Quest Log: APRIL 2021

[faileas]

Quest Log: April, 2021

CITY-WIDE QUESTS Quest #1 - Part-timers Wanted! (Aefenglom) - The following places are looking for part-timers for the month. Duties vary by shop, though all are paying 500-cunes per hour, five days a week. Amicable Arrangements - A flower shop in the shopping district is looking for part-timers to help with arranging flower bouquets. Anyone with an interest and willingness to learn is welcome. Training includes learning all about the Language of Flowers and their meanings. Undermael College Library - The college's library needs more assistants to help organize books and papers, especially with the influx of new research as more breakthroughs are made regarding understanding the Cwyld. No need to be a student to apply. Spring Cleaning - The Aefenglom Beautifying Committee, a volunteer-run organization, is looking for new members willing to help clean up the city for spring. Snacks are provided, but the only payment is that feeling of pride and satisfaction you get when the streets are trash-free! Quest #2 - A Haven Memorial (Aefenglom) - The Mirrorbound Council -- a "seat" for in Parliament representing the Mirrorbound, which is open to all who would participate -- has put forth an ambitious project starting this month. A memorial obelisk is beginning construction in the Haven, honoring those Mirrorbound who have since vanished from Geardagas. It will be a place for remembering those who are no longer in the city, as well as potentially a community-oriented space for Mirrorbound as a whole. (ooc: please feel free to plot among one another regarding this player-led initiative in the player plotting post linked above! Any of the additional features are possible, so please just let the mods know how the plot is progressing and we'll keep things updated!) Quest #3 - Seeking Healing Vibes - Inkchanted is looking for volunteers to test a potential new healing spell. Discount available to testers! Inkchanted is your local enchanted tattoo parlor, delivering simple spells, wards, and other services as temporary tattoos and skin paintings — ever since we started, we have been receiving requests for a tattoo design that would administer a self-healing spell. Figuring out how to make that work has been our focus for quite a while! We might be close to the breakthrough, and for that, we need your help! Self-healing spells work differently on Monsters and Witches. For example, even the type of magic proficiency for the latter seems to factor into how the spell works... That's where you come in. Anyone wishing to test the healing spell can get it painted on (with a bonus magical battery for the Monsters, allowing them to use the spell even without magic of their own), and get a special discount on a tattoo of their choice. All we ask is for testers to take notes. Did the healing spell work as intended? How many times did it work? Were there any unexpected side-effects? The discount voucher will be provided upon receiving the notes — Submitted Cú Chulainn (ooc: the spell can heal one larger injury, or up to three-four smaller scratches, though it can also fail and heal only one scratch and disappear entirely after that! The side-effects can be of a wide variety, from itching or tingling on the healed area, to more supernatural-like glowing, changing colours. There's also a risk that using the spell, aside from healing the wound, will cause the character in question to temporarily grow something matching the type of the Monster they are Bonded to (so a small dragon horn, scales, feathers etc), or get a side-effect similar to the magical signature of the Witch they are Bonded to (for example, ice-cool touch for Ice Witches). Feel free to play with the side-effects, and to providing the notes to anyone on the Inkchanted staff (either through inbox, or poking at a top-level/catch-all). Current Inkchanted staff consists of Cú Chulainn, Waver Velvet, Iskandar, Yona, Soren and Alex Benedetto.) 🌶️ Quest #4 - The Dark Desires Café & Club (Aefenglom) - A new establishment is opening at the very edge of the Entertainment District, where it borders the Aristocratic District -- The Dark Desires Café & Club. Funded and founded by Lady Adelaide, an older noblewoman well known among her peers as an eccentric lady who delights in pushing boundaries and questioning norms, the Café is made up of two parts: a coffee and tea shop, which serves the expected beverages as well as some pastries and lunch items, and the exclusive club and stage that are open to members, catering to more sensual desires and providing a safe space for those interested in exploring a kink-friendly community. In collaboration with the Bonded pair owners of Worse Dragon, The Dark Desires Café & Club have started inviting members of the Mirrorbound who may be interested, especially those who have previously shopped at related establishments. Come check out the coffee shop by day, stay for the shows, workshops, and other fun in the evenings! The atmosphere of the establishment is elegant and refined, but strives to feel safe and community-oriented at the same time. The building itself is large, in an older style, furnished finely with a theme of dark cherry woods and black or wine-red curtains and trims, embellished with tasteful nude statues and paintings in a classical style. Club shows feature stage shows and demonstrations from various performers, with features this month including the esteemed rope artists, ladies Liliann and Hildegarde, a Bonded pair who have a show focused on artistic shibari, dancing, and acrobatics. Rope workshops can be signed up for after the show and will be held throughout the month. Tomas, ex-actor and Lady Adelaide's partner (also a Witch, slightly younger than her with silvery temples and black hair), is in charge of management and can be found bustling around the premises in charge of hires, sign-ups and the club's calendar. Now hiring open-minded individuals with exceptional personalities from all walks of life for the following jobs: - waiters to serve the cafe's fabulous coffee, tea and sweets - hosts and hostesses to entertain the guests - musicians to provide atmospheric background - those with experience and interest in hosting kink-positive workshops - burlesque dancers and other performers comfortable with sensual themes - backstage professionals ranging from lighting work, choreographers, stagehands and stage managers Mirrorbound who have shopped at Worse Dragon or other adult establishments around the Entertainment or Shopping districts recently may find invitations slipped into their shopping bags, or flyers around the Haven advertising the new club and inviting anyone interested in a casual, supportive atmosphere for adults, or advertising some of their burlesque shows or kink workshops. (Suggested by Ran.)

