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

[Elise noticed the furtive glances at the scenery, and she was about to ask if he was okay. But then he mentions nasties.]

N-nasties?

[Now she's just a little worried. That sounds like monsters. Are there monsters? The next question is a nervous whisper and she starts glancing around too.]

What nasties?

[Oops, he didn't really mean to scare the poor thing, but...well, it's the truth. Those creatures were indeed very nasty, and if they linger here too long, one of them might meet a...very grim fate. One that's been experienced already - one that Guzma's seen firsthand - and he breathes in, closing his eyes and shaking his head.]

Nasties what you don't wanna meet with, what could swallow me whole and still have plenny'a room for you, too. Now-- [His head snaps to the left, narrowing when he notes a very uncharacteristic shift in the swirling sands.] ...time to go. Now.

Sorry 'bout this, darlin'.

[Guzma bites his lower lip and reaches to grab the poor girl and sort of tuck her up and under his arm, then makes a mad dash down toward where the river was, just a small distance away. The ground begins to shake violently as he runs, and it looks like like something is moving around under it. Something big...no--massive.

And it can move in the sand a whole lot better, and faster, than a pitiful human carrying a scrawny pipe cleaner of a princess.]

Eep!

[A tiny squeak of surprise is the only protest when he picks her up. Effie does that a lot so she's used to it. It's not until he's running that she finally sees the unnatural swirls in the sand.]

Hey! There's a-

[But then the shaking starts. And a head rises up from the ground, snapping at the air just behind them. It's a narrow miss, and the next time they might not get so lucky. Elise screams.]

EEEEK! It's a nasty!!!

[That's their official name probably...]

[It sure is, and Guzma's making a swift jog towards where the river is - if he can make it even to the near banks, the creatures won't come near. He's witnessed firsthand that the dry-skinned wyrms are highly averse to water, and thank Arceus for that. He can overpower or at least deter one with his pokemon's hard hittin water attacks, but Golisopod tires easily, and isn't immune to getting swallowed by this huge creature, either. Their best bet is to make it to the river.

But running in sand is hard, and that thing has more than one hungry mouth ready and able snap them both up. Another tremor shakes the ground under them, and Guzma bites his lip, tossing Elise out of his arms. It'll be a bit of a bump for her, but she'll be out of the way of a potential attack. He can't swiftly dodge or run when he's toting around a little girl, and she's better off making a break for it on her own while he distracts the big thing.]

Get to th' river!! These things don't swim! [He screams through an eruption of sand, as a second head just narrowly misses taking off one of his legs with its hard, armor-plated jaws.] Don't look back, I'm comin' with you in a sec!!

[Welp, so much for not fighting, but there's really little choice now, is there? Guzma reaches into his hoodie and removes the Ultra Ball holding his partner, tossing it out and shouting a command mid-toss. Waterfall, he shouts, and the creature that emerges from the ball is cloaked in a wash of frothy, billowing water, as it rises in the air - like a salmon scaling a waterfall, and strikes the reptile hard in the side of its head. One of them, anyway.]

[There is another frightened squeal as she lands hard, but manages to scramble back to her feet. She doesn't exactly want to run without making sure her savior is okay, but she trusts him when he promises to follow. And, as a healer, it's not the first time she's been ordered to the back of a battle.

But Elise stops once she gets to the riverbank and turns to check, bringing her staff into a ready position. She can feel the water lapping at her ankles but she wants to stay close enough that she could heal him if something happened.]

H- hurry!

[Great advice. But he's probably already on that...]

[Yeah, thankfully Guzma is honest on this side of the island, and keeps his promise to make haste toward the river bank once he's certain his partner is safe. The shrill, high-pitched cry of the sand hydra is indicative that the attack was, haha...super effective. Something joins him, for a moment, something almost as large as himself, and just as monstrous in appearance as the behemoth trying to swallow them a moment ago, but it is swallowed back up into its ball in a beam of red light.

Guzma races toward the bank of the river not a moment too soon. The sand hydra doesn't seem at all happy with the retaliation, and attacks in full force. Each one of its heads erupt from the dunes and howl furiously, a cacophony of roars and bellows. Thankfully, Guzma's well enough away by that time, nearing the river that they won't go near. He wheezes, collapsing to his knees right by the water, just letting the adrenaline wash off him with the gentle lapping of the water on the cool sand.]

Jeez...who the heck just....d-drops-- [He coughs, the air here is so dry and arid that it's hard to breathe after all that.] Drops a young thing...in the mouth of a big ol' nasty....l-like that?! M'gonna...m'gonna throttle that dumb Lopunny...

You...y-you okay, girly?

December Intro: Don't Come Home for Christmas

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