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

[lookslikeacinnamonroll]

[ The more fingers she ticks off, the more impressed Wen Ning looks. ]

Wow! You must have a really powerful Golden Core to fight that many Night Creatures.

[ He was never all that strong or skilled as a cultivator. His ill health held him back a lot. He was better suited to helping his sister do her healing. That all changed when he nearly died, though, and came back as the Ghost General. ]

[strongspirited]

[That sounds like a story.]

I...do not know what a Golden Core is.

[Instead, she flexes her fingers and conjures up a little swirl of wind.]

But I am a Speaker Magician. I can do all sorts of magical things.

[But nothing can make her humble.]

[lookslikeacinnamonroll]

It's the qi reserve inside a cultivator's body that gives them their power, and keeps them young. [ Some people say cultivation is all about trying to achieve immortality, after all. ] It's like magic, sort of.

[ He's impressed by the wind, as he feels it whip the air in front of him. ]

That's impressive! [ If she was looking for someone to keep her humble, she found the wrong man. ] Usually a cultivator needs to use a talisman or a spiritual tool to do something like that.

[strongspirited]

Qi...I'm nominally familiar with the concept of. [Inner energy, etc, from what she's read about the beliefs from the far east.

Still, she thinks he's kind of adorable.]

The rest of that, mmm, no. Not like me. I'm not drawing on anything internal. I borrow power from the external, to make magic happen. Nature provides many gifts for those that know where to look.

[lookslikeacinnamonroll]

[ Every second, every new word out of her mouth, he just looks more and more impressed. ]

That's very different. Usually all forms of cultivation draw on a power coming from inside yourself, whether it's a Golden Core or it's blood, for demonic cultivation.

[ But we don't talk about demonic cultivation, no sir, and we definitely don't talk about how Wen Ning's best friend is the master of it, no way no how. ]

[strongspirited]

Well, I serve no demon. It's...just how Speakers work spells.

[She frowns very slightly.]

Are you able to access your Core, here in this place?

[lookslikeacinnamonroll]

[ Wen Ning stops. He hadn't really thought about trying to access his Golden Core. He's never been the strongest cultivator, and serves more of a purpose as a tool for Wei Wuxian to use than as anything in his own right. He didn't have a very strong Golden Core, even before he became a fierce corpse.

But it's worth a shot... ]

Um. Let's see.

[ He draws his attention inward, taking a deep breath and searching inside himself...

...Nothing. Even more nothing than there was before. Absolutely nothing. ]

N-no. I can't reach it.

[strongspirited]

I thought not.

[Sypha tilts her head, offering a sympathetic smile. She doesn't really have a lot of comfort to provide, but she can commiserate.]

The people that arrive here have their abilities taken from them. They are able to learn new magics, or their bodies transform to give them more natural abilities. I myself have changed, my magic doesn't work the same way, and I have to learn everything all over again.

I had thought that since you arrived by a different method, maybe people in your situation were different. Apparently not.

[lookslikeacinnamonroll]

[ It's a little worrying, to have a part of him taken away. Even if it is a part he wasn't really using. ]

What sort of "natural abilities?" [ He doesn't like the idea of his body transforming in more ways than it already has. ]

[strongspirited]

Some people become vampires, with fangs and the ability to become a bat. Others become wolves during the full moon, and still others become dragons or faerie creatures.

[She sounds sympathetic, too.]

You could also be what they call a witch and need time to acclimate to the local magic.

[lookslikeacinnamonroll]

[ Wen Ning knows what wolves are, and dragons and faeries. "Vampire" is a term he hasn't heard as often, but once he puts the pieces together, he starts looking up and around, as though a jiangshi is going to come hopping down from the sky at any moment. (Never mind that usually the only reanimated corpse hopping around attacking people is Wen Ning himself.) ]

Do you hunt these monsters? [ If they're people, that does make things more difficult, but she said she was experienced fighting Night Creatures. ]

[strongspirited]

[Sypha gives him a funny look. Almost...like...he's grown a second head or something.]

Of course not. They're still people. They are more in control over themselves, and the city has people that take care of those that go out of control. And...I suppose it'd be a little hypocritical of me. I live with a vampire.

[And also a half-vampire made into a witch but! details.]

[lookslikeacinnamonroll]

[ Oh. Okay, yeah. It makes sense now that she's explained it. He's still a little worried by the concept of people going out of control, but... If they have it taken care of, then there's probably nothing to worry about. ]

A-Ah. Alright.

[ He just... keeps walking then, wondering how he knows whether he's going to be changing into anything. ]

[strongspirited]

Please, do not fret.

[Really, it's not an easy thing for anyone to deal with. But especially a newcomer.]

I suppose...there is a process to help with control called Bonding. It involves two people voluntarily creating a link. They share some emotions, and it helps to balance out the wild hearts of monsters, and the wild magic of a witch.

[It's important, basically.]

[lookslikeacinnamonroll]

[ He doesn't want to go back to repeating everything she says, so he stops himself before he can say, "A bond?" He's heard of a Golden Core being transferred from one person to another, but to share a link? That's new. ]

How do you bond with someone? Is there a procedure to tie the two people together?

[strongspirited]

There is. It's a kind of ritual done at the Coven. You have to find someone you want to partner with, and if both of you agree, then you ask the Coven to do it for you.

[It does take a bit of trust, because you're sharing emotions? But, well, he'll figure that out on his own if he's around long enough to bond.]

[lookslikeacinnamonroll]

Are you partnered with someone, Mistress Sypha?

[ Is that question too forward? Whoops. ]

[strongspirited]

I've two bonds, at the moment. My friends from home. Trevor Belmont and Alucard Tepes.

[She drops the last names in there in part to see if there's a flicker of recognition in his eyes. She doubts it, but Vlad Dracula Tepes did get around.]

You're able to have up to three, though.

[lookslikeacinnamonroll]

[ Absolutely not even a hint of recognition. Trever who and Alucard what?

He does smile, though. ]

That sounds nice. To be able to be so connected to your friends, and help each other.

[strongspirited]

[Trevor Family of Renowned Vampire Hunters and Alucard Son of Fucking Dracula.

It's better that nobody knows them, really.]

It has been nice. Honestly, I don't know what I would have done without my boys. They're both...stupid. But in a good way. And I love them for it.

[lookslikeacinnamonroll]

[ That does sound really nice. Wen Ning can't help but want something like that. He thought maybe he could find a close relationship like that again, when he found A-Yuan all grown up. But now he's here, separated from A-Yuan even farther than he was before. ]

I'm really glad you have a strong connection like that. That's important.

[strongspirited]

Connections are important, yes.

[She looks back at him, seriously taking him in for the moment.]

...Are you concerned, Wen Ning? About...going crazy, I mean.

[lookslikeacinnamonroll]

[ He frowns. He wasn't too worried, but now that she brought it up, doubt begins to creep into his mind. ]

A little? It's happened to me before. I've been turned into a fierce corpse with no control over my mind, no sense of self... I don't really like it when it happens. Things can get out of hand really quickly.

[ He can become too easily controlled by outside forces. And then, people can die. ]

[strongspirited]

[Wait, wait...]

...Fierce Corpse?

[Wen Ning, are you a zombie?]

[lookslikeacinnamonroll]

[ Oh. Okay, that term apparently isn't universal. ]

Yes. Someone who has died and been reanimated, usually through demonic cultivation. Most fierce corpses are puppets, controlled by the demonic cultivator who revived them. I am... like that sometimes. But most of the time I am in control of myself, and can speak, and think.

[ Nobody really knows why Wen Ning is able to be in his right mind at all. He's the only fierce corpse who can talk. Guess Wei Wuxian is Just That Good at demonic cultivation... ]