hugtopia_logs | ♥ October (Lasohm) Event Log

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♥ October (Lasohm) Event Log

a cloudy sky colored in pastel blues and pinks

October (Lasohm) Event Log

Lasohm brings with it a familiar chill and a dash of increased precipitation, as the city prepares itself for the coming winter season. Best practice is to go out with a jacket or sweater to avoid those goosebumps! Or don't and be cold, we won't judge. The wind carried over from last month doesn't help matters any, though at least the rest of the city is quiet and placid for the most part, as if entering an electronic hibernation. That peace is sure to last, right? Not like anything bad ever happens in Lasohm.

❥ PROMPT I: In Brightest Day...

seven glowing lights in the dark, each one colour of a rainbow

As the month carries on, residents of Havenwell may wake up one morning to find that if they possess any superhuman abilities or powers, these have become notably difficult to access or control for a while. However, with this odd fluctuation comes markings on one's hand, wrist, or arm in one of five colors. Though the color may change (as often or as rarely as player discretion dictates), it's always one color at a time. These markings glow when focused upon, giving one the ability to manifest powers made of light in a matching color. Cast projectiles, form hardlight weapons, the only limit appears to be one's imagination. (...And reason. Probably no orbital cannons.)

However, they come with the usual condition; the power granted is more easily used when in physical contact with another, and specific colors also have further complications...

♥ Red markings can be found on those that may feel particular frustration at the time or are predisposed to anger. Red energy is wild and difficult to control, risky to use unless the marked character talks through something that may be upsetting them while in physical contact with another.

♥ Yellow markings appear on the nervous or fearful, and the energy refuses to function as if afraid to emerge itself. Similar to red, it will only begin to work if the affected character admits to something they fear (no matter how big or small) while engaging in contact.

♥ Blue markings at first seem to have no correlation with the disposition of who they appear upon, and it may seem to anyone keeping track that they manifest completely at random. Utilizing blue energy may seem weak at first; projectiles may fizzle out, manifested weapons might be too small or even break, but it soon becomes clear that its strength is directly proportionate to how optimistic the marked character may feel at the time. Anyone with a blue marking might do well to seek out those that make them feel hopeful, if they want to use it at full strength.

♥ Indigo markings tend towards individuals with compassion in their hearts; while the power functions with little difficulty, it is only slightly more usable than blue energy at its weakest. Though this may seem inefficient and even useless, it will quickly be discovered that indigo energy becomes immensely powerful specifically when used to protect, aid, or otherwise benefit someone other than the user themselves.

♥ Violet markings, similarly, seem weak at first glance; however, they become stronger when the marked character is in proximity to someone they love. Whether familial, platonic, romantic--the specific kind of love is irrelevant. And perhaps as expected, it reaches its full power when the marked individual is in contact with their friend/family/significant other.

❥ PROMPT II: Rumble in the Bronze

a rock worm emerging from the ground in a cloud of dust

Rumble rumble rumble.

What is that? An earthquake? Construction? A hungry neighbor with a megaphone?

Whatever it is, you'll hear and feel that periodically over the first couple weeks. At first it's mild and starts around the mineshaft and forge, like a subway train passing under you, but as the days go by, it grows in intensity until midway through the month.

That's when the first of them bursts up through the ground. Worms. They vary in size and shape but not in diet. They come up through the rocks and it's clear, when investigated, that these were not dug into. There's a distinct marking through them to show that these were chewed through. At first, they only seem to be eating a lot of rocks, even stone buildings might have a good bite or two taken out of them. Peeking in might find some of the massive worms all curled up inside. They might also being curled around the buildings, twisting and gnawing, the sound of them chewing like gravel scraping over stone.

Eventually though, the minerals in stone aren't quite enough for these greedy grubs. Metals also share some mineral traces with stone, and vice versa. A few unfortunate natives were in a few of the buildings that were completely devoured before they could evacuate and the taste of them was like a fine seasoning. Or dessert. And even monstrous worms aren't immune to wanting dessert over a proper meal…

Now might be a good time to try out those new powers everyone seems to be getting. For some reason, they're more effective against the worms than any abilities otherwise available, though residents are welcome to fight in whichever way they feel comfortable.

❥ PROMPT III: A Little Help Here?

an unmoving robot with flashing blue lights sitting in the dark

With the chaotic arrival of the worms comes another troubling development. The priests and pious adherents who have been glitching out over the past few weeks suddenly and abruptly break down completely as the worms take over the city. The lights in their casings flicker on occasion, but they stop moving of their own volition and are completely unresponsive when interacted with. Other natives will be desperately trying to escape the worms themselves, so they just may not have the bandwidth or ability to fight off the worms to save the unfortunate robots. This is where you can come in, offworlders!

For those who cannot or would not fight the worms, they can still help out by directing these lost souls to safety. When pushed or pulled, the inert natives will begin moving, but as soon as any outside direction is lost, they stop again. Moving the natives out of harm's way and making sure that they aren't all gathered into one spot (after all, that's just like setting up a buffet invite for the voracious worms!) may just be a full time job while the siege is underway. On occasion, if a worm finds its way to these pockets of defenseless natives, people can try to fight them off or call on others for help.

