July Intro: Upsy-Daisy!

[lifeaftr_mods]

INTRO LOG: JULY

Who: New arrivals, your lif᷆t̕i͗n᷅ģ f̧̞ͅr̡̦̃ḭ̅ͭe̩᷅̂n̟̣̤d̨̬̏, and you!
What: New souls arrive to the archipelago of LifeAftr, and everyone makes a new friend!
When: July 5th and onward
Where: All over Ensō
Warnings: Mark as needed!

Like a Bat Out of Hell
At this stage, the appearance of new arrivals to Ensō's shores is hardly a surprise to anyone but the arrivals themselves. Whatever mysterious force is responsible seems to have taken a vaguely nostalgic route this month, depositing the new and unconscious across the shoreline of the beach closest to the tumbled stone bastion of the Storyteller's temple. At first, that seems to be all there is to it. The arrivals stir to the smell of salt and the summer sea air, and the cycle of questions, searching, and settling begins.

For about five minutes. Perhaps ten.

Almost like an afterthought, something else shows up, plummeting straight out of the sky and landing with a veritable explosion of water some hundred feet from the shore. A large, rectangular shape breaches the surface after a few moments, bobbing, cork-like, in the foam-crested waves before ever so slowly beginning to sink into those aquamarine depths. For those familiar with such objects, it makes for a rather odd sight. That most certainly was an elevator, or you can be...fairly sure it was?

Give it another minute, and you'll be certain. The elevator streaks out from the ocean like a creature possessed. Maybe, in those split seconds prior to its approach, you'll be able to note the elevator's distinct features: a disturbingly smiling face on its doors, and a set of teeth framing a very organic mouth.

Meet Upsy, your lifting friend. In case it wasn't obvious by now, Upsy is far from a conventional elevator by any standards. What's more, Upsy has not taken to LifeAftr as well as some others. Armed with the ability to move in any direction, the rogue contraption takes no prisoners - by which we mean, they take as many prisoners as possible. Upsy proceeds to swoop across the shoreline, combing the beach in the most haphazard and patternless path possible, scooping up anyone slow enough to be caught in their maw. Once you're caught up in their jaws, it comes down to the winds of fortune, in regards to wherever Upsy proceeds to spit out their cargo. While the journey itself will be rough and...sticky, it is not inherently dangerous.

Hopefully, the same can be said for wherever you end up Ensō hosts a great deal of predators, environmental hazards, and worse. Though you could always end up belched into the ocean. Hope you can swim!

When the Metal is Hot and the Engine is Hungry
Upsy’s reign of terror isn't restricted to mere adventurers. Those with livestock or animal companions may be in for a small shock or, perhaps more likely, a very large one, when flying elevator sucks up those cuddly critters with a grin and spirits them off into the great unknown.

Though your phoenix, chocobo, or tigerlily may not be where you saw them last, you can at least be assured that they are still on Ensō. All you need to do is round them up. And if this isn't good enough news, well...at least you don't keep bludrocs.

Whether you're out searching for an animal or not, be careful traversing Ensō for the next three days. If Upsy is empty, they'll most certainly snap you up. And if they aren't? You may find anything from birds to horses spat out at you.

The velocity of these organic projectiles tends to vary. Dramatically. Upsy's reign of terror will end on the evening of July 9th. At that point, the elevator will fly off to greener pastures...and our RNG spreadsheet for potential encounters in future. Sweet dreams.

---

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 )

Comments

Lucas Miller | The Adventure Zone | ota!

[crystallying]

a) don't mind the man chasing the horrible sentient elevator, surely they have nothing to do with each other

[ Lucas wakes up on the beach with a mouthful of sand and a billion questions, the most prominent one being what the hell is he doing on a tropical beach. That question is soon replaced by What the hell, how did Upsy get here?!, and as soon as the elevator comes zooming out of the water and begins its reign of terror across the beach, oh shit, I'm probably gonna get blamed for this.

