♥ August Event Log

[hugtopiamods]

August Event Log
The first month of the offworlders being in Havenwell has passed, the welcome party over, and the native residents are starting to get back to their usual routines while the new arrivals are perhaps starting to find theirs. The month of Achtom has started and with it, a crisp summery heat. The skies are gorgeously blue and dotted with high fluffy clouds that never seem to threaten rain - so long as the weather stays controlled. Businesses are picking back up, the natives starting to cater once again to flesh-bodied people with varied amounts of success. The VR cafes are featuring more helmets so even more people can play along with the ever expanding selection of games. Overall, it seems like Havenwell is quite the peaceful city.

And then...

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❥ PROMPT I: Where's the Pied Piper?

It starts small at first as most things do. Astute observers might notice that the statue of Ainea in the town square and in her temple is brighter than the other gods' statues. Her colors are a little more vibrant, like they've been given a fresh coat of paint. Then, little things in characters' houses seemingly start moving of their own volition to other parts of the house and go temporarily missing. Search as you may, you just can't find them - until they suddenly they show up again where you least expect with tiny little teeth marks in them. The corners of books and furniture get chewed on. The pillowcases and bed frames get nibbled. The edges and hems of clothing get a little frayed without you noticing when it happened.

Then, the squeaking starts up at night. It's innocuous at first, one or two here or there in the house, just barely noticeable by most. Over time, it gets more insistent, longer, louder, until, by the end of the month, it's difficult to sleep at night for all the noise of chattering and squeaking throughout the long night hours. Trying to find the source is a surefire way to drive yourself mad, but it seems that sleeping in the same bed with another person makes it a little easier to bear, especially if you hold hands throughout the night.

And finally, mice start showing up - pink and purple and of various sizes from panda mouse tiny to chihuahua-sized rats. They pop up in kitchens, in bedrooms, in the temples that don't belong to them, at businesses, in the labs, along the streets and in the city squares. They're in your new favorite chair, popping out from cabinets and drawers, and scurrying from under sofas and beds. It seems the only place they aren't is where they're supposed to be - Ainea's temple - and that's a big problem. Her temple priests are out in the city, begging residents both robotic and flesh to peacefully and carefully capture the creatures and return them home to the temple. They pass out soft woven reed baskets to any who agree and thank all participants heartily for their help.

---

❥ PROMPT II: We Didn't Start This Fire

Throughout the month, pockets of the city experience magnificent dry lightning storms. Before each onset of the storm, an immense clap of thunder booms across the entire city like a siren and the natives hold their figurative breaths until the first strike rains down. A peal of lightning, searing hot, strikes the ground or hits the spires of nearby buildings, cracking stone and leaving nasty burn marks behind. Each storm is only 4 to 5 minutes in length before they suddenly disappear again, but in those few minutes chaos reigns. For anyone unlucky enough to get caught amid one of these storms, take cover! Residents throw open doors and push people inside, even shielding the offworlders with their own bodies if necessary to keep them from getting harmed.

When the lightning and its sonorous booms pass, residents scurry out to repair the damage. They'll be asking nearby offworlders to help as well with patching the stonework or removing broken debris. Most importantly, they put out a call for help in putting out fires that spring up after each storm. Their metal bodies can't withstand the heat for long without melting and the water is dangerous to their circuitry. After the fires are put out and the damage repaired, on occasion, residents will ask for the somber help of pulling a native robot unlucky enough to take a direct hit from the lightning to a local repair shop. Strangely, the natives don't seem sad when their friends and family can't be repaired, and instead start gathering up objects from home to take with them to the temples along with the bodies. When asked, they say it's to pray for a rebirth and go on their way.

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❥ PROMPT III: Let's Play the Friend Connection

With all the craziness going on, some people might just want a distraction. A lot of Havenwell's natives certainly seem to think so. Despite everything, the Entertainment District is as bustling as ever and this month the offering is to participate with a friend or group of friends to play a game called: Friend Connection. Rather than the usual plug in and sit configuration, this time the VR cafes have been reorganized into 3 meter by 3 meter square pads with no chairs or furniture available. Players plug in or put their helmets on and they're instantly transported to a garish neon-lighted stage with multicolored spotlights that show a floating, legless robot with a rainbow bowtie and a magnificent mustache. The robot's LED face lights up into the approximation of the :D emote and then a disembodied voice comes from speakers overhead:

"Hail, well met, and welcome to the hottest game show around: Friend Connection! As the studio audience already knows, this game is simple! You and your new friends compete to complete more challenges than the other hidden team. The more fabulously you and your team completes each task, the more points you'll be awarded. At the end of the game, the team with the most tasks cleared and the highest point value will be declared the winners and take home some fabulous prizes. On today's team is..."

