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

[holyswordwielder]

𝓒. 𝒲𝐼𝐿𝒟𝒞𝒜𝑅𝒟;
ALL MONTH - ANYWHERE

( ooc : arthur will be around all month, so if you wish to plot something out or hit me up with a random prompt, feel free to! while i do not have plurk anymore, you can message me on discord at moonlitscents#3890 or shoot me a pm OR comment here to chat about things! i'll also be adding more prompts under the top-level over the course of the month probably as the whim takes me. ♡ )

[unyieldingmarch]

I'm aware.

[Hand on her hip, Edelgard looks him up and down, but her grip never goes towards the hilt of her blade.

She's not smiling, exactly, but her face is smoothly neutral.]

The Byleth Eisner I know is a woman. And her hair changed back to it's normal color when Seiros died.

[She won't hold that fact back. She has no reason to deny the man these scraps of information, at least.]

[casphard]

... you said juice?

( his tail wagging, it's him: caspar von boofliez. both ears are up, just like his eyes are wide, and he's looking around furiously for the aforementioned juice. but his mood turns dour once he hears the rest of what his favorite short author says. )

Don't tell me it's made from... crap....

( squint. this does not spark joy. )

i

[yesdoubt]

[Momo, being the good samaritan he is when there's no gentle trolling to be done to people in his vicinity, is on the lookout for weird arrivals at the moment after getting the message sent out to the current Mirrorbound. Tailing at his feet for this particular outing are two young, wolf-looking creatures, except instead of fur, they have foliage, one covered in peach leaves and flowers and the other with snowdrop. Momo himself clearly hasn't just come out of one of the mirrors, dressed as he is in a button-up shirt and open waistcoat in the local style, though the open part is definitely more of a modern take on the more polished wear of most of the other people around.

Ryuu might see his lace-up boots first from the ground, though, as a familiar hand with hot pink nails reaches down to offer a hand up. That performance outfit had been awfully distinctive, and Momo is only too happy to see someone else from home, showing his sharp canines as he grins.]

I'm already walking two cute puppies, so find me a leash and I'll add you to the mix, Ryuu-chan. [Ignore that his petalwolves aren't on leashes and are, indeed, now sniffing Ryuu rather curiously, as if wondering if they really do have a new companion.]

[lucubrates]

[ Her heart clenches, unbidden. The sight of Urbosa, approaching, holding her hand out to her with kindness and well-meant words of encouragement, ones that make her want to do just that, is overwhelming. For a brief moment, she considers this an illusion, a cruel trick played on her. That the woman who protected her and who she found safety in, again and again, was alive and well enough to hunt, strikes her with melancholy. She had seen that spirit off, hanging over Hyrule Castle, but then she remembers something someone else had told her. That they, too, had been dead.

All the same, her ancestress is here.

She reaches out, a shiver lighting up her spine as they touch. That hand is unmistakable, even one hundred years later. She stands, tears pricking at the corners of her eyes. ]

Yes...!

[ When she stands, the grass and dirt and fallen leaves stick to her. There's twigs in her hair, dirt smeared across her forehead. She feels ashamed, that Urbosa would see her princess like this. With her free hand, Zelda tries to clean it off. The action allows her enough time to dry those tears. ]

I can hardly believe it, but of course... You would find yourself out here. [ Her heart is hammering in her chest, but she is sincere. ]You are... Doing what you can to help?

[unsacrificing]

[after spending hours upon hours upon days upon weeks upon months with claude, making plans and strategies and backup plans upon backup plans together, byleth has an idea what claude's thinking. he's probably on edge, trusting very little, taking two steps back to observe and gathering information.

and he's probably wonder if he's the same byleth he knows or another byleth altogether.

so byleth nods.]

Yes, I do.

[and under his breath, he says:]

"Whether we actually believe our dreams will come true or not is up to us."

