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

[Honestly, he's so used to the constant limp that it doesn't register anymore, unless someone points it out. Which would be rude. Aches and pains are just... normal.]

Okay, let's go hide. Lead the way!

[Love yourself Héctor, please.

Safety is priority number one, always, but there's treasure hunting priority number two that trails close behind. She wants to lead him to him away and she moves to do so-

After she sticks her hands into the sandy hole she had been digging, shoving the clumps into her pockets for safeguarding. That weird machine might take the remaining seashells and rocks from that hole, but she at least has some for the road. She can look through it later.

With that taken care of, she ambles towards the jungle, glancing back to see if he's following.]

Okay, we'll find a good place for you and you won't have to be scared anymore.

[Even if he doesn't look like he's afraid. She just wants him to know he'll be safe. Probably.]

[Héctors are annoying loudmouth bums and deserve no love.

He's following, with a quick glance back at her... hole. Did she just really shove dirt clods into her pockets? Like throwing dirt is going to stop Upsy from gobbling her up. Kids, man.]

Gracias. What's your name, chiquita? I'm Héctor.

[Dirt is a valuable, multi-purpose item that relieves stress and holds treasure. Don't judge. She's gonna find some sweet seashells and bribe Upsy with them.]

I'm Ren.

[This would be the point where someone would, probably, say it's nice to meet you. She chooses a different route, repeating gracias under her breath because new words are great and sifting her fingers through her pocket dirt to find-

A rock. A treasure. It's a pretty good one and she holds it out to him.]

You can have this one.

Nice work! Thank you!

[He says with plenty of enthusiasm, as if she's just struck gold. His backpack came with a rock (why?), so what's one more? Guess it's his now.]

But you can keep on digging later, okay, Ren? The ground's not going anywhere. Come on, we need to hide.

[Truer words have never been spoken and skeletons are steadily becoming her favorite kind of people. Willing to hide, seem happy to collect the same treasure she does-incredible.

Off into the jungle she goes, one eye on him the whole time, carefully watching his duct taped bones as they move. On occasion, she waves him over to places that can fit him so he has hidey hole options, for now and the Upsyless future. There's never a bad time to learn how to hide.]

No one can see you if you lay down and are very quiet, but the temple is safe too. That's a good place to stay so that's where we're going.

[Good, one more person who knows skeletons aren't always horrible and mean! This one especially doesn't want to be scary around little kids. Though the awkward, broken-puppet way he walks may work against him there. He doesn't notice it anymore.]

Does this temple have a good strong roof?

[The only scary part about the way he moves is that it looks like it hurts. It falls in line with what she thought earlier-he's taped up because of injuries, not as a fashion statement. She falls back to his side, in case he to lean on her. She's prepared and ready to help.]

It has a good, strong bunny. The roof is-

[Well, Héctor will see. The place is in shambles, which is why Lup and her have tried to clean it up in the minor ways they can in recent weeks.]

But it's still safe. It's okay.

[Cracked rib, cracked arm, cracked leg. He's seen better days, yep. But don't blame Upsy for that.]

Would it happen to be a giant colorful bunny? We get things like that back home, to look after us.

[What kind of fantasy island would it be without some alebrijes?]

[She's not, but also, she is? She absolutely is. Everything is Upsy's fault right now. That thing is terrifying, whether or not it goes through with eating people. It's too wild!! She can't handle it.

Either way, this skeleton has someone trying to mindful of his situation, whether or not he admits to the injuries. Her pace slows to a crawl to avoid stressing his limbs. They'll get to the temple eventually.]

They can change color and they're big sometimes, but they don't always look like that. Sometimes they're a monkey or a dog or a cat. Could your bunnies change too? Were they gods?

[It's sweet of her to care, but they do need to hide. It'll hurt him much worse to see a nice young girl swallowed by the demonvator! He messes up her hair in a friendly way once he catches on and picks up the pace himself.]

No, they don't change shape and they're not always bunnies either. Most of them look like a bunch of animals all jumbled up. They're not gods, they're spirit guides for all us dead people. Sometimes they pick out favorites or adopt a whole family.

