lifeaftr | January Intro: It Grips Me

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January Intro: It Grips Me

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!

LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

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[Like many occupants of these islands, Chara's day has not been the best. Their garden was assaulted by flying trash and ink that would take forever to clean away, if it hadn't already done significant damage to the flowers it had struck. Their gardening equipment is equally as ruined. They've been dumped into the temple of that stupid rabbit more times than they can count, and they look like someone dunked them into a vat of tar.

And that's when the thought strikes them to ask Taako for coconut oil. Lots and lots of coconut oil.

To anyone walking across the more remote areas of the beach to the north, a clearly outlined section of sand may give one pause. Stones mark its edges, with deliberately dragged lines marking out a large, admittedly wonky square in which the sand itself seems- shinier, than usual.

This is about the time when Chara comes bursting out of the treeline. Flying across the beach with hasty steps that kick up sand everywhere, they're followed closely by a tornado of very angry papers, some of which are- slightly charred. With a flaming knife in one hand, one really has to wonder- how could they possibly have wound up burnt? It's a mystery. We'll never know.

But as Chara gets closer to that square in the sand, they put on a burst of speed. Increasing the distance between them and the paper, they have just enough time to throw that flaming knife into the air and screech one, distinct word of defiance-]

YEET!

[Before their boot collides with the edge of said knife, sending it sailing into the middle of the swarm of paper- and onto the sand.

Which is coated in coconut oil.

The flames flare up incredibly quickly. Some of the unluckier papers are flying low enough to be caught in the blaze, a sacrifice to what is clearly Science. Others don't even get singed. Chara, for their part, lets out a loud boooo between out of breath, maddening laughter, turning on their heel and beginning to run once more.

Straight in your direction. Guess what, buddy pal chum? You're an accomplice now! Lucky you!]

Edited 2019-01-12 14:16 (UTC)

[...Well, that just happened.

God.

Damnit.

Kid.

Seems like an excellent way to be sure the flock of angry ~~birds~~ papers chase them forever and ever. And him too?? Is he the next distraction?? Wow, Chara, rude. He's scrambling to get out of the way as soon as he realizes, both to avoid the tornado and the kid about to bowl him over. The kid's not so tough to avoid--the ink sprayed his way is a different story. Oh nooo, there goes one funny shirt.]

Hey! Hey! They'll leave you alone if you're in the temple!

[He wasn't part of the original plan, admittedly, but he is absolutely the next distraction- thanks, skeledude, for your dedication and sacrifice in the line of duty.]

No can do, sir! [Chara laughs. Attempting an abrupt change of direction isn't their smartest move today- sand goes flying as they dig in their heels, practically falling over themself as the sand catches all their momentum.

Annnnnd then they're making a beeline for him. Again.]

Holy places make me very uncomfortable!

[Oh nooo oh nooo. Do not want. They'll definitely fly him off now that he's been inked, why does he have to be the bait?? It's time for more running, looking like he might fall to pieces with every step.]

Come on, can't be worse than this!

[This is basically the best thing she's seen all day.

It's hard to miss the weird shiny ground that Beau is investigating- she's been keeping out of the forest right now, seeing as she's found she can splash at the paper if they decide to fuck with her on the shoreline- but this is obviously some kind of trap. She's just trying to figure out what sets it off- there isn't a trigger. Beau could bet something about this lights on fire, but what starts the fire?

She's about to call Nott on her rock when Chara bursts out of the treeline, kickflips a flaming knife, and causes a huge plume of flame.

It's the raddest damn thing.

They start bolting her way and she just laughs, pointing at the flock of papers.]

That was so fucking-- ohshit.

[She digs her heels into the sand and starts bolting in the same direction as soon as the papers turn, starting into a sprint after where Chara ran.]

Hey! Hey kid, they're still coming!

Really?! [Amazing observation skills, Beau, just- fantastic! They're completely out of breath, both from running and laughter; there's a stitch in their side that is Demanding they stop, but hey. Determination, so on, so forth. Since when have they ever stopped???] Thank you very much, ma'am! I hadn't noticed!

[It's not going to take her long to catch up with them. For all their youthful spirit, Chara's been flagging for the last few miles. Inevitably, they're going to get caught.

Or-]

Enjoy! I'm out!

[And with that announcement, they change course- sprinting straight towards the ocean, they run into the waves, up to their knees before simply falling forward to disappear into the briny depths.

Catch em now, you paper fucks.]

