February Undercurrent: Behind the Curtain

[lifeaftr_mods]

FEBRUARY UNDERCURRENT

Who: Everyone!
What: A sea of clouds in the moonlight...
When: February 3rd to February 15th
Where: The Floating Islands above Ensō
Warnings: Please mark anything as it comes up!

The Earth is Spinning

Far above all your heads, suspended impossibly over Ensō, there is a scattered collection of strange floating islands. Almost two years ago, adventurers had the opportunity to visit them when the heat of the phoenix-sun of LifeAftr burned away the clouds that shielded them. This time, it will be Water that gusts those clouds to the side - clouds are, after all, a form of water. Once more, these islands will become accessible. Just like before, all islands are accessible via mana pool - but those of you capable of flight will be able to reach them without needing those helping hands.

Additionally, the islands will be hanging very low over Ensō, casting noticeable shadows over much of the landmass, and parts of them will be trailing to the ground. Ladders, long tresses of ivy and vines, and ropes hang off the edges of these islands to brush against Ensō's floor, to make for easy climbing. You might also find that some of these trailing protrusions might take a more...active approach. If someone walks by, you might very well find yourself grabbed by these vines or ladders and more or less hoisted up to the floating islands, whether that was your intention or not. It's almost like they want you up there, for whatever reason.

This time, these islands will not be subject to the whims and desires of the islanders. The landscape will not shift to accommodate your memories and thoughts. This time, when travelers reach the islands, they will find that they have formed into four distinct locations. Each of the four islands are separate and more or less their own small patch of land, visible but quite isolated from all the rest. Just like before, the mana pools will be more than slightly glitchy for the duration of this event - it is entirely possible that someone simply attempting to travel by them, or stay near them to rejuvenate their energies will find themselves whisked up into the landmasses hovering in the sky. It seems that these islands have an inherent effect on the mana pool network.

The Water will communicate to all adventurers in whatever way possible that they are strongly advised to visit the islands above, if they seek answers. Those who pass near bodies of water on any island will likely hear the Water's quiet urging to do just that. Though even if they don't listen, there's every chance that they might end up there anyway!

So what are the islands up here like, this go around? Funny you should ask...

The Island of Stone This first island is the biggest of the five, and also the most central. It is the one you are most likely to end up upon if you travel here by accident. Much of it is comprised of a terrain of earth and stone. The upper clouds frequently gust through the area, lending it a strange and otherworldly look.

Immediately behind the mana pool, travelers will see a large carving mounted on a stone dais. It appears to be in the shape of a bear, carved from oak wood. Its eyes are set with a pair of emeralds. Below it is written a name: ZEMJIN. On this island, travelers will find what essentially amounts of a great deal of building blocks. Almost all of them are different types of earth and rock - from sandstone to fired clay to granite to obsidian to even some of your less common materials, such as iron or titanium or gold - and a great variety of sizes and shapes.

Each of these blocks defy ordinary size and weight restraints; as long as they remain on the island, virtually anyone can pick them up and move them around as you please, regardless of how much you should be capable of lifting. You can build tall structures of diamond or small huts from marble - the only limit is your imagination!

Well, that and reason. If any of your building materials fall off the island, they'll almost immediately dissipate into nothingness. However, there's nothing stopping you from building a bridge to another island...and that'd work, too.

---

The Island of Color This island is one of the most striking, as once one sets foot on it, they will note that it's almost entirely devoid of color. At least, all the solid parts of it are. The island hosts broad boulders, grassy meadows, beautiful trees...but they're all in shades of gray and white, save for the spot just behind the mana pool.

There, travelers will see a small statue mounted on a stone dais. It appears to be in the shape of a seal, a delicate shape made from expertly carved and polished sunstone. All around it, bright golden marigold flowers are in full bloom. Below it is written a name: JARUSKA. Further inspection reveals that the island isn't entirely colorless. In fact, all over the island, one can find deep wells that look as though they might contain water. Instead, they contain color, in every shade imaginable. One simply has to lower the bucket into the well, concentrating on the color they'd like to see, and when hoisting it up, they'll find it filled to the brim with it. The wells are lined with buckets and primitive, oddly skeletal tools with which one can use to decorate this island to their heart's desire.

Fill in the empty outlines! Use inks and powders to breathe new life into this monochrome land! The entire space is your blank canvas, and you don't even have to indulge in conventionality - you can very well make the grass pink and the trees blue if you like.

The only real drawback is the capacity of these colors to stain. They're rather inconveniently bright and tend to glow, and only sustained scrubbing will remove them. The color tends to bleed into whatever you touch, if you don't do a thorough enough job of washing all that away, even if you depart this place.

What's more? You can use these colors to paint new structures into place. You can paint new trees, new flowers, new anything of any color you like. Such as, say...a bridge to another island.

---

The Island of Stars This island is among the most striking, and will probably be quite visible from a distance. Once one sets foot upon it, it'll be obvious why: the landscape here looks like an inverted night sky. The ground is a deep, swirled pool of blues and purples and blacks, stippled with bright pinpricks. It looks very much like you're standing on the night sky itself.

Immediately behind the mana pool, travelers will see a small statue mounted on a stone dais. It is in the shape of a turtle, an artfully crafted likeness made from the deep indigo blue of polished iolite. Thready blooms of red-and-green tillandsia sprout about it in colorful abandon. Below it is written a name: TSAMAYAR. All around this island, twisting pathways, roads, and tunnels unravel in and around the starry landscape. Some are simplistic, and look like they are made of ordinary (if strangely celestial) gravel. Others are made of dark, paved stone. Still others look a little like they're cobbled with fancier materials, such as polished obsidian or marble.

And all over, you'll be able to find a vast collection of rather primitive but nonetheless fully functional bicycles, scooters, skateboards, and other forms of self-powered travel. And unlike any of the other islands, if you manage to get these vehicles off the island somehow, and back to Ensō fully intact? You can keep them.

It's no Rainbow Road, but it can make for a beautiful place to ride a bike, take a load off, and simply take in the sights. And, at some point, you might realize that you recognize some of the stars set into the ground. Maybe some of them are constellations you know. And what could that mean, exactly...?

---

The Island of Webs The final island is the most mysterious, and potentially the most off-putting. It's thick with mist and fog, and almost everything is dead and black, as though all of its color has been sapped away. Only this place doesn't have any colorful pools of ink and dyes to bring luster and life back to its scenery; it is simply bereft.

Immediately behind the mana pool, travelers will see a small statue mounted on a stone dais. It appears to be in the delicate likeness of a spider that has been carved from the rainbow blue-greens of labradorite. All around the statue, heavy twines of ivy have climbed up along the dais and threaded around the spider's legs. Below it is written a name: OSORU. The most obvious and probably unnerving aspect of this island are the thick webs that hang from almost every surface. Almost everything is draped in limp, dead trailings of a whitish material that seems almost silklike. It isn't sticky; travelers can touch and handle it easily, to no ill effect. More unsettling is likely to be the buildings that can be found on this place - for they are all almost certainly ones that many of you will recognize.

The Storyteller's Temple. Chunks of the city of Ai'tuoh. A windmill from Nuidan. Parts of the sunken city of Tempide, and so many others. All structures that were found in LifeAftr in varying stages of ruin - now in pristine condition. They look as neat and tidy as if they were just constructed, though all are empty.

Perhaps even worse is the fact that those weblike strands seem to have a life of their own. As the days progress, they start to slither toward the island's very edge, straining to try and reach the other islands. You can help them, if you wish, by building or painting bridges between those islands and this one. Because, as it happens, this appears to be what this place wants more than anything - to draw all these separate pieces together, into one cohesive whole.

If you wish to fully uncover the secrets of this island, please let us know if you are interested in NPC interaction in the subject line of your top-level.

Your Eyes are Shining in the Glittering Light

Of course, there's a lot going on in the background as well. You're free to use this log as a catch-all for the duration of February's Undercurrent Event, as well as any of the other minor events listed on our Monthly Rundown post. And, of course, you are always free to create your own individual logs and posts as needed.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask them over on the Questions header on our Monthly Rundown post!

February Timeline

[ ♆ ] February 1st: "Free Real Estate" begins and lasts until February 5th
[ ♆ ] February 3rd: "Behind the Curtain" begins and lasts until February 15th
[ ♆ ] February 6th: "No Yan is an Island" begins and lasts until February 12th
[ ♆ ] February 13th: "A Rainbow, Not a Painbow" begins and lasts until February 29th
[ ♆ ] February 16th: "The Sound Resounds" begins and lasts until February 27th

LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

Comments

Jyushimatsu Matsuno | OTA | Can match formats!