[galrarm]

[ Oh, boy. By the looks of things, Lance has been here a while; he seems too at ease and he's undeniably, obviously different. It's enough to unbalance him a little, but he keeps it together--he has to. Besides... ]

Not... yet, no. [ Witches? Monsters? That doesn't make any issues surface. ] I'm guessing you know a lot about it, though. That means I'm counting on you to help me out.

Yogi | Karneval | Witch | ota

[thornbox]

II. An unusual arrival

[Yogi had been on his bed, playing with his phone, thinking what to message his friends, when suddenly he falls in the middle of a living room. He looks around, patting his butt, he tries to get his phone to message Hirato, but it doesn't work. He's in someone's house, there's no technology he recognizes and he starts to freak out.

He looks around for the door, and runs to it, opening it and running outside. He's hyperventilating, doesn't know what he will do, and looking at the city layout in front of him. He goes up tot he first person he finds, and pokes them in the shoulder.]

Hi! Where am I?

III. The Goblin Market

[Now knowing he's nowhere near his beloved Circus ship, Yogi is a bit more concerned about his deadly allergy. Maybe someone will have a cure or a remedy that will help, or at least until he can see Akari again. He looks at everything the vendors offer, and hums as he explores. Nothing seems to be what he needs, so he wants to take a turn and ends up going the opposite direction, and crashing onto an unsuspecting victim.]

Ah~! I'm sorry! I don't know what happened, I wanted to go to the left and suddenly I'm here and crushed into you and--

[He's not stopping, he's still talking.]

Wildcard

((Anything you'd like to play out? Message me at danybel!))

[livingimpaired]

[ The priest smiles. The smile this time, however, is a sardonic one. It is the smile that one wears when they hear a story that they've heard before. ]

I am Kirei Kotomine. [ He makes a small gesture for Berserker to follow him; he decides that if he cannot get any directions that they shall wander the streets and chat. It is better than standing around, anyway. Sometimes a man's got to predate. ]

I have lived the life that you're living right now, Berserker. It is not an existence that I would ever desire to return to. [ His steps almost seem to echo as they start down an empty street. ] To see you living it, and sounding so proud as you announce your desire to live your own life...

[ He breathes through his nose, an almost laugh. ] ... I can't help but feel sorry for you.

[galrarm]

((ooc: that's more than good with me!))

[ It's good to have some of the team here. Shiro isn't sure what he'd do without them; he relies on them, just as much as they rely on him. If it weren't for them, he'd be having a much more difficult time.

And then-- oof. He catches her without any difficulty, and he sets her upright again. But he definitely keeps close to her, in case he needs to catch her again. No falling princesses here! ]

People looking for a quick coin or several. [ He's basically hover-handing her at this point, but he doesn't mind. ] Are you alright? Let's get you somewhere you can sit.

[npc_admin]

Yes.

[ He offers a small nod in return. For someone who is in someone else's house, he certainly has moved in. Which is to say, he sits in a chair with a book propped in his lap. He just needs a scotch or some hard drink in his hand to really make the scene. ]

It is. [ Father Kotomine nods yet again. ] But don't go worrying yourself over me. I'd rather that you have a wretched face over your own predicament.

[gunshow]

[ reflexively and maybe half out of sheer fear at something hurtling through the air in his general direction, ryuu uses the opportunity to leap from the attendant's grasp. free! though now the attendant is... not so free! brain whirling, ryuu takes a moment to try and get a grasp of the sudden situation, but luckily he's been training for this moment. one could almost say it's instinctive to him, by now. forgotten are his toothy woes. ]

- ahh, now, now! [ scrambling forward, ryuu makes placating motions with his hands. ] I'm sure he was just trying to help! I was looking pretty lost, after all...

[ he sure is sugarcoating this, but now he's also attempting to wedge his rather impressive body between the irate guy with the cute tail and the sniveling vendor. ]

Maybe if we continue on together, we can find something to help the both of us?

