faileas: (Default)
aefenglom log posting account ([personal profile] faileas) wrote in [community profile] middaeg2020-05-03 03:07 pm

Event Log: May, An Inauspicious Arrival

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!

themogget: (050)

Mogget | The Old Kingdom | Witch

[personal profile] themogget 2020-05-04 09:04 am (UTC)(link)
i. An Unusual Arrival
[Mogget steps out of a window-pane as if it's something he entirely meant to do, and sits down on the windowsill beyond it with a very mild expression of surprise on his face (insofar as cats are capable of looking surprised). He makes noise - a quiet, low chrrp in the back of his throat - and lifts his head up to sniff the air.

Interesting. It isn't often he's surprised by anything anymore.

The first thing he notices is that the Charter marks that normally flow around his collar are... not gone, but different. He lifts one hind leg and lightly scratches at the fabric, and the small silver bell at his throat gently rings out a somniferous, silvery chime.

The cat yawns.

He walks along the sill and hops neatly to the next one, avoiding jumping down to the ground for as long as possible. An unsuspecting person may suddenly find a small white cat landing on their shoulder, or they may just hear a strange, yowling voice which politely asks--
]

Would you kindly direct me to the nearest fish market?

ii. The Goblin Market
You shouldn't take that.

[The peculiar voice speaks from the direction of a white cat with bright green eyes that sits up at the top of one of the stalls despite all efforts of the owner to move it off. He's watching the person examining one of the many potions on offer, and provides no reason for his assertion before he begins to daintily wash one of his paws with a small pink tongue.

In his opinion, anyone would be a fool to take anything here... but desperation can make a fool out of anyone, as Mogget very well knows.
]

iii. A Wilde Hunt
[[offering Mogget as a temp bond for monsters! hit me up via PM/discord (hardtostarboard#7737) or plurk (hardtostarboard)]]
yesdoubt: (why is it you use those tragic methods)

i

[personal profile] yesdoubt 2020-05-04 04:21 pm (UTC)(link)
[That sure is...a cat landing on Momo's shoulder as he walks by on his hunt for new arrivals. He does a bit of a double take, and almost does another one when the cat apparently talks, but all things considered, it's not the weirdest thing he's run into here.

So he grins cheerfully to the cat and takes it in stride for the moment.]
Yeah, sure, I was heading out that way anyway. Are you set on the nearest? There's some in the shopping district, but the ones closer to the harbour usually have more stuff, and it's fresher.

[He's just going to keep walking, because he feels like the fact that he has a passenger now isn't about to change.]
themogget: (020)

[personal profile] themogget 2020-05-10 01:35 pm (UTC)(link)
[Interesting, but Mogget has already surmised that most things here are going to be interesting. The magic in the air prickles under his fur like static, but he ignores it for now.

There are more pressing matters at hand.
]

The fresher the better. [He purrs, settling himself into place on Momo's shoulder without the use of his claws.]

And I'm sure you understand that I'm not carrying any currency.
yesdoubt: ((my way) the answer i sought)

[personal profile] yesdoubt 2020-05-12 02:18 pm (UTC)(link)
[Momo laughs at that, because now he's imagining how a cat might find a way to carry currency. A neck pouch, maybe?] I'm sure I can spare enough to buy some fish. I feel like you'd have as hard a time carrying any leftovers than you would carrying money.

[In other words, there is probably a limit to how much fish one cat can eat on the spot, and he feels like that amount isn't going to break his bank any.]

Did you just arrive here? It's been kind of weird with the arrivals this month.
themogget: (044)

[personal profile] themogget 2020-05-17 06:04 pm (UTC)(link)
[He does not say thank you, because saying thank you isn't really in his nature, but he does purr against Momo's neck and knead both paws lightly against his shoulder.

Just one fish would do.
]

I stepped through a window, and here I was.

[There's a note of curiosity in his voice, but he doesn't sound overly unsettled by the transition.]

I don't recognise the magic here. There's no Charter.

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lostinshadows: ([50])

i

[personal profile] lostinshadows 2020-05-04 05:22 pm (UTC)(link)
[The sudden voice by his ear does have him tensing briefly. Being a rabbit is unfortunate, especially when his two lop ears just twitches when he realizes that yes, that is a cat on his shoulder.

And yes, it is talking to him.

He blinks a few times, but considering what this world is--]


Sure thing. Guessing you're hungry?

