lifeaftr | April Intro: The Flower Ripens in its Place

INTRO LOG: APRIL

Who: Everyone!
What: New souls arrive to the archipelago of LifeAftr
When: April 3rd and onward
Where: Ziziphus
Warnings: Mark as needed!

A9: Sow the Seed
Unbeknownst to new arrivals, the archipelago of LifeAftr has recently seen the appearance of a new island, as chosen via voting - and they have been unceremoniously placed there instead of upon Ensō, where most newcomers would typically appear. It's probably for the best that the island of Ziziphus is so outwardly peaceful.

There are worse places to find yourself, all things considered. The mana pool glimmers with a greenish light, the stone ring containing that peculiar fluid set firmly into the earth. The surrounding land fits neatly into that general aesthetic: rippling fields stirred by the occasional crisp breeze alternate between amber-golden and rich, verdant green in coloration, and irregular patches of color signify the presence of a great deal of flowers of all sorts.

It's a peaceful scene.

We're sure you're all about to make it go horribly wrong.

B9: Reap the Harvest
For the unluckier, or the more adventurous, something far less tranquil awaits. Perhaps you woke up on this particular map square instead, or you saw fit to journey a little farther, just to see what might happen. In any case, you'll quickly discover that this may not have been the best idea, when an ordinary grassy mound abruptly detaches itself from the ground, hauls itself upright on bristling legs, and starts scuttling near.

SPINDLANKS have now been unlocked in the bestiary.
What might initially appear to be a leafy hillock will very quickly prove to be something far more...mobile, if you get close enough. That clump of grass and red ferns will abruptly hoist itself up on six vine-like tendrils, crawling for its prey like a very large, mossy spider. While it's fully capable of swiping at its foes with its massive, leafy arms, the spindlank's favored method of dispatching its prey is simply to scuttle forth until it's positioned directly above you and drop down. If its weight does not crush you and choking on the clods of earth doesn't smother you, don't worry; the spindlank intends to eat you alive with a set of fleshy jaws set deep in its center, buried somewhere in its underbelly.

For despite their appearance, spindlanks are very much carnivorous. Their size can vary from anywhere between six and ten feet tall when their appendages unfurl entirely. They are, in essence, very large plants, and thus can be easily dealt with, if you can burn them.

Just try not to get overwhelmed.

All new arrivals will awake with knapsacks, their names stitched to the front. The contents of said knapsacks can all be found in your acceptance notices!

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

Well, not so much by choice as by necessity.

[She clambers down the trunk of the tree, landing on her feet and brushing herself off briskly.]

When all your people have been sealed away under a mountain for the last few thousand years, you learn to adapt to the environment. Most spider monsters are quite a bit smaller than I am, so we had an advantage in tunneling and exploring small crevices. My family worked in mining for quite a few generations.

[Of course, even that didn't help them make it out of the Ruins...]

[And Guzma lowers himself off the spindlank, which - after realizing there's nothing to control it any further - races off back into the brush. Guzma snorts after it, lips curling as he carelessly spits in its direction. Yeah, yeah, ugly...flee to live another day. As he adjusts his sunglasses and runs a hand through his wind-tussled whit hair, Guzma blinks and suddenly turns to Muffet with a questioning expression.

Did...did she ever tell him about all this? He doesn't remember her mentioning being sealed into any place.]

Whoa, whoa...hold up a second. You were sealed under a mountain? [For a few thousand years. What the actual, loving fuck.] What for?! And by who?!

[Does he have to cut a bitch?]

[Muffet is distracted from her momentary relief at the poor spindlank's stay of execution by Guzma's sudden anger. She blinks, mildly surprised at his vehemence.]

My ancestors and their people, not me personally- I'm in my twenties, so needless to say it was all rather before my time.

[Not that there aren't a few monsters from that time period still around, she just isn't one of them. She's told this story before, but it's not really something that you can forget easily if you're brought up in a culture shaped by it, so it isn't hard for her to repeat it from memory.]

