January Intro: It Grips Me

[lifeaftr_mods]

INTRO LOG: JANUARY

Who: New arrivals, and you!
What: New souls arrive to the archipelago of LifeAftr
When: January 5th and onward
Where: All over Ensō
Warnings: Mark as needed!

Shores of Ensō: The Sun's a Harsh Reminder Why
As dawn arrives - and with it, new adventurers to Ensō's shores. It appears the Storyteller is not about to allow a repeat of last month. The ever watchful pages that have guarded the shorelines the month prior now begin to move closer inland, circling the landscape in closing, careful arcs. To the particularly astute, their purpose may quickly become clear. Anything foreign to Ensō's natural ecosystem will be met initially with wary hovering, ruffled pages flocking to nearby trees and wheeling overhead. Now and again, a particularly brave little page will swoop down to tap against the top of an unsuspecting entity.

Foreign entities, in this instance, just so happen to include...well, all of you. These partially sentient notes can be found flitting across the entirety of Ensō and the neighboring housing islets, intent on surveying every little nook and cranny of the tropical landscape. While they may little more than a vague irritant, their attitude towards a person they’re surveying can absolutely get worse, depending on the response they receive. Though responses may vary (and creativity, encouraged), the pages are looking for indications of anything that is not only out of the ordinary, but also that which is acting suspicious. Unfortunately, they're not quite experienced in determining what does and does not count as a genuine threat, and thus they might very well interpret even the smallest signs of surprise, anxiety, and (justified) irritation as signs of hostility.

Unfortunately, their response to this is likely to be just as unpleasant as it is abrupt. Those of you who protest a little too vigorously may find yourselves abruptly doused with a viscous black ink - a marker to return and inspect you again in future. Where more aggressive behavior is…noted, you may very well find yourself swept up in a tornado of angry paperwork, only to be abruptly (and not at all comfortably) deposited at the Storyteller's temple. A very weary Storyteller will do their best to apologize as they slowly smooth out the kinks in this new security system.

But surely you agree, dear adventurer, that this sort of security system is indeed necessary.

Ensō, Inland: Who Knows Where Our Limits Lie
Unsuspecting adventurers aren't the only creatures the pages seem intent on harassing, it seems. Across Ensō, the activity of the native fauna will become much more apparent as creatures are driven from their usual haunts by invading paper. From the smallest of snaplings to herds of cariborn, it will take some time for the wildlife to settle down as many disturbed creatures will find themselves displaced miles away from their natural homes, seemingly at random. Unfortunately, this also includes the creatures most would prefer not to have on the move. For the unappraised, Ensō happens to play host to a particularly horrifying brand of wildlife known only as the fustercluck: a large swath of appropriated limbs with katamari-like qualities, if katamaris were more well known for digesting the majority of their victims and using what little remained (usually the hands and feet) to propel themselves towards their next meal.

Despite Ensō being home to two such creatures, very little has been discovered about them, aside from how unfortunately indestructible they seem to be. Magic, guns, bombs - name your poison, and a fustercluck will most certainly be impervious to it, including poison itself. Should you be unlucky enough to wander into the path of a fustercluck, your best option is to run - or lend the fustercluck a hand.

And another hand. And your entire body, since you offered so nicely.

The fusterclucks have a more directed path than most creatures - they can be found moving up and down the rows of G and H until January 10th, when they appear to settle down...unless they're diverted elsewhere first.

---

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!

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LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

Comments

[counterblows]

[Pointing a gun at someone who's very literally something of a live wire isn't liable to be a good strategy. Unfortunately, talking him down isn't doing much good either. Waiting for him to burn out is the best option, tactically, but it's taking too long, and it's too likely that someone else might get snared in the crossfire.]

[Besides, who's gonna wait two weeks for the kid to blitz out like a fucking magnesium flare?]

Stop and think for two seconds, will you? Are you familiar with that? Stopping? Thinking?

[maxout]

[This guy's really pissing him off. Not that this is hard to do, even under normal circumstances, let alone right now. Being told what to do especially isn't making him any calmer. He's just about had it. Not with Wash specifically even, just. In general. With life.]

Right about now I'm thinking about how easy it'd be to electrocute you.

So yeah, I'm familiar.

[counterblows]

[Threat level raised.]

[He should talk him down. He could, maybe. He could draw his weapon, and - if his aim isn't hampered by a jolt of electricity that twists his nerves and stops his heart, maybe blow out the visor of the containment suit with a well-placed shot. He could take him out. He could.]

[Or maybe his nerves would be fried, inside and out, before he even got that chance.]

[He has something else. He has a shield, a reward for the shit back on Maati. It appears to be made of metal, which isn't fucking ideal given the conductibility of the material, but the possibility is that it's not simply metal but also something capable of stopping a jolt of electricity made manifest. It's not an unreasonable assumption.]

[It's on his back. Does he have time to grab it, put it between him and the kid before his nervous system becomes a twisted symphony of electrical discharge?]

[He tenses on the spot.]

You think about anything else?

[maxout]

Oh, I don't know.

[And there's an edge in Electro's voice, now, but it doesn't entirely seem to be about Wash. Simply... directed towards him, at the moment, because he happens to be nearby.

Lucky him.]

I'm thinking a lot about how ridiculous this is all getting! Second time I've gotten dragged into some other dimension and I was already pretty over it the first time!

