lifeaftr | 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 )

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Getting over here with a mostly blocked-off mana pool was a little bit of a hassle, but Jester is determined enough to check out the new digs as soon as the island arrives that she gets her hustle on.

It's the mumbling that catches Jester's attention, an unfamiliar voice. She follows the sound of it, and catches the tail end of it.

She looks over the (apparent) human and his surroundings, hands clasped behind her back neatly.]

Did you piss off your god?

[I mean, it seems obvious enough. Talking to the Traveler is mostly what she's doing when she's talking into the air like that, and like, gods generally only do smiting and such when they're really really mad.]

[What an odd thing to say.

Crowley gets to his feet in a motion that looks far smoother than it has any right to — but that's a bonus of a serpentine spine — so he can peer properly at Jester.

She sure does look like a picture perfect demon, horns and tail and all, except she doesn't feel especially demonic. There's almost something there, but it's not evil, really. Not like he can feel in any of his lot.]

Oh, I think I'm a bit past that point with Her. [A shrug! He's not bothered (he is bothered).] What're you supposed to be?

[Jester grins, as if she's positively delighted to hear that.]

A cleric!

[She beams at him, expression on her face not looking demonic at all. Probably because she's descended from devils, not demons, which are very different things. (Not that a big, innocent smile would be all that usual to see on a devil, either. Details.)

But then she realizes he's very new, probably too new to have encountered many people other than humans—and most of the ones here come from places where they've never encountered any tieflings for some reason.]

Oh, I'm also supposed to be a tiefling. Hi, I'm Jester!

[And there it is, she's offering a handshake. Take it, Crowley. Seal the pact.]

[He's not sure how to deal with any of that information, but he's British by some definition of the word, and so he's compelled to complete any social gesture, which means he reaches out to give her hand a firm shake.]

Anthony Crowley, hullo. [This is automatic, too. He's used to introducing himself to humans, who've been finding "just Crowley" a bit weird for centuries now. He picked up the Anthony sometime in the 1300s.] Can't say you look much like a priest.

[He has no idea what the fuck a tiefling is, so he might as well focus on the word that's familiar.]

[Nice! Finally, a handshake where she's not left hanging. She needs to meet less sad, grumpy men. It's making her doubt her first impression skills.

But yes, okay. Anthony. Fairly standard human name, honestly.]

I'm a cleric, not a priest. I don't hang out in stuffy temples, I just, you know, [and she counts off on her fingers,] heal people... bless people... kill monsters... I draw a lot, I like to draw and paint... I can play piano... I'm good at dancing... I'm really good at singing. Do you wanna hear?

[say no say no say no]

[Crowley thinks is there a difference, but Jester is already answering the question before he has time to verbalize it, which is rather nice of her. He tilts his head slightly, eyebrows going up at the kill monsters, and he notes that she uses the word temple, not church. There's a lot to unpack here.]

Oh, I absolutely do. What kind of songs can you sing?

[He grins, deciding to lean into the absurdity of all this rather than let it trouble him. If Jester wants to sing, he'll let her sing.]

[She claps excitedly when he seems so thrilled to hear her very good singing. Then she has to like, take a second to compose herself, because she got too excited and now has to actually do the thing, right.]

Oh, oh, okay okay okay. Um, I can sing a song about the Ruby, and I know some other songs, too, like lullabies and stuff? Oh! And I can also sing with my mouth closed, which is super cool and you'll love it. Watch!

[This happens.]

[That's — well, it's not what he expected, actually, although it's as entertaining as he was hoping it would be.

Once she's done, Crowley gives her a polite little clap.]

That's well done, very clever. Never been one for ventriloquism myself, but I can admire an artist when I see one.

[Jester's new friend Anthony seems just about as impressed with her trick as Caduceus was, if a little more understated. Which means Jester figures that was a job well done. No better way to distract someone from navelgazing than to entertain.

Right, how did we get here again?]

Oh, but that's not a part of being a cleric really. That's just something I learned growing up.

But, if you're looking for a way nicer god that likes, you know, fun things like that, I can definitely introduce you probably.

[The ventriloquism was kind of funny, a bit cute, but this is fascinating; Crowley's eyebrows go up, he shoves his hands in his pockets and leans forward, leans in, like they're sharing a secret.

Jester could introduce him to her God, could she?]

Are you trying to convince me to switch gods? Abandon my own and come worship yours?

[Not that Crowley... worships his own God, but there's no need to advertise that just yet.]

[She smiles brightly at him, and then launches into some more bubbly rambling.]

Yeah, yeah! I mean, if you want to. I know some other gods are pretty nice too, like my friend has one he really likes and she seems really cool, but then you know, my other friend has this one that maybe wants to destroy the world or something like that? He seems like he's really bad news, and I actually don't think Fjord likes him very much actually, but it's really complicated.

But the Traveler isn't like that at all, he's the best, and even sometimes when I think maybe he forgot about me or something, that's not true at all! He's always there.

[You know. Like when you're trapped on some islands in another world somewhere. And you suddenly can't channel his divinity or use his blessing on anyone and stuff like that.

Just as a random example.]

[It hits close to home, that last little bit, enough to distract him from the strangeness of this situation, how confidently Jester talks about all these different gods. For so long, Crowley's been certain there was only one.]

I dunno that I'm really cut out for worship anymore, the Almighty and I didn't exactly part on good terms. Still a bit sore over it, really.

[Understament of the century.]

August Intro: These Days Are Feeling Dark

i

SHE'S HERE

will smith pose

someone should follow her around 24/7 to do that

if it werent playercest id app nott just to do that

i wish you could

spends jesters One Story on getting a spell that just summons a will smith

i mean its worth it really

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