[With that, he just...begins to walk in the direction of the fish market. With the cat on his shoulder.]
themogget: (031)

[personal profile] themogget 2020-05-10 01:38 pm (UTC)(link)
Yes.

[Not entirely, as Mogget isn't really a cat and what he is doesn't experience hunger, but he enjoys eating fish very much and is also not adverse to lying in order to get what he wants.

He kneads his paws gently into Lavi's shoulder and begins to purr directly next to his ear.
]

What is this place?
lostinshadows: ([173])

[personal profile] lostinshadows 2020-05-14 03:38 pm (UTC)(link)
[Can he reach up to pet him? Because that's what he's doing.]

Aefenglom. World of monsters and witches.
themogget: (028)

[personal profile] themogget 2020-05-17 05:27 pm (UTC)(link)
[Mogget doesn't really react to the petting. He doesn't complain, though.]

I've never heard of it. [And that, in itself is interesting. Mogget is very old, and knows a great deal...]

And what can you tell me about this 'Aefenglom'?

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meteodrives: (TifaFF01500)

ii.

[personal profile] meteodrives 2020-05-05 03:19 am (UTC)(link)
[ Honestly, she doesn't trust the seller as far as she can throw them, but the potion that's supposed to help with the magical adjustment process seems at least promising in some respects. If it's a dud, at least she can say she's tried, and maybe that'll be enough. The goblin's in the midst of explaining what goes into the potion when Tifa hears the voice, and she turns to see the white cat sitting there.

She blinks. ]


Ah--

[ The goblin immediately starts trying to shoo the feline away, hoping Tifa won't mind, but she holds a hand out to keep the creature from going after the cat. ]

Hey, hey. Leave him be. If he has something to say... [ And did that cat speak, or was she just imagining it? ] ...I want to hear him out.
themogget: (014)

[personal profile] themogget 2020-05-10 01:50 pm (UTC)(link)
[The goblin's attempts to shift him don't seem to bother him that much, but he lets out a soft purr at Tifa's words. He does not jump down, not with the store owner looking at him like that, but he settles his forepaws against the edge of the roof and looks down at her with bright green eyes.]

I wouldn't. That's all I'm saying.

[And it might be all he'd say, if the goblin hadn't been so rude.]

The last person who bought a potion from here grew hair all over their face the minute they drank it.
meteodrives: (TifaFF01095)

[personal profile] meteodrives 2020-05-12 11:18 pm (UTC)(link)
[ The goblin starts trying to get at him, swiping gnarled fingers and shouting. Tifa's watching that cat calmly, quietly, and once the goblin seems like he might get close enough to actually bat at the cat, she reaches out and snatches the seller by the back of the tunic, dragging him back towards her.

Her gaze is steely. ]


I'd asked for something to help with the Bonding process, remember? Not hair. So if you're trying to sell me something nasty, forget it.

[ For all that she should be angry, she really isn't; she knew she was signing up for something that likely wouldn't give her what she wanted, after all. This place reeks of a scam.

So now, she reaches up with her arms, opening them. ]


Thank you. Do you want to come down, so he doesn't bother you anymore?
themogget: (017)

[personal profile] themogget 2020-05-17 06:07 pm (UTC)(link)
[There's a noise from Mogget's direction - something like the cat approximation of a laugh - and when Tifa reaches up he simply looks at her with far more intelligence than any cat should have a right to show.]

He isn't bothering me.

[Mogget believes it to be quite the opposite, in fact.]

It's been interesting to see how many people take me seriously.
finesseblade: do not take (9.)

i.

[personal profile] finesseblade 2020-05-05 11:36 am (UTC)(link)
[ Ordinarily, he'd hear someone coming before they ever got this close to him, but the silence of cat's paws and the noise of a busy street works against him, here. By the time he realizes he's been approached, their are paws curled into his shoulders, and a voice in his ear far closer than Felix is usually comfortable with.

He jolts in alarm, taking half a step back, but the weight on his shoulder comes with him. ]


What th— [ Cat? Cat. His nostrils flare, predatory instincts with them, but he shakes his head, swaying with the sudden weight on his shoulder. He's not an animal, and he doesn't eat cats, to boot. He would know. He owns one, and probably smells like her, too. ] Can I get some space first?
themogget: (018)

[personal profile] themogget 2020-05-10 02:05 pm (UTC)(link)
[It doesn't look like he's going to comply, not right away. He stares at Felix in that peculiar way that cats have, though with enough of a spark of sharp intelligence behind the eyes to verge on uncanny, then he jumps off just as neatly as he arrived to land on a nearby stone wall.]

