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

[catpiper]

[She had tentatively started to trust this brave kid would be safe. It all goes downhill when she hears the quiet noise. Ice cracking? She goes straight to the worst possible ending, where this poor bean is stuck in the icy waters with no one to help him, except maybe a tigershark.

Yeah, not great. Even if he's okay in situations like this, she's not.]

You should come back. You can dance on this pretty snow.

[Look at this!! Beautiful shore snow!! So pretty!! Such ice!! Be tempted friend.]

[covertizer]

[ He's fine... he's fine...

But he is slowly moving his way back to the shore now. Oh well, he had fun while he was here but if the ice is starting to crack a little he doesn't fancy an ice cold bath. Bracing as it might be, it'd be hell to dry off and not freeze in this cold weather as well. ]

Can I do a pirouette though? [ VERY IMPORTANT QUESTION. Please note he is heading to land, carefully and cautiously. ]

[catpiper]

[Good.

Any consolation she felt at this small victory is gone the second she begins to watch him inch back to shore. She's grateful for his slow pace, because it allows her to watch the ground under his feet, but it's stressful. Why did he even go out there?? Who does that?? Why is everyone so brave? Horrible. She hates this.

Also what the heck is a pirouette?]

Is a 'pirouette' scary?

[Because that's gonna change her answer from a 'yes do whatever fam' to 'no son' real quick.]

[covertizer]

[ Because

why not.

Is probably the answer. That, and he wanted to know what sort of thickness they were dealing with. If it was really thick ice after such a short time, then it'd be concerning at just how frozen things had become so fast. ]

That depends on whether you get dizzy easily or not.

[ Because WATCH OUT WORLD he's pause just long enough to do a tentative pirouette on that ice. Which, uh. Creaks ominously, so he's going to keep going again the second he's done twirling like a ?pro. ]

[catpiper]

[SHE'S GOING TO HAVE A HEART ATTACK. Her blood will be on your hands, mysterious pirouetter.

Except, there's a split second where she beams at the display because it's cool and he did a good job. Words that would have been expressed out loud if not for the ice making its presence known with that weird sound. The smile falters immediately.]

You can do that over here. You can spin and spin on different ice.

[You know, those lil frozen puddles. It's not the ocean. He can't drown in those, probably.]

Did that make you dizzy?

[covertizer]

[ Yoga is good for stress relief. Learning to unclench is good.

He's scuttling over the ice like a mountain goat. If mountain goats travelled over ice. Time to go back to solid earth and snow instead of ice and... freezing water. ]

I think you can do something to not feel dizzy. Spotting? Or something? Focus on a point, and whip your head around as you spin to look at that point again.

... It's a little tricky. [ He's.... touching his glasses. He likes them on his face, not... flying through the air. ]

[catpiper]

[She gets enough relief from her daily cardio routine, thanks.

His method is questionable, but it's getting him back faster and so she won't judge it. It's fine. Come back to safety. She takes the pirouette advice to heart and turns her head back to quickly scan her surroundings. There's a nice rock over there. That seems good enough.

As he gets closer, she holds out a hand for him to take, just in case in begins to slip. ]

We can look at that rock and spin.

[Suddenly, he has a companion?? Incredible. ]

I'll find better ice for us to do a 'pirouette' on.

[covertizer]

[ Do both, be healthier.

Ah, a literal helping hand. He will take it, thank you. ]

That is a very good rock. [ HE ACTUALLY SOUNDS SINCERE, how about that. ] Unique shape, easy to spot.

You can try it on land, if you want. It's a bit harder, but there's less chance of over-spinning or slipping.

[catpiper]

[Nice. The problem now is Ren's unlikely to let go of his hand until dancing time and she's gripping as tight as she can to guide him away from the ice. Just in case he decides to go back for round 2.

Don't even look at it! It's not your friend. The ocean is garbage and your new home is far, far inland. She has to protect someone that appreciates her good rock.]

Spinning on land is something I can do. I already know how..

[She spins all the time. A pro spinner.]

So I can show you. It won't be hard.

[covertizer]

[ Oh. Well, he has a hand holding buddy now. It's okay, Ren, he's off the ice now and has rekindled his romance with solid ground... ]

Oh?

Go on then, I'll mark you out of 10 if you want.

[catpiper]

Okay!

[Akira said the magic words and she's 2000% ready to show him. Bye hand, bye new friend, she lets go of him and ambles ahead.

And then-

Ready?? Set?? Spin!! It's a spin alright. That's. That's what you do. This is life now. Look at that form? Yeah. A C+ spin for sure.]

Was that good?

[covertizer]

[ Well.

There's only one response to that, and the response is:



applause! ]

Eleven out of ten, obviously. Very elegant!

[catpiper]

[She's proud of herself for no good reason! Thanks for that, friend. It was her best spin yet and she's glad he could tell. She pats the snow under her feet to resmooth it from her impromptu spin and takes a step back.]

Now it's your turn. I'll score you.