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

josh stone | resident evil 5 | dragon (nanki nanka) | ota

[forprettywomen]

an unusual arrival

Water. He doesn't remember falling in water, the rush of air leaving his lungs as he throws himself out of---a fountain? Josh scrambles for breath, spitting water on the cobblestone while he looks down at his dry clothing. This isn't-- that's impossible? He takes time to compose himself, standing as he adjusts his tactical vest and picks up his long rifle as he stands. 

It looks like he's not in Kansas anymore. 

Josh needs to get his barrings, to understand his new circumstances before he completely loses his mind. Was this what happens if you succumb to the virus? He doesn't recall being infected but he doesn't put it past TriCell to have hallucinogenic side-effects to reduce panic.

"Excuse me." He stops the first person he sees, West African accent heavy. "Can you tell me where I am?"

Maybe he could find someone he knew.

goblin market

Claws and teeth, he never thought he'd be looking back at a creature meant to scare children into doing their chores. He recognized the scales around his eyes first, the dawning realization that he resembled the Nanki Nanka; a dragon-like creature that crawled out of the depts of rivers to be a bogey-man among the tribes. A legend passed down by his grandmother to him in an attempt to make sure he and his cousins behaved.

"Are you certain that this will stop the changes?" He's hesitant, not certain he can trust the vendor but in this strange new land what did he have to lose?

Someone, please stop him from making a terrible mistake.

wildcard

[ have another idea? go ahead and throw it my way or message me here or @ redfielding]

goblin market

[partnerinheels]

The lioness is on her way back from the legitimate market when she spies the familiar outline of a long rifle and military gear out of the edge of her vision. When she turns her head to focus, recognition hits her sharply and she immediately alters her course. Her chest tightens with hope and fear twisting amongst themselves.

She no longer carries the weapons from home or wears the tactical gear, wearing instead something more fitting with local fashion, but she's still BSAA and she still is armed with a brutal magitech bow and arrows strapped to her back, various knives, and the movements of a woman who can be a weapon herself.

Then there's that who bit about being a visible monster with a visible tail.

Catching his voice speeds up her movements, and she doesn't bother closing the rest of it before calling out to him across the distance. "Josh!" A few meters later, she gives the vendor a scathing look. "It won't help, and he shouldn't be hawking that nastiness anymore."

[forprettywomen]

That was a voice he recognized. He turns, hoping it's true, and seeing her? A weight is lifted off his shoulders. He hands the vendor the "medicine" (so he's called it) and gives her a smile, relaxing his stance. He must look ridiculous in his BDUs, standing out while she has adopted to the local dress.

"Sheva." It's clear just in his tone how relieved he sounds. "It's good to see you. How long have you been here?"

Josh still felt like a fish out of water. Nothing was familiar, but perhaps having Sheva around he could learn.

[partnerinheels]

There's joy when he turns and not only is she right, but his body language shifts visibly to reflect the relief in that recognition. It feels like both another lifetime and just yesterday since Kijuju, her eyes searching him over for his blood and obvious wounds as her nose searches the air. It's a mess of smells, most of them disgusting, so she focuses on the distinct scent of him to distract herself from the memories fighting to creep back into the front of her mind.

The lioness smiles toothily at that, though it evens out at his question. There's a pause to count, then an exhale. "Nine months."

She should keep it professional, her training nags at her, but she ignores it and instead grips his vest under the arm and pulls him against her in a tight hug. He might not notice, but she's stronger now, stronger than a girl her size probably should be.

"I thought I'd never see you again," she whispered roughly as she tried to swallow back too many emotions.

[forprettywomen]

Nine months! How was that possible? He had just seen her-- what must she be thinking? Enough time had passed here and nothing for him, how was that possible? Josh takes a deep breath, her smile, her own teeth; what more could this place do to them? But she looked real. Impossibly real and he could feel the worry in his gut uncoil at her fate after the volcano.

When she pulls him tight? He can't help but let out a chuckle. A moment of weakness, disregarding professionalism to just return the hug. Everything he worried about suddenly lifted off his shoulders, melting away with such a simple action.

