hugtopia_logs | ♥ April (Lasai) Event Log

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♥ April (Lasai) Event Log

April (Lasai) Event Log
Lasai is a beautiful month. The weather is warmer, the sky is a breathtaking blue again, and with the flowers from Ainir growing nicely, the entire city of Havenwell just feels more alive with every breath. It's a time of renewal, of rebirth, of Ainea's greatest strength as her adherents open the temple gates to invite people and robots from all walks of life to enter and share together. What should be a joyous time, however, is suddenly interrupted as the earthquakes mount day by day through the start of Lasai. Those messages that people have been receiving since Nalom? It seems it's time for the gods to deliver on their promises.

❥ PROMPT I: The Wild Wild West (East, South and North)

side view of a large wall surrounding a city

As Ainir gives way to Lasai, one morning the earthquakes, which had been growing more frequent again, suddenly mount in their intensity. The entire city is shaking and the native residents cower despite their faith in their gods' protection. The guards along the wall shout alarm and abandon their posts as the walls start to shift under the strain. When the last of them are safely away from the walls, the barrier and the wall itself quivers. The citizens cry out in alarm and fear until they realize that the walls aren't falling - they're moving. And they're moving further out. As everyone in Havenwell looks on, the walls and its surrounding barrier fluctuates and expands, sliding through the city streets as if on hidden tracks, avoiding buildings and ruins, pushing the toxic air and the storm further away. They finally come to rest and snap back into place, new walls rising from who knows where to fill in the gaps. The barrier strengthens and the earthquakes stop, and as the dust settles, a cheer rises from the citizens.

"Praise the gods! Praise the off-worlders!"

Among the din of their celebration, however, other cries start up among the newly incorporated ruins. Cries that sound like howls and screeches, and certainly do not sound human. Grab your weapons and steel yourselves, off-worlders, with the addition of this new space comes the need to clear it of anything potentially dangerous that got caught up in the expansion. Not all creatures you'll find are hostile, but some certainly are. Docile ones might just fetch a nice price from the Research Towers and the Conservatory if you can capture a mating pair.

OOC: These are the creatures you can encounter in the city as you go through to clear it. It's not an invasion level of infestation, as the majority of creatures will prefer to remain inside their known territory beyond the original barrier, but you will on occasion need to take up arms and fight. Next to their names are the frequency with which you can find them, ranging from common to extremely rare.

Inky Black Spiders (common - hostile): These relatively small, black spider-like creatures have very basic melee attacks, using their fangs and their sharp legs to bite and claw at people. Those who were around in October when the wall broke will recognize them as the most common enemy back then. Their exoskeletons are hard and when they die, they smash into a black goo. They tend to travel in packs, using sheer numbers to overwhelm their prey.
One-Eyed Lizard (uncommon - docile): An iridescent scaly purple and green lizard approximately 8 to 10cm in length from tip to tail. It has a single eye at the top of its head that can rotate to see 360 degrees around it. This creature's main defenses are its tough hide and a spine on the tip of its tail which it whips at predators to dissuade them from eating it. It's more likely to run than fight, however, and can usually be found sunbathing on exposed rock with its eye closed.
"Bone Giraffe" (extremely rare - hostile): A nearly 20-foot tall, long-necked skeleton of a four-legged creature long dead with a single curved horn protruding from its skull and a sharp snout. It's usually found lying in a heap, as if it laid down and died that way. A black seven-petaled flower sometimes (but not always) grows from the skull and beneath the skeleton is an oily black film. Touching the oil slick activates the creature, which draws the oil up into the skeletal cage. Its main attacks are brute force, using its bony legs and neck to kick and slam against its prey, and its acid breath. It breathes a black fume that sizzles and burns anything it touches.
Rive Talon (rare - hostile - medium): In the past these creatures may have been canines of some form, now they seem to have melded with the detritus of the fallen buildings and creatures of the landscape. Extra spikes, ridges, and protrusions extend from its body at odd angles. Many of them are metal or stone, rather than bone. And some of the bones clearly were not originally its own. (Suggested by Sierra!)
Outskirts Hare (uncommon - docile): A shy creature, roughly the size and shape of an earth hare, covered in fuzzy-looking, curly pink hair and cat-like whiskers. Normally quite timid, this creature's poor eyesight causes it to flee when it feels threatened, and relies largely on a sense of touch to navigate its surroundings. Contact with this creature's fur is markedly pleasant, but its skin discharges an oil that causes mild skin irritation on contact when it's nervous. Active mostly at night time. (Suggested by Mel!)
Ansaurini (rare - annoying): a bipedal feathered bird with sharp claws and teeth good for chomping; some possess flight capabilities, but the majority are prone to a lazy waddle. Mostly harmless and deceptively unassuming until you turn your back- and suddenly it's run off with something it stole off your person! They are excellent at escaping, though they can be traced back to their hoard, and if their collection is raided they will make a lot of noise in protest. Just watch your back- they will try again until you leave their territory. Truly, a horrible thing.

