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]

[ "Who's there" turns out to be someone who Zack recognizes. It's dark and so it takes him a couple of seconds to place her face, especially since she's grown into her features a bit more than the last time they saw each other. She's not a teenage girl anymore, that's for sure.

It makes sense. Five years have passed since then. But this is someone Aerith hadn't mentioned during their long talk, and so Zack's more thrown off by her sudden appearance than he'd like to be. ]

Tifa. It's... been a while.

[ Does she know about what happened to him? Zack's gathered that the knowledge of his death isn't as widespread as he would have thought. Then again, his interaction with Tifa during the Nibelheim disaster had also been pretty limited. He'd mainly known of her as Cloud's childhood friend who he'd been too nervous to talk to, back then. ]

And yeah... [ He recovers from his shock in quick order as he takes a look at their surroundings. ] Just wanted to see these Shade things for myself.

[meteodrives]

[ That's certainly putting it mildly. Her first inclination is to tip her head into something resembling a nod, though it's hesitant now. ]

It has, hasn't it?

[ Five years. This cycle of seeing people back from the dead is chilling to her, only adding to the worry that this place really is a piece of the Lifestream. She can't linger on that right now and it isn't right to even ask, though the concerned look she shoots Zack's way likely says more than she intends it to. There's worry there and so many questions not far behind, but there's something more important for them to focus on now.

Her gaze sweeps back to the darkness, listening, waiting. ]

It's the same with me. I was hoping I could help. It sounds like people are pretty worried about their numbers.

[ And plenty more encouraging new arrivals to come to this area to let off steam. ]

Have you run into one yet?

[exsoldier]

[ While Tifa's verbal response is mild as can be, especially considering everything that's happened since they last saw each other, the look in her eye tells a different story. Zack suspects that she knows something, if not all the details, but it's true that they're not in the best situation to compare notes right now.

So when she focuses back on the task at hand, Zack's right there with her. This may all be surreal, but he's willing to roll with the punches.

At her question, he lets out a sigh and shakes his head. ]

Not yet. Wanna see if we can find one together? Not sure if I want to engage since I don't have a weapon yet, but I at least wanted to get a look.

[ He can't stop himself from giving Tifa a once-over. It's been five years. Does she know how to take care of herself in a fight? She's obviously in shape and Zack feels as if she carries herself differently now, so he wouldn't be surprised if she's trained up. ]

[meteodrives]

[ There's a slow nod to her head as she looks back out into the dark, finally sinking back onto her back foot so she can carefully rise. ]

Yeah, I want to have a look. I want to be prepared.

[ Oh, that's right. Her gaze skirts over him, realizing he doesn't have a sword. Tifa holds out her hands, clenching them into fists. Her smile is small and wry. ]

Don't worry. Worse comes to worst, I can hold something off for a bit. I'm not afraid.

[ Bold words, maybe, from the tour guide in Nibelheim. But Tifa means every word and no matter how painful her memories, how angry she'd been that day, she isn't going to let something harm Zack. ...Well, she's going to try, at least. She isn't quite sure what to expect from these creatures, after all.

With care, she slinks around the trees, trying to look out into the gloom for what she presumes these creatures to be. She's no Yuffie but she's quiet, cautious, and waits for Zack before she goes more than a few paces. ]

[exsoldier]

[ They're on the same page, which is that they need to know what they're dealing with when it comes to the Shades. Knowing and understanding your enemy is the first step in winning a fight, even if they choose not to engage. Turks may be more about reconnaissance than SOLDIERs, but Zack technically isn't a SOLDIER anymore, so what does it matter?

There is something refreshing about being able to do what he wants, rather than waiting for the next order to come from on high.

Zack watches as Tifa's fists clench and that seems to tell him everything he needs to know. Curious as he is to see her in action, he isn't going to hope that they get ambushed. He follows after her, also doing his best to step quietly. ]

My hero. [ While he might be joking a little just to lighten the mood, he does find that he trusts her too. They may not know each other well, but he'd gotten a good impression off of her during their brief interactions. That, and if she survived Sephiroth, she must be made of pretty stern stuff. ]

... I always wondered what happened to you after Nibelheim. I'm glad you made it through okay.

[ He keeps his voice low. Now isn't the time, but he can't ignore what's standing right in front of him either. Even as he speaks, his eyes scan the area, trying to pick out movement in the darkness of the woods. ]