♥ January (Lasra) Event Log

[hugtopiamods]

January (Lasra) Event Log
Are you feeling free of last year's burdens, offworlders? The natives certainly are after spending the final month of the year at Rawna's temples. Now it's time for a new beginning even as the cold deepens, leaving snow drifts piled along Havenwell's streets. Industrious robots are hard at work keeping the city clean and removing any ice from the stone roads, leaving only beautiful winter scenery behind. The city sparkles under the snow and the silvery white decor brings out of their temples the priests not only for Rawna, but all of the gods.

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❥ PROMPT I: The Temple Celebrations

As noted in the Intro Log, the residents of Havenwell have been invited to help with the decorations in order to incorporate your worlds' cultures with their own, and to assist in celebrating the new year's coming. Residents are encouraged to visit any temple at their convenience or pleasure and join in the design process. There are craft tables, ranging from basic (for the younger or less skilled, such as kites or papercraft) to intricate and advanced designs (like glass lanterns or embroidery). Those less creatively-inclined are welcome to use their various skills, magics, or just ladder-balancing talents to help with the decoration installations around town. Many hands make light the work, after all.

Each temple has music playing and all of them have their associated animals not inside the temple like normal, but spread all over the temple grounds and surrounding areas. They aren't lost for once, but seem to be beckoning people toward their respective homes which are bedecked with holograms of dark green leafy boughs, ribbons, and ornaments all in the temple's colors. Diacht has red and white striped ornaments, Ohma has blue and gold, and Ainea is bringing up the cute factor with pink and purple. But Rawna is looking especially resplendent with rainbow sheened silver ornaments hung in the air, mixed in with real ones that are suspended from wires so thin they look as if they're hanging in midair. The dragonlings fly through the air, trailing silver ribbons behind them that make the temple really seem to shine this month. At each temple, simply by showing up, you can receive a small gift from the priests regardless of whether or not you're an adherent. And they invite you to play the temple games or dance along to the festive music playing from speakers. Each temple has something different to offer, so grab a friend and make your first visit of the year a special one!

• Ainea:
Ainea's temple offers a soft fluffy pink and purple-swirled scarf that's long enough for you and a friend to wear at the same time if you so wish. The temple's game is called "The Best Of." You and a partner step upon a small silver platform and each pull a card from a pile. Tell your partner about the prompt on the card in order to clear it. Only honest answers count and you'll know when the other person is being honest because the platform sings a little jingle and counts a point for your pair. The more cards you can get through, the higher your points! Some examples of the prompts are things like: the most embarrassing moment of the last year, most exciting moment of the last year, hardest you laughed last year, most beautiful thing you saw last year, most memorable trip from the last year, favorite song of the year, etc.

• Rawna:
Rawna's temple has an offering of beautiful gloves, threaded with rainbow thread at the wrists in an intricate and abstract pattern that somewhat resembles dragons in flight. Their game is one of flying kites. For a small Dora donation, priests will give you a thin slip of paper to write a wish upon. Tie your wish, or wishes if you're here with someone else, to your kite and get help from someone to make it fly the highest in the hopes that the gods will hear and answer you. As you deepen your relationship with the person you're flying your kite with by talking or sharing the meaning of your wishes, the kite seems to fly higher and higher.

• Ohma:
Ohma's offering is a tasteful blue, wide-brimmed hat with a gold ribbon and flower accents. Their game is a card matching one. For those read up on Havenwell's poets, try your hand at this game where you match the beginning of the poem with the next line. A robot judge reads the first line and then you have to find the corresponding card among a field of brightly colored cards. Grab the card first and win points! For those not familiar with Havenwell's poetry, you can try the game with more simple themes like colors and fruits (not that they make much sense - why is an apple blue??) or facts about the other people in Havenwell. ....when did that game become so popular?

• Diacht:
Diacht's offering is a white and red feather pendant necklace on a thin white-gold chain. Their game seems to be something like Earth's game of badminton, but minus a net. Grab a pair of large white and red wooden paddles and a multicolored shuttlecock and try batting away the year's bad luck by keeping the shuttlecock aloft. If you're the one to drop it, your opponent gets to draw on your face with a special ink-brush that has the ink contained in its handle. For the non-athletically inclined, you can watch the professionals play the game as the robotic natives most renowned for the art of this game are trying to break a Havenwell record for a single continuous game: 22 days.

❥ PROMPT II: Your Yearly (Mis)Fortunes

At each temple along all the other celebrations and games, you can also find a separate booth that has a strange and unreadable Aellyn script on it. The robot sitting behind the booth has their face covered with a strip of fabric that obscures it completely, but it calls out to you when you walk by. It offers you an ancient-looking wooden container with a single small hole at the top. If you take it, it mimes shaking the container and tipping it over. Do as they say and a wooden stick pops out of the top with that same strange script on it. The robot takes a look at what you got and takes the container back, passing you a single strip of paper with reverence. "Keep your fortune close or learn to let it go," it says, and then looks to find another patron. Turn your paper over and discover what your fortune holds for you.

