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

No need to apologize, dearie.

[She wrangles the herd in the direction of the river and the forested side of things, doing her best to ensure nothing tries to trample this poor man.]

You're welcome to help if you'd like, but I think I've got things going fairly smoothly for now.

Well- I might just... walk with you, then. [Or the closest approximation of walking with her when he's a good 15 feet away, scarcely avoiding being trampled. At least all the creatures seem very...passive? Placidly following along with no signs of struggle.

It's actually kind of weird.]

Are they sedated or something?

Please, feel free.

[She doesn't mind the company, honestly, it's nice to have someone to talk to.]

Oh no, not at all. I think it's just the momentum of the thing- most of them are herd animals, so if you get one of them running along in one direction the rest start to follow out of habit. The real trick was getting them to start going in the direction I wanted in the first place.

Really? [He gives the spindlanks another dubious look, but- if she says so.] Hey. Sorry if this is a rude question, but- I don't think I've met anyone of your... species? before.

[He's genuinely sorry Muffet, but the scientist in him Wants 2 Know.]

[At least one of those spindlanks has been lassoed by purple magic and ridden halfway across Ziziphus at one point in time or another, they're not gonna cross Muffet if they can help it.]

[She smiles cheerfully, looking entirely unoffended by his question. It's not the first time she's been asked, after all.]

The term we'd use in my world is 'spider monster', but I suspect that's a bit less clear elsewhere- we've only humans and monsters to consider at home, after all, other places seem to have quite a few more varieties of people.

[Okay, so Muffet hasn't ridden him anywhere, but honestly? Big mood.]

Huh...yeah Where I come from, monster is a- well. It's a pretty wide umbrella for a whole variety of creatures. [With significantly negative connotations.] I'm guessing on your world it's more like a, a race, or species?

[Which is super fucking interesting to him? There may be several follow up questions???]

[Certain people need to appreciate the level of self-restraint it took not to respond to that first bit of bracket narration with 'that's what she said'.]

A species, yes- humans and monsters are the only two sapient species in my world that we're currently aware of. There are quite a few different varieties of monster, of course, we're less limited by physical form than human are, but we're all fundamentally the same species.

[She's proud of her people, she certainly doesn't mind talking about them.]

[Certain people responded with that anyway, so what self-restraint are we speaking of, here?]

Awesome. [And he means that, truly. As many worlds as he's been to, the utter variety in dominant species is fascinating.] Any more of your people around? How do you guys differ; visually, biologically? Both?

Visually from each other, and quite dramatically so. Biologically from humans, though biology may not be precisely the word I ought to use, since we're largely energy-based.

Energy-based? [That's- huh. Inching closer, Barry stares at one of her arms, brow furrowing.]

You look solid, though? How does your energy-based physiology allow for interaction with something more, more substantial? For example...

[He waves a hand at her obedient "little" menagerie.]

Keep in mind that energy-based doesn't mean constructed entirely of energy. Essentially, we absorb a very small amount of physical matter while gestating- in the case of my particular subspecies, while in the egg- and that forms a body.

[Muffet doesn't object to his staring, looking a little amused.]

It isn't nearly enough matter to actually create something that would function normally, but the magical energy fills in for the processes that biology would normally require more physical ways to handle.

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

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