April Intro: Better Get to Digging

[lifeaftr_mods]

INTRO LOG: APRIL

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

Waking up to the gentle proddings of what appears to be very curious, sentient trees isn't the worst wake up call LifeAftr has to offer. For our newest arrivals, however, it may be a tad…odd.

Situated in the valley between two mountains, Elower is a scenic village filled with the friendly Roaka, tree-like beings that are rather peaceable and happy to assist those who have just arrived. I'’s a peaceful location for one to start their adventures - though, unfortunately, it doesn't stay peaceful for long.

Cahypdo: You'll Bury Me Low
Those who have explored the new island of Cahypdo in the last month will undoubtedly recall the series of quakes that shook the island throughout March. With the arrival of LifeAftr's newest adventurers comes Cahypdo's largest tremor to date, striking without warning and more than enough force to throw even the steadiest and sturdiest of your number to the ground. With a low rumble, the mountains heaped on either side of the island will start to shed an abundance of slag and debris, pouring down their slopes. Anyone who's scaling those peaks risks being flung bodily off them when the outpouring of shale comes roaring down those mountains, and anyone at the mountain bases risks being crushed beneath.

As one might expect, unsuspecting newcomers aren't all that have been shaken up. Though protected by netting and retaining walls, the cliffs around and above the village of Elower can only take so much pressure before giving way - a threshold that has been crossed entirely. With a sound like thunder, rocks fall.

Everyone dies? Only if you don't act quickly. Roaka housing is sturdy in build, enough to protect a decidedly less sturdy body from all but the heaviest of boulders. Hiding inside any of their village constructs built into the sides of the mountains will certainly save you from taking a new weight onto your shoulders. They will not, however, save you from being buried alive.

For those who become trapped inside any of those abodes, your options appear limited. Work to free yourself, or wait for help to arrive. Though, speaking of help, those outside may think to offer the Roaka a helping hand in getting their trapped people - and yours, at that - a few breaths of fresh air.

Before you suffocate.

Cahypdo: Stay Acting Brave
Such seismic activity will also stir up the local wildlife, of course. Those unfortunate enough to come across them will recognize the restless shark-dragon hybrids, hydrac, now prowling across the shorelines, while the wickedly fanged wabbits will also be far more frequent, traveling in larger numbers in the jungle and at the bases of the mountains. Taking care to avoid them would be wise - though another creature may make that venture much more difficult.

Lorbies have been unlocked in the bestiary! A strange mix between owl and serpent, the recent quake has clearly startled these usually reclusive creatures into the open. Alone, a lorby is a rather skittish animal, prone to hiding from most perceived threats. Useless for food due to the toxicity of their flesh, lorbies do have the potential to be tamed...but this comes with its own risks.

A lorby may be prone to flight rather than fight when encountered solo, but in groups, these feathery critters are far more hostile. A defensive lorby emits a piercing cry alone, but a group is an almost ear-piercing experience, capable of rendering the unfortunate unstable on their feet at best, and unconscious at worst. For the days that follow the severe earthquake that so rocked everyone's foundations, any hope for silence is lost in the infrequent bursts of almighty screeching by colonies of lorbies who have so rudely had their homes overturned and disturbed.

While the lorby is omnivorous, it may not think to take a bite at anything so much larger than them. That doesn't mean that conflict with these fluffy creatures won't attract something much more willing to take advantage of the fact that you may or may not have been reduced to a prone sack of meat. If something else does arrive, you best hope that it's a friendly face.

If you're interested in keeping a lorby for your own, bear LifeAftr's companion limit in mind - two per character, and no more. The lorby is omnivorous and can survive off of most odds and ends: insects, fruits, berries, critters it can dig up in the sand, and more. However, the process of trying to tame a lorby is not always successful. We recommend use of a d10, with the following guidelines:

Rolling a 10: Critical success! This lorby will love and adore you, and may even feel comfortable enough to drape itself along your neck like a beautiful, furry scarf, churring softly all the way.
Rolling 7-9: This lorby will prove high-strung and timid, even if safely befriended, and will take several weeks to warm up to you. But once it does, it's yours!
Rolling 2-6: Failure. The lorby enters a state of distress and starts screaming. Hope you brought earplugs, or you'll be snoozing for several long hours for your efforts.
Rolling a 1: Critical failure. Not only does the lorby start screaming, but its panic attracts a colony of its friends, and they all start screaming too.

