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

[stopfen]

[There was just so much that she couldn't answer for him. Not unless she left then returned like some of the others supposedly had. Then she'd have known it was possible instead of only hearing rumors.]

They don't know. [More rumors and varying accounts.] Apparently people come and go at random. They just disappear. [Which meant two things, they'd gone off and died somewhere or gone home.] I think it's connected to the mirrors as well. [She'd not been in the main mirror hall since arriving, other than that dream.]

[It'd be nice to have some actual answers. But she makes a small motion, hand waving at the drink he had, still sat on the table.] How long have you been here?

[arturiarex]

[ Saber frowns. ]

They can be a little unbalancing, yes. Although I've mostly adjust by now...

[ The walking stick is mostly for the hike, honestly. And so she can deal with wildlife that get too curious for its own good. ]

You mean your legs aren't suited to you anymore...? Or just that they feel much more frail than they were? Do you think they might break or sprain easily?

[gynvael]

[ The sharpness of her reply doesn't seem to faze him. He just makes a noncommittal sound that implies he isn't going to say anything about it either way. Not a runway pet, but a runway child. It's true: with the scales marking her skin, it isn't difficult at all for him to buy that claim. ]

You have a plan to convince him to come home?

[ He's pretty sure dragons don't get lost like a newborn pup. Especially not one that's old enough to roast a deer alive. Which suggests it's likely wandering off because it wants to.

Not, of course, that any of this is his problem. (It's starting to feel like it might be soon.) ]

[mensrea]

Nope, not anymore, [ comes the perhaps inappropriately chipper response to that morbid question. ] Didn’t stick.

[ It’s a gross understatement of what actually happened, but Stiles isn’t about to launch into a lengthy explanation with a total stranger about the surrogate sacrifice ritual. While his death may have been temporary, drowning had been a horrific experience he has no interest reliving (pun not intended). Kicking his heels into the box that they sit on, Stiles continues to consider this vision of “art” that the stranger is describing. ]

It’s kind of like the concept, “you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone.” Does that make you a sentimental sap for being into this kind of thing? [ He squints at Deidara dubiously; the man doesn’t seem particularly sentimental. After a moment, he finally takes the bait. ] Anyway, why’re you asking if I’m dead or not?

[moneytwin]

[ Perhaps not. Or, perhaps..

Who would have thought it would not be the wings, but the tail that would cause so much strife when changing back? Never mind fitting into her clothing, colourful curses following as tears from claws and talons. Nothing too revealing, certainly nothing that would compromise defense, but it takes her longer than she wants.

She's paying more attention to adjusting her armor as she emerges from the cave than her surroundings. Haste makes for a rushed check, her lauded perceptiveness hampered by the need to rush back the way she came, and even taking as much care as she can, Vex'ahlia is not as quiet as she could be. As she should be out here, given the creatures she helped fight minutes before.

Which is why, not long after, Percival may hear an indistinct yell, and a commotion in the trees further up ahead. Webbing tangled about her feet, Vex becomes a whirlwind of wings and limbs spun upside down as one of the Arachne hiss and chitter at their prey, emerging from the branches above just as she had less than fifteen minutes before.

Her fabled bow is knocked from her hands, and bounces across roots and weeds below, its roll setting it just out of reach. ]

[abandonware]

[A noise of assent follows this, but otherwise, A2 is silent, letting the human talk, listening out for anything that might give away where the next infected creature.]

Hm.

Thought humans liked... [a pause. She searches for a word, settles for one Pod has used before.] "congregating."

[Something shifts in the brush underfoot, and A2 stops midstep to wait. What emerges is a rodent — a mouse, she thinks, uninfected and startled out of its hiding spot. Her new and abnormal instincts make her want to chase it, but the part of her that is still an android holds steady. Her eyes follow it in the dark, and then it is gone.

Her attention shifts instead to where it's run from, and she motions for Kaine to follow.]

This way. It was scared — running from something.

[stopfen]

[Welll, she didn't have an answer there. So she just inhales, giving the smallest hint of a shrug.]

I don't know. [Welp] I've been told people just arrive here and disappear at random. But the Coven was doing something this time. [She had no idea what other than it was a Mistake.] Whatever they did means there's nothing tying you here. We have the mirrors in the hall.

[And all the new arrivals just plopped out of a mirror somewhere.]

...We've been told to take you to the Coven. It sounds like you haven't been yet.

[moneytwin]

He's--

[ --yours? Given the way he snaps and reacts to Daenerys, one can hardly be blamed for the sceptical look that Vex gives her. ]

--already lashing out. But if you say you have him handled..

[she lowers the point of her arrow, though the bow is not relaxed; one can never be too careful around dragons. Plus, look at the SIZE of the owl it took down! ...Okay, not that big, but still big given the size of the whelp.

It gives her another chance to get a look at the other woman; human? Though the dragon scaling isn't that dissimilar to her own, save in colour. It would certainly explain the lack of concern about fire. ]

[meteodrives]

I wouldn't have guessed. It sounded pretty seamless to me.

