of undue panic- monsters are so much weaker than humans. So much more fragile.]

Move! [They shout, already racing forwards in the hope that, if her own reaction is too slow, their own is still in time.]

[If nothing else, Muffet at least has a decent sense of priorities- even as confused as she is right now, her immediate response to Chara's shouted warning is to leap forward, already in motion by the time she consciously registers the sound of movement behind her.]

[It's enough time gained, luckily, that she's already turning to face the creature as it bursts out of the ground, the jaws of the nearest head opening wide and- oh angels that's much too close- she casts out more purple magic as she dashes backward, wrapping around the hydra's muzzle to seal that mouth shut, still not daring to slow down the entire time.]

[She finally comes to a stop closer to Chara than the hydra, hastily glancing over at them to reassure herself that they're still in one piece and waiting tensely for another head to appear.]

[They wouldn't have gotten there in time, is the harsh reality- it's lucky, then, that Muffet hadn't frozen when it mattered most. Skidding to a halt beside her, their eyes skate across her form quickly- personal assurance that she's in one piece as they grit their teeth, the hand on their blade twisting and setting the metal alight.

Alright, then. This had proven to be more trouble than it was worth. Turning, Chara runs away from where Muffet stands, purposefully letting their feet slap against the ground in order to present the clearest target possible.

Come at them, scrub. They're ripped.]

[...This kid is going to give her grey hairs and that shouldn't even be biologically possible.]

[Muffet chases after them, eyes on the sand, until two of the heads burst out of the ground, intent on Chara. She casts her magic out, binding one head to the other and making the creature thrash in confused dismay, praying that the child has the sense to run.]

December Intro: Don't Come Home for Christmas

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Should I write about the hydra's actions or are you controlling it?

we can just take turns!

Sounds good to me. :D

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Resonance kind of like this?

Yep!

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