lifeaftr | January Intro: I Know the Winter's Getting Colder

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January Intro: I Know the Winter's Getting Colder

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.

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

[There's a kid here, and kids shouldn't be exposed to secondhand smoke, and that's his first reaction before he realizes that the kid in question is Ren and that she's also apparently quite shocked at the sight of someone smoking, for...whatever reason?]

[Tim hastily stubs his cigarette out on the rock with a soft hiss, trying and failing not to look guilty.]

It's, uh...it's okay. It's just a cigarette. Do you...not have those? Where you're from?

[She's not heckin convinced, friend. Look into her eyes? That's fear and she watches his mouth, as though she expects it to burst into flames at any second.

Which it doesn't? That's nice. But she's still going to move to the side, scooping a small bit of snow in her hand to offer to him.

Eat it.]

No?

[She doesn't sound convinced. They may have, but she never saw them in use.]

We had-[what's the word?]-matches? That kind of stick.

You can...use a match to light a cigarette, [he offers, which isn't a lot of consolation. Still, he accepts the handful of snow because that seems like...like a kind thing to do, to play along until she can figure out how the hell a cigarette works, exactly.]

Some people smoke with...special, rolled-up pieces of paper called cigarettes. It's a - kind of a bad habit, actually. So you shouldn't, uh, do it. [Unless you're like him.]

[Connecting some people smoke to the image of him holding a fire in his mouth takes a moment. Maybe a minute? There's definitely an extended period of silence here. But he took the snow, which is a relief, and he can use it to cool off his mouth if he needs to. She can't see any flames or smoke now that he's put out the weird thing though.

...

She gets another handful of snow and holds onto it, just in case he needs a second round.]

Is it like food? Does it make your stomach full?

[So now he has snow. And he really doesn’t know what to do with it because he’s alresyd pretty cold and it’s just chilling his fingers further and it’s not like just sticking a handful of snow into your mouth is the most sanitary thing, but it feels rude to get rid of it.]

...kinda. It’s not something you need, like food or sleep. It’s something you do when you’re - stressed, I guess. But, uh, only if you’re a grown up, okay? [He is not good at this.]

Edited 2018-01-11 18:25 (UTC)

[It is rude, Tim. Good call. Because the backup snow cupped in her hands is there to replace whatever happens to his. Whether it melts or gets shoved into his mouth-she's willing to freeze so that potential fires get put out.

But that explanation somehow...does nothing? It's something to do as a grown up, which she'll never become, and with stress. Weird. She'll tell other adults about it, at least. It might help them.]

Are you stressed now?

[He settles for washing his hands with the palmful of the stuff. That's...close enough to her original intention, probably. So now his fingers are numb, but slightly cleaner than they were before, so that's, uh - nice? Yeah. That's nice.]

Kinda, I guess. Worried about the whole sun thing. [No point in lying to the kid. That kind of bustle and kerfuffle is hard to miss anyway.]

...you?

[His fingers are beautiful and she approves of his shenanigans, even if it wasn't her intention with the snow gift. That's what you get, Ren, for not explaining that you're supposed to eat the snow.

But his concerns are warranted, to say the least. She starts mashing the snow together in her hand at the reminder-one she pushed aside to concentrate on treasure hunting instead.]

It's going to be scary.

[Is all she can think to say. Not great. Not fun at all.]

But we can look at the pretty stars. Those things will be there.

[Hopefully!! Unless all suns are going out. That would suck.]

[It's going to be scary.]

[Well, it's an honest answer. He can't fault her there. It is pretty scary, even if it's not necessarily himself that he's worried for. There's no guarantee that anywhere will be particularly safe, just yet. Still, if the elves are looking after her, she should be okay.]

You're gonna stick real close to Lup and Taako, yeah? [They might be blasé types, but he's pretty sure they've got as soft a spot for kids as he does.]

Yes.

[Hopefully they don't decide to Be Brave in the coming days because then she's gonna skedaddle to her favorite hiding spot. Her stomach reels at the thought and she attempts to think about the shining, twinkling stars that'll cover the sky instead. ]

Are you going to hide with your treasures until the sun comes back?

[Her eyes fall to the lil guns at his feet. She hopes that's his plan, at least. It's one she'd support. 10/10 Ren approved.]

I plan to pass these out to anyone who doesn't have one yet.

[Does she...know what guns are? Should he be the one to explain what guns are? It's probably best if she at least knows that they're weapons, just so she doesn't end up picking one up and thinking it'll just be an innocent little trinket.]

They're for signalling for help.

[She can't tell how these little items manage to do that and kneels to the ground for a better look at them.

She desperately wants to touch one, but they're his treasure and he is like right there too. So. Time for some self-control. Incredible. She's managing well enough for the time being.]

How? Does it make a noise?

A loud bang, yeah. And a colorful flash of light. Kinda like a firework, if you’ve ever seen one.

[He won’t assume that she has, which just means he’ll have to persuade one of the elves to try and magic up an equivalent. He’s not wasting the rounds he spent his hard earned stories on just for a laugh.]

[Yet, anyway.]