On the other hand... if Upsy is here, if the horrible vorelevator is somehow still operational after being dunked in the middle of the ocean, then that means that he might have a way to escape... wherever this is. Lucas stumbles to his feet, shoulders his backpack, and goes chasing after Upsy full-tilt until he inevitably runs out of breath. ]

Hey! Hey! What the hell, get back here!


b) in retrospect, chasing the hellevator was a bad decision

[ So, how's your day going? Probably not well, considering the horrible elevator shenanigans? It's about to get a bit worse, because Upsy Your Lifting Friend has just spat out Lucas Miller, and you're getting a soggy nerd in a labcoat upside the head. Sorry about that!

Lucas sits up with a pained groan, wringing out his ponytail with a grimace. ]

Fucking... ow, jesus!

a.

[counterblows]

[So, this is just another day ending in "y." It is utter chaos and people are screaming and running into each other and there's a flying elevator that's essentially bent on swallowing people whole, and a fresh cluster of new arrivals has just been dumped onto the beach on top of it.]

[The problem here is that, out of everyone - everyone who's choosing to fight the thing, who's trying to run away from the thing, who's cursing out the thing, who's plain just hoping they don't get snapped up by the thing - there is one person on the entire damn island that seems utterly fixated on chasing the thing instead.]

[Wash moves to intercept - hundreds of pounds of UNSC-grade power armor, and a BR55HB SR held very plainly visible in his grip, though he doesn't raise it to point at the poor guy just yet. He's just making it obvious to all parties that he has a heavy barrel service rifle, and it's loaded.]

That's far enough.

[crystallying]

[ Lucas skids to a halt in front of the Wall of Dude, and just barely avoids smacking into the Wash's chest. The annoyance shows plain on his face, at first. He's in the middle of something, and the last thing he needs is a roadblock in the form of... a giant, heavily armored person with an enormous, high-tech gun. An enormous gun that could very easily be pointed at him if he says something wrong. Lucas's eyes travel down the length of the rifle barrel, back up to Wash's helmet, and then he takes a step back and puts both hands up in the universal gesture for 'look at how unarmed I am!'

(Technically he has a hatchet in his backpack, but that wouldn't do more than scratch the armor.) ]

H-hey! Look, I don't want any trouble! But I'm in the middle of something, so if you could... just...!

[ His eyes keep following Upsy's reign of terror behind Wash. Whoop, there goes another person! ]

[counterblows]

Everyone else is running away from the carnivorous flying elevator.

[The words are remarkably level and calm, given the chaos that's exploded across these shores in record time. But as far as Wash's tone is concerned, he may as well be running a standard background check on a particularly shady individual.]

[That's not too far from what's actually occurring.]

You're running toward it. Why?

[crystallying]

[ Lucas opens his mouth, closes it again. He almost says something to the effect of 'how is anyone supposed to stop it if they don't chase it down first', and while that's sort of true, it sounds too puffed up and artificially brave for him to stomach. He's a liar, but even he has his limits. ]

... I want to stop it. I might be able to, if I can get to it first. Now, do you mind?

[ There. He didn't actually admit to having any association with Upsy, that should do it, right? ]

[counterblows]

You know what it is?

[Yes, actually, he very much does mind. He would very much like to know what this is and how to stop it from eating anyone else and vomiting them up all over the damn island.]

All right. [He cocks his weapon with the menacing sound of a round being forced into its chamber. He's officially run out of patience.] Spill.

[crystallying]

[ THAT MADE THINGS A HUNDRED TIMES WORSE, OH GOD, THERE'S A GIANT GUN, LUCAS IS HAVING A VERY BAD DAY! He reels away, looking like a small, furry creature that's just realized it's about to be run down by an 18-wheeler. ]

Oh god, ok, ok, look, I can't tell you anything if I'm dead! It's called Upsy, and I swear to god, I have no idea how it got here! It isn't dangerous, usually, just... weird and kind of gross!

