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

tw, .......... violence and, y'know... drowning themes

[liquidate]

(porcelain walls restrict his movements and stiles has the high ground, balanced over him with a hand on the metal rod held high in a tight grip, but suigetsu has a base strength that's only buffed by a chimera's physiology. he doesn't anticipate the fingers that shove in at external gills, unused to their presence behind his jaw, threat of physical injury sending him into an almost feral hysteria.

his gurgling gasp is cut off by a shout at the discomfort, baring his teeth. there's no asking stiles to stop, enemies don't heel when things get too rough, they keep attacking and attacking until one side's dead, and suigetsu has only death in mind for the boy who's made a mistake falling in here with him.)

... big... big mistake! (a powerful lash of his tail forces him up against the side of the tub, shoving the shower curtain rod away and onto the tiled floor of the washroom to free up a hand that slams home in a grab at stiles' throat. the other slaps at the other arm to keep it away from his the red, veiny protrusions keeping him breathing despite his set of healthy lungs.) Who knew you wanted to swim so bad? I'll help you!

(a yank, thrusting stiles back and down beneath the cream-water mixture that froths up around them the more they struggle.)

Die!

[mensrea]

[ The shower curtain rod is thrust out of the tub suddenly, throwing Stiles off balance as he continues to cling to it with one hand. Before he can celebrate that particular victory, a palm slams into the base of his throat with enough power to make him gag. Both the rod and gills are released as he reacts on autopilot, reaching up to scrabble frantically at the hand – and then he’s underwater, breath escaping in an explosion of bubbles. Through the Bond, Stiles tries to transfer the brunt of his horror and panic in the hopes of alerting Jonas that he needs help. It’s the last conscious action he takes; everything after is simply pure instinct.

Because Stiles has drowned in the past. He knows from firsthand experience what it feels like to have water force its way into mouth and nose on a desperate inhale, flooding air-deprived lungs in a flare of burning pain. The fear alone was like a physical vice strangling his heart, as lethal as the water rapidly suffocating him. Stiles has died that agonizing death. He won’t again.

Bracing knees against the side of the tub for leverage, he tries to fight the strength holding him down. When that fails, he digs nails into the soft flesh of a wrist, raking hard enough to break skin. But it’s not enough. This guy is relentless, determined to kill him. As involuntary apnea threatens to seize control, Stiles reaches deep for the well of magic that the Bond provides him and consumes. The trigger in transformation is almost immediate; before all Arachne limbs even have a chance to burst free from the confines of his back, Stiles is wrenching his head to the side and biting down hard with elongated fangs, injecting a weak form of venom. The bath water turns red with spilt blood. ]

[liquidate]

(the sting of nails dragging blood from his wrists, coupled with strangling a drowning boy beneath the surface of the water—his water, the water they stole from him—is a heady feeling that makes him rock into the grip he has on stiles' throat. a laugh bubbles up, demented, even when pink liquid begins to lap at the sides of the tub. it's agonizing, it's rejuvenating, it's reminding him he's here and alive and still powerful.

stiles bites him and suigetsu decides it's high time he jerks back, releasing the arachne's throat with a growl and a hard slap from the heel of his palm against the bridge of his nose in an effort to dislodge him.

chances are high that emptying lungs in order to breath will be a higher priority than attacking him further once he's off and out of the bath, the chimera's only thought now getting something to stem beading red that's begun to dizzy him enough to make his descent onto the floor a fall; his chin cracks against tiles, jaw audibly snapping shut.)

Kuku... kukukuh– here I thought I was the only maniac around. You always look that freaky? (says the protozoan-looking monster flopping out of their primordial shaving cream soup and out into the hall to begin his and stiles' exodus onto land.) You're gonna' pay for making me bleed the second my legs are back in action. Just gimme a few minutes to dry off, and then we can fight properly!

[mensrea]

[ That blow to his nose shocks his overtaxed system into drawing in a pained gasp, forcing him to breathe in a moderate amount of water. Now freed, Stiles whips back his head, choking and hacking. He very nearly doesn’t hear Suigetsu’s words over the sound of his own retching – lungs and stomach both expelling the water while he simultaneously tries to gulp down air. The chaos of the moment inspires all eight Arachne limbs to flail uselessly in great agitation, further destroying the once cozy bathroom. Eyes streaming, he squints blearily at the shape of Suigetsu as the Chimera crawls into the hallway. Blood streams in a significant flow from his nose, coating his fangs and getting inside his mouth despite his best efforts. Stiles spits some of that blood out in between shaky wheezes, brain slowly coming back online. A few minutes to dry off…? Belatedly, he recalls the information on Merrows that Sasuke sent him and curses. Under no circumstances can he allow this guy to regain his legs. Grimly resolved, he struggles onto his feet and prepares to deal with the intruder before the playing field is tilted even more against him.

A cursory glance in the fractured mirror shows that he’s in as bad shape as the bathroom. Soaked head to toe, the shreds of his shirt hanging off him in the aftermath of Arachne limbs rupturing from his back, shoulder scar bleeding, nose obviously broken and bleeding, throat sporting blotchy red fingerprints – he looks away, a cold anger sinking into his bones like a chill. God, he’s so fucking done with this shit.

He’s still too winded to manage any cutting remarks, so he lets his actions speak for him. In the hallway, the heaviest pair of limbs, the top ones, crush Suigetsu to the floor in a pin by the shoulders. The other six are already busy pulling spun silk from his furiously working spinnerets. Stiles is too wary to make use of his human hands, opting to instead hang back as his more monstrous appendages try to bind the man. ]