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

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.

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

Anyone who's been here a while is a useful source of information right now. Yori would much rather check a child's confused stories than an adult's well-practiced lies. "I'm glad to meet you, Ren."

And besides data-gathering, the little User seems to share at least a few of Yori's own interests. "Could you guess about how long you've been here?" Yori asks, curious.

Is Ren an actual resident, or just an early arrival? Either way, the glowing turtles are as new as Yori. Probably no direct connection. She's happy to have the chance to watch them swim by, watch them greet the shore with glittering light.

That's a relatively new concept that she only started to learn thanks to the community calendar. They've been here-months? Almost a year? It's hard to say because while she knows the current date, the relation to rest of time is iffy. To her credit, she tries to think. Looks up at the sky, then back to the ground, as if any of those things will give her a true answer. And when they don't, she just relies on what she does know.

"Since the beginning," There were other people before the initial arrivals floated ashore, but they've long since vanished and she has to stop herself from using the word first. They weren't here first, technically. "It's been that long. We woke up on scary rafts and we've been here since then."

A long time, but one with a recent point of arrival, even to the memory of an untrained small User. "That's impressive. I'm glad you found a way off the rafts," Yori says very sincerely, because that would not be a pleasant way to spend time at all.

Even in this less than deadly ocean, even with these beautiful colors, she wouldn't appreciate the lack of control.

"What kinds of things happen here?" Good, bad, she'll let the small User decide what's important. With such a complete lack of data, anything is a good hint.

Found a way off or was consoled by a coin trick until they reached dry land. Yes, she totally. Found a way off. It's fine-they all did their best surviving the ocean voyage and they're here now, so it's whatever.

That question sends her down an incredibly long memory lane-what doesn't happen here? Compared to abandoned Tokyo, this place is active in all areas. Random monsters, crystal caves, periodic unwanted island transportation, sky islands, a kind rabbit and-

"Good things. You get to hold someone's hand if you're scared and play games until your feet get tired," This is a dingus wikipedia, hitting every random page article she can. "Sometimes the bunny says nice words to you and people will smile at you all the time. You say 'hello' and they say 'good morning, pumpkin' and you can draw cats on all the houses."

That's the important bits, at least. "Scary things happen sometimes, but everyone has a kind heart, so you can hide with them instead of being alone. That's how it is here."

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

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