lifeaftr | July Intro: Upsy-Daisy!

July Intro: Upsy-Daisy!

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 )

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Lost pack. Probably a knapsack, like the one with her name on it. But with, you know, this person's name on it, obviously. Lillie doesn't have to look far, it's snagged on a branch just out of her reach, one tree over. One could fairly easily climb up the lower branches to reach it, but that person isn't Lillie. Can't be Lillie. It's...not a talent she possesses.

But it has to be Lillie at the moment, doesn't it?

Luna would do it.]

Oh, okay. Hold on, I'll try to reach it for you.

[Placing both of her bags and her oversized hat gently at the base of the tree, Lillie starts to scale the lower branches. She tests each branch about four times before putting her weight on it and has to free her hair from the leaves and twigs multiple times, but after a good several minutes she's able to reach out and weasel the pack free.

Unfortunately, she looks down, and instead of swelling with pride in her accomplishment (she climbed a tree!!!) she immediately feels like a fool for putting herself in such a dangerous situation and seizes up.

The look on her face makes it apparent: They are both stuck in a tree, for the time being.]

[This was not a well-executed maneuver, particularly as the human now seems to be in a position much like the Drifter themself is. They get a few moments to register this, the way she locks in place and doesn't seem to know how to get down, before the Drifter decides to cut to the chase entirely.]

[Their hard light blade hums to life, and they begin to hack at the branches surrounding them with ruthless efficiency.]

[With enough work, they'll free themself, and then they can move on to free her as well, surely.]

[The humming of the blade and the subsequent chaos of the Drifter's hacking and slashing make Lillie jump. She watches for a moment in awe. There's a sort of wild brutality behind the efficiency that she's so unused to. It does, however, jump start her a bit into starting to descend the few branches she's climbed with the Drifter's pack clutched tightly against her chest with one arm while the other steadies herself against the trunk.

Once both feet hit the ground, she stands beneath the other tree with clear uncertainty. Should she hand them their pack? Try to tear at the branches? Just try to help them untangle their cloak?

Please be patient with her, she's not used to taking initiative...]

[Perhaps fortunately, Lillie is spared the anxiety of having to choose when an almighty splintering sounds off overhead and the Drifter topples from where they've been roughly lodged between the branches - and take several of said branches with them. They do not land gracefully, smacking into several boughs on the way down and more or less faceplanting into the dirt once they land, but they pick themself up with remarkable alacrity.]

[They've endured worse. They'll walk it off.]

[Still, they give their head a bracing shake, as if to clear it, before squinting at their assistance. They don't recognize her, they decide.]

name?

O-Oh!

[Lillie rushes towards the Drifter as they fall, but isn't nearly fast enough to do anything close to catching them. She moves to help them up but they've got it on their own, clearly. They're so quick getting back on their feet after such a fall, and they could free themselves so easily, and she could barely climb out of a branch five feet off the ground...]

Um...my name is Lillie. Are you okay...?

[There might be a sort of gallows humor in that - are you okay. They have not been "okay" in the conventional sense since they contracted a fatal illness that will strip their insides slowly and kill them in a flood of their own fluids, toxins pooling in their lungs and boiling out from the back of their throat.]

[But she is, of course, not asking about that.]

undamaged

[Their cloak is wet and darkened at the edges, thanks to Upsy's spittle, but they have been covered in fluids of an undesirable nature before - a drifter's equipment is built to shed the truly damaging over time.]

you?

Oh, yes, I'm fine. Thank you. [She extends the pack in her hand, eager to make sure Nebby is still breathing and okay in her bag behind her. It doesn't occur to her to check for a name on the bag or anything, unfortunately.] Here...this is yours, right?

[That it is. The Drifter swiftly ascertains that it is, however, before swinging it around their shoulders, securely. The aches and bruises that run the breadth of their skin are hidden to the naked eye, and therefore can be safely ignored. Only then does the Drifter tilt their head to one side, to study their savior more closely.]

something with you?

[They are referring to Nebby, though they do not recognize it as a pokemon.]

N-No! Well, yes...I mean, I suppose you already saw...

[She's so used to trying to hide Nebby, but she's not been doing a very good job since arriving here. So much has happened in such a short period of time. Lillie picks up her bags and gently removes Nebby to hold it in her arms, where she can keep closer tabs on the unconscious pokemon and hope for swift recovery.]

Nebby exhausted itself while saving me from...well it sounds silly, but an elevator. It should be okay after some rest...

[She hopes.]

