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

[bravers]

[Honestly, he had no idea why his eyes are ...leaking. It's subconscious, something he can't quite explain. It's something buried beneath layers and layers of scar tissue. The memory of everything- that laboratory, the journey, the wasteland and what happened within it is buried to the point of being unrecognizable, unknown. But even if he can't access it, something in him knows.

Not like he can dwell. What's more important is Zack, and what he's saying. ...That, and like him, he can't look away. So he listens to his answer, doesn't even retort with anything when his shoulder gets cuffed. Instead, actually smiles a faint ghost of one. It's... brief. Extremely so. But it's there. And he nods. First Tifa, now Zack? Aerith was pretty fast. But it makes sense. She's not like him, away from the city more often than not.]

Not as good as it is to see you. Feels like forever.

[But shit, Aerith. That... gives room for pause.]

Look... uh. Here, we're bonded. Me and Aerith. Bonds're... these links, between monsters, and witches. If you don't pair off, then bad things happen. Monsters change faster, and witches... blow up.

[There's a strange light in his eyes. Worry.]

... I guess she probably told you about travelling with me and some other people, on Gaia. Found out you and her were dating, as we travelled. We're friends. That's it. I bonded with her here to make sure she's alright.

[Small pause.]

I get it, if it pisses you off. I don't want to piss you off, either.

[exsoldier]

[ Feels like forever. It makes Zack wonder at exactly how long it's been for Cloud, though he isn't able to get the question out before Cloud stumbles into further explanation. Zack doesn't mind sitting back and listening, as this entire situation is still overwhelming for him and it's frankly nice to hear Cloud talking so much, even if it is about some kind of Bond with Aerith.

The Bond concept is something that Zack still only vaguely understands, but for all that Cloud's worried that he might be upset, that's not it at all. For one thing, he'd been dead and as far as Cloud and Aerith knew, that wasn't going to change. For another thing, it sounds like the Bond was made out of necessity, platonic rather than something deeper. Even if it was, Zack wouldn't be upset. ]

Hey, listen to me. [ Zack's voice takes on a more hushed tone as he reaches out for Cloud's shoulder once again, but this time it's to grip it and give him a solid shake. ] It's not like I expected Aerith to wait around pining for me for years and years when she didn't even know what happened, right? I'm just glad that somehow the two of you found each other. That's... pretty incredible, honestly.

[ It's a relief to know that two people Zack cares about so intensely had been able to meet and lean on each other, even if Aerith had ended up in the same place he did when all was said and done. ]

And I'm glad you were looking out for her, too.

[ With that, Zack pulls his hand back and the smile he gives is lighter. There's a lot to sift through here, but he's always been good at latching onto the bright points. ]

So you're a... monster, I guess? Sorry, still getting used to the nomenclature around here.

[bravers]

[He's not entirely sure what he's expecting when that hand's going for his shoulder. He feels like a piece of shit, for sure. And he feared what would happen next. But even then, he can't exactly imagine Zack would just casually lean over and strike him. And even if he did? he'd probably deserve it. But it's not that. Instead, his shoulder's rattled around inside of its socket a little, and his gaze moves to the side. A long exhale shortly follows.

Relief.
...A lot of it, actually.

Part of him wants to ask what happened. He wants to ask why he didn't contact his parents in Gongaga. Hell... to him, the main question is how he survived Sephiroth, because that... is where he's having problems. But just the act of asking puts him ill at ease. So...
He doesn't. Not yet.

Besides that, Zack asked a question. That's far more important than looking what appears to be a walking, talking gift-horse in the mouth.]

Yeah. ...Not like the ones back home.

[That's a. point. His gaze moves back.]

A Turnskin. But I guess a more accurate way to put its a werewolf. You, uh, know what you are yet? If Aerith hasn't already, I can go through it with you. It's kind of important that you know.

[exsoldier]

[ Not like the ones back home, huh? Zack wonders at exactly what Cloud means by that. There's the monsters that anyone will come across when traveling from town to town on Gaia, but there's also the monsters that Shinra created. Cloud could really be talking about either, given what they'd both been through.

So, Cloud's a werewolf. Zack's trying to imagine what it must look like, but he gets the feeling he'll find out sooner rather than later. His guess is that Cloud can't actually transfer back and forth at will, but... ]

Me? [ Zack jabs a thumb toward his own chest. ] Pretty sure I'm a monster. I think I'd feel something if I had magic in me, or... however that works. But not sure what kind. I think I've gotta head to that Coven place to find out.

[ It is important that he knows, but he can't help but feel a little uncertain about it all the same. It's not so easy being told that your body is going to warp into something else. ]

[bravers]

[Either, or both. And to be frank, what everyone unfortunate enough to wear the 'monster' nomenclature isn't anything close.

He walks on, moving his eyes back to him when he speaks.]

...Probably, yeah. You know where it is?

[And more of an unspoken question, if Zack wanted company.]

