Event Log: May, An Inauspicious Arrival

[faileas]

Event Log: May, An Inauspicious Arrival

I. Boaltinn (1st - 3rd) Boaltinn comes around again. A handful of Mirrorbound will remember the holiday from last year, but for others, it will be brand new. In both Residential Districts, bonfires burn in central locations through the night, frequented by the residents celebrating another summer come to Aefenglom. Curiously, while last year the bonfires seemed quite segregated by human or Monster, this year, there is more of a noticeable mix at each, and Mirrorbound are invited to join the games and festivities quite happily. Characters are invited to try and jump through the bonfire's flames to burn away any poor relationship experiences, be it romantic or platonic, past or present; to aid them in this, those at the Eastern Bonfire will give those participating rune-etched accessories to protect them from the fire. The city has quite a bit to offer for this holiday: shared rose baths at public bathhouses and pleasure establishments that increase feelings of friendliness and talkativeness, poles draped in ribbons meant to be danced around, wrapping a ribbon around the pole to bring good luck for the summer, food stalls whose offerings are meant to be shared, and fortune-telling set up by Divination students of the Coven, who can tell your day is going to go. To see last year's Boaltinn prompts, you can take a glance right here! Much of it, including the bonfires, baths, and entertainments will be similar this year, so feel free to use those in your top levels.

II. An Unusual Arrival (3rd on) A full year from the arrival of the first group of Mirrorbound, the 1st passes quietly, with no one showing up in the mirror-lined halls of the Looking-Glass House. Dates and times are important in most kinds of magic, and this is strange enough that some Witches of the Coven get together on the night of the 3rd to try a probing ritual, attempting to gather some kind of clues that could be useful in prying out the cottage's secrets. Boaltinn is the best time for such things, when the boundaries are thinner, and magic is stronger. Those who are awake that night at 3 am might notice a pulse of harmless silvery light that spreads like ripples on water throughout the whole city, originating at the Looking-Glass House, but nothing further happens, and the Coven receives no answers. Well, nothing happens in the Looking-Glass House. Before long, the reports start coming in: people are emerging from mirrors, regular old mundane mirrors, all over the city. Anything with a particularly reflective surface could be an entry point for someone from another world! Inhabited homes, businesses closed and locked for the night, pools of still water in fountains or the river, these unorthodox Mirrorbound pop up anywhere and everywhere, causing chaos for the City Guard (folks aren't happy to find strangers in their bathrooms at 3 in the morning) and the Coven both. Out of nowhere, a glint of light catches your eye; your heart thunders in your ears as your body moves on its own, your mind consumed with inspecting the source. Your reflection stares back at you, just as curious from the surface - a mirror, a pool of water, your most trusted sword, something fleeting that your mind can barely remember - then ripples at your touch. If you are one of these unfortunate arrivals, it's likely a rude awakening for you, to find yourself somewhere inconvenient, somewhere other than where you've been. It only makes sense to be confused. Hopefully someone finds you and explains to you what's happened to you. Resident Mirrorbound will hear a message from Miss Nessie shortly after it begins, a call to arms: "Dears, I'm quite sorry to disturb you, but it seems your fellows are arriving elsewhere than the Looking-Glass House this month! We're trying to track them all down for the usual welcome, but we could use a hand or several! If you could just bring them by the Coven, the usual spot, that would be lovely." She'll give her usual orientation and pass out Watches, but no doubt the Mirrorbound will be more helpful in this regard, with so many arriving.

