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

[Oh, Asgore is surprisingly fast! He's got a much longer stride and no smoker's lungs. Or possibly any kind of lungs, who knows how monsters work? It seems like he could definitely outpace Tim.

So it's clear that he's not really running as fast as he could, because he certainly isn't outpacing Tim. He's got an eye over his shoulder, watching for any falling debris that might hit either of them. It's mostly going to hit him, with his bulk; he lifts an arm to shield his head from a few larger chunks of stone.]

Fuck - fuck - fuck!

[The words are sharp, short barks of irritation, outrage, frustration, every shitty thing he hasn't wanted to feel for the past several days. Hasn't been capable of feeling, it seems like. It only occurs for him to move because Asgore's moving. Otherwise, why shouldn't he just stand there and take it - ?]

[Asgore's getting the worst of it. He has more surface area.]

You okay?

I'm fine.

[Rocks are dangerous, but they don't have souls or the capacity for killing intent; in this case, Asgore is no more vulnerable than anyone else.

Not that they don't still hurt. He flinches as one strikes him between the shoulders.]

Make for the tree cover.

Are we gonna be safe there?

[Maybe not "safe." Safer than out in the open, probably. Much as he hates it, much as the sight of looming canopies drawing closer and closer makes his stomach turn, Tim still books it for the treeline. That'll probably slow the rocks down, right? Fuck, fuck, fuck.]

[Asgore doesn't answer. He doesn't really have an answer - they may not be. But that's the safest option he can see in the immediate vicinity, so it'll have to do. He'll do his best to cover Tim's back as they retreat, at least until they reach the trees. It's probably best to keep moving even then, but at least he can catch his breath enough to ask:]

Were you hit?

Scratches, scrapes - nothing serious.

[The adrenaline got him through the worst of it. There's a cut on the back of his neck, and he can feel bruises on the backs of his legs where large chunks of rock must've gone flying out, struck him low. Nothing serious.]

You? [Asgore is the bigger target, after all.]

Oh, it is nothing.

[His own injuries are easy to miss, pale dust in white fur. His back and shoulders are hurt - his right shoulder in particular - but he's not going to crumble away.]

Here, let me heal you.

It's fine, it - are we sure we're good out here?

[There's a seething curtain of dust hemming the trees in, but so far the rumbling hasn't pursued them all the way here. Might be that chunk of the mountain is done doing whatever it's doing, or it just has nowhere else to go.]

No, we should keep moving.

[It doesn't sound like the entire cliff is going to come down; nonetheless, there's no real reason to stay so close. But he can heal while he walks well enough. If Tim wanted it, which it doesn't seem like he does...]

Are you sure? It is not good for wounds to be dirty, is it? [He has a weird smattering of knowledge about humans, combined with some really alarming things people told him about tetanus.]

It's fine. They're not - I'll be okay.

[It's nothing serious. He's been through worse. He's had to run, fight, live through worse than a couple scrapes and bruises. He's getting off easy so far.]

Let's clear the area first.

[Asgore nods and follows after him, still inclined to take up the rear. Everything's happening back there, after all.]

Golly, this has been a rather terrible trip. I am sorry for that.

[It's not entirely his fault, maybe, but it feels like he should apologize anyway.]

Wh - it's not your fault. I didn't see this coming either.

[Shit just HAPPENS sometimes okay? And you just kind of have to roll with it or it kills you.]

I suppose not. But it certainly could have gone better!

[He doesn't even have some kind of self-loathing-fueled theory about how this really is his fault, this time, he just apologizes for everything.]

Yeah, so could've a lotta things!

[So could've the last few days. So could've literally any part of his life, after a certain point.]

How far d'you think we need to go before we're in the clear?

[Well, yeah. Asgore shrugs a little, accepting the point.]

Only a little farther, I'm sure. It was not a true mountain. [More of a slope, and how much rock could it possibly spit far into the forest? He glances at Tim for a moment, trying to figure out how badly the woodlands really bothers him.] We could try to move closer to the slopes then, if you would like?

[That all seemed secure enough when they walked in. It ought to be alright.]

Are you sure that'll be...that those won't fall apart too? I mean, how unstable is this place?

[He glances back over his shoulder. There's a heavy cloud of dust that's fogging up all but the vaguest sight of the mountain heaped up behind them.]

[Goddamnit. Really fucked up this place just by walking over it, didn't he?]

It did not seem dangerous when we passed this way earlier.

[Granted, it probably would be safer overall to stick to the forest. He just...well, Tim seems ill at ease. Maybe it's just because of the rockslide.]

Well, we do not have to. Perhaps we can at least find some more mushrooms to bring back.

[Right. Right. God. His heart's still pounding, adrenaline's still spiked - still feels like the rocks might come down at any minute. Are they far away enough to be safe?]

[He needs a minute.]

Not a total loss, huh?

[The words are a bit shaky. He's fine, it's safe now, he's not even all that hurt, but - fuck.]

...I'm sure we are far enough away now, if you would like to sit for a moment.

[Asgore should have thought of that, probably. He's not terribly shaken himself; he's certainly been through worse, even if you limit it to purely rock-centric dangers. But Tim likely has little experience with such things.]

[He should, probably. Just doesn't feel safe enough to, but if he keeps going like this he's going to want to claw his skin off, fuck. Making Asgore pick up all his slack. How fucking useless are you, Tim? Wanted to be something other than dead weight, remember?]

[Fuck.]

Yeah. I'll...what mushrooms are you looking for? I can - help, maybe.

They are small and white, with short rounded caps.

[There's always some risk in mushrooms, but Asgore recognizes those ones. He also trusts that Tim won't just start randomly eating things he finds on the ground, so he's good to help!

If he wants to. He just had quite a scary experience; he hardly has to.]

But do not trouble yourself too much. I can always come back later on.

I mean, it - it's on the way, right?

[They might as well, right? He's still so jittery. He needs to come down - he just has no idea how. Cigarette, maybe. God knows he's been smoking too many already, but who's gonna stop him?]

We can at least make sure this wasn't for nothing.

Very well.

[He'll take a little time to scan the ground himself, then. The white stands out against the forest floor, so it doesn't take long to locate the mushrooms, if they're there.]

I will dry them, and we can put them in Denny. They might be nice in some sort of roast, the next time we have a large gathering.

[Despite his initial desire to help, Tim isn't really doing much helping. He's too busy trying to school his breathing down into something halfway manageable.]

So they're edible, right?

[Obviously. Obviously they're edible. He just implied as much, god.]

They are. I have seen their like before. Mushrooms are a dangerous thing to try, when you do not recognize them.

[Tim probably knows that already. Most people do, don't they? He's just sort of talking...Asgore busies himself with picking some mushrooms instead.]

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