September Intro: Can't You See It On the Horizon

[lifeaftr_mods]

INTRO LOG: SEPTEMBER

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

The island of Nastrandir remains present in the archipelago, just as it has been for the past month. By now, all the kerfuffle of the previous month's events seems to have died down as well. No more shrieking sirens, at least! There might still be an automaton or two left wandering the place, but that's only if you're unfortunate enough to run into them. They don't seem to be seeking anyone else out.

That's not to say these next few days are going to be uneventful, however.

New arrivals may awake at either island. Or they may wander between the two!

Nastrandir: Would It Keep You Awake
There's something staining the skies over Nastrandir - specifically, toward the island's east. A dark blot of something dark, possibly smoke, or steam, has started to leak lazily from some of the mountain peaks and spiral into the sky, prompting a faint rumble beneath your feet. An earthquake? Is this another island with a slumbering volcano to contend with?

As it turns out, the source of this clamor isn't an earthquake at all. It's the pounding of feet thundering ever closer.

The wildlife of Nastrandir is on the move. You'll run into them in droves as they bolt frantically toward Nastrandir's western regions - as far away from the mountain ranges as possible. It doesn't seem to matter what kind of creature they are: from the relatively docile veep to the pesky pyjacks to the predatory rocobra, you'll recognize all sorts engaged in an out-and-out stampede away from the mountain at Nastrandir's easternmost point with a frantic scramble that one could only describe as terrified. Even the winged creatures seem desperate to get away. Anyone at the westernmost coastlines might even see some of these animals, driven so wild with their apparent need to escape, launch themselves into the sea and, inevitably, drown trying to swim away from the island itself.

It can be unsettling to watch. More worryingly, however, it can be dangerous. It's terribly easy for one to get swept up in this tide of moving hooves, scales, fur, and flesh and get launched into the ocean waves yourself. That's to say nothing of one particular beast, one that you don't recognize.

It's big. It's green. And it wants YOU...to get out of its swamp.

Noinos have now been unlocked in the bestiary!
In all likelihood, you'll be hearing this wandering foe approaching before you see it. The noino is a loud, lawless creature that wanders swamps and marshy areas in a vaguely nomadic fashion, hunting prey and searching for something that might satiate its irrepressible bloodlust. Noinos aren't so much territorial as they are outright aggressive - if they sight something that looks like it might be edible or capable of putting up a fight or both, they will rush it indiscriminately with a guttural, wordless roar.

While inarticulate, the noino isn't stupid: it has the know-how to formulate tools and can craft rough armor from sturdy bits of tree and the hides and bones of its slain enemies. Most noinos carry weapons, though seldom anything more sophisticated than a heavy club or bludgeon.

A noino's impressive stature can reach up to nine feet in height, rivaled only by its breadth and girth. The good news is that its hide, though thick and tough, is more akin to leather than it is armor, and can be easily pierced and damaged through conventional means with enough force. Still, the sight of something large, greenish, and armed coming barreling at you, hooting excitedly and eager for a fight, might not be the scariest thing you've ever seen - but it might come close.

They're not the most cunning of creatures, either. Which is why, when presented with an opportunity to fight, they will promptly forget that they were fleeing from anything - and decide to charge you head-on, instead.

Ensō: If the Waters Rise and Took Your House Away
Some of you remember that the island of Ensō has now well-established security system in the form of bird-like drifts of paper. Some of you may remember even earlier that this security system was crafted specifically to combat a particularly persistent foe. And for those of you who have been with us for a good long while, you might even remember when you woke to find much of the island in the process of being submerged.

There are no wobbling, hulking waves menacing the island and plunging everything into darkened shadow. Instead, the water lapping up against the shore will begin to creep onto land, steadily, steadily, inching along the shoreline in a way that might be very familiar, to some. It moves in a way that water definitely shouldn't be moving...and just like before, it seems to be doing this for the express purpose of seeking travelers out. It oozes up along the beaches, slinks over rocks, climbs up trees, and coats nearly everything in a thin layer of rippling ocean water.

Since you all took the time to make this island secure against all invaders, this incursion isn't going to be taken quietly. Here and there, you'll be spotting flocks of paper birds swooping down onto the watery progression, dive-bombing it with flurrying pages and ink, and attempting to drive it back. If you stay close to these "birds," you'll be safe enough from the water, and whatever it's whispering. You might even be able to pitch in and help by disrupting its path, and fighting the water back as much as you physically can.