❥ PROMPT II: Welcome to the (Urban) Jungle

Once the creatures are mostly taken care of and the newly revealed area is deemed safe enough to venture into, the city council will put out a call for those willing and able to assist the natives with a clean-up effort. The city outside the walls is badly damaged, left to the ravages of the time and the ever-present storm, which means clearing dust, debris, and flotsam is a high priority before people can begin to repair the new districts and salvage material or live there. Thick brown vines cover large parts of the city, grime from the storm is caked onto windows, rocks and scattered rotted bones and twisted metal can be found in roads and crashed through buildings. The atmosphere in this part of the city seems to mirror the decrepit state of the land, too, feeling heavier and grayer and more depressing than it has any right to be. Going out with people and helping together, taking breaks to lean against one another tends to help clear away any negativity that this land seems to bring to your thoughts, however. Since it's dangerous to go alone, be sure to take a friend.

The biggest concern is the vines, so natives offer to lend machetes to the offworlders to help the hack them away. The vines look brown and dead, the leaves withered and curled up. When characters hack into them, the vines release a puff of yellowish dust. Inhale the dust or get it anywhere near your face and over time, you'll begin to get sleepy - very sleepy. It's hard to keep your eyes open, no matter your resistance to poisons or magic, and eventually you'll find yourself falling asleep wherever you are. And once you're asleep? The vines start moving, crawling toward you at a snail's pace. Hopefully you did bring a friend because you'll need their touch to wake up and stay awake long enough to get away from the vines before they pull you deep within their grasp.

❥ PROMPT III: Take a Load Off

Not everyone can fight or clean or even wants to do it, so while those who are more suited to being on the front lines are off doing their thing, those who remain behind must begin the effort of preparing everything that people will need to live in these new areas. At the temples and in the main square, the priests have set up large rest areas with blankets and pillows, and are busily putting together repair kits for mechanics and explorers to use as they go through the ruins. Those who want a place to rest that doesn't require going all the way back to their homes might find these waystations more convenient.

At each, characters can find hot soups with chunks of hearty replicated breads and both hot and cold drinks available for any who wish it. They're trying to replicate pain medications and bandages for people who have been injured while exploring or fighting off the monsters who were unlucky enough to be left inside, and will ask you to try it if you're injured. Taking this medication might have some unintended side effects, however, like a feeling of euphoria or delusions of grandeur or even something as banal as turning your hair a shocking shade of chartreuse - the effect, if you want one, is up to you! The rest areas also have robots "skilled" in giving massages that are looking to test their newly acquired skills and with four pairs of arms, they can work on two people at once! In fact, they're rather insistent about giving you a free massage if they hear even the slightest hint of fatigue in your voice and will usher people into their curtained off booths regardless of whether they know the other occupant or not. These robots are still learning though, so anyone curious enough to try may need to work with their partner to give these robots pointers. They're trying, but not having fragile little flesh bodies is a major obstacle in learning how to have a gentle touch.

