♥ October Event Log

[hugtopiamods]

October (Lasohm) Event Log
The last breath of summer leaves along with the month of Ohnir, and now fall has come to Havenwell with Lasohm. The leaves on the trees in the conservatories and botanical gardens are changing, the days are no longer hot but seasonably warm and the nights bring a cool relief. The air turns crisp and sharp and the daylight hours are starting to lose out to the evening dark. Thankfully, Havenwell is well lit even at night, and the dark gloom is chased away now that the city's colors are (mostly) restored to their original glory. Here and there, patches of gray still exist, but thanks to everyone's efforts, things are back to normal.

Hopefully those dreams didn't plague you too much, offworlders. The citizens certainly didn't seem to notice...

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❥ PROMPT I: The Havenwell Archives

Lasohm is another month that belongs to Ohma and as such, a small group of citizens decide that it might be great for the offworlders to help with something that might please the feline god. These citizens are marked with a sash with the sign of a quill on it, a decidedly antique symbol considering how technologically advanced the people are. They hand out fliers to any who will take them, offering a small amount of Dora in compensation to any who will help the Havenwell Archives repair and restore their books. The Archives is a large building in the south and its doors, which have been sealed shut until now, are slightly ajar, allowing people entry.

Head to the Archives and you'll be greeted by one of a handful of robotic citizens, all wearing that quill-emblazoned sash, and directed to a small room where you and other offworlders are put to the task of reassembling history texts that have fallen into disrepair. Most of the writing is illegible, but it seems that these books are important to the Archives for more than just the information contained within. As you work, you might notice that talking and sharing information about yourself or engaging in physical contact near these books with the other people in your room makes the text on your pages a little more legible, a little easier to read and understand....

OOC: Those who choose this prompt, please comment to the Mod thread on the OOC Plotting Post. You will be randomized to receive a small blurb that your character will be given to transcribe. This is limited to one blurb per player.

❥ PROMPT II: Chase the Rabbit

Those plagued by the dreams with their strange, indistinct figure will find that they haven't gone away even as the month changes to Lasohm. Not everyone is dreaming about this stranger and they don't come every night, but that might be a small comfort to those who see the figure lurking in their dreams, watching silently. They no longer flit away when you look at them though and instead, start holding their unnaturally long arms out to you. Their outline is like a shadow and it feels like you might fall into their arms if you keep looking at them. It's almost tempting, but the way the figure beckons and approaches without actually moving its legs seems unnatural. Every time you blink, it grows closer and larger and its arms are opened wide for you. You get the distinct feeling that, should you embrace it, it would be like dropping into an endless, dark void, which is wen a sense of vertigo seizes you and wakes you up.

The vertigo plagues you even into the waking hours and out of the corner of your eye, you can see that figure from your dreams, arms outstretched and waiting. The only way to rid yourself of this phantom is to let another character hold you tight, in the same way that figure seems to want to do. Letting another character hug you dispels the dreams entirely this time - the phantom figure dissipates, the dreams stop, and it seems like everything is back to normal for you.

Those who accept the phantom's hug, however....? Well. Let's just say they have very different dreams that night.

❥ PROMPT III: Catch the Rabbit

Those who accept the phantom's hug also see it vanish from the daylight and it seems like everything is fine. It's gone, just like everyone else has said, and there's nothing lurking in the shadows anymore. You go to sleep that night and that's when it hits you. That sense of vertigo is awful and the dreams? They're back, but this time, they're a little different.

The White Rabbit: You're not alone in this space. Whether it's by accident or by some bond of fate, someone else is here with you. All around you, the world is empty and pure white, stretching into eternity and blank, like it's waiting for something - and it is. It's waiting for you. Once you recognize one another, the world reforms to take on the appearance of a dream you've had before, or a memory from long ago. The other person in your dream is conscious of this not being real, but you? Well...maybe you're aware and maybe you're not. Whatever the case may be, it seems the dream can end naturally as it's meant to, or your companion can try to wake you up. Because it's not just the two of your in this dream - that long-armed phantom is back and it's getting closer.