• Big Luck:
"The world shall become your limitless bounty, until you choose to rely on others." After reading your fortune, the world does indeed seem limitless. Or maybe it's just large? Everything around you has suddenly gained in size. The fortune-teller's booth seems like a mountain. The stones under your feet like a massive raft. Has the world suddenly grown? Nope, you've just shrunk down to about 5 to 6 inches tall. Everything you were holding and on your person is also proportional to your new size. Hopefully you can find someone to carry you around for a bit because only by being carried will you return to your natural size. As an option, this can happen to you again randomly at any time during the month so long as you keep the paper fortune on you.

• Medium Luck:
"All that glitters is gold for you until another helps you out." After reading your fortune, nothing much seems to have overtly changed. And you probably won't notice anything until the next time you try to eat something. Any time your hands touch any food or anything that can be used to feed yourself, it explodes into glitter and your communicator rings as a deposit of Dora is made into your bank account. This seems pretty awesome at first, until you realize you can't eat anything and you're getting hungry. You may need to get someone else to feed you your next meal, after which the curse seems to have been broken. However, you have the option to have this effect happen again randomly at any time during the month so long as you keep the paper fortune on you.

• Small Luck:
"The smallest things can bring the biggest rewards." After reading your fortune, nothing much seems to have changed until you return home and find all of your pillows, blankets, and bedding have turned much, much too small for you. If you're an adult, the bedding is now the size suitable for a baby. If you are a child, you're looking at something small enough for a large doll. Any bedding you try to borrow changes its size as well, and it seems the only thing that can change them back is to share your bed or a blanket with someone else for a night. When you wake up from your nap or your slumber, everything will be back to normal. As an option, you can have this effect happen again randomly any time during the month so long as you keep the paper fortune on you.

• Bad Luck:
"The love of an animal is almost as strong as the love of your fellow people." After reading this fortune, all the temple animals turn and look at you in unison. They seem to be drawn toward you, literally, as they begin to converge and run toward you like a tidal hoard in an attempt to cuddle you. You best run or they threaten to bury you under their mass, and they'll keep chasing you until you find comfort in the arms of another - whether that's climbing on top of them to get away or jumping into their arms to avoid the tidal wave of mice - as soon as you cling to someone else, the animals seem to lose interest. You can optionally have this effect activate again at any time during the month so long as you keep the paper fortune on you, creating a new stampede of animals of any variety that try to love you just a liiiittle too much.

• Terrible Luck:
"Even bad luck can be the beginning of a beautiful friendship." After reading this fortune, you don't immediately feel any different. In fact, nothing much seems to have changed at all. You decide to walk away from the booth though, and that's when it hits you - or rather you hit it. You're overcome with a clumsy streak the size of a meteor belt as you bump, trip, and fall into just about everything in your path be it inanimate or animate. If it's inanimate, hopefully you don't mind a few bruises. If they're another person, maybe they'll catch you because only by being caught by someone can you break your clumsy streak. As an option, you can have this effect come back at any time so long as you keep the paper fortune on you.

OOC: If you wish to roll for a random fortune, leave an comment with your character's name in the Request Thread. The mods will randomize for you and give you your fortune. Your character can only claim 1 fortune, no matter how many times they attempt the fortune-teller's game. Feel free to choose your own fortune instead, if you would prefer a set result.

❥ PROMPT III: Memories of the Sun (VR)

This seasonal VR simulation is especially popular with the natives for the fact that it lets them see their world as it used to be. Load into the simulation "Memories of the Sun" and you'll be transported along with all others who are currently logged in to make a pilgrimage up Aellyn's most sacred mountain. Although its peak is rocky and somewhat barren, it has a serene beauty as it reaches up through the cloud layer and you climb upwards through the dark. The path is clearly lit by small lamps embedded into the ground, but you might find it easier to take the climb if you hang onto someone else. Once you reach the peak, whether you're alone or with someone else, you'll be treated to the sight of a gorgeous sunrise peeking over the thinning clouds. It's a sight to remember, and a sight that brings memories. As you watch you're overcome with a very real vision of your home, a place you remember, or people you know. This vision is typically of a better time in your life, something to bring you hope and peace as the new year dawns - but not always. Is this a vision of your past? Your future? Of your present? If you came here with someone else, they can also choose to share in your vision and you in theirs. Are you brave enough to face what the mountain has to show you?