III. The Goblin Market (All Month) Life goes on in Aefenglom, despite the addition of so many new residents. With the City Guard decidedly busy dealing with the sudden flood of break-ins (or, more accurately, break-outs?), the vendors of the Goblin Market find opportunity to set up their stalls more openly than they have since the crack-downs some months ago. They pop up all over the city, but clustered more often in the Residential Districts and the Harbor District, where there are even fewer law enforcement agents out and about to run them off. These sellers, while not as devoid of morals as those major players of the Black Market, still have very few compunctions when it comes to lying, cheating, fencing stolen goods, and misrepresenting their wares to unsuspecting buyers. It's also the place to find those things that are- not quite legal, shall we say. They won't say a word if you don't. If confronted, they are quick to pack up their things and slip away, however; they know this city and its hiding places a lot better than you do. With a brand new batch of what the natives assume are Mirrorbound, many undergoing rapid transformations into their Monster forms, many of the wares on display are potions: supposed cure-alls for aches and itches, calming draughts for the full moon restlessness, some even claim their brews can halt changes entirely! Some concoctions are meant to increase a Witch's magical ability, or decrease it, or provide them a finer control. They offer potions that they say will eliminate the need for a Bond, or temporary Bonding potions of their own that they claim are more pure, stronger, than the ones offered by the Coven. Claims are only claims, though. A few remedies for the pain of changing or some regular temporary Bonding potions can be found here and there, but for every potion that works, there are twenty more that have less than pleasant side effects. A brew that will cause everything you touch to turn to solid gold for up to an hour; a potion that will invert your sense of direction - trying to turn right will make you turn left, trying to go forward will cause you to walk backward; a potion that will remove all traction from your feet, causing you to slide around as if cobblestone are the slickest ice. Worse, some shadier vendors sell things more sinister, including a potion that gives you the appearance of being moderately to heavily infected by the Cwyld. Even if you don't drink any, the vendors are not at all careful where they're sloshing those bottles around, trying to show them off, and they all activate on skin contact.

IV. A Wilde Hunt (7th - 22nd) All Mirrorbound, temporary or not, are likely to feel it. Monsters are always affected by the full moons, but this month, it is more. Stronger. Instincts rise to the surface as the Sisters emerge full and visible in the night sky, and for many Mirrorbound, they are undergoing rapid transformations into whatever type of Monster they are meant to be. Curiously, the natives get along like they usually do, noticing nothing out of the norm, other than the increased agitation and restlessness from Mirrorbound Monsters. Monsters' aggression fades when the Sisters start to wane, but as the new moons approach on the 22nd, Mirrorbound Witches will notice their magical reserves overfilling, and will find themselves stricken with the overwhelming urge to use it, until casting spells, pushing one's magical limits, is almost a compulsion. Those who are not in proper Witch-Monster Bonds will feel it even stronger, with no stabilizing magic to consume (for Monsters) or avenues to expend magic (for Witches) other than casting spells. (For those who are interested, the Coven does offer temporary Bonding potions which can be used to help alleviate the effects somewhat.) The Coven Witches notice the signs, and they take decisive action on the morning of the 6th, the day before the full moons. So many Mirrorbound, likely to be so heavily affected by the lunar cycle this month, many of them coming into new features and abilities at a breakneck pace, only spells danger for the city. They barricade off a massive chunk of Wilde outside Aefenglom, largely free of Cwyld and totally bereft of farms, homes, and Wilder outposts. They invite anyone who feels the effects of the moons too strongly to control to come out for a Hunt. The hunting grounds will be open nightly to anyone who needs to work off restless energy or overflowing magic; all participants will be warned that their safety cannot be guaranteed from others, but they won't be able to harm bystanders out here. The woods are thick, with the river cutting through them, and full of wildlife. There is room to run and chase prey, or room to play with your developing magic. Play cat and mouse with your friends or Bondmates, or stalk a stranger. If playing games isn't your thing, there is something else to hunt out here as well. With the deep Wilde entering into Winter, this patch of land so close to the city is much warmer, and fearsome Shades have emerged to search for prey. These were once living beings, Monsters, Witches, or animals, who have been overtaken by Cwyld infection long ago, leaving them dead but for the infection, white-eyed and seeking out sources of magic to consume and infect. Anything could become a Shade, but the most common out right now are the ferocious remains of bears, wolves, and nomadic Arachne and Turnskins. If not killed, these Shades threaten the people of the Outer City, when they inevitably escape the barricade. Careful to limit your contact, though; anyone infected upon their return to the gates will be escorted straight to the infirmary.