[yakyuuman]

o; prologue — whisked away

[ He was just hanging next to a mana pool, minding his own business, thinking about baseball, Ichimatsu, ESP Kitty, Strike One the good wobbledog, all the other cats, what to eat today, hanging with the friends here, sleeping maybe, and then once again baseball and how far he could homerun a monster using his hatchet without risking to cut it up first.

And then he's somewhere else. He had the sensation of vines wrapping all around his body like a salami, but that's gone as quick as the split second he took to blink his eyes thrice.

Before he knew it, Jyushimatsu is now in... ]

i; stones — every answer to "can you even lift?" is "yes"

[ Everywhere he goes, there are rocks of all kinds. It's like he landed on the moon or another deserted planet entirely, but he can breathe just fine. No immediate death by asphyxiation, at least. His mind reels back to when he saw those floating islands and passively wished he could get up there and explore.

That thought is wiped off his volatile brain as soon as he discovered he could lift any rock effortlessly and carry them around like he's the strongest superhero in the world. And much to his joy, he also remembered to bring his hatchet today.

From there, he can be found engaging mainly in two activities: ]

A: [ Just running around with huge boulders of diamond balanced on his head, laughing as he carries them from spot to spot without much of an idea of what to do with them. ]

B: [ Trying to hit and homerun said boulders with his hatchet as he's using it as a baseball bat once again. Results will be mixed and probably RNG'd. ]

ii; colors — a sudden, inevitable art attack

[ A wave of sadness brushes by him at the sight of all this... grey. He doesn't like colorless things, and that's why he was overjoyed when he and his brothers first got their characteristically colorful hoodies to distinguish them from each other. He thinks all their colors are beautiful. Red, blue, green, purple, yellow, pink...

Those are the colors he exactly picks when he finds the water wells. And as he starts painting the trees blue and pink, the grass bloody red and sunny yellow, and the rocks green and purple, his messy methods will cost his entire appearance as one big mess and mixture of all six colors. ]

Hahahaha! I look like a painting of Van Gogh! I like it!

[ Wait until you actually have to clean that off, Juice... ]

iii; stars — rainbow road is nothing special

[ This is probably the most beautiful island he ever visited ever since he could visit all the other islands Water buddy brought forth.

He'll waste a load of time looking at the starry paths and surroundings, eyes brightening in awe. It's like stargazing no matter where he looks. Jyushimatsu likes stargazing. The polluted Akatsuka ward, like any other city, usually muffles the sight of a full night sky.

Then he'll find rudimentary but super functional vehicles. His eyes instantly set on a skateboard.

Next, people might meet him as he's skating around all the random paths, trying to do tricks and failing half the time. But when his eyes meet with anyone, he'll point at them with his sleeve-covered finger and smirks widely. ]

Let's have a race! Come on! I'm gonna win!

iv; yan — the homerun'd ball was you all along

[ The weird looking fluffy sheep have been an instant target of Jyushimatsu's attention. Unlike for most of the other creatures he saw in the islands, he thought he could befriend them like he did to the wobbledogs, so he bounces up to them all happy and with good intentions.

That turned out to be a mistake. A rather big one. ]

A: [ With a worried "uh-oh", Jyushimatsu backtracks quickly as the Yan advance threateningly towards him. Anyone also in the area might be in time to save his sorry ass from getting homerun'd into the sky. ]

B: [ ... Or, alternatively, he's not so lucky. The wind magic yeets him straight to the sky, and he ends up on the beach, landing in a pretty disgraceful fashion. Half of his body is buried into the sand, and he's weakly wriggling his legs in a vain attempt to get out.

Pull him out maybe? ]

v; wildcard

[ If no prompt fancies you or there's a variation of them you wanna do let me know! gaiamemories or PM or also Discord over at our server. ]

iv, a

[catpiper]

[She's been around the metaphorical island block enough times to know these creatures aren't as cuddly as they seem. Her initial thought of them being a weird horned cat had been literally blown away and while a part of her still believes they might be feline in nature, they're just, you know, weird. And a little mean.

And she sees Asagi-chan without Murasaki around to corral him away from these creatures and boy, does she have some kind of feeling about that.

So she throws a rock??? From her hiding spot in a nearby bush towards this poor, poor boy and whispers 'Hey, hey' loud enough for him to hear. Hopefully. He's a cat too-he'll figure out what direction she's yelling from. He can probably see the top of her head peering out from the brush too.

Come hide with her before you're turned into sheepkabob!!!]

i, B

[forwearemany]

(...He is attempting to play the Human game known as "baseball"?

Normally, they might caution Jyushimatsu against such an action but ... it is fairly clear that on this island, normal physical laws do not apply.

They find themselves curious to see the outcome.

As such, they stand there and stay nothing as they watch.)

i, a

[reflash]

[If Yukio could talk, that would be great. But he can't, because apparently that's just what happens when you die of flowers in your everywhere. And now, to add insult to injury, there's a particular person running around way too close to him with... a diamond bolder on his head?]

Aziraphale | OTA + one closed prompt | NPCs come to me

[salutosinedelectat]

I.) Floating islands
Another day, another...well, apparently, another sudden strange happening to interrupt whatever semblance of routine for the island resident tried to keep.

He's stepping out towards the Denny when he sees them, those massive floating islands, already quite a sight in themselves, but even more when he notices how uncomfortably close they are to Enso.

He vaguely recalls reading something about floating islands, but it still doesn't keep him from asking: "What on Earth is that?"

II.) Island of Color
He has absolutely no idea what he's supposed to be looking at.

He flew himself up here (instead of waiting, although the whole experience was rather awkward and strange - he's not had to use his wings in actual millennia, but miracle himself up here didn't seen to work), only to find himself in such an...unnaturally colorless world. Could have sworn he walked into an old photograph, or old film.

Walking closer to one of the well, he means to inspect it casually, though his attention is fully captured when he notices what he thought would be water drastically changing color.How curious.

III.) Island of Webs
His first thought when stepping onto this island is a rather intense No, Thank You. He wouldn't fancy himself an arachnophobe, nor that much of a cleanliness fussbudget, but this is a bit much.

Stepping carefully through the landscape, his attention is quickly grabbed by the pristine buildings. Careful, always careful, he makes his way toward them, noting the stark difference between them and the rest of the area. He recognizes the temple very quickly, although that brings him more questions than answers.

Are these reconstructions? Are they copies? Why these buildings in particular? Haven't been here for that long, he might be lacking in some information still, despite his readings. But he wonders what all of this means.

IV.) Rethinking that All Creatures thing (Yans)
All he wanted to do is check what the commotion was at the temple. All that noise he heard. All he did was walk up to the area and survey the dozens of wool-covered, horned creatures, very much like sheep or rams. He was merely curious, observing them as they went about.

He didn't think the wobbledog that has been following him around would startle them. He didn't think it's skittering, wobbly form would cause such distress. He didn't expect that distress to lead the creatures to be so infuriated, and he could merely yelp as he found himself swept right off of the ground and into the air, with no control of his own.

Help. Please. Anyone.

V.) Recharge (Rain)
He's not a fan of all the mind altering effects that various elements on these islands seem to have. Which is quite understandable, really, all things considered. But he's rather surprised to find that, at least this time...it really doesn't seem so bad.

Working in the library might not sound like it's strenuous work, but he's been using his limited abilities to help with repairs and maintenance as much as he can. That, and whenever there's anything he can help with. Making himself useful. But, right now, he's taking a moment for himself, just a nice breather, for a couple of minutes.

He's sitting on a rock near one of the mana pools in Enso, in the rain. Perfect posture, as always, hands resting on his lap; pristine white wings held above him in an arch, covering the rest of him from the rain that he's watching pour down.


VI.) [Closed, for Crowley]
It really is pouring. It really feels rather refreshing. And it's quite relaxing, listening to the heavy rain fall on the trees and plants, watching the dark grey sky extend out to meet the ocean in the far off horizon. Maybe it's this particular rain's strange soothing properties, which he appreciates a little more than other previous mind altering effects strewn about on the islands, but he's happy enough to watch it from inside.

He's standing by the window, warm cup of tea in hand, when he spots the animal, hiding from the rain under a bush.

"You know, we should really let it inside. It's raining cats and dogs out there."


VII.) All over (Wildcard)
Or, you know, you can just find him anywhere else.

