New Island: Maati

[lifeaftr_mods]

NEW ISLAND: MAATI

The votes are in! And despite the abstracted nature of this round of voting, most characters elected to vote for the fourth option presented: the one represented by golden flames, a set of scales, and a number of shapes that resemble birds.

The newest addition to LifeAftr can be found on our Locations page. The Storyteller alert explorers on the night prior that the new island will be ready for exploration via the mana pools on November 10th.

Transportation
The Storyteller will manage to link Maati's mana pool with Ensō's. As they are still in a state of recovering from the havoc the fabric of Mu has played on your psyches, as well as the multiple resurrections they had to enact all at once, they do not - or rather, cannot - inform you of any specific dangers or things to watch out for on the island of Maati.

The mana pool is present on the E5 square, should the characters choose to arrive via that method. In addition, characters are free to sail there on their own, if they so choose.

The Storyteller does mention the name of the island, at least, in the initial dream.

MAATI has now been added to the Locations page.

Be the Power to Compel Me
The island itself is relatively bare, surrounded on all sides by cliffs. The cliffs are sheer, so much so that attempts to climb them will come with a high chance of failure unless characters invest a few stories into proper climbing gear. Those with powers of flight and teleportation will also be incapable of reaching the top until these areas have been explored...or otherwise made available to them.

This land lacks very many natural resources due to how rocky and desolate it appears to be. However, that does not mean that nothing can be uncovered in this area at all - old tools and equipment can be uncovered with enough searching, as though a great many struggles or battles were fought here, a long time ago.

However, from a distance, it can be discerned that Maati is a peculiarly shaped island: a seven-pointed star. While the center remains the only part of that land that can be initially charted, the different prongs of the star are each walled off with a large door, each bearing a different, glowing sigil. Those who remember the caves underneath Ensō might recall this occurrence as worryingly similar. No matter how they are approached, the doors refuse to open; they will not yield to magic, to pleas, to prayers, or to brute force attack. Yet that doesn't mean they won't ever open. As for the rest, you'll just have to wait and see, won't you?

Won't You Liberate Me?
The avatar of Maati, similar to Harv, will make their presence known rather quickly. Their temple can be found at the island's center, and it will be fairly obvious when one draws close: some of the only green on Maati can be found there! Their temple is a fairly simple thing, built of iron and copper. Yet more copies of the same seven sigils that can be found on the doors are inlaid periodically across the exterior, carved from differently-colored variants of jasper. Twined about the metallic construct, woven neatly throughout the composition of the building, several chestnut trees rear out into the sky. And everywhere you look, the symbol of the eagle can be found - fanning wings, hooked beak, outspread talons - carved into the walls, in the form of simple ornaments mounted on ledges and peaks. Maati's avatar will answer to a great many titles: Tyreg, Utag, the Iron Will, and others. For their part, they prefer Anbaki. Their shape is unsurprising to anyone who has so much as glanced at their temple. Anbaki takes the shape of a golden eagle, slightly larger than average, but despite the fearsome curve of their beak, they are surprisingly gentle.

Surprisingly gentle, we say, because Anbaki is the avatar of justice. And they might be able to explain those symbols mounted on all those doors, too...

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Comments

[semistableman]

Player: Nin
Character/Username: Bucky semistableman
Prior to coming to LifeAftr, what is an aspect of your character that they struggled with - be it a shortcoming, a fear, a bad habit, or eccentricity? A massive amount of self-loathing and depression. It's obvious he hasn't been taking care of himself, and seems to be just barely hanging on when it comes to all the horrors HYDRA forced him to enact.
What do they struggle with now? Is it the same as the above? Oh yes.

What personal demons, specifically, haunt your character from canon or from past game experiences? He was used as an assassin against his will by repeated uses of a brainwashing chair for 70 years. He doesn't know how to live with himself because of it, and completely blames himself for the trauma he endured. He remembers every single murdered he committed, and as a result remembers the brutal murder of a close friend he was forced to commit, among countless others.

It's... a lot.

What is the type of person your character hopes to become? Honestly? It's not really clear if he even knows. Ultimately, he's a good person, and that's not something he wants to change, even if he can't truly consider himself one because of the aforementioned forced-to-murder thing. Basically, he doesn't know who the hell he is, or who he wants to be at the present time.

What is the type of person you hope your character will become? Someone who gets therapy and starts to deal with his issues, tbh. Lacking the support network he gains in canon, it's going to be like pulling teeth, but it's something he needs regardless of how little he thinks he deserves it.

Do any of the Seven Deadly Sins or Virtues stand out as applicable to your character? Why?

Sins:
Sloth. Specifically, the apathy/despair element of it as opposed to laziness. He's spiraled into a deep self-loathing, someone who is barely functioning and seems to spend his days lost in his own head.

Virtues:
Kindness. Worth mentioning specifically because he has so many self-loathing issues that he really does think about others, often before himself. It's much easier to put people he cares about above himself, if not a particularly healthy thing to do constantly.
Patience. He was a sniper. He's very good at being patient with people, or just generally staying put for long periods of time without moving.
Humility. This... probably veers more into sin, re: the apathy element of sloth, but Bucky is quick to downplay his own accomplishments, largely because of his own struggles with self-worth.

[lifeaftr_mods]

At some point after December 10th, Bucky will awaken to find this curious symbol emblazoned on the back of his hand. It emits a strange, colorful glow, and not unlike a tattoo, seems to exist almost beneath the skin. Attempts to remove or destroy it appear futile. Its true meaning, whatever that might be, will only come to be clear in time. -- ❤ --