...I can walk you there. If you want.

[Unspoken again, but he wanted to.]

I got time.

[exsoldier]

[ The offer itself isn't all that surprising, but the way that Cloud says it, as if he's half-expecting Zack to refuse it, forces a laugh out of him. ]

Of course I do.

[ But leave it to Cloud to assume otherwise, even though this is a reunion that he suspects both of them needed. There's still so many questions that Zack wants answered, even if Aerith had already filled in a lot of the blanks, and so without further ado, he slings an arm around Cloud's shoulder and leads them forward.

Not that he really knows where they're going, but he'll let Cloud show him the way. ]

Making time for little old me, huh? Are you usually pretty busy around here?

[ The more proof he gets that Cloud's been able to go on and live his life after everything that happened to them, the better he feels. So he'll keep peppering him with questions, if Cloud lets him. ]

[bravers]

Right.

[He doesn't mind the arm around him. Which, if anything, is pretty unlike him. Even with people he was close to, his first instinct is to pull away, to say something abrasive, to make them not do it again. But this is fine. It's more reassuring than uncomfortable.]

I try to be.

[It's a simple statement, but it's the truth.]

There's jobs, sometimes, on the boards in the square. It's not like they pay well, and there's no point to doing 'em. The coven pretty much provides housing, and being [A werewolf.] what I am means I hunt, rather than buy stuff. But it's something to do. Even if it's less about helping people with things they can't do, and more about fetching stuff for 'em because they're too lazy to do it themselves.

[With most, he'd leave it there. But Zack's easy to talk to.]

...Feels like I should be taking jobs, too.

[exsoldier]

[ With Zack's arm slung around Cloud's shoulder like this, it's hard not to think back to how he'd dragged him around for what had felt like weeks during that long journey to Midgar. Back then, though (which for Zack, all feels recent and fresh in his memory), he'd been supporting most of Cloud's weight and half-carrying him. It's nice to not have to feel all of Cloud's dead weight against his side now. Instead they're just walking together. Cloud's speaking full sentences. It's everything Zack had hoped for, and he's lucky enough to get to experience it firsthand even though his number had obviously been up.

So he stays quiet through the explanation, simply enjoying it for what it is, and on Cloud's ending note Zack can't help but grin. ]

Like a mercenary, right? So is that what you ended up doing?

[ You know, after Zack died and left Cloud with his sword and all of his hopes and dreams. He isn't quite able to put it into words because talking about it makes it that much more real, and having to actually voice the reality of what happened to him seems impossible right now. Still, it it is nice to have proof that Cloud had gone on to carry out that dream. To become a mercenary, not beholden to the will of any organization.

Zack glances over as they walk together. ]

How'd you and Aerith end up meeting, anyway? Seems like some kinda serendipity.

[bravers]

[Kind of like... His eyes brighten at the suggestion, as if Zack hit some nail on the head, joined up some dots because... well, to him, that's exactly what it was. The idea of that kind of work had been subliminal, nothing but an afterimage of one of Zack's (many) one-sided conversations at him, rather than with him, as he hauled him between continents.

Of course, none of them had got through. Not really. But there's little things. Like starting mercenary work, the same as the feeling of lying in a truck bed in sweltering heat. Other things... which aren't pleasant and reult in some crushing, immediate sadness at rain of all things.

But all they are is stray thoughts. Errant emotion. Subliminal, more than anything he can use. He hadn't been able to use, to reference any of those things...
But when they're presented to him, especially that word, by that man, something just seems to click.]

Right. Exactly like that.

[Idly, without any kind of conscious thought, his hand rises to lightly cover the other man's, the one connected to the arm that drapes over his shoulder. It's a small gesture. But it's affectionate.]

Tried that for a while back in Midgar, too. Didn't pay well there, either... [He trails off, his eyes moving to the side.] But then I found someone. You remember Tifa, right? The guide, from Nibelheim? ...She survived it. She's well, and she was in Midgar. I... started doing jobs for her. She needed a hand, so...

[Two things aren't mentioned there. The promise, because honestly? It's something embarrassing. It's omething between the two of them, and... honestly, he didn't think anyone else would get it. The second: AVALANCHE. Despite not knowing the extent of what happened with Zack courtesy of Shinra, and even though Zack of all people probably wanted to stick it to them more than anyone, Cloud had learned, through Sephiroth, not to mention it so lightly. Especially with people like Sephiroth and Zack, who, of course, knew them via previous incarnation than what they were now.

So a silence follows. Despite trailing off, it's... actually comfortable. And comes with a light squeeze of that hand. And the question.

...Oh boy.]

One of those jobs meant I fell from the sector 5 plate. Right through the roof of her church, actually- straight into her flowers. Still got no idea how those things broke my fall. Or how she wasn't pissed about it.

[A smaller pause.]

There's something you should know. The Turks were after her.

