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

[thatsamoray]

[It was in his nature, like the scorpion and the frog! Only the scorpion was so startled that the frog seemed to actually care that he forgot to sting him.]

Hm, well it's not like I'm exactly a fish. I'm a mermaid~♪

[You know, mermaids! Those horrible fish/human creatures with long eel tails and sharp teeth. Ariel he ain't. Floyd pushes himself up to try and sit upright-ish. There's another instinctual thrash of the tail.]

And I'm a mermaid the whole way through.

[It's not like his top half wasn't a mermaid, after all. And no part of him was "human." He'd learned from his year at school that humans liked to make assumptions like that. He could still remember when the Sea Urchin had asked him what happened to his "normal" form... hehe, "normal."]

What about you?

[gunshow]

[ in truth, ryuu had only reacted so well to his mythical assailant because... well, he's not exactly looking like himself either. what do you mean, this is au naturale and not just some side effect from taking a trip through the looking glass? ]

Me? Well, [ he starts to look pensive, like, oh yeah, he has to think about this now. ] I'm human, though I might not look it right now. It's only since coming here that I've had -

[ a swipe of his tail behind him. it's his most obvious feature, even with his front canines turning wicked and long, among other things. ]

...that.

[ an audible breath presses from his lungs as he turns his gaze from his new addition to what he'd dragged in with it. ]

A real mermaid... I've spent a lot of time at sea, but I've never seen one! [ don't mind him as he just scoots forward a little on his knees. ] I probably ought to get you back to the water, right?

[thatsamoray]

["wow no offense but you're the weirdest looking human i've ever seen"]

[Nah, it's been enough time that Floyd's gotten the gist of things. Even if the changes on his own body were more measured, harder to spot with the naked eye, he could feel them. All this proved was that it was capable of making a real mess out of a human if it wanted to. Whatever "it" was. The world itself?]

Ahh, that's a waste. If you've gone to the sea a lot it should have made you like me!

[He's just immediately decided that. It's hard to tell if it's in the way that he'd want a friend or a more agile swimming target.]

[He glances down to his tailfin. It did seem like, even with the mucus, he was drying out quicker than normal. Ah, that was no fun, weird magic place~. He turns back to Ryuu, an excited light shining in his eyes.]

Hey, hey, since it made you so strong, you should toss me in!

[gunshow]

- ahah, if only we got to choose.

[ him, a mermaid... well, there's logic in that, and he always did wonder what it would be like to be able to breathe underwater. then again, mermaids did come with a lot of warnings in his hometown. you know, one washing up on shore meant calamity, don't eat them or you'll turn immortal and be doomed to wander the earth for the rest of time, those kinds of things.

or it could be like the actual fairytale, but he doesn't exactly see any princely kisses on the horizon. and, he can sure talk.

right now, ryuu is kneeling there with idle sways of his tail, considering. ]

Toss... are you sure?! I wasn't exactly gentle when I reeled you in...

[ isn't one shot at a concussion enough? ]

[thatsamoray]

[There was always a certain amount of care to be taken with any wild animal.]

[Some mermaids were a lot more hospitable but, well, this one did initiate the whole conversation by sinking his teeth into the other's tail. Also please don't eat him.]

Eh, well that was an accident. [he bobs his head idly]

And diving into water is a lot different than getting tossed onto land.

[Like, sure, it would be bad if he belly-flopped onto the water... but he didn't intend to get any more hurt. Anyways, it seemed way more interesting than getting dragged back in (ew) or carried (eh) or crawling back himself.]

[gunshow]

That's a good point. Is the river that deep? I was curious...

[ sure, his curiosity was playing second fiddle the other and more urgent demands on his attention, like his massive fangs and the ability to breathe poison, but he did wonder! with that idle thought out of the way, ryuu goes about climbing to his feet. normally tall, his new features have only added to that, but he's still no real match for someone with nine whole feet of tail, either...

humming, ryuu seems to size floyd up, taking this endeavor quite seriously for what it is. better than most, ryuu knows the strength of. fish. ]

I've only ever really thrown my brothers into the ocean, as far as people go, but I'll try my best!

[ and shotputting shrieking children into the sea was far more manageable. ]

[thatsamoray]

[Floyd's height was variable right now. After all, he was nine feet long but in the ocean you tended to float at whatever eye level was comfortable. With legs he'd ended up looking down on people a lot, which was fun in its own way. Here, a beached eel, he had to look waaaa~y up.]

Eh, it's deep enough. There's a lake a ways down that's a lot more comfortable. You should come see it!

[and he- raises his arms, almost like how a shrieking little brother would when he's demanding to be picked up. If it were just a matter of his human body, he's pretty slim and probably wouldn't weigh a ridiculous amount. There's just the extra couple feet of muscular tail to deal with. Floyd seems confident Ryuu can do it, though. He's either very optimistic or feels like he got a lot of information out of that tail-slam alone.]

[gunshow]

[ he brightens near instantly, tail flicking at its fortified end. ]

A lake, huh? I think that sounds a lot nicer than staying here for too long...

[ as if it's just either second nature or a common enough occurrence, ryuu bends down in response to the grabby hands... grabby fins. this is happening. ]

Hmm, this is probably the best way to go about it?

[ gathering floyd up about the arms, he gives him a hoist inwards with a soft hup sound, not too daunted by the weight. he's always been pretty strong, and it seems his new height and features aren't just all for show. he's got some serious power behind him, all but bracing him on his torso and giving him a little toss to hook his free arm beneath the thick curve of his tail.

tada. an eel bride. ]

[thatsamoray]

[There's a weird normalcy to it, despite the fact that one is a giant draconic man and the other is a nine foot eel.]

[Floyd's skin is about what you'd expect for a sea creature. It's wet, and a little slimy, and it's easy to feel the raw amount of muscles moving under that skin. Despite that, his expression seems to have cleared up into something much more childish and innocent-seeming. Keep in mind- seeming. He attacked at the beginning and felt no remorse about it.]

Yeah, yeah! There's even a cave behind a waterfall.

[He'd carved out his little territory here on little more than instinct and animalistic urge. When his mind was a little more clear, he could actually think about the advantages of the space.]

I was thinking it would be a great place for Azul-

[... oh, right, Azul... isn't here, huh. He hadn't really worried about it at first. So much time had passed, though, and- oh, he's having a whole emotion and he hates it.]