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

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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

[She's not usually out this late, but she'd gone a little too far looking for supplies and underestimated how much time it would take to get back to the mana pool, and now she's gotten turned around in the dark and gosh, Guzma's going to be livid...

She's not paying much attention to where she's going until a massive black shadow swoops past overhead, causing her to clutch Nebby close to her chest and drop to her knees to avoid being snatched up. If she's low to the ground, that thing can't reach her. Right?

Wrong. Branches snap behind her and she's on her feet and sprinting through the trees as fast as her little legs can take her. Lillie has no fight mode in situations like these. It's pure flight. But this feeling in her chest, tight and burning, is worse than being "spooked". It's terror. It's certainty that she will be harmed if she does not run, anywhere, any direction, now.

That said, she can't run forever, even if her stamina is nothing to scoff at, and once she is certain the only sounds she can hear are the ones of blood rushing in her ears and her own crashing through the underbrush, she skids to a halt, wheezing. Except, of course, there is another shadow in the night. And it's talking to her. Lillie doesn't register a single word, just the sounds of someone talking, and instinctively she turns part way to shield Nebby from whatever this is.]

S-Stay away! [Yelling while out of breath is a nonsense activity that she does not recommend.] Please, I really mean it!

[Oh. It's a child. A little girl, carrying something with her. Genji is surprised to see her, but...He doesn't know how this place works. He doesn't know who or what could be living here.

All he knows is that she must be terrified. A side-effect of his friend, he supposes, though it does not make the fear any easier to handle.

He steps out from the shadows, hands up. One by one the lights on him light up, casting the world around them into green.]

Do not be afraid. [He repeats, pointing up to the sky.] It means you no harm - it simply cannot control itself.

[A strange metal man who glows green in the dark and who is apparently friends with the shadow in the sky? This is not the first thing on the list of sights Lillie would find comforting at the moment, but there is such a certainty in his voice that even through the muddled fear and pulling instinct to run, she...sort of trusts him? Even in this state she can recognize that she isn't usually so stand-offish or afraid of new folks. But recognizing that this isn't normal doesn't make it go away. It just makes it all the more worrying.

Lillie has probably been still and silent, eyes flicking between Genji and the treeline, for a bit too long by the time she finishes coming to the conclusion that he isn't going to hurt her. Not him, specifically. Very slowly, in increments, she turns to face him fully. She's catching her breath, still, but she channels her inner Guzma and tries to look like she's not afraid.

(Which means she looks terrified and slightly annoyed.)]

Does it...belong to you?

[She knows something about having pets that can't control themselves. For example: Nebby is curled into itself, shaking with the same fear she feels, and she's sure it's only one wrong move away from warping her to guardians-know-where.]

Not quite.

[It's the truth. The shadow in the trees doesn't belong to anyone, as far as Genji is aware. It's just a darkness encroaching on the mind, but it seems to do that without intention.

It's...harmless. Terrifying, but harmless. At least as far as Genji has figured it out.]

I've simply seem it here - it impacts the mind, but it does not seem to wish to hurt people.

[Physically, at least. Genji has no idea what it gains from the fear and paranoia, but it's simply a beast, the same as any other.]

You will be okay.

Then it's...a psychic effect of some kind?

[That's not totally unfamiliar to her. After all, strange forces like that do exist where she's from. Maybe it's a pokemon, one she's never seen before - one from another region, or even one native to Enso? Hadn't she read about Darkrai, once? Maybe it's that.

But that raises more questions. If he isn't it's trainer or connected to it at all, then...?]

But, then who are you? What are you doing out here in the jungle, at night?

Seems like.

[Psychic effect, sure. It's basically an aura, as far as Genji can tell - because the further away it is, the less you feel.]

My name is Genji. I just arrived here not too long ago.

[Which...doesn't really answer her question, does it?]

I'm simply getting the lay of the land.

Um...that would be much easier during the daytime, wouldn't it?

