hugtopia_logs | ♥ January (Lasra) Event Log

♥ January (Lasra) Event Log

a winter scene showing a line of houses, each a different colour, and a church in the background

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.

❥ PROMPT I: The Temple Celebrations

lights decoring trees in front of a church

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:

Rawna:

Ohma:

Diacht:

❥ PROMPT II: Your Yearly (Mis)Fortunes

a hand pulling a fortune in front of a set of temple drawers

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:

Medium Luck:

Small Luck:

Bad Luck:

Terrible Luck:

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.

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!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Guess our souls just have a lot to say. Lucky us...

[He carries her in and beelines for the sofa, crouching and setting her down as carefully as he can. He offers up a sheepish smile as he lets go, lingering until he's sure.]

All good?

Do forgive us, my dear. And...perhaps exercise a bit of caution when next you see His Majesty, just in case.

[do i hear 4/4]

[ The care he takes with her is a sweet gesture and she offers a reassuring smile in return. The sheepishness of his is something she's seen in his father, which only serves to make her smile brighter. ]

Perhaps I'll keep a spotter nearby, to catch me should a fit of giddiness overcome me in his presence.

[ Era begins to move from the sofa as she speaks, placing her feet on the floor, then her slight weight onto her feet.

She crumples immediately, squeaking in surprise. ]

[SPOTTER YOU SAY, well luckily

He lurches up to catch her around the middle before she can drop too far, an indignant noise escaping his lips.]

Whoa, whoa! You're supposed to take it easy, you can't do it all at once. C'mon, sit back down and I'll show you.

[He tilts his head towards Ardyn.]

Can you move the table closer for a sec?

Wh--yes, of course.

[ERA PLEASE,]

[he'd just scoot that table over a little closer, even if he had no idea what Noctis was doing.]

[ Era flushes, both in embarrassment and mild frustration. She doesn't sit back down (sorry Noct), but she at least doesn't try to move. ]

I'm fine, Noct. I can feel down to my toes, I just need some floor space to stretch.

[He exhales through his nose, sharing her frustration from the opposite end, though he sympathizes with it as well. How many times had he fallen, or stumbled, or thrashed and yelled in protest of his complete inability to do something as simple as standing up? Some of that has never completely gone away, on bad days or when it rains or he forgets his stretches. Getting feeling back in those limbs had meant very little in his case, and if that has carried over to her through the Echo, pushing it won't fix anything. At least - gods willing - her recovery can't last nearly as long.]

Look- I get it, okay? It sucks. [He hated it, too.] I just want to help.

...He does occasionally know what he's doing, my dear. Would you but humor us a little?

[ What a betrayal this is, brother. Her eyes go big and sad, expression downtrod, with the sulkiest sag to her shoulders and swishing of her tail. ]

It's just my soul, not my legs.

[ ...Like that's any better. ]

["Occasionally", he says... not incorrect, but still. Noctis resists the urge to grumble at the both of them.]

And your soul's apparently telling your legs that they're not working right, so until that sorts itself out, chill.

[He tries to nudge her back towards sitting down.]

[he loves you, nephew]

[ Even the Warrior of Light knows a losing battle when she sees one, and she relents, sitting back down on the couch. She sits parallel to the back of it, knees pulled up to her chest, not looking at either of them.

And if that wasn't clue enough that she's decided to sulk, the way her tail flicks back and forth where it lays on the cushion is very reminiscent of a recalcitrant cat's. ]

[Okay, well, if she's gonna sulk about it that's fine, but he'd offered to help and that's what he's going to do. Up to her if she takes it or not. He flops down on the next seat over, scooting up to the couch's edge, and leans forward.]

Used to do this one in the morning before getting up. Plant your feet, then use your hips and a bit of arm momentum to get yourself a few inches upright and on your feet. Don't hold it, just lower back down again, rinse and repeat. Slowly bump up the height you can lift up to, and eventually you can stay standing. Uh, in theory.

[He does a couple of little lifts to demonstrate, whether she's attentive to it or not (because he is embarrassed and therefore not looking), then gives the table a tap.]

This is just for balance, don't faceplant.

[ For all that she sulks, Era is not unaware that Noct is trying to help her. Neither is she inattentive to his attempts. She vaguely recalls a section in her texts on physiotherapy, though she had been more focused on what was needed to keep someone from dying rather than subsequent long-term recovery.