[Hair ruffling is among her top favorite activities and when he does that, she stands on her toes to see if that gives her enough height to return the gesture. It kind of does, but he's moving a bit quicker and she can't tip toe that fast. Which means. Well.

She's gonna try to ruffle his chin instead? There's some hair. If he doesn't move away, that's-you know. That's what's gonna happen. She's weird. Let her live.]

Did you get to pet them? Were they nice?

[Pity he's a tall skeleton and his hat's in the way too. But once they get wherever they're going, she can play with his messy hair all she wants!

Or abuse his silly chin hairs. Whatever. It makes him smile, it's all good.]

Oh, sure. They're nice, so long as you are. And they usually have wings, I've even gotten to fly on one before.

[Which wasn't nearly as much fun as he makes it sound.]

You weren't scared?

[Because flying is terrifying. Letting something else take control, whisk you off the ground and into the sky is a hobby only brave people have the capacity to understand. A young witch tried to explain how fun it could be, many months ago, but she couldn't wrap her mind around it then. Still can't now.]

[Okay, she must not think flying is cool. He'll keep that in mind. No reason to make her feel ashamed about it--he's not a fan either.]

Eh, a little. Not her fault, she's a good cat. She wouldn't let me fall.

[...probably.]

[The word cat changes everything and his lowkey compliment of his feline companion is something she appreciates. Cats are always good and she's been relying on cats for many, many years now.]

A cat will keep you safe. They're good. They won't let you fall and they'll protect you from scary things. So it's okay to ride that one.

[She is a good cat, protective of those who deserve it! So he wasn't stretching the truth too much! That would be wrong, see.]

Absolutely. I'd fallen into a deep hole and couldn't have gotten out without her help.

You like cats?

[That doesn't surprise her and she nods like she had witnessed the whole situation herself. Of course the cat helped! They can do anything, especially guardian spirit cats, whose existence she is thrilled to hear about.]

Yes, they're safe and warm. They show you nice places to sleep and keep you safe from ghosts.

[And apparently-]

Holes too. They'll protect you from that.

[Ghosts on the list of things that are scary? Awkward, seeing as how he already admitted he's dead...]

You know, ghosts aren't always bad either. Not where I'm from.

[Skeletons aren't the same as ghosts!! They're like cats and lobsters-totally different. Fight her on this.

Thankfully, she's had an experience with kind ghost, though the memory of Sai tends to be easily overrun by the sheer amount of spirits that tried to hurt her. It's better to err on the side of caution when it comes to spooks.]

Do they still have kind hearts in your world?

[He shrugs as he keeps on walking, one jarring step at a time.]

We're no different from the living. You meet some real jerks sometimes, that's how it goes. But most of the people I know are great.

[Yes, we. Skeletons are like ghosts, except when they're Papyrus and... aren't spirits??]

[She heard that we and there's an intense stare fixed on him now. He isn't floating-the exact opposite, actually. His movements look pained to her. There isn't a weird aura around him and-

He's nice and a cat trusted him. There's no doubt in her mind that he's dead or some kind of monster, but ghost isn't a term she would use. Even Sai, whose heart remained warm and kind despite all that happened, still retained some ghostly characteristics.

There's one surefire method of figuring this out. Her ultimate assessment tool-a hand. She holds it out for him to take, if he wants to.]

Were there a lot of skeletons where you're from?

[Which he does. His hands are nice and warm for dry old bones. Dead, and solid even though he's walking among the living and he should be more ghostly. Who knows what this island has done to him?]

We're all skeletons back home.

[That's unexpected. She wanted to see if her hands would go through his or if they would feel-weird? The ghosts in her world were tangible and that was 99% of the problem, but they never felt warm. He is. No matter what he says, he's definitely not a ghost. No way.

She keeps her grip on his hand and glances around to see if they're still safe from demonvator. No weird noises or giant boxes in her peripheral vision. Good. Because she has 900 questions about that-was everyone dead in his world too? What a mystery.]

Did you live in a place like this? Were there islands? Did you have houses?

[He squeezes her hand in response to her not letting go. Nice kid, though it's strange how young she acts.]

Oh, plenty. Of houses, not islands. It's a lot more crowded than the living side, loads of dead people, so we keep building higher and higher. I get to live on the ground though. Right by the river.

What about you? Where do you live?

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