May Intro: We're Going Down, Down

[lifeaftr_mods]

INTRO LOG: MAY

Who: Everyone!
What: New souls arrive to the archipelago of LifeAftr
When: May 4th and onward
Where: Ensō...and above
Warnings: Mark as needed!

Floating Islet: And Sugar, We're Going Down Swinging
While new arrivals may generally be expected at this time of the month, one factor that has continuously failed to maintain consistency is their point of arrival. And indeed, it appears that this month has once again exceeded even the Storyteller's expectations as to where arrivals may take their first steps on this world. Those who were with us in February will most certainly remember the floating islands hovering far, far above the mainland. While they currently remain inaccessible, they are still steadily floating overhead, shifting appearance as if made of the clouds themselves. And so while waking up on top of the world may be a surprise, at the very least new arrivals will have a bird's eye view of Ensō to enjoy for a time...until they take notice of a rather sinking sensation.

In fact, that sensation would be the island itself, starting to sink out of the sky.

So that's nice.

On a crash course for the ground at F6, the Storyteller will eventually slow the island's progress to the ground below, though a rather profound impact is, simply put, inevitable. Characters with the ability of flight will find the island skimming low enough to reach on their own. Others may wish to utilize their resourcefulness to find an alternate means down.

Or, perhaps, you'll simply deal with whatever awaits you at the crash site.

F6 and Beyond: In An Earlier Round
Thankfully, the Storyteller's intervention will ensure that no one still on the not-so-floating island upon impact will escape with minor injuries at worst, the island itself crumbling to pieces and taking down more than a few thick trees. The pieces of the island will very quickly begin to blacken, crumbling underfoot as the floating island turns to dust. Anyone still aboard may wish to make a very quick departure.

The ripples of this impact, however, are far more significant than two pieces of land bumping up against one another.

Previously, visitors to the floating islands may have experienced some...oddities, during their time above the clouds. For the next few days, these oddities will spread across Ensō itself, leading to some rather awkward scenarios:

[ ♆ ] Some may find their weapons are... behaving oddly, though all are still functional. Weapons, in this instance, may also include fisticuffs, if the intent is to use your fists as a weapon.

[ ♆ ] Equally as irritating are those who find themselves coming down with a severe case of NPCitus: periods of time in which they find themselves incapable of saying more than one or two lines of the same, repetitive dialogue.

[ ♆ ] Equal parts nostalgic and irritating for some are the instances of lag (walking forwards, only to find oneself back where they started), Swimmer's Ear (incapable of movement unless swimming through the air), and clipping (suddenly stuck halfway through the nearest rock are all common, regrettable side-effects).

[ ♆ ] Other unfortunate side-effects may also transpire, as varied and wild as one's imagination.

Though many of these may be hindering or even dangerous in the right situations, they are, for the most part, passive. The Storyteller will assure anyone who asks that these oddities will disappear in the next few days.

You are free to create or utilize glitches you are particularly fond of, though keep in mind that any potential content warnings should be mentioned in your toplevel! You may peruse some of the past glitches here, or create your own along those lines! And a special thanks to our local Donn-mun, Jake (venesection), for the first glitch on the list!

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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.

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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!

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LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

Comments

[savedbyasong]

They haven't made us sick yet. [Shion saw that, the world shift, or the man shift, or the centipuppy shift. However it happened it wasn't normal, like so much that had happened today. He is sat on a rock and writing in a journal.

He's assuming the islands crashed first and these weird side effects came second. Since they had been on the islands the last time weird things had happened that the two were connected.

He's making a list of the things he's seen so far, because that way it is research and research means there is probably an answer.]

[piercetheheart]

[Okay good someone else saw that.]

They usually do... that? [He only briefly glances up from the carcass to look at Shion. With a book. Taking notes.

A recipe book?!? Here's hoping.]

