lifeaftr | October Intro: I Think We Should Run

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October Intro: I Think We Should Run

INTRO LOG: OCTOBER

Who: New arrivals, and you!
What: New souls arrive to the archipelago of LifeAftr
When: October 4th and onward
Where: Primarily Nuidan, though Ensō is also likely
Warnings: Mark as needed!

Nuidan: Checking that the Coast is Clear
This time around, newest arrivals to the archipelago of LifeAftr will open their eyes to the skies overlooking the relatively recent island of Nuidan. Namely, they'll be waking in the northern quadrant of said island, the region perpetually locked in the season of spring. This means rich fields of gold and green and buff-colored grass and skies swollen with unshed rainclouds. The scent of turned soil and petrichor mingles with the faint, earthy scent of manure.

It's not an unpleasant way to wake. There are doubtless worse places to rouse yourself. But the cloud of dust clotting up the horizon soon suggests that there might be a bit more to the circumstances of your arrival than some nice weather.

And, unfortunately, that's exactly the case. There's a herd of something charging directly for you, and nothing short of a natural disaster is going to sway them from their course.

A thick-packed herd of scaly aptonoth have been spooked, startled, or otherwise galvanized into a panicked stampede across the northern reaches of Nuidan.

Quadrupedal, herbivorous, and scaly, aptonoths resemble dinosaurs in appearance more than they do so in their generally placid nature. They are far more akin to cows in temperament, even if their skin is a good deal more leathery. Even the broad spikes at the ends of their tail or the heavy horns atop their heads aren't terribly dangerous unless the entire herd feels threatened. While aptonoths are typically easily tamed, in this case they are far from amenable to conceding to anyone's interference.

It's probably best to try and get out of their way. Fast.

Ensō: 'Cause They're Already Ghosts
Things are quieter on LifeAftr's mainland. They might seem a little...eerily so, in fact. Today officially marks the day that the Storyteller makes their departure, and seeks out new islands for you intrepid explorers to uncover. The difference that their absence creates is small, at first, and most prominently felt on Ensō itself.

The temple is the most obvious thing. It simply looks...defeated and empty, as hollow and unoccupied as it currently is. That aura of proud mystery is absent, though the Chamber of Glyphs at least remains as it was. But anyone who comes looking for the Storyteller themself at this time will find no one waiting for them. No flower-touched animal, no old, dusty tome. You're currently on your own.

Or...maybe not? The Storyteller was courteous enough to issue a warning last month about the nature of the dream-island of Mu. The effects of that island will start to make themselves evident in small, simple ways: namely, in the way you're going to start seeing things.

Nothing serious, of course. Just...flickers of movement in the corners of your vision. Something about your surroundings just being so slightly off. The color of that rock - it's always been that way, hasn't it? Or was it only always that way five minutes ago? While these blips and hitches in reality are decidedly non-specific, they can be unsettling for those who can't adjust for a bit of strangeness.

The source of these odd quirks in the fabric of reality is easily explained by the presence of clockroaches, one of Mu's wily dream-creatures. You'd be hard-pressed to catch a glimpse of any of them directly; they specialize in the ethereal and the ephemeral, and seldom reveal themselves to anyone if they can help it. But you might, if you're very attentive or very lucky, see some indistinct, silver-misted blur disappearing behind the trunk of a tree in a blink-swift ghost of motion.

But they are, in essence, harmless. At least...for the moment.

As of October 4th, the Storyteller will be unavailable for both IC Contact threads and Item Requests. If you need anything vital backdated, just let us know!

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 )

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[After journeying through the winter wonderlands, Prompto was more than happy to turn his eyes the way of Spring Time Zone. Or so he figured it would be named if this was a video game. Fortunately, the extra caution he traveled with because of his experience on the islands had convinced him to take higher ground. He got himself up on a ledge, well out of the way of aptonoths.

Unfortunately, it hadn't looked like he was the only one there. It hadn't been a good view, but he thought he'd spotted someone in the distance. He was quick to make a beeline towards the other person, almost recklessly darting across the uneven rocks, but he made it in record time with moments to spare.

Dropping down on his knees, he offered a hand from above.]

Up here!