[Look, maybe they didn't notice, and all things considered Beau was planning on running off and leaving them with the issue either. So when Chara makes a hard left into the ocean, she lets out a whine.]

Awww, that's cheating!

[But now it means this is Her Problem, so she spins around on her heel and just punches the one in the lead so hard it crumples right into the sand.]

Hah!

[That gives her enough time to whip out her staff, cutting through the cloud with a long swipe that lets her run through them again, before she starts making for the ocean too.

Like, she wants to live, okay, this wasn't a bad idea.]

Move over!

[Chara surfaces, gasping for breath and pushing the hair out of their eyes- just in time to watch Beau punch a piece of paper in the face. It doesn't have a face, and it's just a piece of paper, but they whoop anyway for this brave, stupid person-

Right up until she begins running at them and yelling for them to gangway like there isn't an entire fucking ocean to jump into instead of jumping on top of a literal toddler???? But fine they'll just- flounder away as quickly as possible.

Which isn't all that quick when their default swim speed is doggy paddle.]

[Sorry Chara, she's really fucking stupid. They go in the water, she goes in the water. So she goes barreling towards them and just canonballs right into the ocean, creating as big a splash as possible to nail down these paper birds coming right at them. Quite a few get hit and recoil in the water, but she just pokes her head up, hair falling out of her bun and plastered against her face, to see if any of them are still around.

She also tries to speak, but it comes out garbled because her face is still half in the water.]

Did we get 'em?

[The papers are only a problem if you're worried about the destruction of property or being kidnapped-two concerns she's not bothered with. They're kidnapped on a monthly basis, things look better in ink, even if it's hard to rub off her skin. It's fine. The papers are doing their best. She swats them away from time to time, talks to them more often than not and harasses them when she's trying to get back to the temple, so it's all just another day in the land of islandoz.

And keeping in tune with that just another day mentality, Chara busting through the forest with a flame covered knife and a ton of papers at their back shouldn't surprise her as much as it does. They must have some kind of plan? Their trajectory is towards that weird area on the beach she has yet to investigate, they scream yeet and-

Yeet?

And now there's an explosion and fire. A lot of fire. Just another day. It's just another-

They're laughing-that's fine. That's good. Someone better be, because she isn't.

She throws her newly dug up seashells towards the papers as an offering to the paper gods, hoping they accept her small contribution, but-

Chara's still running, the papers are still floating and she's hm. Time to start sprinting in that same direction.]

Who else knows yeet magic? We have to run to them.

[Oh my god Ren you are literally the last person they wanted to pull into these shenanigans? And yet here she is, contributing to their amazing yote with a yeet offering of her own and dashing after them with a helpful suggestion of finding the wonderful wizard of yeet. It'd be an absolutely flawless plan, if such a wizard existed.

As it stands, Chara slows just long enough for her to close the distance between them, reaching out for her hand to drag her along- or to be dragged. They're young and really not good at long distance sprints, sue them.]

Perhaps-- a magical hiding place is in order! Somewhere even-- paper can't find us.

[They reach out to her and it's one of the first times she can recall them doing so. It makes her heart feel warm and content and for a second she doesn't feel the pound, pound, pound of panic caused by running away from these good papers who did nothing wrong in their life.

If only they weren't on fire?? Or charred?? It feels like negotiations would be tough at this point. Instead, she nods her head, like she understands where to go with that simple phrase, clutching their hand tight and dragging them who knows where.

It's a lot of sharp turns through the forest, mostly, and being jerked around like they're on one of those rickety wooden roller coasters. A couple of the papers catch up, but it's right when they reach the densest part of the woods.

She doesn't know if the papers'll see her hand Chara a leafy branch to put over their head, but that's what she does. Magical hiding spot?? Become a tree in the forest. Dope.]

Say 'kaw kaw'-they'll think you're a weird bird.

[If they could read bracket text they'd be letting go of her hand so fast her head would spin. They didn't want to abandon her to the paper tornado? It's not that deep??? Gosh.

Baka.

Also, this is a terrible hiding spot. They'd ask if she was serious, but it's Ren, so of course she is. Chara gives the branch less than a second of their time before dropping it onto the ground and diving into the nearest bush, tugging Ren along for the ride. Sorry boo, but they think their hiding spot is better, this time.]

[The paper tornado is her friend and ink's never killed anyone probably. Tsunchara, hold her hand and shhh.

Also that was a great idea!! Kaw kaw, suckers. Tornadoes don't know what birds are, but that's fine. Hiding in the bush is good too and who is she to doubt their tiny wisdom. They're hiding and that's what matters.

