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

[rootstalks]

[ He's right, there really isn't much to follow. A list of participants. He had been involved, or why would he worry that he had been underfoot, and... Jiujiu, but Wei Wuxian.

She meets Zixuan's glance, and lowers her eyebrows a fraction. He will be better to prompt Jin Ling. ]

[fairyherder]

I did! I just wanted to know what was going on. Mo Xuanyu— I mean, Wei Wuxian appeared out of nowhere, even if he was supposed to be—

[ what does he say, he doesn't know, and it's not like he can hint at Wei Wuxian dying too? or having died? would that make his mother sad? he's not sure. so he pauses, looking unsure... ]

I thought I was supposed to hate him, because that was what Jiujiu told me... that it was all his fault. That you died, and... everything that happened. But it wasn't.

[ he looks frustrated for a moment, making a face, stubborn. all of this mess started out with Wei Wuxian pretending to be his paternal uncle instead of otherwise. not that he wasn't his uncle to begin with, of course. but he doesn't regret meeting him, and he learned a lot from him too... even if his feelings towards Wei Wuxian still are fairly complicated. ]

He and Hanguang-jun were trying to solve what happened, who killed Chifeng-zun, and who put the blame of everything on Wei Wuxian... I don't know a lot of the details, but... I was there at the end of it.

Xiaoshu... Xiaoshu was behind everything.

[ the look of betrayal on his face is palpable. ]

[jichengren]

[ Okay. Slowly but surely, they're getting more information. Slowly but surely, they can begin to paint a picture of what happened. He was told that their deaths were Wei Wuxian's fault— Zixuan didn't trust Wei Wuxian, but could he really be so far gone as to be blamed for the deaths of his sworn sister and her husband? And Chifeng-zun, as well. When did this happen, was it soon? He thinks back to before he arrived in this city, when he was leaving Carp Tower to stop Jin Zixun from ambushing Wei Wuxian at Qionqi Path... Was it then? Is he going off to his death?

But then, it wasn't Wei Wuxian. Or it was, but it wasn't his fault. Instead, it was the fault of his conniving half brother?

And how does Mo Xuanyu fit into this? ]

I... see. [ He doesn't really know what else to say. Yanli is looking at him, expecting him to go on and say some words to encourage A-Ling further. But... What could those words be? ]

It sounds like your uncle had everyone fooled, for a long time.

[rootstalks]

[ The longer they talk, the less a handle on the matters at hand Yanli has. But she turns every scrap of her capacity to understanding it. They died, and A-Xian was blamed. A-Cheng believed he'd done it, and... had raised A-Ling? Had taught him, certainly. But A-Xian had disappeared, and then reappeared with Mo Xuanyu and with Hanguang-jun, after Chifeng-zun had been murdered. By... Lianfeng-zun? Who was then also killed?

Her head hurts. She rests her hands on Jin Ling's shoulders, unable to help smoothing the lines of his robes as she does so. ]

Why... Why were you there? At the end? [ And, because she can't help it, ] A-Ling, do you still hate your da-j-- Wei Wuxian?

[fairyherder]

[ he's afraid all the information he's letting out is not helping their confusion, or his own, for that matter, and he breathes out, shoulder sagging even as his mother brushes her fingers over his robes. ]

He... did. But... I don't understand how he could. He's been there all my life, and... he's lied about everything.

[ that part is what hurts the most. and he can't even bring himself to hate him, even when he wants to, when he wants some sort of scapegoat to make himself feel slightly better, at least. but it all blew up in their faces, and while it seems to have been the end of it, at what cost? his uncle did it all for selfish reasons instead of owing up to his own mistakes... kept putting his foot further and further in the grave, at least from Jin Ling's perspective after hearing the whole story. ]

Because I was following Xiānzǐ, and I saw them, and—

[ he goes quiet at her mother's last question, eyes widening a little, and he looks conflicted for about half a second before he just shakes his head. ]

No...

