January Intro: I Know the Winter's Getting Colder

[lifeaftr_mods]

INTRO LOG: JANUARY

Who: Everyone!
What: New souls arrive to the archipelago of LifeAftr
When: January 5th and onward
Where: Chol and surrounding waters
Warnings: Mark as needed!

The Overview: New Lands
New arrivals will not be waking in the typical hub of activity; instead, they will find themselves coming to on the small island of Chol. While the island's fringes are little more than an unforgiving spread of craggy, canyon-like rock and coastal cliffs, the island dips down to form a fertile divot of edenic woodland in its center. The people living there will even be helpful and polite to you, should you inquire after them.

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

Icebreaker: This is the Winter of Our Youth
Unless you're someone with a fondness for the cold, you'll undoubtedly be waking with more than a slight chill in your bones. The appearance of the island of Chol has signaled a coming event of great import in LifeAftr, and unfortunately, the signs of that event's approach have already been set in motion. The temperature has begun to drop as the sun's rays begin to die, faster and faster, leading to an impressive cold snap in the ocean waters - particularly those surrounding Chol.

It is for that reason that you won't be waking on Chol, per se. Instead, you'll be waking on a thick crust of ice that's mantled itself over the ocean waters, freezing solid enough to bear your weight...for the most part. The ice won't hold forever; it isn't meant to. If you happen to be particularly vivacious in your waking, or especially active in general, thick cracks will start to spiderweb out from underneath those impacts with low, warning chunks and wrenches of fracturing ice. Better hurry to land soon, unless you care to take a little dip into those freezing cold ocean waters.

Mainland: When We Pick Over the Past
Should you make it to the land of Chol, braving the iced-over waters surrounding its craggy shores, you'll encounter something at least as startling - the people who have elected to set up a rudimentary encampment upon its lands. While a bit on the scalier side, the Jormun are nonetheless allied to you land-dwellers, and will welcome you to the island. Most will be preoccupied with preparations for an approaching siege, but many will comment idly that the cold is a sign of the coming battle. Some may point you to their leader, known to most as Munin, but others will venture hospitality based on the actions of those land-dwellers that came before you, who were successful in allying themselves to this sea-dwelling people.

Those who might have braved the cold a little too fiercely will quickly be offered some rather rough blankets - perhaps more on par with burlap sacks in terms of texture - as well as a hot brew that the Jormun call brrkshavak. Heated to a boil just prior to being served, the drink will be more than adequate in warming your weary bones, though it bodes mentioning that it is both scalding hot and made with a fleshy kind of undersea herb that is akin to crushed chili pepper in taste.

It'll warm you up, all right.

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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

[thermalwind]

He doesn't argue with her. She'll do what she can and if she runs into trouble he'll get her off the ice. "Keep going." He ghosts closer to the ice edge. Keith scans the ice around and ahead of her. "Thicker over here to your left."

Once she's far enough a sprint will do it. "Get up and run, you'll make it." He holds out his arm in preparation to grab her if she needs the rescue.

[quietknight]

Sonje stopped to gather herself, then slowly stood up, trying to ignore the ominous groaning noises the ice was making. Once she was confident she wouldn't immediately slip and fall, she set out at a slow but accelerating pace. It was hard to build up speed on the ice.

It was also hard to stop. She made it ashore, but slid right past Keith, arms flailing, and fell over onto the beach, frantically grabbing at anything around her to save herself from humiliation. "W-W-WOAHHH SHIT!"

[thermalwind]

"Whoa! Hey!" He spins around and almost trips over the pile of armor. Keith hops free and moves forward to catch out of her arms and steady her. If he is successful he exhales, his breath coming out in a fast rush. "Sorry. Didn't take the sliding into account. You okay?"

The ice groans behind them, cracking but not splitting apart. She'd gotten her speed up before she could do a lot of damage.

[quietknight]

Sonje DID catch his steadying arm, but still fell over. If he wasn't careful, he was in danger of getting pulled over as well.

Still, at least it seemed like her worries about him immediately attacking her had been unfounded, so that was good. She rolled over on the beach. "Nothing hurt but my pride, I'm afraid."

[thermalwind]

Keith draws back and circles around to where he'd put his pack by the rocks. "Better your pride than your life." He pulls the pack up onto his shoulder. "I can show you the way inland. Probably better we go as soon as you can in this chill."

He jerks his hood up over his head and his mask flickers back into place. His voice comes out slightly distorted. "Find a pack with your name on it?"

[quietknight]

Keith had to wait for a minute, while Sonje tied up her armor into a neat bundle to hang off the back of her bag. In fact, she had TWO bags right now. One was the standard issue one with her name stitched on the back, the other was older and more frayed at the edges, but also slightly larger.

She slung one over each shoulder, slightly awkwardly. "Y-yeah..."

Without the threat of falling to a watery grave of freezing ocean to focus her, Sonje suddenly felt a lot more self-conscious.

[thermalwind]

He waits, scanning their surroundings for any signs of hostile activity. Once she’s ready to go he spins on his heel and strides down a half visible path. “No one knows what brought us here. There’s a god that might provide these packs.” He slows down if she has any trouble, pacing at her side. “Ask whatever you want. I’ll give you what I know.”

Strapped across his back at his waist is a knife, across the back of his shoulders is a sickle, make of coral and barnacles with various sea bits attached. Parts of it move ever so subtly. He doesn’t seem to notice.

[quietknight]

"Well, uh..."

She stumbled after him, still at a loss, and also a bit unnerved by that sickle he had. Eventually, her mind was able to focus in on something. "Have you seen Isette? Short, skinny girl. Blond. Wears a cloak with lots of patches on it?"

It was a stupid thing to focus on but dammit, Isette had PAID her to be her bodyguard.

[thermalwind]

“No. I’ll keep an eye out.” He climbs a small incline and pauses at the top. “Pack should contain supplies. ...listen, you might be the only one from your world here.” It’s uncommon for two or more to appear from the same place. Better to say that now.

He slips over the other side, moving light. “Don’t get too alarmed by the fish people. The Jorrmun aren’t hostile.” He figures that is important so he doesn’t have to put himself between her and the Jormun. They’re all in this together. Wait. He remembers one last thing. “I’m Keith.”