lifeaftr | 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

[Chip had mostly come here to Chol out of...a vague hope, really. They're not going to be helpful here, and they aren't really interested in the scenery. But when there's been a new island, that's where newcomers have shown up, and...]

[Well, they do remember that dream. So maybe...?]

[In the meantime, they've settled near the Jormun's camp with a rough blanket wrapped around their shoulders and a schoolbook open in their lap. At least, it's printed like any modern schoolbook, but the contents are...less than normal.]

Feathers...fans...well I don't have any balloons, so that's not gonna help.

['Every mage's frame of reference is unique, but some objects can hold the same meanings for many people!' tops a page filled with several lists, all relating concepts to certain items. Salt for earth, coins for wealth, a burnt match for fire...what kind of school is teaching kids magic spells, anyway?]

Balloons? Fans? Feathers? Whatcha got there, Chip?

[Mickey pipes up, having overheard. You've made him curious!]

[Chip jumps a little and looks up, startled for a few moments before they shrug and look back down at the book.]

Trying to figure out some references. I wanna try and help with a ritual, but I never really tried to make one on my own before.

Is there any way I can help you?

Um...well, I need stuff that makes you think of...being light, or floating, but there's not a lot around here. 'Least not that I can really think of...

[Chip looks down at the book, and frowns.]

And...uh, do you have any quartz? Like, any kind, it's just gotta be that type of rock.

[The first one just draws a blank. As for the second one...]

Well, no, but I could always ask around!

[They nod with a small, relieved smile--really, they could have asked for help themself, but...well, it's hard to work up the nerve to talk to people in the first place, let alone asking for help finding a freaking rock.]

Thanks...uh, you said you're learning your own kind of magic, right?

[And of course Mickey would rip out a kidney to help anyone here.]

I'm trying to! I've been asking around. We've got a lot of talented people here.

Um...maybe reading this could help you? I mean, this is all for ritual magic, and yours is more like natural spells, but...

[Chip shrugs a little, ducking their head. Such a stupid idea, stupid, why would Mickey need to know frames of reference if he's a natural caster? Idiot, idiot...!]

It's worth a try! All magic's pretty different to me anyway!

[But he's definitely noticing that change in body language.]

... Somethin' the matter, Chip?

[Things have certainly been strange and stressful within the past 24 hours. Luckily though Ritsuka's always been good at adapting to new situations, in both and good. So despite all the confusion he's sitting near the campfire with his knees close to his chest. The school bag and knapsack he arrived with are both both placed neatly next to him.

Jormun sure are weird but as far as he can tell they appear nice. So things could definitely be worse even though t just frustrates to be without any proper answers once again.

His attention is soon caught by another near him kid who seems very absorbed to the book they're reading. Oh. Funny. Ritsuka is just that kind of kid who loves reading and studying in general but bringing a book along sounds quite.. unnecessary? A waste of space in survival situation.

But.. He's still interested.]

What are you reading?

[Chip jumps, eyes going solid black for a moment before they catch control of themself and stuff down the response. Looking up, Chip hunches their shoulders and furrows their brows, glaring up at the...they can't tell if those ears are real or a glamor or what, and it's honestly kind of disconcerting.]

Why'd you wanna know?

[Ritsuka. He frowns his eyes a little -- he wasn't really expecting to be met with cautious look and defensiveness. Maybe he had interrupted something important? He certainly hates it whenever people try to talk to him when he's trying to read.. But then again, the other kid had been reading out loud, so it couldn't have been that big of a secret.]

I'm just curious. I haven't seen many books around here.

Brought this one with me.

[Chip glares at Ritsuka warily, before slowly uncurling just enough to start reading again.]

'N it's boring anyway, so you wouldn't care.

You were reading it out loud.

[His eyes narrow a little. What a brat. Is this what it feels like to talking to him when he's reading?]

It sounded weird.

January Intro: I Know the Winter's Getting Colder

Chip Abaroa | OTA

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