B

[savedbyasong]

[Shion has spent the day frantically searching for Cobweb, his tigerlilly who had disappeared that morning. At first he had no idea what had happened but the situation had soon made itself apparant.

An elevator that ate people. That's... new. There's not much that surprises Shion anymore but an elevator with an organic mouth... He's spent a lot of today running.

He still hasn't found Cobweb. He knows that the tigerlilly should be fine, but there are many dangers on Enso and Cobweb is not used to them, it is Shion that took him from his natural habitat and so Shion who is responsible.

He's not really surprised when he is hit by a falling person and ends up sprawled on the ground. Really it's surprising this is the first person he's been hit with. He scrambles up and looks at the man, quickly assessing him for any injuries.] Are you alright?

Re: B

[crystallying]

[ Lucas mumbles 'ow, my everything' into the dirt before sitting upright with a pained groan. Shion gets a skeptical look-over from over the rims of Lucas's smudged glasses. ]

I mean, as much as I can be after falling from that height, yeah? Nothing's broken, as far as I can tell. Are you? You're the one who got used as an accidental crashpad!

[savedbyasong]

[Nothing was broken, all the parts of him that were meant to be inside were not outside. He's alright. From Shion's quick assessment anyways. He smiles and then takes a moment after the question to assess himself. He's a little bruised, nothings broken. It's fine.]

Nothing broken, it seems we both got lucky. Did you get taken by the elevator?

[His tone is quite casual as if people eating elevators are an everyday occurance.]

[crystallying]

I... y-yeah. Wasn't really expecting that, it must be going pretty haywire.

[ He starts wringing the... hopefully water, not saliva, out of his labcoat. Gross. ]

[savedbyasong]

Yeah... I guess not many people expect to be eaten by an elevator. I've not see you before, are you new?

[Strange things sometiems happened at the same time as new people arrived. Not always, but often enough for it to be noteworthy.]

[crystallying]

As of about... half an hour ago, yeah. Just landed, so to speak.

[ ... Wait. 'Are you new?' That makes this kid sound like a longtime resident, which doesn't bode well for Lucas's hopes of getting off this dang island. ]

... Howwwww long have you been here?

B

[braceforimpact]

[When Upsy disgorges Lucas, Kaworu has a split second to decide whether or not to react--whether to prevent this guy from landing on him with his AT Field or preserve the illusion of his human role.

He has a split second, and in that second, errs on the side of caution: Lucas absolutely flattens the 4'10" teenager, who gets a mouthful of wet sand and an entire grown man over him for his trouble.]

....

[You know what, he's just gonna stay on the ground.]

THE IRONY OF THAT USERNAME...

[crystallying]

[ Lucas scrambles upright with a yelp and just stands there for a second, catching his breath and staring at Kaworu in horror. Oh god, he's only been here for like twenty minutes, and he's already crushed a kid...! ]

Shit... shit, hey, are you ok? I mean, alright, not a great question to ask under the circumstances, but can you hear me?

[ He edges closer, pokes at Kaworu's neck to feel for a pulse, and starts rifling through his backpack with his free hand. There's a first aid kit somewhere in there, and though he isn't sure how helpful it'll be for someone who just got completely squashed, it's a start! ]

FUCK YOU'RE RIGHT

[braceforimpact]

You're bigger than me.

[This is the entirety of Kaworu's complaint, which is delivered at the same time he pushes this guy's hand away from his neck. He looks more put out than seriously injured, at least--he rolls over, pushing himself up off the ground to give the man an aggrieved look.]

Why are you asking if I can hear you?

[crystallying]

[ He scoffs and starts rooting through the first aid kit anyway. He hasn't really had a chance to check it out yet! ]

Because if you couldn't, that'd mean you were probably knocked unconscious, and incapable of telling me if you'd broken anything. I have some medical training, I might've been able to help.

[braceforimpact]

[That.... doesn't make sense, he's pretty sure, but he doesn't know enough about humans to contest it. He'd thought maybe humans stopped being able to hear if you hit them hard enough.