Bear in mind that these are only guidelines; you are free to predetermine successes or failures as you'd like, presuming your character can sustain the companion! Our discord channel has a room for dice-rolls, if you prefer.

---

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 )

Comments

Yukio Okumura | OTA

[reflash]

Wake and Quake
[Yukio doesn't have to open his eyes anymore, not since the implant in his forehead and the extra eyes scattered across his skin. He does wake up though, main eyes opening and focus coming back to his vision through the others, tongue flicking out and catching.... very different scents than he was expecting, and Yukio rolls to his knees, summoning his throwing knife to his hand.

The tree-people seem friendly, and not too startled to see Yukio despite his lack of glamour. But this isn't the Summerlands, and he should be in the Summerlands right now. He's displaced, unsettled, and while he seems to have all of his things he can't smell anyone familiar.

There's a few minutes of exploration, of cautiously moving around the small village and quietly looking for signs of familiar faces. If Rin was here he'd be yelling, if Shura was here she'd be lounging somewhere obvious. West would be loud or causing a scene, Carly would be blatantly obvious, Reira would be quietly sitting and watching, Yukio knows the habits of Carnival members right now, knows where he should expect to find people and what they should be doing.

And then his attempt at figuring out what the heck is going on is interrupted by a rumble that grows into a steady roar, and Yukio runs towards the nearest shelter.]

Get inside! [He yells, if it looks like you need some encouragement. If you're not moving quickly enough, you might find your arm being grabbed firmly (and maybe not quite carefully enough) by a clawed hand as Yukio pulls you towards at least temporary safety.]

????????
[No, seriously, ??????

Yukio is trying to figure out what the hell this creature is. Or, he was, at first, but now it's just kind of devolved into a staring competition with a furby.

Yukio has too many eyes to lose this one.]

Wildcard
[The third option.]

??????

[everylittlesecret]

[Oh god there's more of the freakish furby things. And someone who is apparently either entranced by it or trying to win a staring competition. The latter seems more likely.]

.... I don't think those things can blink.

[reflash]

[The weird furby flinches, startled by the intrusion, and whips around and vanishes into the underbrush.]

It's not the only one. [Yukio says, rising up from his crouch, flushing slightly with the embarrassment of being caught doing something stupid.

And that might be a cryptic statement, until Nari gets an actual look at the teen she's talking to. Yukio was (is still) human, but with more than a few changes and additions. A black, blue-tipped snake tongue flicks out between fanged teeth, a gleaming robotic eye shines blue in the middle of his forehead, the skin around his "normal" eyes is marked with a faint shimmering blue flame pattern, his skin is spotted here and there with what might look like bioluminescent scales, the claws on his fingers are gleaming metal, and a black leonine tail with another blade hidden in the tuft of fur curls low behind him. There's something very wrong with his complexion as well, too pale and too blue.

But he seems friendly enough, or at the very least, polite.]

But it doesn't seem like that thing's going to be a problem anymore.

Good afternoon, I'm [Western order? Yeah, he'll use Western order for his name, she's a foreigner.] Yukio Okumura.

[everylittlesecret]

[For having met a lot of non-humans here, his appearance isn't too startling. A little concerning with the paleness since Nari knows paleness tends to be from lack of minerals and vitamins, but she can worry about that later. If she feels like it.]

It might not be now, but what if it follows you home and uses that fuzzy longcat body to try and strangle you?

[Imagine being suffocated by softness. Doesn't seem like that bad of a way to go.]

Nari Reno. Nari's fine, don't need to be all fancy with the -san thing unless that's your kinda thing.

[reflash]

I can't imagine it giving me much trouble. [Yukio says, with a little shrug of a gesture that shows off his claws.

And he laughs a little, polite and apologetic]

That is "my kinda thing", if you don't mind, Nari-san. [And that's a little too familiar, still, but he isn't going to push this into awkwardness by insisting on using her family name when she's already asked him not to.]

I'm afraid I don't know much about this... area. Are these creatures common?

???

[motherfucking_ghost]

What the fuck. [Is that about the lorby or about Yukio?

