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

sweats

[headshaking]

[ DANGER WILL ROBINSON!!!!

bad. bad bad bad. jin guangyao having hypnotic powers is unbelievably bad. nie huaisang is not looking to die today, but the universe might not give him that choice. there's that feeling again--it sends goosebumps up the back of his neck, and he's left staring kind of dumbly as jin guangyao starts to persuade.

this time, it takes a full minute for it to stop working. it's long enough that nie huaisang is dragged away from the little parlor, down the street and back into the crowd, willingly, mouth still just slightly open like he wanted to keep protesting. they're nearly to the edge where the people are lesser, when his senses finally start to come back to him, as if he'd been underwater and suddenly breaks the surface for air.

the panic kicks in. he's been so good at playing it cool this entire time, so easily walking directly on the knife's edge, but the real and present threat of his oncoming death, that jin guangyao knows everything, ratchets up the anxiety, and he reels, tearing his hand out of the crook of jin guangyao's arm and stumbling backwards. for a brief moment, there's a there-and-gone-again flicker of real emotion, his eyes wide with realization, terror, but its shuttered away in a second, and he transitions from sheer survival instinct to the pathetic headshaker on a dime, using his backwards motion to trip himself.

it gets some space between them, and he drops on his ass in the middle of the road and all of these people without a hint of shame. ] Ah! [ and from there, it's easy to transition into sheepish laughter, rubbing at his hip where he fell. how clumsy... ] Ah, ah, I misstepped....I'm sorry, San-ge, I missed what you were saying....

[ on the ground, huaisang lifts his hands as if to brush dirt off of them, to inspect himself, looking himself over for any more damage. it lets him turn his head away, his heart pounding. there it was again. huaisang's not sure how this keeps happening--he needs to make sure he avoids looking at jin guangyao for as long as they're stuck together. if he catches him with that again there's no way he'll survive.

the faster that he can get away from him, the better. it might be time to try and lose him in this crowd. ]

[turmoiling]

[It does work. Just not well enough. As gratifying as that flash of terror is to see fly across the face of Huaisang after all those jabs about the state of his monstrous transformation, it's not truly about playing these cute little games, to pick away at the other out of spite. The only true satisfaction he'll get is from seeing him dead.]

Oh dear. Here, let me help you up. [Jin Guangyao replies with only the utmost concern. He doesn't wait for Huaisang to take his hand either, tucking the fan into his belt and reaching down to take one of Huaisang's hands in his - not in the clasp of hand to hand, but firmly around his wrist.

One step at a time. If Nie Huaisang is panicking, Jin Guangyao's tension is just as high, because this chance is too precious to waste, and now that Huaisang seems to have some sense of what's being done to him, it'll only cause problems if he runs with that knowledge to tell someone.

Just lift your head and look into my eyes, and we'll just see whose words end up killing who this time, he thinks viciously.]

[headshaking]

[ game over. what an unfair playing field, he thinks. this state of monsters and witches and what have you--he thinks he may end up being the latter. what huaisang needs is time, something he's been trying to buy since this conversation started. there was no sense in running before, but now that he's got an idea of just what he's up against, things look very, very, very bad.

he absolutely does not look. he will not look, stubbornness bred into him as a member of the nie sect, the ancestral blood of the butcher more like that of a beast. jin guangyao will not best him. huaisang has already won. winning means understanding, winning means knowing the board, and right now, if he wants to do this again, he has to get away.

and fast. ] San-ge, you're hurting me. [ he says, face still directed downwards, other hand finding the ground behind him, looking for some purchase. trying to buy himself another minute. another second, just long enough so the crowd around them can thicken and he can run. ]

[turmoiling]

[He eases his grip slightly; because until everything is safe and secure and Huaisang's body is dumped in the Wilde for the beasts to feed on, the least bit of physical harm that could be brought to Nie Mingjue is something he doesn't want.

If only he had another hand still, to take that chin and turn his face upwards... instead, Jin Guangyao is forced to crouch there next to Nie Huaisang and tilt his head, trying to catch his sight. With the way his robes fall, one other hidden factor comes into sight too. his tawny-gold snake tail, not so long that it can't be hidden by his robes, now lies so much closer to the ground, almost involuntarily curling around at Jin Guangyao's feet.]

I'm sorry, Huaisang. Here, let's have a look at you. You didn't hurt yourself when you fell, did you?

[headshaking]

[ tail.

well he's sure as hell not looking up now.

huaisang's eyes go straight to it, locking onto the monstrous feature, his heart stopping briefly at the sight. it fits every assumption he was making-- later, he'll be darkly pleased by the association, because jin guangyao is nothing if not a fucking snake. a vile, cruel, lying fraud, a snake in the grass. a bastard. there are a thousand horrible words he could use for jin guangyao, but really, this strange place has given him the best one.

monster.

getting guangyao down to his level is easy because he's so tiny is exactly what he was hoping for. momentary distraction of tail gives him a moment of pause, but huaisang starts to wobble to his feet, and in the process, grabs onto the clothing of a passerby to pull them off balance. its only enough for a hop of a step from the irritated monster he grabbed onto, but it puts another body between them.

the minute there's someone else there, nie huaisang rips his arm out of jin guangyao's grip, shoots up to his feet, and absolutely bolts for his life, disappearing into the crowd of people behind them in a flash of green and gold, finding the tallest people he can to duck around, the biggest, most larger than life colors to blend into, until he can take two turns down different side streets to cover his tracks.

he's dead. he's dead, he's dead, he's dead. huaisang needs to make some allies, and he needs to make them fast. byeeee san-ge love you mean it (not) ]