☆ Event: Fright Night

[moustre]

Event Log: October, Fright Night

I. The Mist It starts in the middle of the night. As the bells chime for 3 am, a slow fog creeps across the city from all four cardinal directions, swirling low to the ground, shining purplish in the light of the twin moons. It goes without notice for a while, an oddity, easily brushed off as too much rain and the changing temperatures turning it to mist over the cobblestones. The first ones to get caught up in it are the night workers, the drunks leaving the bars, the sailors returning to their ships, anyone out on the streets when it begins. In most cases, the effects are not instantaneous - it takes a little time to sink in before… a. The Transformations Even if you don’t find yourself out on the streets in the middle of the night, the mist creeps its way into buildings through cracks and openings, until exposure is almost guaranteed for everyone in Aefenglom, and even some just outside the Bright Wall in the Outer City. Though a lucky few, Mirrorbound and citizens alike, will find themselves wholly unaffected by the substance and will retain their physical forms and their own right minds, many more find themselves bent to its whims, changing in ways that could never have been predicted. There is little rhyme or reason to what changes occur or how - some simply wake with new parts, uncomfortable, while others run from their homes, panicking as wings tear painfully out of their backs or claws burst forth from their hands. The mist does not discriminate. Humans and Witches find themselves gaining the parts of Monsters, or even creatures that live outside the Wall. Monsters gain parts that don’t match up to their species - Arachne with wings or gills, Turnskin with antlers and Merrow tails, Puca with the teeth and claws of predators or the horns of unicorns or the scales of lizards, such strange sights become more and more common as morning approaches slowly. Mirrorbound may find that they can even gain the features and mannerisms of creatures from their home worlds. It all seems to happen wholly at random. These parts may not even last; plenty of citizens lose their new additions after just hours, only to gain new ones in the meanwhile. In the dark, wee hours of the morning, the city erupts into chaos. b. Widespread Chaos There’s no chance of peace tonight. Some may be lucky enough to escape the mists or its effects somehow, but the vast majority of the city hasn’t -- and it’s telling, from the sounds of people in the streets, that no one’s particularly happy about the turn of events. Many are in pain, many are blind with panic and upset. How could this happen? What’s going on? Many of the shouts attribute blame to the Coven allowing the practice of at-times experimental magics, while others turn it into anti-Monster sentiment, claiming the Monster population wants them all to suffer the way they do. Other tinfoil-hat-ists spread their conspiracy theories loudly, laying the blame squarely on Dorchacht - retribution for the Monsters the Mirrorbound stole from their city. This is an attack, they shout! The actual truth remains to be seen, however. There are plenty who don’t care about the truth and pay little attention to the rumors. They’re opportunists at heart, and a city in chaos is good for lining pockets. Some less-affected and less-moral citizens take to the streets of the Shopping and Aristocratic districts, throwing rocks through windows, banging down doors, looting shops and the houses of the wealthy of whatever valuables they can carry with them. Even a gang of kids from one of the orphanages in the Harbor District, sporting their own mismatched new features, can be spotted roaming the city, looting stores and homes, stealing from people incapacitated in the streets. They can’t pass up an opportunity when they have so little to begin with. c. State of Emergency Parliament, in contact with the Coven, is quick to declare a state of emergency in Aefenglom. A magical announcement rings out all through the city, loud and impossible to miss. Those who can keep it together are called upon to help find some sort of order before things devolve too badly and more damage is done than can be fixed. People will get hurt if things continue like this, they could even be looking at casualties. Those who have learned healing magic are asked to report to makeshift first aid stations scattered around the city to help those dealing with more violent, bloody transformations. Anyone with prior law enforcement experience are tasked with helping contain and stop the looting and the muggings. More still are called to try and figure out some way to get rid of the mist, or reverse its effects. None of the assignments are mandatory, plenty are unable to assist as they deal with their own afflictions, but any help is greatly appreciated.

