lifeaftr | August Aftermath: Make Me Okay

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August Aftermath: Make Me Okay

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 )

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

We'll ask around, see if anyone else has the same issues, or has had them.

[Plan of action and execution. This place doesn't follow what either of them considers to be normal. Heck, plants growing out of the skin had been screwed up when she had arrived.]

Events happen here. Usually with a time limit.

[So let's hope it's the same with him.]

So this is...something that just happens to people. I'm not the only one?

[He's not the only one with a fucked up head, huh? Or maybe he's just the only one who reacts to things like this. By losing memories, important memories, memories that he might not ever be able to reclaim - ]

[There's no knowing that. Not yet. He rubs at his throat again, trying to nod.]

...okay.

It's more like strange things happen to us here.

[Whereas at home she might go to something more permanent having happened to him, but here? Who the hell knew. It drove her crazy, as it was like being in Caboose's mind, or what she assumed his mind would be like. Random, no sense of order, utter malarkey.]

How about we get you in to your place, huh?

Sure, [says Wash, because Carolina says things with enough certainty for him to agree with them by rote. Like some reflex in him just remembers following her orders and letting her take the lead. In the next moment, though, some of that falters.]

...you remember where it is, right?

I do. Come on.

[A tip of her head in the direction where he lives, although Carolina pauses for a moment.]

Ah, you do have roommates.

...you?

[It's clear from the way he freezes, just for a second, that he doesn't entirely know what the answer is to that. That first word is little more than a vague guess, and a very plainly hopeful one at that.]

Er. Once. I left, and you got others.

[It's not like there's any good way to really say it, as Carolina wouldn't believe it if she was told it.]

Alpha Church and Tex. I suppose the tigerlily as well, if you want to get technical.

[There's a lot to unpack in just that scattered collection of words alone. Wash just kind of...stares...for a minute.]

Alpha. Tex? What do you mean you left? Why's -

[Then he stops.]

Am I going to forget this? Have you already explained this?

[Yup.

No easy way to drop that bomb, and it's not like Carolina tends to have a delicate touch. Rather, just let it explode, and go from there.]

You'd been here a time before I first arrived. Showed me the ropes.

...was this before or after you, uh. Left.

[It's apparent that Wash is struggling to keep up, here, though his innate trust in Carolina - what she does, her commanding nature, what he knows of her capability - is enough to keep him more or less following her by default.]

You were here first. [And just going to leave CT out of it for now, along with any other little hiccups along the way of other individuals.] Then I arrived, rope showing, then I left, came back not remembering leaving, but apparently had.

So this is...normal. People forgetting things.

[She more or less said as much before, but it didn't seem statistically possible. Only she keeps talking and now, yeah, it might actually be statistically possible.]

As normal as tigers that look like some sort of plant cross.

[A run down, sure, of what is where, at least at this moment, and some of the players, but there is no handbook that gives every single play.]

Uh.

[There's a moment where he makes this helpless sort of tiny sound in the back of his throat, twitching slightly.]

This isn't going to get easier to understand, is it? It just ramps up from here, doesn't it?

Afraid not... But at least- [She pauses for a moment. Well, Carolina isn't entirely certain just what sort of help Tex and Church would actually be. Texas, at least, might be helpful, and Church is likely hit or miss, given that a Church is a Church is a Church...] Most here are helpful?

"Most," huh?

[Of course it's not as easy as everyone being willing to help him pick up the pieces of everything he doesn't know. That's not a luxury afforded to him. Never has been.]

Can't say I've met everyone.

[A small quirk of her lips, before she nudges her head towards the place that Wash calls home. Or maybe a home away from home. Or a place to sleep. Regardless, it's where he lives.]

[He follows her, because what other choice is there? He'd follow her either way - he'd follow her because she's someone he's always followed, ever since Freelancer.]

You know if anyone's...around?

You mean there right now?

[She gives a shrug of her shoulders. She's not familiar with their habits, if they even have any. It's not exactly easy to keep a regular schedule in this place.]

You all seem to come and go, so it's hit and miss.

So I just...if I stay there for the rest of the day, I'll probably run into them at some point. And then I can start asking them the same questions all over again.

[Them. It doesn't feel right, tangible, to be talking about his roommates by name. Church. Tex. How's he end up living with them? How is that not incredibly, inescapably awkward?]

If they return. If that's what you want to do.

[Not like she would strong arm him- okay, maybe she might, a little (or a lot at times), in some circumstances- but it is only one option. There are others. Move around, try to jog his memory. Ask others if they are suffering the same.]

If...right. Hard to have a military schedule on a, on an abandoned desert island.

[The nervous chuckle escapes him before he can stop it. It's - it's just a really, really good thing that Carolina is the one person who he doesn't terribly mind, if she sees him like this. She's seen him at his lowest before. Back in the Project. And...and after.]

[It's getting hard to remember. Again, he massages at his throat.]

You don't have to...stay. If you don't want to.

It's a Church and Tex.

[As if that explains everything right there. She can't say that she knows what either of them are up to that well. It's still a bit weird to think about, considering who and what they were and are, and with Epsilon...

But they could be together, or separate, doing who the hell knew what. Hell, maybe Church shot himself in the metaphorical foot and is trapped down a well. She wouldn't put anything past this place.

Green eyes do turn, hold, and pin him with a look.]

I know. But I do.

[He's not very good at masking the relief that comes from that assertion. It's Carolina. She's an unshakable fucking rock. Always has been. Or at least - what his memories, and what his instincts supply suggest as much.]

...thanks.

[A low, shaky breath. Part of a smile. He's far from his baseline security, but having her here makes it, however incrementally, easier.]

[There's a little nudge, shoulder against his armoured arm.

It's true. He wasn't good at hiding it, but Carolina's also not going to draw attention to it. No doubt it's troubling enough, what he's going through. To forget everything... At least she had come back with her memories, or most of them. She had no idea how she had left in the first place.]

Don't mention it. Come on. You've got a change of clothes there, if you want to get out of your armour.

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