The Black Rabbit: The dreams are pitch black. You're floating in the darkness with nothing to tether you, whispers in foreign tongues all around you, words you can't understand. If you linger too long, the whispers grow louder, the sound of claws raking down metal approaching from behind and you know: you need to run. The dream seems to go forever, with you tumbling through the darkness, running on nothing, running to nothing, but definitely running from something. And then suddenly, there's someone with you, also fleeing the unseen horrors. As soon as you see them, the dream shifts and now you're experiencing each other's worst nightmares. Fend the terrors off by working together, holding one another, comforting each other as needed, but don't let them catch you.

Whichever dream you have, it ends when you see a figure suddenly appearing in front of you. The phantom that haunted you in your waking hours is back and you know that it sees you as well. Rather than come after you, however, the figure points to the side causing the walls of Havenwell to appear out of the dark, a bright beacon in the gloom. Then the figure opens a gaping, toothless mouth and wails, a bone deep sadness filling the air until the white walls of Havenwell begin to crumble like dust. You awaken with a jolt, the vision fading but the memories remaining.

❥ PROMPT IV: It Warned You

Toward the end of the month starting from October 28th, offworlders and natives alike will start hearing noises. A deep, quiet scratching, the sound of something dragging heavily against stone, or a leaden thump that seems to reverberate through the floors. Then a slow rhythmic banging starts up and for the first time, the offworlders will see the natives truly scared. They start retreating from the public, sealing themselves up into their homes or taking to the temples to pray. During this time, all other festivities start to close, the VR cafe still boasting bright advertisements for the Harvest Festival games are deserted, the businesses and streets barely have anyone in them. The only activity to be seen is that of the wall guards and the police who start patrolling the streets, trying to locate the source of the noise, stopping anyone they see to interrogate them.

This continues until noon on October 30th when a loud crack, like glass being broken, splits the quiet across the city. Those outside can look up and see a long spider web of breaks snake out along the blue sky. The crack splits and splinters the sky until it hits the wall to the north where it stops for a brief moment, and then the wall itself cracks. The banging intensifies and the plaster flakes, cracks, and with a horrific boom, it breaks and a thick hairy hand the size of a car reaches in, pulling the stone away to widen it into a hole through which a steady stream of small black spider-like creatures start to spill into the city. An alarm rings shrill and the guard and police take to action, but it's clear they're not prepared for this. Help if you can, offworlders, your home is under attack!

What to do: Fight the monsters that are breaking into the city. Most of them are relatively small, black spider-like creatures that have very basic melee attacks, using their fangs and their sharp legs to bite and claw at people. On occasion a rarer monster might appear that will take more than one person to kill - these might resemble strange versions of monsters from your respective worlds, though nothing larger than a horse is present. The giant hand that punched its way through the wall is gone and won't come back. Clear the city of monsters and find a way to seal the breach. This event will ICly run from October 30-31st with the breach being sealed late on the 31st.

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This event will run from 09 October to 31 October. 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 here.

Comments

[kingkingcxiii]

[Usually when Regis has tapped himself out so thoroughly, there is nothing but darkness, emptiness, and cold waiting for him. This is different from drifting off during storytelling at Ohma's temple or the naps his body forced him into while helping during the storms. This is beyond all that. As close to complete shut down as a human can come, something that should last hours before allowing him to even briefly return to the land of the living.

This time is different, though. He's just begun to sink into that usual cold void when he is wrapped in a familiar, warm, comforting magic. His mind struggles to make sense of the feeling. Where could it be coming from? As far as he knows Ardyn is the only one who can use magic anything like this, at least in such large amounts. He has give Cor access to his own magic, of course, but his old friend can't use the magic like this, like a life raft pulling him gently back toward a less drained state.

Well, the redhead had said he was going to watch out for him. Regis had just not expected it to be like this.