[ The music makes her homesick to another time, though that's far gone behind her now. She's trying to take comfort where she can in this new planet that's so much healthier than home, that looks habitable despite its oddities and drawbacks. One of which being the reason for her approach, as she eyes up how he's looking with his new...uh.

What are those, anyway?

Tifa doesn't let her gaze linger, though she plows right ahead with her questions. It's not polite to stare as it is, especially since she'll be coming back around to wondering about it. ]

Have you been here long? Or did you stumble through a strange mirror by accident like I did?

[cryptsleeper]

Well, I'm sure that there will be some of that now.

[Alucard's happy to turn his back on the fire. To start walking, suspecting (and part of him hoping) that Maria will follow. He doesn't do anything that he might with Sypha or Trevor, like offer his arm or try to lean against her, but a part of him wants to.

Whatever this centuries-long divide is, Alucard can understand the point clear enough. Maria matters. Not yet. He'll have a long time to wait, but at the very least, he can know her a little better now.]

If you were here before, may I ask what designation you fell under?

[Witch or Monster? Alucard is sure Maria must have made her assumptions already and taken him for the former.]

[cryptsleeper]

[BEEP BEEP COYOTE.]

Good bye Mr. Strange.

[cryptsleeper]

There's a few libraries here. I don't know if they'd have all the knowledge you seek but--

[He isn't going to be able to help there. So Alucard can only offer the next best thing, and that isn't only getting away from the Goblin Market. It's to make a simple suggestion to the current plan:]

Perhaps we can find lemon bars and call this much a success?

let's pvp♥— I say a week later

[electrod]

[ Clash, guard, but no counter-attack— Reno jumps back as well, the distance once again maintained. Here he is, picking up a fight with an armed Turnskin when he's without a weapon. He is an idiot, he concludes. But it's not a week in gaerdagas-however?-is-it-spelled? without "that was a mistake" experience.

If Reno knew how to successfully cling to the human side, he wouldn't even be here in this forest. But there's a lack of foundation to ground self to, that makes following the instinct all too easy. It's fucked up, but he got to let go all this pent up aggression somewhere. ]

Oh, so dogs can dance now? [ That's the point for a laugh-snort, even if he's probably lowering his chances of survival with every uttered word. ] C'mon, show me all the tricks!

[ And with that bold claim he— he flies away, okay? Propels himself upwards with one swing of arm-wings— useful thing as much as it is annoying in every small space. Getting back into the air is the only place where he could have any kind of advantage, hell the wings are a problem on the ground. But above? He gains altitude and then immediately dive, putting his whole weight on the heavy branch right above where he thinks Cloud's supposed to be to break it and send it down, with a pained creak. Falling obstacles count as weapons, right? ]

[lookslikeacinnamonroll]

[ He is definitely pale as a corpse, with a series of black cracked lines crawling their way up his neck. Outwardly, though, he seems in good enough spirits and health. Not about to fall over any time soon. ]

Mm... Huh?

[ He's a little confused. He doesn't feel tired at the moment. ]

Um, okay. Sure.

[ He looks around. They're in the middle of a busy marketplace. There isn't really anywhere to sit. ]

[lookslikeacinnamonroll]

[ Wen Ning's eyes widen. That seems like so long ago. Before the Sunshot campaign. Before the decimation of the Wen Clan. Before Wei-gongzi rescued their little band and brought them to the Burial Mounds. ]

So...? Hm. Okay. I don't really get it, but that's alright. [ There's a lot of things Wen Ning doesn't get. That doesn't really stop him from going about his day. He accepts the cup of tea once it's brought over, sipping on it delicately and allowing its warmth to heat him up from the inside. He's grateful Wei-gongzi is going out of his way to help him, but then, he always did. ]

How would we know if I'm a witch? I've never been a witch before...

[wolfsclothing]

[It's almost unconscious that his ears and tail flick at the mention of people growing them.]

He-oo-man. [He says the word in a way that's obvious that it's foreign on his tongue.] I don't know what one is, no. Rabbits are just rabbits where I'm from and not a puca. Humans though. That isn't a species I'm familiar with at all. I'm sure I would remember seeing someone like you. [People look..well, weird.]

Ah...Tech is far more advanced where I'm from. I don't have a phone to show though. [He never replaced his phone, to the frustration of Haru.] Phones can be used to call and take photos and videos. You can also search the web with it. [Wei probably has no idea what the web is...] They're quite useful. I don't know much about these, but it sounds like they work similarly. Albeit, perhaps outdated in comparison to what I've had.

[lookslikeacinnamonroll]

[ Wen Ning is pretty sure that's not how that word is supposed to be pronounced. But maybe it's some foreign dialect. This whole city is foreign to Wen Ning. Maybe that's just the way they say it here. ]

Ah, no. No party. At least, I don't think there's a party. [ He's never been invited to a party before. He thinks it might be fun to go to one, but he wouldn't know for sure. ]

I just needed to block the sun from hitting my face. It... hurts, for some reason.

