November Intro: Red Sun Rises Like an Early Warning

[lifeaftr_mods]

INTRO LOG: NOVEMBER

Who: Everyone!
What: New souls arrive to the archipelago of LifeAftr
When: November 3rd and beyond
Where: Ensō
Warnings: Mark as needed!

The New Arrivals: Hold My Hand
When you wake, it will be to the lapping of waves, frothed with foam...pulling at your hair, your skin, your clothing. The sand is soft and wet beneath you, but it's several inches submerged. And the longer you stay here, the more obvious it will be that the water level of the ocean ringing this strip of island has begun to to rise, and not merely because the tide has started to come in.

And what's more? You can tell that something else about this entire situation is horribly, horribly wrong.

Perhaps you've lost some special power. Perhaps some piece of your memory is freshly and disconcertingly blank. Perhaps you've just discovered that one of your senses is missing, or that you've been rendered unable to speak, or you've been struck by a debilitating fatigue. Not only are you stranded in some unfamiliar place, stuck on a rapidly flooding beach, but you aren't even doing it in full possession of all your faculties.
For those who agreed to put themselves at a disadvantage for a stranger, these are your consequences. If you're unclear as to the handicap your character has been assigned, if any, please check your initial acceptance notice!

All new arrivals will additionally awake with knapsacks, their names stitched to the front. The contents of said knapsacks can also be found in your acceptance notices!

For All: It's a Long Way Down
The water isn't a problem for the newest arrivals, either. It seems that the waters all over Ensō have started to rise, slowly at first, and then with a steadily increasing rate. At first, you might be forgiven for assuming the tide must simply be unusually high, or maybe that the island's begun to sink. But the longer it endures, the more obvious it becomes that neither is the case.

The water has begun to rise. Something is wrong with the island itself, or the being living on it, and now there is nothing preventing the water's inexorable approach as it steadily washes over and over the mainland. In fact, if you listen closely, you might even be able to hear a peculiar sound tearing over the cold rush of the coastal wind; something akin to a desolate wailing.

Either get to high ground - and quickly - or find out what's causing this. But either way, we suggest you hurry...because there are a great deal of newly arrived, very disoriented folk on the beach that could really, really use your help.

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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.

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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!

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LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

Comments

Noctis Lucis Caelum | OTA

[noctanotheroneout]

[Wakey Wakey ]

Noctis woke up wet.

Luckily, he wasn’t completely under when the rising waters hit him on the beach. He got up quickly and rubs the sleep from his eyes. What was going on? Last he remembered he had decided on a quick nap during fishing. He had been pretty far up the beach though, leaning against a tree, so for the tide to to come this far was strange.

It was up to his shins at this point.

“Damn.”

This wasn’t the tide. Was the island sinking? He looked upon the horizon, a bit shocked. Well, staying here was not an option. He needed to get to high ground and quickly. Then hopefully find his way back to the mana pool.

Unbeknowest to Noctis, however, it had been about two weeks since he had left to go fishing, and bedding down a quick cat nap.


[Jumping through hoops]

One of Noctis’s most immediate concerns was if this island was starting to flow over, then what about the islets that their shelters were built upon? This was seriously bad, and he wanted to get there as quickly as possible.

However, he also knew that there was a possibility there could e people on Enso that were also in danger from the rising waters. So even if he was getting there as quickly as possible, and using his WARP abilities to accomplish such a feet, he was also sharp on the lookout for anyone who needed help along the way.

*ipoof* Wakey Wakey~

[esper_magic]

Rise and Shine Noctis! It probably wasn't the most polite of greetings, but the sea came all that way to say hello! Moments later is another person to say hello, though it sounds much more worried, with Terra making her way down the beach, only to break into a quicker pace when she catches sight of Noctis.

"Noctis..! Are you all right..? Where have you been..?"

Re: *ipoof* Wakey Wakey~

[noctanotheroneout]

Noctis looked up when he heard his named called. He waved Terra on, and jogged to meet her half way.

Where have you been? He looked at her a bit confused. "Fishing," he pointed out, as is it wasn't a big deal. Because as far as he was concerned it wasn't. "What's going on?"

