☆ 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

[belligerentwarrior]

[Joking is good, and Fang would grin if she could. Aside from the rare flash of stubbornness, the other woman had been so... timid. The jests were the most relaxed Fang's seen her.]

[She tenses, but only briefly, as the merrow's hands pass by a particularly sensitive scrape on her side.]

It's funny you think I've got a tub large enough to drown me in. [Tall people problems.]

[Fang begins to be breathe a soft, lazy growl on each exhale—the closest a jaguar can get to purring.]

[sing_for_me]

[ Fang could thank the moon for that. But also herself. Alex felt somewhat comfortable around her.

Alex stops when Fang tenses, watching her when she relaxes again. ]

You need bandages...

[ As reluctant as she was to even suggest leaving, what with how comfortable they were. ]

[belligerentwarrior]

They stopped bleedin' a while ago. I'll live. Just scratches.

[Not like they could stay here long, anyway. The chill of the water'd make her hypothermic eventually.]

[sing_for_me]

Doesn’t meant they can’t get worse.

[ And yes, while Alex could stay here all night, Fang couldn’t. She carefully lifts Fang back on to land, then pulls herself up as well. ]

Where do you live?

[belligerentwarrior]

[Fang grumbles after she's set back on land. She'd just gotten used to the weightlessness of floating; gravity was unpleasant again.]

[She shakes a little of the water off, then start's picking at the enchanted papers tucked under bangles. Right. She'll probably have to get new ones.]

Haven. Been staying with a Witch called Ursula in the apartments.

[Fang runs a paw-hand along her tail, squeezing more water out.]

[sing_for_me]

Okay, then.

[ She scoots over to slip her arms under Fang again, then spreads her wings wide. It takes a strong flaps, but she does eventually get them hovering over the ground. ]

[belligerentwarrior]

[That Fang wasn't expecting. She tenses again, coiling like a spring ready to claw her way from the merrow's grasp; but then her mind seizes control from the reflexive reaction, and the turnskin gives a delighted laugh.]

Oh, it's been ages since I've flown.

[sing_for_me]

[ Alex can't help but look down in surprise. It was the first time she'd heard Fang laugh like that....or laugh at all. ]

Could you fly before?

[belligerentwarrior]

Kinda. For about one week of my life.

[That she can remember.]

Longest week of my life. Didn't get a chance to really have fun with it—nothin's more of a rush than a freefall, let me tell you.

[sing_for_me]

[ Is that so? ]

Why don't we try it?

[ By we, she means Fang, as she let's go of the feline turnskin. ]

[belligerentwarrior]

[A voluntary freefall, Alex!]

[Her ears focus forward at that verbal warning, but it's all Fang has time for before gravity seizes her. It's a much different experience without the knowledge that she could call Bahamut; her feline instincts automatically twist around to correct her balance, for all the good it'd do at this height. Once Fang wrests control of her mind from her reflexes, she spreads her limbs, fully aware of the difference air resistance can make.]

[She's alight with adrenaline and the predator half of her is vivid with a sense of betrayal, but she has to trust that Alex would catch her.]

[Not like she had a lot of options at the moment.]

[sing_for_me]

[ Alex allows herself to drop as well, her wings straightening out to help her dive faster and catch up with Fang. It was thrilling, allowing gravity to do its job without resistance. The rush was exhilarating, and for a moment, it was as if nothing else was going on around them. Was this what it was like for Nicolas when he would leap from building to building? Freeing?

Her eyes open again, and she smiles once they're face to face, pulling Fang into a hug then spreading her wings, allowing for the draft to push them up and back steadily in the air.]

That was fun!

[belligerentwarrior]

[See, nothing to panic about. Alex hadn't just dropped her. Granted, the sudden reversal of momentum hurt, pressing against her deep bruises and the sensitive lacerations, but she's only briefly aware of it in the rush.]

Nice've you to give me a warning. [But there's a laugh on Fang's breath.] It's somethin', isn't it? If I were in better shape, I'd ask you to do it again.

[sing_for_me]

Oops, sorry...

[ Right..guess this was a case of curiosity killed the cat. Alex's curiosity, anyway. ]

But yes, being up here is...something else.

[ The view, the sights, even the smell of the air was different up high. ]

Ah, is that it?

[ She gestures to the buildings below. ]

[belligerentwarrior]

[Please don't kill the cat.]