And the robotic host waves an arm to a scoreboard behind it, showing your names. The heading "Other Team" has ???? underneath it and a list of challenges is revealed along with a burst of applause. The list reads:

1. Play Twister until someone falls! The longer you go, the more points you win!
   
2. Help each other do a handstand! The Wheelbarrow is acceptable too.
   
3. Recreate your favorite scene from a romantic movie. Take, for example, That Scene from the hit movie, Skytanic! Or hum along to this song as you and your friend make some pottery together.
   
4. Create a complicated Best Friend Handshake consisting of more than 5 moves and do it together 3 times without messing up!
   
5. Answer trivia questions about each other and your worlds while holding hands and staring into each other's eyes. The more questions you can answer, the higher your points!
   
6. Do a trust fall into your friend's arms. The higher or further you fall, the more points you'll earn.
   
7. Play two truths and a lie with your friend. If you can guess correctly, you'll earn points for your team!

Are you ready, contestants? You have 20 minutes. Good luck!

At the end of the game, the characters are declared the winners by a slim and, naturally, exciting margin of just one point! And their fabulous prize......? The friendship they earned along the way! Congratulations, players! And don't worry, when the game ends, you'll be in the exact weird position you were last in as the helmets turn off. Hopefully you aren't still in those weird Twister positions because everyone can and has been able to see you. Yup, the entire time.

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❥ PROMPT IV: Comic Logic

As Lasdia comes to a close and Achtom begins, characters will start noticing something odd happening. Throughout their day as they go about their daily routines, helping people out or trying to find their missing items, the natives stop looking at them and start looking above their heads. In fact, as characters meet one another, their attention may also be drawn vertically above their companion because floating above every offworlder's head is a faint white cloud. Whenever they move, the cloud moves too. Attempts to dispel it by magic or physical means does nothing and it seems like you can't touch it at all.

It's annoying isn't it? Or maybe you're feeling quite curious about this phenomenon? Or maybe it scares you? Whatever you're feeling or thinking, it shows up in that cloud clear as day. It's not every thought or feeling that shows, but it's enough to be disconcerting, and any attempts to control what appears will fail. Like it or not, you're now broadcasting your innermost self to the world.

...For a time, at least. Over a period of time, smart characters might notice that after prolonged physical contact with another person, the cloud fades away and stays away for an undetermined amount of time. Sometimes it's an hour, sometimes it's a day, sometimes it's only 5 minutes, and then it begins to reform again. Whatever it is, it's here to stay, so good luck keeping your secret inner workings, well, secret.

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This event will run from August 9th to the end of the September application period, September 9th. If you have any questions, feel free to direct them to the FAQ or to the Mod Question thread below.

Comments

Pied Piper

[morality_pet]

"Lord Verstael? Can Rin help?"

[original_is_best]

With an armful of patching materials, he stopped to look down at the young girl. He was far from the fatherly type, lacking the warmth that most people might have. He'd found a caretaker for Ib for a reason. He neither wanted the responsibility of a child nor the type people would give a child to.

It made him pause before answering, generally preferring to focus on his work.

Still, he was no opposed to teaching those willing to learn.

"...I can teach you how to patch a hole," he answered simply, continuing on his way. "Is Aqua aware of your whereabouts?"

[morality_pet]

She skips alongside him cheerfully, clearly having no issues with him being a little cold and reticent.

(It reminds her of someone, perhaps. She doesn't normally get this close to adult humans - although Miss Aqua said he was nice)

"Yep! Rin told her Rin was going out exploring."

[original_is_best]

He carried on, not particularly making sure to stay by her side or behind her and expecting her to keep up.

"You should inform her that you're with me so she won't worry."

It might cause many people to worry knowing that, but she was in no danger with him. "Have you repaired a home before?"

[morality_pet]

Rin trots cheerfully at his side without seeming to mind (he's just like Lord Sesshoumaru, she decides, and instantly likes him more).

"Okay! And nuh uh. Rin didn't use to have a home, and Lord Sesshoumaru tends to wander."

[original_is_best]

She seemed well enough behaved. It was good that the children who had ended up here didn't seem like they would cause too much problems.

Homelessness. That could potentially explain the lack of literacy, if it wasn't commonplace on her world. It tended to suggest a lack of parents as well.

"Was there much strife on your world?"

He didn't generally try too hard to change his language for a child. If she didn't understand he could always explain, but he felt it better that she learn words that adults used.

The building he stayed in was quite like the buildings everyone was. The main different was that he hadn't searched for a roommate with the set of rooms provided, and instead was claiming the whole thing for himself. It might be a problem later when space became an issue, but that wasn't his concern right now. So, nothing about it would be unlike anything she'd seen before as he guided her to the entrance.

[morality_pet]

She hums a little as she follows him, but quietly, so as not to disturb.

"Uh huh. Lady Kagome says that it is called the Warring States Period. Rin doesn't know much about it, but there are lots of bandits and the youkai sometimes attack human villages, too."

[original_is_best]

Certain aspects sounded quite similar to home.

"And your parents?"

As far as he knew, she hadn't yet mentioned them.