He motioned at the ocean.

[esper_magic]

"Fishing...?" Now it was her turn to look confused. "Is... that normal to go fishing for that many days...?" Did the ocean sink his boat? Or raft? She shook her head a few times, "I thought... something had happened to you." WELL he's fine now so that's one worry off her shoulders. "I don't know what's going on - I don't think anyone does, but the tide has been rising for a while and it's not looking like it's going out. A lot of new people have been arriving, and I've been trying to help the others get people evacuated to the islets. At least those are safe, for now." And then there's that howling sound...

[noctanotheroneout]

"Days?" It was hard to focus on anything that Terra said. First off, nobody could nap for days, and he couldn't have been sleeping that long because he had a dream. Dreams were only remembered in light sleep right?

Sure the dream was weird and all, but it was just a dream, wasn't it?

"I literally just took a nap. I wasn't gone for days."

[esper_magic]

She pressed her fist against her mouth in thought. Maybe it was still too soon to assume everyone was having memory problems - Keaton did, but Luke didn't seem to, and other people she spoke to were fine too. It...could just be a coincidence. "Um...." How to break it to - okay she doesn't know tact really. "Noctis, it's been... almost two weeks since I saw you last..." And she tended to swing by their place on her walks at least to say good morning or hello!

How do you sleep for two weeks and not realize it...?

[noctanotheroneout]

Noctis turned away from her for a moment his brain going through all the possibilities in what could've happened. How it could've happened. However, he trusted Terra enough that she wouldn't lie to him. "We'll worry about it later," he finally said. "There's more important things to worry about. Are the islets also flooding do you know?"

[esper_magic]

Terra hesitated, clearly still troubled about his disappearance and reappearance, but she shook her head to his question. "No, the islets are safe, thankfully. It seems that the flooding is only happening here."

[noctanotheroneout]

That was good to know. Still this island was where they got the majority of their resources. Speaking of, napping usually made him hungry. That was going to have to wait though. "Alright, good news. We can still get to the mana pool, right?" Not that he was planning on skipping it to the islets just yet. He had to make sure people were alright first.

good morning sunshine

[scourgingstars]

A softball-sized hatchling bird seemed quite happy to drift past a few feet to Noctis' left, occasionally splashing with her short wings to ruffle and preen black feathers. Chocobos, luckily, were quite adept swimmers.

The bird's apparent owner was only a step or two behind, calling after her in exasperation like a wayward fledgling was the far greater inconvenience than a flooding island.

"Hresvelgr, do stop wandering off." Ardyn rolled his eyes and leaned over to pick up the floating chocobo and place her on his shoulder; she shook lingering water from her feathers and proceeded to amble into the hood of the scarf hanging off his shoulders. Hands on his hips, the Chancellor looked over the miserable stateof the island, settling briefly on Noctis before raising an eyebrow slightly. Where on earth had he been lately? Well, it didn't matter. As he was now, the Chosen King barely even registered on Ardyn's list of priorities.

"This is turning into quite the ordeal."

[noctanotheroneout]

"You have a chocobo," Noctis stated the obvious. How did he get a chocobo? It didn't matter. Was Ardyn directing the comment at Noctis or the chocobo chick?

"Yup."

It was all he could respond with as he started his wade away. Really, was there any particular reason for the two of them to idly chat as the water was rising around him. Noctis had things to do, he probably had things to do.

hoops!

[crosslaced]

It wasn't the sight of Noctis that made him stop. It was that blue flash of a Warp, and the figure of Noctis disappearing and reappearing some distance ahead. Yo, what the heck. Laurent knew this Chocobro the least of all, and it was beginning to seem like he'd missed out on the most skilled of them (magic-wise, that was.) Three months dragging game to Ignis and he'd seen a single regeneration spell; three seconds and Noctis just teleported into the branches of a tree like a bird.

On horseback, Laurent slowed his horse down and called out.

“Noctis!”

Re: hoops!

