♥ December (Ranir) Event Log

[hugtopiamods]

December (Ranir) Event Log
The end of the year is here and winter has arrived. The chilly fall weather quickly gives way to cold days and colder nights, perfect for snuggling and watching the first dusting of snow fall. It doesn't seem to stick for long, but it's certainly a beautiful sight to watch out of your windows. Ranir is the beginning of Rawna's time to shine, but the god of apathy breeds apathetic followers and priests - or he usually does. Maybe it's due to the influence of all the offworlders for the past year, but this year? Ranir is strangely familiar in its festivities...

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❥ PROMPT I: Bring Out Your Pens

No one is quite sure how, but over the past year, the natives have come to learn about a very particular figure in many of the offworlders' legends. He appears one time a year, shrouded in mystery, visiting in the dead of night, only to vanish until the next year. This godlike figure has piqued their interest to say the least and once Ranir is in full swing, offworlders who are aware of the legend of Santa Claus will start seeing some robots, especially Rawna's temple priests, wearing that familiar red and white outfit around town. They're carrying sacks on their backs and going door to door, electronics buzzing with excitement as they find anyone they can to shove an actual pen and paper into their hands.

"All hail the Santa of Clause!" they exclaim with glee. "Hail to your winter god! Nail your socks to the wall!"

Anyone who receives a letter set in person will then be told to write a letter to the Santa of Clause (and the robots ARE checking spelling. Who's ever heard of Santa Claus? Clearly you're mistaken and need a spelling software update) asking for a present, to a friend in town, or to someone back home. They won't leave until you write your letter, either. Whether it means they have to follow you all day, all week, or straight into your homes, they will complete their duty to the Santa of Clause and appease his great and terrible appetite for grammatically correct letters. For those who are lucky enough to avoid the robots in person, they may find a letter set in their mailbox one more with similar instructions about to whom they should be writing and a cheery announcement that someone will be by later to pick the letter up.

The sheer volume of letters being passed around town, however, is more than the robots alone can deliver. Soon enough, they start reaching out to the offworlders to help deliver the letters to their intended recipients, whether it's other offworlders, natives, or to temples to be placed upon the gods' altars. Anyone who is willing to help out will be given a small token of appreciation in the form of Dora, but more importantly, a larger gift of the Santa of Clause approved uniform. That's right: a Santa costume. If you're delivering letters, you must be wearing a Santa costume or you'll anger the Winter God, Santa of Clause! Or so the natives believe. So get into the holiday spirit and dress on up!

Those who wish to write letters to someone who is no longer among the city population or those who have never been here are more than encouraged to do so. In fact, Rawna's temple priests seem particularly interested in having people come by to read those letters directly at their temples to tie this offworld holiday into Rawna's typical purview. Read your letters to your loved ones or just read a letter detailing what you want for the holidays at Rawna's temple to unburden your soul as the year ends. Maybe you'll walk away feeling lighter than before.

❥ PROMPT II: This Isn't What I Ordered

At the end of the month, characters will wake up to light scratching at their doors. The sound is enough to get anyone's attention, especially if the scratching is at their bedroom doors, rather than their front doors. When people go to investigate, they'll find a little rainbow dragonling at their feet looking up at them expectantly. By the dragonling's side is a box of varying sizes, decorated and topped with a holographic bow. Once the dragonling has determined that you recognize the package is yours, it slithers off back to where it came from, escaping your house with surprising ease.

Opening the package will reveal one item from your character's life. That's right, it's a regain event! The item inside the box is familiar to your character and it might bring a smile to their face - or it would if it wasn't just....slightly? Wrong? For whatever reason, it seems this year the gift giving went a bit awry and all the items delivered by the dragonlings are off in some manner or another. For example, you might have gotten a box set of your favorite books from home! But they're all in a language you can't read. Or you may have gotten your favorite sweater back! But it's fourteen sizes too big and looks like it was sized for a T-Rex instead. Or your favorite gun from home is now bright neon bubblegum pink instead of that sleek and cool gunmetal gray. Oh and the bullets shoot flowers instead of, y'know, bullets. Whoops.

Whatever the problem, every gift received seems to have something wrong with it. As the complaints start rolling in, the temple priests will try their best to fix it by having all willing characters come with their malfunctioning gifts. A few trials and errors reveal that the best way to get things right again is? You guessed it: positive contact. Any temple will do for this, but Rawna's temple is naturally the busiest seeing as it's sort of his holiday and thus, sort of(?) his fault. Come with a friend or a frenemy or just a straight enemy if that's your flavour, place both of your gifts on the temple's altar, and just hold on tight. Once contact is initiated, the gifts will start to glow with a soft light; and the longer the contact is held, the brighter the light gets. It can take up to an hour depending on the level of wrongness your gift went to in order for the light to grow bright enough to flash and set the gifts back to their original forms. But there are rumours that talking about the gift you received and why it is significant to you makes the process far faster, resulting in a light that might flash as soon as you finish your story. Just be sure to hurry to correct this mistake. Some of the temple priests hypothesize that the corrections can only be made so long as Rawna's power holds sway.