[The words were said before the eyes could catch up. Upon seeing the unfamiliar face, there was something eerily similar to creatures of the night he'd seen back home. His eyes went wide, his breath hitched, and he asked doubtfully. Worriedly.]

Daemon...?

[He knew people from other worlds came in a lot of shapes and sizes, but it was hard for him to put aside the disquieting similarities to magitek soldiers or daemons from his own world, and he couldn't help but be taken aback.]

[ Molly doesn't hesitate, grasping that hand tightly and pulling himself up as much as he could to avoid one of the stampeding creatures smacking into him. He's still looking at that beast when the familiar reaction draws him out of the dazed state. ]

Not a demon, not going to eat your soul, please don't let go of me.

[ He says quickly, his other hand scrambling for purchase on the rocky outcrop just in case the blonde man decided to do just that. The last thing he needed was getting crushed because of someone's demon-issues.

Maybe a name would make him less controversial.]

I'm Mollymauk Tealeaf, Molly to my friends, and I would be ever-so-grateful if you pulled me up.

[Though the hesitation was there it was brief enough. Even if this guy was a daemon and totally was going to eat him, he could deal with that after he got him out of the way. Strength going back into his arm, he pulled him up with everything he had, and despite his average size he was in pretty good shape.

As soon as he got him up he let him go, putting a small amount of space between them as he stepped back and got his bearings. Okay. He seemed like a person, even if he looked like a daemon.

Biting his lip for a second, he did his best to recover and brush it off.]

You know, that sounds like exactly what someone would say if they were going to eat your soul.

[A slightly weak laugh. Things were cool, right? No problems? He hadn't really meant to be mean to anyone, but sometimes it was hard not to compare things he saw here to what they would have meant back home, and big red eyes were bad news back home.]

[ Thank fuck for that, Molly's relieved to be on solid ground and far away from the crazy animals. Brushing off his colorful robe, he then slowly holds up his hands in front of his 'savior' to show that they're away from his weapons. ]

There's no funny business here, my good man! Laying some kind of trap like this to eat souls sounds like way too much of an effort, even if I did do that. [ Wink. ] I prefer wine, personally.

[ That's not food, Molly. ]

Thank you for saving me, I thought I was going to die again, and that's just not okay.

[Ok. Good. Sounded like he wasn't holding it against him too much. He breathed a sigh of relief, both seeing his rather normal mannerism and that he didn't seem too upset.]

Die again?

[Even though he'd heard of such a thing before - from his own best friend no less - it was still strange to think that there could be dead people here.]

You've gotta be new. I'd remember if I saw you around. ...Mollymauk? I'm Prompto. Are you a...

[He cleared his throat a little nervously.]

I mean, not to be rude or anything, [He mumbled, doing his best to soften the question.] But, uh... Are you a girl?

['Cause he looked kind of guyish but Molly seemed kind of girlish and he wasn't sure if this would be a situation like with the cat where they looked alike.]

Don't worry about it.

[ He replies to the first part, because why bother this guy with his issues? He could deal with that on his own later. Right now it was better to make an ally in this shit place, especially since the blonde seemed willing to change his mind about the demon-bigoted thing.

Molly could work with that. ]

Yes, I think I just arrived. Rather rude to just dump someone in anew place without much to go by. Prompto, is it? That's lovely.

[ There's a slightly raised brow at the second question, a bit of amusement in those solid red eyes as Molly shakes his head a little bit and waves a hand dismissively. ]

I mostly go by 'he', if that's what's you're asking. I'm not picky, though. Molly is fine.

Sorry, sorry. I just thought, back home, Molly is a girl's name, and, like, different species, so maybe...?

[He slowly turned red as he tried to explain the somewhat embarrassing mistake, tone a bit too high.

Clearing his throat again, he glanced behind himself and pointed.]

Uh, wanna help hunt some dinner?

[Smooth transition. He just wanted to escape the embarrassment and move onto something else.]

We can probably pick off a straggler when the her goes by. [Just as he started that way, he paused.] You've got a satchel, right?

[ He's heard that before, but it doesn't really matter to Molly. It was who he was, and the name suited him fine. Besides, gendering a name seemed odd to him.

He doesn't mention this, though, because the poor guy looks like he's about to turn tomato over there, and while he's an asshole he's not about to go tease the person who just saved his ass.