[noctanotheroneout]

Noctis looked down at the sound of his voice. He recognized the man on his beast riding up to him. He was the guy they first met that had saved Ignis. Still, it couldn't quite recall what his name was. Not that was terribly important at the moment. "Hey!" he called down just before warping closer. Not terribly close, because he didn't want to spook the horse.

[crosslaced]

It did indeed spook the horse, but it seemed like her rider was experienced enough to calm her. Laurent brought his horse in a wide circle around Noctis, seeming to ignore her nervousness until it worked its way out of her system.

What was that, he wanted to say. Can it be taught, because unlike the rest of Eos he looked at the gift of a future king and thought how does it work? can it be learned?

“You've been gone at least a week,” was what he said. “Ignis and Prompto are looking for you.”

[noctanotheroneout]

"Yeah, Terra mentioned it," he replied. By the gods, they were probably worried themselves to death, especially Ignis. "Do you know where they are?"

Definitely, could not be taught, sorry Laurent. He wasn't at the level that his father was that could allow his subordinates to operate the same type of magic that he could. Honestly, with a disconnection from the crystal, Noctis was surprised that he was capable of doing it here. Surprised, but he wasn't going to complain.

[crosslaced]

Dammit.

“Probably on the islets, though Ignis has the tendency to wander when something is going on.” To wander into danger, he meant. That man either wasn't used to blindness, or purely refused any instinct of self-preservation in favor of heroism/responsibility/whatever. Laurent glanced around to see if anything around them had changed, like the quality of that wailing. He still hadn't been able to place it.

“Where are you headed?”

[noctanotheroneout]

"No where particular," he admitted. "I'm just making sure people are okay." Though, really, now he should think about heading towards the islets if that's where he companions were. "Maybe figure out if there's anything making the water rise." It didn't seem natural after all.

[crosslaced]

“I'm checking if the Storyteller is home.” A statement, which was at the same time an offer. Because most likely that rabbit was related to this somehow, and so the temple was a good place to start as any. And, perhaps, fighting a god as he planned was a terrible way to go about this- but Laurent would admit to being terrible at communion with the divine. So yes. Would Noctis like to potentially kick deity butt?

It was on the way to the islets, too.

Wake up call~

[prettypurpleparlor]

My, we do seem to keep meeting while you're a bit damp, dearie. Would you care for some help with all this?

[Muffet is speaking to him from further up the beach, just out of the water. Her tone is calm and polite, although she does seem genuinely happy to see that Noctis doesn't appear to be harmed. She's been doing her best to keep track of people, but it's a large group and she doesn't know everyone, so she hadn't been sure whether he had vanished or was simply busy.]

Re: Wake up call~

[noctanotheroneout]

[ It wasn't hard to remember Muffet. She stood out from a crowd. Not that there was much of a crowd on the island. It did seem to be getting a bit more crowded though.]

Well, at least I'm fully clothed this time. I should be okay, as long as I don't stick around to drown. You alright?

[prettypurpleparlor]

True, that is a fair bit less awkward. I'm doing well enough, as... draining as recent events have been. And yourself?

[noctanotheroneout]

Apparently I've been asleep for two weeks, and nobody could find me. [The annoyance in his voice was more than a hint.

[prettypurpleparlor]

[Oh thank God, she doesn't have to be the one to tell him. That was awkward enough with Shepard. Muffet winces sympathetically.]

Ah, yes- I had been wondering about that. The same thing happened to another person I know here, a woman by the name of Shepard. She... mentioned having a strange dream during that time, do you recall anything?

[noctanotheroneout]

[Noctis knew Shepard, and now that he though it, there was a time when he hadn't seen her around much. He just didn't think about it. At least he wasn't the first one to experience this, he'd have to find her and talk to her about it.] A dream? Yeah. It was weird.

[At first, he thought it was a dream of his own world, impending darkness was something that was creeping up while he slept in the crystal.] I was surrounded by people, people I couldn't quite understand. The sun was setting, and the darkness, it was chasing? us?

[prettypurpleparlor]

[Muffet frowns thoughtfully, thinking back to Shepard's description.]

You're absolutely certain it was the darkness itself chasing you? I remember her mentioning a feeling of danger, of being pursued, but she said she couldn't find a source of it...