August Aftermath: Make Me Okay

[lifeaftr_mods]

AUGUST AFTERMATH: MAKE ME OKAY

Who: Everyone!
What: After the harrowing events of mid-month, it's time to process what you've been through
When: August 24th and onward
Where: Ensō and/or Nastrandir
Warnings: Discussions of violence, injury, forcibly altered mindsets via magical influence, and character deaths. Other than that, tag as you go!

Nastrandir: Can I Fight When I Don't Know How
The morning of August 24th, the day after a Storytelling that was notably later than usual, you will wake to the restoration of your average selves, barring any extenuating circumstances due to recent deaths. The dead will rise again on Ensō, at the Storyteller's Temple, while everyone else will simply wake where they last laid themselves to rest. There's nothing left to do but, perhaps, try to come to terms with all that's just happened.

You've probably witnessed some terrible things, over the past few days. There's a very good chance that you were the one doing the terrible things. Whether you were responsible for the slaughter of a fellow adventurer, watched the fray from the distance, or suffered the spontaneous combustion that seized everyone who hadn't managed to shake away their false memories in time, it's at least all over now. Or...mostly. Any stray sirens that haven't been smashed by the event's end are still shrilling away, though their dangerous effects seem to have been rendered inert without the aid of the broken merotome spilling its memories into everyone else's heads. Likewise, a handful of automatons still wander the island of Nastrandir. Those that have not succumbed to mud and rust and irreparable damage are still capable of firing upon hostiles. Anyone who may have fought by their side before will discover that they're now far less friendly, and will treat former members of the Red Team just the same as they would with any other intruder: with deadly fire.

So you can pick yourselves up off the ground and clean up what remains, or you can say to yourselves: Fuck That, and instead head back to Ensō. Or you could elect to keep exploring Nastrandir, if you're truly a glutton for punishment.

Ensō: Am I Bleeding From the Neck Down
On Ensō and its accompanying islets, it's begun to rain.

It's not a genuine downpour, but more of a gentle, melancholy drizzle. The rain is cool and likely refreshing, particularly if one is just coming away from the humidity of Nastrandir.

Potentially as a form of apology, anyone who goes digging through their belongings will discover that one of the following has ended up in their packs:

[ ♆ ] If you were a member of the Red Team, you will discover that you now own a rather awkwardly-shaped object, about three feet in length. A set of written instructions will inform you that this is known as a redsword, and that, upon placed upon any wet area or body of water, will drain and dry it out over the course of five minutes. This item is single-use, and only works for a ten-foot radius.

[ ♆ ] If you were a member of the Blue Team, you will discover that you now own some very fetching footwear. A set of written instructions will inform you that these are called skip-skops, and can be used to walk on water or wet land without sinking or getting wet. Standard limitations when crossing between islands or attempting to go beyond LifeAftr's limits will still apply. This item is single-use, and will dissolve after one hour total.

[ ♆ ] If you were Neutral, you will discover that you now own, er, this. A set of written instructions will inform you that this object is called a furball, and that it works as a sort of miniature, diminished version of the sirens you spent all that time destroying on Nastrandir. Once planted, it will rapidly grow into a tall, screaming tree full of lorby-like creatures that automatically causes all natural animals in the vicinity to become aggressive for one hour, maximum. This item is single-use.

It's not much, but it might make some of the hell that you suffered through over the past few days worth it! Almost, anyway. In the meantime...relax, lick your wounds, and try and forgive yourselves for what's happened. Please remember to let us know if your character perished in this event! Remember also that death penalties will be reduced following this event; characters will only need to contend with them for a week, and participation in Non-Compulsory AC will not be necessary in removing them.

---

If you're interested, the following links may prove handy:

[ ♆ ] OOC Event Info and Plotting Post
[ ♆ ] Nastrandir's Intro
[ ♆ ] Nastrandir's Locations Page
[ ♆ ] Search Requests Page
[ ♆ ] Deaths Page

LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

Comments

[motherfucking_ghost]

Okay. Well. I guess let's just take this from the top, then.

[He streeeeetches like this is just a normal conversation between two dudes and not, y'know, mildly traumatizing or anything. She's human now, after all. He's vividly aware of this fact.]

Yes. I shot her. Dead as dicks. How, I don't know, she's usually a lot better at this fighting stuff, and I'm usually...worse at guns than she is. [Technically true!] So. I guess she ended up wherever people end up when they...cccccome back to life?

Don't, uh, get me wrong here--not dying a dead-death is pretty good news for people with a habit of dying. [He's say "so not Tex" but that's statistically untrue more times than even he's aware of.] Just, it's a weird concept so far, and I haven't experienced it for myself?

[eudaimonikos]

Dammit, I told her not to do that.

[But that's something he's gonna pursue with Tex, and not this guy.]

That's the temple then, right?

[...he honestly didn't ask so that he could go running off after her. She's probably not still up there, and he doesn't feel exactly the same need to take care of Tex that he does towards his previous human friends. She'll be fine until he runs into her.]