Welcome to May's Fourth Wall event, An Inauspicious Arrival! The comms are now open to comments from all registered users and will be until June 1st. Current players, if you don't want fourth wall characters tagging your posts, just say so in your text. Fourth wall characters can use this post for their own network top-levels, or this post for log top levels. This event is game canon; threads from this fourth wall can be used as application samples later and current players may use these threads for AC. As always, be courteous to each other! Let the mod team know if there are any problems and we will handle things.

As always, please direct your questions to this thread!

Comments

[holybeasts]

[Huff. That's what she gets for trying to be nice. She gives a long, somewhat weary sigh as he rolls his eyes before flicking her own skyward. The night sky above is clear even with the multiple bonfires and she can't help but voice yet another blunt thought aloud.]

You're certainly stubborn enough to be a Belmont anyhow.

[Though... hm. He couldn't truly be the last if he really was a Belmont. After all she knew for certain Richter was one so either this Trevor fellow was lying or something else was wrong with this whole situation.]

We've always done well with the Church, I think? Or at least we do now? There was a time when they were not so well liked but that was a very long time ago.

i

[digiorno]

[It would be difficult to mistake Bruno Buccellati for anyone else. Even from behind, even at night, even at a slight distance . . . it doesn't matter. He is who he is, unmistakable. In the light of the moon, his white suit shines like a thing pulled from a different plane entirely, something Giorno isn't meant to understand.]

[And he doesn't. He stares, he tries, but he doesn't understand. His heart clenches around nothing. He should say something, he knows, but for everything he's seen here already he doesn't know how to deal with this.]

[It could be a dream. It could be a trick. He needs to find out which, if either, it is — but then he's out of time, because his body is carrying him to Bruno's side. First at a walk and then at a run, only dragged down to near-human speed because if Bruno sees a blur coming towards him in the middle of the night he'll worry. Still so fast, though, with the distance between them closing infinitesimally, so much slower than it ought to, and then all of a sudden Bruno turns and he is seen and he—]

[Freezes. Eyes wide, pupils blown, panic grips him and holds him still. He doesn't have words. He doesn't have anything. He can't do this.]

I'm sorry, [is what comes out hoarse between dry lips scraped raw by too-sharp teeth. He feels like a child waiting for well-deserved punishment. What makes it worse is that there's a part of him that knows it's not going to come. That he will be forgiven, even though they both know what he's done. That he'd grit his teeth and do it again if he had a second chance. Probably. Probably he would.]

[trost]

[ This is a pretty good arrangement. He won't get hassled by swindlers, and he gets to keep talking to this guy who seems to know a lot about this world. ]

Hard pass. I definitely don't need that kind of potion.

[ He would feel ashamed even being seen having one. ]

It sounds like something a middle-aged guy would use to keep his marriage interesting.

[devilyouknew]

These? No. [Usually he's the monster being fought.]

[But how hard can it be, right? He's only lost all ability to form his kagune, been returned to the strength of a regular human, and been given some kind of magic he still doesn't fully know what to do with. No big deal. At least this guy has explosives.]

Have you? What do you usually blow up?

[This seems like a question he might regret asking, if the blond even decides to answer it in the first place. But it's hard not to be curious, especially since he's feeling outclassed power-wise for the first time in a long while.

He's not prepared for this fight, but he has to put together what little he's learned magic-wise so far. In hindsight maybe he should have picked up fire too. At least it looks cool. The ghoul flexes his hands at his sides as though that will help prepare his spells better.]

[gynvael]

[ There she is. That playful little smile he's come to know so well. He missed her. He won't admit it, but does he need to? He always feels so fucking obvious around her. ]

I wasn't expecting you would, either. [ There's a beat and a shift in his gaze. She doesn't look angry with him. If it had been anyone else, Geralt might've let it go, assumed it was in the past. But Yennefer rarely leaves things in the past. He's learned that much.

