May Adventure: I Want to Go Where Everyone Goes

[lifeaftr_mods]

NEW ISLAND: IO

Who: Everyone!
What: Io appears!
When: May 10th and onward
Where: Io
Warnings: The possibility of drug use and alcohol may come up. Otherwise, tag as you go!

Things Are Shaping Up to Be Pretty Odd
As of May 10th, the mana pools on Ensō and its islets will now allow for travel to Io. Though you could always opt for sailing, if you wanted. As we mentioned on the island's introductory post, no exploration is necessary! The island is small enough and easily traversed, and with a minimum of dangers, you have plenty of time to visit each of Io's six draws.

The temple is the easiest place to get in touch with the local avatar, though you can contact them just as easily by striking up a conversation with just about any honeybee you see in the vicinity. The lazy drone of them can be heard all over the island, though they're quite complacent, and not at all prone to disturbing adventurers. The temple itself is twined with grapevines and smothered with inlays of rubies, proud and sparkling. Inside, it smells of honey and wine, and seems to exhibit a naturally contented glow. Just outside, numerous fruit trees sprout all about the temple's courtyard, to be sampled at your leisure.

The bathhouses are located just south of the temple, and are prime locations for some rest and relaxation. Bathe, swim, take a spa day! There are innumerable rooms to do exactly that, and more space than be reasonably filled by some sixty-or-seventy people. Or maybe you're interested in getting absolutely sloshed instead. The vineyard is perfect for that, located to Io's northeast on one of its long, tapering peninsulas. Rows upon rows of grapevines lead up to the crown jewel of the region: a proud winery with enough goods to satisfy even the most parched.

For those less keen on mind-altering substances, the tea gardens are a far safer bet. They practically emanate tranquility, with their soft paper lanterns, thickets of tea trees, and a tea room with a seemingly endless supply of every supplement to your drink that you could ask for. And if none of the teabags or tea leaves in there suit your preference, you're free to wander about the gardens yourself and sample whatever you like.

The Honeycomb at the island's heart is much more akin to a play structure or jungle gym than anything else, but its interlocking passageways and erratic, hexagonal architecture aren't for nothing. It's an ideal spot for play or exercise, if you're into that kind of thing - or for getting positively sick on honey sticks.

The campsites ensure that you don't truly have to depart from Io, if you don't want to. Tents full of chairs and cushions and blankets make it a wonderful place to spend the night if you're so inclined, and the lockers full of food and drink are assurances that you won't go hungry. And with all these massive bonfires and firework cannons, why would you ever want to leave?

---

Welcome to the island of Io! Please, enjoy your stay and make full use of this island's many faculties! For further information in regards to the island, or plotting, the following links may prove handy:

[ ♆ ] OOC info and introductory post
[ ♆ ] Io on the Locations page

---

LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

Comments

[postictal]

This isn't just for me.

[At least Ren knows what fireworks are. He couldn't find any sparklers in the sheds, but that doesn't mean there aren't any. He'll have to look a little harder when he heads there to restock.]

[An ice breaker after their last interaction is maybe not a guaranteed thing. Still, he'd be remiss not to try.]

You hungry?

[catpiper]

[Look, if they don't make eye contact with it, it's like the event never happened. As much as it concerns her, given Tim's everything, he seems content right now. Not sad or happy or anything-just blowing up fireworks and cooking some food.

So when he offers, she holds out her grubby hands, like she's ready for the scalding meat to be plopped in her palms. Yes, she is. Building forts is hard work and she's gotta fuel her next expansion.]

[postictal]

[He is not putting this steaming hot food right into your hands, Ren, no matter how nicely you ask for it. He instead takes one of the wooden sticks he's been using to spear things off the makeshift grill he's erected and stabs a couple strips of meat and vegetables onto the skewer before handing it to her.]

Careful - some of this stuff is pretty hot, okay?

[catpiper]

Did you eat yet?

[Look, she's a professional at this point. That steam means don't bite. Cold means don't bite or your head will hurt. She's got food down to a t.

She starts waving the freshly speared kebab in the air, bringing it down to her lips to blow against it until it looks cool enough to nom on. Then all bets are off, as she pulls pieces from the stick and pops it into her mouth. Still kinda warm, but she can chew fast.]

It's very good.

[postictal]

Not hungry just yet. Don't worry. I've got plenty.

[He doesn't grin, of course, but there's a little twitch the corners of his mouth and he glances back over at the grill, eyeing the food cooking there. Doesn't want it to get too blackened, now.]

You wanna see some more fireworks?

[catpiper]

[That's a big ole yes and it's obvious by the way she turns on her heel to face him and immediately drops to ground to settle in her nice spot. Close enough to the warm grill that she can feel the heat radiate off it and far enough back to not be killed by any fireworks. All while she picks at the veggies speared to her stick.]