The short version is that humans and monsters used to live together on the Surface in peace. Monsters had a great deal more magic than humans ever did, but humans were much more physically durable, so it balanced out. Then one day, someone discovered that someone from one species could absorb a soul from the other species, thereby gaining great power- and being more physical meant human souls lingered in this world much longer after death compared to monster souls, which moved on almost immediately.

Humanity feared that this would tip the balance irretrievably in favor of monsters, so they preemptively declared war and attempted to kill the entirety of monsterkind. Naturally, monsters fought back... and lost. Badly.

The few remaining survivors were herded into a series of underground caverns beneath Mount Ebott, and seven of humanity's rather rarely-occurring magic users cast a spell to seal them in. The Barrier that surrounded the Underground could be entered at any time, but once inside only someone with a power equal to one human soul and one monster soul combined could leave, and it would take the power of seven human souls to break it entirely. So monsters built a society down there as best they could, and remained there for thousands of years.

There were... other tragedies, in that time, but that part isn't my story to tell.

It wasn't until just this past year that the Barrier finally came down for good, and we rejoined humanity on the Surface.

[tl;dr She genuinely appreciates your willingness to cut a bitch, Guzma, but you're about a couple dozen centuries too late for that one.]

[While Muffet speaks, explains her past and her inherited imprisonment - and who exactly it was that imprisoned them all in the first place - Guzma sneers and lifts his chin a little bit. He pretty much expected the answer, and isn't all that shocked by it, grumbling softly under his breath...a few curse words, and probably a snide comment as well. It's just like people to see something different from them, stronger than them, supposedly better than them...and fear it. Want to lock it away so it doesn't become powerful enough to overthrow them.

Selfish. Selfish, self-serving pieces of shit. He really, really hates people sometimes, and Muffet if just proving his hatred right to a T. People, humans, are downright awful in the worst possible ways. He exhales only when she details that she and her kind now are free, back on the surface, and living....hopefully in peace. Guzma bites his lip, keeping the comment of 'for how long?' closed off in his mind, but he seems...appeased. Sort of. Her freedom at the very least seems better than nothing.]

Yeah, that...heh. That sure as heck does sound like my kin, yeah. We're just a barrel'a sunshine and diplomacy, oh yeah. Sorry y'all couldn't take us out in the first go - bet'cher bottom we deserve most'a what we got. [He shrugs, lazily. Remorse? Nah, he's done caring about people who care only for themselves.] Here's to all y'all making it right and better up top, yeah?

[Hopefully history doesn't repeat itself, as it if oft to do.]

We can't claim as much of the moral highground as we'd no doubt like- humans didn't often make it through the Barrier and into the Underground, but we certainly weren't any kinder to the ones who did that humanity was to us.

[She smiles wearily, ruefully. Not quite bitter, but there's a tinge of sorrow to it. Seven souls to bring it down, remember? Her species has things they can't be proud of, either.]

That said... I can't say that I'm pleased with how we got there, but I am happy with where we are now. Life on the Surface has been good so far, and even if humanity as a whole has caused a great deal of grief in the past, I've met some particular humans I'm rather fond of.

In the end... there's little that can be done for the past. I'd rather do what I can to make a better future.

[He's not entirely privvy to the full scope of things, but Guzma can sense the tonal shift and turns his head to Muffet curiously, but doesn't open the topic of conversation any further. Guzma knows when to spot a sore subject and not pursue it. As much as he loves to beat people down...he's not one to beat a dead Horsea, either. A moot point anyway, given the monsters' renewed freedom. Still he does worry a bit, knowing well how the world works and how it treats its misfits.

Somehow, though, he feels that Muffet won't be in too big trouble. She's got the drive to pull through, and the attitude.]

Follow the winds of change, huh? I feel that. [He's been riding that jetstream for a while now, actually.] Just gotta keep on cruising.

[He sighs a little. His future? Huh...not looking so great, but who knows? Maybe things will change. For better, or for worse. He's just along for the ride.]

April Intro: The Flower Ripens in its Place

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We can probably wrap this unless you want to do more with it.

sounds good, ye <3