lifeaftr | May Intro: I'll Be Scrolling Through Your Shrine

INTRO LOG: MAY

Who: New arrivals, and you!
What: New souls arrive to the archipelago of LifeAftr
When: May 4th and onward
Where: Ensō
Warnings: Mark as needed!

With potentially odd dreams connecting you to people you've never met, in addition to the dream-lecture only recently received from a horned rabbit, LifeAftr surely doesn't need to try to be disconcerting upon arrival - and yet, it somehow continues to go the extra mile. While new arrivals will find themselves upon the now (mostly) safe shores of Ensō, there is one, small problem with where, precisely, they've happened to appear.

Chamber of Glyphs: It Was Written On Your Wall
Within the temple of the Storyteller, one may find a very special room. Betwixt the reality of waking and dreams, the Chamber of Glyphs appears to hold many unique features that allow it to appear wherever one may seek it, both in waking and sleep.

It is not, however, a good room to arrive within. Those seeking out the newest members of LifeAftr's adventuring party - and those who are simply looking to draw - will be greeted, upon entering the Chamber of Glyphs, with the most alarming sight. The small pile of backpacks, unattended, might be the first thing you notice, as well as the fact that they all seem to be adorned with names of those you might not know. Or the names of those that you do, but haven't seen in some time. Perhaps you met them in a dream...

And those of you who are newly arrived, you'll be able to see them searching. Unable to break the barrier between you with sound, you might feel the urge to wave your hands for attention, attracting searching eyes to the walls. Walls that you are now a part of. Hopefully this reduction to the second dimension is only temporary.

Those who took part in April's Test Drive Meme may have the benefit of familiarity, for what is etched onto the walls of the Chamber are never lacking life, regardless of the matter used to draw, paint, or sketch those contents.

With maneuverability somewhat akin to a sidescroller - always left or right, up and down, but never outward - the variety of scenes, animals, places, objects, and more are simply all the more to your advantage. Leap to the vantage point necessary to be noticed, as your fellow adventurers may be able to help you out of this predicament with a simple offer of their hand to tug you off the wall. It's an easy solution to your predicament, at least! All they need to do is take your hand to free you from your two-dimensional containment.

If it proves more difficult...well, at the least they know you're there to point out thanks to a very tired Storyteller, who will be certain to let anyone in the vicinity know that you're in need of help within the Chamber of Glyphs, before one of the many, many monsters that have been scribbled onto stone lay claim to you instead.

What kind of monsters, you ask? All of them, of course.

Ensō: Rain Hell
But maybe you don't wake up written on the walls! Maybe you're just relieved to get unstuck from those walls and need a breath of fresh air. Or maybe you don't have any reason to go poking around in search of new arrivals at all. That does not mean, however, that you won't be encountering a new arrival of your own in the interim.

The sky is clouded over and gray, despite the sun overhead and the generally warm weather. The nights are filmed over with a screen of pale dust. This has little to do with the forecast and more to do with the volcanic eruption that occurred just a few weeks prior, on another island in the archipelago. You don't need to worry about the nature of the ash still drifting on the wind currents - aside from the more standard obstruction of sight and airways, it is, at this point, more or less perfectly ordinary. Though if you've got some fragile lungs, you might want to stay out of it as much as possible.

More important is the creature that the hazy cast of ash and dust has coaxed out of hiding. Perhaps you've heard of it in folklore: resplendent with dark gray, furry wings, and glistening red eyes. Or, perhaps, you're less fortunate, and you've no cultural experience regarding the strange monster known colloquially only as...Mothman.

At over seven feet tall and with a wingspan of about fifteen feet, the Mothman makes for far more fearsome a sight than it does a threat. For all intents and purposes, despite the devilish red of its glowing eyes and its large, hairy stature, the Mothman is ultimately quite harmless. It does, however, tend to inspire paranoia in fear in the hearts and minds of those it encounters. And this smokescreen in the air has created the perfect environment for it to hunt.

It doesn't want your flesh, or your bones, or anything so base. It only wants your mind, in a sense; your fear and whatever primal terror it may ignite by preying on your paranoia. It will stalk you, rustling the leaves behind you, snapping twigs to your left, allowing you a glimpse of bright crimson eyes before dispersing into the surrounding, ashy murk. The good news is that once it has you scared, it has no intention of sticking around - and its wings makes it incredibly fast, when it wants to be. Anyone who attempts to attack it directly will discover just how speedy it can be, assuming that the air from its wingbeats don't end up pinning you flat to the ground from the sheer force.

The Mothman can be killed, most likely...but there are a lot of you, and only one cryptid for an entire island. It's not likely to want to stay in one place if it feels it's outnumbered, or that it's about to be attacked by someone who isn't so easily stricken by the fear and suspicion it endeavors to ignite. Those who wish to escape it can at least take heart in the fact that the Mothman abhors open spaces, largely preferring the sanctuary of woodland and greenery; all one has to do is reach Ensō's shores to be largely safe from its influence.

Though you could try killing it too, of course. If you wanted.

