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 )

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

That one was completely unintentional, I'll have you know.

[Ardyn rolled his eyes, taking Ignis' hand and following Leo.]

[...You know, just to be sure he didn't trip.]

[A knowing grin crosses Ignis face when Ardyn takes his hand to lead him, though the smile fades quickly when a sudden, terrible noise starts up ahead of them from the cave Leo just disappeared into. The tigerlily is gone for only a moment before returning with another egg in his mouth. Unfortunately, the creatures the eggs belong to sense him this time and fly out of the cave in a large number.

They are most unhappy, diving at the poor cat as he runs back toward them.]

[Ardyn sighed, stepping in front of Ignis and pulling out the Rakshasa Blade. So much for a nice quiet beach-adjacent walk, but then again he didn't know what else he'd expected.]

So, silly question, asking for no reason in particular, how's your aim with flying targets?

[Leo skids around behind them, pressing against Ignis' legs and then pushing his head into the advisor's hand, whining softly. Ignis takes the egg, dumping it hurriedly in to join the other one in his backpack.]

It was better when Rory was still around. How many are we talking and how big?

I'd not...quite call it 'more than I'm comfortable dealing with, but it is perhaps a scant one or two below that number

[This is fine.]

[Ignis frowns. Yes, totally fine.]

I may work better as a distraction while you cut them down, as it sounds like running isn't going to be an option.

[Ardyn scoffed at the suggestion, the roll of his eyes practically audible.]

Don't be stupid. I'm not using you as bait.

'Distraction,' thank you very much. That is different from 'bait.'

[Ignis smirks slightly, daggers appearing in his hands and then quickly bursting into flame.]

Distractions fight back, for one thing. I probably won't be able to land a killing strike, but I can piss off one or two to pull them off the pack for you to finish. Leo can keep the attention of the others while we work.

...fine. I'll trust you to be cautious.

[Gods knew few people really understood Ignis' capabilities like Ardyn did, after all.]

Be careful. You can be wounded far more easily than myself.

Don't worry. I will be.

[The smirk on Ignis' face is quickly replaced by his more serious battle face. He directs Leo toward the main group of the creatures while doing his best to focus on drawing a couple away from the edge. It's hard focusing in on one or two with how loud they all are, so his thrown daggers are annoyances at best, but even so, the plan does work and a couple peel off the main pack to follow him as he backs away from Ardyn so that the redhead has room to attack them.]

[It didn't bother Ardyn that his attention was divided; a few glances over to Ignis out of the corner of his eye weren't all that risky when minor injuries would heal fast enough. SO long as he didn't get his head taken off, there wasn't any problem as far as he was concerned.]

[(Not that he was worried. Good heavens, no.)]

[Either way, he lashed out with the greatsword as though it were weightless as ever to him, striking down the ones dumb enough to get close and warping to meet a few that stayed in the air. It had been a while since he'd had a decent fight, and it was almost easy to make the mistake of thinking Ardyn might have been having fun with it.]

[Oh, there is no mistake to be made. Ignis is sure Ardyn is having fun with this, but he won't hold that against the redhead because he knows better than others how hard it is for Ardyn to 'be good' all the time. If this helps him get out some of that pent up anger and rage so that it is easier to hold back around others for a little while, then so be it.

Ignis himself is torn between putting a wall at his back since he doesn't need to move as much as Ardyn does and not wanting to make himself completely a sitting duck for any creature Ardyn might not get to right away. Before he can make his decision, though, he feels a pair of claws close over his shoulders and suddenly his feet are no longer touching the ground. A surprised sound escapes him as he dismisses his daggers and tries to pull himself up enough to kick at the creature's body. He only tries this once or twice though before stopping because he can tell they are gaining height and if he is dropped....

Well, he doesn't really want to think about that!]

[It was the sound that caught his attention, followed by too-close beating wings. He knew what to expect, but that didn't mean he was thrilled when he had an instant to turn around. And oh, not a chance on his watch. It took Ardyn a few seconds to aim rather than the usual lazily thrown attack--an instant later the scarlet blade cut a path straight through the air and struck the creature dead-on with a screech.]