❥ PROMPT IV: That Which Remains

the remains of an abandoned factory with decrepit materials and equipment strewn about

With the opening of the city, there seem to be a lot of buildings that need cleaning. Some are so dilapidated that they're better off demolished than repossessed, and most are residential and commercial buildings reminiscent of the ones the offworlders are used to seeing everyday in the Havenwell they've all known up until now. However, among the ruins of these older sections, those intrepid enough to venture and explore may find a few unique gems awaiting them. Just remember: the first rule of urban exploration is to never go alone. You never know what might be lurking in those abandoned buildings or what obstacles might be in your way. Doorways blocked by rubble will need more than one person to remove them. Frightened (and frightening) animals might be lingering in the dark. And, most importantly, you don't want to fall through the floor and vanish into a basement. There seem to be quite a few weakened floors out there. In the following parts of the expanded city, characters can find these interesting ruins:

Northwest: The Arena - In the northwest of the newly opened area, characters can find what looks to be a ruin of a large open air oval building. The building itself is almost 3 stories tall with walls overgrown with brown vines and dead foliage. There are doorways that have no doors, instead being high archways through which people can access in the interior. Stairs lead up into what looks like worn stone benches and down below is a rubble-strewn open area. Part of the walls have collapsed over time but it's very clear this place was used once as some sort of viewing area. It'll take a bit of work to clear this place until it's usable!

There are archways with stairs that lead downward, but you'll need some help clearing away the rubble to get to what's below! If you're successful in getting beneath the arena, you'll find hallways with empty rooms that vary between large enough to possibly be some sort of training room to small enough to be just enough space for someone to put a slim single cot or bed and maybe a wardrobe to have a small private room. Some rooms have rusted metal that may or may not have been weapons at some point, while others have faded wall paintings, chipped and worn with age. It's hard to make out, but with enough reconstruction work, you may just learn who used to haunt these halls.
Southeast: The Baths - In the southeast of the newly opened area, characters will find a domed building unlike the rest of the architecture around it. It's extremely large, for one, and squat, while the rest of Havenwell's buildings seem to be lean and tall. The walls are made of the same stone, but the dome above is broken glass. There are several metal sliding doors set in the walls, but many are fused shut with grime and years of disuse. One main door, larger than the others is sightly ajar, however, and with some help characters may be able to force it open.

Inside, they find an expansive lobby with white floors that must have sparkled before all the grime, dirt, and broken glass took over. The dome overhead reflects the light, making the interior of the building as bright as outside. At the center of the lobby is a dry fountain with two broken statues - four armed humanoids holding urns. Their heads are missing and many of the arms are broken and lying in the dry basin. From the lobby there are alcoves in every direction and two hallways that lead further into the buiding in opposite directions. In each alcove are low stone seats and round basins sunk into the ground that are either dry with a black film around the inside, or full of a dark oily substance that's nearly coagulated.

Go down the hallways and you'll find identical looking chambers. First, you enter an open area with broken sinks and mirrors, with stone cubbies on the walls. Then when you pry open and push past the metal sliding doors, you'll find yourself in a wide open semicircular area filled with baths of different sizes, shapes and depths. Some are free-standing stone tubs, others are large basins sunk into the ground, and still others are rectangular and just big enough for one or two people to lie down in. Each of these basins are like the ones in the lobby, either filled with that same coagulated black ooze or dry with a black film inside. Looks like it's time to get cleaning because each basin also seems like they might be able to be retrofitted to produce water perhaps.
Southwest: The Factory - In the southwest, closest to the wall, the characters can find an imposing square building. It has small thin windows and boasts a plethora of chimneys and smokestacks on the roof, some of which are crumbling or broken with age and exposure. There are two square doors, both of which are large enough to drive a truck through and made of metal which needs to be pried open before accessing the inside. Once inside, the characters find a massive operation geared toward ore and mineral processing and metallurgical refinement. The machinery is old, but extremely well laid out, as it seems this plant was used to process huge volumes of minerals and ores before being lost to time. There are stations for every imaginable part of the refining process separated neatly so they can work efficiently, but all of the machines are broken or currently inoperable and will need significant work before they can start functioning again.

Explore the refinery and you may still find one or two of the ores lying about. They contain an unknown metal that gleams a slick oily silver. At the back of the refinery is an industrial elevator which is currently inoperational. Peering down through the cracks, however, reveals that the shaft goes a long way down. The view of just how far is obstructed by a shimmering rainbow-colored barrier, not unlike the one that is just outside the walls.