Wait, aren't there humans who can't hear anyway...?]

You don't need to check me out. I'm fine.

[He's sitting up and everything now, all smiles for Lucas' benefit.]

[crystallying]

Well... good.

[ It comes out a bit lamely, as Lucas keeps on rifling through his backpack. Who in the world packed this thing? Who gave him a hatchet?! ]

I'm glad I didn't concuss a teenager within twenty minutes of arriving in tropical elevator hell.

a, kind of

[deathfindsaway]

[Y'know, Kravitz kind of had an idea that he knew how this island worked. Every month, new people showed up, and sometimes it was fairly calm but sometimes it was a fucking disaster. His first month was just an island. His second, absolute glitchy bullshit, and his third, the end of the fucking world, kind of. But the thing with all of those is that they were absolutely avoidable. He could go to the mana pool, and walk back to camp, and lay down in Taako's hammock and Not Think About Things.

This? This was in no way avoidable. This was hell.

He heard Upsy before he saw him, and in the time it takes him to get caught, spit halfway across the damn island, and come back, he's figured out that if that horrible thing is there someone from that lab must be here, also. If it's that woman he had to take back, he's going to be a level of pissed not currently charted by humanity. As it stands, when he catches up to the thing and sees the man chasing after it, it's hard enough not to bust a fucking gasket.

Still holding his scythe, he points it towards Lucas, just a slight distance away.]

You.

[crystallying]

[ Lucas flinches, slowly turns to face Kravitz, and then does what any sane man who'd once been chased through his own laboratory and menaced by an angry Grim Reaper would do:

He goes pale, screams bloody murder, and runs away as fast as his skinny legs will carry him. NOT TODAY, DEATH! ]

[deathfindsaway]

[YES TODAY, DEATH, GET BACK HERE YOU SKINNY LITTLE NERD.

He growls, clenching his teeth and following quickly, knowing he's going to have to time this right. Keeping Lucas in sight line, it's only a few seconds until he cuts a portal sideways and steps through, basically a foot in front of him, planting his scythe and his feet into the ground with intent to hold fast when a barreling pile of dork collides with him in 2.5 seconds.]

LUCAS MILLER!

[Ooh, he sounds pissed.]

[crystallying]

[ Lucas slams into Kravitz's chest full-tilt and goes stumbling backwards, til he trips over his feet and lands square on his ass. He is not having a good day, and Kravitz looks even more terrifying from this vantage point! ]

I-I-I didn't... I didn't do anything!

[ He's sort of wheezing for breath at this point, but that was the most important thing to say up front! ]

What the fuck! What the fuck! What are you even doing here?!

[deathfindsaway]

[It's a little bit of a struggle not to fall over himself, seeing as he's a little less strong around here, but he's managing out of pure anger.]

I thought I told you I never wanted to see you again. Or there would be consequences.

[Is this unfair? Absolutely. Has Kravitz wanted someone to blame for like three months at this point? Also absolutely.]

Also, follow-up question, why and how the hell is that thing moving.

[He gestures behind him now to where Upsy is disappearing in the underbrush.]

[crystallying]

Look, I, I didn't mean to crash your... beach vacation, or whatever the hell this is! This is purely circumstantial, and I'm getting out of here as soon as I can!

[ He struggles to his feet and starts nervous backing away, hands held up in what he hopes is a placating, 'look at how harmless I am' kind of gesture. Unfortunately for everyone involved, that follow-up question strikes a chord with Lucas, and he can't resist launching into an enthusiastic explanation. ]

Oh, well, actually, the answer to that is pretty cool! My Grandpa, Roman Miller, was the inventor of the elevator, and his experiments in bioengineering and arcane science eventually lead to him to discovering the basis for anti-gravity technology! Upsy runs on a combination of upgraded anti-gravity boosters and--

[ This may take a while. Nerdlords gonna nerdlord. ]