September Intro: The Fields Are Painted Gold

[lifeaftr_mods]

INTRO LOG: SEPTEMBER

Who: New arrivals, and you!
What: New souls arrive to the archipelago of LifeAftr
When: September 4th and onward
Where: Primarily Ensō, though Umui is also likely
Warnings: Mark as needed!

The Beach: And the Sun is Coming Through
When you arrive on the archipelago of LifeAftr, it is on the shores of Ensō - turquoise waves dragging through the pale sand of the beach. The breeze carries the tang of salt on the tropical sea spray. The sky overhead is a blue to rival the aquamarine surf. All told, the atmosphere is almost...pleasant. Not far from the cream-colored beach, the jungle beckons.

Above the treetops, however, something seems to be drifting overhead.

Bright spots of color drift on the wind like motes of dust. On further inspection, one might be able to discern what, exactly, is the cause of this lazily wafting, brilliantly colored confetti. They are flower petals, being funneled up into the sky. Petals of every color and shape imaginable, thickening the air with golden currents of pollen, being lifted from one specific point. They are streaming freely from the Storyteller's Temple, as it happens, though this may not be clear to the newly arrived. The Temple has at last begun to shed the floral trappings that have ensnared it since the end of last month, and the breeze carries this out across the ocean skyline.

There's no mistaking it: it is very beautiful. Unless you have allergies.

Inland: The Trees Are Filled With Memories
This influx of flowers on the breeze, aside from being a potential source of unpleasant reminders to those who died choking on said flowers last month, have had additional consequences. The creatures rescued from Ziziphus flourish in such pollen-rich environments, which has led to a fresh budding of their young. Baby mosslings crawl like lumps of lichen over the trunks of trees, and the loud peeping of arboreali chicks can be heard in the branches above. Most of these creatures are not tameable, but some, such as flowccus, can be kept as livestock.

Just take care, when venturing into Ensō's verdant jungle. If Ziziphus's prey animals have begun to spring forth, then its predators have begun to reproduce as well. Young spindlanks and rootwyrms are not nearly as vicious as their adult counterparts, but you may have a bit of trouble getting rid of them without killing them - you did, after all, bring them here to preserve them.

Most notable, however, are the fresh litters of tigerlilies that have begun swarming all over Ensō.


Tigerlilies can be tamed and kept as pets, though despite their fearsome appearance, they not terribly vicious. They subsist in much the same way any other plant would; off of water and sunlight, primarily, though they might also graze like an herbivore from time to time.

If you're interested in keeping one for your own, bear LifeAftr's companion limit in mind - two per character, and no more. The process of trying to tame a tigerlily is not always successful, either. We recommend use of a d10, with the following guidelines:

Rolling a 10: Critical success! This tigerlily will follow you to the ends of the earth.
Rolling 6-9: Taming and training this tigerlily will be like educating a stubborn housecat, but will be nonetheless successful.
Rolling 2-5: Failure. You get sprayed with soporific pollen, which will affect you for several hours.
Rolling a 1: Critical failure. Not only do you get sprayed with soporific pollen, but the tigerlily in question decides that you're their new cat toy. Tigerlilies are not carnivorous, but their teeth and fangs are still very sharp, and not highly pleasant to contend with.

Bear in mind that these are only guidelines; you are free to predetermine successes or failures as you'd like, presuming your character can sustain the companion! Our discord channel has a room for dice-rolls, if that's your speed.

---

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 )

Comments

p5 spoilers!

[ladytakamaki]

THE BEACH.

[ when ann wakes up for what feels like a second time, she's greeted with a scene straight from an anime flower petals falling from the sky. there's an abundance of them, it seems, and she's looking up at the petals that fall around her. ]

Whoa... [ it's so easy to get caught up in how beautiful it is, and ann doesn't move for a few moments, admiring the scenery. it's like magic. this definitely isn't destinyland; this definitely isn't tokyo. she turns her head, expecting to see akira or ryuji or one of the phantom thieves, to tell them about how incredible the view is. but nobody's there.

that's what gets her to remember everything. she remembers that they were in the middle of something important, that she'd been panicking over okumura's death, and the phantom thieves need her. she needs to find a way out.

she starts to rise to her feet when she notices something heavy on her back. she groans, looking back at the knapsack--when did that get there?--and she finally starts to survey her surroundings. ]

Where am I...?

THE JUNGLE

[ after ann's gotten settled in, she decides to take a look around the island to see what else is out there. she's asked someone (you!) to accompany her on her journey, not wanting to go alone, because ann does not know how to deal with danger on a deserted island. she does, however, want to get familiarized with her surroundings, even if the only weapon she has on her is a knife that she was given upon arrival.

as she begins to head out, she passes by a tree covered in moss. her arm brushes against the bark, and something moves--a mossling, to be exact. it scurries away, and ann jumps back with a little yelp. ]

D-Did you see that?! I can't be the only one who saw that!

the beach

[antepone]

[ Ann is enamored by the petals, but Mira... Mira sees the petals, sees the purple and blue mixed in with them, and she feels sick. She's definitely a little paler as she looks up at them, and her stomach churns. Beside her, her dog senses her discomfort, and Daisy whines a little as she nudges Mira's leg.

