lifeaftr | August Intro: These Days Are Feeling Dark

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August Intro: These Days Are Feeling Dark

INTRO LOG: AUGUST

Who: New arrivals, and you!
What: New souls arrive to the archipelago of LifeAftr
When: August 4th and onward
Where: Primarily Nastrandir
Warnings: Mark as needed!

Our lucky new adventurers join the archipelago on a new chapter of our journey, with the new island of Nastrandir playing host to their arrival. With the events of last month leaving many questions in those more settled in LifeAftr, all will find they soon have…other things to think about.

New arrivals may awake at either of the locations listed below. Or they may wander!

A4: Show Me Distraction
In comparison to the warm welcome characters experienced on Io, the land of Nastrindir is not at all promising. The strip of coast hosting the mana pool is a scoop of rock and cliff, and rather unforgiving. To the east, however, it looks as though nearby wetlands leave the horizon lost in a foggy haze. The mana pool is generally a comforting, reliable constant on any island...generally. There looks to be something wrong with this one. The rocks surrounding it are blackened, various spots across their surface almost glass-like under the summer sun. After a brief inspection, most will probably gather that the pool has been set on fire in times past.

More annoying still is the tampering that's occured within the pool. The pool is partially obstructed, due to a blockage of tumbled rocks and boulders that seem to have fallen from the surrounding rocky landscape and toppled into the raised plinth. The choking of the mana water will make return trips to Ensō…inconvenient, to say the least. The rocks are an annoyance that will need to be removed before anyone will be travelling anywhere.

Also of note are the old statues that stand at opposing sides of the mana pool. In their prime, they may have towered a good fifteen or twenty feet tall. Now, however, one has been tipped onto its side, and there are large, crumbled chunks taken out of the other. Both look blackened, much like the mana pool, as though they were also set on fire at some point in their history. Whatever they may have meant to depict has been lost to time...but the parts of them that have survived look to represent smooth, rounded coils of something or another.

It might feel, to the particularly wary or those prone to paranoia, like these statues are watching you. Like they're representative of something else that might have its eye on you, even now.

Or they might not! It could be all in your head. What's way more important is the local flora in the vicinity. The parts of the land that have soil are currently host to some delightful plants that are known, colloquially, as candyplants. And, yes - they're exactly what they sound like.

Candyplants are odd plants that are not unlike a melon vine, except that their fruits take the form of giant candies. The candyfruit is quite edible, though much higher in sugar content than your more bog standard varieties of fruits and vegetables. The variation in the shapes and sizes and flavors is tremendous - some are shaped like fruit, and will have a very similar taste to the fruit they represent. The only exceptions are the ones that look rather like overgrown candy corn, which taste like...marshmallows, for some reason. But they still taste sweet, and they're still full of some of the nutrients you'd expect to find in ordinary fruit!

While candyplants are somewhat less sugary than their real candy equivalents, it's still not recommended that you gorge on them overmuch. They're probably pretty bad for your teeth, if you have any. Candyplants do keep for quite some time, though - particularly if dried, packed in jars, or otherwise preserved.

Candyplants grow in temperate areas near quantities of fresh water - which Nastrandir has in abundance. Most of them grow in shaded, open areas along the ground, like melons; plants that bear smaller candyfruits may instead behave like grapes and other climbing vines, especially when they would be otherwise crowded out by other ground plants. The plants and fruits are quite harmless, though the sweet, sugary smell that tends to linger around areas of rampant growth during hot weather can cause one hell of migraine.

B4: Snakes Are Biting at My Heels
Those who arrive a little ways away from the mana pool or find themselves daring enough to start exploring will end up on the B4 square, which is closer to the swampy environment more characteristic of Nastrandir's inland. The further east one progresses, the wetter and softer the ground underfoot will get, until you're slogging thigh-deep in freshwater algae and muck. It's pretty dirty work, but it's probably more advisable that you go roaming into the wetlands rather than sticking around in the rockier regions. - especially because those regions happen to be occupied.

That feeling of paranoia that may or may not have settled on the back of your neck on A4 will turn out to be justified. Flickers of motion in the corner of your eye, the sensation of something watching you, the clattering of pebbles and rocks sliding down the sloping inclines on Nastrandir's craggy landscape - all signs indicative that something else frequents this region.