II. Damage Control The chaos of the first night dies down somewhat by noon the next day. The air of forgiveness and cleaning up for the new year that was present at the beginning of the month is gone as the violet mist still spreads, wreaking havoc with the citizens of Aefenglom. Human citizens take it worse than the Monster half of the city, but one of the side-effects hits the Monster community harder. It quickly becomes apparent that the effects of this never-before-seen magic are not only physical. Fights break out over anything from minor slights to things worth fighting about, blossoming from a few thrown punches to all-out brawls that spill into the streets. Anger and agitation increase in most affected citizens, and you can cut the tension in the air with a knife. Relief efforts have to be redirected. Some can keep it together just enough to go about their daily lives as best they can with their new ‘additions’, but others rapidly start to lose their minds in ferality, even those with strong Witch-Monster Bonds. Miss Nessie is quick to whip the Coven into action to help preserve the peace as much as possible. There isn’t enough room to contain so many feral citizens, but they try to make do. All available Mirrorbound, Witch and Monster, who are able and want to help contain the people of Aefenglom or each other are taught a simple knock-out spell, or given slips of paper enchanted with the same, to literally knock some sense into the ferals. It won’t hurt them in the long term, but it will give them a time-out and help pull their minds out of their pits of animal instinct. Plenty of citizens will be thankful for this. That doesn’t mean everyone is happy to see the Mirrorbound around town. They may notice that they get more scowls while they’re out and about, more whispers and dirty looks. They come from humans the most, but especially the wealthier people of the city, dealing with their own share of terrible transformations, who mutter under their breaths words like, “Knew they would bring trouble with them. Knew it right from the start.” Known Mirrorbound may find themselves being kicked out of higher class shops in the Shopping District, or even spit on in the streets. Poorer citizens, especially Monsters, see things differently, however: they’ve seen the refugees from Dorchacht, they know what was done for some of their kind. They’ll admit that the Mirrorbound have brought trouble with them, but a little trouble isn’t always a bad thing - sometimes you’ve got to shake things up and disturb the status quo. Though they’re dealing with bizarre changes and an increased risk of going feral, they have faith that the Mirrorbound will help solve this problem. Of course, this difference in opinion just means both sides argue louder and fight harder.

III. The Refugees For those who’d found themselves rehomed, mostly Monsters and what few Witches came with, this is not what they had expected from a “full moon”. They’d been warned that certain urges would be stronger, that magic could wax and wane like the moons themselves, but this? This rampant disorder, the odd turning present in so many citizens and Mirrorbound alike, the Coven and Parliament’s bid on attempting some sort of damage control--? Is this what they left Dorchacht for, from one far too controlling city to one that didn’t seem to have any control at all? They aren’t in chains, at least. They can choose their Bonds if they’d like one. But it’s put them on edge enough that some linger by the docks, both wanting to leave to someplace “safe” in their eyes and wishing to stay. The latter wins out in most cases, seeking to help the Mirrorbound as they were helped themselves, though they may be suffering from the mists themselves... oddly, they seem to be more aware of themselves in a way that the natives are not, likely learned behavior leftover from Dorchacht to keep themselves in check; the compulsion spell had only helped compulsion, after all, there’d been a genuine want to remain secure and safe in their minds even with the situation as it was. Unfortunately, there’s plenty of locals who see the refugees as part of the problem -- before the Mirrorbound, before Dorchacht, Aefenglom had been fine, and in continuing these thoughts, they’re not... the friendliest to outsiders. Some are more likely to retaliate violently with new-found additions to their physiology and skillset when the refugees attempt to help, with whispers, conspiracy theories, and nasty rumors all the while spreading at a rapid pace. As bad as Dorchacht had been, maybe they had a point about the strange, suggestive magic used across the city. Maybe it’s something Aefenglom should look into too, during the fuller moons, should this be the beginning of something worse as the new year rises at the end of the month. But hopefully -- and this is the hope of all -- it simply remains a one-off, freak happening at the end of the year, and they pray the new one fares better.

