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

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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 )

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[Shion had been silent since he woke up in the cells. He sat in the corner knees raised to his chin and tried not to panic. It hadn't really worked, panic had not been far beneath the surface since he had read the rules and though he had managed to keep it hidden for a while now that he had been caught...

The tears are silent, he figures such displays of emotion don't matter now that he's already been arrested but he would rather not anger his captors any further.

He had lost his temper, he should have been better at this. After all hadn't he lived for sixteen years in a place where he had to watch his every step. But that was before... before Rat had rescued him, before he had been stolen from his world, before he had learned that there was so much more and now... even just pretending to be silent, emotionless and obedient had been too much.

He should not have come here. That sign had said those that broke the rules would probably be drowned. He was going to die... No they had to escape. He had made a promise to Aster. He was not going to break it, not like this.

His thoughts swirled but outwardly he was silent, silent and still trying to focus on there here and now. Not other cells that he had been in. They hadn't restrained him, which was good. He didn't think he would be able to keep the fear and rage at bay if they had.

It was probably because he was so still, because he was trying to focus on his surroundings that he could hear the coughing from next door. Sounds that Shion recognised, if not for exactly what they were, then as the sounds of someone who was unwell.

He moves as close to the wall as possible and breaks his silence to call] Hello? Are you alright?

[The presence of another in holding with them should be a relief. But knowing what they are - free of the trappings of their occupation, the ritualistic apparel of a drifter - the entirety of their nature has been laid bare. There was no escaping that thin slice of blue skin, visible past their mantle and under their helm, but like this, it is all the more obvious.]

[Inescapable.]

[None should see them like this.]

[Even less do they know how to answer. Their forms of communication all rely on visual transposition - on the motions of hands, or the issuance of text. Had that been their great crime? The act of using writing to impart a message?]

[The bitter hacks into the ground are no adequate response. Perhaps...]

[The Drifter curls up one sore-spotted hand into a fist, and knocks timidly against the wall adjoining their cell with whoever is asking after them. One. Two.]

[One for yes, two for no?]

[Shion presses up against the wall when there is no answer after a moment listening carefully for any sound.

The knocking makes him jump slightly, it's not what he's expecting. Could the person in the cell next to him not speak? Was it dangerous to speak? Were they hurt in a way that meant they could not speak or were they gagged in some way.

A million questions and no answers.] One for yes, two for no? [It seemed like the most obvious way of communicating through knocking on a wall.

Shion had been detained in many ways in his life, but this most reminded him of when they had gotten stuck in the dormitory rooms of the Tower, he had been the one injured that time, talking through the wall to Aster and Reno, shadow children pleading with them to be quiet...

Not a time to dwell on. Except, Aster had tried to heal him through the wall, Shion wished he could do the same for whoever was hurt in the cell next to his]

Did the guards hurt you?

[A pause. Did they hurt them. Not directly, it seems. Their task was to incapacitate them and steal them quietly away somewhere. Somewhere featureless and strange and isolated, but for the murmur of someone else next door. The repercussions of that rough treatment have been far from kind, but that does not seem to have been very high on the list of the priorities of those that jailed them.]

[One for yes. Two for no.]

[Two knocks.]

[Their only injuries are those sustained by their own weakness.]

[Two knocks. No. The guards had not hurt whoever was next door. Which left what exactly was wrong a mystery.

He wondered if he could get some help, but he really doubted the guards here were going to care about someone they were probably going to kill anyways. At best they would ignore him and at worst he might bring trouble onto his neighbour if he pointed out that he was hurt, or weak.] You're not fro...

[He paused, he had to word the questions right, concisely so that they could be answered by knocking on a wall] Are you from this city?

[He assumes not, but it's the easiest way to ask without giving away too much]

[Another two knocks. That's a simple answer. And then - then a sound, an awful, gagging retch, and the spatter of liquid hitting the ground. In the silence, it may as well ring like the shot of a railgun. The gloves have been removed; they have nothing to wipe their mouth on but the hem of the tunic that they've been allowed to keep on their person.]

[They are not well.]

[This was obvious from the start, but now, robbed of their sprite, their condition only worsens.]

[Two knocks. Confirming what Shion already knew. They was from their island. Stolen from whatever world they came from origionaly. Stolen and now locked in a cell injured, hurting. An awful retching sound from the other cell made Shion squeeze his eyes shut. He had to get help... had to do something.

But there was nothing to do, he was trapped in here. His injured neighbour was trapped as well. Shion had been in this sort of situation before, too many times. Powerless as someone was hurt or killed. Unable to move, too weak, trapped. They were both going to die here in this city. For real die not like the times Shion had died before. He stopped trying to hold back the tears that threatened.] I'm sorry [It was perhaps too quiet for his neighbour to hear. Everything in him wanting to stop, to give in because there was no point. They were trapped and helpless.

Helpless... Anger surged through him at the thought.

It was what they had tried to achieve Jason and Ruana, learned helplessness. Shion took another breath and forced his mind to think. He had promised Aster he wouldn't die. He was not going to break it. Not like this.

Reno had trained Shion's mind as well as his body. He was not the frightened child who had watched Nezumi die over and over again. He was not the boy who had hid in an apartment hunted by teddy bears watching them kill his friends on a phone screen.

No he was stronger than that. A shuddering breath. He had to be stronger than that, whoever was next door to them. They were hurt. They were probably terrified and they could not even cry out in their pain and fear.]

