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

[bravers]

[He doesn't know Kadaj that well, (didn't know him at all, actually. He can count on one hand the amount of times they've actually met, each of them involving himself getting as far away as possible relatively early on into the meeting.) But even then, even with what he thinks to be his usual manner (hysteria, mainly) shaking, stumbling, and figeting doesn't exactly fit the picture.

Were it not for his lucidity, Kadaj almost looks like he's coming out of mako poisoning, going through withdrawal symptoms- but-

It's this world, isn't it. He stops, mid-stride, and turns to him. His eyes look concerned. ...This better not be a trick.]

C'mon. We're going to the coven.

[He extends an arm, to help him along. Reluctantly.]

[aremnant]

[ Oh, what's this? What's this? Big brother is showing CONCERN for him? This surely must be a dream! A dream that he's bound to wake from soon... that's how these things go, don't they? Not that he dreams to begin with! What would a remnant have to dream about anyways? Anything and everything belongs to Him after all.

But that arm is extended and Kadaj stands there. Staring. Head tilting to the side as bright green eyes blink slow before widening then relaxing. He doesn't like this. Not one bit. This swirling of everything that doesn't make any sense and he just feels so restless deep within yet can't make sense of forward from backwards. Not really. That's no good. No good at all!

He stands there, still staring to Cloud in silence before he finally laughs. But it's not laced with malicious intent or unhinged playfulness. Instead, it's soft and distant. Almost sad. ]

Why...? Don't you want to just leave me?

[ Eyes fall shut and he smiles. ]

But having you here... it's like before, big brother. So it's ok if I self-destruct. At least you're here.

[ Just like before. ]

[bravers]

Shut up.

[Yes. Yes, he did want to leave him. But that's neither here nor there. But he can't. He's not wired that way, and even though leaving him would be a weight off his mind, Bigger Picture and all, it's cruel. So he shifts from one foot to the other, stepping forward and taking Kadaj's arm, putting it over his shoulders.

Part of him's reeling that he's even doing this, to be frank. But he's made up his mind.]

We're going to the coven, and we're getting you potions. They'll slow this down.

[And.]

But listen to me. What you are isn't important anymore. The planet's gone, Jenova's gone, and you're here. You exist, without it. You need to focus on who you are, instead of deciding to just die.

[A few unstable steps. This... is a pain in the ass. So. He's just going to hoist Kadaj over his back and carry him that way.]

You said you're a puppet, right? Bullshit. Your strings're gone. So stop acting like one.

cw for violent imagery ig

[aremnant]

[ When Cloud hoists him up onto his back, Kadaj just... lets him. Surprisingly. Even to him! There's that part of him that means to reach back for his blade and swing it around to slam into the center of the blond's chest with laughter bubbling from his lips and murder in his eyes. Oh it's there! Screaming and clawing at him from the inside. But he's just... too tired to. Too confused. Too lost. Too... he doesn't even know. That's the problem! He doesn't like this but... better it be Cloud than someone else, right?

So arms drape loosely over the blond's shoulders and his chin rests against the crook of Cloud's neck, eyes falling shut as he hums and listens to the words that slip in and out of his mind. Big brother is being... kind to him? In his own way. It's strange. Not right at all. How many times has he denied him? Has he walked away from him? Has he refused to accept that they're family? Now he means to take care of him with taking him to the Coven? No wonder he's the black sheep of the family. ]

Like you. [ He muses softly. ] No longer a puppet. But you were. Once upon a time...

[ Lips curl into a smile of amusement at the thought but he still feels tired. ]

Brother... what does it feel like to love someone? [ A seemingly random question and yet, with the way he asks it, so soft and unsure, it feels genuine rather than a means to play with the mind. ] My purpose is to please Mother, to be... His vessel. So He can come back.

[ He doesn't need to clarify the He, he's sure Cloud knows who He is. ]

I'm the very parts of Him that He hates... no. I am His hatred. For you. For everyone. But I... I want Mother to love me, too. Like those two loved each other that I tried to kill. I only wanted to because they were in my way. I didn't even know them. But they loved each other, brother. It made me sad to see. Because I don't understand. I don't understand what that's like. I'm not supposed to.