He's also not of a mind to bring it up. Not right now. He steps forward instead. He can figure it out later. There's so much going on and he just wants a moment with her while he can. He takes in her familiar scent. ] Didn't think I'd see you here.

[devilyouknew]

My...

[The ghoul blinks, then a slow, disturbed smile spreads across his face and he starts chuckling. He turns away from Suigetsu despite the apparent threat, covering his eyes with one hand. Of course. Of course.]

That's so goddamn funny. Thank you. Thank you. It all makes a little more sense now.

[He sounds unhinged, shoulders shaking with barely restrained mirth. He doesn't know he's reached the completely wrong conclusion about things. He doesn't even know the true nature of the changes he's gone through himself. All he knows is that suddenly he can shove the pieces of the puzzle together in a way that vaguely resembles a landscape.]

[mistwalk]

[ Yugiri is quick to nod; perhaps they have never met before, but even a familiar sight grounds her enough to bring some comfort, and he seems affable. He should make a good companion for exploring the city. ]

I would. But forgive me, I have not yet introduced myself. I am Yugiri, of Doma.

[ She offers a bow of greeting. ]

[killuwatt]

I told you already. Weren't you paying attention?

[ Killua shakes his head at him, resuming his faster pace once more and expecting Gon to do the same. ]

I have magical potential. That'd make me a Witch.

...though the name still seems a little weird. Makes you think of old crones in fairytales, huh?

[freecshow]

Monsters can have magic, too!

[they'd even met a couple! —though Gon wouldn't personally call them monsters, as others might...

Gon grins, tailing after Killua happily, meeting his speed with ease.]

Haha, yeah, a little! Or a woman, at the very least. I don't think I've heard of a boy witch, before.

[Gon laughs cheerfully.]

[kingofbadlifechoices]

[Robb really doesn't believe in potions. Or magic. Or anything in between. As a king it is not wise to get caught into things like that. Even as a dead king. He knows this well and while he searches for his coins his conscience is telling him loudly not to do this.

But then again, what else is there to do when there are extra limbs growing from your side?

And suddenly there is a woman next to him. She's very...well...the best way to describe her is beautiful but also very red. Robb blinks a couple of times before he tries to twist his body so that these extra legs aren't very visible.]

I do know what belongs to my body, my lady.

[The words sound more sure than he actually is. He is starting to believe that this might be some sort of punishment and all he can do is accept it. After all, there is no excuse for all the things he should have done but never did.]

Yet I am not sure if this...potion knows the same.

[But what is there to lose? Everything is lost anyway.]

[confectionerie]

You're from New York? I was just in Tokyo!

[ And yet somehow they wound up in the same place, despite being on opposite sides of the world? This just keeps getting weirder and weirder...

She can't hear the guards shouting behind them anymore, but she still doesn't stop running, just in case they're being quieter about their pursuit. ]

Haha, y-yeah, right! I definitely could never do something like that, sooo even if they catch me, they'll know I'm innocent, right?

[confectionerie]

[ Not once while they hide does Ann dare to breathe, which is really hard, considering how hard they just ran, so after the guards have sprinted past, she exhales heavily, sagging against the wall. God, that was too close. What would she have done if they'd been caught? Neither of them are guilty, but it sure didn't look good that they ran... ]

Yeah, no kidding....

[ Inhaling and exhaling a few more times to catch her breath, she rests her hands on her knees as she looks up at the other girl. She's the last person to judge someone based off what they're wearing, but she can't help but wonder if Kainé was in bed or something when this happened to her. Ann is more worried about them running into some pervy guys. Maybe the guards were chasing them for reasons other than what she thought. ]

I'm fine. You know, aside from freaking out inside, anyway. What about you?

III.