IV. The Aftermath Thanks to quite a bit of Mirrorbound assistance, the city is still largely in one piece by the end of the day after the full moons. The mist, an unstable alchemical compound, eventually breaks down into nothing after a day or so, and the effects all fade or reverse, leaving everyone in their normal bodies and feeling clear-headed as the moons start to wane again. There are issues of property damage, stolen goods, and political discord to deal with, but the hardest to handle is perhaps the guilt of those who went feral and attacked their friends and loved ones. Samuin preparations continue with an unusual gloom hung over the city as clean-up and reparations commence. While before, though, humans and Monsters could often be found on the bridge over the River Temese, making amends with one another, the activity almost entirely ceases, leaving the bridge empty most days from now until Samuin.

Welcome to October's event log! This event takes place ICly on the 12th, 13th, and 14th. The Questions thread can be found HERE! Please help us and other players out by putting the subject(s) of your questions in your header! Investigation briefs will be going out soon on the OOC Sign Ups thread to the teams who were chosen by RNG, so keep an eye out for that. And as always, while we do encourage you to use this log, you can feel free to thread things out on your own log or elsewhere.

Comments

Lucidity

[horkbajir]

The mist hasn't taken full effect on Toby yet. She feels kind of... bad, but hungry enough that she's walking out on things she knows she should do to get something to eat, and there's an oily slickness to her rough, scaly hide. Clearly this is the best time to meet someone.

Yes, that's a chimera all right. Toby slows. She's not happy about prioritizing her own needs right now, isn't sure if that's a strength or a weakness on a day like today. Regardless she's going to have to eat. But she'll feel better about herself if she pauses.

"Did you lose something?"

[hoboagogo]

"Huh? Oh, yeah--"

It takes a second for him to figure out how to back up with the different bend to his legs, hooves clattering slightly as he wriggles his right arm and head back from underneath the porch. (He's managed to accidentally dislodge the corner of one of the boards. Not tremendously, but just raised up enough that someone may eventually trip. Good job.)

He shakes a cobweb from his hair, reaching up to try and dust off his horns as he finally turns to the one speaking to him.

"I dropped my-- uh."

He was not expecting a massive.... scaled... thing to be the one speaking to him. A creature of leathery skin (scales?) and sharp blades that put his own newfound spiny protrusions to shame.

In his defense, he only pauses for a moment, before accepting her as some sort of dragon, and gesturing under the porch. "Knocked my watch under there. I'm not too used to this 'no thumbs' thing."

[horkbajir]

It's a common assumption. She looks somewhat out of place in Aefenglom, but not to the point where people can't comfortably slot her as something local. Full-form Dragons do exist here, after all.

"That's... This is like a bad full moons, but that isn't until tonight," she says in her deep, gravelly voice. In the distance there's a bull-like bellow of outrage followed by barking. "I don't know what's going on. But - all right. Can you see the watch?"

[hoboagogo]

He huffs out a breath at Toby's words, nodding. "Yeah, seriously. I'm usually turning into a faun, not-- whatever the hell all this is." Hooves and horns and coarse fur and weird eyes, he'd been relatively prepared for. He'd known what to expect, once enough clues had come in. Huge bear arms and spikes were not part of that equation, and thus have him more unsettled than he'd ever let himself show.

His long, faun-like ears flicker at the sounds from farther down the street, and he glances that way with a frown and furrowed brows, before bringing his attention back to the situation at hand.

"Startin' to really second think going outside with all this bullshit happening... anyway, lemme see." He settles back down into a crouch, paws on the ground, and tries to tilt his head to get low enough to see under the porch. He closes one eye, as though that would help the other adjust to the darkness and see better.

(It does not. In fact, it just makes his depth perception worse.)

"I think so-- I think I just couldn't reach far enough with this stupid thing going on."

[horkbajir]

"Ah. That was not my guess," she says plainly, and crouches herself, tail in a semicircle around her. Toby does not go on all fours to look under the porch with this man, though. He seems to have that part covered. "My name is Toby. Toby Hamee."

There's also shouting in that direction, more aggrieved than than anything else. A lot is happening already, and the day's still young.

"Okay. Do you think you are able to hold a stick?" Yes, she's slim for her size and long-armed, but also... Toby doesn't want to lay down into the dirt and crawl after something. It's the kind of low-dignity nonsense she'd indulge in for a good friend or someone in dire straits, and this doesn't count.

