♥ September Event Log

[hugtopiamods]

September (Ohnir) Event Log
Ohnir is in full swing now and the weather, while still boasting hot days, is starting to cool slightly at night. The residents are recovering after the lightning storms from the previous month and, curiously, most of the robots that had been damaged in the storms are back. They don't look the same as before, but they seem to act the same, still happy, still thankful that the offworlders are here. A few even thank those who carried their bodies to the temples with small gifts of painted stones. Havenwell continues as it always has and welcomes their new arrivals with a few rather odd changes...

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❥ PROMPT I: Robot Crossing

Now that all the new and old arrivals have mingled and met, the robotic natives start pointing everyone toward the VR cafes. The bright lights and cozy insides have been decorated with fake leaves and carved and painted plaster approximations of fruits and vegetables in odd colors. When an offworlder comes in, they explain that back when they were still in their flesh bodies, the month of Ohnir was one for harvest and celebrations of the summer bounties. Now, without any real farms or need to eat, they've translated the Harvest Festival into a game, so why not play?

Logging in with another character will net you a little farm and a variety of games to choose from:

1. Pick and harvest as many Aellyn vegetables and fruits as you can before the timer runs out! The more you pick, the better your score. Work together with your partner to clear the field in any way you can. Strangely, once you finish clearing a tree or a field row of their bounty, they seem to magically refill when you turn your back. Oh well, at least you won't run out before the timer hits zero and with the sheer number of levels and combinations of trees and fields with obstacles in your way to make harvesting a little more challenging with each new level, you certainly won't be running out of things to do.
   
2. With a partner, use the giant slingshot to launch comically large fruits into a garden patch of other colored fruits. Match a line of 3 or more similarly shaped fruits to clear it from the field. The more fruits you can clear, the higher your score - aka welcome to Fruit Crush. Stack lines of 6 or more to get shining clear diamond fruits that clear the entire row and snag yourself some bonus points.
   
3. You and your partner(s) are given a magical golden pumpkin and it's your job to grow it into the largest pumpkin possible. Why? There's a county fair of course and the largest pumpkin wins! But how do you grow this pumpkin? Well, there are a lot of methods! You could gather up materials and work together to stick it to the pumpkin until it absorbs them and grows. You could do a song and dance routine together to encourage the pumpkin's soul to grow big and bright. You could hold hands and share stories and entertain the pumpkin until it feels encouraged enough to grow on its own. The possibilities are endless, so get to work making the best pumpkin that (digital) fair has ever seen!

As always, when playing the game, the picture and quality seems to increase as long as you're in contact with another person. Once the games are over and your scores tallied, the cafe attendant walks over and asks to see your communicators. To the winners, he or she attaches a little floating charm in the shape of one of Aellyn's weirder fruits. It looks like a cross between a blue rambutan and the hala aka puhala fruit, and it's called the sikheen fruit here. The sikheen are extremely rare nowadays, but their appearance is so unique that Havenwell residents still like to remember it for the Harvest Festival. Enjoy your prize!

❥ PROMPT II: Paint by Number

The new arrivals get to enjoy Havenwell in all its glory for about a week before suddenly, one day everyone wakes up to find the entire city has gone gray. And not a natural, nice gray either, but a strange dull, lifeless gray. Everything from the sky to the houses to the grass to the native people have all turned the exact same shade of graphite gray. Even the natives are confused and the devout flock to the temples while the science-minded head to the labs to study this new phenomenon. The only ones who seem spared from this strange color drain are the offworlders and the statues of the gods in the center of town. Or, well, at least most of the offworlders are spared. A few people might notice that their colors aren't as bright as they once were, or that parts of them are starting to turn gray as well. Those offworlders unlucky enough to lose some of their own can touch another player character to regain what was lost easily enough. Overall though, no one seems harmed by this sudden loss of color, but they're certainly perplexed.

A few days later and round silver platforms start showing up around the city, dragged out of storage by the natives. The first arrivals might remember these as the fireworks platforms that are activated by people standing and holding hands on them. The temple priests and scientists encourage the offworlders to stand on the platforms again and to hold hands or engage in some other sort of physical contact on them and wait.

When characters do as asked, the platforms shoot fireworks like they did before - in brilliant colors instead of the dull gray everywhere. And wherever the sparks fall, color starts returning to the world in splotches. The natives are overjoyed and move the platforms all across the city, asking the offworlders to find and use them wherever possible to return the color to their town.

❥ PROMPT III: Sharing is Caring

Ohma's temple is particularly lively during Ohnir and the priests are busy cleaning and sweeping, decorating it with rolls of parchment and digital inkwells and quills that write as if they were actually fountain pens. The natives, especially adherents of Ohma, start to make pilgrimages to the temple in little processions, some playing music, others flying banners. It would probably be far more impressive if the colors weren't still so gray and splotchy, but they're trying their best.