[But if he just got here, he's probably got no place to go. She relaxes a bit and so does the starry creature in her arms, who finally sneaks a glance up at Genji. Then another. Then it simply stares, fear dissolving into wonder. It has never seen anything like this man before. To be fair, neither has Lillie, but she's a little more polite than her friend, so she doesn't gawk.

Still, he must be tired after wandering all day and into the night. If she knew where exactly she was, she'd show him to the mana pool and let him stay in the shack until daytime, when he could pick one out for himself. But she's lost and he's new, so who's flying the plane.]

[Genji laughs at that, shaking his head.]

Maybe for your average man, but the darkness means little to me.

[He lights up like a Christmas tree, after all.

He's also glad to see her relaxing, as well as her companion. He's never seen a creature quite like that before, and it seems a little odd. It also seems to be the curious sort, if the look it's giving Genji is any indication.]

Your friend is quite cute.

[There's still a part of Lillie that feels afraid, uneasy - like it's too convenient that she picked the right direction to run to find a friendly face - but she tells herself it's just the creature's powers and takes a steadying breath. It will fade as the creature moves on. It has to, right?

Then he mentions Nebby and a little tension returns to her shoulders, even as she smiles and bows a little in thanks.]

Oh, thank you. This is Nebby and my name is Lillie...I'm sorry for being so rude, I'm not usually afraid like that.

[It seems he's said the wrong thing. Something about bringing attention to the creature she has brought back the tension in her, and he makes a note not to do it again.]

It's no matter. It seems our friend has that effect on people.

[He straightens up, before bowing in greeting to her.]

My name is Genji.

[It's a little strange that he keeps referring to a massive black shadow creature that instills mortal terror into everything that sees it as a "friend", but Lillie supposes it's better than actively considering it a threat. She'll just. Pretend it doesn't exist. Pretend she can't still feel that fear in the back of her mind, that pull to run away. Nebby seems fine with it all, and the thing is gone, so why should she be worried now?

Heck, Nebby's even trying to wiggle loose to inspect the stranger. She's not quite willing to let it, yet, but. It's trying.

She matches his bow as properly as she can with an armful of squirming Cosmog, deeper than her nod of thanks earlier, but not quite as low as a traditional one might have been.]

It's nice to meet you, Genji. But...it's dark and I really do need to get home...[It's funny how a home can be some disgruntled ex-mob boss and his adopted little sister.] Oh, but you just got here, didn't you? You're probably just as lost as I am.

[Mothman is shaped like a friend.

It's not a very good friend, but it's a friend.]

I can help lead the way.

[The lights on him are pretty bright, after all.]

Though you don't need to worry about me.

[It's true, he could light the way to the mana pool, no problem. If they weren't...in deep jungle......and if she wasn't so turned around right now....]

Hm? But...won't you need a place to sleep, or food and water...? Plus, there are dangerous things here, and I don't have any medical supplies on me at the moment. And Nebby doesn't know any battle moves, so we really would be in harm's way...

[She trails off as it finally dawns on her that maybe he's ALL metal, not just wearing armor of some sort.]

Aren't you human?

I'm sure I will at some point.

[He has no intention of wandering forever, but...Settling down doesn't seem right. This is a big place, and it's a place he's never been to. He needs to figure it out.]

But I can take care of himself.

[And at that last question, he tilts his head.]

Partially.

[Lillie nods slowly. Okay, he's...partially human? And maybe doesn't have the same needs as her. That's okay, but he must have some needs, and she's immediately worried he won't have access to the supplies necessary to meet them.

As she tries to get her bearings (the mountains are barely visible over the trees, but they break up the glowing disc of a moon so she can kind of tell which way she's supposed to go now that she's calmed down) she offers an apology.]

I'm sorry, I really shouldn't have been so forward, but there are a lot of people here who aren't human. It's good to know ahead of time, so you don't accidentally offend someone, or make assumptions.

[The unspoken subtext is "like I just did".]

