lifeaftr | May Adventure: I Want to Go Where Everyone Goes

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 )

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Yeah. I haven’t seen anything to worry about so far. Thought I’d come check out this bathhouse. Gladio talked about building one...maybe we still can if we study this one enough.

[He looks up at the ceiling and around at the walls. They would need certain materials. He would like to learn what they are.]

So far it just looks like a lot of work.

Well, maybe not something this ambitious.

[The simple showers he rigged, though, those were useful. A bathhouse would be a hell of a luxury to have access to, but...looks like the guy in charge of that little project isn't around to make good on it anymore.]

This place is hooked up to some kind of hot spring. Supply of heated water would probably be the biggest obstacle on Ensō.

Yeah, that's the biggest obstacle. And we wouldn't need something this big. [Keith rubs at the side of his neck. He's lucky, he remembers an older Blade that had cramps in his shoulder from all the damage done to him over the years. The thought makes him pause and he says a little distantly.]

...maybe a few solo baths and one bigger bath? That seems more the whole group's speed.

Depends on how big we want to get. And where we want to put it.

[Rubs at his chin, forgets for a second that there's the scratch of stubble there - he's due for a shave. He's been making do with his knives, which is really not ideal in terms of razors, but he doesn't have a razor of his own, so.]

You okay?

[He stills. The question is so complicated he doesn’t even know where to begin. He sits down, folding his legs under him and shuts his eyes. The ghosts of an older man linger within him.] I’m fine. I’m thinking of who would benefit from this work.

A lot of us are private people for a lot of good reasons. Maybe just upgrading the showers would be better. More practical, anyway.

[But he isn’t fine. He feels too young. The shadow of the other him walks with him. He scrubs his face and adds,] The rest is just sorting out the aftermath. It’s like stepping backward.

[Wash is...unconvinced that that's really all that's on your mind, Keith, but he's also the kind of person to sit back and let these things emerge on their own. That's better by far than pushing when it's not wanted.]

[Staying quiet is the optimal choice. Even if it's vague, it's at least an inkling of what's burning under the surface.]

Looking for something to take your mind off things?

[As always he doesn't have to be anything other than himself around Wash. It's comfortable. He doesn't have to say a damn thing until he's ready to.

Keith unwinds his braid and sets about rebraiding it. It keeps his hands busy.] Yeah. A project tends to do that.

[As long as he is doing his job it's...easy to get lost in that.]

...it keeps me moving. You get, right?

Yeah.

[As if there was every any question. An island geared toward relaxation, and Wash can't quite accept it at face value. He's poured everything he is into survival for so long, instincts refined to a point long before he ended up here, that it's proving impossible to switch any of it off.]

[This, right here, is his attempt at relaxation, and it's not going over so great. Everything about him still feels wired to detonate, tensed and ready for the other shoe to drop.]

Survival mode. Hard thing to turn off.

I'll let you know if I ever figure out how to switch off. [After his father died it's been one fight to the next. All he had was himself to survive and...it didn't always go well. He puts all that aside.

He really hasn't learned how to switch off leader mode once he stopped fighting it.]

After this want to check out the parameter of this island? I brought Kosmo in case of any trouble. He's outside this bathhouse right now.

I know about ten different people who'd kill for a way to do that, so jury's out on whether that's even possible.

[Still, despite the dryness of his tone, there's sympathy there. They're cut a little too closely from the same cloth. Always looking for the next thing to do.]

That'd be useful. Place seems nice enough, but...you know the track record with these islands better than I do. [Is any place ever really unambiguously nice with no strings attached?]

[A muscle tightens in his jaw.his memory serves up too many things like a bunch of posters in a rack. All it would need is the right words.] It seems nice but so did some of the others. I want to be absolutely sure.

Or as close to it as we can get. [He ties off his braid and flicks it back over his shoulder. There is a lot he wants to be sure of but if they can find this one thing. It’s one thing less.]

It will have to be good enough for now. [He doesn’t like that but they can’t totally ensure things are safe. He learned that.]

Vigilance can only take you so far, or something.

[He's having trouble with relaxing, unsurprisingly. Wash's version of relaxation generally involves running drills. Doing something to burn off the adrenaline that's never really vaporized out of his veins.]

I've been around the Temple some, but nothing seems out of place. It's a nicer Temple than most of the others I've seen. Not sure what that means just yet.

Could be a clue to what kind of god they are. [He offers as he closes his eyes. The heat in the air helps him focus. He runs through the mental exercises for focus with slow measured breaths. It doesn’t cut his alertness or the survival mode he has lived in. But it clears his head.]

Everything I’ve seen so far reminds me of some sort of resort. But, have to check places out to know for sure. You’re right that scouting won’t take us to absolutely sure. ...It’s a starting point.

This is the first one we haven't had to explore on our own. I'm not sure how to feel about that.

[On one hand, having a lay of the land is...nice, as a point of basis. On the other, trust is a hard commodity to earn, and being presented with a very nice set of attractions and generally pleasant things to do only exacerbates the looming sense of dread that the whole thing generates for someone like him - the pathologically paranoid.]

[But then, he is pathologically paranoid. It's one of his flaws. He's aware of it.]

May Adventure: I Want to Go Where Everyone Goes

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