Most days, he's easily found anywhere between the westernmost point of the islets (see that cottage, right by the cliff, surrounded by a ridiculous amount of plants?), the mana pools, and the library. He also stops by the Denny, sometimes several times a day.

During this time, he'll be investigating the islands, prone to visit them more than once. Might as well get as much information as he can.

He's also sometimes followed by one of those colorful little wobbly dog thing.

Oh, and if you want to know about the strange snake 'deity' that seems to have randomly shown up in Umui a while back...he might have some information for you.


--
[ If you wanna ask anything or plot anything out, message me through this account or at skree. ]

VI of course.

[agathokakological]

Crowley sat in a corner of their little hut, having miracled himself a knife to carve at the materials he's gathered from the trees. He's already began sharpening himself long stakes in attempt to catch fish or other wildlife, and is now very foolishly attempting to craft some minor furniture (The goal here is a little table that they could eat at while sitting on the floor, but it's just a pile of misshapen logs he's rolled back home with nothing to hold them together. A work in progress, if you will.) Crowley sputters out a puff of air as he hears Aziraphale's suggestion, then gawks up at him like he has seven legs of his own.

"About time some proper dogs were dropped in this world."

[motherfucking_ghost]

i. minecraft
[Building Island seems like a lot of work, and not much reason to go there, at first, but like...he can lift shit? He can lift shit he shouldn't really be able to lift, which is pretty cool. He doesn't know how to build anything, and he's not sure anything back down on Enso needs to be built, but you can probably catch him chucking stuff off the side of the island a few times before realizing this shit isn't landing anywhere. It's just...dissipating. He watches gold dissolve into nothing and seems to slump.]

Aw man...what is even the point of shiny things island if we can't take the shiny things?! This blows.

ii. gay rights
[He doesn't get the point of Color Island, at first, since it's just bland and...devoid of color and doesn't seem to have much of interest to it. Except the well. He doesn't know what's in the well, so when he pulls up the bucket, it's just a shimmering rainbow of colors. So that's...that's interesting? He pours a little on the ground. It doesn't seem to be acidic, it just seems to be...paint? Cautiously, he dips a finger in. Nothing. Then his whole hand. Nothing? And when he pulls it out, his hand is...well, it's all the different colors of the rainbow blended together in swirls.

Yeah, seems to just literally be paint. ...And this place is boring without color, and building island didn't let you take anything with you so, what, you probably can't bring the paint with you either...

So you can probably find Church hauling up a couple buckets of rainbow tiedye swirl paint and summarily dumping it on himself until his blues and blacks are now garish and quite frankly impossible to miss. He looks like he's having a good time, actually.]

iii. constellation
[Star Island is pretty... Prettier than the other two islands, that's for sure! So it's a nice stroll. Once again doesn't seem to be much point to it, but it's relaxing, anyway.

And then he sees the means of transportation. Now, he in no way thinks this will work since the building blocks dissolved, but out of curiosity, he grabs a scooter, teeters it off the edge, and lets it fall. And it doesn't disappear. It, in fact, hits Enso with a solid thud.] Holy shit. ...Holy shit, yes!

[So then you can find a rainbow man running around Star Island grabbing bikes and scooters and skateboards and chucking them over the edge. Hopefully nobody below gets nailed with one! He'll also try chucking over some of the looser materials that are shiny and starry and cool. Chuck some gravel over, for instance. Yyyyeah!]

iv. nope.jpg
[He gets to Web Island, takes a look around at all the devoid color, takes note of the spooky trailing webbing draped on literally everything, eyeballs the spider statuette.]

Hey, here's a really great idea I just had.

Actually fuck this.

[Aaaand he's out.]

iii

[catpiper]

[Star island is beautiful and she's spent far too long running her fingers along the constellations, following them with her fingers and hands. It's fun. She's never been this close to the night sky and she doesn't want to look away from it. It's shiny. Pretty.

But the thing is-it's been awhile since she's gone on a looting rampage and this guy seems to have his hands full pushing stuff off the edge.

And she's all about that.

So within a few minutes, he'll have a companion scooping stuff up with her hands, pushing it over the edge to hopefully land near the pile he's creating. Awesome. She's into this. Another skateboard?? Sure, who doesn't need that.]

Agent Texas ★ Red vs. Blue ★ OTA

[a_shadow]

a. Bicycle Race —

Tex doesn't think much of the other islands when she arrives. Sure, she takes a look around, explores a bit, and sometimes sticks around a while, but when she gets to the Island of Stars she's fascinated to see that the scooters and bicycles here actually work. She's not really one to question this sort of circumstance—she doesn't want to think herself out of wanting to do this. She grabs the best of the bicycles she sees, turns toward however might be even kind of nearby, and calls out:

"Hey. Wanna race?"

b. I'm walking into spiderwebs —

After this Tex takes her bike with her wherever she goes, riding it across the islands and enjoying as fast as she can—but this turns out to be a problem on the Island of Webs.

"Shit," she says as a mass of tendrils rises from the ground and grabs her now highly-coveted means of transportation. "What do you think you're doing?"

She dismounts and pull out her knife, then hesitates after her first slash almost results in the knife being drawn into the webs as well.

c. Wild Card —

(( Want to do something else with Tex? Tag it in or hit me up at texelations! ))

bicycle race

[galrarm]

Oh, Tex, you've just said the magic word. Shiro's been exploring the islands, but this? This is pretty much the best one, as far as he's concerned. And when she addresses him, he turns to her with a grin.

"Only if you can handle defeat."

Crowley | OTA | NPCs welcome but expect nonsense.

[agathokakological]

I. Island of Webs

It was spooky. That wasn't the problem. Crowley quite liked spooky, but the emptiness of the near-pristine buildings had him on edge. It was almost worrisome. Crowley wondered if the island was taunting the others with it's solid structures all covered in web. Crowley sat amidst the fog, pulling a piece of silklike webbing from a hanging branch and coiling it around his fingers as if to inspect it. Whatever made this was huge, he thought. If he wasn't eaten by it before sundown, maybe he could use it to make something when he returned to his cottage.

A rustling behind him made him turn his head quick. The large, carved spider sat in his line of vision, but nothing else. Crowley knew someone was there--- the place was too quiet otherwise. "Hello??" he called out, pushing himself to his feet.

II. Island of Stars

From the edge of the Island of Webs, Crowley noticed the glowing stars in the distance. His wings sprung from his back, black in color, with a sound like a very large umbrella pushed open by the wind. He stretched them in the air a moment before taking off to the other island, his expression bewildered by what he saw once there. Constellations... but not just any, constellations that he, himself, had hung in the sky. Crowley had existed since the dawn of time, after all, once an angel who leant a hand in the creation of the universe. His universe, of course, not whichever place these islands sat within.

He walked Orion's belt, or at least it's duplicate stopping at the star that most closely resembled Rigel, big and blue and bright as it was in the sky from Earth. Bittersweet, seeing it like this. It was a nice reminder, but it too felt taunting. Crowley couldn't shake the feelings it gave him, among them nostalgia and loss.

His wings folded neatly behind him, but still visible. As he approaches the statue of the turtle, he chuckles softly, his hand gently touching at a fin. "Tsamayar..." he reads softly, to himself, "I wonder if this is one of the realities that believes its world to be carried on a turtle's back."

III. Back on Ensō, in the rain...

And just like that, the sky opened up. Crowley had been working in his garden, which thanks to some help from Fertilizer (The only name he will refer to Aziraphale's wretched wobbledog with), was growing quite nicely. A good rainfall could only help, of course, but Crowley was not at all planning to spend his afternoon outside getting drenched in it.

"Aughh--" he groaned, looking up at the sky with an arm outstretched over his head, "Clouds snuck up on us, didn't they."

Huffing, he began to gather his things so that they weren't all carried away or muddied up by rainfall.

IV. Wildcard

[Feel free to prompt Crowley anywhere on Ensō or the floating islands. He frequents Denny, the Library (begrudgingly), and is often found in the garden he doesn't even remember building around his cottage on the islets (he was in a compulsive daze).

Please also feel free to catch him flying to the islands (wings out, and such), or if you'd rather, confront a very large snake roaming Umui or other that trades favors for gifts... well, that'll never get old. Message me here or dukevendetta if you want to set anything up outside of these options!]

III

[salutosinedelectat]

Aziraphale refused to call the wobbledog such a demeaning name, regardless of how the creature...carries itself. Which is usually by shambling in the most upsetting manner. But at least they'd found a use for it, so maybe that could help the demon's hatred for it to simmer down a bit.