[hoboagogo]

It's okay, Toby. Shinjiro can disgrace himself enough for the both of them, as he seems to have absolutely no qualms about dignity in this regard. He's already a ridiculous goat man in a strange world after his death. While some times he might have the mental energy to spend on trying to look cool and respectable, right now is not that time.

"Shinjiro Aragaki." He responds easily enough, at least, and pauses in his resumed scrabbling with those thick claws at her question.

Man. Why hadn't he thought of something that simple.

(He's going to blame the encroaching full moon and whatever stupid bullshit has him turning into.... this.)

"Ah.... yeah, probably." He sits back on his heels, bringing his paws closer to himself to inspect them- flexing and curling. There's not as strong of a grasp as thumbs would afford-- but he could probably still maneuver one. "Good idea. Lemme try that." He just has to get a stick sturdy enough that he can keep a grip on and move enough to knock the watch closer to himself... right?

He stands again and knocks some of the dirt from his knees, shifting his weight as he glances around for... well, anything. A rake laying around, even.

"So Toby, you got any ideas as to what's going on?" Might as well make conversation while he's kicking around at any discarded tree materials from the recent rains.

[horkbajir]

A relatively short stick, Toby thinks. And thick. Maybe something to use with both... paws. She rises up (and up) back to her full height of close to seven feet. The city is seriously lacking in what she would consider real trees; what it mostly has instead is small things penned in by brick and cobblestone, and saplings with bars around them like bewildering cages. If she ate anything more than some twigs from one the shock would kill it.

"I don't. I told the refugees about the full moons, since they weren't affected by them in Dorchacht, but just now the effect shouldn't be very strong, even." She turns her horned head, looks back in that direction, though it's too far for her to see the neighborhood for the displaced Monsters. "If it were just them I would wonder if that's what happens if one avoids the moons for too long, or is some other spell placed on them. But then there is this fog, too."

It has an unpleasant feel. Toby rubs a long hand against her upper arm and has the impression that there's slime on it. She grimaces.

[hoboagogo]

Man, Dorcharcht. That was another headache that Shinjiro hadn't thought of, since he'd kept himself out of that whole mess. He vaguely knew that they had brought people back with them, but not any specifics. He finally gives up looking for a stick knocked down by a storm or something and approaches one of the thin trees by the sidewalk.

"Man, shit. They're in for a hell of a time. Especially since I bet they don't got any bonds." He doesn't sound too personally concerned about it, though. Just because.. well... that's not his problem. He's not taking any responsibility for that whole mess.

"The fog's new, so I'd say that's pretty likely." A pause, and he reaches up to curl both paws over one of the thin branches, tugging them towards himself. And, of course, it bends easily enough, but doesn't snap. He'll just... keep working at that. Tugging it towards himself, putting a foot on the trunk of the tree for leverage.

"Probably some seasonal bullshit no one told us about. Makes it kick in early or something. You had any weirdness going on?" Because Toby certainly looks cohesive enough. All her parts look like they make sense with each other, at least, to Shinjiro's limited understanding.

[horkbajir]

"Few do, and almost none with Witches," Toby rumbles. Unlike him she's definitely concerned on a personal level. Their situation and that of her people are similar enough that helping them quiets the little voice in her head that's always frustrated about being so far from the problems that have loomed so large in her life.

The little voice is back now saying she should at least be there, but it's not enough, she's going to have to leave and feed. Feed? Eat, rather. Toby has the lurking sense of something being increasingly wrong with her and it's going to be better if she's further away. It's clouding her thoughts, usually so quick.

She can't see it, but the points of her beak have been slowly going to a spreading yellow and then to red, like leaves turning colors. There's a sheen to her rough hide like a coat of oil. It's not very advanced yet.

"I don't know," she says shortly, and belatedly understands what he's trying to do and approaches to drive a blade into the sad caged sapling at the point where the bend is strongest. Easier on the hopeless thing than being wrenched at.