lifeaftr | 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

[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.]

[ 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! ]

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?

[ 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.

[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.]

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.

[Kaworu is still watching him, mostly because he has no sense of when he's supposed to stop doing that kind of thing. He will, in fact, continue to sit there, watching him, until he finds what he's looking for or gives up.]

Oh, you just came? So did I!

[That means we're friends now, right?]

[ Man, this kid likes to stare, doesn't he? It's a little unnerving! Lucas glances back at him from over his shoulder, looking more than a little weirded out. ]

Shit, did you get spat out by the elevator, too?

[Kaworu doesn't even blink.]

No.

It just appeared in the sky, and then it hit me with you.

Before that I had something like a dream, and woke up in the sand.

That's...

[ His shoulders sag. ]

... That sounds pretty familiar, yeah. You seem pretty chill for someone who's just been interdimensionally kidnapped.

Chill.

[That's a new one.

'Chill.'

Hmmm.]

Maybe. But I don't have the power to change anything, so I think being upset about it would be worse.

See, that's what I mean! That's one hell of a conclusion to come to!

[ It's a pretty mature one, considering that Lucas is like twice this kid's age, and yet he's the one on the verge of a freakout. Honestly, he's a little bit jealous. ]

... How are you staying so calm?

[????]

Am I wrong??

[He's confused now, he thought it was just sense.]

[ It's more sense than he expected a teenage boy to have! ]

No, no, you're... you're fine.

[ He sighs. God, so much for being a mature adult. ]

I mean, you definitely have the healthier outlook on this whole situation.

[No one tell Lucas how young Kaworu really is.]

Does it really matter how I look at it? After all, I don't know any more about the situation than you do.

[What a strange idea.]

Huh? I wasn't being literal, I just mean... none of us know shit about what's going on, but you're doing a much better job of not freaking out over it.

[That's just being alive, Lucas.]

Someone probably knows.

--maybe we should have followed that elevator.

[He stands up suddenly, inspired by that thought.]

I'm gonna look for it.

[This is definitely not a bad idea.]

[ Lucas grumbles, and starts wringing the water - well, he hopes it's water and not saliva - out of his labcoat and ponytail. ]

Have fun with that, I'm gonna dry off first. It isn't dangerous, just... weird and kind of gross. Try not to get eaten, not that it has a digestive system.

[Gross, Lucas.]

If it doesn't have a digestive system, then I should be fine.

[He sounds confident.

Then again, it's easy for him to be confident.

Kaworu would be fine even if it did have a digestive system.]

Maybe I'll see you later.

[And with that, he starts walking down the beach, heading in the direction he last saw the awful ele~~vore~~vator zip off to.]

July Intro: Upsy-Daisy!

B

THE IRONY OF THAT USERNAME...

FUCK YOU'RE RIGHT

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