❥ PROMPT IV: All the Ups and Downs

And while the celebrations continue, there seems to be something a little awry with Havenwell. Here and there throughout the month, gravity has gone utterly haywire. You can be walking from temple to temple or going about your everyday life when suddenly you feel yourself lifted off the ground or heavier than you have any right to be. Havenwell's natives aren't immune to this effect either, and you might see a robot go shooting up into the sky suddenly to hover a good five to ten feet in the air. Or they might take a step and suddenly fall flat on their faces, their gears whirring with the strain as they try to pick themselves up. Thankfully the other natives are quick to jump up and grab their companions if they're flying overhead or pull their friends out of the well if they're stuck to the ground. If you find yourself caught up in these gravity wells, you'll need someone's help to do the same. Be sure to pay it forward because you'll never know when it could be you in this awkward position.

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This event will run from January 15 to January 31. Click on each prompt's title to see the text. If you have any questions, feel free to direct them to the FAQ or to the Mod Question thread below.

This post is meant to act as a catch-all for convenience, but feel free to make your own posts if you prefer!

Comments

II

[meridio]

[Children seem to enjoy tripping into his side. Somnus, who barely sways from the collision, snaps his head in Prompto's direction. Blasé as ever, he expresses neither amusement nor offense.

He's seen a number of people running into anything and everything on his walk around the city.]

Have you fallen under the city's spell?

[this_loser]

There's a spell?

[That would explain so much. He straightens up and reaches into his pocket for the strip of paper with his fortune.]

I thought this had something to do with it.

[meridio]

[He glances at the strip of paper. That'll do it.]

Your fortune portends how the city's magic will claim you. What says the slip?

[this_loser]

[He smooths the paper enough that he can read it.]

"Even bad luck can be the beginning of a beautiful friendship." Aw, man. Do I have to make a new friend?

[meridio]

[Surely Prompto will have no trouble with that. Somnus draws back after reading the paper. That just might be the key.]

Fulfilling your fortune will revert your luck to what it once was. How does it influence you now?

[this_loser]

[Making new friends is great! But not under this kind of pressure.]

My luck? I can't walk straight to save my life, I'm tripping on air, and walls keep getting in my way. Like, waaay more than usual.

[meridio]

[It's fortunate that the pressure will be divided, then.]

Has anyone assisted you with ambulation?

[this_loser]

...with my what?

[Ambulation...ambu...ambulance?...moving?]

Oh! Uh, no. I've smacked into a few, though!

[meridio]

[Yes. Ambulance, absolutely. He offers an arm to Prompto.]

My fortune was resolved upon my being fed by another. I shall assist you where I am able.

[this_loser]

[He is grateful to have something - someone - to hold on to. He takes the offered arm.]

Thanks! That's nice of you. Sure glad I didn't get what you got.

[meridio]

[A man has his pride, is it? Being fed is much simpler than being escorted around the city.]

Where is your destination?

[this_loser]

[Simpler, yes. More humiliating, also yes.]

I was trying to get home, where it's safe.

[meridio]

[Only if one has pride.]

Take the lead and I will follow.

[this_loser]

[If only!

Ever so grateful, he heads in the direction of home.]

Thanks for the help. I'm not taking you away from anything, am I?

[meridio]

[Should Prompto slip at all on the way, Somnus will manipulate himself accordingly to catch him, be it with the clutch of his free hand or a maneuver as simple as slipping a leg behind to prevent a fall. He matches Prompto's pace meanwhile, falling a single step behind at times to follow the lead.]

The reversal of your fortune takes precedence.

[this_loser]

Oh. Um, okay. If you say so?

[There are a few stumbles on the way, but as they go along, it becomes less frequent and he can mostly catch himself - though he's happy to continue accepting Somnus's help.]

Did you get a chance to hit up the games at the temples?

[meridio]

[Somnus remembers Prompto from his recent past on Eos. Although inexperienced and thereby lacking poise, Prompto is still a Crownsguard and fleet-footed. This clumsiness is certainly the work of the city.]

I visit the temples daily. In doing so, I was given several chances.

[this_loser]

Oh? How come? I mean, I do too, but I like to take pictures of them.

[And the animals are cute.]

[meridio]

[Tell that to Noctis, who incurred a bird's wrath.]

Much can transpire in a day's time. Each temple has its affairs that are worthy of examination.

[this_loser]

[And no one got a picture? Blasphemy.]

Yeah, I guess so. But like... [He bounces a little, before remembering this is a bad time for being excitable.] What do you do for fun?

[meridio]

I was not summoned to this world for leisure.

[There shall be no fun in this house.]

[this_loser]

[That deserves a pitying kind of look.] Cool. But you have to take breaks once in a while.

[meridio]

I took it on the first day of this year.

[Now he's set for the next twelve months. He won't be surprised if he ends up being here that long.]

We last spoke at the garden. What have you been doing since?

[this_loser]

...Wow.

[Don't go crazy or nothing.

He offers a shrug. The last time they talked, he hadn't been in a good place.]

Getting by, like everyone else. Trying to be useful.

[meridio]

What have you tried?

[He's curious. He doesn't doubt Prompto's capacity to pull his own weight; he wants to know if there's anything new to be learned.]