[redmare]

[ Chinatsu hadn't wrapped her head around everything just yet, but the point was she was stuck here for now, and shit was happening to her body. Horns had started to grow from her forehead--as if she needed any more emphasis on how big it was--,a short coat of reddish-brown hair was starting to grow on her body (ncluding a pair of black stripes that looked like she just had a horrible break up and mascara was running down her cheeks), and worst of all, it was getting harder to walk. Day by day her legs felt strange, off balance, like her bones were trying to bend in ways it normally wouldn't. Not to mention how her toes were starting to fuse together.

The other things she could deal with, maybe, but her legs? That was a deal breaker for a professional dancer. So that brings her to this shady af market with these little gremlin things that she highly doubted she could trust. But what else did she have to lose? She was just going to have to trust her gut on this one, study what they were saying, focus...focus....focus</>i---]

Oh my god--Can you shut it for, like, ten seconds? Some people are trying to shop here.

[killuwatt]

Really? I was under the impression they can't... or maybe it's just different? We can ask when we get there.

[ He snorts at that. Yeah, he'd thought the same thing. ]

Right? But apparently it's what you say here and it doesn't matter if you're a boy or a girl or whatever. It's not a big deal, just another odd thing about... all of this.

[confectionerie]

[ She's not wrong, it is kind of an odd question...because what year would it be other than the one it is? She doesn't glean on to the meaning behind Sae's question, instead glancing down at her outfit. It isn't that weird, is it? She just likes to put her own spin on her class uniform! Is Sae trying to say her look is dated?

...Somehow, though, Ann doesn't think that's the case. ]

...2017. Why do you ask?

[ Then again, this place around them sure doesn't look like any place in 2017 that she knows of, unless it's a theme park or something... ]

[freecshow]

Oh, I meant more like back home... [his point is it was a perfectly reasonable misunderstanding, Killua! smartypants.]

Yeah... I guess that's fair. So, Killua, if you're a Witch, what's your magic like? Have you tried it yet??

[Gon relax Killua hasn't even been here for a week]

[kingofbadlifechoices]

[Robb is about to hand over his coin when she starts to speak. The first thing he thinks about is that it is quite rude to interrupt like that but then again does it matter in an afterlife? It is quite difficult to call himself a king when there's nothing left to be rule over.

He focuses his gaze on her and straightens his back. She is most definitely a woman but there are scales as well. And claws. Her hair is almost white...maybe silver and her eyes... Now he has never been craven but it is a sight.

Before speaking he clears his throat, making sure that whatever sound that comes from his mouth, that it sounds like something a king could make.]

Is that so. [Robb isn't sure what to do with these extra appendages. They do not belong on his body.] You seem quite sure of your words... [A pause.] ...my lady. I take it you know this place better than I do?

[kingofbadlifechoices]

[Perhaps he has become a bit desperate. The stubborn part of him unwilling to accept the fact that this is...some sort of reality. An afterlife maybe.

Robb frowns when she keeps his hand back.]

You seem sure of that, my lady. [He sounds a bit snippy.] As if the growth of extra limbs isn't strange enough. [Would it matter to hide them? Especially now his desperation was so very obvious. To turn to a strange vendor, in a strange place, where people seem to be more monster than men, where magic and sorcery reigned supreme.] Am I correct to assume you have made the same mistake?

[shinkunochou]

[Sae really should’ve expected the questions, but at first she doesn’t know how to answer. It had been both the ‘present’ time (for them) at 1988, but for her it was still the much more distant past. She blinks slowly, staring at the opposite wall for a moment as if trying to pull her thoughts together.

2017? That didn’t even sound like a real year.] it.... it was 1879 for me. 2017–I can’t even begin to imagine that.

I.

[redmare]

[ Chinatsu knew diddly-squat about magic potions other than what she saw in that one wizard movie series. Speaking of, didn't he wear dorky glasses like this boy right here who was about to Karen it up in this stall? He talked weird, but it sounded like he actually knew what he was talking about. And maybe he had a point. Were these little goblins holding out on the good stuff?]