But if you're so inclined, you could stop and have a listen to what the water has to say. The last time travelers found themselves enveloped by the water, they received only vague images that pointed to a definitive goal. This time, things are a little different.

Anyone who gets close enough to the water for it to reach them will hear it: a soft, indistinct voice, whispering. The closer it gets, the more you'll start to hear the words.

"Take up my arms. Carry my protection."
No matter what you say in response or how long you wait, these are the only words you'll hear. It's best not to let it get too close to you, either; if left unchecked, the water will slip over you until you're coated head to toe and you can hear nothing but the soft streams of bubbles and the whispers of that strange voice, until you try and struggle free. It won't resist, should you pull away. But you will find that any electronics that get too close to the water or become submerged into it will react very strongly, with much twitching and sparking as though undergoing water damage, assuming they're not already broken - and those of you who have mechanical parts or are mechanical in nature will discover this a little more vigorously.

The words, though...they're not all talk.

If you follow the water as it recedes, you'll discover that a trail of silvery bubbles will manifest to form a sort of trail. Following it will involve diving beneath the waves, so it's recommended that you divest yourself of anything that might suffer additional water damage. But if you follow the trail of bubbles closely, about twenty feet from the shoreline, jutting out from the sand of the seafloor, you'll find...a gift.

Anyone who claims this gift will find it very light and easy to maneuver, and sized perfectly to suit them. Whatever material the trident is made of is sturdy and apparently nigh-indestructible. When the butt is planted into a source of water, the tines will light up with a blueish, watery glow. Once they are fully "charged," so to speak, one will find that they can launch a powerful jet of water at a range of up to fifteen feet in either a continuous stream or a flurry of various water-pellets. Once it runs out of its charge, one only needs to place it in another source of water to charge it again.

It's a gift. And, for now at least, it appears to come with no strings attached.

Enjoy it.

---

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 )

Comments

[lesbeau]

[That only serves to make him sound more like a cop. Space cop. (He is not a cop, for sure.) Beau rolls her eyes at his next segment though, because now they're in Full Bitching Territory and she completely agrees.]

Haven't heard of anybody who just gets info out of them. You'd think they'd want us to help, but guess they'd rather just be a jerk about it.

[Not that Beau knows anything about being contrary for the sake of it, noooo...]

[counterblows]

Figures. That's just about my experience with people in power.

[He scowls at the horizon, staring at the waves lapping at the sand with an accusatory furrow to his brow, like they might reveal their secrets by being singled out. They remain solidly unyielding in regards to any particular information.]

Now that there's a library, we might want to try compiling all of this there.

[lesbeau]

[Oh man, that's a mood. The mention of the Library does make her wrinkle her nose a moment, though.]

How do you know you can trust them to organize all of it? And to know everything about it? Seems sketchy to give to somebody that we just decide is right. I think someone was talking about an archive place, but pretty sure that's the same thing.

[counterblows]

Uh, to be clear, are you against the idea of storing things in one place because it's not very tactical, or do you have something against the concept of libraries in general?

Because no matter what, that's going to be a risk.

[lesbeau]

[She huffs a moment, knowing her bias is showing, and takes a little more time to get her words together.]

More of the first. Library right now doesn't offer good protection, and there's no experts to run resource management. Needs more work before it'll... work.

[counterblows]

So...if you were going to put this stuff all in one place, where would you put it?

[Just saying, a way to compare notes in a relatively time-efficient fashion would be ideal, and it's probably doable. That's just not really his expertise in terms of how to organize that kind of thing with the resources available.]

[lesbeau]

Underground.

[The answer comes pretty plainly, and she only adds to it because Beau knows her words have come across making no sense a lot today.]

Like, a basement. Or bunker. Where you don't have to have so many ways in.

[counterblows]

[All right, well, Wash can concede this much:] Not a bad idea. Would be absolute hell to set up logistically, though.

[He doesn't know anything about construction, much less underground.]

[lesbeau]

Yeah, digging basements takes forever.

[Especially without any kind of tools Wash might be thinking of. Beau's just got an idea of how long it takes to repair buildings, how many hands are needed to do a job like that. Something about structure and foundations and what needs to be balanced, but not anything she knows.]