Yet. ]

Dinner, huh? I could give you a hand with that.

[ He's no ranger, but at least he has sharp things that he knows how to use. ]

[Thank Astrals. Last thing he needed was the guys teasing him about not being able to tell guys and girls apart.]

Awesome! It'll be a lot easier with two.

[Perking back up, he started trotting along the edge of the rocks, pulling a gun from its holster as he did. It was clear that he was pretty comfortable with it, not giving it too much thought. As the end neared he stopped and knelt down, getting ready to pick one off.]

So are you okay? I mean, ending up here is kinda weird for everyone.

[ The gun is met with a look from those fully-red eyes. It looks... familiar? Yet not at the same time. Molly can't quite place it at first, but it's a weapon of some kind. Didn't... oh, yeah! Longer versions with the Gentleman's entourage.

Definitely a weapon, then.]

Oh, I'm just fine.

[ He lies, like a liar. ]

[A quiet glance, but he wouldn't try to make the other man talk if he didn't want to. He could only imagine how he felt.

Well. He probably could imagine pretty good. It was probably close to what he thought when he ended up here. So, he'd keep talking, and hopefully he could help him relax.]

When I ended up here, I woke up on a raft with two women out in the middle of the ocean. Had to push the raft ashore.

I ended up finding two of my friends, but a lot of people don't seem to know anyone else around here. We've all been pulling together to survive.

[As the herd came to an end and there were a few straggling in the back, he raised his gun and took aim. A lot of concentration as he couldn't waste bullets.

After the end of the gun followed along an aptonoth he'd picked out that was closer to them, he finally took a shot straight at its head. He didn't hesitate to put the gun away and start climbing down because he was already positive he'd hit, and fortunately the loud sound seemed to encourage the stampede to continue onward rather than do any 180 back towards them.]

[ He's listening, not really sure what to make of it all. The blonde man seems genuine enough, but this is all new and weird. Molly could try to roll with it as he usually does, but he just died. He hasn't even had time to process that, yet.

Instead he keeps uncharacteristically quiet as they 'hunt'. The exploding sound from the gun has him ducking away from Prompto instinctually, nearly hurling himself off the cliff in the process. ]

What the fuck?!

[Sometimes it was hard to remember that what was normal to him was completely alien to others. After his initial move forward he paused and glanced forward.]

It's okay! It's just a gun. They can get kinda loud like that.

[Maybe not the best explanation, but he was trying to calm him more than anything. He continued on, hoping Molly wouldn't be too frightened, but he could always go back if he was. They needed to get that meat and hide while the getting was good.]

[ 'It's okay', he says, like that helps. It had been just as loud as the fireworks in Hupperdook and a million times less beautiful. Rubbing his eyes, Molly just... keeps moving forward with Prompto to look at the dead animal. ]

That's a weird-looking thing. Can you really eat it?

[ Focus on the food, Tealeaf. Panic later. ]

[Good, things were okay! Kind of.]

Not sure, it's my first time seeing these. But they look like they'd have some meat on them.

[He slowed at they neared it, pulling out a knife.]

'K, gotta make sure it's dead for realsies.

[We wasn't, after all, some giant burly man who was going to wrestle with one of them. Thoughtlessly, he stretched out an arm to make sure Molly didn't get too close. Maybe he was a hunter, maybe not. He'd rather be safe than sorry.

Tensely, he approached with extremely caution while he looked for any sort of movement.]

Just because something has meat on it doesn't mean it's edible.

[ He's from a circus, they've had seriously questionable food in bad seasons.

Molly doesn't seem to take offense to the outstretched arm stopping him from getting closer. This man knew far more about this place than he did, after all. The tiefling was going to go with what Prompto said for now.

Looking over at their quarry, it doesn't seem to be moving. Whatever that gun had fired it had gone through their head, and honesty Molly hadn't seen much that could survive that. ]

I'm assuming you have somewhere to lug this?

[He let out a soft snort.]

We have to be a bit open-minded here, but luckily Iggy is a miracle worker when it comes to making anything taste good.

[As he got to it he did a quick, hard stab down, making absolutely sure. When he sunk his knife into it and it didn't move, he nodded his approval. Looked like it was safe. He was confident in his aim, but one could never be too cautious.