But that's completely irrelevant. As the rain begins to pour, rather quickly he finds, even as someone who's lived in London for several centuries, Aziraphale has just began his walk from the islet mana pool toward their cottage. He's quite unhappy about this development, not really looking forward to getting drenched, which may well happen even in such a short walk.

But he finds himself fussing less and less about it as the minutes tick by. The rain feels quite refreshing, specially in a tropical climate as the islands mostly are, and the sound brings with it a clean calmness that he's quite fond of.

He's in a proper good mood by the time he reaches the cottage, just in time to spot Crowley tidying up his things. In that moment, he does wish he had an umbrella, or could conjure one up, to at least prevent the demon's clothes from being even more soaked. An idea pops into his head, a bit unusual for him, to be sure, but partly due to it having been a Thing in heading up onto the floating islands.

With a gentle rustle of feathers, a shadow is cast over the demon. "My dear boy, you'll catch a death of a cold. Assuming that's a thing that can happen now."

ren | ota | all npcs loved and cherished

[catpiper]

Stone

[It took all of five seconds for her to discover that she can lift shiny objects easily, regardless of their size and while she had tried to hoist the diamonds over the edge to decorate camp with-

Well, that doesn't work and that's whatever. She's not mad, just disappointed. How's she supposed to loot if the items vanish?? That's a riddle she's not going to take the time solve. Instead-

Anyone who stumbles on the island will probably see her, despite being surrounded by blocks, digging into the ground of this floating island. It's mostly stone though, so her attempts are futile and don't get far.

Until she has an idea.

And she makes, what looks like, a six foot staircase of gold and diamond, climbs to the very top and-

Immediately starts pitching the blocks to the patch of ground she's trying to dig up, hoping that it'll break up the stone. It's not working, of course, but she seems determined to do this. So the structure gradually gets higher and higher, until she's rivaling the height of a tree and-

Again, she throws another block down. Look out, folks!]

Color

[She doesn't know how this happened.

Actually, that's not true. Not at all. The chain of events that led up to this moment were all her own doing and while it seemed like a good idea to lean over the well's edge to try and touch the liquid with her hands-

Apparently it wasn't.

And now she's stuck down here, drenched in this multi-colored liquid, which is fine. She's actually okay with this and likes the gradient shades of purple in her hair, but the problem is she can't swim and while the well doesn't seem that deep, she has no idea how far down it goes.

If someone's around, they might hear a loud Hey! coming from the well's inner chamber and if they look in, they'll see her clutching the rope and pail down below. It's fine. Things are fine.]

Stars

[Ren's energy, wild and chaotic as it might be, is still limited and by the time she makes it to the star island, covered from head to toe in every color possible, she's exhausted.

Which is all the better, because the ground is filled with shining, sparkling stars and swirling galactic colors and she's more than happy to lay on her stomach to quietly take it all in. It's so pretty and while she doesn't recognize any constellations, she tries to make them with her hand, playing imaginary connect the dots with the tip of her finger and-

She's singing too. A happy little hum and tune about 'stars and cats and lobsters', 'the pretty moon's friends are here.'

None of it makes sense, but she's happy as can be laying on this patch of sparkling earth. Let her live.]

Webs

[It takes far too long for her to recognize the buildings-not all of them are ones she's seen with her own eyes and the few she had don't resemble the ruined structures she knows. Connecting those pieces takes awhile. Far too long, but when she does-

She immediately heads into the Storyteller's Temple to see what it used to be. They had plans to try and fix it up a long time ago, back when most of the original inhabitants were here and they had her aunt to spearhead the effort. She hasn't forgotten, but it's impossible to do on her own and seeing how grand it looks now-

She can't imagine the amount of stories it'd require to bring this back to life.

And so she wanders down the halls, heading towards the Chamber of Glyphs, if that exists, and to other familiar rooms. It's weird. It's way too quiet and while the webs don't bother her, she has to wonder if all the pokemon are hiding somewhere. Maybe this is where Ari went after Guzma's departure and-

She looks up to the ceiling and tries to see if their local neighborhood god is here. They're usually busy trying to fix these types of messes though and she has a feeling that don't appreciate the floating islands returning, despite how benign as they are this time around.]

Are you a pokemon trainer? Is that what being a 'god' means?

webs

[thankgods]

[The answer that Ren gets is immediate, though it does not seem to herald from any particular speaker. The disembodied voice floats, whisper-like, around her.]

I see all possibilities...all realities stretching infinitely in every direction.

In none of them do I train pokemon.

Ignis Scientia | OTA | NPCs Welcome!

[shatteredlenses]

The Island of Stone:

[When the islands first appear, Ignis is in no hurry to go to them. Oh, it's not because he's not interested what secrets they hold this time; he is very interested. The issue is that when he visited them last time, his vision was miraculously restored.

He's quite certain this is a miracle that won't happen a second time.

As a result, Ignis is quite torn about going back. The first time, having his vision back gave him courage. He confronted Ardyn and was brave enough to tell Prompto about what really happened in Altissia. He'd bonded with Xion and fought to keep Shion from doing something he'd forever regret. So many gone now. Only the emotion-filled memories of those encounters remain. How could going back match any of that? Would he even want it to?

In the end, though, the floating islands themselves decide he has hesitated long enough. One day while Ignis is traveling back to the cottage through the mana pool his actual destination ends up being one very different than the one he planned. Fortunately, Leo is still at his side when he arrives. He sighs and gives the confused tigerlily a pat on the head.]

And now we explore, my friend. Lets see what awaits us this time.

The Island of Stars:

Tsamayar. I dearly hope this is not an intrusion. I'm afraid this is the only way I can come to know you.

[Ignis' fingers trail lightly over the statue before him. He feels lucky that he found the nameplate so quickly. At least this way he can apologize to this unknown deity for what could very well be an invasion.

Nearby, Leo sits watching the stars as they move across, well, everything. Were he not so well trained, he would probably be chasing them like the kitten he is at heart, but for now he is keeping an eye out for any sign of trouble while Ignis investigates.]

Do you still exist among us or have you faded away?

The Island of Webs:

[Ignis had hesitated in coming to the floating islands because of memories of the past, but they were memories tied to the islands themselves. What he was not prepared for was to come face-to-face (or perhaps, more accurately, face-to-fingers) with a whole other set of unpleasant memories.]

Ai'tuoh. Why are you here? Will you finally speak of your secrets or are you just here as a reminder?


(Wildcards welcome!)

island of stone;

[mockiri]

[He won't have to explore long before he stumbles across someone familiar. Kiri has found herself here one way or another and is making the most of it, quietly prancing from one spot to the next and collecting materials, all the most colourful or sparkly that she can find. Lovely granites with spiderweb patterns through the grain, squares of rock with glittering chunks or precious metals within, every shade of sandstone she can find. Without the spark of creativity in her soul, she has no particular goal in mind as far as what's to be done with the materials she's gathering, but it's her game so she can play it as she likes.

Leo is likely to notice her first, with a cat's sense of smell, but she's not far behind, perking up immediately and calling out in Ignis's own voice,]

Hello my dear!

tim wright | ota | i'll match your formatting

[postictal]

i. island of stone ; cavern of your mind, you say your pattern

[He definitely didn't plan on climbing up here of his own accord, but he sure ended up getting snatched from the ground and dropped up on this literal rock anyway. So that's...fine, and that's happening now.]

[And Tim is officially at a point where he can look at this and decide that it's not the worst thing ever, because nothing up here is trying to actively kill him. Near as he can tell, this isn't anything like the last time they all got stuck up in the floating islands, so...could be worse, right?]

[The whole place is full of building blocks of every imaginable shape, texture, size, and material, and weight doesn't seem to be any object. He can pick them up with ease, stack them on top of each other...]

[It's kind of neat. It's not what he wants to spend all this time doing, but it's neat.]

[Instead, he settles for trying to push the limits of what he can do with this - like building a bridge from one island to the next. Logistically, it's gonna be a bit of a nightmare...but if he can manage it, why not?]

ii. island of stars ; you pull your strings and you jump

[This place is just kind of pretty. Even if he weren't hauled up here against his will, Tim would like to think he would've visited this spot anyway, just because of the starry ground underneath.]

[He's definitely taking a couple of these skateboards back through the pools with him, but for now he's a debating the merits of putting on what appear to be some very ancient roller-skates. They don't look comfortable, but...]