The only place that won't help? The research towers. Once the worms invaded the city, they seem to have decided it's a problem for everyone else and have completely locked down their towers with the null shield seen previously during the tower assault. Even the worms don't seem to be able to penetrate the barrier, try as they might. And so long as the shields are up, no one gets in or out.

Finding safe shelter may be difficult, too, as the worms destroy roads and buildings everywhere, so those who can't direct natives may find it more helpful to clear roads of debris or patch up buildings so they can survive this onslaught. There's no telling how long this will last...

❥ PROMPT IV: How It Ends Depends on You

The city is breaking, the research towers have abandoned the pious to the whims of their gods, and those gods don't seem to be responding to the cries of Havenwell's people. The natives are distraught and, despite the offworlders' best efforts, there's no end in sight to the worms pouring out of the earth. ...or is there?

How the event concludes will depend on you! That's right, you! Those characters who feel like they have a deeper or stronger connection to their assigned gods will feel a vague sense of desperation in the back of their minds, like a weak tug crying for attention. Whether they listen or not is up to them, of course, and if the call is ignored, it fades away and does not return. Those who do listen, however, will get a sense that they need to start gathering people, natives (both active and inactive) and offworlders alike, in a single location: the Town Square. It may be dangerous to have everyone out in the open like that, but the strong impression of a mass of people in the square is what comes through before the feeling fades entirely.

Does your character listen? Do they obey the message and work to direct people to the square? Would your character follow the directions and gather themselves and others? Let us know down below in the comments here. Responses will be collected until October 14th at 11:59:59PM EST. If your character has not responded by then, it will be assumed that they ignored the message and/or did not follow the directions.

For those who gather in the square, feel free to discuss on this post what your characters would do in there. Please keep any major discussion of what your characters would do in the square here so that everyone in the game can see it. A discussion toplevel has been posted HERE.

This event will run from October 15-31. 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!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I
It isn't hard to take the glowing marks as some sort of extension of the side effects of the starry sea of glowing plants from the previous month. So, when the purple mark appears on his palm, he doesn't really think anything of it at first. It doesn't seem to want to fade, though, even after ignoring it for quite some time.

Once it becomes clear that it's not going away, but that also focusing on it stirs... something. Odd powers aren't anything he's expecting, if only because he doesn't have any powers in the first place, but in a moment of simply and deeply pondering on it, a bright flash of light pops in his hand for just a moment, blinking out just as suddenly as it appeared and drawing a surprised, "Whoa-!!" out of Shinji as it does. What? The heck??

II
Rumble rumble rumble

Tremors aren't completely unusual events in Havenwell by this point, and while they aren't always associated with anything particularly frightening, it's still enough to put Shinji on his guard as they gradually begin to ramp up in intensity through the month.

It's not enough to take all of the surprise out of seeing the culprits finally emerging from the ground, either.

"Shit-!"

No... even last year's ghostly invasion wasn't anything like this - nothing quite so treacherous has happened since the spider invasion, has it? Is this why powers are suddenly popping up in the offworlders? Like the city was somehow preparing everyone for this outcome...? Shinji isn't sure he has it in himself right away to actually be attacking the worms, but he does know that keeping the offworlders and natives alike safe should be a top priority, if it's something he can do. Especially with how concerning a lot of the robots' behavior has been lately.

Pushing robots out of harm's way is simple enough, and if he spots anyone doing the same, he'll call out, "Where should we take them...?"

III
a) And, toward the end of the month, as hints are being dropped as to where the safest place in the city might possibly be (?) the Town Square is where Shinji will begin herding as many bodies as he can manage. Robots inert and otherwise, yes, but also fellow offworlders, particularly people he knows who may not have made their ways there already. They aren't particularly spectacular when he's on his own, and the color on his palm keeps changing from yellow to purple and back, but he's managed to get enough control over the powers to arm himself with a knife made of hard light which, even if he's still scared out of his mind, is familiar enough to give him enough of a bravery boost to hazard the veritable minefield of worms.

b) He won't stay out there forever - as much as he'd want to keep going out as long as his most important people aren't in his sight in the square, the chances that his adventures will be put to a forcible stop from one of those same people is very, very high.

So, once he's been grounded from leaving, he's left with almost nothing but nervous energy. What can he do with that...? Keep himself armed, pace around the perimeter, perhaps see how well he can make some kind of barrier or shield with these powers. Octagonal planes flicker in and out of sight in front of him as he tries to exercise that last wonder, vigilance at a fever pitch as he tries to think of some way, any way to make himself useful in this situation.

Kyoko's hands are currently full of robot arms as she leads two along, walking backwards--not the most practical defensive stance, perhaps, but uh it's just where she's at right now! The marking at her wrist shines yellow, but it's not in use at the moment, whether she's discovered its secrets or not.

"Somewhere else!!!" Wow, very astute there, Kyoko. "Somewhere quiet! Uh--away from the earthquakes!"

Wait, backwards?! Kyoko! That's dangerous!

"Turn around," he calls out as he moves in closer to her, his own robot in tow. "I'll cover your back!" As they make their way toward, uh, somewhere!