This event will run from April 15th to 30th, although due to the areas and effects not technically vanishing, feel free to continue playing with it for some time beyond. 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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[It's been a chill month of exploring for Lup, wandering around setting things on fire and looting old buildings for fresh raw materials, just wizard therapy stuff. She's on her way back from her latest round to take a quick rest and refresh some spell slots when she halts, noticing a familiar, albeit shorter, shape trying to move stealthily down the road. She tilts her head, quietly staring for a long moment. And then:]

Whaaaaat the fuck.

[Is that Coil kid trying to sneak a bone horse home with him??]

[This month has also been monster-hunting necromancer therapy. Coil had really needed this vacation full of destroying vicious creatures, clambering over ruins, and just generally expending a shitton of pent-up energy. He hadn't expected that to suddenly turn into the burden of being responsible for a big ol' undead construct. It had been an experiment. He hadn't expected his efforts to actually work.

Now that it had worked, there's no way he's just letting this thing go. Even if he really doesn't have anywhere to put it except his living room.

When he hears the voice, his head whips around, glowing eye staring back over his shoulder. And to be fair, he's grimacing long before he realizes exactly who'd caught him.]

[Well.

This is awkward. She... waves?]

Hey there, my dude. Whatcha got there?

[Besides the obvious "that's a walking skeleton horse".]

[At least the startlement over being caught at all is worse than realizing who it is that has caught him.

Because... looking awkwardly between the undead beast he's leading along and the creature speaking to him, who is he to really throw a fit about that second one, right?

His mouth twists a into a halfway-guilty-looking wince, and he shrugs a little.]

[Yeah... speaking of.]

Sooooo, are you chill with undead now, or do skeleton horses not count as abominations?

[His immediate reaction is wanting to defend himself and explain all the differences between the two, but it's probably the fact that he can't exactly do that in this case that slows him down enough to think twice.

He huffs a little and frowns, but the guilt in his expression only grows.

Eventually, even though she won't strictly recognize the sign... he gives in and draws an apologetic little circle on his chest with a closed fist.]

[And that sign, of course, means nothing to her, but she can get the gist of his intent based on his expression. He feels bad, which is a small comfort to her at least, and an indication that they're not about to have an awkward throwdown like it had felt in the kitchen that first meeting. She could nod and turn away, let them go their separate paths, she could be an asshole and ruin his horse-smuggling attempt by calling attention to it.

...He's important to Carl apparently, though. And Carl's important to her. So with a sigh, she lifts both hands in a universal sign of unarmed peace.]

We can talk, if you wanna talk. I've got a spell. [A beat, and then fair warning:] It works through touch.

[The fact that she's offering to talk at all gets more of a wary glance out of him than the fact that she is apparently going to accomplish this through magic, but the mention of it being touch range probably ranks a little higher than both of those. That part definitely has him looking nervous. But he can't even ask about it or express the specifics of his concerns without being able to communicate.

Attempting to communicate with someone else--regardless of their living or undead status--is not typically high on his list of favorite things to do, but... she's family to Carl. He gets it. He should at least try to do something sort of truce-like here.

So, though he doesn't exactly seem thrilled by the idea, and he kind of looks like he's bracing for something bad to go down, he gives a tiny, skeptical nod.

Sure, give it a shot.]

[Well, first things first. She closes the distance between them - carefully - while pulling out her spellbook, and reaches a hand out to touch it against the skeleton horse's back. Or... backbone, at least. In a glimmer of arcane energy that spreads from her to the horse, it suddenly vanishes from sight.

Whatever connection he has to it should still work- it's very much still there, simply invisible. She lifts her finger up to her lips.]

Should make it easier to get wherever you're going, hm? How's about I walk you home, and we can talk.

[And assuming he offers no objection, she'll return to her spellbook and start flipping through to the one she really wants.]

[His eye goes wide when the beast vanishes from sight, and even though he can still feel its undead energy and the connection he has to it, he reaches out to touch it anyway.

And with a hesitant nod, he continues down the street--slowly at first to make sure his command of follow is still being obeyed--and heads toward home, praying that Carl is still out.]