[It'd be kinda funny, wouldn't it?]

iii. not a painbow ; swimming in pools of momentary bliss

[He's been out here for something like thirty minutes now.]

[He didn't mean to get stuck out in the rain like this, but when the relief started to roll out down his shoulders and some of the unendurable tension that constantly clenches the muscles of his back and his neck and his jaw starts to gradually loosen, he...figures it can't hurt to let some of that lingering ache roll away.]

[His heart beats steady. His breath is even.]

[He tips his head back and closes his eyes and lets the warm rainwater soak him from head to toe and run down his skin in clear runnels.]

[For the first time in a long time, maybe years, Tim can really...breathe.]

[If he tears up a little at how unfamiliar and how good it feels to let that constant strain bleed away for half an hour, it doesn't matter. He stopped being self-conscious over who's seen him cry a long time ago - and in any case, it's awful hard to pick up on that in the rain.]

iv. wildcard ; and what is left is sorta atypical

[as always, if you wanna do something else let me know at arrpee or zero#8942 on discord! i will match prose or brackets!]

Willlldcarrrrd probs around the 12/13th or something idk

[achievementhunter]

[In short order, Chara makes a list of where they need to be. Some places are a higher priority than others; the elf camp, for example, is far closer to where they've arrived than others, but they deviate away from it in quick order, because if Lup is still here, she's not the main priority.

Denny is closest, and they'll certainly check there first, but it loses priority with a distinct lack of someone, solidly falling to the bottom of their list. It's a quick dip through the manapool then, a short walk from there before-

Chara doesn't go inside, not right away. Even if the shack is nothing to look at. Their garden- their flowers are tended to, maybe a little outside of the borders they'd so diligently arranged, but they don't see weeds, or any signs of neglect. Much like the house, they're tended to and organized and- waiting.

Always waiting. So unquestionably patient.

A few minutes later, they let themself inside, not bothering to knock.]

Timothy?

the drifter | ota | i'll match your format!

[hyperlit]

i. island of color ; pink was the sound

[The Drifter still can't move very fast and very far - at least, not without thoroughly tiring themself out. But they had made the trek up to the nearest mana pool to reach the floating islands as they were bared to the world below, all the same. Perhaps out of obligation, or curiosity...or perhaps because they simply had nothing else to do.]

[The strange dichotomy of this island reminds them of incidents from many months prior - when they fired spurts of ink upon friends and foes to fulfill a competition.]

[So much has changed since then. So many have come and gone. Friends have dispersed. And others they have alienated through their own inability to navigate interpersonal relations, so accustomed are they to not having any long-term. Long-term - to think it in and of itself feels wrong.]

[They cannot continue to dwell on this. So instead they sit at the foot of one of the trees and pick up a brush and begin to paint.]

[Their strokes are careful and precise. They do not take conventional color into account, but rather fill in the lines with whatever hues make themselves most available to them. They do this all with a minimum of moving about - too much rapid motion, after all, tends to tire them out quicker.]

[The sooner they can shake this curse post-death, the better.]

ii. free real estate ; squares on the ground

[Their motions are just as laborious and ponderous on solid ground as they are up in the sky. The Drifter is careful in their circumnavigation of the massive corpses that lay rotting on the sands. They keep their sword out and ready. It proves rather pointless; these creatures are not alive, and have not been for some time.]

[That does not mean they cannot be useful. The Drifter studies one of the thresher bodies for a long moment before running their gloved fingertips along the curve of the exterior.]

[Then they peer into one of the beast's open maw and starts to steadily see if they might be able to advance further within.]

iii. wildcard ; with the shame of disaster

as always, if you wanna do something else let me know at arrpee or zero#8942 on discord! i will match prose or brackets!]

i.

[yakyuuman]

[ There's a squelching sound of a wet... something from afar. It approaches closer, and closer, and even closer... until the figure of Jyushimatsu comes zooming into view. He's covered from head to toe in every color this island had to offer. His smile is so huge it's splitting his head in half. ]

Drifteeer! [ He calls on, sprinkling paint from his sleeve as he waves. Almost hits them with it. ] You here too! Having fun?

agent washington | ota | i'll match your formatting!

[counterblows]

i. island of stars ; through the lithium busted and blue

So. What's the catch?

[Wash surveys the equipment with a skeptical eye. He hadn't been in armor when he was trekking out over Ensō, so when this particular island abducted him, he was in his civvies. This makes him, in theory, the perfect candidate to try out some of these bicycles and skateboards and such.]

[He's just not sure he wants to. He picks up one of the boards and eyes it like it might be plotting to kill him later.]

Can't be that simple, right? The place has to want something from us, doesn't it?

[Someone talk him into trying to ride one of these things so he can faceplant and probably nearly get run over by someone else.]

ii. no yan is an island ; so amplify the sirens

[This is, at least, a little more Wash's speed. Kind of, anyway.]

SHIT! SHIT, FUCK - SHIT!

[So says one Agent Washington as he tries to outrun a charging Yan, to no avail. With a snort of its flaring nostrils, the creature dislodges Wash from terra firma and leaves him floating, untethered, in the empty air.]

Noooo, no no no no no -

[He tries to get a shot off on the thing, but it's too late.]

[The Yan tosses its head and sends Wash sailing through the air with a high-pitched yelp of dismay. You might want to get out of the way, lest you get a fully-armored space marine crashing down right on top of you.]

iii. wildcard ; where do they come from? the wires that connect us

as always, if you wanna do something else let me know at arrpee or zero#8942 on discord! i will match prose or brackets!]

i.

[a_shadow]

Tex is riding around the island on the bicycle she has claimed for herself, and notices Washington holding a skateboard, seeming to muse within himself whether he should try it or not. She rides up closer to him and slows to a stop.

"They're not for holding, you know."

Legion | ota

[forwearemany]

A) (They arrive on the stone island first, and its properties are sufficiently intriguing to ensure they stay there for some time.

They lift a few rocks, stack them, toss them around, until accidentally throwing one a little too far reveals the most intriguing property of all.

They watch as the previously very solid block of dark emperador marble goes flying off the edge of the island and dissolves into nothing. They continue staring for several moments after it is gone, head cocked to the side and flaps raised, before grabbing another.

This time, when they toss it over the edge, the program in control of visual input is instructed to intake at 1,000 frames per second.)


B) (The Geth have been the caretakers of Rannoch for approximately three centuries. Though Legion as a whole is much younger than that, many of their programs are old enough to have been a part of these efforts.

Thus when a star formation only visible from the southern hemisphere of Rannoch shows up on a pathway on the island of stars, their recognition is immediate. Immediately, they stop their wandering and crouch down to stare at it.

It is well over a year since they died on Rannoch. Soon, it will be two.

They reach out and trace the stars with their hand.

How did this get here?)


C) (Perhaps you're headed somewhere, or perhaps you're just sitting around, minding your own business. Or doing any number of other things. Really it doesn't matter because you probably weren't-

THUD

- expecting a Geth to come falling from the sky and smash into the ground a short distance away from you.

After a moment, Legion gets somewhat unsteadily to their feet. They chatter a bit, shaking their head as though disoriented, before finally noticing there's a person nearby.)

Apologies for any distress we may have caused.

(Did they just fall off an island? Yes.)


D) (It might be worrying, the way Legion is sprawled out on the ground in the rain. It might lead one to worry they've been somehow damaged, except ...

This is the least beat up they've probably ever looked?

Perhaps it's just the result of the dirt being washed off, but they look less scratched up and scuffed. The holes, the raised seams where they melted torn muscles back together, the huge discolored patch opposite their chest hole are all still there, but even with such obvious damage they look clean and bright and almost new.

It takes them a few moments, but they eventually turn their head to look up at whoever has approached them.)

Greetings.

(They don't move much other than that, and why would they? Though initially, they had been intending to go to the mana pool, or find a nice place to sit once they realized the rain was charging them ... it'd just begun to seem silly, pointless. It wasn't like laying on the ground would hurt them. They didn't need to eat or sleep and they weren't in any danger of getting sick so why not just lay out here?

...If it's not obvious, they've probably been in the rain a bit too long.)


E) (They pace along the shoreline of Enso, chattering their discontent.

Occasionally, they glance out, at the dark mass approaching. They're carrying the Widow with them, and they clutch it tightly. It is unlikely to be of much use, they think. But this situation, and the recent occurrences are ... disquieting.)


F) (They like to help their organic allies as best they can. Often, they do this via assisting with heavy labor, or working on the farming islet.