Anyone who chooses to follow can observe the natives going up to the altar and sharing stories with one another. They talk about things they did over the past year or things that are far, far in their past. Some of the stories are happy and result in the procession laughing and some are...well, not everyone came back from the lightning storms. The priests diligently write every story down on those parchment rolls and deposit them onto the waiting altar, where they're summarily lit on fire to the cheers of those present. The more emotional the story it seems, the brighter and bluer the flame that it emits and the louder the procession cheers.

As the file out, they notice you watching and urge you to go up with someone else in the temple to clear your heart and offer up your own stories. They can be stories of home, information about your worlds, or stories about your life. It seems the more personal the story, the brighter the flame though and the more Dora that will mysteriously show up in your account at a later date. If the priests are asked about this donation later, they're just as perplexed. No one they know would have paid anyone for an offering to Ohma, so where could it have come from....?

❥ PROMPT IV: Sleep Sweet

With Ainea's temple familiars finally back where they belong, quiet returns to the city at night. We're sure that first long uninterrupted sleep felt heavenly, right? Although there may not be color in the city, the world of dreams at least is fully technicolor and safe. Which might be weird for some characters in case they don't normally dream or remember their dreams because now everyone is dreaming at night. Most of the dreams are the usual variety that your character always has, but every so often in the midst of a pleasant dream about home or a funky one about flying pizza (whatever it is you usually dream about, we don't judge), there's a glitch.

Out of the corner of your eye or just on the edge of your vision, a person appears. Their face can't be seen and their arms are longer than they have any right to be, but they appear and stand there, watching. Trying to focus on this person causes them to flit away and it's easy enough to dismiss as a random event, until it keeps happening. And it keeps happening, and it keeps happening, and every time you see this person, they get closer and even less distinct. Waking up and talking to or holding someone might help calm that disquiet in your heart, offworlder, so hopefully there's someone around to help you.

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This event will run from September 16th to September 30th. 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 on the OOC Entry.

Feel free to also use the OOC Plotting Post for planning what your character is up to!

Comments

[begguiling]

Fair's fair, right? And I want to help out just as much as you do!

[Besides, he only gets paid if he participates! He settles on the altar with her hand in his. It makes the whole thing feel even more ritualistic, and profitable. . . . And at this point, he's getting used to it with the kids. It only feels right to keep them close.]

So, you first, if you please! Then I'll repay you with one of my own!

[morality_pet]

[ She hums ]

One time, Lord Sesshoumaru had to go and investigate the Holy Mountain coz he thought Naraku was staying there! He left Rin with Lord Jaken, but Lord Jaken couldn't go pass the barrier or he'd be purified! It was a very strong barrier, it even hurt Lord Sesshoumaru! Rin saw Kohaku, so Rin followed him inside the barrier, but there were lots and lots of youkai inside. Kohaku helped Rin escape so Rin could tell Lord Sesshoumaru what Rin found.

[begguiling]

[That's missing so much information . . . but that's to be expected from a kid, and Rin especially. He's not about to grill her on things like who Kohaku is right here in front of everyone, even though he is curious. That can happen later! But he will prompt her gently:]

Woooow, so what did you find in there?

[morality_pet]

Youkai! Inside the barrier - so they couldn't go out, or they'd be purified! Lots and lots and lots of them, hiding inside the mountain. It was really scary - Rin thought they were gonna eat Rin!

[begguiling]

So what happened to them after that? Did you save them? Or destroy them?

[He's genuinely kind of invested in where this went now . . . ]

[morality_pet]

"Kohaku saved Rin! He's a youkai-slayer! He's very very good. He killed the ones trying to eat Rin - whoooosh! He uses a chain and sickle. And then he helped Rin get back to the barrier."

[begguiling]

[She has a child's way of telling a story. It's very cute. Magolor lets go of her to applaud her and cheer; it's playing it up for the kid, but he's happy to do so.]

Hehehe, Rin is so brave~!

[morality_pet]

[ Complete with dramatic hand gestures! ]

Rin wasn't afraid coz Kohaku was there! He's saved Rin before. [ She nods ] Even though he's only a bit older than Rin, he's so very strong! [ Hello hero-worship ]

[begguiling]

You look up to heroes, huh? Right, who doesn't! Maybe I should tell you a story about my best friend, the biggest hero I know! Are you ready?

[He reaches for her hands again, after a dramatic sweep of his own.]

[morality_pet]

Oooh yes!

[ CHINHANDS ]

[begguiling]

[ADORABLE. Magolor settles in to tell the story, keeping one hand free to gesture and holding hers in the other.]

