♥ June (Dianir) Event Log

[hugtopiamods]

June (Dianir) Event Log
Ainea's time has ended and now Diacht's months have arrived. Dianir marks the beginning of the hot summer months with a rise in temperature as well as humidity. With each passing day, spring gives way to summer, and the natives of Havenwell are enjoying the blue skies along with the newly expanded barrier. With the most dangerous of the beasts gone thanks to offworlder help last month, researchers and conservationists head out on occasion into the newly opened areas to continue the work of cataloguing and preserving what they can find. Some take time to study the barrier and some just seem to enjoy being outside the walls for the first time in centuries. Meanwhile, the city within seems to have calmed from Ealom's excitement, settling into its usual routine with only a few…"hiccups."

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❥ PROMPT I: Hana-hack-i

With the turning of the seasons, the weather warms up and Diacht's influence grows in strength. 'Tis the season to be honest with one another, because if you aren't, you may begin to feel a tickle in the back of your throat…

For those who have feelings repressed, secrets unaddressed, or maybe just won't confide in a friend when they're feeling depressed, the gods work in mysterious ways. Specifically, in the fact that the offworlders may find themselves coughing up flower petals. Whether petals of plantlife from Havenwell itself or another world entirely, the longer one goes without confessing their troubles or sentiments the more insistent their condition until they might even have trouble getting through a whole sentence without finding a corsage's worth stuck in their mouth. Speaking minor truths will lessen the effect a little at a time, while larger or more impactful ones will work to cure it completely.

While not painful or otherwise physically harmful, the affliction does feel awkward and very likely doesn't taste all that great. Not to mention it's going to be difficult to keep secrets when everyone can see you have a mouthful of flower.

❥ PROMPT II: Uproot of the Spirit

Those offworlders that have been present in Havenwell since the previous June may remember an outbreak of traits and desires not necessarily their own, reflecting the dominion of their associated god instead. With the return of the early summer season, so too do such urges begin to resurface--but not quite in the same fashion.

This time around, things are a bit different--adherents to one god may find themselves with any other god or gods' traits, with one or more applying at once, one and then another on different days, any multitude of combinations apart from those of the deity to which they belong. For example, one under Diacht may have the effects of Rawna one day and Ainea the next, or perhaps Ainea and Ohma both at once, but never contend with Diacht's influence. And while the previous year seemed to deal with the gods' animal natures, it seems this time things are a little different as people begin manifesting extreme versions of their gods' emotional domains.

Ohma: As the god of wisdom, Ohma's influence becomes a desperate and insistent need to exchange knowledge. The affected may ask friends and strangers all manner of questions, ranging from 'where did you get that shirt' to 'how do you like your eggs' and everything in between. In exchange, the affected also wish to share their own information on just about everything they know, whether the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow or the entire plot of a book they read that one time. They simply have to give and seek knowledge to and from whoever they can find.

Ainea: The influence of the god of compassion leads the affected to be almost aggressively kind. Complimenting every little thing those around them might say, do, wear--if it can be spoken kindly about, those under Ainea's influence will do so excessively and well past the point of obnoxious. So too might they feel a compulsion to give gifts to others--specifically, giving away the affected's own possessions. Once the effect wears off, one might even have to track down their new and old friends to get their more important things back...

Diacht: Honor and honesty being Diacht's domain, those affected by them will be incapable of lying. They will be compelled to not only speak the truth, but do so out of obligation no matter how awkward for them or the other party. Even if it means speaking a brutally honest opinion or divulging a carefully hidden secret, so long as the words are true to the affected speaker they will have the urge to share it. To tell a lie or general untruth will make them feel suddenly ill, dispelled only by speaking something truthful instead.

Rawna: Rawna's reasoning takes the forefront of their influence; anyone under their affect will be insistent upon hearing and soothing the emotional hurts of others. They are certain they need to be a listening ear or comforting shoulder to the absolute best of their abilities and beyond--that is to say, they will not only go out of their way to find others' problems, but potentially assume ones exist where they do not. Some dear friends haven't spoken in an entire day? Clearly they had a terrible fight, and it's up to Rawna's affected to fix it.

❥ PROMPT III: 'Cause I'd Get A Thousand Hugs

Yet another indication that the world is recovering is the reappearance of the Fairy Lights. As the weather turns warmer, these beautiful little insects take to the air for their mating dances at night, dimly and softly glowing like Earth's fireflies or lightning bugs. These tiny little bugs float through the air, flitting about as their bodies pulse with light. The Fairy Lights come in a multitude of colors from red to purple, turning the night into soft rainbows of light. They make their triumphant reappearance in two locations: the botanical gardens and the green belt that grew up where the old wall used to be. Their beautiful displays start once the sun goes down and stop at sunrise, and natives are delighting in their return by taking walks among them.

If offworlders follow suit, they'll notice that the Fairy Lights are attracted to those who come in pairs or more, especially those who engage in sustained positive contact with each other while among them. The Fairy Lights seem to enjoy it when people are touching and will land upon them, one of each color until a rainbow has formed - usually in a crown around the head. Once the rainbow crown of Fairy Lights is complete, that character will feel a pleasant calmness and a feeling of peace and happiness wash over them. For as long as you and your partner(s) are in contact, the Fairy Lights will stay and so will the peace they confer. Once contact is broken, one by one the little insects will fly away, off to find a new perch.

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

Comments

[carbungle]

[Noctis nods, heading right towards the bench and tugging Prompto along with him. He's in no rush, and the anxiety on his expression is for once visible and open rather than shoved to the corner. It's hard to hide it when he's being aggressively pushed into a corner and forced to face it.

It's been so long, though... and Prompto's the only one left in the dark at this point. It isn't fair that he keeps lying by omission like this, even if it's easier to pretend everything's okay this way.

