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.

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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.

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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

[eudaimonikos]

...you wanna knife?

[Horrifyingly, the lorby seems interested in Michael's knife! It's shiny!]

[everylittlesecret]

[..... Just going to take a few steps back. And a few more.]

Go for it. I will not be liable for any killings it commits, that's all on you.

[eudaimonikos]

What's one more thing at this point?

[Waving the knife enticingly, Michael coaxes the lorby closer, until eventually it's near enough to hop up into his lap.]

I love this.

[everylittlesecret]

That's what they all say before evisceration happens.

[Oh my god... what even is this going on.]

Seems the freaky Furby ferret likes you.

[eudaimonikos]

Oh, look at its big creepy eyes! I want to crush its spine, is that what "cute" feels like?

[He's never really engaged with "cute", but it's a little similar to how he feels when the humans do something particularly endearing.]

[everylittlesecret]

I think you have what's called "cute aggression", where you're so overwhelmed by what you consider cute, you want to cause it harm or destroy something. I get that way with cats.

[This is adorable... Not something she ever thought she'd witness, but somehow this is adorable.]

[eudaimonikos]

[Can he...pick it up? He's picking it up. He'll stand, actually, he doesn't exactly like carrying on a conversation from down here. The lorby wriggles as he does, but it's chewing on the knife with its beak and that's pretty calming.]

That's a human thing?

[not the impression he got, but it's nice to hear he's not doing it totally wrong]

[everylittlesecret]

[If it didn't look like a furby reject, she might find it cute.]

Yup. It's gotten worse with the internet and people posting animal videos. Some people never meet these creatures in real life and they can get super aggressive when overloaded by cuteness. Like punching a hole into a wall. Not me, just some dude in college who had never heard the noise penguins make before a video was uploaded of one laughing. I tend to accidentally... light things on fire.

tw: emeto

[eudaimonikos]

Ha ha!

[Fire is delightful!]

I've seen videos, but we don't have real animals where I'm from. I used to make some - actually made a friend of mine a pet penguin once. He got it a little penguin football jersey to wear, and I made it keep eating all his jalapeno poppers and horking them back up on his roommate's chaise lounge.

[everylittlesecret]

[Hmmm....]

That sounds both gross and like something I want to see. But seriously, penguins eat fish, not jalapeno poppers. Which, by the way, I would love to eat some right now.

[eudaimonikos]

Well, not like it was a real penguin. I just...

[He considers his hand for a moment. And then he snaps his fingers and a medium baggie of jalapeno poppers appears.]

Hahaha! Still works!

[everylittlesecret]

Maybe you need to figure out what penguins actually exist for.

[Which... what do they exist for?]

Whoa! That's pretty impressive!

[eudaimonikos]

Don't think they've got a purpose, really.

[He considers, eats a jalapeno pepper, and offers Nari the bag.]

Thanks. I'm rusty, usually just have my friend do it for me.

[everylittlesecret]

Come on, there's gotta be something. Existing without a purpose makes no sense.

[What's the point?

She takes the bag and decides to go for it and try one of the poppers.]

Huh. These ain't too bad. A little more salt or a marinara sauce dip and these would be perfect.

[eudaimonikos]

Existing with one's overrated.

[He knows exactly what his is, after all.

Michael snaps his fingers and produces a dipping cup of marinara.]

[everylittlesecret]

True. Maybe existing in general is the less desirable outcome.

[She knows hers involves not being liked by most of the population back home. That's it.]

Oh! You're like a magician. Except without all the bedazzling and ridiculous hat. Or a ridiculous amount of Satanic tattoos to make yourself look edgy.

[eudaimonikos]

[Michael snorts. Satanic tattoos - he knows what those are, but he can't quite help the brief flash of a tattoo of his boss's face that crosses his mind. Gross.]

What am I, twelve?

[everylittlesecret]

Don't make me guess your age. I guessed a lady was forty. She was twenty-two. I'm really bad at that.

[Michael looks about her dad's age. Maybe?

Anyways. Time to try the poppers with marinara.]

Well damn, this is better than what I can make. I'm a little jealous.

[eudaimonikos]

You wouldn't guess it anyway.

[Most people do not guess "you sprang into existence at the beginning of time along with all of your foul, cursed kind". They guess "sixty-ish".]

Good! It's been a little while since I did that - feels kinda weird here, actually.

[everylittlesecret]

Okay. I'll go with old but probably looks really good for his age.

[She would have said fifty-ish.]

Does it? I can... relate. I feel very limited by this place.

[eudaimonikos]

[TED DANSON IS SEVENTY-ONE AND IT'S WILD]

Yeah? What do you usually do?

[everylittlesecret]

[OH MY GOD... HE LOOKS WAY YOUNGER]

Uhm... well... I can control elements. And the more I understand what makes the elements function, the better I can manipulate and control them. Since I know how heat works, I can keep myself from getting burned by fire.

[eudaimonikos]

[r i g h t ?]

Neat! I could do some stuff with lava once, but not like this...

[You gotta be a lava monster.]

I can do some other stuff too, but most of it's not that helpful.

[everylittlesecret]

I haven't messed with lava here yet. Got a feeling this place won't let me play with it.

[She would love to meet a lava monster.]

Oh? Like what?

[eudaimonikos]

Oh - it's not really that great...

[He's not all that proud of most of it these days. Not that he feels the need to say as much to a total stranger.]

I could knock you out! Just a quick - [He snaps his fingers, just as a demonstration of what he means; he's not actually doing it.] - wake you up again when I'm ready.