You don't have to survive alone, here, though. You can always ask for help and plenty of people here will do their best to give it to you. Even if you can take care of yourself, it's important that you don't try to do everything on your own.

[Don't worry about it. He's just your average medical marvel.]

It's nothing to apologize for.

[He laughs brightly, and he'd reach out to pat Lillie on the head if he was close enough and if that wouldn't be super condescending.]

It's good to hear I won't be alone. Too many people refuse to put their hands out for others.

[Someone with such a bright laugh, tinny and odd as it may sound coming from her new partially human friend, cannot be out to hurt her. That is her official conclusion as she finally pinpoints the rough direction of the shore (and therefor the temple and mana pool) and lights up. It's a sincere laugh, from the heart, and she can tell his heart is a good one from the way he laughs.]

I think most people here are just trying to do the right thing. Helping each other through hard times is just the right thing to do, isn't it?

[Really, someone has always been there to lend her a helping hand when she needed it most. Lillie is once again reminded that she has always been privileged, even in her darkest hours. Once again, she vows to return the favor to everyone she meets.

She points her chin towards what she thinks is the correct direction to go.]

If you don't mind helping me find my way to the mana pool, I'm sure Guzma won't mind you staying in the shack, or sharing some of our food supplies. Even if you don't need it now, you might want it later, or be able to trade it for things you do need?

[She's a good kid, Genji thinks. It's a shame she's here, but...She's a good kid. ]

It is. Unfortunately, not everyone agrees.

[But it's heartening to see other people who believe that. It gives Genji just a little bit more faith in those around me.]

I don't mind at all - and I appreciate the offer. I might just have to take you up on that.

[...would Guzma mind? Probably not, right?

His lights shine surprisingly far in the dark, illuminating at the very least the ground she's trying to walk on. Which is helpful, because there are quite a few roots and vines along the way.

It's...not that she's scared of the dark, per se, but she still feels uneasy and knowing that thing might come back and warp her perception even further scares her. So, Lillie chatters. Unfortunately, she's awful at starting conversations.]

I hope you'll like it here, Genji. Things can be hectic and sometimes confusing, but it really is a nice place with lovely people.

[We won't know until we find out!

Genji is a very good flashlight, though. He's dimly aware that there's a chance the lights are attracting things they don't want to be attracted, but that's fine. He still has his sword - anything that attacks them, he can deal with.]

I look forward to meeting more of these lovely people. Hopefully they're as kind as you say.

[Though he sees no reason to doubt her, he's met...some of the worst sorts of people in his life.]

Well, some of them might take a little getting used to, but nobody I've met has been unkind.

[Let's see...Bugsy and Sunny had been some of her earliest encounters, though neither were people in the sense Genji is probably thinking of. She's met Lance and Shiro, who were both very nice to her, and Ren has always been an absolute treasure. It's just.]

Um...Guzma might be one of those people who takes getting used to. He's a good person, really! He's just got a short temper and...well. He has a unique way of interacting with people.

I'll take your word for it.

[That sounds like the nicest way to say someone is kind of an asshole. Genji sounds amused, at least, and he's sure he can handle Guzma. He grew up with Hanzo, after all. He can handle someone who's no ray of sunshine.]

Hopefully he won't mind if I stay the night.

He shouldn't! [He might, now that she's thinking about it, but he shouldn't.] He shouldn't.

[Turns out they weren't terribly far from the temple to begin with. Perhaps all that time spent wandering the islands both here and back home have given her some innate sense of direction she didn't realize she had. They're almost there.]

He shouldn't.

[Genji parrots.

He has no idea where they were, but some of these trees seem familiar. He hasn't seen much of these islands, yet, but he's seen the temple.]

I suppose we'll find out.

[The temple is quiet, as it should be in the middle of the night. The mana pool and it's strange flowers look ethereal in the moonlight, and Lillie is briefly enchanted by them before remembering that her new friend has probably not seen them or used them yet.]

Oh! Have you ever used a mana pool, Genji? I don't know how much exploring you've done yet...

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