lifeaftr | 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 )

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Boy Erika hates this. If she didn't know better, she'd expect it to be some kind of fae nonsense - and it still takes some effort to remind herself that, with the exception of a certain necromancer and his horse ass, fae nonsense isn't really a concern here.

Unfortunately, that means she doesn't know what this is, which fucking sucks.

She doesn't know if it's better or worse that she's clearly not the only one seeing things right now. Making her way back toward where she and Chip are staying, she slows to a stop when she sees the little bug-person standing in place. She glances at them, then at the spot they're looking at, raising her eyebrows slightly.]

...Seeing anything interesting?

[ They turn quickly, and when they see it's just a person they don't quite recognise, they relax. It's nothing like the destructive hallucinations they'd experienced before, and so it's fine.

They sort of shrug, holding up their hand and giving it a noncommittal wiggle. They're not sure what it is they're seeing, but they don't particularly like it.

They gesture at her, tilting their head. What about her? ]

[Erika gives a short nod, and, for a moment the beginnings of a smile - part of which, frankly, is over relief at the confirmation that this is... you know, some kind of a person, albeit an odd one. Sometimes it seems like she can't be sure until she's talked to someone, and they've responded.]

Not much, right-- ah, no, spoke too soon. [She shoots a quick glare at the glimpse of who-knows-what that she'd caught, just as it vanishes.] Ugh. Why's this place always gotta be like this?

[ They attempt to pounce on it, but it's too elusive for them to pin down more than a glimpse, much less physically attack.

...Their shoulders droop a bit, and they sheathe their sword in apparent grouchiness at not being able to catch their apparent foe (because anything they can't keep an eye on presumably has motives for staying hidden, or so their logic goes).

At her question, they give her another significantly more helpless shrug and a frustrated little shake of their head. They don't know the answer to that either. They enjoy being here, but it certainly does have its fair share of strangeness. ]

[Man, that probably should not be as cute as it is. She sighs and glances upward, as if hoping there won't be any of that crap happening up there. None of it has attacked yet, or anything, so... maybe it's harmless. Or maybe it's not, but she's getting pretty tired of what feels like literally jumping at shadows either way.]

Maybe we can hope it's only a matter of time. Y'know, that this place has a limited amount of bullsh-- of weird stuff to throw at us, and eventually it'll run out. [Is this a kid? They look like probably a kid. If a weird, vaguely fae-ish looking one.]

[ They are indeed a child, though learning swear words is...really a drop in the bucket compared to the other things they've been through. It's fine. They're fine.

That gets...another shrug, and some words scratched in the dirt. ]

maybe
maybe not
if new islands keep coming
more strange things will happen

i think ?

[ After a moment, they pause. ]

but not all islands are bad
so will be interesting
at least ?

Seems like a good bet, with what this place has been like so far.

[She nods, slowly. They're not... wrong. She guesses that harvest place was alright, at least.

She gives a short, quiet laugh.]

Whatever happens, we won't get bored, huh? Maybe we'll even survive some of the excitement.

October Intro: I Think We Should Run

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