June Intro: Let's Sea How Far We've Come

[lifeaftr_mods]

INTRO LOG: JUNE

Who: Everyone!
What: New souls arrive to the archipelago of LifeAftr as the island of Ziziphus begins to crumble
When: June 4th and onward
Where: Ziziphus and Ensō...and Monsun
Warnings: Mark as needed!

Ziziphus: At The Start Of The End Of The World
Since Bliss's destruction, the extensive root network they've threaded throughout every inch of the island of Ziziphus has begun to crumble. June 4th marks the beginning of the inevitable collapse of the island as it starts to sink into the sea...coincidentally coinciding with the arrival of LifeAftr's newest adventurers. Between the dead trees surrounding Bliss's empty husk, great cracks in the earth start to widen, the dead god's absent root system leaving vast gaps underground which simply cannot support the life above. It almost sounds like thunder rupturing from the ground itself, wild tremors preceding each vicious boom until gaping chasms lay between venturing parties and the safety of the mana pool - only water waits below, for those unlucky enough to lose their footing.

And if the immense pull of mile wide chunks of landmass sinking beneath the waves isn't enough to suck you down, the heavy rain of debris from Ziziphus's rapidly destabilizing edges will certainly help. Want to avoid a watery grave? What you need to do is simple:

Escape.

Sorry, newbies. If you showed up on Ziziphus, you're in for a very athletic entrance to LifeAftr.

Monsun: Just Like Every Other Morning Before
Adventurers aren't the only creatures on Ziziphus attempting to outrun its collapse. Creatures great and small, from the largest spindlank to the smallest tigerlily will be heading south in an attempt to escape the worst of the quakes. Unlike offshore adventurers, however, these poor creatures don't have a mana pool waiting for them to escape through. Their extinction, it seems, is imminent.

Unless you have something to say about it.

Already exhausted from their attempts to get through to and then actively dispose of their fellow god, the Storyteller will break their traditional manner of communication to announce a potential solution to this problem with a single broadcast to the Stones of Far Speech in a strained, weary tone:

"The mana pools on Monsun are now open. If you are willing, save what you can."

True to their word, characters will discover that the island of Monsun will be accessible once more for a short period of time. From prey to predator, obstruction to catastrophe - multiple species of flora and fauna can still be preserved, should you choose to do so.

Be wary of the psychological effects of both sides of the island. Those who are new to our setting and wish to explore, the island of Monsun has a peculiar side effect to its stark divide: the eastern half is rich in resources, but brings out the very worst of you, while the western half is a tumultuous wasteland that accentuates your best qualities. More information on said island can be found on its entry on the Locations page, or its introductory info post.

Due to these efforts, the Storyteller will not be available for contact from the 4th to the 18th of June. Item Requests will also be unavailable at this time. They will, however, make a rather strained announcement to ensure all are aware that access to both Ziziphus and Monsun will cease on June 10th.

Ensō: I Wonder What It Means If It's Gone
The native fauna of Ziziphus aren't the only ones on the move, it seems. Those who wander the shores of Ensō will be delighted to witness the appearance of creatures akin to both turtles and dugongs drifting through the waters, gravitating around the island's eastern coast, rapidly gaining in numbers over the following days.

Kaleidoshells have been unlocked in the bestiary!

With spring close to ending in the archipelago, these peaceful creatures are looking to make good use of their natural nesting areas; hope you're open to sharing the beach for a little while. While a few braver individuals will make their way to the shores between C4 and D1 to begin digging nests, the vast majority won't be coming to shore quite yet.

They do, however, make a very fine sight around the waters of Ensō, especially in the evening. Luminescent, their rainbow patterns glow underwater, drifting mood lights for the increasingly warmer evening breeze.

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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

CT

[tuskenlancer]

Ziziphus

[ CT wakes with a start, the ground shaking beneath her, and for a moment she thinks the ship's under attack, or that they've just come out of slipspace, before she remembers - there is no ship anymore. She turns her head, instinctively reaching out for Varric, only to find that this is no more Kirkwall than it is the Mother of Invention. She's outside, she's alone, and -

Wearing her armor?

CT gets to her feet, nearly losing her footing as another tremor rocks the earth. Shit. Shit, shit, shit. Wherever this is, whatever's going on, she has to get out of here. But first, she has to find - ]

Varric?

[ He has to be here. Somewhere. And she's not going anywhere without him. ]

Monsun, eastern half

[ Later - much later - CT's finally been persuaded to give up her search and leave Ziziphus. She's still not ready to embrace her new home, though. The ground on Monsun isn't moving, at least, which means she can sit on a rock and catch her breath without fear of crashing into the sea.

Unfortunately, she's found what may be the worst possible place to take a breather. As she sits in the cool light of the forest, utterly incapable of appreciating its beauty, she sinks deeper and deeper into her own thoughts and emotions.

Anger. Guilt. Fear. Paranoia. Despair.

This isn't a dream. It's real, and either Varric came with her and is now a corpse at the bottom of the ocean, or he never arrived at all. Either way, she'll never see him again. She's been kidnapped, again, and those bastards, just when she was finally happy, they probably did this on purpose, waited for the perfect moment to rip it all away. It's her fault, probably. She didn't appreciate anything enough. She should have told Varric more often how she felt about him. She should have done something. And now, it's too late. He's dead or gone and she's here forever, to kill or be killed or whatever the assholes running this place have decided they want to do with her. ]

ziziphus

[nightcure]

[ A familiar face... but Noctis hangs back and waits until he can be sure she's the one he knows. It doesn't take long before she says Varric's name, and Noctis breathes a sigh of relief. ]

Hey. He's not here. At least, I haven't seen him around.

