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

[oathkeeper]

It's nice to meet you, Lightning!

[Goodnes, that makes a few people he knows with weather-based names. It must be a popular thing to do or something like that. It's cool.

The city itself hasn't changed all that much. The clouds are gray and it rains a lot. Issues with monster slavery is still a big deal with outside cities and Aefenglom is still in turmoil to try and turn the tides. But lately, it's been fairly calm and the day to day has been the same. Besides all these people falling for the sky lately, that is.]

I live just up this street here.

[He gives her a curious look.]

So I'm guessing you're a witch?

[piromare]

( lio can only share his own experiences, which have been limited compared to some of the other witches and monsters he's made friends with so far. that being said, he's also aware of the odd happenings throughout the city, which makes him wonder if onni is one of those who've recently showed up.

looking up and down, he sizes up the other guy. )

No. ( a beat, then: ) It took me an entire month for some of my changes to show.

( he lifts up the hair on the side of his head, revealing the pointed ears. then, he parts that same chunk of hair to show off the feathers growing in. )

I heard the Coven here can test for potential magical ability, but I personally didn't bother.

[ua_duibhne]

Mirrorbound from the same places seem fated to come across each other eventually. Sometimes I wonder if there's magic at work trying to draw us back together, for better or worse.

[Now that's a difficult question; answering it would only raise more and neither of them, he suspects, have the time or inclination to work through the Gordian knot that is the Grail War. So, he wisely cuts all of that in his reply.]

In a sense, though only a few I knew personally. [And they're a mixed bag of emotions, even now. With a soft, thoughtful hum, he teases that stray lock of hair of his around one finger.] But if there's one thing I can say with certainty, it's that you will be looked after regardless. There are some truly valorous souls here.

[stopfen]

Yeah. But remember? Bitching about a lousy situation is tradition... [It had been a long time since Levi had said that though.

But Mikasa closes her eyes.]

It has been. The only thing that's happened since I arrived was a trial and execution. Apparently I turned up right after a noble family kidnapped a load of people for experiments. [Well, that was the only 'bad' thing that had happened, and she'd not been there for most of it.]

There was an expedition too...People live outside the walls here. [It was dangerous. But still safer than the idea of living outside the walls where they were from.]

[stopfen]

They'll nag me. You've got a few weeks before they start... [But she inhales, squaring her shoulders and walking in, head held high. Like she hadn't been about to back out.]

It's the place. I would have just left you on the market if I wasn't going to help.

[oathkeeper]

Okay, okay. I get it. You don't have to use language that bad just because of it.

[Sora's shoulders slouch but he does give the nervous merchant and look afterwards. He sets the potion back on the table and crosses his arms over his chest.]

You know it's not very nice to sell this kind of stuff to people, right? You could seriously hurt someone!

[holybeasts]

[Ah, the agility!]

I really enjoy it, to be honest. Then again I've always been energetic so it's refreshing in a way to be so nimble.

[weiward]

[the sigh that escapes wei wuxian this time is one of relief. maybe jin ling is catching on. he nods slowly.]

That's right. The last memory that I had before coming here happened a long time ago for everyone else. Maybe I'll catch up at some point. Lan Zhan was gone for a day, but he'd gone back and experienced more years. And you know what I did when he told me about them?

[he stops directly in front of the boy, lifting a hand to place on his head.]

I believed him. You should try it sometime.

[he smirks with the words.]

[electrod]

[ Well...

>Reno
>class

One of these things is not like the other, so much that he lets out a snort. But the slight change of tone, the implication of a (gasp) joke and a sort of familiarity... familiarity that really he can't place where it's coming from, doesn't escape him. Then there is a name that he is certain to have not heard yet.

Huh ]

Kadaj, Kadaj— [ Reno's gaze escapes to the cite, as he one last time runs through the mental notes. Nope, doesn't ring any bell, he shakes his head, and loses one small feather that he catches before it falls on the table ] Don't think I've been briefed about that one, boss.

[ And he has a hunch it's not because he didn't read the report. There weren't any, really. Craziest of nights and Rufus has won the race to the stage, and taken the reins. There's more at play here and he did hear about people appearing him from different moments in their lives. But he won't play a guessing game, and just relaxes in the chair, rolling the feather between his thumb and index finger ]

So— any instructions? [ That Kadaj, sounds like a person of interest. ] On how should they be dealt with.