Not the best choice she's ever made, perhaps! And not one she spent much thought on either. But gosh Shinji, it's awfully generous of you to think she'll do any better fighting off worms with her front side than her back.

But Shinji says turn around, and there's no need to overthink it. So she pauses long enough to turn around and slap a hand on each robot back. "Cover my back from what?? We're definitely not gonna deal with those things! Shinji!!"

The pause gives Shinji just enough time to catch up with her, and even through those protests, Kyoko is now looking where she's going. Good... that's good!

"J-just watch where we're headed! I'll take care of whatever's behind us!" A bold promise, considering the glowing yellow mark on his palm stirs up nothing except a tight feeling of anxiety whenever he tries to focus on it, but... it's fine! This is fine! He'll figure something out! Keeping one arm looped around the back of the robot he's pulling along, he grabs a hold of the back of Kyoko's shirt as an anchor point, leaving him free enough to turn his head and look over his shoulder without worry of losing her.

"I'll take care of it," he reiterates, as firmly as he can, because he will. However he has to, he's the one with experience here - he has to protect her.

Shinji's repeated assertions that he would take care of it bring Kyoko absolutely zero reassurance. By "it" he means the worms?? But then, what can he possibly mean by the "take care of" part? Surely he is not intending to try to kill one of those things himself! That is definitely not allowed!

"I said we're not dealing with it!!" She thought she'd been pretty loud and clear on that! "Take care of your feet and run!" Surely they can just evade these things forever, right?

It's not like he's not running off and picking fights with those monsters! If one of them comes too close, though... he'll figure something out!

But it sounds like Kyoko is just going to keep fighting him on that point if he tries to argue it, so he'll keep that thought tucked safely away in his head until he needs to actually push the issue.

"Somewhere safe," they just have to find somewhere safe, right? Then they won't have to keep running, no worries about any hungry worms catching sight of them or their robot companions and thinking they've found a good snack. "Just... just keep running!"

Keep running is the only acceptable plan in Kyoko's mind, and it's just what she does, alert every moment to Shinji's grip on her shirt--he's still there, she hasn't lost him, they can keep going.

But obviously this cannot last, so when Kyoko sees a line of trees up ahead--one of the little gardens that sprang up around the city after the hyperbloom--she looks at Shinji and then jerks her head towards it. "Maybe--" wheeeze, "--there--"

He turns his attention back ahead long enough to see where 'there' is - a garden area...? Is that really a safe place to stop? Ah, but, Kyoko clearly needs at least a little time to rest, and Shinji does too, and that is, if nothing else, a place to stop for a few minutes. Nothing seems to be actively chasing them right now, taking a quick break to catch their breaths is a smart move.

"There," huff, "is good!"

Let's go!

'Safe' would certainly be a strong word for it--Kyoko wouldn't say it is, no. But there's material to hide behind besides the worms' favored food choice, and at least for now, there aren't any worms or signs of them over there. If they have to stop for a bit--and it's pretty clear that they do, if only to catch their breaths before finding another temporary place to hide--there are probably worse places.

So Kyoko gathers her strength for a final dash, or as much of one as the pace of their robot friends allow, and doesn't stop until they're surrounded by greenery. There, she hunches over to gasp for breath, before swiveling her head around to look up at Shinji. "You're--not hurt, right?"

Once they've crossed the park's threshold, the robot in Shinji's arm is quickly shoved between himself and Kyoko, his own grip on her shirt falling. As long as they're both stopped, then he doesn't need that clue to know where she is. For now, it's more important that he continues to watch out from where they came, making sure nothing decides to come for them as they recover. His attention stays fixed outward, one hand anxiously squeezing at the air as if he's waiting for something to appear in his palm.

"I'm okay," he answers, which might be stretching it a bit, but besides his chest and shoulders heaving as he tries to catch his breath, he does look largely unharmed. "Are you--are you hurt at all?"

Though Kyoko is satisfied, upon examination, that Shinji hasn't suffered any injuries, she's not about to accept 'okay'--but she won't challenge it, either. That would be pretty hypocritical, considering she quickly pants out a "I'm fine" of her own.

Dropping to a crouch--the better to rest her legs while still being prepared to jump up into a dash again--Kyoko pauses a moment to scan their surroundings, before letting her eyes fall on Shinji again. Wordlessly, she reaches up to brush a light touch over the back of that hand he keeps flexing. Ah, she really is useless at times like this, isn't she?

"... I think we'll hear them before we see them, you know? Most likely."

He's going to trust that she's fine, they probably wouldn't be able to run so vigorously in the first place if either of them were too terribly injured anyway.

But as he keeps his attention outward, he's wound so tightly that even that little brush to his hand sends a shock through him, jolting back in surprise as though there's some chance that it was one of those worms that snuck up on him instead of Kyoko. Jeez, Shinji, get it together...!

"I'm sure you're right," he says, a sigh riding through on one of those steadying breaths. "I just... I don't know that I can relax, just yet."

Shinji Ikari | ota

II

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IIIa, get the robots into the Town Square, Shinji

wow who do you think you are you his dad

No, he actually knows how to care about people

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