[savedbyasong]

No, I've never seen that happen before. Something strange is happening, it's probably to do with those islands falling from the sky. [How had the islands fallen? Why had the islands fallen? What did it mean and how was it all connected?

He blinks at the man] You're new [At least he hadn't been at any Story Tellings Shion had been to and Shion didn't think there was a way to avoid those.] Are you alright?

[piercetheheart]

[Gladio kneels down next to the animal, appraising what the hell it even is, still listening to what Shion says but he doesn't need to be looking at him to follow.]

'm fine. A little weirded out... I mean, falling from the sky's kinda new. But otherwise fine.

[Rolling the puppy over to look at it's abdomen, tapping his knife against the carapace on it's back.]

What is this thing?

[savedbyasong]

You fell from the sky? [On one of the islands? But at least he was fine. He wasn't panicking anyways. Taking literally falling into a completely new world much better than Shion would have.

But most people were a lot better at... well everything, than Shion was.] I'm not sure. They don't have them in my world, it looks more like a monster than a natural animal but that line can often be blurred. [Especially here, he has no proof that any of the monsters here aren't natural.]

[piercetheheart]

[It helped that he had friends here and had a very long conversation with Ignis about it in a dream.

He tilts his head at Shion, considering his words and a little surprised by the conclusion.]

Well it's no daemon. [It hadn't disintegrated yet so that was obvious.] So it's gotta be natural? Just never seen anything like it before.

[savedbyasong]

Not necessarily. [But maybe. Shion shrugged] It seems to be a hybrid of some kind, but their behaviour is very canine, they have packs and this area is their territory, they don't move out of it so much. [And were quite fierce in defending it as he had found out the first time he had wandered here]

[piercetheheart]

Packs huh? [And the hunter in Gladio immediately goes back on high alert. If they're pack animals then it's fellows might be nearby.]

That's good, though. More food.

[savedbyasong]

Yes [He nodded, looking around himself, knowing that the odds of this one being alone were small] The islands falling probably spooked them though.

[piercetheheart]

Mmm... probably why this one got separated. [Too bad for him. Time to start cleaning this thing out. Shion you sure you wanna watch this?]

[savedbyasong]

Probably [He takes a moment to put his notebook away and jumps down from the rock as Gladio starts] Do you want help?

[Gladio looks like he knows what he's doing, but work shared is often quicker]

[piercetheheart]

[Gladio looks up at the younger man, shrugs, and gestures for him to take up the space opposite him.]

I mean if you wanna hold the legs outta the way. It's got an awful lot of 'em.

[Gladio is well versed in this sort of thing but clearly if Shion is offering an assist he either wants to learn or knows a few things himself. Hopefully he's not squeamish.]

[savedbyasong]

[Shion nodded and moved to where he was gestured at and reached over to gather legs. It did have a lot and he did his best to get them all out of the way of where the man was working.]

Do you hunt a lot?

[piercetheheart]

Yeah. [He looks Scion over, smirks a little and bites his lip. He manages to stop himself from saying “longer than you’ve been alive”.] Have been for years. You ever do this kinda thing?

[Which is why he is utterly up phased as he takes out his hunting knife to start the process, first cutting the rectum away from the rest of the meat and then neatly opening up the belly to plop the entire contents of the abdominal cavity out in one big sack.]

[savedbyasong]

[He gets a nervous smile back, Shion isn't squeamish. Blood had never bothered him particularly and even if he had once been a child who had felt sick, almost threw up the first time he had seen a body that child was dead now. He watched Gladio, knowing enough to know that he was very skilled at this.]

I'm better at making traps than actually hunting. But my dad taught me how.

[piercetheheart]

Traps are more efficient but it’s hard to get big game from them.

[Said as he’s reaching up into the chest of the animal so he can free the diaphragm and cut through the esophagus and trachea to empty the animal out entirely.]

If you can get one set up near a rabbit warren or something though. You could get by hunting once a week instead of near daily. Might see if you’d be up for making a trade off. 4 to 6 snares in exchange for....?

