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

[Muffet rolls all five of her eyes in amused exasperation- an expression that Gabe will probably find much easier to distinguish, given how familiar it probably is to him.]

[A moment later, though, her humor is replaced by concern at the sound of approaching footsteps, and she gestures quickly at him to hide while letting her expression smooth back out into proper Ai'tuoh blankness.]

[She shouldn't be here either! The footsteps really can only be the city's form of security - civilians aren't allowed around here. He darts a look in her direction that's too frantic to be construed as anything else, then jerks his chin at the stack of crates he's singled out as his hiding place.]

[You'll get caught.]

[Muffet nods grimly at him, motioning for him to hide himself, then turns to the wall of the building on her left.]

[It might be a little difficult to tell how she manages to climb directly up a flat, straight surface without any handholds unless he takes a close look at her hands to see the very faint purple glimmer around them- she's wrapped her magic around her own fingers, binding them to the bare stone to stick to it and unbinding each hand when she needs to move it to a new spot on the wall.]

[She moves very quickly, and a scant moment later she's up at the top of the wall, carefully tucked into the corner where it meets the roof. Curling up and tucking her legs in so that her body shields the light of her magic from view, she's almost invisible- even if one of the guards does look up, all that's visible is the black of her hair and shirt and the beige of her skirt and scarf, which blend in remarkably well with the shadows of the corner and the nondescript color of the unpainted building.]

[Now they just have to hope the guards aren't looking for them in particular...]

[Okay, he admits it: he wasn't expecting that. Just don't anticipate him admitting that out loud.]

[She blends in well. The militia cross the area with barely a whisper, plainly not on the lookout for anyone in particular. He assumes they're militia, in any case; though they look like perfectly normal civilians, he knows full well that said civilians aren't allowed in this area unless they work here. Every native has to be regarded as a pair of eyes that might expose them - a security system far more effective than any set of cameras.]

[When the footsteps finally fade, Gabe straightens, shooting a look toward Muffet's hiding place on the ceiling before hissing in quiet undertone:]

You got lucky.

[In all fairness, she is a spider.]

[She eyes the area cautiously for a little while longer before quietly lowering herself to the ground and letting the magic dissipate.]

[Her voice is similarly quiet:]

Quite- though it would have been luckier not to run into them at all. Have you had any trouble here, yet?

[A shake of his head.] I'm good at being invisible.

[His typical devilish smirk is soured somewhat, a bittersweet twist putting it slightly askew. He's good at not really being there. The invisible boy, no matter how Natalie insisted otherwise. She was wrong.]

[She always was.]

[She grimaces, not looking much happier about the situation than he does.]

Hopefully soon you won't have to be- I'll be glad to see the back of this place.

[Looking at him more closely, she notices something and blinks in surprise.]

What in Earth did you do to your pockets? [Did he seriously just rip them off completely, is that what she's seeing here.] ...I can guess why, of course, with those ridiculous rules.

I cut them off. [He shrugs.] You can sew them back on, right?

[Which is entirely and ridiculously presumptuous of him to assume she just Would, verging on flat-out rude, but his entire existence is inappropriate by default, so this is nothing new.]

[It might've been a good sign that he apparently feels comfortable enough to assume as such, if it weren't so dismissive.]

[Muffet looks more amused than annoyed by his presumption, smiling briefly but genuinely for perhaps the first time since setting foot on Ai'tuoh.]

I can and I will- come by my house on the islets after we're done with this awful place and I'll take care of it for you.

[On some level, she's really just happy that Gabe apparently has enough trust in her to assume she'd help him, even if it is for something relatively minor.]

Now that I think about it, getting you another outfit in case something happens to what you arrived in might not be a bad idea. It's far too easy to ruin clothing when we're all out in the wilderness.

[Seriously, has he been wearing the same pair of jeans and a t-shirt this whole time? Sure, she's been wearing basically just one outfit, too, but she doesn't really... sweat. At all.]

[He...actually seems to agree, at that one. Glancing down at himself, at the shirt that used to be a spotless white and is now a mottled burgundy. It blends in perfectly with the aesthetic of this entire place, but it does him few other favors. The fabric is worn and frayed at parts, and thinning in others.]

This shirt used to be white, [he mutters, verging on disgruntled.] I just kinda...

[He trails off, embarrassed to so much as admit it. He’s not used to needing or having a wardrobe. At all, really.]

[She grimaces, nodding sympathetically.]

It doesn't exactly help that the closest thing to a washing machine we have available is taking something down to the river and scrubbing it, either. I don't know how much fabric I have left, but there should be enough to do something with it- I'll check when we get back.

[That's not a point she's willing to compromise on- when they get back. When. Not if.]

[No matter what this place has to say about it.]

[This would be his cue to shoot her a deeply suspicious look akin to a glower, except that she's already managed to establish herself, for better or worse, as someone who gives a damn. Unless she forgets (until she forgets), unless she stops (until she stops), unless she decides she's better off without him (until until until), it's something he has to...get used to.]

[Or maybe not so much "get used to." Maybe remember.]

...'kay.

[It speaks to how much trouble he's having, processing that whole bit, that he doesn't come armed with any biting quips to pair that off.]

March Adventure: Swim with the Current and Float Away

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Can probably wrap this soon, I think?

sure!