WILDE QUESTS Quest #1 - Out of the City (Aefenglom) - The Coven is once more taking volunteers to venture outside of the Bright Wall to aid those in the Outer City. Trained in magic or otherwise; those without any formal training, or with very little formal training, will be overseen by a more experienced Witch. Miss Nerissa Bell asks all who are able to do any of the following to lend a hand to those our wall cannot currently protect: Medical aid (taking care of someone, healing, administering medicine in syrup, pill, or shot form, etc) Entertainment (singing, dancing, acting, story-telling, playing an instrument) Fight (hand-to-hand or with a weapon; magic can potentially bring more harm than help) Donate (toys, books, food, time, etc; or gathering any of the former) The Coven asks you be careful when interacting with infected individuals; though they're still within their right minds, becoming infected is a very real danger. We ask you wear gloves and a face mask when interacting with those showing symptoms of the Cwyld. Quest #2 - Cwyld Research Part II (Aefenglom) - The Coven and Undermael College are teaming up on researching the recently-discovered phenomenon of some of the population being resistant to the Cwyld to some level. Although it is possible for natives to develop a resistance after interacting on a regular basis with the Wilde and the Cwyld, it does seem that the data points to Mirrorbound as having the highest rates of resistance so far. Those Mirrorbound who spend a lot of time near the Cwyld, whether that is in the Wilde fighting infected beasts or in a research capacity, have a slight resistance to infection. The Coven and the College are especially interested in individuals like this! They are looking for volunteers among both the native populace and the Mirrobound to see if they can establish how often such an immunity builds and how long it might take. This test will run for several weeks or even months, depending on each person’s preference; the healers of course appreciate long-term data. You will be asked to wear an enchanted bracelet (generally a plain beaded band, though somewhat customizable) that will measure Cwyld exposure and any potential immune responses. You will be given a map and asked to spend time in marked areas outside the Bright Wall, in groups or alone, following predetermined trails through nature. Of course, the healers aren’t asking you to run into heavily infected places or directly interact with Shades, so please don’t wander beyond the marked areas unless you're prepared for the risk! At the end of each volunteer session, blood is drawn and several magical tests are done with a device similar to a blood-pressure cuff. Naturally, volunteers are also compensated for their time with cunes, and will receive healing whenever needed. (ooc: Some characters may find a mild immunity if they spend a lot of time in the Wilde. Either way, characters may experience mild side effects per player discretion, such as temporary skin or hair discoloration, feeling sick, feverish, etc. Note that Witches are more susceptible to these symptoms than Monsters, unless the Monster is a Fae or Dragon. The healers are keeping a close eye on volunteers, so if anyone has a reaction worse than mild, which is possible, they will be taken out of the study.) Quest #3 - Topsy-Turvy Teleporters (Anywhere) - A mishap with some teleportation circles set up by a small group of ambitious Fae means brave adventures are needed to lend a hand! As many folks know, some Fae have an affinity for teleportation magic and can set up fairy circles to teleport themselves and one or two other persons from Point A to Point B. A handful of entrepreneurial Fae decided to make a business of this, teleporting customers a few miles across the city or even into the Widle... though anyone with any sense would tell you that teleportation into or out of the Wilde is risky business unless it's via a well-established, Coven-tested teleporter! For a little bit, their business was going well enough, but then the Fae friends got more ambitious and wanted to transport customers longer distances. Now, they're posting up Help Wanted signs all over the city, asking for assistance in reclaiming their, uh, slightly misplaced customers. It turns out that the teleportation circles the Fae set up in the Wilde have been disrupted by a mix of foul weather and animal or Cwyldtid interference over the last couple of months-- or at least, that's their best guess as to what could have gone wrong, though it's also possible there's another reason.. Takers of these quests will be tasked with trekking out into the Wilde in search of folks (and their Fae guides) who have used the teleportation magic to uncertain results, sometimes ending up stranded and lost in the forest, or stuck up high in trees or even in canyons or holes in the ground. It's recommended to go in teams when possible, since the Wilde is always dangerous. Bonds, temporary or permanent, are always encouraged.