[ what do you need the wall of meat to do, Shion?]

[savedbyasong]

[Shion nodded, it was not a way to get big game but honestly he and Aster didn't eat all that much between them. Especially not in the way of meat, they had gotten used to surviving off berries and roots in the tower and later nutrient bars. Though everything had always been nutrient bars anyways.

He blinks at the offer and really, he would bring this man food if he wished with nothing in return if he had need of food. But he does understand a trade. Reno had dealt with everything like that in the tower though and for a moment he stands, still holding the centipuppy's legs, thinking.]

You don't know how to fix up houses do you? [It's mostly a joke, but him and Aster are still struggling with their attempts at having a roof over their head.]

[piercetheheart]

[The Chocobros could put away a lot of food, okay. He needs more reliable source of food than just what he can potentially kill at any given point.

The question has him grinning up at Shion, though.]

Depends on what kinda thing you want but if you're just talking about fixing up the structural damage... yeah. I've got plans on how to fix up the place Iggy's got set up anyway. I'll see what I can do for you too.

[savedbyasong]

You know Ignis? [He would not be surprised if Ignis had already met him, but he called him Iggy and the only person Shion knew that did that was Prompto, was this man from a version of their world?

Or was he just a person who gave everyone nicknames?

But back to the offer] I... we don't... [He took a breath] Could you teach me? How to fix things like that? [He has no idea what he is doing, but he doesn't want it just done for him. He should be able to do this, would be able to if he hadn't been such a pampered city kid. He's trying to be better, learning is the first step]

[piercetheheart]

Sure thing. [Sharing knowledge is a good thing. He will teach anyone willing to learn.]

Yeah, we go way back. You know 'im? [Why is he not surprised that everyone he's run into knows the guys.]

[savedbyasong]

Thank you! [Shion smiles at him, bright and shining. He is very thankful, knowing how to fix things properly will mean they don't have to redo their worki every few days.]

Yes I do! I met him even before I arrived her, in the dream place, Mu. He saved me from ice sharks. [This is someone from a version of Ignis' world then]

Is your name Noctis? [There were probably more friends of Ignis' on his world, it would be a coincidence if this was the one person that Shion knew of. But coincidences... happened a lot when it came to things like this]

[piercetheheart]

....... ice sharks!?

[Okay that sounds horrifying and so badass it's not even funny. Of course Iggy would just go and take on something that ridiculous.

The question makes him smile though, laughing softly.]

Of course he'd tell everyone that will listen about Noctis. Nah. 'm Gladio, though Noct's here, now.

[savedbyasong]

Yeah, he's an amazing fighter. [There's a little bit of awe there. Alright a lot of awe. Shion can fight, though he's still relearning how to fight in this body. But he will never be as good as Ignis and Ignis can't even see.]

Noctis is back? Or is it a different Noctis?

[piercetheheart]

Best of the best. [He can't help smiling at that, fond and affectionate. How cute, Iggy's already got fans. Good. Good... maybe people around him that appreciate him will help. More than-

Ah, well.]

That's... kinda complicated? I guess a different Noct. It's weird. Not entirely sure I understand.

[savedbyasong]

A Noctis from a different world. [He gets it, it's confusing. It used to terrify him, the idea that the multiverse was a million million times bigger than he had ever imagined it. But it's... this is the least terrifying part.]

There are infinite amount of worlds, some are really different than each other. Like mine and Ignis', some are really similar right down to having the same people. Small choices make them branch off, so the Noctis who was here before is a different Noctis than the one now, he might remember the exact same things as the first Noctis or his world might be different in a few ways. He might be from a different time, knowing things that have not yet come to pass in a different version of his universe. [He pauses a second, just to check that Gladio is still following]

It's a lot to get used to but it will become less confusing with time. [He's given this speech a lot, he's just glad he no longer has to explain to people that there worlds really are dead along with everyone they had ever known.]