She doesn't say a word and peers through the leaves in the brush once she's properly, and uncomfortably, situated in the branches. Hopefully they aren't like paper bloodhounds and will simply pass by.]

[She thinks she's uncomfortable? They went in first?? It's not a big bush??? They aren't sure if it's Ren's knee or her elbow digging into their back, but it does a good job of forcing them to stay down against the ground as the air fills with the sounds of fluttering paper; hundreds of irritated pages bursting through the trees.

A few of them absolutely see Ren as they pass by- there's so many of them, of course they do. But Ren didn't set a whole bunch of them on fire, so they don't really care? They don't really care.

Congrats Ren; looks like you were the real hiding place all along.]

[And boy, what a great!! job!! she's doing!!! hiding them!! unintentionally!! Who says dreams can't true? Tis the nature of man to want to become a bush and gosh, she is just killing it. They might be bothered by her lanky arm and knee, but she's doing alright after a few seconds of getting situated. That's what matters.

She even quietly whispers caw caw to the passing, fluttery pieces of paper. They're birds. Don't even look this way.

And then the singed threat passes by and Ren waits one, two, three, four seconds to actually start wiggling free from nature's grasp.]

We won!

[Did they??? Really?? Definitely not.]

Uncle Taako can make pizza rolls for us. That can be our prize.

[She gets up- and a miracle occurs! Chara gets up too. They can breathe again. A weight has been lifted- the true prize for their valiant and heroic attempts to light a whole tornado of sentient paper on fire.]

They can make pizza?

[Actually no, what the fuck, that's way more important?]

Since when? What kinds?

[Spill Ren dob those trashy hobo glam elves in for not sharing the forbidden pepperoni slice.]

Uncle Taako can make pizza rolls if we tell him it's a prize. He said 'remind me to invent that' so that's what we can do now.

[Because what the hell is pizza anyway?? It's not her problem that's what it is. Ingredients are whatever. That's a Taako issue, not a Ren one. She was simply tasked to be a reminder app.

Which means, that's the new mission for the day. Annoy Taako until pizza falls out of his pockets.]

We should find him.

[They'd only intended to watch, really. As the Hollow Knight had barely reacted to the papers at all, they'd been left alone rather easily. Others... not, it seems?

Chara's way of dealing with them is unique, if nothing else. Flashy. They aren't sure what to make of it. Or of that strange word they yelled. Something of cultural significance, perhaps. They would have to ask their sibling about it.

Then, of course, Chara is suddenly heading their way. With the--

Oh.

With the papers. They step aside to make sure Chara can pass in a straight line, but give them a curious glance. Questioning. They are running, after all.

Should...

Should they be running, also?]

[Oh, honey. Unfortunately for them, Chara is not omniscient ~~unless you ask them, in which case, they totally are~~. They have no idea that the oversized bug's experiences with the paper have been relatively peaceful, or that they've even come across them at all. If Chara abandoned them here, used them as a diversion... well, the Knight doesn't have to know, but they certainly wouldn't approve.

And it's not their fault they don't understand. They're just-

Another child the world sacrificed. Skidding to a halt, Chara curses loudly as they double back, signing rapidly with one hand as they grab the Hollow Knight's wrist with the other.]

We need to run now.

[Time to go, buddy. Please keep up.]

Edited 2019-01-21 01:01 (UTC)

[They don't entirely get it, what reason there could be for them to run. But understanding has never been necessary, for them. There's a lot in life they never quite understood. They don't need to know what's going on to act.

Especially when they're given such clear instructions. They're told to run and, thus, they run along with Chara. And the Hollow Knight will, of course, match their pace.

This might as well happen.]

[It would've been nice if those Super Long Legs could run faster, actually. A little role reversal, with Chara being tugged along at speeds they could barely keep up with, but oh well. They got them into this mess, they have to get them out. That's just how it is on this bitch of a world.]

We're going to-- the mana pool. To the mountain temple. [Chara huffs out. They'll get it, probably; they've helped out with the garden before.

[Ah, expecting speed from this tired, broken bug. There's your first mistake. But, of course, they are always tired. Maybe that's why they don't mind the running so much - if it exhausts them, that's just more of the same.

They listen carefully to Chara, of course. And they try to recall. The mana pool...

Yes, they know the one. And they nod. Understood. Though if Chara looks their way, they'll notice one word being signed to them. A question.]

Tired?

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January Intro: It Grips Me

Chara Dreemurr || OTA - The Beach

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