And something does. Something large, scaly, and very hungry.

Rocobra have now been unlocked in the bestiary!

The spiny protrusions on this creature's long, sinuous body will make it quite difficult to distinguish from its surroundings; these beasts tend to disguise themselves as the surrounding mountain rock where they live. Mild chameleonic properties allow this predator to blend almost seamlessly in with a rocky environment of almost any texture and color. And, given the size of them, it's very possible you won't realize that you're stuck in one's coils until it's too late.

With thick, scaly hides, large jaws, and venomous teeth, the rocobra is deadly fast despite its significant bulk. Even at their smallest, the rocobra is often as thick as a tree trunk in girth, and can range from thirty to sixty feet in length. Rocobra specialize in draping themselves in a circle, concealing themselves among their surroundings, and waiting for unsuspecting prey to wander somewhere in their coils before drawing tight around them to constrict them into a slow and painful death, so they might be devoured.

The good news is that rocobra only ever hunt and live in solitude; it is highly unlikely you'll find more than one in any one area. Most cannot spit venom, but can deal a paralyzing strike with massive fangs that are just as likely to impale you as they are to poison you. The good news is that they do have a weakness, and that weakness is numbers - when there is more than one target for the rocobra to focus on, it can get hopelessly confused over who it should be striking first, and can be easily distracted and led along by a well-coordinated team or pair. It's advised that you strike it at the mouth, if possible, as those scales can be awfully hard to penetrate.

While the danger rocobra present is very real, that doesn't mean they're completely useless. Rocobra can potentially be harvested for venom, meat, or their tough, scaly hides.

All new arrivals will awake with knapsacks, their names stitched to the front. The contents of said knapsacks can all be found in your acceptance notices!

As a final note to those who participated in the Test Drive Meme, bear in mind that those threads, if all parties involved would like, can be game canon in the form of dream-like memories involving a place very much like this one, though the layout is considerably different.

Feeling a tad adrift? Make sure to check the Locations Page, which has details regarding the starting areas and a handy map for those who feel better with a bird's eye view!

LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

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[Sorry, Crowley, this time the implied threat just utterly fails to even register. Michael's distracted by the first part of that.]

Falling?

[From Heaven? That tracks, with the whole Satan thing, but he hadn't really thought about that aspect of it until now. He can't imagine - not that most demons would choose anything else, anyway, but they didn't have a choice in being demons. They just were. Where would Michael be now, if he'd started off as an angel?

Man, he wants to know more about this guy's whole weird deal! But that's not quite the point of this. He lifts his chin, not bothering to put on much of a threatening air. It no longer seems entirely necessary - Crowley acts like more of a layabout than someone who gives a shit about humans, but the result's more or less the same.]

Right, well. Keep on leaving the mortals alone, and we won't have a problem.

[Crowley doesn't like to talk about the Fall, unless he's on his own or very drunk and rambling at strangers, so he's happy to take an out when given, to avoid answering Michael's question. It raises a few of his own in turn — did Michael not Fall? Was he always a demon? Did becoming a demon involve something other than a million light-year dive and a pit of sulfur? If he weren't so hot and miserable, he'd probably be more willing to delve into the differences here.

As it is, he just raises his eyebrows, instead, trying and failing not to look amused.]

We won't have a problem, will we? [This is interesting, too, but now that the whole posturing and trying to figure each other out is mostly done, he's going to go back to the practical.] Look, I love humans, the clever little things. I've no issue with them if I've got no quotas to meet. And they invented alcohol! Gotta give that to them. Bringing me to my next point: is there a bar anywhere in this shithole? I could use a drink.

[Or several, actually.]

I've had a very long week.

You love humans.

[Michael's skeptical, but not so much on edge anymore. He made his point, and that whole blustering segment of the conversation seems largely settled. Settled so fast that he almost wonders if he should take back some of that "upper management" stuff he said?

Let's just wait that one out a little. Crowley's obvious amusement that he's concerned for the humans doesn't strike him entirely well.]

The only thing around here is Denny. They serve blackberry whiskey. [And that's it, you'll drink it and you'll like it.] It's not on this island, you're going to need to go over to Enso.

You spend six millennia with 'em and you're bound to get a bit fond.