[ A tilt of his head, strands of silver fall in front of his face. ]

So isn't it better I just not be here then? I'm not you, brother. I have a purpose.

[bravers]

[Thankfully, he doesn't know about the mental picture Kadaj is experiencing. Because that... would result in him being dropped. Swiftly. But hey. He doesn't know. No harm, no foul. So he only adjusts him on his back before he continues on, turning a corner, down a street and ...tries, really tries, to focus on getting there, and to ignore what's spilling out of Kadaj's mouth.

Kadaj never struck him as the type to have a filter. But what comes out feels even more disjointed than usual. More like thoughts than coherent sentences, barely connected and just ... flowing.]

I was. [It's a hard thing to admit. And it causes him discomfort, audible in the way he hesitates to answer, in the reluctance in his tone.] But now, I'm not. And for the last time- [If only.] I'm not your brother.

[An exhale follows.] You're wrong, too. You're saying your purpose is Jenova, right? It's gone. About Sephiroth...

[Yes. He'd heard all about it from Aerith. What Kadaj was, in minute detail. More than likely unintentional on her part, but that was a large reason why he kept away.]

...He's not what you know him as. You were a part of him after he died, right? That hasn't happened here. You can't view him as what he became. Because what he became is the opposite thing to what he is now.

[...A lot about this conversation, is unnerving. Defending Sephiroth one of those things. But he knows it as fact. If anything, from his own feeling toward his bondmate.]

...Believe me, I know.
In Nibelheim, he lost his mind. He died. Nothing about what he became is anything like the person he was. ...Is, here. You get that, right? You might've been his hatred, once. Might've been what created you. You might be bound to that, on Gaia. But not here. You haven't disappeared. That's proof you can be something else. That you can get another purpose.

[Another shift of the man on his back.]

... Start by finding out your own answers. You even tried to work out what it means for yourself, or are you just asking me, wanting some way to try and feel? It doesn't work like that. Anyone'd screw up like that.

[aremnant]

[ The soft sound of amusement leaves his lips at Cloud still refusing him as family. Doesn't mean he's going to ever stop. Sorry not sorry, brother! ]

You care for him, don't you.

[ He doesn't frame it as a question but more as an observation. Almost like fact. ]

Some part of you does... or did... that's why you're helping me, isn't it? Because I'm part of him. Even if that part is not so nice.

[ Words fall softly from his lips and a hand lifts to blindly brush at the side of Cloud's face in an uncharacteristically gentle way. Really, he expects a jerk of his head away but what does he care? ]

The only time you show me kindness is when I'm falling apart at the seams. Like before. When I died in your arms. You held me then and you carry me now. Deep within you, brother, you have a heart like I could never have and it makes me sad. I see why they love you. Why they fight alongside you.

[ He drops his hand back to the blond's chest and lets his eyes fall shut again. ]

I wish I could feel, too. Just once. Something other than all of this.

[bravers]

Kinda, yeah.

[Not even because he idolized him as a child. If anything, actually being around him made that fanboyism go to where it should've gone, Somewhere close, but closed. A little space inside his head for being young and stupid. Locked. Never to be opened again.]

Never thought I could hate what he became more than what I did back then, before this world. But I do.

[And it's also sad. He'd overlooked how sad it was, back then. Mostly because of his anger. Kadaj's hand moving against his cheekbone does makes him move it away, but the response isn't anything dissimilar to what anyone else would get for it. Even those he loved.]

Wrong. Again. I'm not doing this because you were made from some part of him. Doesn't matter where you came from. I'm doing it because you've got a chance, here, to be something else. If I didn't think you did, I wouldn't give a shit whether you blew up or not.

[He listens to Kadaj talk then, shaking his head.]

You don't get it. You're talking about something I haven't done. It's years ahead of my time. After Meteor, after he came back. I'm not the same person that's in your memories. Same way he's not the same as the one I hate.