Yes, did you find a lot more? Are they here?

[postictal]

This island's got a surplus.

[He's still sorting through some of these different types, but there are a few large, red sticks that look as though they might have been modeled after dynamite. That, or...legitimate dynamite. Guess they'll find out.]

Might get pretty loud, though.

[catpiper]

[Well, she knows what to do about that. The remaining veggies and meat go right into her gross poncho pockets, so she can cover her ears with her hands.]

Cover your ears too. That's what you're supposed to do with loud surprises.

[postictal]

[Alas. Well, at least he has plenty of extra food if the stuff in her pockets gets too...dirty. He turns the large red sticks over and over in his hands before shrugging.]

I dunno what these ones are gonna look like. You wanna find out with me?

[catpiper]

They're going to be very colorful and pretty.

[She expresses with great confidence, despite having no idea if they will, as she lowers her hands from her ears to hear what he's saying.

But hell yeah she wants to join. Are they exploding these somewhere else? That works too. She quickly stands back up and moves beside him.]

I want to see that too.

[postictal]

All right, buddy. I'm gonna need your help. You gotta load the cannon, all right?

[He doesn't really need her help, but it might be a little less startling to witness if she gets to work with the fireworks up close. And what kid doesn't want to feel important?]

[catpiper]

[By the power invested in her by the state of Enso, she is gonna help. She helped with a bomb once!! She can do this!!]

Okay!

[Load it with what?? Probably gunpowder. However, she doesn't have that at this current second. What she does have is a honeystick?? That's probably the same.

And in the stick goes and she holds her hands out to grab whatever he gives her to load in the same way. Let's GET IT Tim.]

[postictal]

Okay, so the first rule about loading cannons is that you only want to put in things that are meant to be fired into the air.

[He reaches in and extricates the honeystick, which now looks a little less like something you'd want to put in your mouth.]

This definitely isn't.

[catpiper]

[That is something meant to be in the air, Tim. Bees can fly. And they're filled with honey. Or something like that. She doesn't get animal logic, but that sounds right and she holds out her hand for the dirty honeystick all the same.]

Okay, I'll only put in fireworks this time.

[postictal]

Do not eat this.

[He tells it to her as sternly as he can manage.]

There's a lot of ash and dirt and stuff in the bottom of this thing, so don't go sticking this in your mouth. Okay?

[catpiper]

[Ash and dirt are nothing and it's going to make her stronger, Papa Tim. But she reluctantly agrees, only because there are so many around the honeycombs. It's not exactly a honeystick survival situation here.

So she doesn't shove it in her mouth. She pops that sucker right into her pocket for Future Uses. Whatever those may be.]

Okay, I won't.

[And then her hands fly back out to continue helping him load fireworks display.]

[postictal]

Good.

[He holds out a packet of gunpowder, also cribbed from one of the sheds]

You pour this in real carefully, okay? Try not to spill it. Here, I'll hold the cannon steady for you, and you can pour it in. This is how we're gonna get the fireworks into the air. It's explosive.

[catpiper]

We should save some for Chara.

[Because this seems right up their ally and while she's pouring it all into the cannon carefully, she's trying to save a little bit of gunpowder at the bottom of the container too.]

They would like this loud stuff. Then they could explode things later.

[postictal]

Yeah?

[It's not quite a smile that pulls at the corner of his mouth, but it's close. It's as close as Tim gets.]

Well, tell you what. After we shoot these off, you should take some of these fireworks over to them too.

[catpiper]

Okay!

[That seems to appease her for the moment. Long enough to fill the tube full of gunpowder and set the container by her feet, patting the side of the shooty tube thing.]

Is fire next?

[postictal]

Next we gotta add the fireworks. Which ones do you wanna shoot off?

[It's hard to know which of them is going to result in what, but there are little hints. Some containers that are blue, some that are red, and so on. God only knows what kind of lurid formations of light will sprawl out into the sky once they're launched, though.]

You gotta favorite color?

[catpiper]

[She certainly does have a favorite color and after eyeing all the containers in front of her heathen eyes to see what's up, she grabs the purple one, holding it close. That leaves one person-]

Which one do you like?

[postictal]

[Purple, huh? He files that away.] I don't really care what color they are, as long as they're bright. Let's shoot off yours first.

[Load it in, Ren.]

[catpiper]

[This is the part she's nervous about and she watches him out of the corner of her eye to make sure she's loading it correctly. It seems simple enough? But who knows. Blomp, in goes the purple dynamite. ]

We can find a really bright yellow one for you next. It'll look like the sun's in the sky.

[postictal]

[He double checks, of course, but it's pretty intuitive. In it goes. He sets the cannon back, so that it's pointing at the sky.]

All right. Yellow's a good color.

[He digs his lighter out of his pocket and offers it to her.]

You wanna do the honors?