[She's encountered it as well, then. The elevator. It was not an elevator in the way they would define it, but everyone else certainly seemed fit to label it as such. Perhaps the standard definition did not entirely eclipse it.]

elevator
dropped me here

[And they start to shake away flecks of its...for lack of a better word, spittle.]

Oh, I'm sorry...that must have been terrifying. [She seems extremely sincere. That thing is nightmare made material. But the realization that it must have been in the area recently has her scanning the dense brush nervously for movement.] Are we safe here?

[The Drifter...shrugs. They’ve had worse. They have since recovered, and are simply devoted to looking forward. Thankfully, her question allows them to do exactly that.]

likely not
safe areas unknown

[Safe areas unknown? What does that mean? Well, she knows what it means objectively, but what does it mean? Perhaps they are as unfamiliar with the terrain as she is? Unlikely. They seem in some ways wild and dangerous, fit for this strange land. Like they've been here a while and molded to the situation as necessary.]

Should we be on the move, then...? Or should we find a place to hide? I'm sorry, this is all very new to me, I'm not sure what to do...

[Fortunately for her, the Drifter is a fairly decisive person by nature. They brush the last few remnants of twigs and saliva from their cloak, seemingly unbothered by the unsavory nature of that excess.]

it is not easily damaged
best to wait for opportune moment

so: hide

[It only occurred to them belatedly that they ought to, perhaps, clarify.]

That makes sense, I suppose. Um...I don't really know my way around, though...

[The implication is "Do you?"

She looks around. It's...just trees and foliage. There aren't any real markers or roads or paths of any kind. How could anyone know their way around?]

[That's quite all right. As someone who decidedly doesn't speak at all and has many friends just as silent, the Drifter has learned to read between the lines quite extensively, as necessary. They only hesitate briefly before starting for one of the mana pools - and then stopping, turning to face her first.]

[It may be best to give some instruction instead of simply leaving and expecting that she will follow, they have learned.]

follow?

Oh, yes, thank you.

[For asking, for leading the way, for not making fun of her for getting temporarily stuck in a tree, etc. Lillie follows close behind, Nebby still cradled in her arms.]

I wouldn't know where to go myself, so I'd have to trust your sense of direction either way, I suppose...but how do you know where to go? There don't seem to be any paths or roads to follow...

[It does not take a great deal of thinking to deduce that she must not be accustomed to this sort of travel. The Drifter, for their part, has always had something of an advantage in that regard. They suppose they'd not had to consider that others would not be as...for lack of a better word, fortunate.]

[They can at least answer, without stopping or slowing.]

been here for some time
not large place

I see...[Lillie has to concentrate on not falling, losing her hat, or getting her bags tangled in the surrounding foliage, so she's grateful for the short sentences.] Has it been difficult, being here for a long time?

[She assumes the Drifter isn't from here either, and that they are far from home. She also assumes that if they've been here a long time, they've seen their fair share of new arrivals, and are probably tired of explaining things to them. So she stems the tide of questions she has at that.]

better than where i was

[That's the solemn bottom line. This is not Buried Time; the world is not being poisoned by a thick slurry of toxic pink, by an Immortal Cell that festers in the chambers of the very earth. Their illness has not claimed the lives of thousands, leaving warriors and civilians to die in its wake alike.]

[That is a notable improvement.]

what of you

[A sad smile. That was her way of thinking back on Alola, too. No matter how tough it was to be in a strange new place, it was better than where she was and who she was with. She's not certain if this island will be better or worse than Alola, but...]

Oh, I just arrived this morning. [The Drifter may note that the sun is very high in the sky by now. It is no longer morning.] I was afraid to use the teleportation pool on the mountain, so I've been walking for quite some time...

[And quite frankly her legs are getting pretty tired. She's used to walking a lot, but not with so much gear and through such rough terrain.]

[A blink. Perhaps it is because the Drifter is well-accustomed to the risks and rewards of touching and doing things that might kill them - when you are dying anyway, there seems little point in precautions, in extending a lifespan that one knows will already be cut short.]

[They suppose not everyone else would.]

it is safe
why not?

It's probably silly, but...Most of my experiences with teleportation have been awful.

[She always ends up somewhere she doesn't want to be and it's always proceeded by terrible danger or stress.]

But I have to admit, it would be much less stressful than having to walk down a mountain and through a forest...It really is safe, then? Well, I mean, I suppose you've done it before and you're all in one piece, so it must be. Where do the pools go to?

usually

[They are nothing if not honest! They say usually because they did have one...less reliable experience with the mana pools. All told, they did not experience the worst the floating islets had to offer, but it was far from an amenable experience on the whole.]

concentrate on where you need to go
they take you to another pool

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

July Intro: Upsy-Daisy!

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject