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

[exsoldier]

[ Kaede. Again, it's a name that doesn't mean anything to Zack, even though he's getting the strong sense that it should. Having done this song and dance a couple other times by now, he at least knows what to expect, but it doesn't make the process any less uncomfortable.

What he's not expecting is the way that her body poofs into a kind of dark shadow, which slides between the trees before she reforms into a solid shape again. Now that Zack has a clearer look at her, he can take in all of her features -- all of the disparate parts of her mashed together.

It's not hard to see that she's a chimera. Same as him, or so he's been told. Is he more or less looking into his future, then?

Maybe not. The Coven had told him that his stay here was temporary. Whether or not he could believe that, he wasn't sure.

He takes a few steps toward Kaede, though most of his initial wariness is now gone, in spite of her appearance. Zack's not the type to shy away from "monsters," especially not after everything he'd experience on Gaia before even coming here. If he's honest, he's a little tired of the term, but everyone uses it here. Like it's a way to refer to a species, rather than a bad word. ]

Sorry, I don't. [ He huffs out a sigh and frowns as he shakes his head. ] You're not the first person who's recognized me, either. I guess... when I was here before, I got to know a lot of people.

[ Which isn't really surprising. ]

[long_live_the_queen]

[The Chimera didn't back up or sidle away as Zack stepped closer, the end of her tail flicking hopefully back and forth. But just a little. It stopped when he shook his head, and some of her feathers lay a bit flatter.

He still wasn't afraid of her, even if he didn't know her name.]

...yeah.

[Kaede just has some abandonment issues to unpack. It's fine.

The Cwyld-infested quail flushed at something, the drumming of their wings snapping Kaede's attention back to their surroundings again. The Chimera's ears came back up, twitching after the forest's sounds.]

Don't you have anything to fight with? Its dangerous here.

[exsoldier]

[ Zack can see the way that Kaede practically deflates when she realizes that he doesn't know her, and once again that sense of guilt and letting someone down hits him in the gut. Between her, Lighting, and Aqua, he's got a lot of work to do.

Before he can try to come up with some reassuring words, though, he's also distracted by the sound of a bird taking flight. He gets only a glimpse of it, but it's enough to let him know that something's wrong with it. That Cwyld thing that everyone's been talking about? ]

Don't have any money to buy a sword, and I didn't come here with one like some of the others.

[ He lifts both arms and shrugs. Probably not the brightest move, but he also knows how to take care of himself. ]

Wasn't really planning on getting into any fights. Just wanted to see those Shade things with my own eyes.

[long_live_the_queen]

[The melancholy expression on her face transitioned to a frown, though the former hadn't been forgotten. Just shoved under the carpet with the rest of her spare emotions. It's fine! It's fine.]

Here.

[She unbuckled one of the paired cutlasses at her side, offering it to him. It was simple and unadorned, but its construction was solid.]

Can't swing a stick without finding trouble in here.

[Whether quarry driven from someone else's hunt, mistaken identity, or something stalking the hunters—trouble was rarely far behind.

—Something trampled a stick underfoot, brushing past a shrub. Some of Kaede's lowered feathers bristled again like a dog's hackles, but she didn't make another sound. Whatever-it-was more than made up for it—snorting like a pig rooting about in something.

And then it shambled out of the treeline—a boar, shaggy with what was going to be a winter coat and too many black tipped tusks jutting out of its jaws. Its eyes were as opaque-white as the birds' had been, patches of its fur blackened as if stained with oil. It dug its snout into the earth less like an animal looking for food, and more in a mechanical motion like an excavator left running and abandoned. It seemed to be tearing apart roots in particular, and the earth left behind seemed a shade darker, a bit wronger, than it had been.

The boar hadn't noticed the two of them just yet, busy with its task. Kaede's claws tensed; she wasn't about to just leave it there. But she wasn't about to leave Zack here either.]

[exsoldier]

[ The readiness with which Kaede gives him one of her weapons is unexpected, and is yet another hint of how much she must trust him. Zack stares down at the cutlass in muted shock for a moment, but he'd be a fool to refuse it, so he nods and takes it in hand. For the first time since he came out into these dark woods, his face brightens with a smile.

It's a lot smaller than the types of swords he's used to swinging around, but it'll get the job done.

Before he can thank Kaede or say anything else, though, he hears that same sound. It's a lot closer than the bird that had flown overhead, and so Zack falls into a crouch behind one of the trees, also making every effort to be silent. It isn't long before the boar shows itself, though it seems distracted by whatever it's searching for in the soil.

Seeing a Shade this close-up, Zack can start to take in all the details. The utter blackness, which allows it to blend into the dark night save for the whiteness of its eyes. The way it moves, like it's been left working off of some kind of programming rather than acting of its own volition. It's not quite like how cell degradation had looked, but similar enough that Zack can't help the dread that washes over him.

He catches Kaede's eye and can see how she's tensed and ready to pounce. Zack nods, lifting his borrowed blade to indicate that he'll be right behind her with a well-aimed slash. He may not have come out here looking for a fight, but he's up for the task now that he's actually armed. ]