lifeaftr | April Intro: The Flower Ripens in its Place

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April Intro: The Flower Ripens in its Place

INTRO LOG: APRIL

Who: Everyone!
What: New souls arrive to the archipelago of LifeAftr
When: April 3rd and onward
Where: Ziziphus
Warnings: Mark as needed!

A9: Sow the Seed
Unbeknownst to new arrivals, the archipelago of LifeAftr has recently seen the appearance of a new island, as chosen via voting - and they have been unceremoniously placed there instead of upon Ensō, where most newcomers would typically appear. It's probably for the best that the island of Ziziphus is so outwardly peaceful.

There are worse places to find yourself, all things considered. The mana pool glimmers with a greenish light, the stone ring containing that peculiar fluid set firmly into the earth. The surrounding land fits neatly into that general aesthetic: rippling fields stirred by the occasional crisp breeze alternate between amber-golden and rich, verdant green in coloration, and irregular patches of color signify the presence of a great deal of flowers of all sorts.

It's a peaceful scene.

We're sure you're all about to make it go horribly wrong.

B9: Reap the Harvest
For the unluckier, or the more adventurous, something far less tranquil awaits. Perhaps you woke up on this particular map square instead, or you saw fit to journey a little farther, just to see what might happen. In any case, you'll quickly discover that this may not have been the best idea, when an ordinary grassy mound abruptly detaches itself from the ground, hauls itself upright on bristling legs, and starts scuttling near.

SPINDLANKS have now been unlocked in the bestiary.
What might initially appear to be a leafy hillock will very quickly prove to be something far more...mobile, if you get close enough. That clump of grass and red ferns will abruptly hoist itself up on six vine-like tendrils, crawling for its prey like a very large, mossy spider. While it's fully capable of swiping at its foes with its massive, leafy arms, the spindlank's favored method of dispatching its prey is simply to scuttle forth until it's positioned directly above you and drop down. If its weight does not crush you and choking on the clods of earth doesn't smother you, don't worry; the spindlank intends to eat you alive with a set of fleshy jaws set deep in its center, buried somewhere in its underbelly.

For despite their appearance, spindlanks are very much carnivorous. Their size can vary from anywhere between six and ten feet tall when their appendages unfurl entirely. They are, in essence, very large plants, and thus can be easily dealt with, if you can burn them.

Just try not to get overwhelmed.

All new arrivals will awake with knapsacks, their names stitched to the front. The contents of said knapsacks can all be found in your acceptance notices!

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

1 Arrival [A9]

[The Manapool catches the light of the sun and sends little bits of light about it. He'd have found it beautiful once. After falling into The Water...it's a reminder that the pools are safe. He turns to it briefly and looks away over the rolling glass and seemingly peaceful surroundings.

A nagging feeling tells him that this place might be deceptive or that just might be the evidence of living on these islands screaming at him to beware. Hard to say. Hinata slides his pack off his shoulders and drops it down to check back over his supplies. He'd brought what he needs to collect seeds, harvest plants, and to tend to anyone who needs patched up.

He'll have to actually tell stories again soon. He'd had a hard time forming words for them after the siege on Chol. But he'd given himself enough time to deal with that. He is pulling an axe free of his pack and checking the edge whenever anyone comes upon him. Or if you're lucky he's going back over his medical supplies.]

2 Them plant things. [B9]

[Having ventured out this far it was probably inevitable he ran into trouble. It's become pretty routine to him to find it at some point. Travel to new places, have to kill something. Probably not what Gundam had in mind when he told him in that garishly bright fun house to fight for his life.

Or maybe it was. As he is thrown back by the force of a plant monster slamming down, he decides he'll never know. He stumbles and rights himself, swinging the axe at a leg and feeling the meaty thunk as metal meets sturdy plant. It's not his best swing. It isn't his worse, ether.

The creature isn't as fast to make its next swing.]

Wildcard

[Got an idea? Hit me with it.]

[Shion is hesitant, very hesitant about this new island. After everything that had happened he had spent a long time not venturing far from the shack he and Aster lived in.

But this new island had plants, Shion knew plants. Shion could be useful here. He's determined to do better, to be better this time. The bruises are almost faded from his face and though his leg hurts he can walk.

This place is beautiful. It's probably not real but it is beautiful none the less. He spots the man who is looking through what seems to be medical supplies and waves. He recognises him, but only from story tellings. He doesn't know his name.] Hello!

[He catches a shock of white hair moving out of the corner of his eye and looks up when he's waved to. It's not Komaeda. He'd have casually come over to see what he was about. The other's face is only passingly familiar. Hinata holds up a hand in turn.]

Hey. [But then he pauses, noticing the bruises.]

...if that's still hurting you. I have something for it here.

[He gets closer and shakes his head] It's fine, it's mostly healed, we should preserve resources.

