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

[vagabone]

No? [Huh. Some people use it here, and he's learning a bit of it, but... still funny.]

Because nobody speaks it, get it?

[goat_mom]

Oh, no, I understand the humor... I just think it is a bit... offensive? I have communicated with many children who can only speak in sign language. I am not sure they would be fond of such a joke.

[vagabone]

[Touchy subject, alright, he'll file that away--he has half a million of those himself.]

Ah. Okay. Sorry.

[Well, he seems sincere enough... but that doesn't make it any less awkward.]

[goat_mom]

You are fine, dear Héctor. Thank you kindly for the apology.

[It is a bit awkward, so she tries to change the subject.]

You remind me of a dear friend of mine. He is very much like you.

[vagabone]

[That can't say anything good about her 'dear friend'--just look at him, with great big holes in his pants, dingy yellowed bones, and no shoes. He blinks, taken aback, and making his eyesockets look empty (like they should be) for a second.]

Who's that?

[goat_mom]

[No worries, Héctor, her "dear friend" is also pretty filthy.

She blinks in surprise when Héctor's eyes momentarily disappear, but then laughs.] Like that, you look even more like him! Hehehe!

His name is Sans. He is a skeleton, like you, though... not quite as tall. He is very fond of jokes and puns. We used to spend all day sharing jokes through the Ruins door - much like you and I shared jokes today.

[vagabone]

[He has one question and he's not holding back--]

Why not... open the door? Or should I not ask? [Too late, he did.] Anyway, I said I met Papyrus, right? Real nice guy. He'd stop by and tell me bedtime stories--how cute is that?

[goat_mom]

[She frowns.] That is not something I wish to discuss.

Oh, yes, that is right! You did mention Papyrus before. He always did strike me as a very kind person, from how Sans spoke of him. Bedtime stories... that is adorable!

[vagabone]

[And now he's full of wild and crazy ideas--were she and Sans in some kind of prison?? Toriel, secret criminal mastermind?? Sans... not so secret lowlife scum??]

Oh, yeah, I heard about that fluffy bunny a hundred times. [...This is probably him exaggerating, but who knows with Papyrus?] And it was nice to have another skeleton around.

[goat_mom]

[It's probably not an exaggeration.]

Ah, you mean "Peak-A-Boo With Fluffy Bunny"? I was quite fond of reading that book to my children... and yet, strangely, they were rarely fond of it in return.

And, yet, it does not surprise me that Papyrus would be. From the way Sans spoke of him, he did seem to possess the heart of a child.

[vagabone]

[What does that say about Héctor, that he put up with the same stupid story over and over? Pathetic, lonely, or pathetically lonely despite all the friendly people around. Har har har.]

Eh, I can see how it'd get boring after a while. You have kids?

[He says, totally oblivious to the accidental pun.]

[goat_mom]

[She nods.] I have had many children. [And, calmly:] And I have lost many children.

[vagabone]

[He jolts, sending his ribs rattling up and down like loose teeth underneath his joke shirt. A doozy of a bombshell, Toriel, and said so casual. But... there's something to be said for being honest. He's looking straight ahead in a distant way, instead of looking at her. So, so many children gone. Only he remains, hanging by a thread, shambling around in tattered pants and uncombed hair.]

Yeah. I... So have I.

told you i'd get him to angst

[goat_mom]

[She frowns at Héctor. Was it a mistake to speak so casually of her loss? Of course others would have faced the same pain that she had, without the benefit of a thousand years to deal with those emotions.]

I am sorry. I certainly did not mean to dredge up such painful memories.

rip in pepperoni pieces

[vagabone]

[Someone new to this whole mess deserves better than this--he should not be having a moment in front of her. He shakes his head slowly, trying to drag himself out of the blackness.]

Nah, I'm the one who asked. So... so did you just get here today?

[goat_mom]

[She nods, appreciative of the change in subject. She doesn't want to upset Héctor, after all.] That is correct. I still have much to learn.

And how long have you been here, in this strange world?

[vagabone]

[He's not snapping out of it as quickly as she did. He's distant. Unmoored. But less so every second.]

Nine months. What all did you hear so far?

[goat_mom]

Nine months... a long time to be away from home, to be certain.

I have heard that this is a world where people come from other worlds, outside of time itself, even after death. I have heard that two of my children are here, with a man known as Tim. I have also seen that someone else from my world is here, my ex-husband, a man named Asgore. I have learned this world is most unlike my own, another dimension altogether, with its own strange people and wildlife. [Like the lorby, which has long since left.]

I know little else.

[vagabone]

[Nine months is nothing, really, though at least the nearly-forgotten part of town has friendly skeleton faces and less mindgames.]

There isn't much else to say. I don't think anyone knows why we're here. [He gives a weak half smile.] Who are the two kids you're talking about?

[goat_mom]

[She smiles as she responds.] Chara and Frisk. I suppose neither is my child, technically speaking - Chara was a unique circumstance, and it is Frisk's decision whether or not they want me to be their mother. But I consider them as my children nonetheless.

[She laughs softly.] Perhaps it is merely sentiment. Wishful thinking.

[vagabone]

No, I get it. Frisk seems like a good kid. [A cool likable kid, but then he's hardly met any kids he didn't like.]

I don't really know Chara, though. [He can make a good guess as to who they are, that's about it.] They don't... uh, say much.

[goat_mom]

Frisk is a very good child. But so is Chara. So are all my children.

[She nods, smiling nostalgically.] Chara was always like that - hesitant to open up to people. Shy, I suppose one could call them.

And yet, they speak a lot when talking about their interests, or around those they trust - why, once I was teaching Asriel and Chara a lesson for their schooling, and they corrected me when I misspoke about human society. They kept talking for what must have been hours, they were so excited! The teacher truly became the student on that day.

[vagabone]

Can't say I've ever met a kid who wasn't good. [Scared kids, prankster kids, angry teens, he's seen it all. No bad kids, only bad situations, which... this island definitely is. Also not the worst place for at least one kid, unfortunately.] Even the shy ones.

[Anyway. Ooh, important info.] What do they like?

[goat_mom]

That is absolutely true. There is no such thing as a truly bad child. Even the worst of us, after all, can grow and change. Is that not even more true for children?

[At the question, she thinks for a moment.] Many things, but especially monsters. They are endlessly fascinated by monster culture, biology, and history. They absorb information about it like a sponge!

If you were to tell them about your world, I am sure they would be just as intrigued.

[vagabone]

Right. That's what kids do.

[And... oh.]

Maybe not as much as you think. [He says, sheepishly. Of course she's used to skeletons being monsters or expecting something else to magical about him...] I'm, uh, just a dead human. Probably not much cool to tell them about.