I'm sick and tired of the universe jerking me around, so maybe I'm thinking a lot about that. And thinking about how I'd like to solve at least one problem by just obliterating it, already! [On cue, he sends a smaller, though no less angry, bolt of electricity at a page that ends up a little too close.] I'm a real introspective guy like that.

[counterblows]

This has happened to you before?

[The words are quiet, attentive. He's not a diplomat. He's not any good at relating to people unless they make the first attempt. That's clearly not going to happen here.]

[So.]

[He'll have to make the effort here.]

You mind telling me about that?

[maxout]

...

[He actually seems to think that over for a bit. But, really, it's not as if talking about it will matter much. Might as well distract himself.

So he crosses his arms, which in this case is a good sign that he's probably not... immediately going to blast anything again.]

Yeah, some crazy goddamn robot kidnapped a whole bunch of us from different universes and shoved us into his little "study", which it turns out was really just an excuse to get us to kill each other. Then the damn thing tried to just kill all of us when we decided not to play.

And that was before the whole building exploded.

[Because of course it did. What mad scientist hideout doesn't have a self destruct option?]

[counterblows]

[All right. This is better, if marginally. He's not in any danger of blowing anything up at the moment, which Wash is going to tentatively consider a win.]

You've probably figured out that you're somewhere a little bit like that. People from different worlds all piled together.

[Trying for some...validation here. This is very not his area.]

How long were you there, would you say?

[maxout]

Yeah, I noticed. Same thing with less killer robots. Can't say I'm exactly thrilled.

[He shrugs, stilted and stiff, doing a quick tally of the days in his head.]

Few weeks. Somewhere around a month, maybe.

[counterblows]

No killer robots here. Just...those. [Immediately, regrets pointing out that there are still pages fluttering here and there, overhead. Hopefully that won't be a cue for electro-man here to start blasting again.]

They haven't hurt anyone yet.

[Carefully:] From the sound of things, it's not as bad as where you just were.

[maxout]

Great. So how do I make them leave? [He kind of wants to start blasting, as he always does, but he's... trying... to cool it. For a little bit. Just so he has some goddamn clue of what's happening.] Sure, if we want to set the bar real low. I'm not exactly about to start celebrating about this either.

[counterblows]

[No one's asking you to. He bites it back. Pissing off the walking generator is a sure way to find out what the smell of his own charred fucking flesh tastes like. Instead, Wash endeavors to keep his tone as steady as possible, without making it patronizing.]

[No one likes to be patronized.]

If you stop raising a ruckus, maybe they'll decide that you don't need watching.

[maxout]

[He blinks. And then narrows his eyes, looking at the paper again.]

Is that what this is about? They think I need watching?

[counterblows]

They're doing this to a lot of people.

[Wash raises one gauntleted hand, revealing a spatter of ink across the back of it. That's what he got for swearing and trying to swat the things away the first time.]

Every time I tried to rinse it off, another one would just tag me again.

[maxout]

And, what-- leaving them alone got them to stop?

[Ah yes. The one thing Electro would not have ever tried of his own accord.]

[counterblows]

Pretty much.

[He shrugs, again biting back the urge to imply that this solution should have been utterly obvious, because it was. His self-preservation wins out. It usually does.]

It might be a threat level assessment of some kind. If you don't mess with them, they don't mess with you.

[maxout]

Great. That's great. Just gotta put up with this and not do anything about it until it just goes away.

[He just wants to blow something up all the more now. Which is why he closes up his helmet, because otherwise he definitely will.]

Already hate everything about this place.

[counterblows]

More than killer robots?

[He watches the helmet slot back. Seems automated. Or...maybe it's a reflex thing. At least no one seems in danger of getting fried alive at the moment, which is a big plus, in Wash's book.]

[Change of subject, maybe.]

Interesting suit.

[maxout]

Well, at least one of 'em blew up.

[He tenses up at the mention of his suit, almost like he's ready to go on the defensive.]

...Right. Sure. What's yours about?

[counterblows]

[Great. Wrong subject.]

[He does his best to sound offhand. Keep the discussion calm, and casual. Not liable to set anyone off. It's fine. It is all fine.]

Basic equipment in my line of work. Mark VI. Not SPARTAN, but it'll do.

[maxout]

[Work, huh. Could mean a lot of things, but it's at least some idea of the deal.]

Mine's so I don't literally electrocute anything and anyone unlucky enough to be anywhere in my vicinity.

So. You know.

[Not that he's bitter or anything.]

[counterblows]

[Sensitivity would probably be a good trait to have here. Unfortunately, Wash has no idea where to even begin. Several puns come to mind. None of them are probably context appropriate.]

It...seems like it's...doing a good job, [he settles for instead, trying for polite neutrality.]

[maxout]

[do not even think about punning, the last thing you want is to remind him of spider-man]

Considering you're not completely fried right now, yeah, guess so. Lucky you.

[counterblows]

The helmet. It's...automated?

[oh my god he's really not any good at this "let's hold a nice and normal conversation and try to defuse the tension" thing at all, is he]

[maxout]

Do you seriously care or are you just... I don't know, stalling or something?

["what the fuck is a normal conversation"

-electro, probably]

[counterblows]

[GOOD QUESTION. Wash no longer has any idea.]

Look, clearly you're...adjusting, so it's in everyone's best interest if I help you do that. [Despite the clear way he's trying to sound authoritative, there's more than a specter of uncertainty as he says it.]