Now that Nuidan is here to stay, they sometimes also harvest and transport large amounts of food from there as well.

Right now, it's the latter. They've got the largest item suitable for use as a holding container they could find, and it is, at this point, absolutely laden with fruits and vegetables, as many as they could fit. Carrots, squashes, grapefruits, apples, pomegranates, corn, a smaller container balanced on top full of all sorts of berries...

Both of their Tigerlilies seem incredibly interested in what they're carrying. Though neither of them have attempted to knock Legion over or otherwise gain access to the food, going is slow. It's hard to navigate around two large, pushy, nosy cats.

Perhaps you can help by drawing the attention of the Tigerlilies? Or perhaps taking some food off their hands? It's almost certainly quite delicious.)

D.

[a_shadow]

[ Tex doesn't know what to make of what she's seeing. It's been a while since she interacted with Legion, though she remembers them, of course.

In the end, her reply is simple enough. Probably what she would have said anyway. ]

Hey.

beau | ota | will match format and please give npcs i LOVE

[lesbeau]

i. [the island of stars] i'm being told that i'm a rebel with a cause / oh god i'm screaming out

[Beau didn't exactly end up here on purpose, but it's not unwelcome- this kind of sight is incredible, and it saves her the trouble of finding out from someone else (or after some new catastrophe). Stars were never her expertise, but it's gorgeous, and she's wandering through the paths just looking for the first time she's there.

Until, of course, she discovers a skateboard. And roughly 10 minutes later, figuring out what she's supposed to do with it.

Beau is incredibly dexterous, but not incredibly trained. This is why if you're hanging around the Island of Stars, you may be treated to a break in the silence as Beau shoots out of one of the tunnels, the skateboard propelling her into the air. She doesn't really know how to hold onto it yet, so she does do a flip and land, but the thing clatters to the ground not far off. She looks like she might be practicing, but she'll notice your presence quickly.]

Oh. Hey. You know what this thing is?

ii. [the island of webs] i stand alone behind these empty walls / stuck in a shell, no curtain call

[Well this sure looks more like what she tends to get into. It's not that Beau enjoys slipping through a horrible forest of spider webs, but she isn't scared of it either, and this is the place she's most likely to get answers. Thankfully the web isn't sticky, so she doesn't need to go through with her plan of burning it, but she can be found inside any of these structures, knocking on walls and calling out to the emptiness.]

Hey! Somebody's gotta be around to have built this stuff, I just wanna ask a few questions.

iii. [wildcard] can't stop now until I find the truth

[If you want prompts with the other two islands or something else, feel free to drop it here! You can also hit me up via PM or at cancerously to discuss plotting!!]

ii

[thankgods]

Ask your questions. I am listening.

[The words come from a small spider perched on one of the webs. It's certainly a bit too diminutive to have created those webs on its own, isn't it? It's your average sort of spider, albeit ghost-pale and maybe a bit bigger than average...but still, no bigger than a large coin, at the most.]

kravitz | ota, will match format | he is actively seeking out npcs so they are all welcome

[deathfindsaway]

i. [island of color] when the glory tries to tempt you / it may seem like what you need

[Despite all the time he's been here, Kravitz has never gotten to visit the floating islands. He's heard- and read- quite a bit about others who had ventured there, but the grey landscape in front of him doesn't match all he's heard of about this place. There's been stories of lava and fire, stories of blistering cold, or even fantasy scapes. He feels like he's just missing something.

That is, until he puts his whole ass foot into one of the pools, and it comes out looking like a tie-dye nightmare. He thanks every god he knows that he has that washing bucket at home, because this would otherwise look very, very permanent.

Seeing as he's already messed one shoe, he's gone ahead and painted the bottom of the other one, coloring the ground with footprints every which way. Following the path will lead to him... maybe taking this whole coloring thing a bit seriously, where he's literally floating to get the shading just right on the leaf of a tree. It's very pretty. Would be prettier if it wasn't all silver, probably, but who knows.

He'll turn his head if he notices someone coming, giving them a little nod of acknowledgement.]

Be careful, the, uhm-- the paint tends to be rather wet all the time, so I wouldn't touch.

ii. [island of webs] don't say you lose just yet / get up and move ahead/ and not only for yourself

[Somehow, this place when he reaches it feels almost comfortable. The other islands have been interesting, but there's something about a dark, otherwise spooky place that makes Kravitz feel at ease. He steps quietly around the landscape, as if paying respects to the solemn nature of the place. But he loops back around to the mana pool when he sees the name and engraving, stopping to kneel down in front of the statue, taking out his notebook and gently sketching the figure in front as he takes notes and talks to himself.]

It's a shame there are not more totems to ones like this around. Were you the many-legged statue from Tempide? I wish I could say.

[He can absolutely be interrupted as he does this, though you'll likely have to approach him as he seems a bit lost in his thoughts.]

iii. [wildcard] 'cause that's your role / the work that stirred your soul / you can make for someone else

[If you want prompts with the other two islands or something else, feel free to drop it here! You can also hit me up via PM or at cancerously to discuss plotting!!]

ii

[thankgods]

[A small, many-legged shape scuttles up the statue and perches at the top. The spider is pale a silk and maybe a bit bigger than your average spider, but still rather small.]

[The voice, when it comes, is soft and whispery, like the brushing of leaves over paper, but it echoes all about, as though spoken by something much larger than a mere arachnid.]

I have many legs. I have more names than I do legs, though you'll find there are some titles I prefer to others.

Erika Fisher | OTA

[bitch4bitch]

Stone

It only takes a couple minutes of experimentation for Erika to confirm that this shit is weird. Obviously, it is anyway, seeing as how she got pulled up onto a floating island against her will - but listen. That’s a different kind of weird from big stone building blocks that seem to weigh barely anything.

At first, she wonders if the blocks might be weaker than they look, in turn, but a little more very scientific testing (jumping up and down on them) proves them to be pretty sturdy. So, with that determined, Erika has an idea.

For one thing, she wants to get a better look at her surroundings, both the island itself and beyond. It may be a little hard to see very much with those clouds blowing through, but it seems worth a shot. So she starts stacking, arranging the blocks into a kind of staircase, turning the direction she’s building in a bit at a time when it starts taking up too much space. It’s not a fast process, nor a particularly safe structure, but… okay also, besides the whole “getting a better look around” thing, she just wants to see if she can pull this off. Might as well.

Color

Now this is familiar… and that familiarity makes her glad she doesn’t care too much if these particular clothes get stained. Not that there’s really room to worry about the appearance of your clothes around here, but listen, some she cares about more than others.

With worries about staining out of the way, she can focus more on testing out what this place has to offer - which, to start with, amounts to splattering color chaotically over the trees, just because she can. That can be a look, okay - and, periodically, she’ll take a step back to look over what she’s got, and check for outside input if anyone else is nearby. “What else d’you think would look good on here?”

Bad Sheep - Night of Feb. 9/10 - Enso

Even under normal, day-to-day circumstances, Erika wouldn’t see much reason to bother steering clear of what just look to be a bunch of sheep. Under full moon circumstances, that lack of care slides all the way over to what is probably way too much interest in what just look likely to run away and be fun to chase if she charges at them at full speed.

It’d be a great plan if they did run away, which they absolutely do not. Instead, there’s a blast of wind and, very suddenly, an enormous, fluffy, and very upset werewolf getting blown over the island, right past (or into) anyone in her way.

When she is stopped, whether by collision with a tree or another person, she rolls to her feet almost immediately with a low growl, fur bristling all over her back, apparently ready to go right the hell back after those things, as if that’ll be any more productive this time.

Once the sun rises, she’ll probably appreciate any efforts to distract her. ...Or help, if anyone’s more inclined toward that.

Wildcard

(( OOC: Erika will be checking out all the islands (though she won’t stay on Webs long because she doesn’t trust like that), and will be around the Denny, Enso in general, and the islets as usual; if you want to plot anything out in more detail, hit me up over PM’s, on the game chat, or at omixgirl10 ! ))

Ginko | OTA | NPCs very welcome!!

[onegreeneye]

Thresher Maws

“...Huh. Those are new.”

Yeah, that’s his thoughts on the enormous monster carcasses on the beach. Or, okay, it’s not his full thoughts - but he doesn’t care to voice the rest. Like how he’s a little concerned that a creature they’ve never seen before is suddenly turning up long dead, or, also, how extremely gross this is.

