lifeaftr | April Intro: Better Get to Digging

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 )

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ The lorby churrs in contentment, apparently perfectly happy with its lot in life. Any anxiousness it might have had at seeing something strange and new and armored is quickly dispersed by the Knight giving it a little rub behind its soft and fuzzy ears, one of the few non-horrifying parts of the lorby.

They look at Wash, and give him a wave and a thumbs up. Yes, they're fine.

The lorby chooses this moment to slither a bit closer, large and creepy eyes glinting with animal curiosity. Their rider is not stopping this happening at all. ]

[The lorby is not...any better up close than it is at a distance, but at least it's not making any noises that might take him out. Wash's hand closes around his sidearm out of reflex, even if the thing doesn't seem particularly dangerous. Its general appearance is still unsettling enough to be reason enough for caution.]

How'd you get this thing to listen to you?

[Now he's definitely talking to the Knight, seeing as they're the rider, and therefore seem the most sentient.]

[ They give the lorby another pat, and then sort of wave a hand in front of its large, unsettling eyes to catch its attention.

They fish out what looks like a strawberry from under their cloak, dangling it enticingly in front of the creature's beak, before dropping it. The lorby snaps it up in an instant and then chirps happily.

They look back at Wash and give him another thumbs up. Food bribery is apparently a great way to make friends, in case he, for some reason, wanted a lorby of his very own. ]

...huh.

[In retrospect, that's completely obvious. He bends, slowly, to drop into a crouch so that he's a little more at eye level with the pair of them. It's safest to treat this thing, he thinks, like one might treat a stray feral cat - allowing it the kind of space and distance that it'd prefer, and letting it approach him on its own terms.]

I guess that would do it. Do, uh...either of you talk?

[ They're so used to being around people who know them, who know they don't talk or are comfortable with their silence, that they've sort of forgotten that it's a thing they might need to convey.

The lorby coos, wiggling its ears. No luck there.

The Knight, on the other hand, shakes their head. For emphasis, they bring their hands down to where a mouth might be on their blank face, and cross them over each other. Holding the pose for a moment before dropping it.

No mouth. No voice. ]

[Wash takes that in. He's more adept than most, when it comes to communicating with people who either don't or can't say much by necessity. They're not Maine, who had his throat sheared apart with bullets to the point where he could no longer speak. They simply...don't have a mouth.]

You seem to make do without.

[ They nod, enthusiastically. People are kind here, they want to say. They taught them new things, new ways of talking, and are patient and understanding.

Then, as if thinking about something else, they tilt their head, leaning forward in clear curiosity. Tapping their own smooth face (mask? both?) first, and then pointing at Wash's helmet. They repeat this gesture several times.

It's unclear what they're asking, or even if they're asking a conventional question at all, but they're clearly fascinated by his helmet. ]

[Well, if they've never seen his armor before, it stands to reason they might be confused as to how he's capable of speech. Wash reaches up, thumbs the seal on the helmet, and yanks it off.]

It's not my real face. See?

[He's much more distinctively human underneath, despite the vibrant color of his achingly blonde hair, and the way his skin is spattered with freckles and scar tissue in seemingly equal amounts.]

It's just for protection.

April Intro: Better Get to Digging

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