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

• chamber of glyphs [closed to kiriya]

[ There's a moment, as she reaches out and lets the Pattern embrace her, where Kate feels complete - maybe this is enlightenment. Maybe every religion in the world has been yearning for the Pattern. Maybe... but none of that matters. Humans have left behind their own patterns, scoring the air and the earth with their stories, their lives, their connections. Kate glimpsed the Pattern's world in the moments (days? years? hours...?) before returning to the observatory, making one last recording, and becoming part of it.

A moment. Eternity. Both. Neither.

And then she opens her eyes and sees a new place, with people and drawings moving around — the Pattern is nowhere to be found, but she isn't afraid. Maybe this is its home world. Maybe everyone here is like her, touched by the Pattern's Light. Maybe she's... she's stuck in the wall— maybe because this is part of her growth.

In any case, she puts her palm against what should be air and pushes. Strains. All but growls. She is more than human now, she is part Pattern, she has liquid light in her veins and survived an air strike of VX nerve gas and witnessed the unraveling of time and space and is alive and better for it all.

But now some invisible wall has her trapped. Great.

She bangs her palms against it. Why won't it shatter? If she thinks hard enough, maybe she can bend the laws of physics and escape.

Kiriya will find her frowning out into the room. ]

• ensō [open to 2, first come first served]

A new world, and I can't even see the sky.

[ Kate sighs, frustrated. Her knapsack is a comforting weight against her back as she stares at the overcast sky in the hopes that she can will the clouds to part. At the very least, it should clear up by night, right? Anyway, she'll wander around the big island before she decides to claim herself some shelter.

Once she settles in her shack (Island 5, Shack #1 for those playing along at home) she can be found periodically going outside and shaking her head at the sky. Sometimes she'll look over her shoulder thanks to a snapped twig or some rustling bushes. How frustrating. Predators will make things difficult. ]

Maybe a fire will keep them away.

[ She mumbles to herself and cautiously sets about gathering wood and kindling. ]

[ ooc: if you want something more specific either now or later, hmu o/ punnyinpink @ plurk or PM to this journal. ]

[Kiriya, being the nosy bastard that he is, can't help but investigate the chamber, especially not when he's been informed that new people are there. And oh, look, there is a person. A person in the wall, that's new.]

Hey, 'sup?

[Clearly he is approaching this with the appropriate amount of concern.]

[ Excuse.

Kate ignores his all too casual approach— or rather, she takes it as a sign that this isn't really a big deal. (And honestly? After witnessing the end of human life? This is nothing to worry about.

He can't hear her, but she's saying help me get out of here. For effect, she presses her palms against the wall again, straining. Being 2D is not fun.) ]

Edited (gently closes parentheses) 2019-05-08 18:23 (UTC)

Oh, hey, are we playing charades?

[Yes, yes, he's super helpful as he approaches but doesn't yet reach out to try to grab her hand, because, look, this is weird, let him just take in the weirdness of the situation here. He's at least coming closer, though.]

[ .......okay so that's progress. Will he hear it if she bangs on the invisible wall with a fist? She tries that. Good job, Kate, experimenting even now! What a scientist. ]

[Hm. A new neighbor. Nari watches the newcomer with some curiosity. Just watching till she figures it's on the border of rude.

That's when she'll approach.]

What're'you'doin?

[ When the question is asked, Kate is setting her kindling down in the space she cleared. ]

I'm starting a fire. [ Easy enough, said casually, with a quick glance and a smile. ] I don't mind sharing, if you need some light.

[ Kate definitely needs light. She needs the Pattern. Life is so empty without it. ]

I'm Kate.

Nah, I'm good. I'm a walking lighter.

[Which might be useful if Kate needs a light.]

Nari Reno. So I take it you're a newbie? Pretty jarring, ain't it, being here?

[ A walking lighter... that doesn't even sound strange. The Pattern was — is — light. And Kate is now part light, too. Right? She has to be. ]

You can say that again. [ She chuckles. ] You been here long? I wouldn't mind a hand getting my bearings.

Been here since March. So not too long. My best friend has been here a hell of a lot longer. But I know some things.

[What kind of things? Enough not to die on a daily basis.]

[Getting back home was a must, after the shitshow of the day. At least there's one massive anxiety eased off his chest; the kids are fine. They're alive. They're not...all right, maybe, but when are the kids ever all right? He's out of the woods. They're out of the woods. It's fine.]

[He's crossing from one islet to the next when he hears someone moving around in the underbrush, and the axe slips into his hand with a fluid ease he hasn't realized he's gained since ending up here.]

Who's there?

[Better safe than sorry.]

[ The unexpected voice makes Kate jump, but she doesn't drop any of her kindling. With a calming breath, she straightens up and faces the source of the voice. ]

Just me. A newcomer.

[ She smiles, like, what a weird new place, huh because that totally translates. In any case, her hands are full, and the symptoms of Pattern manifestation sickness are gone, so he's not in any danger. ]

[Yep, putting that axe away now before someone gets the impression that he's some kind of serial murderer looking to chop limbs instead of logs. He still has at least one knife on his person, in easy reach. Call it a habit.]

[He straightens, forcing some of the tension to go out of his frame. It doesn't really work out; paranoia can't really be shut off on a whim.]

You're new? [A blink.] Guess you would be. Don't recognize you.

May Intro: I'll Be Scrolling Through Your Shrine

Kate Collins | openish

Chamber

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enso

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