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.

---

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!

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LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

Comments

balance | ota | june 4th - june 10th

[thankgods]

[In the upper northwest corner of Monsun, in the region of A1, a tiny spit of land lies in the middle of a lake, and upon it, a stone building perches.]

[If you manage to cross the lake and enter the temple, the psychological effects of Monsun's dichotomous nature will quickly fade. The temple interior is small and in about as much ruin as the Storyteller's on Ensō, but the altar sits in the center of flagstoned floor. Should you draw near, you may notice the...peculiarity of the altar itself. Something of it seems to almost defy description. It seems both smooth and roughly carved, and touching it will both chill the fingertips and warm them. The altar is both extremes in simultaneity.]

[Should you draw close, images will card through your mind, rapid and immediate: a set of scales, a school of koi fish, a monarch butterfly, a spring of pink larkspur. Immediately after, a pair of koi fish will unfurl in the air as though swimming through it - large and seemingly solid, and ready to listen.]

[How fortunate that they're not the last god you met.]

June 6th

[thermalwind]

[It's farther than he's ever gone before but the need to search and find out all he can to keep everyone safe had driven him deep into the west side. Finding the lake and crossing it was just one more hurdle.

Except the dread returns as he strides up to the temple itself. A god like Storyteller?] Balance? It would make sense or is it...

[He shakes his head and enters the temple. It reminds him of Storyteller's altar. He'd avoided the temple since he was freed. He isn't blind to how much of a mess he is. Storyteller doesn't need to see or deal with that.

God or no.

He walks slowly up to the altar. It feels almost dream like how hard it is to describe it in his head. Images slide across his mind's eye but he keeps walking. The imagery almost prepares him for the pair of koi that unfurl and swim in the air.]

...uh, are you...Balance? [He straightens up, mustering the words.] I want to ask you a few questions.

1/2

[thankgods]

[Back and forth, back and forth. Both fish move in quite the leisurely fashion, almost hypnotic in how seamlessly they weave at and around one another. So much so that it's quite impossible to tell the difference between the two.]

We are balance. We understand you have questions.

2/2

[thankgods]

We are imbalance, [says the other, in perfect tandem.] We may not be able to answer.

[thermalwind]

[They swim back and forth, moving together in a fashion that keeps his eyes on them. Keith crosses his arms over his chest as he notes they haven't tried to mess with him. So far. This could be safe.

How does he approach this? He had a rough plan before...Wait.]

What sort of questions can you answer? Anything related to balance?

1/3

[thankgods]

[The fish weave in and around each other fluidly, as though through water; so interchangeable are they that it is impossible to tell which speaks at any given time.]

We may communicate, though our language is limited.

2/3

[thankgods]

Your thoughts are limited. We may not understand, [murmurs the other.]

3/3

[thankgods]

[And then, in perfect tandem:]

It depends.

[thermalwind]

[So ask and see. He straightens up, watching them carefully.]

How much can you see about the present state of your fellow gods?

1/2

[thankgods]

We see some. This island is our home, [murmurs one.]

2/2

[thankgods]

We see little, [whispers the other, a peaceful susurrus of contradiction.] This island is all we know.

[yourattention]

[The raft Connor takes is barely large enough to keep him afloat. He didn't much feel like dragging a proper raft across the desert for this, if he's being honest, but it doesn't matter. He sails across the lake to the temple, setting something on the altar and sitting. Waiting. There's a single flower set into the place where a candle should go, one white and one red.

When Balance appears, Connor tips his head toward his offering.]

That's for you. I wasn't sure what the proper offering would be, but it felt wrong to come empty-handed.

[thankgods]

[When the two koi swim into his vision, they immediately converge over the offering given. Their dance becomes tighter, a circle that does not surpass the size of the gift he has bestowed on them.

Looks like they approve.]

It is good. [Hums one.]

[thankgods]

It is appropriate. [Hums the other, tail flicking peacefully.]

[yourattention]

Can I ask a question? I - [How to word this, how to word this.] How does a god become unbalanced?

[He's not sure if Balance can read minds the way the Storyteller seems to be able to, so he keeps his mind carefully devoid of Bliss, of setting off a bomb. Instead, he thinks of how worried he about the Storyteller. Of a book he's read, about people who can read fictional things into being. Of the people of Ai'tuoh and their god, who they at once understand and don't.]

Can it be prevented?

[thankgods]

[The first- sighs. In tandem, their movements slow as their images shrink, koi to goldfish that barely seem to move at all.]
[He is not the first to ask this question. As their longing, grieving sighs subside, the first speaks:]

All gods are rulers of their own nature. They enrich the world with their power.

[thankgods]

The gods are prisoners to their own nature. [The other contradicts gravely.] The world enriches them with its power.

cw: description of bipolar ii

[yourattention]

[It's not that much of a contradiction to Connor. He's not a god, but he knows this double-edged sword well: the high of being hypomanic, of feeling invincible, and the low of being trapped in his own mind, of drowning in self-loathing. You can both rule the world and be a prisoner to it, and it sounds like the gods are no different.

He nods.]

You don't have to answer this if you don't want to, but . . . it isn't supposed to be like this, is it? If Rapsho [That seems to be the name Balance prefers for Bliss, so Connor adjusts to match.] hadn't been alone, cut off from anyone who might help, it wouldn't have -

[He swallows and doesn't finish his thought: it wouldn't have come to me lighting a bomb. This isn't about him, after all.]

[thankgods]

Very few creatures are meant to be solitary. [One agrees, dipping down low. Their fins brush across his offering.] Gods are no different.

[thankgods]

Very few creatures are given the comfort of company. [The second says. It deviates entirely, away from the altar and across the room to circle Connor- almost as if it knows.] Gods are no different.

[thankgods]

[And in tandem:]

Companionship may have saved them. Companionship may not have saved them.

There is no telling.

June 9th - Barry and Komaeda!

[youfoundher]

[The last time he met something akin to a god, he got turned to stone. It was the end of one year of his life, until Lucretia successfully escaped that dimension. The end of all their lives, but one.

The judges, as they called themselves, probably didn't even constitute as gods- but the parallels are close enough that Barry's wary. The Storyteller's announcement that Monsun would soon be gone is the only reason he's here today; the window of opportunity is closing. If he wants to ask questions- wants to see this for himself, then it has to be now.

But he's going to stall at the entrance anyway. Just uh, just catching a bit of that fresh air, before he's, y'know. Dead.]

I accidentally lost this.

[despairing_hope]

[He didn't like Monsun, he had nothing but bad experiences there, but... it was hard to ignore, and there was reason to try and talk after what happened.... He had to admire a god of such a place, it was the sort of thing he truly admired and loved, balance.... White, Black. Heads, Tails. Good Luck, Bad Luck.

And yet... it made him nervous. A thing that used to bring him comfort.]

IT'S OK so did i ffjlkd [1/2]

[thankgods]

[The koi fish unfurl in the air like the opening of a blossom's petals, swirling in undisturbed harmony. One's voice floats, airily, towards the entrance:]

You are two. Two different perspectives. Come in, if you'd like.

[thankgods]

[While the other's voice sinks like a flurry of sand, melodious, echoing in the small chamber:]

We are two. Two different answers. Leave, if you'd prefer.