lifeaftr | September Intro: The Fields Are Painted Gold

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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

[THE BEACH]

[When giving advice about drifting, it's common to hear Jaeger Pilots say to "Stay in the Drift. The Drift is silence." Quite frankly, Newt doesn't really agree with that.

Then again, none of those Rangers drifted with an alien hive mind.

The Hivemind is loud, screaming, full of a myriad of voices snarling out in rage for vengeance at Newt's now-second intrusion. Their anger burns hot, wanting to kill and destroy and tear until nothing is left. Last time, he felt burned by it, rattled and shook by their surprise and the sheer neural overload. This time, however, that burn feels lessened, protected and cocooned by another consciousness neither his nor the Hivemind's, images and emotions of his own past and a past he doesn't know flitting by like a jumbled slideshow. A toy airplane, the bite of the needle, smooth wood of a cane under his hand before those memories are pushed aside and they're pushing further into the Hivemind, the two of them, together (--with me--) tearing out the Precursor's secrets and knowledge and 'they are grown I told you so' and 'honestly Newton is this really the time' and that's how you open the Breach, that's how you get past their defenses, we have to warn them, you will fail, we will find you, WE ARE COMING and there are claws reaching for them and Newt pulls back, jerking, trying to drag them out before the Precursors can sink their teeth into either of them and everything for a moment is violent chaos and then

nothing

just

blue

...until there isn't. Instead, there's an overly large rabbit who sees fit to introduce themself, start going on about stories and things like that and Newt can't even get a word in edgewise despite trying. And before it can even really begin, it's over, and it's all blue again and he feels like he's falling through nothing at all and he's grasping, reaching,

and Newt jolts upright, sucking in air, coughing violently. His hand flies to his face, pressing under his nose and coming away bloody, which causes him to immediately start fumbling in his pockets for a handkerchief. A moment later it's tucked under his nostrils, temporarily stemming the flow, and then...Newt notices that he's, well...warm. There's sun warming the sand--sand?!--that he's sitting on and it's definitely not sometime in the morning in Hong Kong and he's still covered in dirt and grim and possibly kaiju guts but as his head jerks up and he looks around--]

What the hell!

[it's essentially a squawk as Newt scrambles to his feet, handkerchief falling from his hand as he turns to stare at the beautiful sandy beach, the blue sky, and the sea behind him. He stumbles over the sand, eyes wide and wild-looking behind his glasses, rotating as if this action would reveal something familiar.]

Where--Hermann?! [He was just there, he was with me, where--and Newt's foot catches on a large bundle laying next to him, and down he goes, sprawling onto the sand with another loud yelp. For a long moment, he simply stares up at the blue sky through one of the cracked lenses of his glasses before softly but emphatically whispering:] What the fuck.

[...a breath and a hand pushed under his glasses to rub at his eyes and Newt groans.] Okay, Geiszler, let's think this through. You were in Hong Kong. You drifted with the Hivemind a second time, great idea, go me, we know how to get past the Breach and we need to warn them because the plan's not going to work and then there was a rabbit???? And now I'm...on a beach. [Newt pulls his hand out from under his glasses, staring once again at beautiful limitless blue with flower petals drifting by. He sits up, slowly this time, taking in his surroundings with a more critical eye.] No Hermann. No baby kaiju. [It's like he's ticking off a check list.] No drift machine. No helicopter. No, uh...Hong Kong. [He can't help but laugh, once, high and cracking hysterical] Okay! Sure! This is super normal! [he finally glances down to see what he's tripped over, frowning as he reaches for the...backpack? It's a backpack. Something like that?? Either way, he nearly drops it again once he realizes it's got his name stitched onto it.]

What the fuck?

[this iteration is louder than the first and laced with significantly more irritation as he yanks the backpack open, staring at the inside. There's...not much in there, but he's immediately pulling each thing out until he's got everything spread out in front of him, from the packet of dried fruit to the stone with a screen on it???? Newt stares down at them and repeats, now for a third time, accompanied by throwing his hands up in the air:]

What the fuck?!

[THE JUNGLE]

[Really, Newt should've known better. But when has that ever stopped him?? After having a mild (""""mild"""") freak out on the beach, Newt's eventually wandered into the jungle, because where else is he going to go, exactly? This, naturally, lead him to stumbling into a group of tigerlily kittens. Literally. Honestly, they blend in with the foliage! So much so that he's not even aware of their presence until he accidentally steps on one of their tails. The resulting yowl is enough to make Newt nearly jump out of his skin, but it's the resulting spray of pollen that has him coughing and hacking up a storm, stumbling back from the now moving pile of plants that is conforming itself into...cats??? Tigers? Something with plants growing out of it??]

What...the...

[Newt's hand shoots out, helping him lean on a tree while he tries to squint and get a good look at whatever the hell just gave him a face full of something probably hazardous. Unfortunately, the effects of the pollen are already starting to take their toll, causing a wave of drowsiness that makes him sway on his feet. He winds up clutching at the trunk of the tree with both hands, trying to suck in air for a clear breath, as if that could clear the sudden cotton in his head. Unfortunately, it does no such thing, and Newt slowly starts to sink down to the ground, even as his fingers scrabble at the tree bark, trying to keep himself upright. Today is just...not a great day.]

Edited 2018-09-04 14:22 (UTC)

You are on an island. [Newt's day might be about to get weirder as a white haired boy approaches, wearing an interesting t shirt, flanked by a tigerlilly. They had followed the flowers to the sea and Shion realised that there were new people, new confused people.]

An archipelago to be exact. This isn't your world, instead it is a world that draws souls from many universes, so most people here will not be from your world. You may remember a dream with a talking rabbit, they are the Story Teller. A god in this world. What they said is the truth. You are trapped here, your world is in some kind of suspended animation. We don't know who brought us here or how to get home yet.

[He sounds like he has said this a lot. He gets closer though and gives a smile that is supposed to be reassuring.] But we will find a way.

[for a moment, Newt can't really process what the guy is saying because of the t-shirt he's wearing. Like. That's a cat. With a moustache. Newt can't help but squint at it through one of the cracked lenses of his glasses, wondering if he's seeing things. But nope, nah, this guy definitely has a cat-with-a-moustache shirt. Which, listen, he's not judging. It's totally something Newt would wear. He should ask this guy where he got--

--oh wait shit he's saying something about their world being in suspended animation that's enough to pull his attention away from the shirt.]

Wait wait, did you just say my world's in suspended animation? How does that work?

Edited 2018-09-04 19:47 (UTC)

I'm not completely sure. The Story Teller said that our worlds are frozen. That no one will no know we are gone because time will not move on. In the last world I was in they could put us suspended animation, stop our perception of time. I think it is similar for our worlds, time itself hasn't stopped.

[Because surely time couldn't actually stop. At least he really hoped time itself couldn't be stopped. But... He had stopped believing in rules of the universe a long time ago and so he is utterly prepared to be wrong.] But everyone's perception of time has.

Newt Geiszer | OTA

Beach!

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jungle

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beach!

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the jungle :3c

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beach

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