lifeaftr | December Intro: Pressure Building

INTRO LOG: DECEMBER

Who: New arrivals, and you!
What: New souls arrive to the archipelago of LifeAftr
When: December 4th and onward
Where: All over Ensō
Warnings: Mark as needed!

It begins on a mild autumn day, one where the breeze is gentle and the sky a deep, cloudless blue. Ensō is quiet as the adventurers that call it (if only temporarily) home begin to awaken and go about their daily business- for those who have been here long enough, this may consist of searching for those new arrivals, undoubtedly lost and likely confused. It is a normal day on Ensō. Then the water starts to rise.

Northern Beachfront: Let Me Get Off the Ground
For newcomers waking on the shoreline and those who have come to greet them, the rapid swelling of the ocean's surface will be immediately noticeable. Just a few, short miles from the shore, the water continues bulging upwards to terrifying heights, obscuring the sun and throwing warped shadows over the majority of Ensō's northern landscape. It towers there, wobbling, inexplicably retaining its shape even as it ripples, flowing, and sends great streams of saltwater streaming over the ocean's surface.

Though the sun is barely capable of piercing the immense mass, those with a keen eye will see...something moving within, coiled far above sea level. Some dark mass, too distorted by the water and the lack of light to solidify into any easily recognizable shape, nonetheless makes its presence felt regardless. All nearby will find themselves stricken with a growing sense of being watched by a gaze that pierces flesh and bone…one that is none too appreciative of what it sees.

Retaliation to this apparent threat is both vicious and immediate. Bursting from the trees and whipping through the air within a tornado of motion, thousands, then tens of thousands of ink-stained pages whip out from Ensō's jungle and across open water like a flock of ferocious birds, striking at the liquid mountain with unceasing fervor.

Now may not be the best time to gawk, adventurers. With this attack, the raised water will begin to collapse - and the giant waves resulting from the sudden upset will bear no mercy for anyone swept off their feet in the churning swells.

Storyteller's Temple and the Rest of Ensō: I See Your Corruption
Those seeking shelter and answers will find them limited in supply, if not entirely absent. For, you see, the mana pools on Ensō have ceased functioning, leaving characters stranded wherever they may be at the time the assault begins.

No safety can be found within the temple walls this day, with more and more black pages erupting from every door and window. Attempts to approach and even push through won't be harmful, or at least not intentionally - rather, the pages will force back anyone who attempts to come between them and their current objective. Those who may not get the message the first time may just find themselves flying quite a ways away.

The above will quickly become the least of anyone’s worries.

Those who remember the rebirth of the sun back in January will not doubt recall the creatures of the night faced during those darkest hours. As the waters around Ensō continue to churn in response to the offshore assault, large waves act as ferries for those precise beasts, clambering onto the shore in droves. Though the sun is obscured in many spaces, these shadowy creatures will always make for the treelines during daylight hours, seemingly sluggish at best under natural lighting.

Unfortunately, the Storyteller will be occupied for quite some time - and once night falls, those deadly beings will be on the hunt.

For the duration of the assault, the islets will remain relatively safe during daylight hours, so long as your character is capable of accessing a boat to travel there. Once night falls, however, they will be as dangerous as the mainland.

Both the shadowy creatures and the risen water will retreat on the morning of December 10th, leaving Ensō silent once more. The hovering pages, however, will continue circling the coastline for some time like great papery seabirds.

The doors to the Storyteller’s temple shall remain closed.

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

I'm fine.

[He's doing significantly better than he was last time, that's for sure.]

Don't need any healing or infirmaries or anything. And you're not hurt any, right?

I'm not hurt.

[Not that he needs any help from her. He knows what to do, where to go, and is helping other people find their way.]

You have to come back to me if you need those things. I'll find someone to help you.

Don't worry about me.

[Privately, he's pretty dead set on not alerting her if he gets injured any time soon. Fix the problem as soon as possible, and keep moving like it never happened. Don't think about it, don't allow it to take root and flower away inside him.]

[That's his one skill. Lying.]

[It's hard to look at him and say okay to that. As if she could really turn away and ignore him.. He can take care of himself and he'll survive well enough, but he's the kind of person who might hide in a corner she can't see with a painful wound or push himself too hard trying to get people inside the building.]

I think I'm always worried about you. I can't stop my heart from feeling that kind of thing.

[Go live your best life, Tim. Just know this heathen is watching.]

[If he were the type of person to smile easy, that might've tweaked the corner of his mouth upward. It warms something inside him, faintly, and lifts his eyebrows just slightly enough to let her know that it means something, really it does, that she said that.]

[Two can play at that game.]

Then I can't stop mine from worrying about you.

[Had she not been the first one to say it, she would've denied his words now. Would've said he didn't need to worry, that it didn't matter, that she was used to this and would be fine-

But if he can't stop it either, then there's no point in saying any of it.]

When you're done helping everyone, can you come back here? Can we sit together for awhile?

[Then neither one of them needs to worry and she can try to coerce him into some well deserved nighty night peanut time.]

Sure.

[He doesn't know the origin behind the ask, presumes it must be a sense of...not wanting to lose track of him (why him?), and wanting to ascertain to herself that, yes, he's safe.]

You're just gonna stay here the whole time? [Presumably, though that's been working out pretty well for her thus far.]

Yes, I won't move. I'll stay right here.

[So he better heckin come back.]

All right.

[The words are quiet, nearly soundless. It's not as though he has anything else that needs doing, aside from general maintenance. And if he has to park himself somewhere, why not here?]

I'll be back, then.

Okay.

[She'll quietly hang out, playing with her cats and doodling on the wall. Maybe looking up periodically to see where he's at, until he comes back.

But she's happy. That's one person she won't have to stress about, as long as he's sitting by her, and once the monsters leave, they can all go home together.

Hopefully it's soon.]

December Intro: Pressure Building

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