...Yes. So. He repeats it, more emphatically this time.] Whaaaaat the fuck!

Is...that thing dangerous? [Because Yukio's sure dangerous-looking.]

[reflash]

I'm not sure. [Yukio says, turning his head to look at the stranger. The eye in his forehead swivels to fix its unblinking, glowing stare on the stranger.

The lorby takes advantage of Yukio's apparent distraction (he can still see it, he's got eyes everywhere) to turn and run.]

They don't seem very interested in interacting. [At least Yukio sounds friendly?

And then his snake tongue flicks out from between his fangs to taste the air and get an idea of the stranger's scent.]

[motherfucking_ghost]

[...Robot? He smells like robot. If you put a robot on a jungle island for a while. A salty robot? Salty metal?]

Jesus fucking christ, dude, what the fuck kind of chimera-android nightmare you are you, what apocalyptic sci-fi movie did you stumble out of?

[reflash]

[Oh, well, that just hits right in the middle of Yukio's awkward teenage self-esteem issues like a grenade. That tongue goes away, mouth shutting so quickly he almost bites it.

He looks like a freak, and he knows it, but it's been a while since he really thought about it, thought about what he must look like to someone who isn't part of the Carnival.]

It's a long story. Did you need something from me?

Wake and Quake

[goat_mom]

[Toriel is staying outside, thank you very much. She only looks confused as someone grabs her arm and attempts to pull her to safety - when their claws rake her arm, she winces and pulls away.]

I apologize, young one, but would it not be prudent to remain outside so as to offer aid?

[reflash]

You can come back after the rockslide. [The rockslide, which is coming down the mountain towards them. The houses look sturdy enough to hold up against it, or at least to take some of the force.] It won't do anyone any good if you get injured!

[goat_mom]

[She is sure she won't be harmed, and that she'd be more efficient outside, so she looks as if she's going to protest further.

But on cue, a small rock, dislodged from the rockslide, bounces right over her head.

She decides this person... might just be right.] Of course, of course. You are correct.

[Although the question is: do the two of them still have enough time to get to shelter?]

Let us make haste.

[reflash]

[Barely enough time, rocks bouncing and falling around them as they race towards the nearest shelter. A rock pings off his tail blade, another slams into his shoulder. But they make it inside in time to escape the mass of the wall of rocks that comes sliding down over the opening.]

Wake and Quake

[onegreeneye]

[Fortunately, Ginko had already been on his way to shelter, from the moment he heard that rumbling - but he may have been a little slow, distracted by checking around for others that might need to get to safety.

Yukio's yank on his arm, though, breaks through that hesitation, and he rushes with him into the nearest house, with a startled clicking sound from somewhere in his throat. Fuckin' troll noises.]

Th-thanks. Are you--

[Then he gets a better look at the kid's face, and realizes where he's heard his voice before.

Shit.]

[reflash]

Something hit my tail. [He says, unintentionally honest as the rocks clatter and crash around their shelter. He runs his hands along the length of it, checking for any kind of real injuries, metal claws brushing over the metal blade hidden in the dark tuft of fur on the end. It's been sensitive since the experiment in Polaris, and the pebbles slamming into it on their way down the mountain hurt more than he was expecting.]

I think I'm all right.

[And then, Yukio gets a good look at the person trapped with him (and they are trapped, the rocks have covered the door).]

Are you... Ginko-san? [That's what his tongue is telling him, the scents in the air almost exactly like the other Carnival worker... but not quite, and the transformation is all wrong.

Yukio's own transformations are a lot, honestly. A fae mark like a shimmering blue flame across the skin of his face, fangs and a snake tongue and metal claws. A tail. A third eye, the shining metal inset into his forehead. The dark spots of moles across his skin have changed to blue, almost like small round scales except for the fixed dots of pupils in the middle of them all. And he glows, brightest in all his eyes but it seeps out of his skin in the dark, faint and blue and stronger where the blood comes closer to the surface, not enough to illuminate the area around him but enough that he can't hide it.]

[onegreeneye]

Alright. As long as... as you're okay.

[He's... genuinely trying not to stare. But he's not doing a very good job.