It somethin' else. Kinda miss it, but the price wasn't worth it.

[Fang rumbles an affirmative.]

Yeah, that's it. The apartment. [It's one of the five-story ones in the Haven's boundaries, with a couple greenhouses dotting the roof. As they grew closer, some part of Fang's instinct started to bristle a little; even if Alex was the one carrying her through the sky, she was still a Monster that didn't live in the building, approaching what the instinct considered Fang's territory.]

[But it was minor. Her head was still clear.]

[sing_for_me]

[ The merrow could sense the slight hostility-- it was understandable. But she knew Fang would at least not lash out. She was pretty sure she didn't want to be dropped again. ]

Which one's your window?

[ No, Alex didn't intend to go the normal way. ]

[belligerentwarrior]

Fourth floor. The one with the telescope on the balcony.

[She really didn't, not in her condition.]

[sing_for_me]

[ Alex glides down towards the fourth floor, hovering until she spots the telescope. She lands on the balcony, slowly lowering Fang.

But her attention is taken by the telescope, and she can't help but touch and look it over. It's her first time seeing one, actually. ]

[belligerentwarrior]

[The flight was... nostalgic. Exciting. She missed it, really, but being carried like that hadn't been at all comfortable with her wounds. Fang releases a heavy breath when she's lowered, gravity settling heavier on her with the fading adrenaline.]

[Fang glances up at the movement in the corner of her eye, and immediately goes rigid. Her hand closes around Alex's wrist; firm, but not painful, unlike their encounter in the maze.]

That's important to my Bonded.

[Be careful. Don't touch that. Don't you dare break it. There was a lot loaded into that warning... but it wasn't hostile, not yet.]

[sing_for_me]

[ The grip on her wrist has Alex tensing immediately, tugging back reflexively, but not enough to break out of Fang's hold. It was Fang..it was alright. But she could sense the warning coming off of the other woman. ]

S-sorry...

[ She pulls her other hand away from the telescope slowly, lowering herself back to the ground. ]

[belligerentwarrior]

[Fang releases her grip slowly, and the tension melts from her, leaving the turnskin looking tired again.]

Look, if you want to use it, come back when Ursula's here. Few things make her happier than talking stars with someone; I mean it. She'd be thrilled.

[Fang pads over to the balcony door, limping more than she'd like now that the adrenaline of their flight had faded. She hesitates after opening it; even if her head was clear now, but the pull of the fog and moons still prickled at her more territorial instincts, and letting an outsider in was unappealing. That Alex was a merrow (prey-like, in the Monster's mind) being let into what Fang considered her den seemed to make it easier.]

[After that brief pause, Fang continued inside.]

[sing_for_me]

[ Alex waits behind Fang, looking up at her when she notices the other pause outside the entrance. But she continues in, and Alex crawls along after her. She takes the moment to look around the room, but does mind to keep her hands to herself this time. ]

Do you have a first aid kit or something here?

[belligerentwarrior]

[The apartment wasn't big. It wasn't quite a studio, but it was close to one, dominated by one open center space. Books and papers and star charts and other learning materials sat in disorganized piles around the room and furniture; in a small corner, Fang's worn red lance leaned against the wall, a couple small sacks and tools hanging on the wall and sitting on a stand, much more neatly than the rest of the room's items.]

[The were-jaguar made her way to the bathroom before returning to sit on the bed, setting a pouch next to her.]

Yeah. I've put together something. You know how to stitch?

[sing_for_me]

…Clothes. I’ve patched up clothes before.

[ Would that count? She wonders, as she nervously eyes the pouch. ]

Are you sure you don’t want me to call for help? Or take you to a doctor?

[ Or a vet? ]

[belligerentwarrior]

[Fang huffs and rolls her eyes.]

I've been tellin' you, it's fine. You're the one hellbent on doin' something about it.

[She gives the pouch a little shake. Inside, there's supplies for sutures, an ointment, forceps, and the like. There's a pad of gauze wrapped up neatly in paper, but not much in the way of actual bandaging.]

So, you gonna do something about it?

[It's a little harsh, but it's the most tact Fang can manage right now. The flight was fun, but that excitement's quickly faded in the face of the constant thrum of fatigue and pain. The conflicting restless need to get up and be out there tonight, condition be damned, isn't helping any.]