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

a

[growingpains]

[Getting out of ice had been a struggle of it's own so it's rather weird to see someone trying to go there. Especially when considering how thin the ice had seen. Granted the person playing on the beach is a kid but she should be old enough to know the dangers of fragile ice. That's just common knowledge.

He's not usually one to butt into other people business but the girl seems to be playing with fire -- or ice -- here. Just as he's about to warn her he takes a note of the big, weird but fluffy looking white dog. Ritsuka watches it in awe. Or maybe it's a fox? Hard to say, he's never seen anything like it before.]

Is that dog yours?

[holdmyhand]

Yeah! But she's...more my partner, really. This is Nina!

[ Nina looks so comfortable out in the cold weather that her gaze seems softer and happier than normal. A soft, responsive whine is her greeting toward the stranger. Luna takes a step toward Ritsuka and the focus is regained, icy breath covering the places where Luna's feet have just left the ground. Luna beams back at Nina and makes her way toward shore. ]

I'm Luna! Are...you new here? [ she looks at Ritsuka's cat ears curiously...are those real? ]

[growingpains]

[Right. Well, guess some people call their pets "partners." Ritsuka turns his gaze to take a better look at the unusual animal. Nina looks friendly and calm enough to make him wonder if he could maybe pet its fur?]

Ritsuka. [He offers his name as his eyes meet the girl's.] Yeah. I take it that you're not, then?

[holdmyhand]

Ritsuka... [ she nods to affirm!! A good name!! ] I'm not really-- we've been here for a few months now. But we have a nice shack and the people here are really friendly!

We're all from different places, I think...I've never met anyone with ears like yours, though. They're pretty! [ Nina steps toward the boy, sniffing at him from a safe distance...but she won't turn away a Good Pet. Not if he's slow. ♥ ]

[growingpains]

[Woah!! Ritsuka leans slightly back when Nina approaches him. He doesn't move away, though, and allows her to sniff him in her own pace. She's really a big one.

The mention of ears makes Ritsuka's twitch and they droop down nervously. So far he hasn't met anyone with ears like him either and at first it had bothered him only a little -- now it made him feel like he was standing out.]

Thanks, I guess? I've never seen anyone with a dog like Nina before.