We're going to get out of here. [His voice was louder now, stronger] I... I have no magic healing but I can try and help. [It wouldn't even be the first time he had attempted first aid whilst separated from the person he was trying to help by a cell.]

Are you bleeding? [Triage using yes and no answers and wall knocking though was a completely new experience]

[They miss the first words, whatever they are. Regardless, they can appreciate the desire to help, even if they doubt there is much to be done. They are bleeding, after all, but in the internal sense, and for far longer than this island has existed. So very long have they been bleeding that there is little anyone could do to staunch that flow.]

[Still, even with their power of speech reduced to a yes-or-no knocking game, the Drifter is not in the habit of lying.]

[One knock. Another spurt of coughing.]

[Perhaps it is best that this means they cannot communicate their doubt that their neighbor can do anything of consequence, when it comes to easing this.]

[One knock. They were bleeding. Well that was the first step then. Stopping the bleeding. They were coughing too but Shion focused on the bleeding, but he was worried. The retching, the coughing, the awful sounds that he had been hearing. That suggested bleeding on the inside, they had been cut deep enough or hit hard enough to cause internal damage. There was not much he could do about that without surgery.

He had to focus on what he could do.] You need to apply pressure to the wound. Do you have something you could use? [They had taken everything from Shion except his clothes.

But clothes could be ripped for bandages in an emergency.]

[Pressure? What kind of pressure? What kind of pressure could they possibly safely apply to their internal organs? They've been leaking out for too vast a portion of their life for this to be a function with any merit, but they've no means to communicate any part of this.]

[Or much of anything, it turns out.]

[Knock-knock.]

[No. Nothing. That's the closest to an actual answer as to the extent of their hurts to which they can get.]

[No. Well... that made things more difficult and also made Shion very worrying. Was it no because he had nothing? Unlikely- Shion had been able to keep his clothes. Unless they had been wearing banned clothing, would that have been taken?

Or was it because the bleeding was too much, in too many places? That it was too late?

Tears filled Shion's eyes and he squeezed them shut trying to think. He can't give up and can't let this person die, just because he can't see them and communication is hard.] I can... I can try and get help

[It was unlikely to be successful, they were condemned to death anyways so who cared if they died here? But... the rules had been specific. Purged by the standing water. Water was sacred to them. Maybe they would try and keep a prisoner alive, if only to kill them in the correct way.]

[That's an easier response. Two knocks.]

[It's all right, friend. You've tried your best, for what little you could do. You've lent them your ear, your company, your concern. Who would they be to try and come away with more than that, than their rightful share? He has already tried so hard on their behalf.]

[It's all right.]

[There is only so much anyone can do for them at this stage.]

[Two knocks. One for yes, two for no. They didn't want him to go and get help. Once Shion would have done it anyways but now... He couldn't guarantee that it wouldn't lead to them being hurt more.

So he would remain silent, even though every part of him screamed that he should do more, do anything in order to help them. He couldn't though, not now at this moment in this cell.

But...] When... they will need to take us elsewhere... Hopefully as a group [If they took them one by one... that was a different matter. That would be more difficult. Harder to get everyone out, to escape together.

And they would escape, or try their best because Shion was not giving up.]

I... I have white hair and red eyes, I don't know what you look like so... try and find me. I'll try my best to help you. To get you out.

[Not I will protect you or I'll make sure nothing bad happens because they were promises he couldn't keep. But promising to try his hardest to protect this unknown person, he could do that. He couldn't promise to succeed, wouldn't promise that because he knew he wasn't strong, wasn't brave, was still despite everything a person who relied on others. But he also knew he was not someone who would leave anyone behind if he could physically help it.]

[White hair. Red eyes. That...hair like Ren, maybe? She has silver hair, but the two are close enough. They will...perhaps they can recognize him by his voice, as well. They stand out, they know, as they tend to. Perhaps that will be enough for him to recognize them in turn.]

[He ought to save himself. He ought to do what he can to escape. In this state, they will only drag down the efforts of anyone who attempts to assist them, so slow and unwieldy they are as a result of the deprivation of their sprite.]

[...given his tenacity, however, there is every possibility, even should they refuse, that will simply make him more determined.]

[More than a slight possibility.]

[And so they knock. Once.]

[Yes.]

[If they die before they wake, then at least it will be in service to others.]

[It is not so different from dying in service to a god, in its own way.]

[A knock. One knock. Yes. They will try and find him. That's a plan then. Not the best plan Shion has ever had. After all he has no idea where they are right now, where they will be taken, where the mana pool is from here. Their neighbour is injured and once Shion would have been able to carry them, like he carried Aster when they were expelled from the tower, like he carried her on their dead worlds. But now he was weak, would not be able to. But he would try his best.]

Try and rest. Save your strength.

[There was nothing else Shion could do. But he could think and as long as he could think things were alright. He could come up with a plan.]

[One final knock.]

[Save their strength. They hardly have any to speak of, but they've no options available to them to pass the time other than the obvious: curling up in the corner, making themself as small and unobstructive as possible, and try to conserve their energy with eyes closed and breathing shallow.]

[Sleep, if they can.]

[Between the dry heaves and coughing fits and the spurts of vertigo, there's not much hope for that.]

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March Adventure: Swim with the Current and Float Away

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