Somebody might know. I dunno. I'm not in charge over there, but you could suggest it or something if you wanted.

[counterblows]

I don't know if anyone's in charge here. I'm not.

[He is, semi-officially, leader of the Blue Team, and even that is a position that tends to be in a constant state of flux. They can handle themselves without him, so now he doesn't technically lead anything. Not even the house he lives in, now when Carolina and Texas are around.]

[lesbeau]

What's that saying or whatever? If everyone's in charge no one is? Feel like we're running that in reverse.

[No one's running this damn show, so they're all in charge of... well, themselves and whoever else they've marked to protect. It suits Beau's style to a certain point- there's no worry about a law to stop her from doing what she has to do. On the other hand, it also means there's no structure she can manipulate and no resources readily available to tap. But y'know. Isn't that just the way.]

Somebody's gonna have to. Or a team of somebodys. Feel like a couple established themselves already, running places we use now, but I've never been the kind of person to put together a structure chain. I'll call on people I know aren't stupid when I need 'em.

[counterblows]

Hard to establish a good C.O.C. when you never know if people are going to vanish overnight.

[One of the essentials of a chain of command involves knowing that you can trust there's always someone higher up to turn to. At least in theory. That's almost never been the case in practice.]

Oh, you have a list of people who pass your mark for intelligence?

[lesbeau]

Okay, point. And I have a list of people who've passed common sense tactics, aka not sacrificing themselves all the time.

[For instance- Wash? Yes on this list, he can prioritize. Drifter? Not always if they keep slamming into walls.]

Even having pods or something would help. A shortlist of who to call for what so somebody's gotta be around pretty much always. I dunno. 'Ss not my job.

[counterblows]

Does anyone really have a job here?

[Wash has his self-appointed job of...patrolling the islets and making sure nothing grabs them overnight. Which he's never had to deal with himself, but has heard of happening at least once. That, and it's a good way to forestall all that fucking trauma he doesn't talk about!]

[lesbeau]

Sounds like you wanna make it one by saying there's no jobs.

[Jobs are jobs if you... want them, she guesses, who knows. The only thing that makes something a job in their worlds anyway was semantics, right up next to the words favor, or request, or assignment. Who cares about the words anymore when it doesn't mean a thing?]

It doesn't have to be someone's job for it to need to get done. So. I dunno. But that's as much as I've got, unless you have anything else.

[counterblows]

I guess you could say that.

[Wash has a "job," in a sense. It's just not official.]

I'm just wondering if we should try coordinating some kind of list, all official. Wouldn't help if we still get people disappearing all the time, though.

[lesbeau]

[Hm. Well, there's an idea.]

It'd... probably be a good idea, yeah. Even if people disappear, we have a list that like... was here? A filing of names of who we're looking for. Like a census.

[Her eyes look to him, eyebrow raised as she questions if she got his idea right.]

[counterblows]

Census, yeah. I guess that'd be a word for it.

[He sighs.]

Getting people to cooperate is a whole other question, but it'd at least be good to get a general idea of what people are good at, or if they're even still around. This has to be the most disorganized arrangement I've ever seen in my life, and I was a part of the UNSC.

[lesbeau]

[She just nods in response. No idea what that organization is, but the Cobalt Soul was impeccably organized. It's kind of pissing her off how much she wants it back.]

So we figure it out. Hit people if we need to. Sounds easy enough.

[Beau remembers, at this point, that she's still holding this trident and still went into the goddamn ocean and came out with a weapon. That's... concerning. She should really worry more about that.]

Uh. I'm gonna go dry off. But we can chat about this more later, huh?

[counterblows]

Yeah, hitting people is a good way to assure their cooperation.

[He says it more or less completely deadpan, with almost no shift from his previous tone.]

...sure. Yeah. That sounds good to me. [Right. He is still standing here, sopping wet, holding a trident. And so is she. This was maybe not the best situation in which one should be having this conversation.]

[lesbeau]

[Look, it's fine. This was a good conversation to have, and when does anything around here have good timing?]

Cool. Shout at me when you got a minute. Later.

[And she starts tromping off towards the mana pool to get back to the Nein's house and figure out if she just accidentally took a level in warlock.]