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

[ruinedempire]

[Honestly, he's not much in a mood to entertain a complete stranger, even though he's the one that willingly ventured into this bar and selected a sad corner table to himself. Truly, if he really wanted to be left alone, there are far better choices, but there's always a chance to see someone of interest here. Of course, he's not completely getting his hopes up, as Rufus prefers to be realistic about his situation.

So there's actual surprise striking across Rufus' face when the redhead saunters over and pushes the lady aside, a rare look of honesty on him that's almost as noticeable as the relief that makes him slightly less tense.

He doesn't deign Reno's comment with any real answer, however, instead going for something else that will hopefully establish some normalcy between them.]

...You're late, Reno. [There's a small upward twitch of his mouth, one that isn't filled with its typical 'I'm getting ready to screw you over,' and something that might be even considered genuine as the Turk takes his seat at the formerly empty chair.]

But the first Turk I've seen all day. [He eyes the further ruination of Reno's uniform with a raised eyebrow, but Rufus would have to be entirely blind or unobservant to not recognize one of his most loyal employees.] Whose pay do I need to dock?

[Or more accurately, Rufus wants a report from Reno, who their allies are, if there are other Turks in town.]

[electrod]

[ As strangely as it could sound, meeting Rufus offers a sense of... normalcy, familiarity. Back to the usual business as if none of this weird shit mattered, reporting for duty! There could be a question asked if Rufus is really paying them here, but Reno doesn't feel that obnoxious. Figuring out exactly how far get could go without going too far with the constant protocol skirting is a skill, potentially a survival skill.

So he answers non-committally ]

Not my decision to make. [ Because it really isn't and he's not going to sell his teammates to ensure his pay doesn't take a hit. So he passes over that and moves onto report— because he has been digging into things, and it's finally time it might come in handy ] I found Rude, and now, you. Everyone else comes from different places. This whole mirror refugee thing going on? They've been having it for a year. They're also nowhere close to solving it— but we're kind of special case and supposedly weak link.

[ Or that's the whisper on the road. He'd do airquotes, but he's still not used for his arms transforming into wings— the added volume means a lot of accidents of shoving into something, and this is a small space ]

Chances are the wilder the origin stories you've heard the more likely they're true. [ There's a tone of added confidence here. Reno figured his "bullshit alarm" is a real deal when he found out that harpies are not allowed to participate in games requiring bluffing. ] So yeah, if you have shitload people coming through mirrors, there's gonna be some changes. Looks like some seats in parliament were made available to them recently. The Moons, and Bond stuff? It sounds like a mess, but it varies from person to person how big mess it is.

[ He's starting to eye the waiter doing rounds, tempted if to order a drink, —would it count as drinking on the clock? ]

Better place bets on the Mirror weirdoes than the locals.

[ruinedempire]

[So, Rude is here as well. That's good, Reno and Rude make a strong team, their record nearly flawless. A resource that Rufus can keep in mind, a reliable one at that. With being in a new world, he needs to keep in mind anything that can give him any sort of advantage. The double-edged sword of Shinra's reputation doesn't apply here, so it almost feels like starting from scratch.

A challenge, but exciting in its own way. Things won't certainly be boring here, something he's sure that both Reno and Rude will appreciate as well.

Rufus taps his fingers against his untouched drink, but he keeps his eyes on Reno as he continues the final vestiges of his report.]

Open seats in parliament, you say. [He takes note in that, because that's a good place to start if he wants to get involved, which of course, he does.] We'll need to establish connections, unless the audition process is a simple sign-up.

[He pauses a moment, considering something.]

Even if such a task is easy, gaining new allies here will be beneficial. Since bonding appears to be necessary, it might as well be with someone of potential use later.

[electrod]

There's a council related to managing these seats. This allows more of the Mirrorbounds to have to say what is presented to the Parliment and what's not. I don't think there is anything required to get close to them, but I'll see how many names I can find. [ He shrugs. Keeping his ears open and memory sharp, exactly in a case like this, turned out to be useful. Now that he knows Rufus is here, he is going to look into it more. ] So I take information if they are available for bonding-purposes is also required?

[ That he says in a joking tone. Getting names of the politically inclined shouldn't be hard— their Bond-rimonial status might be a little tougher to find, but hey at least it won't be boring. And having something to focus on — something else than the changes and Moons and all weird-shit that keeps piling on — that's good as well. A sense of normalcy to cling to. As the waiter finally approaches he just points at Rufus' untouched drink ]

Bring one for me too.

[ No drinking and flying, but it's not like they're very far away from his dwelling. ]

[ruinedempire]

Show some class and take them out to dinner first, Reno.

[His answer has far fewer traces of its serious tone from earlier, a lighter response from the former president to Reno's question.

But there's truly nothing worse than a bored Turk, especially Reno-- but honestly, that principle can apply to the others to varying degrees. Of course money is a driving factor for their continual loyalty, but since Meteorfall and surviving Geostigma, there's been a bit more than that. Something he's not going to discuss right now, or ever really, but that's the sort of expectation others hold for him.

And most importantly, himself as well.

His sharp gaze turns to his untouched drink, not making any sign of protest to Reno's request as the waiter nods and leaves their table. Rufus seems to be thinking about something, his hands closed together in front of him, before carefully making his next comment.]

Kadaj is here.

[Different periods of time people can come from, he's learned that. He just wants to know where Reno falls.]

[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.