OOC: These items from home must be approved by a mod. They cannot exceed the Medium Item regain limit. It cannot be a power or other ability. It cannot be something your character did not own or have knowledge of in their canon or their CRAU. Please post your regain request in the Regain Request thread before threading out the receipt or restoration of the item.

❥ PROMPT III: Ghostly Consequences

Toward the end of the month, people begin having dreams of Havenwell. That's nothing truly unusual, certainly, as it's quite normal for dreams to mimic one's daily life. What is unusual is that these dreams feel...real. Too real. And the people in the dreams are ones that may or may not be familiar to you. The faces of the dream people resemble those of the ghosts that took over Havenwell a month or two prior, and they seem to be going about their business as if they lived in Havenwell. In fact, they seem to be living your lives instead of you, living in your house, sleeping in your beds, working your jobs, talking with your friends. No one in the dream seems to notice the switcheroo and try as you might to interact with people in the dream, it looks like you've taken on the role of ghost. Thankfully, these dreams are innocuous and short, snapshots of your life rather than full length dreams and are over quickly.

However, before each dream ends, the ghost living your life turns to you and puts their hands together in a pleading gesture. What do they say? That differs for each person.

For most offworlders, the message is the same. The ghost puts their hands together and says:

"Balance must always be kept. Nothing shall die here that He does not allow. Your sacrifice is balance, and balance must always be kept. Some must die or all shall perish. These were their promises and their demise."

But, if your character touched a ghost in the previous event, you will receive a PM from the mod account soon with your specific message. Keep an eye out for your message.

The dream ends once the message is delivered and you'll find yourselves not where you remember - your bed, your sofa, wherever you went to sleep - but someplace new. Apparently the dreams have caused some minor sleepwalking and you may just find yourself waking up in someone else's bed or up a tree or about to buy that super expensive plastic model of Havenwell's latest holomovie starlet. Whoops.

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This event will run from 15 December to 31 December. 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. You can also use the Havenwell Status page or the General Plotting Comment to give you other ideas for original prompts!

Comments

[carbungle]

[Why, indeed.

Lucky (or unlucky, depending) for Nyx, Noctis doesn't notice. Barely even stirs. He mumbles something soft and incoherent under his breath, grabs the blanket, and pulls it back over himself, curling up so that the only visible part of him is curled fingers and a tuft of black hair.]

[nyxly]

[ Muffled yelling occurs beyond the bedroom door.



When he returns to the room, he once again runs a hand through his hair when he sees Noctis. Okay, so, this isn't a dream. That's Noctis curled up in his bed, and the way he only burrows himself deeper into the comforter rather likens Noctis to a child. Barely an adult, that king. But how he got there-- and so stealthily as to not awaken Nyx-- is beyond him.

What next, then?

Nyx approaches the bed, reaching out to the shoulder-bump of the cover to give him a short, but strong shake. ] Your Majesty. [ Uh. ] Noctis.

[carbungle]

[But he's so warm and comfy...

Noctis groans quietly, wiggling deeper into the covers and resisting the urge to wake up. Five more minutes. Maybe ten. Pyra usually lets him sleep in, surely she won't mind.

....

There's a significant lack of company cuddled up next to him, though. And the bed smells... different.]

...Mmm?

[nyxly]

[ That's a promising, questioning sound, but Nyx remains disgruntled.

Nyx tries again, firmly this time. ] Hey, Noctis, get up.

[carbungle]

[....

That's not Pyra. Or Prompto. Or Ignis.

This isn't his bed-]

What? [And that's what ultimately gets him to jerk upright, flailing to get the blanket off, eyes startled wide. What the hell- is that-] Nyx?

[nyxly]

[ He's looking immensely frustrated, and he steps back, finally reaching for a shirt within one of his drawers to throw over his head. ]

Took the question right out of my mouth. [ That bewildered "what?!". ]

[carbungle]

[Noctis stares at him for a long moment, genuinely baffled, then flings back the covers and rolls out of the bed, glancing down at himself. Yep, those are pajamas. He whole-ass got out of his own bed and somehow ended up here. In Nyx's house. ...Does he even know where Nyx lives?]

Uhhh... I'm pretty sure "this isn't what it looks like" isn't gonna cover this one.

[This is. Kinda horrifying. Is this another memory thing?? Or a Havenwell thing?]

[nyxly]

[ The kid looks clueless, and he'll take his word. However, his first guess is Lucian magic bullshit, like maybe they also go into trances-- he doesn't know!-- not Havenwell-shenanigans, and a bit of his his temper slips into his tone, making his tone snappish. ]

You can start by getting out of my room.

[ Look, he'll remain a gentleman: Nyx opens the door for his royal majesty. ]

[carbungle]

[You don't have to tell him twice. Noctis curses under his breath, cheeks going pink, and hurries out of the open door. He doesn't stop outside of the bedroom, either, beelining right for the front door, though he does pause there, glancing down at himself.]