[jichengren]

[ Jin Zixuan is at a loss. The more he hears, the less he understands. He resolves himself to find someone else who can explain things better than A-Ling, because surely there are answers to be found in all this mess. There have to be.

He does know one thing for certain, though. And that is that his worries and fears surrounding Jin Guangyao seem to have more merit than just paranoid suspicion. ]

My half brother... has always been the sort of man to say exactly what he needed to say, do exactly what he needed to do, in order to get what he wanted. I wish I could say it surprised me that he would be capable of... Doing whatever it is that you say he has done. [ He still doesn't understand the timeline of events clearly. ] ...But it does not.

[ He is grateful to him for seeing that Jin Ling was cared for, and grateful as well to Jiang Wanyin for the same reason. But... Without the full story, he is reserving judgement for the rest. ]

[rootstalks]

[ She can't say it better than Zixuan, so she doesn't try. The business of the Jin clan became her own, but the sect leader was... well. She had stayed away, with Madam Jin, as much as she could. Certainly the facts about Jin Guangyao were out of her reach. He always struck her as someone who could achieve whatever he set his mind to.

She's too busy feeling some awful kind of relief that her family is together in... some small way, and if she thinks about how the two of them aren't a part of that for a moment longer, she knows she'll break, so she ducks her head, and holds together. ]

[fairyherder]

[ he'd like Jiujiu to come here and explain shit to everyone please. or Wei Wuxian. or maybe even Hanguang-Jun.

and he knows all of these things his father says. he's learned it over a very short period of time, and not kindly either. Xiaoshu was the kind uncle he sought refuge at, but now he lost that. he supposes Wei Wuxian is his uncle too, in a way, but he's not sure how to address him in any other way, because he's been brought up hating him.

he watches as his mother seems to curl in a little on herself and he panics, unsure what to do, how to react, hesitant, awkwardly reaching up to touch her hands. ]

...niang?

new username, still me

[disasterstraight]

[ Zixuan also wouldn't mind the arrival of someone else to come explain things. Someone who had a better idea of everything that had happened. Perhaps someone a little less emotionally tied to the whole ordeal.

But speaking of emotions, it would seem that Yanli is feeling rather a lot of them right now. Zixuan reaches out to place a hand on her shoulder, steady and calm, allowing her to lean on him if need be. ]

This is... a lot for your mother to handle, A-Ling. [ It would be a lot for anyone to handle. It's a lot for him to handle, to be sure, but he's holding it together for the sake of having at least one person in this conversation with a level head. ] Give her some time to adjust.

get the imposter

[rootstalks]

[ This won't do. They have important matters to discuss, years of Jin Ling's life to catch up on. They're sitting in a strange mirror realm, or she's having the most intricately detailed daydream of her life. Except, no, it can't be the latter, because she can't believe she'd come up with something that would hurt this much; it has to be real, and that makes it worse.

She takes a deep, fortifying breath, which only serves to make the air catch in her throat, leans into Zixuan's hand, which helps just enough that she can try again. ]

I'm fine. You should... don't stop on my account.

wow who are you what did you do to my dad

[fairyherder]

I'm not... good at explaining it.

[ he's not sure how to handle all of this either. he never would have expected to see his parents and he's already upset his mother and he hates it thank you return to sender!!

can he... lean forward to try and awkwardly give her a hug? because he's trying that, swallowing down a lump in his throat as he goes. ]

I'm sorry.

[ he's so bad at apologizing to people, apologizing for his behavior unprompted or without JiuJiu threatening to break his legs. Xiaoshu was always the one who had an easier time to pull it out of him, and now that's gone... well, his mother is definitely the one person to do it, even inadvertently.

and also just because he feels guilty and insecure in front of the people he wants to impress the most. make proud. ]

I revealed his inner truth

[disasterstraight]

[ let's avoid captcha, shall we? ]