So, my beeeest friend, Kirby, is the greatest hero in the universe! I know that's a big claim. I can't just say that without backing it up! So here's a story about just one time he saved the universe. Kirby lives on a peaceful planet called Pop Star, on the edges of a faraway galaxy. Beautiful place, but for as peaceful and out of the way as it is, a lot of things happen there, too. And one day, a great spaceship crash landed on the planet. When Kirby and his friends investigated, they discovered that the ship had been broken to pieces and needed serious repairs. The pilot wasn't injured, but he was sooo upset about what had happened to his ship that he begged Kirby to help him fix it so he could go back home! . . . I've heard this pilot was incredibly charming and cute, and Kirby's just the nicest guy, so of course he said he'd help.

[That last bit—

Magolor wouldn't have let that slip to an adult. Or maybe it's more accurate to say he wouldn't choose this story to tell to someone he believed would catch on to the truth of it in the first place.]

[morality_pet]

[ She sighs, happily imagining it ]

Lord Kirby sounds really nice! Did he manage to fix the ship?

[begguiling]

Of course he did! It was quite a trial, too. I've heard he had to face down all kinds of enemies. With the help of his trusty sidekicks, Kirby went up against the Grand Doomer himself, and Landia, the great guardian of one planet's most precious and powerful treasures! He traveled across Pop Star, and finally into outer space, traveling to another dimension to help out the poor foreign pilot who had begged for Kirby's assistance.

But poor Kirby . . . he's just a little too kind for a hero. He had no idea that the sad, innocent, adorable pilot of the ship was a villain all along.

[Magolor pauses for dramatic effect and to let this twist ending sink in; he leans in with a wide-eyed, conspiratorial expression, like a kid holding a flashlight up under his face around a campfire.]

[morality_pet]

[ Rin obliges with a horrified gasp, hands to her mouth ]

Oh no! What happened? Is Lord Kirby okay?

[begguiling]

Weeeeell, I shouldn't give away the ending before I get there, but since you're so worried about him and all . . . he's doing just fine! See, this wizard pilot had set up the whole shebang from the beginning. He'd tried to steal the precious artifact from Landia, lost in that battle, and fled the scene of the crime, only to crash land on Kirby's planet and trick him into defeating Landia and stealing the treasure instead! You've got to admit that's crafty, huh? And now that Kirby had that treasure, it was the easiest thing in the world for the formerly friendly pilot to take it for himself. . . . What Kirby didn't know was that this treasure wasn't just valuable. The pilot had had his eye on it for years—because it held the power to rule over the entire universe! Muahahaha!

[He bellows out a villainous laugh completely unlike his usual giggle—much like he did at the time of this story, too.]

[morality_pet]

[ She hangs on to every word, hands clasped together as she leans forward ]

Oh no! [ She gasped ]

What happened?

[begguiling]

The villain had the treasure in his hands! He had exactly what he wanted . . . ultimate power over all the galaxies! Free rein to do literally anything he could imagine! —But Kirby the hero and his loyal friends couldn't just give up the fight that easily. Even against an evil wizard who could do anything to them, they had to stand up and do battle! So they chased their former friend through dimensions, this way and that, until they finally cornered him in the secret spaces of the universe and raised their swords against him!

[Here at last he pauses not for dramatic effect, but to choose his words carefully, and his tone sobers a tiny bit without him being fully aware of it.]

. . . Well, by that point, maybe you couldn't say it was their former friend anymore. This artifact he had stolen sure was powerful. And some things are too powerful for one person to control . . . at least if they're a person like that. He was a little too weak to hold onto himself under its influence. So, by then, he was turning into something, else even as he raised his own hand against them to defend himself.

[morality_pet]

[ Rin is leaning forward, utterly captivated ]

Oh! But that's so sad. Was he corrupted then? The Shikon Jewel did the same thing.

[begguiling]

. . . Not quite. I wouldn't quite put it that way. He was already a bad guy, you know? It's more that, instead of wearing the Crown, it decided to wear him instead. His body went through an awful lot . . . by the end, it wasn't "his" anymore at all.

[A pause. But then he shrugs it off, dragging himself forcibly up out of those memories and back into the present day, where he is telling a very entertaining and exciting story to a little girl who wants to hear its happy ending. His expression lifts again into an airy smile, eyes shining.]

It's a good thing Kirby was strong enough to defeat him! After an epic battle through space, sword clashing against sword, the villain had nothing left to fight with, and Kirby saved the universe from the threat that had almost taken it under its control! With a final blow, good people everywhere were saved!

[morality_pet]

Oh. [ She sighs ]

That's so very sad. It must be so painful, to loose yourself. Lord Kirby sounds like a very good person, to save everyone!

[begguiling]

[This time he refuses to let himself think about the truth of those words and get bogged down again. He just lets them roll right off him, maybe to be revisited later when he's in an introspective mood.

But she's just so kind about it. He has to give her a little more of a happy ending than that.]

Hehehe . . . are you sad for the villain? I'll tell you a secret. He and Kirby were reunited later and became best friends! That's just how good a person Kirby is. He'd even forgive someone like that!

[morality_pet]

[ She claps, delighted ]

He did? That's so good! I hope they became great friends!