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

[Huh, so that guy looks like a lunatic. It's pretty much the default setting for anyone here, really-- she's had that exact thought easily once every two weeks. But this guy especially looks like he just fell charred out of an explosion and is stumbling around in the aftermath. Cool.

She blinks once, squinting just a bit before responding, as if that's gonna make any goddamn sense.]

No. Do you see a market or whatever?

[She has done so many things to find drugs here, buddy, you can't just stop at asking.]

What do you need it for, just freakin' out?

[I mean, yeah, he sorta did, thanks for pointing it out. He's been withdrawing from every substance known to man about two days now, and then like, got shot at a lot and semi-survived the apocalypse.

So. Yeah. He doesn't look Great.]

I was hoping, I don't know, shit gets here somehow, right? Surely someone else on the island smokes.

[He groans and rubs at his temples, which indicate yes, he is freaking out.]

[Look, for once she's not being antagonistic on purpose, she just doesn't know shit. Which I mean, that's not gonna stop her from being terrible about it or anything in the future, so there's really no need to lay off her here.

She does know where some weed is though, but she absolutely doesn't understand how long it takes to make weed and took it while it was drying like a fucking goblin.]

Uhhh I mean, somebody, probably. But that stuff doesn't grow here.

[She's quiet for a moment, then decides to like, say it.]

There is stuff that gets you high here though. I mean, one thing. Getting drugs here sucks.

[It doesn't help that Klaus also happens to be in a mood where everything that's not extremely helpful in breaking his drug fast is automatically parsed as antagonistic.

Which means he takes the next thing this woman says as if it's a message from God. But like, a better God. One that doesn't think he sucks.]

...Shit. Okay. What, uh, what's the thing.

[Don't tell his brother!!!]

[Don't worry Klaus, god thinks everyone sucks. Probably. She's heard of like, two gods that don't suck and she's pretty sure neither of them especially like her, so fuck it.]

I mean it's like, pipeweed. Y'know, plant, you smoke it? Halflings are super into it.

[Hopefully Klaus gets what it is with the name 'weed' included in there somewhere. She jabs her finger nebulously behind her, which isn't super helpful directions wise.]

Guy at the treehouses makes it. Or I have some at my place.

[She would have had some at the treehouse until SOMEBODY who she doesn't know is related to this guy took her spot.]

[The "pipeweed" moniker seems obvious enough, and then she mentions—"Halflings"? Whomst?? Okay, that's not the important part, obviously.]

Yeah, I'm familiar.

[Not a hard drug like he might've hoped for, but everyone loves pot, okay. He's the type to keep some edibles on hand just in case, like, of course he'll take it. Even if... technically he should be avoiding it.

If Ben were still dead, he might be here right now to warn Klaus to back down rather than chase the promise of another high. Not now, after he's resolved finally to quit.

But Ben's not here.]

Guy at the treehouses. What's his name?

[Sadly, Beau is oblivious to the fact that Klaus has a capital p Problem, and seeing as she watches Nott lose it on a flask like every day she probably wouldn't stop him even if she did know. What is she, his mom?]

Uh. Starts with a C. Connor I think. It's like, written on the bottom of the thing, like it says it's his house and you should keep out, but that's just for like, monsters and shit.

[Yeah. Sure.]

You don't need to worry about money or whatever, but he might want something in exchange.

Oh, yeah, all the monsters who learned to read and stuff.

[It's not really said with any bite, he doesn't genuinely care. He just also doesn't believe for one second that this Connor guy isn't paranoid as hell. He lives in a tree. Like, come on.]

"Something," like what, do I have to suck his dick or something? Not off the table, by the way, I just want to know beforehand.

[Lots of people live in trees here, Klaus. It's not as weird as you think it is.]

I think it's more for like, bigass people. Fuck if I know.

[She can't stop the grin on her face when he mentions that kind of payment though, a disgusted sort of smirk.]

Gross. I dunno, maybe though. He'll probably want food or something. Gold's fucking worthless out here, it's all a shitty barter system. Maybe he can just tell you and you can put sex on the table first.

[Great.]

[It's 100% weird, and the fact that his brother is one of them only makes everyone else who does it look weirder. Those are simply facts.]

Hey, okay, that's not the first thing on the table. I'm making that clear. It's just on there, but there are other things I put there first. Like, uh...

[What the fuck else does Klaus have to offer, actually.]

... I have a magic hot pot.

[Come on Klaus, get with Fantasy Treehouse Masters over here. The commentary does make her squint at him though.]

A what?

[Wait, no, she's supposed to be smarter or something here, so she quickly follows up--]

I mean uh, yeah, hot pot, yeah. What's it do special from other, uh.. pots?

It cooks things with magic? Its name is Urnest.

[Honestly, that seemed obvious.]

Stick any food in it and it's just... [He gestures vaguely mystically with his hands.] ...cooked. No flame involved.

So I guess I could cook him something. Or Urnest could. I can't give him Urnest because I think it thinks I'm its mom.

Ernest? Wait, is this like-- a pot that can talk? Do you have to feed it stuff you don't eat? Like have it cook stuff just for it's own pot stomach?

[Gosh, it sure would be nice if Beau didn't just Do This. Unfortunately, she very much does, and Klaus' descriptions versus her knowledge of hot pots are not helping this in the least.]

May Intro: I'll Be Scrolling Through Your Shrine

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