If you insist.

[He does, after all, want the fish.]

Do you have a name?
finesseblade: do not take (59.)

[personal profile] finesseblade 2020-05-11 02:42 am (UTC)(link)
[ It's... certainly a cat, but not like any cat Felix has ever seen. They don't usually speak, or look at him that keenly.

He follows the white blur to the wall beside him, blinking owlishly. After a glance up and down the street, he steps a little closer—as though self-conscious about being seen talking to a cat. ]


Felix. Do you have a name?
themogget: (024)

[personal profile] themogget 2020-05-16 07:10 pm (UTC)(link)
[Mogget purrs softly.]

I once had many names. Now, only several. Or perhaps just one.

[Perhaps just one, here, where he feels the strangeness of the magic not only in the air and the earth but in himself, too. Something is different, but he's not yet had the time to explore it.]

You can call me Mogget. And you can tell me where I am.

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seductless: (14)

ii

[personal profile] seductless 2020-05-06 03:01 am (UTC)(link)
[ Spending most of one's life in the outer planes can accustom you to all sorts of strange things, which is at least partially why when Grace traces the voice upwards, she only blinks once to find it coming what seems to be a cat. The seller shoots the cat a baleful glare, but Grace just smiles slightly, shifting as close as she can to the stall wall without her wings brushing anything away. ]

Why do you say that?

[ Whether or not she had been planning to buy anything seems immaterial. Grace's attention is well and truly taken now anyway, something the seller seems extremely unimpressed by. ]
themogget: (032)

[personal profile] themogget 2020-05-10 02:31 pm (UTC)(link)
Because I've been sitting here all day, watching what happens to people who drink them.

[Mogget is sure that the seller would much rather he divert his attentions elsewhere, and Mogget really isn't doing this out of the goodness of his heart - rather that he likes to see what happens when he warns people of things and they don't take his advice.

People can be interesting.
]

And I've seen what they're putting in them.

seductless: (06)

[personal profile] seductless 2020-05-13 10:55 pm (UTC)(link)
I see.

[ There's definite amusement in her voice now as her eyes dart between the cat and the increasingly frustrated seller. ]

So you've been sitting there the entire time warning people off? That's rather kind of you.

[ Or just extremely annoying to the person trying to sell them. ]
themogget: (021)

[personal profile] themogget 2020-05-17 06:10 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm not doing it out of kindness.

[Mogget rarely does anything out of kindness. It isn't really in his nature. The cat adjusts position slightly, tucking his front paws towards his chest.]

Some people take heed, some people choose to ignore me. I'm observing.

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stopfen: (I want to be there...)

ii.

[personal profile] stopfen 2020-05-11 11:27 pm (UTC)(link)
Wasn't planning on it...

[At that the merchant which had been trying to hawk his wares sputters and starts his pitch again. Like that'll convince the fae that's just spent the better part of half an hour just picking up things, looking at them, reading the labels, then putting them down in the wrong spot.

Looking like an intent customer, actually being a retail workers' worst nightmare.

Then she turns her head to look up at the voice. And her pupils just, expand.]


...You're not a person are you.

[Plz, be a cute little kitty cat and not someone's dad. She can't deal with that again.]
themogget: (048)

[personal profile] themogget 2020-05-11 11:35 pm (UTC)(link)
[The cat blinks.

Mogget expected many things, but he didn't quite expect that question. He regards Mikasa for a few long, silent moments, then makes a sound that is a cat-approximation of a throat-clearing cough.
]

A person? That really depends on what your definition of 'person' is.

[Whatever he is, he is clearly talking. Mogget's voice comes out wrapped around purrs, hisses and yowls... but he talks.]
stopfen: (Now sleep peacefully)

[personal profile] stopfen 2020-05-12 11:57 pm (UTC)(link)
[Stares back, not blinking, never blinking. Even as she tilts her head, waiting for him. His voice sounded very different to the dragon man's...]

The last talking animal I met. Turned out to be a human. [A human person, not a monster or other definition of a person. Then there's a beat and she adds. ]

...He was naked.
themogget: (020)

[personal profile] themogget 2020-05-17 06:09 pm (UTC)(link)
I am not human.

[The reply is delivered somewhat mildly... but is Mogget insulted? The tip of his tail is twitching, but irritation doesn't make it into his voice.]

I am unclothed, but that's to be expected of a cat.

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so done

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