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.

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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.

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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

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.]

[ladytakamaki]

I see. So...kinda like bugs, then.

[ she turns back to nari, shoulders less tense than before. it helps to know they aren't dangerous.

then, the second part of what she says starts to settle in. ]

...What was that about fire?

[everylittlesecret]

More like... yeah, let's go with bug. I can't explain half the critters in this place.

[She just knows that most of them are edible or try to eat you.]

I can use fire. Pretty handy in this place. Never need a lighter~

[ladytakamaki]

[ ann wants to talk about how she can use fire, too, how handy it is but...alas. she swore to secrecy when they'd formed the phantom thieves. that still stands. ]

Oh, uh-huh, aha...that sounds...convenient!

[ why is she so awkward about this ]

[everylittlesecret]

[Nari watches Ann before snorting.]

Ya know, I know your leader. Akira Kurusu. You can stop pretending you don't know how to do anything.

[You're really bad at acting, Ann.]

[ladytakamaki]

Wh--

[ SHE WAS NOT. EXPECTING THAT. AT ALL. ]

What?! He--he told you?!

[everylittlesecret]

Sorta. Hard to explain. But I know you ain't not ordinary girl, and that's gonna keep you alive longer here.

[She is not going to tell Ann she met another Ann. Nope. That would. Probably not go over well. Or about murdertimes.]

[ladytakamaki]

[ ann falls silent. she's absolutely shocked that nari knows about this--any of this. did akira trust her that much? did he tell her about all the phantom thieves? is that how nari was able to figure out that akira was her leader?

ann has so many questions. but she needs to get the important stuff out of the way first. ]

Look... If Akira told you all of this, then that means he trusts you. So...that means I trust you, too, to keep this a secret.

[everylittlesecret]

[Ann. Honey. No. Nari never actually met Akira. Just watched as he and others every week went through hell and seeing him slowly lose his mind, or so it looked to Nari.

Plus, being a Phantom Thief was listed in his profile.

Good thing that Noctis has taught Nari how to keep calm and lie, even if she hates doing it.]

Yup. Total trust after I proved myself. [Ahahahahahaha...] I'm very good at keeping secrets. Just know that no one here will hold it against you. Powers are a "blessing" here, and you could be helpful to those who can't defend themselves.

[ladytakamaki]

[ hearing that people won't judge her for it helps a lot, but she still can't afford to take any risks. if anyone here is from the same world as them, there's a chance their secrets might be leaked, and they'd be found out by the police.

there'd be no hope left, if that happened. ]

It's not just a matter of being judged, though. We need to keep a low profile because if law enforcement ever found out about us? We'd be done for.

[everylittlesecret]

Law enforcement? Wanna know a secret?

[She stops Ann to boop her nose.]

You and I and everyone else here are the law enforcement. So unless you want to arrest yourself, don't worry about it. No one can communicate with other worlds, and they've tried. My girlfriend has something that's like a cellphone and it's useless here. This world ain't tech friendly.

[ladytakamaki]

I-I was talking about law enforcement back at home! You know, so nobody accidentally blabs about us or something!

[ SHE'S SO EMBARRASSED ] But uh, it's good to know they don't exist here, y'know? We get to make our own rules and stuff, right?

[everylittlesecret]

Unless people retain their memories after leaving this place, you're fine.

[Waggle hands.] Within reason. Like, no mass murdering or stuff.

[ladytakamaki]

Wait, hold up- are you saying that people don't remember being here? And...what happens after they leave?

[ because if akira was here... ]

[everylittlesecret]

I dunno. Maybe? I mean, apparently people leave, and sometimes come back, but they don't remember this place. It's weird.

[Akira was here. Sorry Ann.]

[ladytakamaki]

...Oh. I...guess that's a good thing, right?

[ assuming akira made it out in one piece, anyway. though as far as she's concerned, he has to be alright. she just saw him before arriving here, after all.

probably. ]

So...nobody's figured out how people are able to leave yet?

[everylittlesecret]

Eh. No idea. Might be, might not be.

[Who knows. It's just a fact of this place.]

Nope. They just go poof if they do leave.

oh my god i'm so sorry i missed this

[ladytakamaki]

And The Storyteller mentioned that time doesn't pass at home while we're here...

[ she's trying to put the pieces together and convince herself that akira's okay. because she just saw him before she wound up here, so there's no way anything bad happened to him...

right?

not knowing is killing her. ann grimaces and lets out a groan, hanging her head. ]

All this timeline stuff is giving me a headache...

it;s okay!

[everylittlesecret]

Eh. They think I'm dead at home anyways, so not too worried about that.

[It doesn't get easier even for someone who lived with people from different timelines as some of their friends from their worlds.]

Don't try and think about it too hard. It'll always give you a headache.

[ladytakamaki]

They what now?

[ ...well. this won't be news to ann once she remembers certain events, but for now, this comes as a surprise. ]

[everylittlesecret]

Think I'm dead? I was missing for over a year there already before I came here.

[It's not big. She doesn't want to go back home anyways.]

[ladytakamaki]

[ ah. she picks up on how nonchalant nari's being, and ann frowns. ]

Is that what you want?

[everylittlesecret]

It ain't hurting me none. My life was far from idealistic, and I am more than fine and dandy with it. Not like I plan on going back. I go where my girlfriend goes.