[An exhale. A personal memory, something which... kept him going. For a long time, after he did something unthinkable.. He's hesitant about disclosing it. Very much so.
...But he does.]

Someone important told me once, that you're not alone.

['Yo, think about it. How many people in the world do ya think really understand themselves?']

There's people all over, and they don't know what's going on with them, either. Regular people. That feel. What you're feeling isn't just you.

['They go on living. They don't run away. That's just how it is.']

Feels like it is, but it isn't. And they keep going. So you can, too. Even if it's painful.

...Look. When we get to the coven, they're going to give you something that'll make this feeling go away. Then you need to get rid of your magic. I'll take you outside the city, and you can get rid of it all. After that, it's up to you. You can try and go on. Make something for yourself that isn't Sephiroth, and isn't Jenova. Because they don't have a hold on you here.

...Or, you can blow up. It's your choice, and I'm not gonna make it for you.

[aremnant]

That's where you're wrong. [ He's soft as he interjects. ] You are as in my memories. Or at least your heart is. Even if you can't see it. I can, brother. That's why I hate you. Why I'm told to hate you.

[ He doesn't expect Cloud to get it. No one can. Not even him some days! But despite the nonsense and playful way he twists his words so much more often than not, he's genuine with these. Because he does really believe it. That even if Cloud is not where he is just yet from the point in time he comes from, that heart is still there. That heart is still beating. That heart is still willing to help and protect others. It's disgusting but he can see it. ]

I'm... not alone..?

[ He sounds like a lost child with the way he repeats that as a question to himself. He... he knows that, doesn't he? Loz and Yazoo... they're his brothers! Different from Cloud but cut from the same cloth as him. So he wasn't alone... of course not! But... he came before them, didn't he? He did. And he came here before them- without them. Both times he's come into existence it's been alone. So then maybe he is alone.

But Cloud says he's not and he's... here, isn't he? Carrying him like this when he could have walked away as always. Like usual. Mister spiky-haired Don't Call Me Brother black sheep of the family. Really! He could have and yet he didn't and doesn't and he's carrying him and Kadaj is... quiet. Thoughtful. ]

Brother... will you bond with me?

[bravers]

[An unenthused breath in. Not exactly what he wants to hear, the fact that he's not changed in all of that time. But it's not about that. He's not going to ask, he's not going to push for clarification. Instead, he simply shakes his head.

You're saying that you hate me, and then you're saying you want to bond with me. You get it, right, that sayin' that doesn't exactly fill me full of confidence?

[Almost there now.]

I'm gonna need more than that to trust you. That's what a bond is. Trust.

[aremnant]

They say we feel what the other does through a bond. So if I can feel what you feel... then I can learn, can't I?

[ Or so is the reasoning within the erratic mind of Sephiroth's insanity. Trying to make sense. Trying to... find himself without Sephiroth being part of the equation. But doing so on his own? On his own. Can he really be trusted to accomplish that? He doesn't know. So it's why... he asks! ]

What more do you need? My word?

[bravers]

It's not like that. You have to learn for yourself, or it doesn't mean anything. You imitating someone else's feeling isn't real.

[The entrance to the coven looms, now. But he lingers- his pace slowing, to get that point across. And something else.]

Look. you've told me you're my enemy from the get-go. I'm not saying no, to bonding. But I need to know you better first. It's up to you whether you want to make a life for yourself here, or if you want to keep clinging to something that doesn't matter anymore.

[aremnant]

[ He's quiet for a long moment before he rests his head against Cloud's shoulder, a distant but thoughtful hum leaving his lips as arms hold tight around the blond for support. ]

You're... so confusing, brother. [ He murmurs that tiredly. ] You don't remember. But we fought. You and I. Because you were in the way of bringing Mother back. But just like when you defeated me, you didn't leave me alone when I was weak. Like now... just like right now. I didn't understand why. But now I wonder... if you felt then as you do now. Maybe you felt sorry for me. For a... fellow puppet.

[ Because Cloud was once that himself and that alone is a similarity they will always carry with each other. ]

If I reject Mother like you tell me to... then you're all the family I have left.