[wolfsclothing]

I need the blood for something back home... [He isn't sure what to do with it right now, actually. It seems kind of awkward to walk around with it, but he can't just get rid of it either.] I keep emergency money in my shoe, so I have money. [But everything about this place is so different to what he's used to that he wonders if it'll be of use.

Legoshi finally stands up and he's quite tall. He looms over her but then he crouches down so he can speak with her at equal level.] Yeah, sure. It feels better to have company while trying to figure out what we're doing here.

Maybe they'll take the money I have and you can get something clean to wear. There has to be a service center of some kind that can help us. It seems like a decent city, so there must be officials that will know what to do. [Legoshi doesn't even question the blood on her. Maybe he should be concerned, but blood and injuries are fairly normal and it didn't even cross his mind to be suspicious of it.]

[purposefulnonsense]

"I have noticed that," he concurs amicably, even though it is more than a touch unsettling to suddenly find himself without the sight he so enjoyed. "Moreover, I am wet, the river seems to have been lacking in its upkeep--" meaning, of course, that it was filthy, "--and I have not yet the means to change into another set of robes, given my present inability to create new ones." Finding a place private enough for someone of his size to change is an issue, too. "Yet I have your company, and so I am content."

As inconvenient as the rest of it is, Hythlodaeus truly seems unbothered by it. He's very much a glass-half-full person. Not even Hades' protestation that he would wish to be let alone manages to dampen his mood or disturb him significantly. Then again, he knows his friend well enough to know that if he truly wished to be alone, he would already be leaving by now. And he has not, so obviously, obviously that means he really wants his company and is just being contrary about it.

It's rather charming, really.

"And... well, if nothing else will bring you cheer, I daresay you may find some amusement in my efforts to get through the doorways in this place!"

[extirpator]

[ a name — right. he and their father had shared the same name, but surely, she wouldn't think anything of it. ]

...Nier. [ it's said wih some kind of hesistance. his eyes flicker away, briefly. ] Like your dad. It's...um, a common name.

[ it is not. not even in the slightest. but moving on... ]

I think he'd like anything you gave him. [ nier pauses to think. ] What about a meat bun? Food is always good.

[lookslikeacinnamonroll]

[ Wen Ning keeps walking a step or two before he realizes Wen Qing has stopped. At which point he turns around, face oblivious as ever. ]

N-no, not at home. It only just started this morning. Or... Maybe last night. But only since I got here, anyway.

[ He frowns, trying to think of how to better explain what's happening to him. ]

I'm not hearing voices. It's just... Tha-thump. Tha-thump. Like a heartbeat. Like... lots of heartbeats.

[wolfsclothing]

[He stares at the other for a moment and-]

It's our blood.

So you could say it's our child we bore for the trials that await. [THEIR BLOOD CHILD FORGED TO REPRESENT THEIR GOAL TO BECOME BEASTARS TOGETHER.]

[lookslikeacinnamonroll]

It's the qi reserve inside a cultivator's body that gives them their power, and keeps them young. [ Some people say cultivation is all about trying to achieve immortality, after all. ] It's like magic, sort of.

[ He's impressed by the wind, as he feels it whip the air in front of him. ]

That's impressive! [ If she was looking for someone to keep her humble, she found the wrong man. ] Usually a cultivator needs to use a talisman or a spiritual tool to do something like that.

[wolfsclothing]

Right... [This idiot really out there accepting he was just gonna be wet because he came out of a fountain. He doesn't have spare clothes anyways.

And he's all too happy to follow Haru around despite being wet and lost. Okay, maybe he's following a little too closely to her and also maybe sniffing her. She's probably used to this. Maybe. It's been awhile!!! And also, he hasn't eaten recently and she's a rabbit. It just be like that.] Ah. You wouldn't want to visit. My apartment is... [A whole ass mess.] It wouldn't be very good.

[meteodrives]

[ The goblin behind Tifa is in an uproar now, slinging insults Rufus' way, and Tifa only partially pays attention. It's like Barret all over again, even if there's less cursing involved. The seller even makes a game attempt at cajoling for her attention, but she's past the point of being interested, especially when she'd been skeptical from the start. Besides, even if neither of them are attacking and there's no one in a black suit around, it's still a bad idea to turn your back to Rufus Shinra. ]

I'd be willing to wager some things actually work, just not the remedies.

[ The few weapons she's seen, for instance, though none of those appeal to her either. It's a shame about the potions, though. She'd actually been hoping... Well, it doesn't matter. No shortcuts, no safety nets. She'll deal with it.

Tifa inclines her head, mimicking thoughtfulness. ]

I don't think it will, even if what I've heard has me hesitant. [ Sharing thoughts and memories sounds a little invasive to her, frankly. If it's to help someone, though, then there's nothing to it. If she doesn't find someone to make a bond with, she's going to be in trouble too. ] I know you didn't mean that as a compliment but I'm going to take it that way.

[ Just saying. ]

You don't sound concerned. [ She imagines he won't have too much trouble, even if his name's unknown and he doesn't have money to fall back on. No changes to be seen... Is he a Witch, then? ]