[He smiles, he does look into what the other boy has on him though. Mostly out of interest]

[He has one of the first aid kits but a small selection of carefully wrapped up medical herbs. If he needs to do something he's prepared. Hinata notices him looking and smiles tiredly back.]

We don't know what's out there. ...and we don't have that many doctors. I think I might be the last one left.

[It's a very well put together medical kit, Shion is fascinated for a moment and looks up when the man speaks.] You're a doctor?

[There had been more?] I'm not a doctor, but I know a lot about medicine and caring for injuries. In... in the world I was in before I was here I ran a clinic to help people who had been hurt.

[He had started as an assistant but as people disappeared ended up coordinating it. He doesn't have many skills that are of any use but when he does he figures it's important to let people know he can help]

There's Ceej as well, he is skilled in first aid. He helped me a few weeks ago when I got shot by an arrow.

We used to have a healer named Mercy. She could use some kind of energy. I'm...really glad we don't have to rely solely on my skills.

[Someone who can work with medicine and caring for injuries is a welcome addition to their crew. As embarrassing as it is he has to introduce himself. When he could. He makes a small relieved sound in the back of his throat.]

I'm not a licensed to practice doctor but I have all the skills and ability for it. With so few medical anything left I couldn't just...leave people to suffer. Especially when we had that siege on the sun happening.

[So much like Shion then, no actual license but the skills needed for it.] That was before I came here. [He knew about the siege of course.]

Maybe... we should make sure everyone knows who to go to if they are hurt. [There were creatures and monsters that could hurt you, even in small ways like all the burns people had gotten from the phoenix's last month]

Do you have anywhere set up as a clinic? I can help you, I'm sure Ceej will too if we ask him.

[A pause, he's going too fast he needs to breathe. At least this time it's... not quite excitement but passion rather than panic] I'm Shion by the way.

I'm Hinata Hajime. [It's embarrassing to introduce himself but necessary. He breathes in slowly.] I haven't set up a clinic yet. I think a room in the temple would be good for it until a separate place could be built by whoever wants to help.

I've been trying to build up resources and see what plants I could find to grow. I've planted some that I use but...missing any kind of anti-toxin. We need that.

It's nice to meet you Hinata Hajime. [A smile, the temple would probably be the best place. It was a central location and somewhere were people went a lot because of the writing rock and the trading place.] I can help, we might find some kind of anti-toxin here.

[It would be worth taking cuttings and such to try and grow things back on the islets. Shion has not been that organised, last month was a mess. But he is trying to be better this month. To do something positive. It won't make up for the destruction he wrought but it will do good for the future.]

I'll be able to tell a little bit about any plants we find. But we'll need to test them later in a safe place to be sure.

[He packs his things away and shoulders his pack. They have a plan to locate an anti-toxin.] ...if we don't find anything I can trade favors for seeds to a few I know.

...I probably should start planning for a green house, anyway. I've been growing fruits and trees around my house.

I should be able to as well, as long as they are similar to those found on my world.

[He straightens up and smiles] Hopefully we will but if not I can help. [He didn't have any favours left this month, but next month he could help]

Where do you live?

Islet 4, one of the further out cottages. There's a small tree farm around it.

We should be able to puzzle them out together. [They could test things in crude ways and when all else failed ask.]

So far I've seen a lot of plants I can easily identify. How about you?

I live on that Islet two, in the shack that's most southern on the island. [He thinks he knows the cottage that Hinata is talking about, it's nice to have a name and a face to go with a place. It also occurs to him that having a basic list of who lives where might be really useful in case of an emergency.]

Most of them are similar to those I know from home so there are a lot I can identify.

Maybe we could keep some sort of record for anyone else that happens to want to know what the plants are? We could trade favors to the Storyteller for a journal for it.

...But, [He thinks he knows which shack that is.] I think I know where that is. ...we'll eventually need a greenhouse for the winter.

[Shion nodded] I made a guide to edible plants a couple of years ago, we can make one for here. It can be very helpful for those who want to forage and makes sure people know what to look out for so they don't pick anything poisonous.

We can build one though we may have to trade stories for the materials.

It shouldn't be too hard to do. ...we can find a lot of stories to tell here. [He should talk to Storyteller again sometime. The last time he'd been frustrated and back from his own world. It hadn't lent to a very good chat.]

And I definitely think a guide would be a good idea. It could also serve to let people know what would be a good idea to farm and tend to. We have to sustain ourselves here. The more people lend a hand in that...the better off we'll all be.

We will. [He knows they need to work on surviving here. He wants to escape, to get away from this place where they are controlled even slightly by powers beyond their understanding. He's no longer sure if he can go home. If he wants to go home. But either way he knows that it will be years. Years of having to survive.]

I am sure a lot of people will be happy to help and will appreciate the knowledge.

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April Intro: The Flower Ripens in its Place

Hinata Hajime | Will match format.

A9

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