[kingofunification]

[His own hand mirrors Dimitri's, rubbing his chin as he thinks. He has no reason to hide anything--and it already seems like most of the...well, bad news, so to speak was broken to him in some way, so it hopefully wouldn't be any more traumatizing to his psyche than it already had been.

...hopefully. Dimitri at least deserved the truth as well as he could give it.]

From what I've heard from Sylvain, the differences aren't too stark from my version of events to his version of events in regards to the Empire's march.

[He lowers his hand, resting it on his hip.]The Empire invaded the Kingdom--or I should say they were let in after powers exchanged hands from the Blaiddyd line to Cornelia, who immediately bent a knee to the Empire. After you were tried for the death of your uncle, the Empire claimed to have you executed...

[He lets out a huff of air--it just felt weird to talk about someone's future trial right in front of them.] ...well, it seemed like a set-up to me, that you could be so conveniently tired for something without any multiple accounts or cross-examination. And with how quickly the Kingdom allowed itself to be a subject under the Empire, it was obvious that it was being used as both a scapegoat and propaganda for the rest of the continent.

[devilyouknew]

[Takizawa looks down at his feet. He scrapes the bottom of one across the ground and kicks up a little dirt with the toes of both, gathering it up between all the digits. Then he shrugs.]

They've been worse.

[He's watching the boy a little too closely, a little too familiar for a stranger, but he can't help it. There are too many questions that need answering for him to walk away, and very few of them are ones he can actually ask.]

Let me stick with you for a while - just to make sure nothing happens to you.

[He's a concerned fellow displaced individual, that's all. One who happened to come by at the right time. Who also looks far less friendly than he's trying to pull off.]

[devilyouknew]

A few weeks before they start what? Nagging?

[Now she's walking ahead, so he can only follow. He didn't have any concerns about going in on his own, but it's nice not to feel like such an unsettling figure that she would ditch him first chance she got.]

[kingofunification]

[He returns the hug, rubbing a comforting hand between her shoulders before they part. Her happiness is infectious, and he's chuckling again, eyes crinkling with joy.] Trust me, it's giving me a lot of relief myself. It's enough to be faced with strange timelines where allies are now enemies, so I'm relieved that this is not the case.]

We did emerge victorious...[His smile falters for a moment, a small sigh escaping him.] ...but not without some other troubling event transpiring. I can tell you more about later it if you truly want to know, but I'm more interested to know what you have discovered about this world.

[But her hesitation at speaking about changes--he can only assume one thing.] You must be turning into another creature, then?

[Claude's curious about the process--curious what Petra could be turning to--but again with the hesitation. Perhaps it was not an comfortable thing to her. He lays a hand back on her shoulder, a comforting smile on his lips.] There are a few changes that I'll supposedly go through, but nothing like changing my whole physiology. It must be a...strange thing to deal with.

[finesseblade]

[ There she goes. Felix's lips curl back from his teeth in a canine grin, tongue lolling out of one side of his mouth, and for a moment, he savors his amusement.

Then his instincts break loose, screaming at him to chase, and Felix takes off like a shot of ink into the dark after her.

She's fast, and lightweight, with wings that may very well take her off the ground if she gets it in her head to really fly, but Felix has power behind him, so he lopes alongside her, upright at moments and then down on all fours when it suits him. He doesn't bother to conceal his movements—branches snap and old leaves crunch beneath his paws, signaling to everyone and everything that the two of them are on the move.

No instinct to rend, or kill, but just to run, and feel the wind through his fur. It's a freedom he rarely indulges in. It's... exhilarating.

He swerves in close to her, barking short and sharp, nipping at the tips of her wings—not a threat, but a playful move, and a warning that he's nearby and she'd better move quick. ]

[weiward]

[he's going to be wearing it anyway, especially in lan zhan's presence. his reputation has been through worse things, to the point where he no longer cares.

lan wangji's reputation, on the other hand, is something he takes a little more seriously. rabbit ears probably wouldn't suit him.]

Shijie, you shouldn't have to throw yourself into work right away! You just got here! [but hearing the promise, his stomach chooses that moment to betray him. wei wuxian places his hand against it while giving her his most sheepish smile.] ...But no one in Aefenglom cooks as good as you do. That's a fact.

[exsoldier]

[ An adrenaline high? Given that's something that's only supposed to last for a short while, the idea of feeling like that all the time sounds pretty exhausting. Zack's not sure what to expect from his own situation. He's heard that monsters will start to get restless, especially around the full moon, so he's not looking forward to that. ]

Makes sense. Just what kind of magic can you use, anyway? Did they tell you?