What the hell, did I walk here in my bare feet?

[He can't imagine stopping to put his shoes on while asleep, but it's snowing outside. No wonder he was so reluctant to leave the bed.]

[nyxly]

[ Nyx stalks after, shutting the door to his room behind him. Gruffly, he makes his way to the kitchen. Coffee. He wants coffee. ]

You must have somehow slipped right in without me noticing.

[ ...And if Noctis did touch down the previous night and drag snow or slush into the flat, it would be dry by now.

Gods, he's going to have to grab the kid's boots, isn't he. ] What were you, in a trance?

[carbungle]

[He's so confused... he leans against the nearest wall to check his feet. They're not clean, which means he probably did walk here. That rules out the random teleportation theory. Damn, that would almost be normal in this world.]

I seriously have no idea. [Well, maybe one idea, but it's getting categorized in the "if I tell people I will look even more crazy, and now's not the time for that" column of ideas.] This hasn't happened before... like, I've never wandered out of the house.

[nyxly]

[ Water, filter, synthetic coffee grounds. Nyx goes about his way of preparing a classic soldier's breakfast. ]

Sleepwalking?

[ Does that mean he does it normally? ] Were you dreaming or somethin'?

[carbungle]

I don't remember any dreams.

[Actually, wouldn't he remember something if this was caused by his... ongoing memory problem? He usually recalls some kind of faint flashes. Here it's just a big old void.]

Don't usually sleepwalk, either.

[nyxly]

[ Nyx looks at Noctis, then back to the coffee pot, shrugging. ]

That's all I got for guesses.

[ Honestly. ] Anyway, where d'you live? I'll grab your shoes.

[carbungle]

Oh my god.

[As if his morning couldn't get more embarrassing. If Nyx showed up at his door...]

I am not sending you on a fetch quest for my shoes. Give me hypothermia over that any day.

[nyxly]

[ Dammit, he's trying to be nice. Noctis' tone makes him respond in kind. ]

You think I'm gonna let you just walk [ Or warp. Whatever! ] in the snow like that? Just give me the damn address.

[carbungle]

[No one asked you to be nice, Nyx!! And his insistence is just making Noctis more stubborn.]

You're not gonna "let" me do anything. I'm a grown-ass man and I can get myself home. [Also, like. He's a king. You're not the boss of him.]

[nyxly]

[ He scoffs. ] Try 'grown-ass idiot'.

[ Anyway, he's already moving. Coffee forgotten for now, he throws on his jacket and begins buckling up his boots. He'll have to forgo his socks for now. It's fine! ] You, stay here. I'll be back.

[carbungle]

[Nyx what the fuck.]

What the hell do you expect me to do, then? I'm not just gonna stand around in your house while you go. Seriously, I've been through worse than a walk in the cold.

[nyxly]

[ Nyx points to the coffee still brewing, looking equally insulted. Does Noctis think he's that much of an asshole?

Okay so yeah he can be. But. ]

Who the hell do you take me for, sending you out there like that? Get over yourself. This is my job, anyway.

[carbungle]

I'm not- [GOD this man is impossible.] I'm the one who got myself here! I'm trying not to put you out even more, geez!

[Sitting alone in Nyx's house, without him, is not better just by having coffee to drink. Even if the courtesy is nice enough. "Get over yourself", seriously.]

[nyxly]

[ Here he is, ready to go, and all he needs is the address. Which he supposes he could just call another to find out. ]

As if me walking over to your place is that difficult. [ Annoying, sure, but he at least recognizes this isn't Noctis' fault. ]

Text me your address, or I'll find it out from Prompto or your father.

[carbungle]

[Noctis glowers at him for a long moment, annoyed. There really is no getting around this, isn't there? He could try and bully his way past Nyx, and he is seriously, sorely tempted to do so, but that's not exactly the most mature of responses. And he kind of does want to stay on good terms with Nyx.

So... think. Okay. There's a better way to do this.]

...Can I borrow your phone?

[nyxly]

[ Not... exactly knowing what Noctis will do with it, but not believing that Noctis will snap it in two to render it useless, he hands it over in disgruntled silence. ]

[carbungle]

[Noctis mumbles an insincere thanks and taps in a number, turning away to have a quick conversation.]

...Hey. I'm fine, just- uh. Went for a walk. [Cue a nervous pause because he knows that's super believable.] Listen... don't ask, but can you send Umbra out to find me with my boots? -I said don't ask! I'll tell you later. ...Seriously. [A muffled, laboured sigh.] Yeah, yeah. Thanks.

[He clears his throat as he hangs up, offering the phone back. This isn't much better, but it sure beats the embarrassment of having someone fetch his shoes for him, like he's too important to go out like this. He's not that kind of royal, dammit, and it isn't even that cold really.]

Take your shoes off, someone's bringing them. I'll be out of your hair soon.