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

[souris_keteer]

Aw, thanks! It looks great!

[He is absolutely taking that bad boy and wrapping it around his neck as many times as it will allow.]

Mmm...

[prettypurpleparlor]

[Muffet hands it over happily, relieved that she didn't have to argue him into being sensible.]

I'm glad you like it, dearie. I take it that helps with the chill a bit?

[souris_keteer]

It sure does! Knowing I have such a good friend warms me inside and out!

[master of cheese, this one.]

[prettypurpleparlor]

[Well, he is a mouse.]

I'm delighted to hear that- although I think some of that feeling might be the drink.

[It's probably really fortunate that Muffet ended up with the nonalcoholic version of the wassail. The last thing they need right now is a repeat of what happened with the blackberry whiskey.]

Don't hesitate to ask me if you ever need help with finding proper clothing for the weather, I'm happy to put my weaving to good use.

[souris_keteer]

[He's done all in his power to black out the memories of his first night with booze.]

I appreciate it, Muffet... but I think the newcomers will need your help first and foremost. They're the ones all scared and confused.

[prettypurpleparlor]

[The only surprising thing about that is that the booze didn't black out all of those memories all by itself.]

Oh, I certainly intend to do what I for them, too. It seems to happen every month, have you noticed? I've been trying to keep track of the days, and I'm almost certain the last two batches of newcomers arrived at the beginning of the last two months.

[souris_keteer]

Huh... is that so?

[He cups his chin in thought.]

I knew it was a while in-between them, but a month, hmm... Wonder if there's any rhyme or reason to it.

[prettypurpleparlor]

[Muffet nods, looking similarly thoughtful.]

I've been using string to keep a sort of calendar- I tie one knot in it for each day, then tie that part of the thread off with a different, larger knot at the end of each month. If there was something particularly important that happened on that day that I want to make a note of, I tie something into the knot- like a piece of grass or a flower.

It's only good for a vague idea of when things happened, and there's always the possibility of my making a mistake and losing count, but new arrivals always seem to be during the first week of the month.

[souris_keteer]

Gosh, Muffet, that's really clever! You're so smart! I'm really glad you're with us.

[Muffet is #1, as always.]

[prettypurpleparlor]

[As always, Mickey is an absolute sweetheart and very good for her self-esteem.]

That's very kind of you to say, dearie- I just try to make do as best I can with what I have.

But I admit, if I'm going to be unexpectedly lost in another world, I couldn't have picked more pleasant people to be lost with. ...Though it would still be nice if we could figure out how to get home.

[souris_keteer]

We'll figure that out some day. But for now, we should focus on what we can do, and that's keeping warm and keeping focused. I've got the scarf, so I'm warm... so my next goal is keeping focused!

[prettypurpleparlor]

An excellent order of priorities. What goal are you planning to focus on at the moment?

[souris_keteer]

I don't know!

[he says with so much confidence.]

[prettypurpleparlor]

[Hey, she respects the honesty.]

Well, if you haven't got anything specific in mind, my advice would be to check and see whether you're in need of any other supplies for dealing with the cold, first. Then I'm sure you'd be a friendly face for some of the new arrivals, if you wanted to greet them and help them understand what's going on here.

[souris_keteer]

[Pumps fists!!! He is eager for that!]

I love making new friends, I can absolutely do that!

[prettypurpleparlor]

I suspect you'll be quite well-suited to it, with your charming personality. Just do remember to be patient with them, it's probably a bit overwhelming dealing with all of this at once. Best to explain things piece by piece, I think, instead of all in one go.

[souris_keteer]

Of course. Shoot, I think if I told them everything at once, they wouldn't believe me!

[prettypurpleparlor]

In all fairness, I'm not sure I'd have believed all this without seeing it in person.

[souris_keteer]

... I think I would've believed without proof... 'cause it'd be a pretty weird thing to make up!

[prettypurpleparlor]

Mm, I met some very interesting people in my time, I wouldn't put it past some of them. But I admit, I would have been very curious even so. It really is an absolutely fascinating place, in between all the dangerous moments.

[souris_keteer]

Yeah! I'd really like it... if it wasn't for all the dangerous moments. I think. Sort of.

[prettypurpleparlor]

Perhaps if we could just come and go as we pleased, so we could visit for fun instead of trying to survive.

[souris_keteer]

Yeah, there you go! Like a tropical vacation!

[prettypurpleparlor]

I'm sure people would pay handsomely to travel to other worlds, if given the opportunity.

[souris_keteer]

I sure would! I love my home world more than anything, but being here has helped teach me so many things... I can only imagine how much more I'd learn somewhere else!