[ ryuu puts his hand out. here, hedgie, hedgie... ]

[unsacrificing]

[byleth is very pleased to have found the owner! though his face does not really... display such elation, he is happy and presses the button into her hand.]

At one of the stalls. It's a bit broken, but I thought I'd find the owner and return it.

[it's a decorative little thing, very cute in what isn't broken off.]

It suits you.

Donald Duck | DuckTales (2017) | Harpy

[duckflails]

[ooc: I'm perfectly fine with him being fourth walled. Also note that his squawky voice is canonically hard to understand!]

A. The Mirror of Monsters!

[One moment, Donald was on the houseboat, looking into the mirror. ...The next, he finds himself by a very different mirror, in someone's dining room. The duck blinks, disoriented, as he tries to make sense of what happened. The idea of a magical kidnapping comes to mind, because it is a very likely possibility when you're the nephew of the one and only Scrooge McDuck.

So he responds with his first instinct: anger.]

Hey!! What's the big idea! [He squawks angrily at no one in particular, looking around at his surroundings and flailing angrily at the air. He really doesn't appreciate suddenly being separated from his home and family, after all! Hopefully he doesn't accidentally knock anything important over.]

B. The Potion of Precariousness!

[Some time later, Donald's started to learn the basics of this place. He's not happy with it, and he's weirded out by the large number of those flesh-faced beings walking around, but he's trying to live with this until he finds a way home. Even as he finds himself growing more feathers. Concerned with this whole monster transformation thing, he does quickly turn to the goblins selling their ware. Though he tries to be tough and skeptical with them, ultimately he's suckered into drinking a potion.

The potion has an effect alright. It removes the traction from Donald's feet. So, you'll see a duck skidding across town and letting out distressed squawks! If he sees someone specifically at one of the goblin markets, he'll skid right towards you while trying to squawk some warning about not trusting them! Either way, be careful to avoid any potential collisions!]

C. The Rise of the Harpy!

[Eventually, it's transformation time. Donald has gained an extra coat of feathers, pointed ears, SHARP TEETH and a feathered tail, along with his feet now being more talon-like.

He's thinking a bit less about getting home now. If he's going to be stuck here, he may as well seek a place to stay. A nice nest! So, anyone going about their daily business could suddenly find a duck siren swooping down towards them.]

Hey! Hands off, that's mine!! [It will become clear what he's talking about in a moment: he'll grip some stick on the ground with his talons and then take it back to a nearby tree, to use in his nest. Of course, he may also end up grabbing some other sort of valuable trinket, in which case someone may want to do something about that! Or maybe someone's just curious about the cranky bird now living in the nearby tree.]

D. The Shade-ow War!

[With the monstrous instincts at a high, Donald ends up joining the others out there in the Wilde. Hunting for game is fine and all, but he's now more concerned about these Shade things. Even without the boys around, his protective instincts want him to nip this threat in the bud before they threaten the city.

Donald's a bit on edge, impatiently flapping his wings as he seeks them out.]

Alright, where are they?! Let's get this over with!

E. Wildcard!

[Feel free to come up with an alternate prompt or hit me up for plotting!]

[heartmunculus]

[Well, it seems like this man is doing... well for himself? Despite being unable to access his database.

Sieg looks even more lost.]

You want me... to have a bad time?

[It's true this isn't ideal, but that seems a bit excessive.]

Hythlodaeus | FFXIV | Witch

[purposefulnonsense]

An Unusual Arrival

[purposefulnonsense]

In the first glimmering light of dawn, the water of the river stirs. From the surface emerges a man, hand outstretched as though interrupted in the midst of examining something and dry for he briefest of instants before gravity takes hold and he comes down with a great splash that breaks whatever stillness there is to be had in the hour. The sound is not small, for he is not small.