[It only takes a few moments longer to find what she's looking for; with a small hand gesture and a muttered phrase, her spell takes effect in a swirl of arcane energy, and she snaps her book closed and reaches a hand out, making sure that he can see it coming before she sets it lightly on his shoulder.]

Okay- talk with your hands again.

[For what it's worth, he really does try hard not to show the fact that her touch on his shoulder makes his skin crawl. He's mostly successful at it.

Focusing on communicating helps, as he draws out a couple short, questioning signs in her direction.]

Can you understand me?

[She smiles faintly at that, surprised, but relieved as well. His reaction doesn't go unnoticed, but since he doesn't pull away she keeps it there, since the contact needs to be maintained.]

Yeah, I can.

[He understands magic and has seen far stranger things in his short but absurdly wild life, but he still blinks with surprise when the spell works.]

Thanks for-- [He pauses to search for the sign he actually wants, and not the custom one he normally uses for a slightly different version of the concept. When he remembers, he points back at the undead horse and signs] --Invisible.

Sure, I don't mind. Call it a cheap olive branch.

[He's not stomping away from the conversation, so the chance given can come from both sides, if he wants to at least dig a few shovel-scoops into burying the hatchet. For Carl, if nothing else.]

What's the deal with the horse, though?

[Yeah it's definitely for Carl. Also, Coil doesn't have his undead-hunting buddy with him here, so picking fights with a lich seems like a bad idea even just from a logistical standpoint.

And he'd normally really try to dodge a question like that, but even he realizes that hiding necromancy from a lich is silly.]

Caught it. [He points back at the ruins and nonsense he and the "horse" had just come from. Then, he gestures back and forth vaguely while he tries to think of how to put it into words.] Took control of it. It shrank. Now, it follows me.

[She glances briefly between him and where the horse would be, were it still visible, and quirks a brow.]

Yeah, I don't get you, kid.

[Where is the line between acceptable dead versus not?]

[He... honestly doesn't seem to get what she's confused about. He follows her gaze back to the empty horse-sized space behind him and takes a guess. Maybe she's looking for elaboration?]

I thought it would be too powerful. But it's actually a simple construct.

[...Yeah, okay, she'll be blunt. There's no downside here.]

Just curious as to what kinds of undead are chill to you, and which are nightmare fuel?

[--Oh, yep, he gets it now, glancing away abruptly and rubbing the back of his neck. Trying to explain this to one of said nightmare fuel creatures is going to be more than a little daunting.

He hesitates, and his gaze drops off to the side while he answers.]

Undead shouldn't be. They kill and corrupt when free. [The way his motions while signing are getting a little quick and overly-precise shows how much his anxiety is rising.] We destroy or control them.

My dude, you're not helping your case here...

[That's probably not the point, but her incentive for helping him out, even for Carl's sake, is seriously dwindling by the second.]

[His automatic anxiety is clear as his shoulders flinch up and his signing turns even more emphatic.]

You asked! [He breathes a voiceless, frustrated sigh. But he can now at least attempt to explain what he hadn't been able to even try before.] My whole life was this way. It's what I was taught. There is a war back home.

[Another anxious breath between thoughts as he tries to hurry to a point that is still hard for him to believe, but he's trying. He knows it's important. He motions around them, at the town.]

Here is not back home, though. It's different.

Okay, okay, okay.

[She holds her free hand up in mock-surrender. They may have started things off on the wrong foot, but she's trying, here. And while the annoyance may still linger, he's not being actively aggressive.]

Yeah, it's different. So you can kind of see how I'd not want to tolerate that sort of talk.

[Yeah... he knows that he's mostly repeating something before he actually believes it, and that's hard to hide. But he's trying. The first steps are there, and he's slowly taking more. Letting a lich keep their hand on his shoulder in order to have a conversation is another one.]

I know. I'm working on it.

[She walks in uncomfortable silence for a long moment, trying to figure out what to do next, what to say. Frustratingly, nothing comes. Most of the time when she comes across people like this, either she bails, or they try to kill each other. There's very little in-between or compromise for those who hate the undead.]

We can stay out of each others' way, if you want. It's a small city, but not that small.

♥ April (Lasai) Event Log

wildcard | I SAID I WOULD (like a week ago im so sorry)

yesssssss

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