Of course, at the intersection of those thoughts is the question of disease. Sure, things die in the ocean and in rivers and in lakes all the time, and often it’s a non-issue, but it’s the gaps in that often that they can’t afford not to look out for - and not knowing what killed something of this size makes him nervous. He’d certainly rather not leave them in the water - but, frankly, he’d rather not touch them directly, either.

He considers the things on the beach with his arms crossed, thinking aloud more than speaking to anyone else around. “Should talk to Yukio about getting some gloves from the clinic… hope not too many people have been sticking their hands into these already.”

Stars

While Ginko isn’t particularly interested in the various vehicles around the island (he’s perfectly comfortable at a walk, thanks), he certainly is interested in the island itself. It’s more than it simply being beautiful, though it is that; it’s familiar in a way he rarely gets to experience these days.

It isn’t quite the same as the river of light. The color is entirely different, for one, deep blues and purples where the light vein pulsed golden, and that night-sky swirl of color feels much closer under his feet than the deeply buried vein in his home world usually did. Usually.

But it is close enough to build an echo of the sense of awe that that river brought on, no matter how many times he saw it. There might be some homesickness woven into the ache in his chest, certainly - but it’s no worse than when his thoughts go to his own world on their own, and, in the end, he’d much rather indulge that familiarity than leave it behind in order to avoid the unpleasantness it drags along with it.

He doesn’t intend to stay for too long. He doesn’t need people to start worrying about him again, and hanging around one of these strange islands for too long at a stretch seems like the kind of thing his friends might consider concerning... and, anyway, he did try not to spend too long by the light vein back in Japan.

It doesn’t seem too much, though, to spend some time sitting by the mana pool, looking out over the starry surface. He’s got to recharge his sigil, anyway, and this seems like as good a place as any to do it.

Web

Okay, well. Ginko won’t deny that this is in fact intensely ominous, and he definitely considers for a moment if he should maybe go; getting trapped by arachnes’ webs was unpleasant enough the couple times it happened on Ryslig, and he’d rather not repeat the experience here.

But the strands of webbing, when he tests them with the hilt of the sword he’s started (reluctantly) carrying with him, don’t seem to be sticky - and that’s all it takes for his curiosity to outweigh his discomfort. ...Even if he still tries to minimize how much he touches those silk threads.

He comes back to the island now and again, in the following days, still reluctant to spend too much time on it at a stretch. In the time he is there, though, he explores the familiar structures carefully, confirming their vacancy - and he keeps coming back to that statue, the closest to a splash of color on the dull, foggy island. He isn’t sure what he expects to find, examining it… but, if nothing else, it’s kind of fascinating.

It’s while standing by that statue that his attention falls to the webs again, and he kneels down to examine them more closely. They’ve been moving, he can tell that much, straining for the edge of the island.

“...What will happen if they reach the others?”

Wildcard

(( OOC: Ginko will probably be checking out all the islands at various points, as well as doing his usual gardening and gathering and so on around Enso, SO if you’d like to do something else, hit me up over PM’s, in the game chat, or at omixgirl10 !! ))

web

[thankgods]

[Perhaps he wasn't expecting an answer. But nonetheless, he gets one - a soft, whispery voice that seems to be coming from both everywhere and nowhere at all.]

They will do what every island here has been endeavoring to do since their inception.

They will attempt to join back into one.

[philoxenia]

one;
[ In the strange light of the island's peculiar starry landscape, Mira finds herself deep in thought. It reminds her of the Base, a little; but what really gets her is that she knows some of these.

When she was young, her brother had built her a telescope of her very own, one that had told her the names of the patterns right as she looked through it. She remembers his eyes lighting up when they'd gazed at the stars together.

It makes her heart ache in the sweetest way. ]

He'd really love this place.

[ Or... catch her less caught up in memories. Thoughtful, as she looks at the bicycles and such. ]

It would make for an interesting race....

two;
[ Most of her time on these islands, though, is spent with a paintbrush in hand. She's painted herself a building to start--a large dome, a fitting structure for the project she's taken upon herself, with a spiral staircase wrapping around the outside.

That's not all she paints, though. As she moves along the outer edge, there are distinct shapes and colors. Outlines. A figure with a ponytail tied with a white bow; one with short hair and a bright red hairbow; another with vivid orange hair; a taller one with a sort of slouchy pose; one with a bowtie with flames on it; another still, tall with a bracelet if charms on the wrist. And many many more, all with threads of silver and gold connecting them.

She's here for a while; she won't say no to company.

When she's close to finished, though, she'll more often be found standing a distance away, frowning. ]

I wonder if I'm missing something.

wildcard;
[ hit me with something else! or hmu if you want a different starter. ]

Chara Dreemurr | OTA | I'll match your format <3

[achievementhunter]

1. Over and over- | Beneath the floating islands

We begin again. They know, somehow. Maybe it's the sound of waves in the distance, or the tropical heat that seems to cling to them like a blanket. Perhaps it's simply how quiet their mind has become, slowly opening their eyes to a familiar world with no one else in their mind, no body to occupy but their very own.

Over and over-

"I wish to attest, for the record, that I have not asked for this." Chara says to absolutely no one, staring up at the sky. "I do hope you're not expecting any gratitude."

Coming across a child sprawled on their back and speaking to nothing is probably not the oddest happening around here these days; or if one comes around later, they're likely to find them making a rather critical assessment of the floating islands overhead, edging away from any vines that attempt to get a little too personal.

They'll get to things eventually. For now, they'd like...a moment, to catch up.


LifeAftr Said Gay Rights | Color

[It was, absolutely and completely, an accident. Floating islands require investigation, after all. It is simply their nature duty to stick their nose into every nook and cranny, and this island is no exception.

There's plenty to look over. Each bucket is overturned, fingers run over the sunstone in an attempt to find any hidden compartment or button, without success. The last thing they need to inspect is those wells, and in true chaotic fashion, Chara approaches them with the same lack of care they've given the rest of this clearly unpopulated island.

Which is precisely why they fall in.

To those passing by, yes, the well is haunted. Within its dark depths comes a variety of eerie scuffles and hissing sounds, sounds that appear to be coming closer and closer to the surface. Closer... closer still-

Ware, yon brave adventurers. You're about to be accosted by a paddlepop. And it's none too happy.]


13th and on | It's Raining Somewhere Else | the beach

[Chara does not relax. It doesn't take one long to realize the child is almost always perfect in posture, smile affixed on their face more often than not. Good luck to the person who wishes to know what goes on beyond it; in some ways, even the child doesn't really know, always caught up in a myriad of ambitions and intentions that muddle together into a pool of paranoia and a need to keep going. Keep ACTing. Never show weakness. Always move forward.

Stay DETERMINED.

They've already checked the old campgrounds. Things change. On the beach, there's a circle of deep, black glass- an almost perfect circle, seeing as here and there, people had found interest in chipping away at the material for some craft or another. Eventually, it might be lost entirely.

That should be upsetting. It's not.

The rain keeps falling, every drop upon glass making a tiny tap of a noise, surrounding them with their own quiet, discordant music. They're soaked through at this point, hair sticking to their cheeks and neck as they slowly turn a knife over and over in their hands, interested in nothing else.

At least nothing seems to be wrong? For the time being, Chara just looks- at peace with themself. Even finding them sitting out there on the glass isn't too much of a shock- after the 13th, it's where they can be found daily.]

beneath

[vagabone]

[He's also bumming around underneath the islands... because he doesn't have a choice. He's tried to climb the damn vines, then tried to sit still and let them snatch him, all to no avail. Yep, he's still a ghost, outlined by a golden glow and partly transparent. Go figure--knowing his luck, these islands are something nice for once and he's totally missing out.

He's a little bored. This is not quite as bad as being just a skull, but. Meh. Eventually a somewhat familiar face comes along though... not that he'd wish this place on them, or anyone else honestly.]

Hey, welcome back. [A self-conscious shrug.] For whatever it's worth.

Michael | OTA | open to NPCs!

[eudaimonikos]

i. island of stone

[Aesthetically, this is not Michael's favorite island. But functionally!

He can be found first tracing out designs in the earth - the non-building block earth, that is. Though it's hardly a traditional drafting setup, he's got what looks like some pretty detailed thoughts. Lots of bizarrely straight lines and numbers sans obvious calculations or contexts.

Let's get serious about Minecraft.There's two main projects he embarks on here:

A: You may find Michael drafting a building. It's not a large one. These floating islands just appeared out of nowhere, and Michael expects that they'll vanish just the same later on. No sense spending a ton of time on a long-term project. But a smaller one is just fun, right?

