lifeaftr | September Intro: The Fields Are Painted Gold

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 )

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Petals dance on the air and he can't find them pretty. He hasn't felt this much anxiety since he tore through the halls of the Castle in one headlong sprint for the Black Lion's hangar. He'd stalked through the forest all morning. He'd looked for any sign of anyone getting sick.

He'd shake people this time if they all started sprouting flowers. He wasn't going through that again. He's prowling one of the lesser known areas near the shoreline when the sounds of a creature in distress reach him. He turns and melts into the woods and high overhead Ember cuts through the sky. He flicks his hand up in a signal to track as he weaves towards the sound.

Ember's shadow falls over Shiro as the bird recognizes his armor. It sings a sweet song and circles, calling where to go. It sweeps low the fire of its wings snuffing out as it settles on a branch overhead. The song pours out and the reason for it is apparent as something moves quickly in the forest behind the tigerlily. Keith slips through the brush out into the open. Ember falls quiet as he takes his own gloved hands and works at the back of the accidental trap.]

Pull at the left side. I'll get the right. It looks like they came through too fast.

[Something inside him settles. Shiro is here. It doesn't matter whatever else is going on. Or what problems might arise or if he remembers. He's here. He's safe.]

What's the last thing you remember?

( the sound of rustling leaves catches shiro's attention first, hand clenching around a cluster of vines as he turns towards the source of the noise with anticipation. it fizzles out instantly as keith appears behind the foliage, voice calm as he approaches both him and the trapped tigerlily. )

Keith. . .?

( shiro has so many questions for him and no idea where to start. thankfully, keith is already sliding into action-mode as he starts directing him on their plan of action. with a nod, he starts to pull at the left side of the tigerlily to start untangling it. )

I—

( he's not sure how to answer that. it feels like a dangerous question. is there something wrong with his memory? had something else happened? he wants to know, but also doesn't. )

I remember us deciding to go back to Earth.

( he says, casually, hoping that isn't the wrong answer. )

[Shiro doesn't remember his time here. The knowledge sits in his chest with a terrible weight. All that shows on the surface is a slight pause. He sets to tugging and pulling the vines away from the tigerlily.

He nods once.] This place sits outside of the normal flow of time. We can come from different points in our own timeline. Pidge and Hunk are from before we did that big operation with the Blades to take on Zarkon himself for the first time. You and I are the furthest ahead.

[He reaches through the foliage to lightly touch Shiro's arm. He missed him so much. Just being able to touch him and make eye contact again is...a lot. His hand lingers for a little longer than it normally does. He takes it back to resume his work.]

It sounds confusing, but...I'll explain it better once we get this Tigerlily free.

September Intro: The Fields Are Painted Gold

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