She doesn't know how this will help her — as she said, her legs were fine. But she huffs a sigh, shoving aside her childish feelings (were they her own? she isn't actually sure of the answer) and repositioning herself to mimic what Noct had demonstrated.

Of course, Era has enough strength in her hips and her tail that she uses those instead of momentum from her arms.

...The problem, of course, is that her definition of 'slow' is very, very different to most. It doesn't help that she's impatient. She pushes too far too quickly, lurching forward, but quickly saves herself from falling too far.

In the end she finds herself performing a picture-perfect handstand atop Ardyn's table, looking more sheepish than frustrated. ]

...My tail gives me adequate balance. [ Given her current positioning that may be an unnecessary statement. ] Does that exercise do aught for making your legs stop throwing a fit when you give them your weight?

[..why are you like this, era.]

[era wHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS

Noctis looks up as she flips, stunned into silence a moment, then just... sighs and leans back. Clearly this is going to be more of a work-in-progress than one might hope, but no method is perfect universally for all people...]

It's supposed to help the body work its way up to not doing that, yeah. Kept me from falling on my ass before breakfast, most of the time.

Let me try to better stimulate my circulation first, then resume your exercise.

[ She sighs, then slowly lowers herself until just her upper chest is on the table. From there, she shift her hips until she's practically bent in half — lower back resting on the crown of her head, and the base of her tail dangling against her forehead. Her booted feet now level with her face, Era reaches out and pulls them off, revealing socks of bright yellow that are shaped like Chocobo heads.

Using her hips and thighs, Era then flips herself back upright, into a one-handed handstand that lets her shed her jacket (she doesn't want to freeze when she goes back outside—). She then proceeds to run through some stretches that require stupid amounts of flexibility.

Of course, uncomfortable with attention on her, she makes sure to strike up a conversation while doing all of this. ]

Did you ever catch any fireflies?

. . .

[he wants those socks]

I think...I might have done such a thing, when we were children. I don't know that I could remember much of it.

[...also... wants socks...

He's also trying (and struggling) to find a delicate balance between not gawking at her but also staring at the frankly ridiculous posed exercise. How is she even doing that with her body? It reminds him of the sort of wild acrobatics that Ignis does in battle sometimes. Damn that man and his spectacular flexibility.

The topic is somewhat sobering, enough to force his glance away, and he's tempted for a moment to just let Ardyn handle it. But all things considered, she'd probably at least in part been asking him, so...]

...Eventually, yeah. Couple years later, I think? Ignis said they'd die though, so I let them go.

That's because you're an old man, brother.

[ She smiles at him, fond and teasing, then turns back to Noct with a softer smile. ]

Insects are so short-lived, but so fascinating. In Eorzea there are many bioluminescent creatures and plants, but fireflies are quite rare. They remind me of little will-o'-the-wisps I've found in dungeons and old ruins.

[ Feeling foolhardy (again), Era flips off the table to land on her feet, staggering only briefly before righting herself again in front of the young man. Her smile broadens, and she cups her hands between them. Focusing her aether, she concentrates until a flicker of her magic twirls from her hands like a firefly. It's bright, and a shade of blue to match her eyes. ]

If we ever find any in this world, let's catch some for the gardens.

...That might be a nice touch, I think. I've doubts we'll happen across any such thing, but the idea is a nice one.

[Noctis leans in to get a better look, eyes widening a little; even if it's just a bit of dancing light, it's still the sort of magic that lies beyond his grasp. And he'd be a poor Caelum royal if glowing blue light didn't at least catch his attention.]

You never know. The people here made it seem like everything outside would be dead, but turns out they've got giant spiders. There could be fireflies out there somewhere.

[ She can't sustain it indefinitely, nor can she control it, but the look on Noct's face makes her smile broaden and her mind start considering ways to make more persistent 'aetherflies.' ]

There are lizards out there too, and some plant life. Sad little plants no more than a bundle of dried twigs at most, but alive all the same.

That's certainly an improvement over 'nothing but giant spiders', I think.

For sure, yeah. I don't really like bugs. [Though, since they were just talking about fireflies-] Mostly.

[Though, that reminds him-]

Did Somnus say anything to you about going outside the city?

♥ January (Lasra) Event Log

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