Whaaaat, you guys are selling painkillers to minors...?

[ She pulls back in full judgment, hand over her mouth. ]

Man...how bad would it be for you guys if the authorities found out? That won't be good for your business, huh?

[ The goblin makes a face, looking around for said authorities. ]

If only there was a way to appease the unsupervised child and this brand new prospective customer.

Wilde Hunt B

[redmare]

[ Lucky him indeed because not everyone got to"change" back, so to speak. Chinatsu's nub like horns had grown out to its full length, a reddish brown coat covering most of her body, and her legs had changed so rapidly during the full moon that they had fully changed into their digitigrade form. Except now the redhead was like Bambi in the first few minutes of the movie. Run around in the forest, they said. It'll be good for you, they said. How the hell was she supposed to do that when she was do damn wobbly?! Which is why it's not her fault when she falls flat on her face onto the ground.

Her hands tremble against the ground, fingers digging into the earth as they curl tensely. Slowly her head turns to glare daggers at her attacker, the scrunched features of her face his cue to run for it now. If he doesn't, it might be his turn to fall prey to the brand spanking new faun leg that she swings up right between his legs. Her legs might be a different shape, but they still had all the strength a dance possessed still, and then some. ]

it's fine, sorry for taking so long to come back to you!

[kingofbadlifechoices]

[Robb has no idea that she is so close. He is still looking for some coin. These cunes. The look on his face is an uncomfortable one. It is either sorcery or a pair of extra legs. It would be nice to be able to live this afterlife in a normal shape, not looking like some monster.

But then again, he is not in his right to wish for anything. Not after he has lost everything in such a way. The North, Winterfell, his siblings... He hasn't been able to save anything, to keep his promises, to uphold his father's legacy.]

I do not seem to have enough on me.

[And then he sees her. At first a mere glance but eventually his gaze remain fixed on her face. Her hair might not be that of his dear sister but her face...her face cannot belong to anyone else. It is familiar, a glimpse of a home he has lost, the sight of a sister who might have hoped for nothing.

Because Robb knows he has never come to save her. And she knows that as well. Still, he speaks her name. Softly, regretfully.]

Sansa.

[He does not move, it seems as if he is nailed to the ground, pangs of guilt striking his heart.]

[kingofbadlifechoices]

[A monster...no...a woman... Something between the both. He cannot help himself and he flinches a little, unused to the sight of her.]

Ugh... [Robb is unsure if he has to put the bottle back or pay for it. If anything, her appearance proves the truth in her words.] ...so if I might drink this, horns would start to grow as well?

[Because, really, what is there to lose? Extra horns? Some more legs.]

Perhaps I might even grow a couple of arms. [The tone of his voice is a snappy, curt one and annoyance is plain to see on his face.] Gods...I wished they would've allowed me to rest in peace.

[digthefuzz]

For real? Whoa, talk about a road trip!

[Of course, it doesn't seem too ridiculous for someone who's capable of teleporting and who has gone on some international adventures. But then, he's also already learned some of the basics about this world too.

Kurt keeps running as well. At this point, it'll be bad for him if he gets caught too. And he's sure they'll be harsher on him if they see what he looks like.]

If it was that easy to clear it up, you wouldn't be on the run, would you? Something tells me these guys aren't firm believes in 'innocent until proven guilty'! We should find somewhere to hide while we figure this out...! [He really wishes his teleporting would work right now!]

[lookslikeacinnamonroll]

[ Aefenglom... What a strange name. It must be very far away from anywhere Wen Ning recognizes. But then, how did he get here so quickly? And in the same way that he did?

He follows Wei-gongzi into the cottage, looking around curiously, before focusing his eyes on the other man's face once he's asked about his appearance. ]

...Yes. I've had these markings for a long time now. [ Ever since that rainy night when Wei-gongzi revived him. How could the other man not remember? ]