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

[ Well. So much for that. Maine realizes more or less immediately that there's no way he'll be able to take this information with him. Maybe if his helmet's HUD was fully functional (and if Maine were wearing his armor), but as it is? Pretty useless.

Still, Maine leans in to inspect the map more closely. It's pretty impressive, actually. ]

Been busy.

[ Said with a nod the Drifter's way. ]

yes
must be useful

[That's the phraseology they use: must be. They can't stop for enjoyment, for something like fun - what do they do for fun, anyway? Who knows.]

[The point is that they never intend to waste a moment doing something that isn't immediately useful in some capacity.]

[ It's an interesting turn of phrase, all right. Maine cocks his head slightly to the side, curious. Then, because being in a good mood means he's more open than usual: ]

Why?

[ There's no judgment in his tone; Maine is just curious. He understands the need to keep busy. To keep moving. To have a mission. But he doesn't know the Drifter's motivations, or why they feel they need to be "useful." ]

[Not the first time the question has been asked, but they've learned to be more careful about their answer. Saying something to the effect of "I happen to be dead back home, and so the transient nature of life is meaningless unless I can do something worth remembering with the additional chance I have been given," does not, historically, go over very well at all.]

never know what moment might be last
leave behind something useful

[ Despite having fought on the frontlines in a war against humanity's extinction for years, Maine rarely thinks about death. Not the deaths of others and certainly not his own. What would be the point? So he blinks, gives the Drifter a bit of an odd look, and declares, ]

Morbid.

not to the dying

[One hand creeps up over their chest, resting above the place where their heart lies. The philosophy, perhaps, makes more sense when one knows that their own illness has been the death of them at least once, and that it creeps ever onward toward them. Even now.]

[ Oh. Well. That changes things.

There's no sudden swell of sympathy on Maine's face. He just blinks again and looks the Drifter over — a quick, automatic reaction, as though he's searching for a sign of injury. Then he nods, and, with all the tact of a bulldozer: ]

Soon?

[ Or is this some 'everyone is dying' existential bullshit? ]

[They can still walk and fight, and their reaction times are uncompromised - at least for now. The waves of their worst symptoms come and go, but the chronic pain that suffuses every inch of them, that is unrelenting. It seldom abates.]

[Speech was one of the first things to be stolen from them, ripped away from ravaged vocal cords.]

[They tug at their cowl, adjusting it very slightly. Maine's assessing gaze is wholly unavoidable.]

should have been
sickness persists

[ The Freelancer hums, weighing that. Briefly, he wonders whether it would be worse to go out quick or linger on, but he quickly dismisses those thoughts. When Maine dies, it'll be in combat. He may not think about death much, but he has no doubt of that. ]

Probably this place.

[ Said with a little gesture to their surroundings. Maine figures that it's the reason the Drifter's illness hasn't taken them. After all, this place doesn't follow natural rules by a long shot — his teammates' different points in time are proof of that. ]

[Probably, yes. Their symptoms still persist, nonetheless. They're still dying; just in slow motion.]

[It's very annoying. It gets in the way of their full potential. It cuts down on how many hits they can take, how far they can go, how hard they can push themself before exhaustion bites deeply into them. This is not new, but it is felt all the more intently here.]

likely
revives me on death

Shitty.

[ Not the revival part, which may become clear when Maine adds, ]

Should heal you.

[ What's the point of bringing someone back from the dead if they don't come back healthy? ]

[The Drifter tilts their head slightly to one side; it is not an inquisitive gesture, or a confused one. Their expression is difficult to read, but if it were more apparent, they mean to communicate placid acceptance.]

should is not relevant
only what is

May Adventure: I Want to Go Where Everyone Goes

;A; !!

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