HIGH RISK QUESTS Quest #1 - Wilders Training (Aefenglom, Dorchacht) - As ever, The Wilders -- Witches and Monsters who scout into the Cwyld-infected lands beyond the city's Wall -- continue to train, recruit and bolster their numbers, as their work is never-ending. Pairs would be preferred for this exercise, but groups are not rejected; Wilders will be taking those willing to test their mettle into a contained part of the forest in order to pit them against various infected messing up the area either in the Wilde around Aefenglom or Dorchacht. Dorchacht's Wilders are running a similar recruitment and training drive, though the dangers in their neck of the woods, so to speak, are often quite different from around Aefenglom's and their wildlife sometimes stranger. Characters are welcome at either location. You're free to make up some dangers to deal with as you please -- aggressive animals defending their territory, Cwyldtid that have grown to large sizes, monstrous plants, etc. ⭐ Quest #2 - Underground Unpleasantness (Underground) - This month, there's a request for help posted around The Haven and addressed to Mirrorbound only. It comes from a surprising source some Mirrorbound may remember from many months ago: a settlement located in the caves and tunnels beneath the ground near the Northern Outpost, which is only known as The Underground. A group of desperate velvet wormipede farmers have reached out somehow, probably with the help of the Wilders in the Northern Outpost (or perhaps they even asked some Mirrorbound who have ties to the Underground directly). Since the Mirrorbound have made efforts before to become allies to the denizens of the Underground, the farmers hope there'll be some among them willing to help. Their plea is urgent. A strange disease has been running rampant through their herds of velvet wormipedes -- horse-sized, soft-furred livestock of a variety of colors that the Underground relies on for everything from meat to clothing to transportation -- and causing unpleasant effects. Some think it might be the Cwyld, but the Underground has generally been well-protected by their veils of Cwyld-resistant moss, and their Matriarch doesn't believe anything infected could have gotten through. Nevertheless, the wormipides have been getting sick in unnerving ways, some presenting black spots and oily skin that destroys their fur, others losing limbs or even growing extras, their bodies warping and twisting, sometimes growing to immense proportions far larger than any normal wormipede should be. Though usually docile creatures that only get aggressive if their eggs are threatened, affected wormipedes suddenly act enraged and distressed, becoming relentlessly violent until they have to be put down. Considering these livestock are what clothe and feed most of the population of the Underground, the farmers need to find the cause of this problem fast, before it wipes out the rest of their herds. Finding answers may require delving deeper into the tunnels outside the protected haven of the city below - proceed with caution.

Welcome to April's Quest Log! We're trying something different this month and providing a log you can use to thread OR to post links to your own catch-all logs. We are also no longer tracking sign-ups, which is why the April Quest Pickup header is frozen.

To keep everything in one place, we ask that you bring your quest-related questions to this thread, and you're welcome to use this header to plot among yourselves! Please note that this is not the month's event (check out the Calendar for those dates!), just a new way to present the quests that we hope will make it easier to find people to thread with.

Comments

[darkestbefore]

[ She tips her head to the side to consider him for a moment before smiling. ]

Keep me company for a bit? It's been a while since we've gotten to sit and talk. How have you been?

[silentsavant]

[ Oh. That's... a bit trickier a task for Soren to accomplish. It's not a direct problem to resolve, and moreover, he's doesn't do the whole small talk thing very well. Nonetheless, she is right about that. They hardly ever discuss anything that isn't related to work or what they are currently trying to accomplish as a team - all Soren's doing, for he's always been reserved about himself whether he's working with a mercenary company or tattoo artists. Perhaps in the past he might have excused himself, but they're part of a group, a circle Soren finds himself most at home in outside of one single exception. He hesitates for a moment, at a loss for how to proceed initially. ]

... Fine. Better, [ he amends. This year has not been kind to him, what with his Coven-mandated power loss in Ieuril, his community service performing construction work in the wintry cold, the looming threat of the Evergreen Circle, and the resultant disorientation as a result of the memory loss he tried to mask in Feoveuer up into Mareuer after being brainwashed by the cultists. As a result, he'd been forced to refrain from coming to work when his condition deteriorated too much. He never spoke much about it, and any concern directed toward him had been brushed off. He's recovered nicely since then, and it shows. ] Yourself?

[darkestbefore]

[ She's not sure of the details of much of what he'd been through, although she's aware that it's been A Time, this past year. It has been for all of them, in different ways.

Although she gives him a bemused look, because that's a very short answer to that question. She'll forgive him this time, however, because she doesn't want to make him dwell on anything unpleasant now if she doesn't need to.

But she offers him a crooked smile as she lifts one shoulder in a shrug. ]

Better than I could be, at least. it's been... a very busy few months, hasn't it? [ She makes a face. ] ...I'd actually be very happy if we got a quiet few weeks to recover, if I'm honest. [ Not that she expects to get the, not here, but it's still a hope. ]

[silentsavant]

[ He only understands the surface of what she's been through and going through, too. He sighs in sympathy. ]

We can never expect life to just go easy on us when we need it to. That said, we are fortunate enough to have people we can depend on when things get especially hard. And if you need to take time off, we can certainly accommodate. I've come to find that Waver and Caster have been exceptionally understanding employers when I'm not at my best.