Eventually, he can start making out things around him again. Voices. One in particular seems agitated, trying to get his attention. He manages to smile slightly, but he can't quite make his voice work to speak the reassurances he wants to. Perhaps it is for the best, though, because all too soon he is passed to another and the speaker is gone.

Is Ardyn gone too then? There is more fighting to be done, after all, and he is in no condition to do anymore of it even with the loaned energy. It's all he can do to stay on his feet as he is led to a safe place to rest.

The moment his head hits the pillow, he is out. This sleep, at least, will be more natural and healing that the unconscious sleep he would have had otherwise.

Once this is all over, he will have to thank Ardyn.]

[carbungle]

[ARDYN-SHMARDYN

For real though, that was... really exhausting. It doesn't take Noctis long to feel it- he's always tired on a good day, but apparently transferring a big bulk of his energy to someone is a bit like summoning an Astral, there's a rush of adrenaline, a surge of power, and then he's just... drained. He fights as long as he's physically able before he too is forced to retreat, though thankfully those still left fighting seem to have to covered. They're not difficult monsters to kill, but there doesn't seem to be an end to them, which is what makes it so tiring.

Exhaustion doesn't mean he isn't still worried about those who've left the field, so instead of going right to bed he follows the path of wherever Regis was taken, checking in on him (and glad to find him asleep, because he definitely needs it). He sits by the bed for a while and holds his hand, the way Regis did when he was little, and he waits. As he does so, he can't help wondering: did he do something wrong? Was that good, or bad? What if it hurt him somehow? It was reckless to try something new like that, but he's been flying by the seat of his pants for so long back home he just ran with the idea. ...Gods, he hopes that this was okay.

He'd intended to leave before too long, to find a corner and curl up to sleep at a safe distance, but he's so tired he ends up bending further and further forward until he slumps over, his head pillowed on the edge of the mattress, fingers still curled wearily around his father's as he dozes off.]

[kingkingcxiii]

[Whenever Regis wakes up from a sleep after being so exhausted it takes him some time to realize much of anything--how long it's been, where he is even. That is why the first thing he does once he's realized there is a hand around his and a weight against the side of the bed is to whisper his wife's name. How many times has he pushed himself too hard, only to wake up with her tired, worried form slumped against the bed? Of course, a scolding always came after she woke up, but if it meant she was safe, he would take that scolding without a word.

It's only once he manages to pry his eyes open that Regis remembers where he is and that there is no way Aulea can be here. When he sees who is, though, he can't help but find himself surprised and a little touched. His hand closes gently around the fingers resting against it. Noctis is such a good man, young as he is. What friends has he left behind? What family is he missing?

Regis finds himself torn between waking Noctis so he doesn't end up with an aching back and just letting him sleep. He obviously must be exhausted to have fallen asleep in such a position. Will he let himself go back to sleep if awakened, or will he return to the fighting?

In the end, Regis carefully grabs the extra blanket at the foot of the bed and does his best to wrap it around Noctis' shoulders. If he wakes, he wakes and if he doesn't at least he will sleep a little more comfortably,]

[carbungle]

[At the best of times it can take a lot to wake Noctis, but the last day or so could hardly be called that, between all the fighting and the stress, and he's been on edge since it started. The whisper doesn't stir him, but the movement and the soft weight on his shoulders does the trick, and he shifts slightly, brows furrowing as he fights between the will to rise and the urge to doze off again. He doesn't know what that was, but it feels... warm, and soft. Familiar, in a way.

Who was that, Iggy? It feels like something he'd do, the worrywart. Or-]

Dad...?

[It's a mumble, barely audible as he moves to bury his face against the bedsheet beneath him. Don't wanna wake up yet...]

[kingkingcxiii]

[Regis freezes when he hears that whisper, scolding himself for waking the young man despite his earlier thoughts on the matter. Had he been dreaming of home, of being reunited with the family he so misses? And here a complete stranger has pulled him from those gentle dreams.

Carefully, so he doesn't jolt Noctis more than necessary, Regis pulls away.]

I'm sorry, son. I didn't mean to wake you.

