lifeaftr | March Adventure: Swim with the Current and Float Away

NEW ISLAND: AI'TUOH

Who: Anyone who feels brave...or particularly lawful
What: A city worth exploring, and a people worth meeting
When: March 10th and onward
Where: Ai'tuoh
Warnings: The themes you might associate with strict punishment and rule-based dystopias will abound, along with nonconsensual drugging/sedation for those found guilty in the streets. Otherwise, mark as needed!

The Overview: Ai'tuoh
The dawn of the 10th will see the appearance of the promised island on the horizon. The smooth, even planes of city walls rear across the expanse of sandy beach, but beyond that, no particular discerning characteristics can be immediately glean. That same morning, characters will awaken from a brief dream, wherein the Storyteller will advise that the new island accessible via mana pool - and they suggest, with some trepidation, that you do not make the location of said mana pool on the new land immediately obvious to the natives. It's clear that something has put them on edge, though they've yet to say what.

Welcome, adventurers, to the island of Ai'tuoh.

Our City, Our Rules
Ai'tuoh is home to a sprawling city, built of smooth, sandy stone. Its architecture is simple, precise, and uniform, valuing utility above all else - function to the exclusion of form. The homogeneity of the people of Ai'tuoh extends beyond the similar, monochrome spectrum of their apparel. Despite the gradations of skin color and the subtle shifts in the shades of their hair - all falling within established limits, of course - they all appear to be more or less human. But most striking of all is the stern warning emblazoned across the city's gates. It translates as follows:

May those who violate our law be cleansed in the Standing Water.

The Unerring Law of the people of Ai'tuoh can be found in the library, which contains little besides some five hundred copies of the same dispassionate lists of various laws, most of which you've probably already broken by the time you've entered.

If you plan on stopping by, we'd recommend taking the time to explore the docks first - those that frequent that particular area are rather more forthcoming to travelers. You might find someone sympathetic to your plight, willing to offer some helpful hints.

Holding Cells: Awaiting Your Trial
Those unlucky enough to be caught by the concealed militia taskforce of the city will be sedated on sight of their violation, and will wake in a small, smooth-stoned room. There are no windows, and only one door - and it won't be opening under your duress.

The holding cell into which you've been deposited is beyond barebones; while clean and uniform, it lacks even the basic commodities of a bed and bucket. It seems that there's no need to plan for keeping prisoners in the long term. No one drops by to visit, and no one addresses you if they pass through. Your only company is in your cellmates, who you might be able to hear through the walls, provided you raise your voice over the soft, buzzing hum that permeates the air; a magical suppression field, to ensure that those with particular talents cannot exert them to break the law's hold.

The barracks are sorted into clusters of several buildings, each with variety of cells hidden in secluded pockets. To contrast the uniformity of the city itself, there is no such order here; the buildings are designed to be difficult to break into, and even harder to orient oneself in.

Those who are being kept in holding until their cleansing will not be in complete isolation forever. There are a number of militia who patrol the prison areas to ensure peace is being kept...and some might even be open to conversation.

For OOC information about Ai'tuoh and the city's laws, please see our recent OOC information post!

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

That is for the Water to know. We do not question their destinations. They...they have their fate, and they do not stray from it.

[An overly lengthy way of describing how none have returned. She lifts her chin once more, regarding him coldly.]

Our world has not ended, lawbreaker. We are still here.

And so am I. I was to die when I reached the end, yet here I am. Gods promise nothing, little girl. Not even kings.

[The Batter regards the person before him with an expression that may be hard to describe. For however much he's thrown away, that poker face of his is still going strong.]

I wonder how many will be consumed by your God. Don't you know? Water, over the course of time, can erode rocks. It rusts metal. It erodes chains. It drowns children.

So in the end, I wonder how many people you've held their heads down in the water until they become pure. Are you happy? Is it better like that?

[Thunk.]

[Her foot lashes out, slamming against the door, rattling it in its jamb. Her eyes flash a treacherous challenge, her back stiff, her brow curved into a horrified scowl.]

Do not speak to me as such. It is how we have lasted as long as we have.

[Surely you've seen it, Batter. Or have you not taken the time to observe the ruined houses, the broken buildings, the tools buried in the dirt, doubtless possessions of corpses long rotted away?]

[For all she's lashing out, the guard may as well have kicked a brick wall for all the nothing the action pulls out of the Batter.]

You survived on top of the corpses left behind. I think the correct response would be to offer pity.

[But he doesn't and he won't. Because, as always, he doesn't care.]

And I wonder just how afraid you are of your God. That one day, you may be next. That one day those here will be the ones to hold you down. And then something else will come for you. Corpses rot, child. Purity will not save you from that.

[Take it from the one who ended his own world. Rot spreads. It never ends.]

[Silence.]

[She draws back, her lip curling, her control once again restored.]

You really have no idea what you're talking about. Those who abide by the Law have nothing to fear. Those who break it will be cleansed. That is how it has always been, and how it will always be.

You think me a "child." You're the one who speaks without the knowledge of our ways. You're the one who refuses to learn.

I just speak from my experiences. This will not end how either of us think it will. Corpses rot and water clears. But lately there's been a third choice for me. Maybe you.

[It may seem like a 180, but he's broken from the sea of abstract to talk normally for a bit.]

But I can't help but wonder if there was a way to learn without death. In the end, we cannot escape our consequences. These are mine and yours may come soon.

[The Batter looks at the girl a little more openly.]

Or to put simpler, what do you see when you look at me? A man or a monster? Or something else?

I see a lawbreaker.

[Well, what answer was he expecting?]

I see someone who tries to twist words into weapons. Do you attempt to sway me from my faith? Do you expect that you might succeed, simply because you can speak in riddles?

[Well, it's an answer which pulls a bark of laughter out of him. The third one then.]

No. The one I loved talks like this. A memento of a woman and Queen who once tore the world up then down. Your faith is your own. Although I will admit your reactions are interesting. And for someone who condemns for not learning the rules to your game, you are not trying to understand ours either.

[If he's being honest here. And yes, the Batter is aware he's being a hypocrite. He doesn't care.]

But if you wish to purify us, then keep going. Don't look back. Death will not free us. That's all.

Because this is not your world, lawbreaker. This is ours.

[They crossed the threshold into Ai'tuoh; not the other way around. They entered the city freely, of their own will.]

[These are their consequences.]

Then the game will start with you.

[These are their consequences. But that doesn't mean they can't have fun with it.]

Purify us then. It matters little when death means nothing. But burn us all in your memory. That will last for however long it needs to.

You are not the first to rail against your treatment. You will not be the last.

[She turns away with a soft huff of sound; a scoff.]

You assume that you're more noteworthy than you are. You think this a personal matter, and you fight as such. You are animals backed into corners. Nothing more.

No, we are not important and nor am I any longer. It is merely a warning from someone who once stood upon the corpse of his world in the name of purity. Hopefully you do not suffer the same fate.

[Because this place is like ouroboros. The snake will inevitably eat its own tail.]

I will see you at the end of the rainbow, 41916.

[She shakes her head with a derisive hiss of noise. Many here, they seem almost innocent - shocked at their treatment. She may regret watching them be led to the Water.]

[She will not be displeased to see the last of this one.]

March Adventure: Swim with the Current and Float Away

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