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

[distantsniper]

[You know, Shamir has seen Byleth fight, so yes, she is nicely out of range of even accidentally being hit. In fact, she just looks rather smug standing there, as she inclines her head a bit in greeting. She smiles in return - she's friendly, even if she's in kind of a weird mood because of the approaching full moons.] Professor Eisner. Fancy running into you here.

[As though she probably hasn't been tracking Byleth for at least a short while, and waiting to see if she could find a good opportunity to just. Pop up. Little things she does to amuse herself.]

Bored? [She's not spying Monster-like changes on this one (unlike herself - as uncomfortable as a lot of them were, especially at first), but that doesn't mean she's not missing something. Vampires still look mostly human until the full moon, if she remembers what they were all told.] Or were you after something specific out here?

[plasticasshole]

[Cognition... he'll have to pick her brains over that some more at a later date.]

I assume someone has explained this place to you, then. And with so many people having arrived... I hope you found someone you know.

[It's much easier to navigate this place with help.]

I've been here for a year now. If you do need help with anything else, I'd be happy to offer it.

owls are very cute when they want to be

[distantsniper]

[Well, if nothing else, that sure looks like gold. If she can't find someone into foreign coins, she can sure find someone who would melt the gold down, and pay her for whatever she brings them. Both in Fodlan, and Dagda.

The plan, though... she cocks an eyebrow.] Wouldn't you rather be out hunting it, than waiting for it to come to us?

[That's not just the predatory bird in her speaking, honestly. There's a time and a place to be passive, especially when you're lining up a shot from afar, but you have to get into that position for the best angle, first. It's a lot of setting up and hurrying up to wait as a sniper, in her experience. Just sitting and waiting for someone to come to you is...

... Well, it has its time and place, but she's not feeling it right now.]

Would you rather I chase it over here? I can probably find something pretty easily from above.

[ranyaulf]

( he stares at the vials, at the liquid contained in each, and he hums in thought. why would soren propose something temporary? does he know something that ranulf doesn't? that's actually pretty likely, given the cirumstances--- soren's been here for a year, after all. there's so much that ranulf doesn't know that he feels like he needs to and as the representative of the laguz alliance... what if he needed to establish some kind of physical presence?

what's there to lose when soren is the most trustworthy person he could've imagined encountering? and finally not to mention, it must be something he wants.

a full year... )

If it means I'll stop feeling like I'm about to explode, sure.

( reaching forward, he takes one of the vials. his finger brushes against soren's scaly one, and he smiles lightly. )

Do I just drink it now? Or do we have to hold hands, or say some words, or...

[confectionerie]

[ Ann's reaction is similar, if in reverse, because that just...doesn't make any sense. How could she be from almost a hundred and fifty years ago? How is she...even alive?

Eyes wide, Ann tries to put the pieces together, but they just don't fit. She's never been great this sort of thing. ]

A-are you some kind of time-traveler?! Or...or is this place somewhere where time doesn't even matter?

[ How else could two people from different centuries wind up here? ]

That's it, I've got to be dreaming!

[supersoldier]

[Her not-exactly-thankful thanks rolls off of him like water, and Sephiroth’s already turning to head back towards the door left ajar. This time, however, he does wait for her to finish.

But not without errant commentary— or rather, what he would consider a rational question.]

With what?

[She’s only just arrived; what money does she have to her name? Unless she means to pay it off in the future, which is admittedly is a bold admission, given that she knows nothing about this world to begin with.]

Jin Zixuan | The Untamed | Harpy

[jichengren]

II. Unusual Arrival

[ Jin Zixuan steps through a mirror into someone's home, confused as to how he got there. Indignant at the fact that he is not where he needs to be-- where he was trying to go. He was on his way to do something incredibly important! How could he have been waylaid like this? Whoever's home it is is spared not one further thought, as he pushes his way out the door and into... An unfamiliar city. The people, the architecture, everything about it is foreign and strange. Not to mention the fact that it is night, when a second ago, it had been day.

He storms through the town, seeking to interrogate whoever he can find for some sort of answer. ]

You! What is this place? How have I come here? More importantly, how can I return?

III. The Goblin Market

Something is happening to Zixuan's body. First, he was cut off from his Golden Core-- an outrage that he thought he would never live down-- and now, his ears are becoming pointed, and he's growing blue-green feathers down the length of his arms and out of his tailbone behind him. He's been called a peacock before, but this is ridiculous! He scours the market stalls, trying to find a salesman who at least seems the slightest bit reputable, searching for an elixir that will cure him. Or at least make the symptoms more manageable.

None of the sellers at the market seem like respectable folk, however, so he's forced to resort to shady dealings, haggling over the price of something that will supposedly eliminate his need to find someone to 'bond' with. There is only one person he cares to bond with, and she is not here. The salesman is driving a hard bargain, and Zixuan is getting more and more desperate by the minute, but he still has standards.