[exsoldier]

[ The confirmation that Cloud had gone on to live the future that Zack had suggested to him while riding in the back of that truck causes another pound of heaviness to be lifted off his chest. That brief touch at his hand removes another. It's shockingly healing to know that the people he'd fought so hard for, people like Cloud, had been able to move on without him. Healing, and maybe a little sad. Not that Zack would ever dwell on it.

He's relieved to hear that Tifa had made it out of Nibelheim in one piece, too. Zack only vaguely remembers what happened to her in the reactor, how injured she'd been, but he'd been pretty convinced there was no way she could have made it out. That, or maybe Shinra had picked her up too, and she'd just been held somewhere else.

Apparently not. She'd been strong enough to get out and make it all the way to Midgar. ]

Of course I remember her. [ Zack smiles to himself at a distant memory. ] I kept trying to convince you to talk to her when we were in Nibelheim. Glad you guys finally reconnected.

[ As for Aerith, the explanation that Zack receives is so similar to his own experience that it's uncanny. It almost causes him to stop in his tracks, but instead his pace is halting for a few seconds as he lets it all sink in. It's not enough to throw them completely off-track. ]

... Huh. The way I met her was pretty similar. [ And while that detail about the Turks is meant as a revelation, Zack sighs and shakes his head. ] I already knew. Caught Tseng outside her place once. Those Turks aren't nearly as subtle as they want to think they are, huh?

[ At least it doesn't sound like any of them are here, which means that hopefully Aerith can rest easy. Except they're small fry when compared to Sephiroth (who is here) and what he'd done to her. Zack's still in the midst of processing all that, and hasn't had it in him to track down his old friend.

Apparently he's still sane, still his old self, but still...

Not yet. ]

[bravers]

[Moving on was a concept only really constructed due to not knowing what happened. That and circumstance, he guessed- as well as a pull forcing him along to where he had been directed to go. Just like a puppet. But... Zack doesn't know that. Not yet- and his reluctance in ...well, telling him everything is warranted.

It's... a long story. For later. Way too much to go into now, especially when the most important thing is getting to the coven and making sure Zack learns what he is, and how to stall his changes taking form, and honestly? He's... well, worried. Ashamed, too. What would Zack even think about any of it?

Still. Regardless, he nods when Zack mentions Tifa- his eyes moving to his again.

...Yeah... [Reconnecting was a way to put it, yes. But his focus shifts at the next statement, his eyebrows furrowing. He... was serious? Wait...]

Huh.

[Wait, yeah.]

Come to think of it... There was another hole in that roof. You... fell through too?

[It sounds impossible. But regardless of that, he doesn't disbelieve it. It comes from him of all people. So of course he believes it.]

Weird...

[Well, it is. Still:]

So you know. About her. [It... stood to sense. He's about to say something else, but soon enough, they're in the square of which the Coven building stands within, and the subject has to change.]

We're here.

[And they're being side-eyed already. What can be said? The closer any of them from other worlds tended to get to the city's main district proper, the snootier the general mood is.]

The natives aren't exactly fond of us. [It's a low murmur, rather than an actually spoken statement. It's intended for Zack, and Zack alone.] Something happened, the month before I got here. Some people were taken, and... they're back now. Apparently it was some faction of locals with a problem. It's been quiet since, but...

[He needs to be careful. That's all that should be said.]

...Probably shouldn't stick around here for long. You good?

[exsoldier]

[ To both of Cloud's questions, one direct and the other not so much, Zack gives a nod. The first one is quick, punctuated with a shrug. It's a weird coincidence that they'd both fallen through the roof of that church into Aerith's flowerbed, but other than acknowledging the strangeness of it, not much else needs to be said about it. The second nod is a bit more somber. Yes, he knows that Aerith is the last of the Ancients, and that it makes her both very special and very valued by Shinra.

He also now knows that it had made her one of Sephiroth's targets after he completely lost his mind. Zack doesn't even know where to start with broaching that subject, though. They'll have to talk about it at some point, but now isn't really the best time.

They reach an open courtyard which is attached to an imposing building, and even without Cloud indicating as much, Zack could have guessed that this was the Coven. It's a far cry from Shinra HQ, but it still has that same feeling of being an official building, along with having spaces for those in training. Zack halts for a moment to take it all in, primarily noting that there seem to be more Monsters hanging around here, but then he turns his attention back to Cloud.

It's good to know for sure what the natives think of them, even if their impression isn't exactly a favorable one. He'll take a distant attitude over being actively hunted down at this point. Maybe with time and effort, they can change people's feelings about them.

Still, that isn't something that needs to be tackled right now. When Cloud prompts him, Zack squares his shoulders. ]

Yeah, let's get this over with. [ He gives the courtyard one last sweeping look, then turns back to Cloud, his voice also low. ] And... thanks for the heads up.

[ Not ever one who's needed to be led around, Zack starts toward what looks to be the Coven's main entrance. ]