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

[This is far from anticipated. The jackal had never breached that distance between them, remaining always a fair distance ahead, like something spectral and unknowable. She had always been on a plane apart, a tier separate from mortal affairs, and deservedly so. Gods do not, in their experience, mingle with mortals in a supremely tangible sense.]

[When the goddess scrambles up onto their lap and and rests her great head there, the Drifter freezes in shock, in the utter lack of preparation for an instance such as this one.]

[Why do gods sink to such lows, ingratiating themselves with mortals such as they - dying mortals, no less? The jackal, perhaps, they could understand; gods of the dead and dying would lay claim to those they know will soon join them in their realm. It is little more than delaying the inevitability. But...this? This goddess, who surely is a creature of life and of vitality?]

[The Drifter sits stiff with uncertainty, with alarm, at odds as to how best to proceed.]

[It has been said before, time and time again, but Amaterasu is unlike most gods. She revels in the interactions between herself and the mortal plane. She adores the relationships that can only be achieved through joining them in their day to day goings. She has never, and will never present herself as being on a higher level than any life - big or small. She is no better or no worse than anyone here, person, animal, or blade of grass. Life is life, regardless of length or how it is spent. Without life - people like this little Drifter here - who believe so strongly in the gods, she would cease to exist.

So, in a way...this is her giving thanks. Sharing her love, her time, and her company with them in a way that perhaps a god could not...but a dog certainly could.

She watches them, her yes drooping with a bit of fatigue, but mostly relaxation and comfort, breathing slow and even. She can feel tension, and that's what keeps her from actually giving in to her weariness, blinking her eyes and snorting softly. If they want her to move, she will, but she must say...it's quite nice here.]

[...she is tired, however. She has chosen to rest upon them, and so they will keep watch for her, if need be. It is best to treat a god with reverence, as is owed. And if she deigns to rest here, then they will not contest that. It is sound and fair, that they respect it.]

[She is already making such plain contact with them, diseased as they are, unwanted as they most often must be.]

[It takes several long, cautious moments before the Drifter can muster the wherewithal to raise one gloved hand and run it down the back of her head in a tentative stroking of white fur.]

[The wolf exhales slowly, her tail thumping the ground happily as she makes a quiet, happy noise to the press of a hand on her head, smoothing down her fur. She is truly a simple creature, and perhaps a simple goddess as well, wanting nothing more than the offering of good company and praise - perhaps a bite of food here and there as well. Offerings and reverence never did suit her well, and though Ammy won't press people to worship in a way, or to a certain deity, she much prefers this sort of contact over what the Drifter may be more familiar with.

What sort of divine beast would she be, if she did not share her love of the world and it many people graciously and willingly? No one is beyond the scope of the sun's rays to warm and greet them every morning. Even a sick, wandering drifter has every right to bask in the light.

She pressed her head closer as she stretches out with another, much deeper exhale, and begins to fade off into sleep for a little while. Of course, if the Drifter ever needs or wants to move, she'll get up and off him, they just need to nudge her gently. She's not here to keep them, after all, just to enjoy a bit of company while she rests, and share her own.]

January Intro: I Know the Winter's Getting Colder

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