He closed up the building behind her. Sadly, there were many squeaks to be heard, the reason behind his patching job.

At first he started looking around but, remembering he wasn't alone, he glanced back to her, "Check for any holes. I'll move the furniture around in order to see behind it."

There wasn't too much stacked up on anything yet so moving it wouldn't be too much of a chore. There was plenty of paperwork neatly collected together and stored inside of boxes for safekeeping, but likely nothing that Rin would be too interested in.

[morality_pet]

"Rin doesn't have any - the bandits killed them." She shrugs. "Rin is Lord Sesshoumaru's... ward?" She thinks. Or possibly daughter. He hasn't ever exactly specified. Ward seems safest.

She beams and nods and hurries to do so. Being small means she can squeeze behind things to look for gaps. The paperwork gets ignored as she can't read, and the boxes too beyond her working out if she can shift any if they are in her way.

"What should Rin do if Rin finds a hole?"

[original_is_best]

He simply nodded, not about to make a particularly big deal out of it. In times of war there were often an abundance of orphans.

He pulled the desk away from the wall, leaving a triangular area behind it.

"Let me know if you see any and we'll patch it. Vermin can enter through small openings, so they need to be closed up."

[morality_pet]

She squeezes in to take a look when he does.

"How small? There's a tiny gap in here! About the size of three of Rin's fingers."

[original_is_best]

He pulled the desk out further, sliding it to the side so that he could get to the wall, kneeling down beside her.

"Vermin could get through there."

He set down some of the supplies, pulling out a pair of gloves and setting them down in front of her. They weren't really her size - he hadn't exactly gotten them with her in mind.

"Put those on," he ordered as he pulled out a mesh patch and began cutting it to size.

[morality_pet]

She watches him avidly, nodding obediently as she puts on the gloves, giggling a little at how large they are on her.

"And then?"

[original_is_best]

He watched as only the bottom half of the fingers in the gloves plump up, leaving a large empty area at the top. Oh well, they were what he had for now.

"I'm cutting a patch to size. This hole is too big to simply fill it in." Which didn't take too long as he applied the patch over the small hole like a sticker, flatting it with his hand. Then, he pulled over a small bucket-like container. "Then you apply spackle over it."

Tugging open the lid, he pulled out a small putty knife. Even though he didn't have an extra pair of gloves for this, he was fastidious enough to scoop up a small bit of spackle and apply it to the wall, flattening it before offering her the handle of the putty knife. "You cover it completely and sand it down once it has dried. That will take some time, so for now we'll simply get it covered."

[morality_pet]

She watches closely and nods, carefully manouevring to grab the handle in the too-large gloves.

"Is it not safe to touch with bare hands?"

[original_is_best]

"You shouldn't if you can avoid it. However, you're not likely to suffer any harm if you get some on you. It will stick to you, dry and come off later."

Though he knew the products weren't supposed to be on bare skin, he also knew that plenty of people didn't bother to avoid it and used their bare hands all the time. It was no big deal.

He lifted an open hand and gestured to the wall.

"It's perfectly safe. Though it can crumble as you're using it and fall apart."

[morality_pet]

"Oooh." she nods. "And that would be messy, and maybe hard to get off, huh?"

She carefully spreads it as instructed. "How thick should Rin do it?"

[original_is_best]

"Yes, it would make a mess. Nothing that couldn't be fixed, but it's simpler just to avoid it."

He tilted his head, observing her. "It's best to do it based on sight. Make sure the area is covered, and attempt to blend it in with the wall. It will be sanded down later, so don't concern yourself with small defects."

[morality_pet]

She nods, patting the material into place and giggling a little at the way it feels under her hands.

"Like that?"

[original_is_best]

It was amateurish, but what could one expect of a child trying this for the first time? It wasn't as if this was a job that needed to be done expertly - if it did then he would have done it himself.

"A passable first attempt. We can let it dry for now and search for more holes."

Placing a hand on the desk, he pushed himself up from the floor, picking up the supplies and setting them down on top of the desk for now. He continued on, pulling out furniture, checking behind and under things and even inside cabinets and drawers. It seemed that the place had a few more holes than it should have, but perhaps those had been freshly made...

He didn't pay much mind to trying to entertain the child with him, rather sticking to getting the job done. Though he did at least take a break for food and drinks.

[morality_pet]

"Ok!" She smiles up at him and follows after, putting the gloves away carefully so she doesn't track any mess along as she hunts in all the small places he can't reach.

She calls out whenever she finds a spot, and doesn't once complain at all. She sits beside him at his break, humming happily.

"We found a lot of holes!"

[original_is_best]

"You should eat."

A simple statement of fact. There didn't appear to be anything negative about using each others' replicators and he hardly wanted her to starve.

"Indeed. There were likely more holes than when I first got here. I'll have to secure the apartment better at a later date."

With a small flip of his hand he gestured towards her. "You did well."

[morality_pet]

She beams and bows to him.

"Thank you very much! Rin is glad she could help."