The girl's question catches her attention, gives her something to focus on. ]

An island named Enso. Welcome.

[ladytakamaki]

En...so...?

[ she's never heard of it, and ann's stomach sinks. she remembers so many things: waking up to a place like this once before, someone named the storyteller, all sorts of strange things... ]

No, I--I don't think I'm supposed to be here.

[antepone]

[ Mira gives her a sympathetic smile. ]

Because you have important things to do back home?

[ladytakamaki]

That's, uhh, part of it!

[ casually trying to avoid mentioning the phantom thieves!! ]

Don't tell me I seriously got kidnapped or something...!

Beach

[rosehecate]

[Ah, there's...another girl on the beach. There's a bit of hesitance on Anthy's part when she notices she's not alone. Usually she can feel it on the inside and push past it, play her role, but she's free now. Free to truly express herself. And the hesitance comes out immediately, because people and roles and her place and their place and no, no, there are no roles or places anymore, why does she think of that right off the bat? It's just a girl who washed up on the beach, like Anthy. Just as confused, just as wet and sandy. There was no need to be afraid.

...

She's thinking all this, and she's still a ways down the beach from Ann, but she's been staring the whole time. Chuchu, perched on her shoulder and looking between the two girls, groans and plants his face into both his tiny hands.

So, uh. Sorry for the...audience, Ann?]

[ladytakamaki]

[ it takes a while for ann to notice she has an audience. she's preoccupied with checking her knapsack and looking at all of her supplies: a meal and a knife among a few other things. she's really not sure what the bubble glower's for, doesn't seem very useful on an island... and the stone is also kind of strange, but at least she's got some food to help her survive another day. she's got a pair of black cat ears on her head.

it's not until she looks up when she notices someone staring at her: a girl with vibrant purple hair, accompanied by...some sort of animal?

maybe they know where this is. maybe they have some answers. ann waves at them before walking over. ]

Hey! Uh, sorry, I just woke up here-- [ she gets closer and notices that they're also pretty wet and sandy. most likely woke up in the same predicament. ] oh, you did too, huh?

[rosehecate]

[Anthy's eyes widen a fraction when she's spoken to, but she makes an effort to try and relax her body. It's easier, strangely enough, if she's around a girl, though not because she doesn't know what they can be capeable of. Heaven forbid she underestimate any woman.]

Um...yes, we...we have.

[On her shoulder, Chuchu nods and squeaks in agreement. It's okay, he'll back you up, Anthy.]

jungle

[everylittlesecret]

[Nari's met an Ann before. Not this one. That was apparent. Why she was asked by this one that wasn't the one she met before to run around with her is beyond her. But it was something to do with the day as she follows Ann along.]

It's harmless. You just scared it.

[If it wasn't so fast, Nari would try and catch it.]

[ladytakamaki]

...Oops?

[ that was. pretty alarming, but she'll take nari's word for it. ]

Sorry, it seriously blended in, you know? So I wasn't expecting that at all. [ a frown as she looks back at the critter, who's perched up on a tree branch right above them now. ]

[everylittlesecret]

From what I can tell, those little guys are used to being hunted. So the camouflage they've got is handy as hell. First time I came across one I about set it on fire.

[Might have been amusing and she could have found out they were edible then.]

beach!

[flower_of_innocence]

[Flower petals dance on the wind, spiraling down into the sand and littering the shoreline with color. It would be breathtaking, if not for the anxiety it sparks. Flowers weren't so comforting anymore. Weren't so pretty.]

[Lillie is sporting some of her new clothes (a flowy shirt that looks like a sea of stars and those torn-up jeans Guzma found for her) as she emerges from the Storyteller's Temple and makes her way down towards the beach. A large jug of water is cradled in her arms. Guzma said new people would be showing up soon and she was sure they could use a hand with the mana pools. Some might even need aid, water, or food. And, well...she holds a faint hope that Luna will be there with them. She would be drawn in by the opportunity to meet new friends. So if she's not there, Lillie will know for sure that she's really and truly left the island.]

[She comes upon Ann pretty much right out of the gate and, for once, has a confident answer to the question she's (ambiently) being asked.]

Enso. Oh, but. Um...hello, also.

[Nailed it.]

[ladytakamaki]

[ ann isn't expecting anyone to come to her aid so quickly. she's still a bit disoriented, taking in her surroundings, trying to figure out what's going on in accordance to those strange series of dreams she'd been having. this doesn't seem real; but the salt from the sea, the warmth of the sand beneath her feet, the light touches of the petals that brush against her skin...they feel real.

so does the voice of the young girl who approaches her. ann turns around to face lillie, eyes wide. ]

Hi. [ it's curt, but it's not cold by any means. ] I've never heard of "Enso" before--how did I get here?

[flower_of_innocence]

Honestly...I'm not sure any of us know how we got here. Not even the Storyteller...