That done, he shook off the knife quickly before putting it away.]

Yeah, there's a bunch of people who ended up here just like you did. Well. In all kinds of different ways and places, but you know what I mean. Dropped here out of nowhere. Most of us have been working together.

[He scooped an arm under the creature and hefted its weight up to check. While it had been a smaller straggler, it was still a decent sized beast and might be hard to carry.]

I think... if you can get that end, we can probably keep from dragging it across the ground. We can probably use the hide for something, too. Come on, I can show you where everyone is.

[ At least this meant there were more people here, but that didn't make more or less sense than what he had already gathered. The death thing was the most pressing on his mind, but he could compartmentalize.

Food first.

Molly wasn't a strong person by any means, but he could at least try to help haul this beast with the blonde and just focus on that for now.

He grabs some hooves and lifts as much as he can, tail swishing a bit to balance. ]

Am I going to have more 'demon' issues?

Oh, uhh...

[Wasn't this a bit embarrassing?]

Iggy probably won't really notice. As for everyone else... Well, we've got all kinds of people here, so I think it'll be fine? One of the people is a giant spider lady, and there's, like... skeletons and stuff.

People from other worlds are kinda weird.

[He'd had time to get somewhat used to it, but spiders were still terrifying goddamnit.

Either way, he started walking, because they had a ways to go with this thing.]

The mana pool's this way.

Edited 2018-10-09 20:11 (UTC)

A giant spider lady, and skeletons? Sounds like I'll blend in just fine.

[ Well, he's not fully sure about that and he hopes this doesn't mean he's going to have to fight the residents of wherever they were going.

Molly fully agrees with the people from other worlds being weird, though. Whatever that means. (The idea of this being another plane makes more and more sense.)

Molly lifts as much as he can, trying to not drag the carcass or get blood on himself - more for safety than vanity. ]

What is a mana pool? I think I.... heard something about it in a dream?

Edited 2018-10-11 22:40 (UTC)

Oh, sorry. It's like a teleporty place. It's how we travel from island to island here, though I want to make other methods in the future.

[It was heavy, but with two he thought they could make it okay. He just had to endure, and once they got it through it shouldn't be a problem anymore.]

So you kind of dreamed about this before getting here? That happens to a lot of people. Did you meet anyone there?

...You must've, if they told you about the mana pools.

I met... a rabbit? I mean, that sounds crazy but it was definitely a talking rabbit.

[ It really is heavy, and it gets ridiculously hot to lug this thing around with his coat on - but he can't exactly dress down right now. So Molly endures and hopes this beast is really worth eating. ]

What kind of other methods are you thinking of? Are there any boats around?

The Storyteller? Yeah, he shows up as whatever.

[He hefted the animal up, trying to get into a more comfortable position. He was decently strong, but still no bodybuilder. His strength came more from running and endurance.]

Should've brought Coco with me, but I didn't know I'd get a kill...

[With a sigh, he kept going.]

I showed up on a raft myself. A long time ago now. A year? Maybe? Hard to keep track. Other people have popped up all over the place. One group even woke up underground and people had to dig them out I think. That would've been a scary way to come here.

[ Molly, who has intimate knowledge of having to dig yourself out of the ground, shudders at that last part. This place just sounded more and more shitty as time went by.

Why was he even here? ]

How many people are around these parts? Did they all come from other places or are there natives?

[ He tries to hoist the animal up a bit, but instead loses his grip and has to take a quick moment to loosen up before he's back on task. ]

[For once Prompto felt like the professional, but it was probably just from surviving out here so long. Either way, he doesn't sound condescending or critical when he asks:]

You okay?

[After all, they had all types out here, including children. If someone needed time to get accustomed to it, that was fine.]

Hmm... Over a hundred now? A lot are from totally different places, though a couple of my friends from home are here. Though... This will sound kind of weird, but one of them it from ten years in the future, and one of them is a few weeks behind me. Either there's multiple universes going on or time travel or something.

...They're still my friends either way, though. Even if it turns out that they're not really from the same world as me.

No natives. Well. Any place we've found hasn't really been any good. It's hard to explain, but I'm sure you'll get it over time.

Coast

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