July Adventure: Where the Weeds are Now Growing Free

[lifeaftr_mods]

NEW ISLAND: UMUI

Who: Everyone!
What: Umui appears, and a new adventure begins
When: July 10th and onward
Where: Umui
Warnings: Tag as you go!

'Cause the Dirt is Up to My Eyes
As of July 10th, the mana pools on Ensō and its islets will now allow for travel to the new island of Umui.

Travelers will arrive on a mana pool situated on the C1 square. The thick crops of flowers spring freely across the lush, grassy landscape, clustered in dense knots. The variety behind these growths seems profoundly limited: it is as though each flower has only sprouted around others of its kind, mingling solely at the edges. A large building looms in the corner of the region, a twisting, unfurling mass of piping and a half-crumbled metallic shine.

Whatever lays inside, or beyond the island's limits, is for you to discover for yourself.

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Welcome to the new island of Umui! As the island is now accessible, feel free to begin preparations and explorations in this log, or create new ones of your own! For further information in regards to the island, or plotting, the following links may prove handy:

[ ♆ ] OOC info and introductory post
[ ♆ ] Optional future event sign-up
[ ♆ ] Umui on the Locations page
[ ♆ ] Search Requests page

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LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

Comments

H4 | Evening, 14th | closed to Gladio & Lance

[crosslaced]

It benefits all of us, if you’re also investigating the island- but if you’d rather treat it as a personal request from me, fine.

[Who knows how they found the Chocobros’ camp- a lucky break, probably, Laurent unusually agreeing to investigate the light of a distant fire. But they found the Chocobros, and more importantly Gladio, and Laurent seems intent on spitting out an entire terms and conditions page on the walk back.]

We just need you to identify what the metal structure we found might be for.

[He’s scruffier than usual, though it’s hidden by the dim evening light. Lance knows very well why- they’ve been scratching up a house all day like small, badly behaved animals. Lance might also realise this is Huffy Laurent, not Yeah That Bad Idea Sounds Okay Laurent? If he realises anything other than Gladio’s physique, that is.]

[piercetheheart]

Laurent, it's fine. [He'd tease about the justifications if they weren't all so raw from Noctis' absence. Something that Laurent might be able to guess at just from the fact that Gladio has both sword and shield strapped across his back at the moment. So far no one's been attacked here so it's entirely his own paranoia but especially now as the sun goes down he is on edge.]

You're the one the implemented this forced separation. [And the fact that he is so on edge makes it hard for him not to snap a little about that. Ignis needs what friends he has most of all right now, they all do.

But that's not what they're here for and he sighs, pushing his hair back out of his face and flashing Lance an apologetic half-smile.]

Sorry, you don't need to deal with our drama.

[thegoofball]

[Listen, the physique is a lot to take in, but he's been around huge, bulky guys before and came out able to string words together! He can handle Gladiolus Amicitia.

The shirtlessness and the giant sword are a little outside of his actual experiences with burly men, but that's more of a curiosity for later.]

It's fine! [He waves a hand, and he wants to know what's up with all of this drama. This tension. What happened that was so bad you'd avoid people when working together is one of the easiest ways to guarantee survival?

He wants to know so badly, but he manages to restrain himself. Mostly.]

So long as it doesn't get us all killed, a little drama's not so bad! We're only human, you know. Most of us.

[crosslaced]

Yes, so I’m aware of how hypocritical it is to come running back.

[He answers calmly, stepping over the verbal barb with ease. Noct’s absence might seem obvious to Gladio, but Laurent commits to his bullshit and hasn’t come close enough to notice Noctis gone. Hell, he never figured out that the old guy with them before wasn’t just some royal uncle. ]

But Lance is right, survival of the group is paramount. And here we are.

[He points to the rows of dilapidated houses, in particular the one with a burnt-out torch standing near the windows. The remains of several bushes litter the ground around it. Team Blue’s been hard at work.]

[piercetheheart]

[Laurent why are you like this?

As much as he would love to just fall into banter with Lance it's really hard to do when Laurent is so stiff and distant and nauseatingly, politically correctly polite.]