[tuskenlancer]

[ She turns, looking surprised and then relieved. ]

Noctis?

[ She doesn't address his comment on Varric just yet. He has to be here. Somewhere. ]

Where are we?

[nightcure]

Yeah. Good to see you.

[ With a sigh-- ]

This island is Ziziphus, but there a couple more in this world. C'mon. We shouldn't linger here after what happened a while back.

[tuskenlancer]

What do you mean, what happened?

[ But she doesn't move to follow him. Instead, she shakes her head. ]

No. I can't - I have to find Varric first.

[nightcure]

There was a god here. They drew us into dreams where we got everything we wanted, but it was killing anyone who stayed too long. We had to get rid of them, but the god's life was pretty much tied to the island.

We had to kill it.

[ He shrugs, not quite looking at CT for a while. ]

He's not here, CT. I'd know if he were.

[tuskenlancer]

[ That all sounds - well, unbelievable, for one thing, except that Noctis has no reason to lie to her. Awful, for another.

And irrelevant, for a third, because it doesn't matter if the island itself and everything on it is trying to kill her personally, she's not leaving here without Varric. ]

How would you know? How would you know?

You didn't know I was here. Did you?

Ziziphus

[everylittlesecret]

[The name being said gets her. It's not hard to figure out that this lady was from Varric's season. Nari hadn't watched much, but this lady was def a former victim of that awful show.]

Not here. Place would be a helluva lot livelier with Dwarf Dad around.

[tuskenlancer]

[ CT turns around with a start, eyes widening in surprise. She'd never met Nari, but she'd watched plenty of that awful final season. ]

Shit. Nari?

[everylittlesecret]

Yep. That's me. You're Connecticut, right? Or do you prefer CT?

[What a way to meet a person for the first time, right?]

We ain't the only ones here. Pyrrha, Noctis, and Touko are around.

[tuskenlancer]

CT, yeah.

[ As nice as it is to know she isn't alone here, honestly, hearing all those names just makes her feel worse. ]

Oh, no.

Is it...them? The Network?

[ Back, somehow, for a reunion tour. Why else would all of them be here in one place? ]

[everylittlesecret]

Nope. Worse. Gods.

[This atheist is not happy about that.]

The Network would love to do half the shit that's apparently going on here.

[tuskenlancer]

Gods?

[ Once, she wouldn't even have thought about believing something like that. Now... ]

What do they want?

monsun

[deathfindsaway]

[This is Kravitz' first experience with this island's appearence, but not his first with the island-- he's already made the mistake of falling prey to this island's whims, after snapping at someone else earlier. But now he's in the process of getting back to the mana pool to get out of here when he spots them. He considers just bolting-- he's not good with emotions on a good day-- but he feels he should enjoy the clarity of his faculties while he hasn't spent enough time here to be horribly taken.

So he splits the middle, and clears his throat.]

You should get out of here. It looks nice, but-- horrible, really.

[Very descriptive, obviously.]

[tuskenlancer]

[ He'd probably have been better off just saving himself. CT snorts rudely. ]

I can't.

[ She can't get out of here. If she could...But there's no way out, no way back home, back to Varric, and so what does it matter if she's here in the jungle or on the beach or anywhere else? She scowls, hunching further in on herself. ]

You think I'm here by choice?

[deathfindsaway]

[He rolls his eyes, reaching up to pinch the bridge of his nose.]

Not here as in-- as in the whole place, as in this island. It's a mess. I mean, the entire thing is a mess, but everywhere else at least doesn't make you want to strangle someone, including yourself.

[tuskenlancer]

[ Sorry about the migraine she's giving you, Kravitz.

She gives him a disbelieving look, then deliberately turns to look around the picturesque forest surrounding them. Birds chirp happily, and sunlight filters gently through the trees. ]

If anything's making me want to strangle myself, I don't think it's this fucking island.

[ The glare she's giving him suggests she might have a few other suspects in mind for that, though. ]

[deathfindsaway]

[It's alright, most people have that effect on him. It's just worse now, especially when he did such a task of warning her here, and now she's not graciously taking his advice. How rude.]

Ugh. Fine. Sit here and be miserable. See if I care. I decided to warn you but if you're not going to take my great advice, it's only your fault.

[tuskenlancer]

[ She rolls her eyes. God, people here are annoying. ]

Yeah, cause it's such great advice. Leave the nice cool forest and go die in the desert instead.

Did you have anything useful to say?

Ziziphus

[tokenflavortownie]

[She hears a name, and it's a rather familiar one, too. It draws her forward, scanning the area, one hand on her broom.]

Hello? Is anyone there?

[tuskenlancer]

...Hello?

[ It's not Varric, but she does know that voice. CT turns around quickly, searching until she sees a familiar red-haired figure. ]

Pyrrha?

[tokenflavortownie]

[A shock of red like her hair should be unmistakable.]

CT?

[Or was it Connecticut? What was the right name to give? As if her first experience in this world wouldn't get any stranger, now does she have to fear for all of her fellow Airlocked survivors?

She steps forward, blinking slowly, almost anticipating the sight in front of her to disappear.]

You're here too?

[tuskenlancer]

Wherever here is, I guess.

[ She doesn't disappear. Instead, she glances around their surroundings, frowning, before looking back at Pyrrha. ]

Do you know what's going on?

[tokenflavortownie]

Do... do you mean, in general, or-

[A deep rumbling in the ground cuts her off. An even deeper frown crosses her face.]

This island is starting to crumble, we have to get off of it.

[tuskenlancer]

Anything.

[ Because she's entirely at a loss here. Where are they? How did they get here? What's going on?

She looks down as the ground rumbles under their feet, forehead creasing in a frown, but she doesn't move. ]

I was looking for Varric.