It's Yukio, all right - but he doesn't look the same. Not the way Ginko got used to seeing him, certainly not the way he looked when he first arrived. He doesn't really look like anything that Ryslig spawned, or at least not anything that Ginko could identify and categorize at a glance.

Meaning he probably hasn't been to Ryslig at all.

It's the way he says Ginko's name that really clinches it. Hesitant and unfamiliar, even more distant than he'd accepted as a simple reality of how Yukio spoke. But-- he does know his name. That should count for something.

Not that it really feels like it does. But it should.]

...Yeah. Yukio?

[reflash]

[That's too much familiarity from someone Yukio's only spoken to like, twice. And that attention is a lot, more than Yukio was expecting, more than he's comfortable with.]

I wasn't aware there was anyone else from the Carnival here. [He says, cautiously. He's suspecting that (somehow) Ginko isn't from the Carnival at all.]

Wildcard

[cacoethes_mori]

[Presumably Yukio has stopped being buried under rubble and rock, and wasting possibly hours of his life staring at an unblinking bird tube.

This is presumed because Foster certainly isn't hiding from fatal rockslides, or saving anyone from burial or lorby shrieks. He's exploring the wreckage at a gallop, attracted as always to sites of disaster, his long legs carrying him over debris with practised ease.

His is a noisy grace, though--three hooved toes per leg, times four legs, is a lot of noise over rocks and wood. It sounds like more horses than just one, and it's that much more obvious when it stops--suddenly, echoingly.

Because whether or not Yukio's spotted Foster, Foster has spotted Yukio.

His brow creases, eyes less lidded than his usual, his mouth a tight, pensive line.

Hesitant to believe his recognition--or perhaps to believe what he's recognising--he doesn't say anything. Yet.]

[reflash]

[Oh the noise is more than enough to get his attention, and Yukio turns from the wreckage to see what's coming, tongue flicking to try and catch the scent.

Oh.

It's this guy.]

You're from the Carnival, aren't you?

[Yukio is trying to sound polite but his interactions with this particular coworker have been... weird.]

[cacoethes_mori]

[Foster doesn't really remember Yukio well, but he definitely remembers him. He's both pleased and bemused that the guy remembers him, but ducks his head immediately upon acknowledgement, a bright smile on his face.

And takes a step forward, then a second, steps which are especially audible by virtue of his hooves.]

Yes! Yes, from the Carnival!

Before I was... ejected from it, of course. Rejected? Haha.... something like that.

[He's not bitter. Or is he?]

What about you?

[reflash]

[Oh. Yeah. This is the guy from the Carnival.]

I didn't get all the details. I'm assuming that the Storyteller somehow canceled or bought out my contract with the Ringmaster when they brought me here, but I haven't asked them.

wake and quake

[technicallytechnically]

[Jester doesn't seem too alarmed by the rumbling, which is probably why Yukio saw fit to grab her arm and drag her towards the nearest Roaka dwelling.

And, well, okay, Jester herself is a tiefling, one of her best friends is a goblin, she just met these cool tree people, she knows you shouldn't judge people on their appearance. But also she's never met anyone who just happened to have like a billion spare eyeballs ready to go at all times. So there's an immediate shock, a strangled yelp, and a reflexive raising of the small shield strapped to her arm.]

What! What! What's going on!

[Apparently the earthquake didn't seem like that much of a cause for alarm! Which is immediately undermined by the fact that several large rocks start crashing down on the (thankfully very solid) roof above them.]

[reflash]

[Yukio lets go fairly quickly once they're inside, because he really doesn't want to have anything to do with any weapons the stranger might pull on him.]

Apologies for grabbing you, but it didn't seem safe to be outside right now.

[technicallytechnically]

[Listen, it's not the hand axe strapped to her belt that is the real danger here, although she has split a man's head open with it in the past.

Accidentally.

He got better.

Jester flinches at the sound of the rockslide overhead.]

I... guess so. That's weird, the earthquakes weren't that bad before! Well, if you saved me, I guess that means I'm...

[Her eyebrows waggle nigh-uncontrollably.]

...in your debt.

[reflash]

[Easy enough to say when you don't have a fatal iron allergy.]

... I suppose so. [No, he's not rising to that nonsense.] For now, we need to focus on staying safe.