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

...It's a matter of not scaring them, I think. They're understandably already upset, what with all the earthquakes lately - that seems to have displaced them a little.

[It's willing to come a bit closer, at any rate, once it's done putting fruit in its face; he'll work on cutting up some more against the business end of the sword.]

I trust you've been well lately...?

Yeah. I encountered on that was pretty pissed off, but even trying to be gentle around it didn't exactly work. They're pretty pissy when threatened.

[If it weren't for his healing factor, he'd probably have suffered some kind of hearing loss. Goddamn.]

But besides that, I've been about as well as I can be.

[He's still massively paranoid, but he's got a pet sheep.]

[The sheep are cute, at least.]

Oh, they can be very volatile when upset, I've run into one colony already that simply wasn't having anything to do with me.

[And then there was this one, and this guy felt brave and came over. Or maybe he just really wants some weird kiwis. Who knows.]

Hopefully Yeager hasn't been giving you too much trouble.

[When calm, the snake beasts are kind of cute... He kinda wants one.

Maybe he'll get lucky enough to encounter one that isn't angry.]

Not so much, no. He's told some interesting stories about your world, though.

[The way he says "interesting stories" makes it clear he thinks Yeager is insane, but that's not really new.]

[...That is just getting the most put-upon sigh.]

I'm not surprised to hear that. Yeager is from the guilds, which happen to be full of interesting people.

[The way he says "interesting people" makes it clear that the guilds are all insane.]

[Bucky snorts, because yeah. That sounds about right, from what Yeager has told him.]

I guess you'd have to be, doing the work he was describing.

And what might that have been...?

[...did he tell you about leviathan's claw or ruin's gate because dear god, he wouldn't be surprised at either.]

He went on a lot about a guild called "Leviathan's Claw".

[Bingo!]

That, and how a bunch of people like digging up ancient, poorly-understood-usually-weapons artifacts and turning them on.

[He complains, to the JRPG villain.]

Oh, the blastia.

[Jesus, Yeager, what did you even say to this guy?]

While that assessment of them isn't entirely untrue - it does involve the unearthing of ancient technology and using them for our benefit in our current day and age - I wouldn't say that they're poorly understood. We have many researchers whose explicit purpose is to understand blastia, and let us utilize it in ways that save lives and reduce harm and potential threat to many people.

I also would say that calling them "usually weapons" is likewise inaccurate - blastia have many uses, the weaponry is simply what Yeager is most familiar with.

It still sounds kinda risky to me.

[Then again, the last year he remembers with complete clarity is 1944. Maybe an advanced-enough technology would be safe to study.

...He kinda doubts it, though.]

No surprises there. He's pretty open about what he's interested in most.

[Maybe it's because Bucky's general appearance screams "has seen some shit"?]

I would apologize on his behalf, but again, that involves taking more responsibility for him than I'm willing to assume. He's a little like that overall, however. Very blunt about his thoughts, if somewhat irritating about them.

[...It's true with regards to thoughts, anyway. Feelings not so much, but Alexei isn't really great on the emotions front either.]

There's no need to take responsibility for him.

[You two are just from the same world as far as he's concerned, he shrugs a little.]

I don't mind the bluntness so much. [It's not like Bucky has any tact.] He's just a little... much sometimes.

He's obnoxious.

[jesus, alexei, tell us how you really feel.]

He prides himself on it, really. There's nothing to be done for it.

[Bucky snorts.]

Yeah. I've noticed. And somehow he manages to be less obnoxious then some of the people I've met before.

[That gets something that's almost a laugh out of him, actually.]

Is that so - you do have my sympathies, then.

[Dear lord.]

I admit I didn't know him well before coming here. In many ways I still don't, but I also believe for now keeping that distance there is likely to serve me better than doing otherwise.

April Intro: Better Get to Digging

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