July Event: Riding the Wave

[lifeaftr_mods]

JULY EVENT: RIDING THE WAVE

Who: Everyone!
What: The Jormun reappear to allow some transformative fun...and potentially some underwater exploration as well
When: July 10th and onward
Where: Ensō and the ocean floor around it
Warnings: Potential (and fully optional) body/transformation horror may arise when undergoing shifts from land-based to sea-based shapes, and vice versa. Otherwise, tag as you go!

I'll See You on the Other Side
The Jormun resurfaced to greet their old allies on July 8th, bringing with them the offer to explore the ocean floor alongside them. They're not the only old friend that's made a return, however. The kaleidoshells, placid, rainbow-tinted creatures reminiscent of sea turtles, have also made their way to Ensō's shores for their nesting season. For much of the month of July, you'll have to tread carefully around mounds of sand hiding delicate heaps of kaleidoshell eggs. Those of you uninterested in sea exploration can remain on the surface, if you like - the kaleidoshells can make for a stunning sight if you're glimpsing them for the first time as their shells throw off vibrant rainbow swirls of light reflected into the ocean waters.

Predators are always keen to feast on easy prey, and kaleidoshell eggs are no exception. If you feel like protecting them from any hungry slypers or pterax, you'll find that some of the Jormun are happy to stick on the surface with you and assist. They'll even lend you a schlacknorkcvic, which is the Jormun equivalent of a simple driftwood training staff, to help keep any thieving creatures away from the nests of kaleidoshell eggs - though they recommend that you do so peacefully, if possible.

Get Carried Away
Or you can brave the sea waters with the Jormun, instead. With the help of the sne'akleriad pendant, your new, aquatic shape will allow you to navigate the waters just as easily as they. Whether you intend to make use of this new skill to go roaming about and explore some of Ensō's uncharted ocean squares, take a look at that underwater structure that's been sighted before, or just have a joyous time beneath the waves with your new scaly, tentacled, flippered, or be-gilled form, the choice is yours.

---

In the meantime, the following links may prove handy:

[ ♆ ] OOC Event Info and Plotting Post
[ ♆ ] Underwater City Exploration Page
[ ♆ ] Jormun NPC Information
[ ♆ ] Ensō's Locations Page

Event Timeline

[ ♆ ] July 8th: The Jormun and the kaleidoshells return to Ensō's shores
[ ♆ ] July 10th: Underwater exploration begins
[ ♆ ] July 17th: Part Two of our second year anniversary Test Drive Meme goes up
[ ♆ ] July 20th: Monthly Storytelling occurs
[ ♆ ] July 22nd: The final island in this voting round appears
[ ♆ ] July 25th: The Jormun return to their home beneath the waves

LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

Comments

[lesbeau]

[It's gonna be fantastic because Ren's gonna learn things!! Like how to be a sneaky sneak the Monk way. Beau pulls herself off the sand, brushing off her pants.]

Alright, alright. Don't go too far though, so we can still see 'em.

[But she'll take them both inside the treeline so no errant feet will end up in turtle nests.]

Okay. Your job is to make it so I don't catch you, okay? Remember there's a lot of ways you can do that. Go when you're ready.

[catpiper]

[Her claim to hidey hole fame isn't a joke-she spent her whole life running away and it comes in handy during games like this.

Go- is all it takes to make her shoot off like a rocket, darting through the trees and grass. She's clearly comfortable around these parts and seems to know the land well enough to figure out where to quietly duck and crawl after zig zagging her way into the treeline.

She's making quite a bit of noise on her journey away from Beau though and it's probably pretty easy to follow her movements, up until she disappears behind some foliage.]

[lesbeau]

[She doesn't actually expect Ren to be bad- any level of confidence that a kid has in their abilities is usually something. But man, she is fast, and it makes her mouth split into a grin.]

Alright--

[Beau shifts her stance, abandoning the normal walk and lackadaisical movement for concentrated speed. With her ankles turned, she doesn't leave traditional footprints, steps shrouded by turned dirt and the movements of the forest. It's easy to follow the sound at first, but she needs to be quiet too, and as soon as she doesn't have a direct lock on Ren she leaps into the nearest tree, peering around for a glimpse of her hair. With a solid 18 on stealth, she's keeping herself well hidden, too.]

[catpiper]

[Take that 18 and shove it up ur ass Beau. Girl's got a 20 in hide and seek.

There's noise and then there isn't and Ren's not foolish enough to peek from her hiding spot to find out why. It means Beau's hiding too-that she's lurking around the wilderness using whatever power kept her from making footprints in the dirt.

Ren knows she's there. Close enough to hear her movements, if she's not careful.

But she is and it's easier to crawl across the ground with barefeet, a black poncho with a hood she can flip to cover her hair and-

She waits for the rustle of wind to make the trees shake, waits for the occasional sound of bugs to cover the minor noise she's making wandering through the woods and-

Eventually, she skips a rock across the ground, aiming for a tree trunk far, far to her side, hoping to keep Beau's focus off her actual spot and figure out where she is, before making her next decision.]

