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

Much like our repeated offerings of stories sustain and strengthen the Storyteller.

[She winces, considering it.]

That is... possibly more worrying, now that I come to think of it. I don't particularly care for the idea of such a hostile entity getting progressively more powerful. Though one wonders at the connection between water and death, in terms of their required offerings...

[He hums in response- it's not the traditional way of thinking about it, but he knows a lot about Death Motifs.]

Some cultures consider the sea to be a representation of death. The passing between different realms can be considered the death of the self, at least-- it could be related. But without knowing more about that culture, it's possibly more reaching. Still...

[That brings up a question he's now wondering about.]

Do you think we'll find a god of Death? If we're finding-- you know, gods of other circumstance or emotion? Would they all be regulated to their own island?

[Something about that concept rings a faint bell at the back of her mind, but she can't quite place it- her conversation with Ardyn about his own world's sea goddess was some time ago and under complicated circumstances. Perhaps it will occur to her to ask him more about theology later.]

I certainly wouldn't rule it out- though I admit I'm far from an expert on the matter. Perhaps we should ask the Storyteller, when we next see them about. They'd be the one most likely to know what other sorts of deities live in this world.

[He doesn't mean to be excited- he doesn't think it's really excitement he's feeling, seeing as there's no possible way his god of Death would be here without reaching out to him by now. And the thought of meeting another is... hmm. Not the best, frankly.

He doesn't know how to feel.]

That's true. I wonder if, after Bliss, they might be more willing to reveal some of the other known gods we might run into.

{A moment of silence.]

Why do you think they haven't been forthcoming with this information, if they're trying to figure this out as much as we are?

If nothing else, it's worth a try.

[It's a fair question, one she herself has considered.]

I don't know. They did tell us about Balance and Imbalance before we visited Monsun, I do recall that.

It may be that there's a rather large number of deities potentially out there- they don't seem to know much about the current state of their fellow gods unless the islands come closer together like this- and it would be too long and complicated to try and list every possibility we might encounter. Or perhaps it's simply a subject they find... personally difficult, to speak of. There may well be old grief there.

[Rapsho is a more fresh loss, but she doubts they're the only one.]

[He nods. After seeing that reaction when the Storyteller had to contact them, to deal with Bliss... it's hard to say, how gods feel about each other sometimes. Every time Kravitz has tried to understand, he finds himself falling short. Now he can just make assumptions, little hopes that he has some idea of what's happening here.]

I just-- they had to have known it was here. Or perhaps they thought them deceased. But we could have looked. We could have-- I don't know. Had more time.

Perhaps, yes. Ultimately, I think that's something you'd need to ask them about directly.

[She knows better than to guess at what someone else feels if she can avoid it. It rarely ends well.]

Once they've recovered from their recent ordeal, it might be time to sit down and try to have a longer talk about all this divine business, when we've the time.

[God. Finally, someone practical around here. Maybe it's because he's been living at camp dicksquad for the last few months, but this is just a breath of fresh air. People who make plans! Who talk to him without giving him shit! It's a miracle. He likes her already.]

I agree. I think with everything concerning this island, it's time to be proactive rather than reactive. And must I say, thank you for being so reasonable about this whole ordeal. It's refreshing to see someone wanting to really work at this and not just sit around and wait to be eaten again.

That's very kind of you to say, dearie.

[She smiles politely at the compliment, appreciating it but not wanting to be smug about it.]

In fairness, I suspect the issue isn't that people aren't trying to improve matters, in various ways, but that our situation makes it rather difficult to coordinate- people arrive suddenly, depart without warning, and are thrown together with little planning involved.

The end result is that anyone who wants to actively help has a very difficult time finding others who might be inclined to work with them on a given project, and either must invest a great deal of time and effort into finding someone to work with, which delays the work itself, or attempt to solve the issue on their own, which ends up hitting the limits of what a single person with relatively minimal resources can achieve.

Still, we do what we can. And gathering more information is always a good place to start.

[He nods; it's all true, though he's loathe to admit it.]

Of course. We must also make do with a limited set of skills oft not applicable, plus a restriction on innate abilities. I know for a fact the people I'm living with are quite powerful, and yet they can only do a fraction of their capabilities from home. I find myself similarly shackled and I'm wholly unhappy about it. The deck is clearly stacked against us.

[A sigh.]

And yet, we must persevere.

There seems to be a rather worrying trend in the types of abilities limited, as well- almost universally, those with healing powers have difficulties. My own healing magic is much more difficult to use here, I can attest to it personally. There are quite a few other skills restricted, of course, but the way this one recurs is ominous to me.

[She gives him a sympathetic look, nodding in understanding.]

We must, and so we shall.

[Sometimes that's all there is to it- mustering up the stubbornness to keep going and do better, because it needs to be done. Someone has to.]

[He nods, as they continue.]

As it goes and the world turns, or something. But I'll see where it can be helped.

[And keep an eye out on what he can do going forward.]

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

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We can probably wrap this unless you want to do more with it.

im good with that!