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]

[ehhhhhhhhh well, he cares more about other things, but he's trying not to just be solely focused on his own self-interest...]

I was told that this island isn't actually where most of the people live. The ones like us, I mean, the tree folks are native. You probably need to go to the main island. I haven't looked around it much, but I know how to get there...?

[goat_mom]

[She brightens.] Oh, you do? That sounds wonderful - I would be in your debt if you could show me.

[eudaimonikos]

Sure.

[Well, he's not the kind of demon where debts matter more than with anyone else. That's just stuff humans made up.]

There's a sort of water-based portal called a mana pool, it's this way. [He'll start leading the way.]

[goat_mom]

[She follows behind the stranger as they lead the way. It feels strange to be the one being led somewhere, rather than the other way around - but that comes with being in a new place, she supposes.]

Oh! I forgot to introduce myself, pardon me. I am Toriel - what is your name?

[eudaimonikos]

I'm Michael.

[He turns to offer her a charming grin and a handshake. Only polite, even if he doesn't know whether or not goat people do that.]

Is it rude to ask what species you are? We don't have you where I'm from. [technically he's just asked anyway, oh well]

[goat_mom]

[She gently shakes the human's hand with her huge paws. She's familiar with the gesture, even though it's not universal among monsters - she has met many humans, after all.]

No, I do not think it is rude. I am what is called a Boss Monster.

[eudaimonikos]

[Oh, good, not rude! Michael raises his eyebrows.]

That being distinct from the employee monster...?

[goat_mom]

[She laughs at that.]

"Employee monster!" Very good!

[She shakes her head, still smiling.] But no, we are only called that for our great strength, and for the power of our souls. We are unique, and rare, among monsterkind. I suppose the name comes from how boss monsters are often leaders - kings, queens, and other members of royalty.

[eudaimonikos]

[Michael chuckles a little as well, mostly just pleased at the reaction. The explanation, however, gives him pause.]

Sorry, wait - that's a powerful soul for you?

[goat_mom]

[She nods.] It is not much compared to a human soul, it is true. But it is strong for a monster soul. It persists momentarily after our deaths, unlike the souls of other monsters.

[She raises an eyebrow as she realizes something.] Wait. You talk as if you can sense the strength of my soul. Can you...?

[eudaimonikos]

I work in the human afterlife. Deal with souls pretty much all day.

[They're not bringing their bodies along, after all. You gotta be able to interact with souls!]

Theirs are a lot more...solid? You look like you might die if I - well, if I messed with it and wasn't careful. Which I'm not going to do!

[goat_mom]

The human afterlife...? I have heard of such a thing, but I must admit... I did not know it was real.

[She sighs.] Good. Please do not "mess with" my soul.

[eudaimonikos]

They're not supposed to know it's real. The official line is that if humans know there's an afterlife, then any good things they do are for the sake of getting a good one, not for the sake of being good. Cancels everything out, sends them straight to the Bad Place.

[He seems to have some Feelings on that, but.]

I figure no one here's going there, though, we only service the one version of Earth.

[goat_mom]

That sounds most unfair. If one does good, it is not important that they have done good, regardless of the motivations?

[eudaimonikos]

[Michael shrugs.]

You'd think. The system was designed a long time ago, by people a lot higher-ranking than me. Bunch of morons.

sorry asgore

[goat_mom]

[She smiles at that.] I am quite familiar with high-ranking people being foolish. Anything you can do to change their minds?

[eudaimonikos]

[While Michael could probably write a whole ethics essay on that whole situation, right now he doesn't even think to inquire. Because yeah, people in charge suck a lot all the time for him specifically.]

I've started a sort of experiment-slash-legal-challenge. Either it works or I die for suggesting it, but that's been on the table for a while anyway.

[goat_mom]

[She frowns.] You would be killed merely for suggesting an improvement? Your world sounds like something out of fiction for youths.

[eudaimonikos]

That's a fun comparison!

[It's not.]

Technically, I can't actually die. It's more of an infinite torture. There's always been a lot of that going around.

[goat_mom]

O-oh! I did not mean to insult your world! I only mean to say it is like those books... what were they called... "The Hungry Games"? "The Amazing Runner"? A world where everything is cruel and unfair. [She bows her head.] I apologize.

But... you do recognize that being tortured forever is even worse?

[eudaimonikos]

[Shrug. He'd probably have agreed if his anger about the things he discovered weren't still pretty fresh.] It's fine.

Sure, but that's basically what's happening to all humans after death right now anyway. Kinda puts us in the same boat.

[goat_mom]

So you are saying that all humans who die in your world are subjected to infinite torture? I hope that is not the case where I come from...

[eudaimonikos]

We only manage one version of Earth, and it doesn't have any other sapient species. I wouldn't assume anything about other Earths.

[Could be. But, well, there's nothing to be done about it either way.]

[goat_mom]

[She nods.] That is true. I just hope that my children are alright.

Or else I will have to have a talk with whoever runs the afterlife in my world.

[eudaimonikos]

Yeah, good luck with that.

[He means it, but it does sound a little sarcastic because also.....boy.]