"What you're asking for is outrageous! These potions should be provided as a public service." The salesman insists that the best potions require the highest prices, and Zixuan scoffs. "I hardly think these are the best potions!"

IV. A Wilde Hunt

[ Finally, something familiar to take Zixuan's mind off the fact that he is now more bird than man. He races through the forest, armed with a bow and arrow, thankful that at least some of his skills don't require a Golden Core to execute properly. Sure, he's not as successful as he would be, were he able to access his cultivator abilities, but he's able to hunt and kill wild animals with little issue. He resents being turned into a bird, but must admit that the ability of flight is rather convenient.

Perhaps you have cornered some prey when an arrow zips through the air and kills it before you get a chance. Perhaps you hear a shrill cry cutting through the night air, announcing the arrival of a man with blue and green feathers and a long luxurious tail, dressed in golden robes which have been altered to accommodate his new wings. That kill is his now, thank you. He shall add it to his collection. ]

V. Wildcard

[ Want something else? HMU @ objectpermanence to plot! Will match prose or brackets. ]

[glitzandglamour]

It's a good question, and one that has Mettaton, animated as he is in manner, striking a thoughtful pose, thumb and finger framing his jaw. There's a level of resignation he could elicit from his Bonded through this interaction, and it strikes him that he knows just the way.

The Puca snaps his fingers, eye bright.

"I am befriending you," the idol responds simply, taking a bold step closer, resolve clear in his very presence. Proclaiming that you're becoming friends is how friendship WORKS. "Yes! To have you as a friend of my own would definitely set him to complaining. I can almost hear it. Sentiments of one of our type being more than sufficient in his introverted life. That putting up with a singular one of us... is complication enough."

So, that kind of devastation and malice. The most meddlesome kind.

"But he's lucky. To have friends who care for him so thoroughly."

Enough to make him do things like take a walk outside, or attempt to talk about a feeling. Simple things... Mettaton quickly follows up with a proclamation, crossing his bendy metal arms.

"I saw you, by the way. In a memory of his. Aefenglom is strange like that. That's how I recognized you! And... how I've seen how you interact with him."

[confectionerie]

Right, um, a place to hide—

[ That would be a lot easier to do if she had any idea what kind of hiding spots were safe around here. But...this isn't the Metaverse. They aren't trying to hide from patrolling Shadows, just a few cops, so maybe if they can just find somewhere out of the way... ]

In here!

[ She grabs for Kurt's arm to abruptly drag him into an alleyway they pass by, where there are some conveniently stacked crates in the shadows. ]

C'mon!

[lookslikeacinnamonroll]

Wen Ning smiles, in a way very few people elicit from him. It's really just family, and Wei-gongzi definitely counts as that. He ducks his head demurely, straightening the hat to make sure it's properly shading him from the sunlight.

"Wei-gongzi..." Though, wait. Something's off. He had just seen Wei-gongzi last night when he first arrived, and he had been... shorter.

"Did you get taller?"

[arturiarex]

The discrepancy in time is... disturbing. Although not unprecedented. The fact that you seem to have lost so much... well. My condolences.

[ It sounds hard to her. Of course, she's also 'losing' time by being here. WHo knows if she'll be returned to Camlann one day? ]

[nodyinteam]

[It ended up feeling like something members of a sports team would do to each other after a victory! So it only helped him to feel better.

He looks towards her, impressed by her unblinking stare and the way that water splashes her ear. Nidai then smirks.]

Oh yeah? That doesn't sound too bad! It must be working on some level... or just burning off a little weight. [He jokes.

And then he looks ahead towards the ribbon poles, with a firm nod.]

Yep, looks like it! You ready for this? ...Come to think of it, have we even done names?

[shinkunochou]

[Once again Sae doesn’t say anything for a long moment.]

...I’ve never really made decisions on my own before. [It feels—strange, to admit. Embarrassing, childish. Softer she continues] I’m a little...frightened.

[digthefuzz]

H-hey! [He's taken by surprise as she pulls at his arm! He's lucky his hood doesn't come off in the process.

Then, in the alley, he looks towards those crates with a nod.]

Okay, now we're talking...! [He moves forward towards the crates. Time to get to hiding!]

[whomthebelltolls]

Maria doesn't buy the explanation of the vendor any more than Beau does, and she tilts her head back toward him. Then, she eyes the potions on the table. She isn't sure, but she's pretty sure the other woman was looking them over a moment ago. However, just looking shouldn't be too big of a problem.

"Which one of these were you looking at a moment ago?" Maria asks, finally, looking back just in time to see the frustrated flail of arms, and only barely gets the chance to look over toward where Beau is looking. Which isn't the way the merchant had pointed. In fact, it seems to be directly the opposite.

She purses her lips. "And I assume you weren't acting this way before you got here?"