[carbungle]

[The voice and the words spoken are familiar enough to make him relax, and without even thinking about it he reaches a hand up to grasp at Regis's sleeve, to stop him from withdrawing too far.]

It's okay, gimme a minute...

[Reluctantly he pushes himself upright, yawning and rubbing an eye with his free hand. Only then does he look up properly, awake enough to realize- oh. ....Oh. Damn.

Suddenly embarrassed, he releases the sleeve.]

...sorry. Didn't know it was you.

[Which is a half-truth, at least. Regis, yes. His father? Not quite.]

[kingkingcxiii]

[When that hand curls into his sleeve, Regis' chest aches with twin pains. One is an increase of the guilt he has been feeling for waking the young man and the other is a more private pain. The gesture he has just intruded on is one he has imagined will happen with his own children someday. Accident or not, he can't help but hurt at the thought of not being able to be there when his children need him, just as Noctis' father isn't here now. As a result, once Noctis has looked up and realized his mistake he will find a sad, distant look on Regis' face. It is only there for a moment before he quickly masks it, though.]

I guessed as much. Hopefully, I will be able to get you back to him soon enough.

[Regis is not sure how, but Noctis is one of his people and he will do all he can to see him home safely.]

[carbungle]

[Noct's eyes widen for a moment before his expression shifts- sadness as well, yes, but a more wounded look, as if the words had carved open something that until now had been closed off. There's no going back to see his father; returning home will only leave him bereft of the man once more.

Saying that would be cruel to an oblivious young Regis, though, since he's not sure how long he'll be able to keep up this charade, so he glances down.]

Thanks... but it'll be a while before I see him again. Don't worry about it.

[If he survives the fight against Niflheim, it'll be at least his lifetime before the two meet again in Eos.]

[kingkingcxiii]

[Ah, if only Noctis knew that Regis already knows of his untimely death. Of course, that would also mean he would need to know about their relationship, but considering the brief glimpse he gets of that wounded expression, it may not be too much longer before that secret slips out.]

How can I not worry when it brings such a pained look to your face? You obviously love him a great deal.

[carbungle]

[wow no one tells him anything!!

Those words make Noctis pointedly look down at the floor. What does he even say to that?]

I... do, yeah. But I'm a long way from home, even if we get back there.

[kingkingcxiii]

Ah, on a road trip, are you? Don't let the distance fool you. No matter how far away you are, he will always be in your heart and I am certain you are in his as well.

[All right, this topic needs to change before Noctis drills a hole in the floor with his eyes.]

You know, I went on one of those as well, though I was younger than you are now when I went.

[carbungle]

[Every word of it hurts, a dagger twisted that much deeper. There's no subtlety in the way his shoulders slump in relief as Regis changes the subject, and he finally lifts his head, trying to feign nonchalance.]

...Oh yeah? What was it for?

[He'd heard some scattered stories, of course, but it's different to get it straight from the source.]

[kingkingcxiii]

Officially, we were on our way to Accordo to restore alliances with them, but as I am sure you have noticed on your own trip, things happen.

[This is especially true when war is ongoing and daemons are everywhere.]

An adamantoise is a very big thing, for example.

[carbungle]

[Noctis responds with a mild scoff, quietly grateful for the new direction the conversation's turned towards.]

Yeah, no kidding. Longwythe, right? It was waking up while we were in the area, too.

[And he doesn't have to say they were there to fight the damn thing or that he spent a good chunk of time in his travels finishing what Regis started, but the adamantoise is an experience that they can at least both share without worrying about identities or secrets.]

[kingkingcxiii]

It didn't cause you much trouble, did it?

[Regis is frowning as he speaks. Of course, it did. Even just stirring in its sleep would cause trouble for people considering how big it was.]

I had hoped it would sleep longer, until we could return to finish the battle at least. I dearly wish there had been a way to seal it away like the other menaces that Ezma told us of were.

[carbungle]

Caused us plenty, but we put it back to sleep eventually. [Sleeping with the fishes, that is.] It won't be waking again any time soon.

