lifeaftr | September Adventure: Rain Comes

September Adventure: Rain Comes

NEW ISLAND: NUIDAN

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

Reseed the Meadow So the Cows Don't Starve
As of September 10th, the mana pools on Ensō and its islets will now allow for travel to the new island of Nuidan.

Travelers will arrive on a mana pool situated on the E5 square. The temple is situated in an oasis-like backdrop of amber-colored sands circled with overhanging palm trees. From the island's center, the four corners of the island and its fixed seasonal shifts are more than obvious: to the north, the rainfall-soaked meadows of spring; to the east, the thick clusters of the trees of autumn; to the south, the snow-capped mountains of winter; and to the west, the warm summer sands and pleasant heat.

And inside the temple? The avatar of the island Nuidan is waiting.

Welcome to the new island of Nuidan! As the island is now accessible, feel free to begin preparations and explorations in this log, create new logs of your own, or use this post as a catch-all for Task completion! For further information in regards to the island, or plotting, the following links may prove handy:

[ ♆ ] OOC info and introductory post
[ ♆ ] Active and Passive Task list
[ ♆ ] Nuidan on the Locations page
[ ♆ ] Search Requests page

LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

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[Well, at least someone is competent! He rolls the plum back between his palms, deep purple against the kinked yellow fur and dark green of his pawpads. He has to think harder than normal about how to proceed, with the bag and the plum and everything--it's too many items for him at once, but he finally extends the other plum to her as well, palm upturned as though in offering.

An unusually eager one.]

There's more! An entire orchard, actually... but I thought I would save you some labour. Small compensation for entertaining trash, mmmm. But I brought cherries, and peaches, and apples, and figs... no pears or pomegranates, though. Space reasons. Too stupid, too clumsy to get them back in one piece--!

[Odd-shaped, bulky fruits. Also pears discolour so easily.

He would not have been able to gather the cherries at all without... ah, a little help of his own making.]

That is certainly good news- this island is proving quite bountiful, especially if I can get seeds or cuttings from these plants to grow in my own garden.

[She politely ignores his tendency to insult himself, focusing on the topic at hand.]

I'll take a look for myself later, but I certainly don't object to saving a bit of time on the harvest. Should I offer any thanks to your... [She gestures briefly at the still figure on his back, searching for an appropriate word.] ...companion?

[Foster takes Muffet's politeness as distaste for him, in part because most people are incapable of not letting him know immediately if they disagree with him and in part because Muffet has given him very little indication otherwise. Especially when she takes the time to consider thanking his puppet but specifically makes no effort to try and thank him.

That's more points in her favour, to be clear.

He barks a laugh, loud and out of place--or maybe in just the right place?]

Ha ha! No more than you'd offer me...!

[He pauses, then glances back at the corpse, extending his arm to it; in response, it crawls up his equine back to sit on his withers, where it becomes more obvious that there is something wrong with it. The pallid, greyish skin, for example. And there is no way those flowers are rooted in anything but the brain.

He doesn't actually touch it--once it starts to approach, he drops his arm back to his side.]

I mean, it doesn't understand speech. But there would have been no cherries without it!

[Please imagine, if you will, Foster van Denend attempting to pick cherries from twisted branches with his thick grizzly claws.]

[Perhaps ironically, Muffet's pointed lack of a 'thank you' to him is her attempting to be considerate of his feelings- their first conversation was bizarre, but it did make it clear that he seemed to dislike people being pleasant and respectful towards him. Therefore, she assumes that not thanking him is, in an odd way, the nicer thing to do.]

[She suspects that mentioning this would rather defeat the purpose of it, however, and therefore has no intention of bringing it up.]

[By now, even someone so unfamiliar with dead bodies can't mistake the creature for anything but a corpse- and one made by a familiar affliction, if the flowers are any indication. The question of how such a thing is walking around and, apparently, following Foster's commands... that's still unanswered, and nags at her curiosity.]

More a puppet than a pet, then? However did you acquire such a thing?

[Muffet would be correct: while there's a lot to be said for the power of delusions (medically speaking) and the desire not to exist (literally speaking), there is a thread of 'treat others how you wish to be treated' in Foster's rules.

The golden rule does include respecting others' wishes when they ask you to treat them a certain way... does it not?

Not when the person doing the asking is Foster, in his experience. Which is painfully validating in its own unpleasant way.

Foster's immediate response is half a joke, and he smiles at her with lidded eyes while the corpse 'stares' at her. If it even has eyes.]

Magic.

Literally magic. I have to jump through more hoops here to... uh, to make my blood worth anything, haha. But it can be done.

[Ominous.]

[Welp. Muffet is now equal parts curious and concerned. Not that Foster isn't generally kind of worrying most of the time anyway, but still.]

Magic, I am very much familiar with- but not this particular variety, I must admit. Is it unique to your world?

It's not unique, no... but it's not common, either. Its unpopularity is what makes it rare. Ha ha.

Anyone could do it if they chose to. Even Chip could do it, if they chose!

I'm just more willing.

[That low, pensive hum is the sound of Foster grappling with his infamously disorganised thinking.]

...mmmmm.

I once knew someone from another world who managed it, but.... well. He had no idea what he was doing.

Couldn't even figure out how to undo what he'd done without lighting an entire windmill on fire!