[This doesn't really need to be a secret, other demons know that Crowley likes humans, that he likes being on Earth. They don't understand, never have, but it's not a crime, as long as he was still doing what they wanted of him. Killing another demon, losing the Antichrist, stopping the end of the world. Those were all his crimes.

It's strange now, learning he's not the only one that's soft on humans, even if Michael is apparently from a completely different kind of Hell.]

Blackberry whiskey. [in the tone of someone who thinks that's the worst idea they've ever heard.] Going over to Enso, that's the bit with those pools, yeah? That's not a load of bollocks?

[Not that he can probably trust Michael anymore than he can trust the Storyteller, but still. Can't hurt to ask.]

It's made by a very large spider woman.

[Which, he thinks, might go some way to explaining why it even exists? It isn't Michael's favorite drink either, but then again, it's not very important to him to have any booze at all.]

Right. The pools are just little localized portals, you can ask them to go straight to Denny. [He waves a hand dismissively; his world's portals are cooler.] And you know, I don't think that's true at all. We all spend some time around them, don't we?

[Crowley considers that for a moment, the whole spider woman nonsense, before he decides not to make a fuss. It is what it is.

Good to know about the portal, though. Maybe he'll actually try it now, provided he can find his way out of this swamp. At this rate it might be worth breaking out his wings so he can get a higher vantage point, though he'd really rather not reveal himself to any humans that might be in the area.]

Right, you don't — [Crowley sighs, straightens himself up a little. Most demons he interacts with know his assignment, his rank, because that's just bureaucracy for you. It's been a while since he's had to properly introduce himself.] I was Hell's representative on Earth, been there since the Beginning. Torturing a bunch of souls isn't the same as living with them when they're alive, is it?

[If only he knew how true that was.]

Oh, very much so. They don't even have to be alive.

[He was with his humans for centuries, before that last reboot, but he wasn't living with them. Not as himself, not really. All those years meant nothing at all, weighed against the last few months.]

You all get a representative on Earth?

[He has no idea what to make of that, or where to even start dissecting it. Who spends time with dead humans? Hell's bad enough as is without going into all the bits specifically designed for torture.]

I mean, a lot of us pop up from time to time, quick little temptations, that sort of thing. But the Lords of Hell always liked my work, wasn't hard to convince them to let me just stay up top. And there was the other side to consider, had to have someone there full time, making sure they weren't spreading too much good.

[And he stopped that happening super well. Like just. super well. Definitely did not on occasion do the spreading of good for the angel.]

None of us get to go to Earth, not on either side. We just get 'em when they're dead, go from there.

[What's the point in trying to get them to - what, condemn themselves? They do that anyway. Still, he's...he's honestly sort of jealous. What a good job...]

We barely even see any angels, unless there's some sort of dispute.

[What's the point of demons if they're not trying to secure more souls for Hell? Well, there's the torture, obviously, which he has to guess is why Michael was worried about him hanging about the humans here.

Which is interesting! He's curious about the whole situation Michael has going on. It's just that he doesn't want to have this conversation in the middle of a terrible swamp.]

Right, look, this is fascinating, truly, would love to compare notes whenever you want, but if I don't get out of this heat I'm going to discorporate, I'm sure of it.

[Genuinely feels like it, too. He hasn't had a headache this bad since that one time he and Aziraphale got drunk during the Napoleonic Wars and he forgot to sober up before passing out.]

[That bad? Michael frowns, looking him over.]

Okay. It's this way, back to the pool.

[It's sort of sticky and gross, but he really feels just fine. He remembers feeling absolutely miserable two or three days after his arrival, though, when all the hunger, thirst, and general sleep deprivation hit him.]

You know this place screws with your vessel, right? You'll have to feed and water it.

[He's also British, he's not used to it getting above a balmy twenty five degrees, aside from the occasional hot summer day, and he tends to spend those holed up in his flat.]

Wonderful, thanks, let's go.

[He's so ready! Even if it means more walking; he grabs up the knapsack and shoulders it, so he can follow Michael back to something like civilization.

He's less ready for that revelation.]

I've got to eat? Food? [Water, he can live with. He'll even accept that sleeping might be necessary, he's gotten in the habit of grabbing a few hours a week anyway. But food? In this economy?] I haven't eaten food for — shit, can't remember how long. A few centuries, at least.