"I worried about you as well." He says low. "Let me get a look at you." He pushes her back, just enough to look her over. "I'm glad you are in one piece."

There weren't enough words in the world to express his relief, and just being able to see her, to physically touch her after facing down the end of the world? Was a good start.

[partnerinheels]

He doesn't need to tell her about the strangeness of time when it comes to this place and people. When Chris was here, he came from a point in the future. He had told her she lived, that they both survived Kijuju. Josh and Jill too. She'd asked that before asking about herself. After all, she had been ready to die if it meant taking Wesker down with her.

Turns out it took more than a volcano to kill that asshole.

Hearing him laugh again, no matter how small or out of place, continued to ground her here and in the now, no matter how much those ugly scents pulled at the darkness in her mind. She honestly, if he smelled better, could stay like this for far longer. While she has an avenue for physical comfort here, Josh is family, someone who believed in and supported her as she grew into her role within the team and the BSAA. If it weren't for him and his training, she and Chris both likely wouldn't have survived, for what that's worth now.

His timely break in the embrace helps shove that thought aside, her feline green eyes searching his face for a reaction, nervous that she'd see disgust. It had taken her a while to adjust, given their recent experiences with monsters, and she'd hate for him to see her as one too. Her tail flicks anxiously behind her.

What tension accumulates dispells at his declaration. "And you as well. One, stinky piece." She makes a bit of a face, but a smile continues to fight its way through. "Come with me. You need a shower."

[forprettywomen]

"I feel like I need more than a shower." He says after a barking laugh. "Tell me more about your time here while you take me to where we are going."

Despite the new addition to feline features (much more pronounced than his-- was it that he was so new to this world), it was still Sheva. How could he think any less of her? Now with a friend? He can face this new world with a little less caution (though with all the skepticism a BSAA operative could have).

"Does that," Josh gestures to her, then to the scales on his face, "happen to everyone or only a select few?"

[partnerinheels]

She huffs out her own rough laugh at that, knowing all too well exactly what he feels like. A nod of her head indicates for him to follow her, "Come on. I haven't really touched Chris' old room."

That's a lie. The weapons left behind have been gathered and maintained since his disappearance, and she got whatever was making that weird smell out. Otherwise, she'd more or less left it intact, mostly because disturbing it felt wrong. It still smells like him, barely. She knows it's not the healthiest response, but she's making baby steps forward.

"He's not here any more." The complexity of her feelings fill her voice, but she doesn't go into those details. "We arrived at the same time, but he... There was an incident where mirrorbound were kidnapped and tortured." There's a long pause as she busies attempting to school her expression into something stronger. "That's the last I saw or felt him through the bond."

He had been a monster, so the bond was imbalanced and ill advised by most. Still, they were partners and trust was difficult to come by here.

She glances at his changes when he draws attention, humming softly and frowning. "You just arrived and have changes already?" It's not what usually happens outside of the shared dreams, and it's concerning. "There are monsters of varying types, and witches. You become one when you're pulled here."

[forprettywomen]

"If he were tortured... maybe it is best he is not here any more."

Not that he knew what happened to mirrorbound as she said once they disappeared. A bond breaking like that though, what did she feel? What did she know of his torture and kidnapping? How much can be felt through the bond? He rubs at his face, trying hard to keep his calm in the fact of such change.

"Maybe it's a trick of the eye, or a hint of what's to come." Josh frowns, before he glances towards Sheva, to her own changes that are more obvious and telling. "I wish I could explain it.

Nine months was a long time, but how was that possible?

"What happens now?"

[partnerinheels]

"It's that perspective in which I try and focus my thoughts," she agrees, though her voice remains heavy on the matter. She misses him, and she misses Bucky. But that is the past and she's made a promise to herself to continue moving forward.

And while she's selfishly very glad to see him again, it's in that thread that she feels guilty for having joy at seeing him. "I am sorry you are here."

At his mention of it being a trick, Sheva glances over at him, at the changes, resisting the urge to reach out and touch them as mild proof to his new reality. "It is probably foreshadowing. The choice has been made by this place and its magic."

Thankfully, his question has a simple enough answer, and she grins slightly over at him. "We get you showered and fed. Then a more comprehensive debriefing."