Once it's all sketched out, you can also see him starting to lay out of a foundation of plain granite. Once that's done, he branches out a little and switches to a nicer stone for the walls.

B: Later on, you can find him drawing a bridge. This one is a little more confused, with several potential designs scattered around the area. The whole weightless block thing is throwing him off! In theory, he doesn't have to fuss about supports at all; in practice, the idea really stresses Michael out.

The design he finally settles on involves a rather prominent arch, presumably just to make himself feel a little better. He's going to start building it out towards the Island of Stars, which means that this time the aesthetics definitely matter. Anyone wanna help him gather some obsidian?]

ii. island of stars

[This island is beautiful.

It's also full of a bunch of weird human vehicles. Michael knows how to ride most of them, actually; he feels like he's pretty good with a bicycle! But he's not that interested. Instead, he can be found just standing or sitting on the edges of roads and paths around the island, looking down at the stars gleaming in the earth.

If he notices anybody nearby, he'll point out a star - not a particularly unique one, just a star - and comment:]

I think I remember that one. I put together a lot of the hydrogen for that.

iii. wildcard

[ hit me up if you want something else! ]

ii

[galrarm]

[ It reminds him of home.

It's something special, though, to stand among the stars without any kind of suit. It feels sort of surreal, but he's sure not in a bad way. Shiro's content to gaze at the stars quietly, but-- ]

Hah, should I call you "Starmaker," then?

ASGORE | OTA

[journalname]

i. island of color

[This colorless grey-scale island is familiar, honestly. It reminds Asgore very much of New Home.

In that, it's a little nostalgic. The happiest times of his life were there. Though the walls were all silver, it had never felt drab until long, long afterwards.

These days, though? He doesn't really want the reminder. He just spent a while trapped in those memories, and he would prefer that there be a little color. So, once he figures out the nature of the wells, he sets about providing some, neatly drawing up buckets and carrying them around. His efforts are all a little pedestrian - he's actually painting the leaves on the trees green, and things like that. Bo-ring.

Of course, this is all fairly dangerous when you are entirely covered in white fur. You can also find Asgore back on Enso afterwards, trying to scrub the dye out of his hands and forearms.

It's not working that well. He's tie-dyed now!]

ii. out in the rain

[Rain is good for the plants. Isn't that nice?

Asgore's one of the few monsters who remembers rainstorms on the surface. He never spent a great deal of time out in them; his fur is thick and takes a while to dry. But a little rain isn't enough to keep him from checking in on his garden, and once he's outside, he stays outside. It's surprisingly pleasant. Maybe that's just because it doesn't rain frequently here?

He sits out among his candle flowers. Their orange glow is faintly visible even in daylight, when it's this overcast. That's nice.]

iii. wildcard

[ hit me up if you want something else! ]

i.

[yakyuuman]

[ Boring indeed! With no rules set on how people should paint the place, Jyushimatsu has gone quite wild with his choice of colors.

His next target seems to be the same area Asgore is in. Oh, no.

One Jyushimatsu approaches the goat man, entirely covered in paint of every color, his slippers squeaking with every step.

He's about to mess everything up and have fun while at it. ]

Hey! Need a hand on this one?

[ He's all smiles while carrying multiple buckets and having no qualms spilling paint everywhere. ]

Keith | ota | npcs, yes please

[thermalwind]

1. I'm wide awake - Island of Color
Jaruska. [The marigolds feel soft against his fingers. He gently brushes them aside to see if there's more than a name on the statue's base. Nothing. Keith pulls himself to his feet and turns to face the rest of the island. It looks colorless but the details remain.

So. What were they a god of? Keith stuffs his hands into his pockets like a teenager or college kid on their way to class and starts walking. Deep wells break up the long grass and nestle between the trees.

He makes a beeline for one and stops at the edge. Old buckets that look like they've seen better days and familiar tools. He kneels down to inspect them and picks up a bucket, carefully lowering it into the well.

His mind is blank as the bucket fills with a deep purple. Keith pulls it up and moves back. He sets it carefully away from the well and tries again. Green. A third time. Sunshine yellow. His violet eyes narrow and he glances up as someone comes by.]

Hey, come over here. I want you to get a bucket of color from this well. Let's see what you get.

2. Each day that I wake - Island of Stars
[For a moment when he arrives Keith goes utterly still with his face draining of color. He looks around slowly and breathes out when the stars don't extend above him.] ...Not.

[He goes quiet then ducks his head and starts walking. Whatever he might have said forgotten as he peers at the ground and walks slowly around the island.] What were you a god of? Travel?

I...I can't tell. [He kneels down and brushes his fingers over the ground. Keith freezes. He brushes the gravel aside and peers harder at the ground. It's simple to use the tip of a claw to connect the points he can see. He glances over his shoulder and calls out,]

Hey! Get over here! You need to see this!

3. Caught in your distortions - Island of webs

Osoru.

[He says as he traces the word with his fingers. Keith closes his eyes for a moment and pushes himself to his feet.] Is this where I'll finally get some answers? I've just got questions.

[He turns to face the rest of the island as he reaches for the lantern on his belt. If he needs the extra light he'll have it ready. Thick webs hang down and touch every surface. Keith studies them in passing as he walks away from the manapool and deeper onto this mysterious island.]

Water said...Osoru was the god of fate and of prophecy. Of destiny. They knew the end would come before any of them. Have to wonder if they saw all this happening too.

Wildcard
[If you want a custom starter, have an idea - hit me up on pm or discord, or plurk over at skyheron.]

color

[galrarm]

You read my mind.

[ Shiro's been watching for a little while, and he's curious about what he'll get. Slowly, he lowers the bucket, and when he pulls it up, it's filled with brilliant red. A smile quirks on his lips. ]

How about that.

OTA | NPCs extremely welcome!

[burntvideocassette]

Island of Stars
This is significantly less horrifying than he expected, considering the fact that he was dragged up here by a vine wound around his ankle.

It's dark, but not so dark that he can't see. (That thing had no problem with daylight, anyway.) The ground is dotted with pinpricks of light, but the gravel doesn't hurt to touch.

He doesn't recognize the turtle statue, but he goes over the name in his head, trying to remember. He needs to get the camera fixed. If not that, then he needs to get his hands on a notebook. There's too much going on here, and it's all too easy to forget.

It doesn't take long before Jay's found a bicycle, setting his still-dead camera in the basket. It's not locked. If somebody goes looking for it, he'll return it, but for the time being, he needs a way to get around. It's not like he hasn't stolen anything before. (Granted, he's more accustomed to stuffing sticks of beef jerky and packages of peanut butter crackers into the pockets of his sweatshirt than bike thievery, but there's a first time for everything.)

Now that he's got a way to get around, Jay's going to see what else there is to find on this island.

Island of Webs
Saying that this island is worse than the previous one might be an understatement.

Unfortunately, it's also caught his interest. This one's got signs of life, and while he doesn't recognize most of the buildings, he definitely knows the Storyteller's Temple.

It's clearly not the same place, though; it's too clean, not as overgrown. Could be that all temples look like this one. Could also be something worse.

The bicycle's gone, for now. Jay didn't trust any of the bridges he spotted leading off from the turtle island, so he removed the camera from the basket and tied his new bike in the sturdiest vines he could find, bracing himself against the marble curb lining one of the roads near the edge, and tried to inch the whole thing down to the ground.

It very nearly worked.

Unfortunately, the bike swung directly into a pale, white strand hanging off from another island, and the second they made contact, the white...something wound around the spokes, around the vines he so carefully tied around the frame, and started spreading towards the star-speckled island he was standing on.

Jay dropped the vine as quickly as he could and bolted.

He's still weighing whether or not it was a good idea to climb up to this island, with its abandoned buildings and its white silk and its giant spider statue. Either way, it's got his bike, and he'd like it back.

Jay can be found peering over the edge, attempting to spot it in the seething mass of web...vine...things, trying to figure out if the strands managed to bridge the gap between this island and the previous one.

He can also be found wandering the empty buildings, his dead camera in hand. He's quiet, for the most part, but every once in a while he'll let out a hesitant, "Anybody here?"

webs

[thankgods]

Yes and no. It depends on what you mean by "here."

[A soft, whispery voice, dry like the dragging of feet over dead leaves, and then just barely at Jay's eye-level, he might eventually spy it - a ghost-pale spider scuttling along one of the heavy strands of web.]