[He flashes a grin, brighter than before--for reasons that might not make sense unless one knows a great deal about necromancy.

That man was Jonathan Strange, and Foster had oscillated between actually liking the man at first and holding him deeply in contempt.]

He had bound up the soul in the flesh, even, which I used to be able to do... but it was hard enough just to do this.

--and besides, I think the soul is already being used.

[Ha ha.]

Oh dear. I do hope no one was using that windmill at the time.

[Muffet looks amused, always fascinated by talk of other worlds. She's a curious creature by nature, for all that politeness constrains her not to pry.]

I would hope the soul is with the original owner- in my experience, it tends to lead to a great deal of trouble if someone has them lingering around elsewhere.

Well, they weren't using it afterward.

[The irony of Foster's contempt (however humourously expressed) is that, of course, burning down an entire windmill to get rid of something is exactly the kind of dramatic and unnecessary choice Foster would make.

He'd just do it for very different reasons, and therefore Strange is a ridiculous goose of a man who can't manage very simple magic, while he.... is worthless, pathetic garbage that has no right to criticise or condemn, and the act of doing so is even more egregious and disgusting...!]

I assume the soul is where it should be... everything has its place.

I just animated the body. If his soul isn't a new one, it isn't because of anything I did.

Hmm... Useful, although it does seem a bit rude to do to someone without asking their permission first- it is their body, after all, they might have wanted to do something with it.

[Muffet has standards and priorities, she's a reasonable spider lady. In her own way. If the actual person involved is all right, she's much less concerned about what happens to the shell left behind.]

Probably not. Humans prefer to hide from death, I know.... to obscure its inevitable claim by whatever means necessary to maintain their blind delusion of meaningless living.

[It's not 'life' at all when wasted so flagrantly, so shamelessly, so extravagantly--so glaring and egregious is their waste that it fills Foster with rage and excitement all at once. The vibrant energy of purpose, the bilious force of disgust.

Muffet has stumbled into Delusional Topic #???? and if she would like to find an exit, she should do it quickly.]

If anything, I'm doing him a favour..

[An immediate smile, apparently in contradiction with the deep contempt of seconds prior.

But Muffet does seem like the kind of person who appreciates the chance to do someone a favour.]

[She's going to use the ancient debate tactic of Just Not Getting Into That. Can't catch her, weird part of the conversation. ...okay, it's all weird, but the weirder part.]

I do always try to assist others when I can, but I've found it helps to be certain that it's a favor they can make good use of, first. There's no sense handing someone a tool they don't know how to wield, after all.

[Translation: the fruit was good because she actually uses food, and you know that. The zombie is questionable because you don't know whether Lance is going to find having his perspective on life and death broadened to be helpful.]

Generally, I ask them what they need first. It helps avoid wasted time.

[When the only tool you have is necromancy, every problem looks like a--

Hm. Well.]

Oh, we've met!

[Foster's lichen-studded tail swishes at his hocks, the corpse on his back shifting to stand on all fours, just briefly, like a weird cat.

You see, Muffet, he isn't concerned about that at all. He has a pretty good idea of Lance... enough that he knows it isn't an unnecessary gesture. It might be a wasted one. But he's tired of Ginko, and his addiction to petty distractions. He's tired of Taako, who doesn't remember anything anyway. He's not stupid, Tim wouldn't learn anything. And he doesn't know who he got in such a row with on the rock.

Sometimes you need to take a gamble. Sometimes you need to do something because you're desperate. Sometimes you have to prove it isn't pointless. Sometimes all of the above are true.]

But ask someone what they need... mmmm. Ask someone what they need and they'll only tell you what they want.

And that is a waste of time.

Hm...

[Muffet makes an expression that somehow manages to communicate the exact feeling of raising an eyebrow at someone, despite the fact that she completely lacks eyebrows.]

But knowing what someone wants does tell you what they think is important. Or, at least, what they're willing to admit is important to them.

Sure, but that's not what I'm talking about.

[Foster looks tired behind his easy smile.]

Besides... I'm sure that'll come out anyway.

Just as long as you do talk, I suppose.

[The weariness brings a brief bit of sympathy with it, at least. She tactfully chooses not to mention it.]

But it seems we've strayed off-topic. Do you recall where the orchard was located?

[Between Foster and Lance, you'd probably be hard pressed to get either one to shut up.

But when she asks him about the fruit again, he looks blank for a nanosecond, the precursor to visibly brightening up--like he's forgotten the previous topic completely.]

Oh! Uh... located? Haha.

I... hm.

[Foster is not sure how to give directions. He has not given directions in years. Until very recently, he was capable of losing his destination or getting lost in just a few minutes' time. Now he's doing a lot better, but...

Finally he settles on an explanation.]

... it's through autumn.

Edited 2018-10-05 12:51 (UTC)

[Muffet nods, trying to place the vague direction with her mental map of the island. Foster had come from that direction, and she could recall fall weather being over this way...]

Eastward, then. Well, that's certainly going to be worth a look.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

September Adventure: Rain Comes

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It's been 3 days since I wrote a tag and I seem to have forgotten how??

No worries, happens to all of us.

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CW: Necromancy, spoilers for... uh, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrel?

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See, I told you it happens to all of us (beats head against writer's block)

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We can probably wrap this soon unless you want to do more with it.