[lesbeau]

[Beau might not like it but I sure respect a nat fuckin' 20. Ren is the ULTIMATE stealth out here, and Beau is... a little surprised she can't see the other girl, honestly. She figured Ren wasn't going to be bad, but this is some next level shit. So now she's taking the training wheels off, and slides down--

About when the sound hits. But it sounds like, well, a rock hitting a tree, but with an investigation of fucking four she goes to look at it anyway. It makes her move a bit that direction, but she's still aware of what's happening around her and ready to bolt once she knows what direction she needs to go.]

[catpiper]

[(UN)fortunately for one part of this pair, she doesn't roll as well a second time.

Beau investigates the noise and she knows this-is 100% sure of this-because she decided to poke her head out of the bushes to get a clear view of where her rival was. So that hot second of a hooded girl glancing over the bright green foliage is probably enough to get her attention.

Something she knows too because off she goes, bolting deeper into the woods, where the trees and vines can completely shield her from sight.]

[lesbeau]

[A HAH, YOU LITTLE SNEAK,

She sees Ren's skin tone outside of the bush before much else, the clear indicator of This Thing Wasn't There Before, and she pivots on her feet as quickly as she can to dart right after Ren's movement. She's back on the trail, and as soon as she gets close, she leaps again into the trees. Leaping between the branches keeps her agile and off the ground; the rustling might give some kind of indication, but there's other wind to cover her and she leaves no tracks. But if Ren goes anywhere, she gets away, so as soon as she's pretty sure she's on her Beau simply drops out of the sky and hopefully in grabbing range of one (1) goblin.]

[catpiper]

[It works.

There's a rustle. A sound she can't place the direction of because her eyes are set on the freedom in front of her. If she can make it, Beau will have a way harder time tracking her down, but-

It's quiet again. She immediately ducks to the ground and-

It's too late. Her competitor appears out of the sky and she doesn't roll high enough to get away from this problem, so-

She doesn't struggle or try to get free. All she does is say-]

Good job, good job! You caught me!

[But that competitor's spirit burns in her heart and she, mostly definitely, has not given up yet because. She looks up to the sky after her quiet congratulations and points dramatically.]

Hey, hey! Look!

[lesbeau]

[Listen, Ren, you're doing a really good job with that hey look move, but Beau is taking no chances. So she does just kind of... half land on her, half wrestle her to the ground. It's not hard, but it's probably harder than it needs to be for the fact that Ren is a kid and she's a fully grown woman. At this point, she's mostly just throwing her weight around.]

Hah! I did!

[But she wiiiill maybe look once she thinks she has Ren subdued. Just in case. Juuuuust in case.]

[catpiper]

[The wind gets knocked out of her and it takes a second to get her bearings, while trying to force the woman's attention anywhere else.

But the thing is, she's not struggling. She's not trying to squirm free-she was caught, wrestled and pinned to the ground. There's no point in attempting to escape when Beau's got the literal upper hand.

The thing is-

She looks.

She looks and that makes Ren's tiny little mind go 100 miles per hour because that means she believes her.

It means there's a chance she can win, so-]

There's bacon in that tree. You should go get it.

[lesbeau]

[That answer makes her snort, and she looks back down at Ren.]

Yeah, good try.

[But she does get off from pinning her to the ground, and holds out a hand to help her up.]

You are really fast, though. I can show you how to go faster.

[There's a grin on her face that says she's already excited about this, and is kinda hopeful Ren is too.]

[catpiper]

[Help her up? Look, she still doesn't understand that. Because she thinks hold hands and that's what's happening until Beau shakes her free.

But she does look very excited at the thought of going faster.]

As fast as you? I want to try-how do you run like that?

[lesbeau]

[Okay, the extended grip is kinda weird, but lots of things about Ren are kinda weird, so.]

You don't have to hang on.

[As usual, she's blunt with those observations, but moves on just as quickly.]

Alright, watch. This is some secret monk shit, so like, don't just go telling everyone about this.

[She curves her ankle so her foot goes diagonally instead of vertically in front of her, and bends her knees.]

This is what we call a crane step. You start like this, and kick off from the back.

[For ease of simplicity here? It's a jazz run. This is what she's illustrating.]

[catpiper]

[If it's a secret, that's no problem. She'll take learning monk shit to the literal grave and then she can tell Kravitz postmortem. No secret breaking there.

And she watches the way Beau moves, eyeing the odd way her feet touch the ground and-

Attempts to do it herself. She's already light on her feet-it's the pointing that needs work, but by a few runs back and forth, she's got the hang of it.]

Did that look like cool monk shit?

[lesbeau]

[Yeah, by that point it's probably fine. She's thinking more along the lines of not advertising all her tricks or inadvertently collecting students. It just seems ill-advised. But children, sure, that works.]

Yeah, there you go! See, your footprints don't look like feet, so they won't know you're a person. That makes it really sneaky. Make sure you bend your knees!

[She twists her wrist in a 'show me again' kind of motion.]