[silentsavant]

( his lips twitch as he scowls in a light rush of embarrassment at the silly notion. )

We drink it together. Bear in mind that once we are bound, we will also be able to feel each other's emotions... though fainter than in an official Bond. ( which is definitely something soren intends to discuss. if he could have one bond right now with anyone currently in aefenglom, only one, this is who he would choose. (a contest between cat people... who knew soren would surround himself with so many felines!!) ) It's... rather intimate. But necessary for me. Without one, a Monster risks going feral after too many full moons. ( he uncorks it to broadcast his intent to ranulf. )

[thavnairian]

I'm-- I'm sorry? Look, the guy had it coming to him. I couldn't call out a warning lest he find the trap.

[He rubs at the back of his head.]

What do you want me to do about it?

This face XD

[yilingdaddy]

The pointed gesture doesn't escape him and Wuxian frowns, puzzled. And then the question has his face turn down slightly so he can properly pout.

"Why would I have shrunk? I got here this morning. What's wrong?"

[lookslikeacinnamonroll]

Okay. Wen Ning is often confused, but now he's really confused.

"But... Last night, in your house, you were shorter." Was he misremembering the events of the night previous? He could have been pretty out of it, he had just pulled himself out of a fountain into a strange city.

[shithogs]

I'll find a way.

[Her answer is almost immediate, even as she quickly writes out the note. Of course, there's no way for the people who own this place to contact her, and all they have is her word— but in the past, that's typically been enough. She follows through with what she intends to do, and doesn't make promises she has no interest in keeping.]

I repay my debts— I'm not an asshole.

[Well. Not completely. Admittedly, she likes to avoid having debts to repay in the first place, but there hadn't been a lot of foresight involved when she took her frustrations out on that mirror. Leaving the pencil atop the note on the counter, she rights a fallen stool as she passes it on her way to the door.]

I'll figure something out. Always do.

[yilingdaddy]

He shakes his head and reaches out to start checking Wen Ning over to try and figure out how his friend's memories have been messed with this time.

"I don't have a house here yet, Wen Ning. Who have you been playing with?" He sighs, clicking his tongue a little. "I think your head's been scrambled."

[mementomoray]

What are you doing on land?

[More accurately: What are you doing on land like this? He does understand that the strange world is messing with their magic - and their human potion - in strange ways, but... really. Really?

He's... more than a little worried about him.]

Don't tell me you changed and got stuck...

[Because if that's the case, he'll have to carry him to the water, and carrying all that eel is sure to be heavy. Ugh.

But it's better than trying to get Floyd to drag himself over the ground. That would be simply impossible.]

[bravers]

[Thankfully, he doesn't know about the mental picture Kadaj is experiencing. Because that... would result in him being dropped. Swiftly. But hey. He doesn't know. No harm, no foul. So he only adjusts him on his back before he continues on, turning a corner, down a street and ...tries, really tries, to focus on getting there, and to ignore what's spilling out of Kadaj's mouth.

Kadaj never struck him as the type to have a filter. But what comes out feels even more disjointed than usual. More like thoughts than coherent sentences, barely connected and just ... flowing.]

I was. [It's a hard thing to admit. And it causes him discomfort, audible in the way he hesitates to answer, in the reluctance in his tone.] But now, I'm not. And for the last time- [If only.] I'm not your brother.

[An exhale follows.] You're wrong, too. You're saying your purpose is Jenova, right? It's gone. About Sephiroth...

[Yes. He'd heard all about it from Aerith. What Kadaj was, in minute detail. More than likely unintentional on her part, but that was a large reason why he kept away.]

...He's not what you know him as. You were a part of him after he died, right? That hasn't happened here. You can't view him as what he became. Because what he became is the opposite thing to what he is now.

[...A lot about this conversation, is unnerving. Defending Sephiroth one of those things. But he knows it as fact. If anything, from his own feeling toward his bondmate.]

...Believe me, I know.
In Nibelheim, he lost his mind. He died. Nothing about what he became is anything like the person he was. ...Is, here. You get that, right? You might've been his hatred, once. Might've been what created you. You might be bound to that, on Gaia. But not here. You haven't disappeared. That's proof you can be something else. That you can get another purpose.

[Another shift of the man on his back.]

... Start by finding out your own answers. You even tried to work out what it means for yourself, or are you just asking me, wanting some way to try and feel? It doesn't work like that. Anyone'd screw up like that.

Arrival

[strongspirited]

[Well, this is unexpected. Sypha was out for a walk, and some stranger just pops out of nowhere and right into the middle of a fountain in a plaza. The reaction he gives is clearly one of surprise, which means he must be in the same situation as Isaac and some of the others. The Temporary Mirrorbound.

Walking over after deciding to take mercy on him, she raises a hand and slashes her fingers through the workings of a spell to dry him completely! Poof!]

Are you injured?

[lookslikeacinnamonroll]

Wen Ning scratches his temple, thinking over the events of last night.

"I thought it was you? You said you and Hanguang Jun had been here a few months... But now you're saying you just got here this morning."

The other Wei-gongzi had brought him inside so he could dry off after he had pulled himself out of the fountain in the middle of the night. But if Wei-gongzi doesn't remember any of that... Did that even happen?