[Or at least, that's what they say. It's not like she has a reason to believe they're lying or hiding anything, it's just. How could a creature of such immense power not know what was bringing people to their domain?]

[But that's not a worry to share with newcomers.]

Are you okay? I mean, I know you're not where you expected to be, and that's not good in general, but physically are you alright...?

[savedbyasong]

It's a mossling. [Not too far away there is a white haired boy crouched down, a tigerlilly by his side. He smiles at her, though his voice is pitched low as to not startle, either her or the mosslings.]

Aren't they fascinating!

[ladytakamaki]

[ a mossling, huh? ann's still stiff and curled into herself; granted, she's faced a lot worse in the metaverse, but she feels a lot more vulnerable like this. she feels carmen stirring inside of her, but she thinks summoning her isn't possible. it makes her a lot more wary of her surroundings, believing that she won't have carmen here to fight alongside her if danger should arise.

but the way shion says it and expresses wonder calms her nerves, just a bit. she turns to look at him, and then at the tigerlily. ]

I-I guess so? It caught me off-guard, but...I guess they're kinda cute, if you get a better look at them?

[savedbyasong]

They are very cute, many of the creatures we found on Ziziphus are. Though some are very dangerous. These aren't though, they are as much like plants as they are like animals. I haven't studied them that closely but if they are anything like tigerlillies they don't even have to eat really, they just photosynthesise.

[As Shion speaks Cobweb gets closer to Ann, nudging her with his nose, he is very sociable though like most cats his friendship is on his own terms.]

jungle

[catpiper]

[Ren has her eyes on the newcomer and not the suddenly abundant wildlife that's taken over the island, so she misses the movement on the tree, but not the way Ann jerks away. It's enough to make her jump back in turn, tensing up at the realization she was the only one that saw-that? Saw what? Between this and the petals fluttering around the sky, she's not having a great afternoon.]

We should get away from it.

[Whatever it is-any direction works. It's time to go go go.]

[ladytakamaki]

Good idea!

[ ann isn't going to argue against getting the hell away from whatever that was. at least with some of the other fauna around here, she can see where they are and what they look like. in the case of the mossling, it'd camouflaged so well that it just looked like sudden movement in the corner of her eye.

she follows ren south, which leads them a little further into the jungle. ]

Let's try not to get lost, while we're at it!

[catpiper]

Don't worry. We can draw cats if it starts to look the same. Then we'll find our way back.

[She offers that small comfort knowing full well how scary it can be to get lost. Not that it's necessary-she's well traveled in this area and walks with the confidence of someone who's been down this road before. Though her eyes scan the woods for anything weird because there's been a surge of creatures lately and she doesn't want to run into whatever this girl may have seen earlier.]

the beach

[tokenflavortownie]

[The petals drifting through the air on the breeze, pretty as they were, felt like a knife twisting in Pyrrha's gut. She hated seeing so many, but she tried not to let the phantom pains bother her. The flower problem was settled, the pollen didn't bother her much anymore. Hell, the Storyteller's temple was finally shedding its overgrowth. She'd felt disgusted by such a display for the people who died, and was all the happier to see it all go.

And there's other things that need focusing on. Like people who need her, people that need help. New people, on the beach.

Somewhat... familiar, people.]

Excuse me? [Here comes Pyrrha, wandering down the beach to meet the girl who looks deeply confused by her surroundings... more than the usual, anyway.] Is everything alright? You wouldn't happen to be new to this island, would you?

the good girl!!!

[ladytakamaki]

[ when pyrrha approaches, ann is immediately met with recognition. it takes her a moment to figure out just where she knows this girl from--tall, vibrant red hair that has to be dyed--and she almost misses what pyrrha says.

but she manages to come to her senses in time. still, her eyes are wide as she looks at pyrrha. ]

Well, I just woke up here, so I'm pretty new. [ there's a weak laugh that follows, then: ] ...Have we met somewhere before?

two very good girls

[tokenflavortownie]

[That vibrant hair stands out even more against her bright green eyes, almost too bright for someone from Ann's world to naturally have. But Remnant was nothing if not a world of wonders.

Once she hears that last statement, Pyrrha nods slowly, joining in on the weak laughter.]

I'm sorry, but I don't think we've ever formally met. But... maybe we met each other, once upon a dream?

[She can be theatrical for this. Shut up.]

[attheclocktower]

[ how Ann managed to coincidentally rope both of the Animus siblings into helping with separate explorations the world may never know. But here she is. Keeping an eye out as it happens, though looking the wrong way when Ann calls out.

She whips her head around just in time to catch a flicker of motion, but misses the whole. Doesn't doubt what Ann saw. ]

What did it look like?

[ It hadn't attacked yet but... well, no sense being careless ]

GOOOORSE

[ladytakamaki]

I'm not sure, it just--it went by so fast!

[ it really did. one moment she blinked, the next she saw something darting away at the corner of her eye. barely even got a glance at it. ]

I could've sworn it was a piece of moss, though!