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.

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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.

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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!

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LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

Comments

A

[vagabone]

[You're a funny one, Upsy, shooting one skeleton at another skeleton. The one on the ground has a weaker grasp on his own bones than most and he's trained himself to scatter on impact with stuff. Bones! Flying everywhere! A grumpy skull lands upside down in the sand.]

Save your breath. I reaaally don't think it cares about your opinion.

[fontofkindness]

[ WOW sorry hector were you saying something because Papyrus is apologetically gathering up all your parts as soon as he recovers!!

Boy, he's on his feet fast for someone who just got spat out at high velocity. But at least he's helping?? He soon has a pile of bones happening. And he's awkwardly kinda extricating poor Hector's skull from the sand and at least putting it right side up. ]

Are you okay?? [ He's a bit distressed for causing a dude to just SCATTER EVERYWHERE. ] That was VERY rude of me!! And of the elevator!! But!! The elevator is not here to apologise, so I'll apologise for it!!

[vagabone]

[The bones start to jiggle and roll towards his skull, like they've all suddenly become magnetic and know exactly where to lock into place to form a complete skeleton. It only takes a few seconds for him to pull himself together. He's had decades of practice!]

Yeah, yeah, happens all the time. Come on, let's get out of here!

[fontofkindness]

[ He startles a bit at Hector pulling himself together, but doesn't question it for long. That's just how it is, sometimes?? ]

All the time?? [ HE'S NOT FEELIN GREAT ABOUT THAT PART THOUGH ] That sounds very unsafe!!

[ But he's taking the advice and...booking it as fast as Hector can go specifically because wow he'd be super rude to leave someone behind? ]

[vagabone]

What can I say, I'm really clumsy!

[Fast enough to get his ribs rattling. Upsy seems more interested in other things for now, allowing this specific skeleton time to make it into the treeline. And hide behind one of the trees, because that's what one does when there's nothing else to hide behind and an evil elevator wants to eat you. Hopefully Papyrus has enough sense to keep following?]

[fontofkindness]

[ As hell-bent on teaching the elevator some good manners as he is, he definitely doesn't want to get scooped up and spat out again in such a short period of time, so he's definitely got the sense to head into the trees and

WHOOPS gracelessly dodging another swoop from Upsy by throwing himself away from it (with a strange blue glow surrounding him, momentarily) before it...flies away to torment easier targets.

Papyrus picks himself up off the ground after a moment, brushing himself off. This is gross. ]

Well!! That was [ gross] a learning experience!! I've never seen an elevator like that before!!

[ He turns to Hector, presumably still hidden behind a tree. ] Are you okay??

[vagabone]

[Mostly. Héctor's taken a few steps away from the tree, watching with vague horror as more poor people are chased down by the hellish thing. There's not much he can do to stop it that someone isn't already trying.

He's relieved to see Upsy's spitting others out, at least, not chowing down on the tasty fleshier folks. That's something? And... right. Papyrus. A fellow dead guy, how nice. Kinda weird to see so much skin on everyone.]

Relax, I'm fine. You're the one who was eaten, I should be asking you that!

[fontofkindness]

I'm very durable! [ Papyrus is super chipper for a guy who just got spat out by a flying elevator. ] And besides!! The great Papyrus can't be defeated by an elevator!!

But you seem to be the opposite of durable?? Are you sure you're okay?? [ Monsters have some odd abilities, sure, but.....it's still kind of concerning... ]

[vagabone]

The great Papyrus?

[Is that a name or what. The great and mighty... sheet of paper??? Who names their kid Papyrus.

Whatever. This poor guy must not have been dead very long.]

You worry too much! Everyone falls apart once in a while, it doesn't hurt. Check this out!

[And he pops off his head like it's nothing, holding his own face in the palm of his hand. Hi.]