[Apart from the occasional nibble of something from Aziraphale's plate, which he figures doesn't count.]

Oh, it's not so bad! The sleeping is the worst part, really.

[Michael slips his hands in his pockets as he turns to lead the way, more at ease now. He never had strong opinions on eating - it wasn't something he'd do just by himself, but he was happy enough to partake at a party, or among friends. Now, he just takes it as a reason to go socialize at Denny.

Sleep, though. What a waste of time! A horrible, vulnerable waste!]

[That's a reminder that he really needs to find Aziraphale, if he's here, now this new information has come to light. But it also makes it clear that at present, Crowley isn't equipped to handle a rescue mission. He'll have to take a bit of time to sort that out. Especially if it turns out to be another angel who's presence he's registering.]

Sleeping's great, I love a good sleep. Spent a lot of the eighteenth century asleep, can't say I missed much. [Here's the thing: sleep is really nice for someone who's basically made of anxiety, held together with duct tape and snake themed accessories. Everything goes quiet, when he's asleep.] And there are way better things I could do with my mouth rather than put food in it.

[That sounds dirtier than he intended it to. He's mostly talking about drinking alcohol.]

[Michael makes a faint noise of disgust. Don't make him think about gross human mouth things!]

That's so much time wasted! Hours and hours spent just...laying there doing nothing. I mean, the eighteenth century wasn't ideal, but I'd have loved a free century on Earth.

Yup! [He pops the p with great emphasis, because yes, yes, that's exactly the point.] Laying there, doing nothing, that's one of life's greatest pleasures. The serpent thing probably helps, that's when I learned to sleep, back in the Garden. Never really kicked the habit once I picked it up.

[Crowley this makes

zero sense

to anyone but you and Aziraphale.]

Like with the...the apple and all that?

[He can't even make any moral judgments here, he's still just way too floored that any of this is a real thing at all.]

We weren't really permitted personal time like that, in the office. I guess sometimes you could chill out with paperwork.

[In answer, Crowley grins and tips his glasses down to wink at Michael with those eyes of his.]

No one really cared as long as the paperwork got done and the souls kept coming in. I'd go into head office for reports and whatnot, but I got a lot more freedom than most demons.

[He's never really... thought of it like that before, but then, he's never had a reasonably pleasant conversation with another demon. Some of the ones at his rank or below aren't utterly terrible. A bit too eager to please, though.

(He does not see the irony in this).]

Seems like you got the short end of the stick.

[The wink is met with a sort of generally baffled headshake.]

Wow. Big surprise there.

[They're coming out of the swamp now, back onto what path there is. A long, sinuous shape darts out of the trees as they start to leave, and scurries up Michael's leg to drape itself over his shoulder and just stare backwards at Crowley with its wide, horrifying eyes.

Michael just has zero reaction to this.]

[Speaking of the snake part of him, Crowley reacts purely on instinct, hissing at whatever the Heaven just darted out at them, reeling back in the process.]

Is that a fucking Furby?

Hm? Oh, no, it's alive.

[The lorby shrieks quietly. It's horrible.]

So, you know how to use the mana pools yet?

[Crowley feels a visceral hatred of this creature, he wants to skin it alive. This is how he feels when he saw a mongoose at the zoo that one time.]

Wh — ? [It takes visible effort for him to stop looking at the lorby, like he's sure it's going to attack the second he stops watching it. Why. Why does God allow this?] Sure, something about a flower and telling it where you want to go? Has it gotta be a location or can it be a person?

A location. It can only connect to other existing portals - why, who are you looking for?

[Does he know someone here? Didn't he just get here?]

[Well, it as a good idea while it lasted.]

Just — [Michael might seem fine, but he's still wary about the prospect of alerting him that there might be an angel in the area, and potentially an angel that Crowley would rather not get into any trouble.] An old friend, thought he might be here, you never know. He's always turning up in the worst places.

[Mmm. Just full of friends and love for humans and all sorts of improbable shit, isn't this guy? Michael runs a hand idly down his lorby's back.]

Well, I've been here for a while. What's his name?

August Intro: These Days Are Feeling Dark

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