[He has no excuse for knowing what Regis is talking about in the latter comment though (because how the hell would a random citizen on a road trip know about the Royal Tombs and all those secret doors?) so instead he quirks a brow.]

"Other menaces"?

[kingkingcxiii]

I'm glad to hear it.

[Regis nods. Of course Noctis doesn't know. Not that many do.]

There are a handful of daemons which grew so powerful that even the Kings and Oracles of their time could not defeat them for good. In fact, it is said in the legend of the Oracle King that his Oracle died while they were battling the daemon that haunted Steyliff Grove. That is where his title came from, as he had to safeguard the trident until another successor was found.

Battling these daemons was dangerous, but leaving them to roam free was even more so, so they were sealed away behind powerful wards until the day came that someone could defeat them.

[He pauses here, looking troubled.]

Ezma told us of the menaces and asked if we would undertake the task of defeating them for good, however the war kept us from being able to embark on the mission immediately. I plan to fulfill it as soon as the war is over.

[carbungle]

Huh... sounds messy.

[He's. Not a good liar. He should really just be as vague as possible about this if he wants to dodge the issue. Especially since he remembers each and every one of those daemons and how much of a giant pain in the ass they were.

...Is... is Steyliff Grove safe to talk about? Beyond the moonlight block, anyone could just wander in, right? Because that place was pretty cool.]

Think those wards will hold? In... case the war lasts longer than you think it will.

[Like 20-30 years longer.]

[kingkingcxiii]

That is one way to put it.

[Steyliff Grove would be safe to talk about. It is one of his favorites as proven by that wonderful history ramble. Apparently, it was one of Ardyn and Aera's favorites too.

Noctis' question causes a thoughtful, though uneasy expression to cross Regis' face.]

While she didn't come straight out and say it, I think Ezma believed the wards were starting to weaken. It would fit with the upswing in the numbers of daemons. If she didn't think we had a little time, though, I don't think she would have let us leave so easily. I sincerely hope that much time will not have to pass before we can get back to them.

[carbungle]

Ah...

[Yeah, best just hold his tongue on that one. He can only imagine how disheartening it would be to hear that he never got back to dealing with those doors, that the war would put even an important task like that on hold for decades. Though hopefully knowing they were eventually dealt with would be comforting enough.]

Nah, I wouldn't worry. If they've been sealed up for that long already, a few more years won't make a difference. Bet they're sleeping, anyway- like our favourite turtle mountain.

['Sleeping' is just gonna be his new code for "things we killed for you on the bachelor trip", isn't it.]

[kingkingcxiii]

[Yep. Just watch it survive as code even after Regis finds out the truth.]

That would be a best case scenario, and at this point, I will take that.

[After all, there is not much else he can do but take it.]

Now, I have kept you up for some time with my stories. Thank you for watching over me, but please, why don't you find a cot where you can rest without straining your back?

[carbungle]

[It's true that they did kill a lot of his unfinished business...

At Regis's suggestion, Noctis leans back, wincing, and stretches his arms up over his head.]

...Might be right about that one... just a few hours, and then I'll get out there again. [He frowns up at Regis.] Don't push yourself when you go back.

[Seriously! He means it! He doesn't want to see you collapse again. And he definitely doesn't want to lose this father to the ring, either.]

[kingkingcxiii]

[Surprisingly enough, Regis nods in agreement.]

I have a feeling it's going to be some time before I am strong enough to return. Even once I am, I suspect there are people who will literally sit on me to prevent it. Try not to worry about me. Just make sure you watch out for yourself once you return to the field.

[carbungle]

Good. I already feel better about it.

[Clearly this man needs to be sat upon, lest he kill himself. A few times Noctis had been tempted to pull the damn ring off and hide it away, but the idea of being caught in the act, coupled with an irrational fear of touching it - because it whispered, he'd reached out and it whispered - had prevented him from doing so.

He stands up, giving Regis a final bump on the shoulder before turning and heading off. The bed calls to him.]