lifeaftr_mods | Search Requests

Search Requests

And no one knows how far it goes

As a central element to the game, Search Requests may seem very daunting at first. Never fear! Below is a table of contents for this page that may help answer your questions, giving you the confidence to venture forth into the great unknown.

[ ♆ ] What Are Search Requests?
[ ♆ ] What Impacts a Search Request?
[ ♆ ] How Many Search Requests Can I Make?
[ ♆ ] Why are Searches Limited?
[ ♆ ] Islands Available
[ ♆ ] Search Request Form

What Are Search Requests?

The contents of many islands that make up the archipelago of LifeAftr require player exploration and participation to uncover and chart, as everything from the potential dangers, obstructions, and resources are randomized. Alongside adding weight to the potential dangers characters may face, it also gives you the potential to influence the game as much as possible.

Upon arrival to a new island, a blank map of the island's general shape will be provided with a grid, parsing the island into square sections for the purposes of exploration. Each of these squares are a base size of one mile by one mile in terms of width and breadth, unless otherwise noted. Each square is also labeled for player convenience. Characters who have access to boats or another means of traversing the ocean waters can perform search requests on surrounding waters.

Search Requests are intended to be used as a prompt for IC interactions. While not all search results will hold something of particular interest, such as finding new seeds or fruit, but in circumstances where enemies or information has been located, we encourage ICly threading out these results, or using them to foster new CR.

What Impacts a Search Request?
As of July 2018, there are new factors to take into account when submitting a Search Request:

[ ♆ ] GROUP SIZE limits the timeframe in which a search request can be completed. While a single mile may not seem so far to walk, thoroughly investigating a square mile is a different matter altogether. Depending on the size of a group, characters may choose to push on into an additional square at the cost of spending the night in the wilderness, potentially exposing themselves to other dangers - or in groups of four or more, split the group to cover the additional ground. Search Requests are currently limited to two squares maximum at a time, regardless of group size.

[ ♆ ] DIFFICULT TERRAIN such as mountainous regions, thickly wooded areas, or those under the sway of severe weather conditions may severely hamper a group in covering new ground. Due to this, search requests may be limited on occasion to one square per search, regardless of the group size. This restriction will be announced when relevant.

[ ♆ ] POTENTIAL RISKS can and will hinder characters set on searching more than one square. If searching an area thoroughly, it is assumed that your character is both taking their time, and covering as much of the ground in that square as possible. Obstructions, predators and catastrophes should be predominantly unavoidable due to this.

How Many Search Requests Can I Make?
Each character is limited to submitting one search per week, of up to two squares. When searching in a group of three people or fewer, a second square may only be searched if characters intend to spend the night camping out, which puts them at risk for additional dangers.

Beyond submitting a search, characters may also band together with others for an additional two search requests, but these requests must be submitted by another character.

Additionally, Search Requests may only be forward-dated up to two days ahead of the current date. As LifeAftr may sometimes see events suddenly beginning, forward-dating is limited to avoid the need to retcon.

Why are Searches Limited?
The introduction of limitations to the number of search requests characters can conduct is to ensure moderation of the game's pacing, in addition to ensuring all players have a chance to affect the plot, regardless of their tagging speed or RL obligations. Previously, search requests have been unlimited due to an agreeably slow pacing as LifeAftr established itself. The beginning of July saw the game expanding and going through a new teething stage that required a few new aspects to our search requests system, in addition to discarding mechanics that simply weren't being used.

In some circumstances, such as when an island is due to disappear - potentially for good! - we may lift these restrictions to allow those who'd like to further explore islands to go wild.

Maps Available:
The current islands, their descriptions, and how much area has already been unveiled can be found on the Locations Page. A key describing the area, resources, and dangers can also be found.

The following island(s) are currently available for exploration:

ENSŌ
NASTRANDIR
The following island(s) are not currently available, but have individual locations pages for player perusal:

AI'TUOH
CAHYPDO
CHOL
IO
MAATI
MONSUN
NUIDAN
UMUI
ZIZIPHUS

Search Request Form
To submit a search request, please post the below form in a new comment. Before submitting your request, keep in mind that map updates may lag depending on mod work schedules. Checking the last few posted searches may avoid doubling up accidentally.

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( CODED BY BOOTYCALL, COMISSIONED ART BY RUKA )

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The Search Begins...
The river flowers into the desert landscape, converting what should be dry sand into a golden-brown marsh of mud and meadowgrass. The river is wider and soupier than it was the last time anyone ventured onto Monsun, dividing the fragmented island into awkward halves. The black, oily swell that swallows up the land just upstream has bled into the currents as they leak southward, painting the waters from foam-ridged blue-greens to a sickly, poisonous black. It drops the overall temperature of the river significantly.

The desert itself hasn't fared much better. Ziziphus's grasslands crop up in irregular sprouts of grass and flowers, stark against the dry curve of sand dunes. The disparity paints the landscape a dark and muddied brown with alarming inconsistency; even here, it seems that Ziziphus has been sloppily arrayed on top of Monsun, to a very tonally dissonant effect.

But the river is safe to ford or wade through, if you must. Just be careful when progressing from Monsun's east to its west. The mood shift isn't terribly radical, gradual as it is, but it can be startling to those unaccustomed to it. The western side of the island brings out your best traits - but it comes at a cost.

♆ C4 has been unlocked on the map of the area! ♆

Every Desert Has Its Thorns
A crop of cacti might initially promise to be an invaluable resource, until they turn out to be anything but. Walking cacti are silent predators who prefer to slowly approach their prey, avoiding being noticed by their targets until it is too late.

Luckily, these creatures do not rely on projectiles to attack- rather, their needle thin spikes can extend up to one foot out of their bodies in a fast, powerful motion- more than enough to puncture flesh and muscle. If you've ever wanted to try death by acupuncture, these are your kind of monster... but if not, a sharp weapon or fire will certainly help whittle down their numbers.

And they're all over the region of C4. Good luck with clearing them out.

Don't Be a Prick
Fortunately, Gladio's survival skill will turn up some resources of note, even in this utter wasteland. Notably, he'll discover that not all of the cacti are of the walking, murderous variant. The more stationary types of cacti in the vicinity might be recognizable to him as Opuntia basilaris, known colloquially as the beavertail pricklypear. This particular species' highly visible, bright pink flowers are a dead giveaway.

The pricklypear's buds can be steamed or cooked, and the large seeds can be ground into an edible mush. Just be careful when harvesting it - this particular species of cactus isn't as obviously barbed as most, but its flat, fleshy pads bear hundreds of tiny bristles that can be painful to dig out of the skin.

Search Requests

MONSUN - C4 | Ⴄ PREDATOR -- Ɏ | VEGETABLES/ROOTS