[ It's been a flood of information. Monsters, witches, bonds, Cwyld -- it's enough to make anyone's head spin. Zack finds it easier to process by talking to someone else who's as new to things as he is, assuming that she'll pull up with it.

Even as they talk, he's keeping one ear open for anyone advertising the kind of potion she's looking for. ]

/inserts Eternal Bond joke

[purposefulnonsense]

"Congratulations on your bonding!" Hythlodaeus perks up, his thoughts naturally gravitating towards the sorts of the commitments that occur between lovers. "Did you come here together, or did you perhaps meet in this fanciful little city?"

How wonderfully romantic, either way!

[exsoldier]

[ A different kind of magic, and a sort that most people don't know about? But Ann does, and maybe that's why she'd ended up here. Zack doesn't understand what force drew them all here, or how it works, but that seems to be a mystery to even the natives of this world. ]

I mean, it definitely caught me off-guard.

[ He drops his arms to his sides and shakes his head. Suddenly waking up in a fountain had been alarming, to say the least. ]

We have magic, but you can only use it if you have something called Materia. Which is like... a crystallized form of the planet's life force.

[ Probably the easiest way to explain it. See, Zack had paid attention during his SOLDIER training. Sometimes. ]

[sealeted]

No, he would only ever call one person his friend.

[And said person is... actually here.]

He and I had a similar arrangement of sort, I think. It changed a little as our War ended and our aims changed. Have you run into the version of him here, yet?

[arturiarex]

I think I've gained power and strength which... isn't unfamiliar to me, but it still feels a little strange, honestly.

[ Adora looks thoughtful. ]

Especially since it feels so... unrestrained at times.

[arturiarex]

[ There's something invigorating about finally letting it all loose. Letting it run free, without restraint, letting her thinking mind go. She didn't think she would enjoy it, but a part of her does. She's not out of control. This isn't like the other full moon. She's more aware of who she is and what she's doing and the rush of air around her and the catch of branches against clothing make her feel alive.

She glances back, wings tucking in slightly as he follows alongside her. There's a playful nip from him against the feathers and she gives him a slightly shocked look before she spreads her wings wide again and gives him a buffet from one of them in return as she puts on speed. She may not have quite his size, but her frame is powerful and she move quickly when she wants to.

Besides she has a competitive streak.

She breaks into a clearing, the moonlight illuminating everything in a silver, and she jumps forward, wings catching the air and for a moment she's poised in the pale light - not quite flying, not merely leaping. ]

[trost]

[ ooooverflow! ]

[confectionerie]

[ Hey, she'll take a smile, even if it's a slight one! It makes it easier to bolster her own confidence in this plan. ]

If nothing else, I bet we can find a bar...and aren't people always more willing to talk after a few drinks?

[ Not that she's super excited to go into a bar in an unfamiliar city in the middle of the night, but there are worse things. She just hopes they don't run into anyone who asks questions first. Even if it's the truth, how she got here sure sounds like a lie.

With that settled, she starts back down the alleyway, looking both ways down the street before emerging. ]

Looks like the coast is clear! No guards in sight.

[mistwalk]

[ Yugiri would have been interested to hear his tale no matter where it led, but this is unexpected. He speaks not of a Warrior of Light, but a Warrior of Darkness come to save their land from the unyielding light. It surely must only be a coincidence...right? ]

The Warrior of Darkness? That's so astoundingly similar...though across Hydaelyn, our savior was known as the Warrior of Light. They have saved our realm from calamity after calamity. It eases my heart to know your world had such a hero, as well.

[ Although... ]

They...arrived? Were they not from Norvrandt, then?

[anotherstep]

[ Though he's not expecting her to pull him along with her, he's nimble on his feet, and follows her lead, hefting his axe onto his shoulder. Keeping it pissed off is good — the more wild and enraged it gets, the more likely it is to be blinded by its anger and get itself stuck. At least, that's what Ardbert hopes will happen — if it doesn't, he's out of ideas.

A quick nod. ]

I'll keep him off you.

[ And to that end, he hooks his axe into an overhead branch as they pass beneath it, using his weight to snap it down and right into the Shade's maw as he pulls his axe free. The beast roars ferociously, and for better or for worse, only hastens in his pursuit of Ardbert. ]

But we might not have much time!