I know, there's plenty of work to be done. [That's exactly why he's here despite Laurent's attempts to make everything as awkward as possible.] Keep the light high but stay behind me.

[And he's just going to march into the nearest open door trying to appraise the structural integrity of the building and the weird design choices. Who uses metal for the floor? Especially when it will inevitably rust out, being exposed to the elements and if the floor gives then the entire thing would come down.]

[thegoofball]

[It Is A Mystery.ghost.

Though the stiffness doesn't go unnoticed, even if only because it's different from him and Laurent when they were digging up the home out of morbid curiosity at first before they found something they couldn't get through so easily.]

You got it, big guy. Wouldn't want to get in your way.

[And he really wouldn't. Look at the size of those guns! They're no galra arm or anything, but they could still probably snap him in half or break his neck with nary a thought.

Maybe he should work out more.]

[crosslaced]

[Definitely work out more, Lance. It’s so worth it.]

Artificial light or firelight? Fire might take some time.

[Laurent lounges against the doorframe to watch, though he’s likely keeping much more weight on his feet than he looks. The structure is precarious- not to mention filthy- but also he has to maintain his Look (™), so here he is. He raises the dynamo-powered flashlight he’s got and cranks it up, letting the light filter past Gladio and into the house.

It’s not very strong light. But also getting a torch would also involve wasting time on Team Blue’s suspect fire-starting skills, so….]

sorry this took so long guys

[piercetheheart]

[Yes, Lance, he could break you in so many ways, don't think too hard about that.

Laurent on the other hand is trying so hard for casual grace and Gladio is paying him absolutely no attention.]

I've got a firestriker if you guys need one. [Patting the pouch on his belt.] But the flashlight is fine.

[And he moves carefully further into the building. If the floor is weak or giving out he doesn't want to fall through anything and he probably weighs more than the other two combined. Eventually he feels out a spot that is stronger, more solid than the rest and he sinks down on one knee to feel along the support.]

There's some sort of framework here but the fact that they've used metal for everything really doesn't make much sense.

[thegoofball]

[It's too late, but all the ways he could be broken won't truly sink in until Laurent calls him the fuck out over it. So, for now, it is just the awe you see when someone does something really crazy impressive that shouldn't be happening.]

Dunno, it doesn't seem like there's much else on this island you could use for building.

[The only trees he's seen have been around the memorial, and it would probably be weird to use them for building. Everything else has just been...flowers.]

So if they're just using what's available, is that really so weird?

[He has also spent the last year of his life living on a space ship in space piloting a lion made out of a comet that could pass between realities. A house made of metal doesn't seem that weird.]

[crosslaced]

[The pose is kind of like makeup. It's for himself as much as it is for pissing off all who look upon him.]

You don’t know what that metal flooring might be either?

[Disappointment, as he points the light into where Gladio is feeling under the earth. Laurent is occasionally glancing back outside, keeping watch for anything that might be sneaking up. He’s seen enough of Gladio just being himself on the islets, and unlike Lance manages to keep his face impassive. It’s weird, appreciating a neighbour you stabbed, okay? He’s abstaining for now.]

That’s a good point. If it’s not a foundation... I don’t understand why they’d put extra metal underground if materials are in short supply.

[piercetheheart]

Guys none of this is materials. There's no trees here so no wood buildings sure but there's no mines either, no source for all this metal.

[It's not using the resources available to them because this is imported from off island too. And here's the fun part. One moment he's feeling along, the next he's reeling back and slamming his fist into the floor. It's the hand he wears his bracer on, of course, so he doesn't shred his knuckles. Even so he doesn't expect to sink full on up to his wrist into the floor.

A curse and then he's just ripping out what he can in the first handful, the metal rusted and crumbling.]

Laurent can you bring the light closer so I can see in this hole.

This seems less like foundation and more like... they were just dragging sick folks in and stacking them on top of each other in shipping containers. One fell in, another one got plopped on top of it.

[The people were just as expendable as the metal boxes they were packed in.]