In my experience, humans usually deal with it pretty well, provided whatever comes after death is okay. And she just got to go right back to where she was! I'm sure she's doing fine.

[motherfucking_ghost]

I haven't a clue.

...So you really are one of her friends, huh? That's kinda wild, honestly. Hi. I'm Church. She's probably bitched about her boyfriend before. Or just about some prick she knows. Who knows if I'm still bf status or not, though, given the whole aforementioned killing thing.

She can, uh, hold a grudge pretty hard when she wants.

[eudaimonikos]

...oh. Yeah. Nice to meet you.

[As it happens, Michael has heard quite a bit about Church! Possibly all of it, even. Judging from the last time they talked, it sounded to him like he was not exactly "bf status" to begin with, but thaaaaat is not a thing he wants to get in the middle of.]

It's not like it was really your fault. I didn't stay myself because of anything I did, I think it was just random.

[motherfucking_ghost]

I guess. It being random doesn't make it any less sucky. [Just look at Blue Team. Random and sucky!]

Like, yeah, hating people you should be friends with, and then trying to kill each other, I dunno, that's not always the most unusual thing, but it's the fact that there's nothing we could do about it. Like, like, it messed with your head. Made you remember things differently. Made you forget things. [Don't Like That!]

Sure, I can see it being easy to go 'oh you weren't yourself literally so it's okay' but I mean...can't be easy to know it still happened.

[eudaimonikos]

No, I guess not.

[Michael has far more experience with people not knowing it happened, honestly. But Tex mentioned - well, torture. Forgetting. He remembers that well.]

I don't know. I've never been on that end of things. [...] I mean, there's gonna be a lot of other people going through the same stuff.

[motherfucking_ghost]

We'll form a support group, make jackets out of palm tree fronds.

[Humor's as good a way to Deal With It as, say, anger.]

So how'd you end up buddies with Tex, anyway? She doesn't really...people.

[So's redirecting the topic!]

[eudaimonikos]

We showed up around the same time, and she pulled me out of a building after those earthquakes, on Cahypdo.

[Does she not people? She always seemed pretty normal at it to him. But then, Michael's standards are probably odd.]

We've got a few things in common. Like having to eat, now - my physical body didn't used to need so much upkeep.

[motherfucking_ghost]

Yeah? Must be...weird. To suddenly have human bodies that need to eat and piss and stuff. I mean, going from human body to robot was pretty weird, too, but probably an easier transition.

[eudaimonikos]

I'm not as bad off as a real human. They need to eat every day, right?

[He knows, he's just asking hypothetically.]

But yeah. A lot of the stuff it does now is just gross.

[motherfucking_ghost]

I mean, they can go for a while without food. It's the water that's the killer. Water your human every day.

Ssssso what were you before?

[eudaimonikos]

I'm a demon. Getting stuck in some dumb flesh vessel doesn't make me not one.

[He's been in loads of bodies! He's still the same guy!]

[motherfucking_ghost]

Right, and getting stuck in a robot doesn't make me not a human ghost.

[He's met a couple demons already. At least this one looks human enough that he's not gonna freak out. But like, how many people here aren't demons? Is he in a minority here?]

[eudaimonikos]

Makes you a ghost in the machine!

[That is absolutely not the way Tex described this entire situation, but what's Michael gonna do? Argue about it?]

You can't go all ghost-y either, can you?

[motherfucking_ghost]

Oh my god. [He's so tired, like, in an existential sense, but he laughs anyway.] That's exactly what I am! Ghost in the machine, I'm gonna have to remember that one. Haaa, yeah, I can't do any of the shit I did back home. I'm more like an actual robot-robot with free will and everything than a ghost possessing people and walking through walls and disappearing and flying.

Okay, I couldn't fly, but still.

[eudaimonikos]

But you could possess people?

[motherfucking_ghost]

Walk right into their bodies and take over, yeah.

[eudaimonikos]

Oh, man, that sounds neat!

[Probably also unethical or something, but: cool!]

I don't know if I could've done that or not. Never spent a lot of time around living humans.

[motherfucking_ghost]

So all this shit must be wild and crazy, yeah? All these...well, there are humans but a lot of other things that aren't humans but aren't demons.

[eudaimonikos]

There's other things in my world, too. Angels, Janets...but yeah, some of it's a little weird. Some of you have a lot going on metaphysicially.

[motherfucking_ghost]

...Janets? Just--what, ladies named Janet?

[eudaimonikos]

They're not ladies.

[That's what Janet would say.]

Janets are a sort of artificial reality matrix we use in the afterlife. They do look like human women, I guess, to human senses.

[motherfucking_ghost]

I--hold on. Wait. You have AI in the afterlife?

[eudaimonikos]

Yeah? I mean, she isn't a robot - they aren't. But they're artificial.

[motherfucking_ghost]

Like...AI that you made? Collective you? Why not just make Terminators and kill the whole world? Skynet that shit.