I've seen fire work. It doesn't make a bang. It glows and keeps you very warm.

[Said as two words because please. She has no idea what a firework is, but she's certainly seen fire work. It's amazing. A great gift for humanity. The key to survival.

The loud bang aspect of it makes her pause-she knows someone that likes loud surprises. They might like this.]

Do you want to trade treasures?

[Yep, okay. No idea how fireworks work, then.]

Fireworks are a little more than fire. They’re kinda like...they get shot into the air and explode into a whole bunch of bright colors, way up in the sky. [Paired with an awkward wave of his hand, as though that might get the idea across.]

[Maybe it’s a good idea to make sure she can call for help, but he’s sure as shit not just handing the thing over without any instruction.]

You ever fire a gun?

[There's a pause as she tries to visualize what he's saying-she kinda gets it. Explosions are-well she's familiar with that and paired with the gesture, she can imagine how they spread out. Sort of. She Does Not like explosions, but she does like colors. So.

It's 50/100 on the scary scale right now. Good odds.]

Kidwun might like that kind of thing. Explosions are a loud surprise.

[But as a for his gun question, she shakes her head.]

I don't know what that is.

[That almost gets a smile out of him.] Yeah. Kidwun likes that kinda thing. Good at it, too. Maybe you could get ‘em to show you fireworks sometime.

[He is at least 90% certain that they willingly and truly would.]

It’s something you shoot. You know... [Feeling a tad foolish, he forms a fingergun with one hand.] Bang?

[Asking about that will 100% happen. Probably the moment she spots them with her beady eyes-they're around here or Enso and she's bound to run into them. The colors will be worth the hearing loss.

But the gun description is-she copies his gesture and forms a fingergun, staring at him all the while. It's starting to come together. Slowly, but still.]

The flash comes out-[She points to the barrel with her fingergun.]-when you say bang? That's how it is?

[But how many rocks will she need to trade, is the real question? Maybe he accepts rainchecks.]

Like that, yeah. Guns are pretty dangerous, though. If someone has one pointing at you? You get away as quick as possible.

[Just because he's telling her about stupid things like fireworks and flare guns is no excuse to get sloppy and not impart some good old-fashioned laws about gun safety. He's never actually even fired a gun - as if anyone would give him one - but you don't grow up in Alabama without learning a thing or two about how they work.]

[Running away won't do much to stop a speeding bullet, but at least she'll know that someone carrying a gun has the potential to deal real damage.]

[That causes her to hesitate. In the blink of an eye, this went from weird treasure to horrible quick. While understood they were lowkey dangerous by their initial description, she likened them more to a loud surprise over dangerous weapon.]

I can run very fast. The ghosts couldn't catch me, so I can get away from this weird thing too.

[Comforting?? Yeah, of course that is. She sounds confident? It's fine. And now she's wondering about this nugget in front of her.]

Can you run fast? Do you know how to do that?

Probably not as fast as you.

[A chain-smoker with the kind of stocky build he has? Chara outran him in the caves, easy, and Ren could outrun him now. Speed isn’t his strong suit. Not in general. Granted, he doubts he has a whole lot of strong suits to begin with.]

But that’s good, yeah? Means you’re faster than crusty grown-ups like me.

[Well, that's about as comforting as the gun safety tips were. She doesn't want to be faster than him-she wants to him to run alongside her if things get weird or if there's a weapon pointed in their direction.

Nope, not good at all. She doesn't look happy about that revelation.]

It means you'll have to hide. I'll find big places for you.

[It's way harder to find spots to cram adults into and she'll have to wander around Enso again. Maybe thoroughly check out this island as well.]

Then you can run to them. You won't have to keep up with me.

[Big places, huh? Well, she's not wrong there; he's much better at running from his problems than he is at facing them directly, particularly when fighting said problems usually results in things going pretty far south for just about everyone.]

You worry about everyone, kid? [It's sweet of her to want to make the effort, but he's hardly her responsibility.]

[Or at least, he shouldn't be.]

[He shouldn't be any child's responsibility anymore.]

[It's hard for her to not worry about everyone. There's a chance they might not wake up in the morning-a possibility it could be because of her presence here. The people who charge into danger like Seto, lacking the sticks needed to protect them when their bravery fails, scares her. The fact it would be all too easy for all these kind people to just-

die.

It does scare her. And even Taako, who hid too well, for so long even the Storyteller couldn't find him in the caves, worries her. It's no longer a fear exclusive to the brave peanuts that go into danger.

It's safer to hide, but not foolproof anymore.]

The people who are very brave-I think about them.

[Which happens to be, hm, 99% of this island.]

And people who don't know how to hide.

[So EASE her worries TIM PLEASE. Let her hide you.]

You don't have to worry about me, okay? I know how to hide.

Got real good at it, growing up.

[When you grow up in a hospital, you get good at "hiding." At burrowing into yourself, curling up in the corner so that no one sees. At getting the window open and sprinting into the woodland, burying yourself in leaf litter so that when the doctors come tramping after you with the beams of their flashlights sluicing through the night, you can last hours before they find you.]

[He knows how to hide.]

...so who hides you?

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