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

[weiward]

[a mark and a person that one can never forget. he vaguely remembers lan wangji's chastisement in that cave so long ago, but he never really understood until he saw the brand on his skin.

wei wuxian can only watch. but he gingerly lifts his hand to stroke against the younger man's hair, in hopes that he could be soothed and rest easier. he feels as much as he can of what his bonded feels too, keeping tabs on him that way, needing that connection a little more himself. it's probably for the best that they don't put zewu-jun through this again, especially when lan zhan is already doing all that can be done.]

The first place you wrapped your ribbon around my wrist. [the way he wears a piece of it there now. a soft smile appears on his lips, but there's too much sadness for it to last.] Things might be different for him. [he looks up to meet lan wangji's eyes.] Maybe he doesn't face that. Maybe I come back sooner.

[anything, any hope for it to be better.]

[taciturnly]

( it’s irrational. unfair. selfish. he’d whip himself if he could, crestfallen and frustrated with himself as his attention zeroes in on wei wuxian’s hand in the other’s hair. you know what pains befell him. let him have this, but lan wangji is lan wangji and he closes his eyes, struggling to ignore the heat bubbling beneath his skin. eating vinegar doesn’t become one such as hanguang-jun, especially when the object of his grudge is, well, himself, but he’s learned long ago that feelings don’t always make sense.

nor do they have to.

wei wuxian’s smile is a blessing, and the ribbon around his wrist a reminder of what matters. he was granted this great honor, whereas the man who lies in his lap has just begun his penance. sixteen years to mourn and make peace with everything he was ever taught… or not? what if wei wuxian does come back sooner? lan wangji considers the possibility with a surge of strength, though it steadily drains out of him as he gives the other’s deepest wound all of his energy. )

Wei Ying. ( slowly he starts bandaging him up, blood mostly dried on his skin. he looks at his bonded, slightly hunched over, hopeful warmth in his gaze. ) When he wakes up… tell him. ( that he does come back. that lan wangji’s faults, while many, weren’t entirely his own. that the pain will ebb away, never completely, but enough to breathe. and that he loves him. )

[weiward]

[his hand stills. he feels the return of what he felt before, when lan wangji was standing in the doorway. it's more restrained this time, but there, a little flame that could become a swiftly consuming inferno with ease.

his hand shifts and curls around his bonded's wrist instead. he can feel the depletion of his energy even more acutely, and it's his monster's responsibility to keep him from sinking below empty.]

Lan Zhan, let me.

[he can help with this much, shifting to sit up on the bed with them. wei wuxian picks up one of the bandages, eyebrows lifting at those words.]

What exactly should I tell him? [he can say most of that, but his heart is conflicted over one thing.] Wherever there's a you, there must be a me. [it can't be any other way, he won't accept it.] Not everything is mine to say.

[taciturnly]

( lan wangji may be a witch here, but wei wuxian’s touch is the real magic. he’s a miracle on his own, a force of nature that even death couldn’t contain. lan wangji slightly leans against him, taking in the sight of him, feeling his warmth. his gratitude is instantly renewed, and he sighs exhausted, too much at once to navigate through, the weight of his younger self resting on him just as heavy where his heart beats sluggish. he could cry. really cry, for him, for them, for his bonded. for himself. all he wants is to bury his face in wei wuxian’s hair and hold him until he forgets where he ends, and where wei wuxian begins. but he won’t. he knows what the other is going through, on a very sore and personal level, and if he can spare him just an ounce of pain, he will.

wei wuxian is right. of course he is, and lan wangji’s gaze drifts down, a nod to acknowledge him as he examines the effects of his healing. the skin is much paler now, scarring tissues at work; it’s no wonder he’s suddenly feeling so weak, though it’s well worth it.

as for what he should be told… his focus softens on wei wuxian, blinking tired. ) Tell him… not to be so reckless. ( he smiles a forlorn smile, shooting his younger self a compassionate glance. ) Chasing after chaos will only make it worse. ( he looks up, hand lifting from the other’s back to rest on wei wuxian’s. ) He will not mourn you forever. ( and that’s all he wants him to know, really. the rest he can figure out here probably, if he’s meant to stay with them. )

[weiward]

[he smiles at the feeling of his weight against him, and also for the warmth of his gaze. wei wuxian nudges his shoulder against him in a small gesture of affection. he wishes he could give him more. his heart wants the same thing that lan wangji wants, but his hands stay busy with work that needs to be done.

there's great irony in wei wuxian telling anyone not to be so reckless, but he nods to show that he understands. these are things he can say, and just maybe he really can help hold him together until his other self comes home. he finishes bandaging him, heart still hurting at the sight of a little pink bleeding through some of the linen. but already his back looks cleaner and the wounds more closed up, thanks to his witch's efforts.

he turns his hand over, catching lan zhan's and giving it a squeeze. he can feel how tired he is, emotionally drained to go along with his low energy levels.]

Why don't you rest too. [his voice is as soft as his blink when he looks at him.] I'll stay right here, in case either of you need anything. There might be more weirdness to come, at the very least you'll need your strength to talk to your brother.

[cultivatingrabbits]

[ the dark blanket is somehow not as suffocating anymore, not as... oppressing, at the very least. the pain is still there, still thrumming beneath his skin, but it's not enough to keep him entirely under for too long.

he seems to have settled a little more, at least, breath not as labored as it was, face not as pale.

...the scales are still there, though, blooming along the lines of his body. not quickly, but definitely not as slow as would be the norm for monster changes. ]

[taciturnly]

( right. xiōngzhǎng, who should be made aware as soon as possible, a comforting presence for his younger self. lan wangji acquiesces with a weary tilt of his head, though his own plan of action is a little different. )

I will rest in the garden. ( his mouth faintly widens, pressed a second later to wei wuxian’s forehead, lingering there a moment too long. he doesn’t particularly want to leave, but for the younger man’s sake, he will. he’ll need his space, when he fully awakens. tranquility, in order to process everything, make peace with his new reality, and all the information he’s been given thus far.

so lan wangji carefully retreats, laying the other’s head on the pillow before he rises back to his feet. ) I’ll inform my brother of his arrival. ( one slow blink, and he shoots his younger self another glance, turning on his heels to leave him be. )