He emerges from the water again with a gasp; startled, disoriented, he bobs at the surface, owl-like mask still miraculously in place, though his saturated robes weigh him down in the water. Thus, he makes his way to the shore, glancing about in a bewildered daze as he paddles his way to the water’s edge. The surrounding buildings are so very small, and so very unlike the gleaming white city to which he is accustomed, the whole area devoid of the dazzling array of color he would normally see at any given moment, of souls drifting on the currents.

Reaching the bank of the river, Hythlodaeus hoists himself from the water, robes heavy and clinging to his body in uncomfortable ways. It occurs to him that he ought to create a new set to change into, though without a place to change into them, he would do little more than get them wet as well. Though he is not afraid to deviate from a norm or two, baring himself in public goes quite a ways beyond his preferred antics. So, he does what he assumes is only sensible, and makes to wring out his thoroughly saturated garments.

Being that said garments are fitted for a man of over fifteen fulms in height, his efforts result in quite the puddle.

[bookpunching]

Lost is putting it mildly.

[ His face continues to be pressed deep into his hands. He only lifts it up when he sees a faint shadow cast through his fingers. Grimoire Weiss adjusts the glasses that he is wearing so that he could take a better look at the young woman.

He tries not to have his mouth curl down. It is not because of her but because of the glasses that he is now wearing. Kind of whomever dragged him into this world and gift him a human body to make sure that he could see. ]

My dear... [ He straightens his posture. ] ... would you believe me if I told you that I was a great and powerful arcane text?

[kingofunification]

[Whether we believe our dreams...

...oh. Oh.

There’s a heat creeping up his neck when the meaning behind those words set in, a memory from a time long past flashing in his mind. It seemed much simpler then to say something so..bold. As if the matters of sharing dreams with someone would be the biggest leap he would have to take in his life.]

...I’m surprised you still remember something like that, my friend. [His words are a murmur as he rubs the back of his neck, trying to keep the heat from spreading to his cheeks.] But I suppose it’s been a shorter time for you since I spoke them.

i

[siegfriend]

( perhaps it's fate, or luck has somehow played a massive part in all of this, but someone else busts through another mirror close by. shaking his head to clear the shards out of his hair, he first takes stock of himself before turning to his side and addresses the other...

hm. )

I'm not sure, but...

( he's not... sure what else to say. )

[npc_admin]

[ The once AI smiles. ]

If you could.

[curruid_coinchenn]

[ He follows after Kirei without hesitation. As uncomfortable as he's getting, he's still far too interested in the priest to listen to his better instincts. ]

Ciarán Cú. [ He doesn't want to be called Berserker any longer, nor does he want to be called Cú Chulainn. The name given to him by Caster is the only one that matters. ] And why do you feel sorry for me?

[ Now he gets a bit cagey. He's...satisfied with the life he has here. His Bonded mean the world to him, especially Diarmuid (he owed pretty much all of it to their Bond). ]

I finally have something worth protecting and not just because I was told to do it. I want...I want something for myself. If you feel sorry for me because of that, I don't care.

[gunshow]

[ ever heard a large man yelp in surprise? even from underwater? well, it's loud, and rather higher pitched than one might imagine of somenoe of ryuu's stature, but there it is. feeling as wound up as he was, he'd been more preoccupied with keeping his senses alert to the surrounding forest. never did he expect the water to betray him...

but that it does, forcing ryuu to bolt to his feet on a pivot, bringing the weight of his body around to whip his tail up from the water in one long, powerful motion. it would look pretty impressive, that much muscle arching around, scales and water catching the light -

if not for it, well. being the line. which means whatever's got him is going to suffer the same momentum, being dragged ashore and made pretty airborne. ]

- oh!

[ A PERSON? ]

[heartmunculus]

[Oh.

It's very strange to see Siegfried face to face. He never really got a chance to speak to the one who helped him so much.

His tail swishes in even more agitation, unsure what to say to him.]

Should we... look around...?

[That's what people do, right?]

[heartmunculus]

I just arrived.

I don't know how possible that will be.

[And he's not sure he really wants to do as he's been asked either.]