[Half an instant later Ardyn appeared in a flash of magenta and sparks of magic, one arm wrapping tight around Ignis and the other gripping the Rakshasa Blade to cut clear through the wounded creature.]

Hold on.

[Ardyn doesn't have to tell him twice. As soon as his arms are free of the creature's claws, he wraps them around the redhead and holds tight, trying his best not to interfere with his range of movement. He then buries his head against Ardyn's shoulder, waiting for the warp he knows is coming.

Well, this is embarrassing. His plan lasted hardly any time at all before he got himself into trouble. Granted, most plans fall apart once a battle starts, but it could have lasted a little longer before failing so spectacularly! Why is this island so bound and determined to make a fool out of him? If Ardyn never lets him live this down, he will deserve it.

Of course, Ignis has to admit this is a rescue pulled off in true dramatic Lucis Caelum style and he can't help but find it a little charming even if he is playing the role of the damsel in distress at the moment.]

[Embarrassing, probably. For Ardyn's part, he was thrilled. Not only was he all but handed a way to make today a bit less boring, but on top of it he'd never let Ignis live this one down just as the tactician thought.]

[So, why not finish with just a little bit of showing off, such as it was?]

[His free arm moved and the sword with it; the pair of them vanished in a rush of motion and the firelight-warm glow of magic, reappearing nearer the ground with Ardyn cutting through the last creature he'd been in the middle of fighting when they'd all been so rudely interrupted. From there the blade left his hand once more, the following motion a shorter one with no expected sudden stop--they simply halted easily, Ardyn still carrying Ignis in one arm.]

Are you hurt? I'll not be putting you down until I'm assured you can stand without falling.

[Once they are on the ground, Ignis snorts softly into Ardyn's shoulder.]

Showoff.

[Which in and off itself, should answer Ardyn's question, but just to make things clear, Ignis lifts his head and presses a kiss to the redhead's cheek.]

My hero! You saved me just in the nick of time! My shoulders will be bruised, but not so badly as my pride. How will I ever repay you?

[Go on. Shove him on his ass. He deserves it.]

[And ruin such a nice moment, not a chance. Ardyn lowered Ignis to the ground with a brief kiss in return, smirk crystal clear on his face.]

That's...hm, four times I've gotten you out of trouble, I think? You should be careful, sooner or later I might not be so close at hand.

Ah, but that means I would have to doubt you and I don't have any plans of doing that.

[Ignis makes sure he is steady on his feet before letting go of Ardyn, though he doesn't move very far away even as he turns his head back in the direction of the creatures that Leo is doing his best to distract.]

How many are left?

[Because they just made it personal and he really has no wish to let any of them live.]

Just the two, it looks like. About twenty feet to your left and a few feet off the ground. Shall we finish this and head back home?

Finish this? Yes. Head back home? Not quite.

[A wicked gleam enters Ignis' blind eyes.]

After all of this, I am craving egg salad. We need to do something about that.

[As in, they are liberating the rest of the eggs from that nest. It's not like anyone will be left to guard them, after all.]

Oh, dear.

[Ardyn took his sword back in hand, a matching devilish look sparking on his face.]

Quite the time to come up with a new recipe, isn't it? Let's be done with this and I might even carry you back once we've some proper ingredients.

The best of ideas come to mind during life or death battles. Didn't you know that?

[Ignis presses a hand against his chest, an over-dramatic sort of excitement covering his face.]

Oh my, then lets finish this posthaste.

[This sounds so much better than when Church carried him.]

What an innovative genius you are. I'll take the one a touch to the right and leave the other to you, then?

Sounds like an acceptable plan to me.

[He raises one of his daggers roughly in the direction of his target.]

If you could give me a bit of assistance aiming before you go and tear his buddy to shreds?

Oh, gladly. [He wrapped an arm around Ignis' shoulders to redirect his arm, pointing the dagger a bit more accurately and pressing a light kiss to his cheek.]

After you, my dear.

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