Once they're seated, he hunches over, hands clutched together in his lap.]

What, um... what all do you know about what happened, after I went into the Crystal?

[this_loser]

[He lets himself be pulled along, worry ratcheting up with every step. Part of him is desperate to crack a joke or throw out some kind of distraction, if only to east the tension a little.

He sits next to Noctis and folds his hands together to stop himself from fidgeting, though one leg is already bouncing.

His last real memory was of finding Noct already disappeared into the crystal. Everything else he knew, he'd been told.]

Um, not much. I know you're going to be gone a while. That the sun is gone, until you're done absorbing crystal magic and can come back to...to fight Ardyn? And get rid of the scourge and daemons. [Somehow. He was never really clear on the how.]

[carbungle]

[Noctis nods along with all of that, tightly pursing his lips as Prompto finishes. He believes it, that that's all Prompto knows. He wouldn't expect his friend to just outright admit the rest if he knew more, but he'd be worse at lying about it. So... it really is up to him, then.

Unfair. This place is... so unfair. His hands tighten, knuckles going white.]

I met Bahamut inside the Crystal... he told me what I had to do. Absorb the star's power into the ring, kill Ardyn, like you said. And... and how to bring back the sun, and get rid of the daemons forever. [He tries - god, he tries - to muster a smile.] That's- pretty crazy, right? A world without daemons. I can't even imagine it.

[this_loser]

[He nods slowly. He knows some of this. But there are missing pieces. He just assumed no one was far enough up in the timeline to really know what was going to happen.]

Yeah...Hard to imagine. [He can't bring himself to smile. He leans in a little.] How...how do you get rid of the daemons forever?

[carbungle]

[Noctis opens his mouth, and... nothing comes. His whole body tenses, resisting the very idea of admitting it. Prompto's been his last bastion of freedom for this- the one person he's so close to where it isn't hanging over his head, where he can just think of anything else. And that's still not fair, it's still lying, but selfishly he'd wanted to keep that. The last thing he'd wanted was to bring bad news to their friendship, to tell Prompto that it's a clock ticking down to the end, that their promise to bring their countries together was empty and Noctis wouldn't be there when the dawn breaks. Better to live in blissful ignorance, right? Just be happy with this, and let the bad news come when it has to.

The pause goes on for too long, and suddenly he chokes, coughs, and spits another petal off to the side with a curse.]

Dammit- fine, stop, I'll- [He clears his throat, wipes his mouth. Stupid. He's being so stupid. Prompto deserves better than his silence, or his lies.] ...Bahamut... he said... it takes a "blood price". The Chosen - I - would have to... ["Die", is what he meant to say, but he falters, pathetically, and ends instead with a quiet,] ...sacrifice.

[this_loser]

[Prompto watches Noctis struggle, increasingly confused. He's ready to tell him never mind, it's fine. He doesn't have to say anything if he doesn't want to.

And then he does, and it's like the world falls out from beneath him. He shakes his head quickly.]

N-... [His throat closes up on the protest. There's a roaring in his ears, like he's been dunked underwater. He repeats Noct's words over and over in his head, hoping maybe he just heard it wrong. Maybe he misunderstood.] There's another way... Isn't there? There's...there's something else...

[carbungle]

[Noctis can only shake his head, finding it difficult to meet Prompto's gaze.]

I don't know how. There's no time... this is what everyone's been working towards, for 2000 years. What else are we supposed to do?

[He so badly wishes there was another option, some alternate path to be taken, but what could there be? It's out of his hands. He's trapped in the crystal for a decade, and when he comes out, the world will have suffered in darkness that whole time. He can't just leave it like that because he wants to live, when so many more could die while they wander around searching for answers. And Ardyn would never allow it. He'd find new ways to make them all suffer until Noctis finally caved and sought him out to finish the job. Every way he looks at it, he can do absolutely nothing, and it hurts to hope for anything better.]

...I... I'm sorry, Prompto. This isn't what I wanted.

[Not to share this, not to leave him. Not to end their journey in death and even more separation.]

[this_loser]

[His mouth works a moment, but he doesn't know what to say. He doesn't know what else they're supposed to do. Ever since Insomnia fell, it's been a cascade of bad to worse. He thought regaining the crystal would be the turning point. But it just keeps getting worse. How does it keep getting worse?]

No. None of us want this. [He scrubs the tears off his face, but they just keep coming.] Do...do the others know?

[carbungle]

[Noctis nods and rubs a hand against his eyes, trying to keep from crying himself. He's cried enough over this... there might not be any avoiding it though, with Prompto already at it.]

Ignis... he knew before I did. And Gladio must've heard it from the other me in his train world. Pyra and Ardyn saw memories about it a while back... not my dad, though. I can't let him find out.

[this_loser]

[He could say something about saving the best for last, but his heart's not in it. There is no way to lighten this mood. Part of him wonders if Noct ever intended to tell him at all, without the threat of choking on flowers. And part of him wonders if he would have preferred it that way. Blissful ignorance didn't hurt so much.

So all he says is a quiet:] Oh.

[He moves close enough to clutch the sleeve of Noct's shirt and press his forehead into Noct's shoulder.]

[carbungle]

[Noctis doesn't know what that means, if Prompto's going to be angry later, or hurt or disappointed, or if it doesn't matter because it is what it is (and what it is, is sad, and the reason behind his sharing it matters very little).

Instead of prying, he leans down against Prompto, chin to blond hair, tentative for just a moment before reaching up to hug him. Who cares about the rest? Prompto's hurting right now, and this sucks, and he doesn't want to die or have his impending doom cause this kind of pain. The truth is out now, though, so all he can do is try to ease that pain.]