hugtopia_logs | ♥ October Event Log

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♥ October Event Log

scary spooky jack o' lantern and steampunk windmill with alien ship and moon

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...

❥ PROMPT I: The Havenwell Archives

black and white storage shelving with data boxes

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

a dark image featuring a silhouette of a person staring down a floating fish monster, with the text YOU SHOULD WAKE UP BEFORE YOU FORGET HOW beneath it

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

a snarling monster in shadows with multiple red eyes and dripping skin

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.

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

He offers no resistance to Kai taking hold of him like that, hisnpace slowing in response. He doesn't exactly... reply right away, though. The answer that's on the tip of his tongue is 'no', of course not, but that doesn't really matter in this case.

"I might... have to go fight that thing."

Is that a good answer to that question? Hm.

Not really, no.

It's the answer Kai got though. The hold on Shinji's wrist tightened, as if those words meant that he was about to vanish right there on the spot. The kind of resignation here, the concept of it not even being some kind of revelation--

This. Didn't sound like a first time.

"You don't have to."

That is very nice of you to say, Kai. He doesn't know the circumstances, and Shinji has to remind himself of that, so the suggestion just kind of... bounces right off of him.

"Of course I do," this isn't even really in question. "If it overwhelms the other pilots," as if to answer this hypothetical, a loud crash can be heard outside, accompanied by what sounds to be a radio transmission of a girl crying out in surprise being cut short by static, somehow coming from inside the building. "I'll have to go out there."

Edited 2019-10-13 06:56 (UTC)

This weird surround sound was kind of alarming. Kai gave a quick glance around them, as if there was more to see, but that's not how this was working. Not that he couldn't say how any of this was working. He had no idea where to even start with any of this.

"What does that even mean?"

Kai was looking at him again, concern etched all over his face.

Don't forget he has no idea what all is going on, Shinji!

"There's three of us," or maybe two now, considering the transmission that came through to startle Kai like that. "It's our job to stop... things like that. If Asuka and Ayanami can't stop it..."

He trails off for a moment, as if he's suddenly remembering something really important. "I should... be out there right now." And yet, he is instead here. He's not even making a move to try and get out of Kai's grip, or out of the shelter at all.

And isn't that telling enough in its own way? Kai might not have had any idea what was actually going on, but he knew enough to tell that any other details would do nothing to make it any less fucked.

"They'll be fine." If he had any bearing on this maybe-not-real reality, maybe it'd come true.

Maybe someone else would encourage the hero in this scenario, tell them that they could do it. That they believed in them. Overcome this adversity, etc. Encourage them to take on their destiny, they'd be behind them all the way...!

But everyone needed an escape route to choose as they saw fit. That's what Kai was, and all he'd ever be.

"Come on."

Maybe it will have some kind of impact. Maybe. The footfalls haven't stopped, either way.

He continues to allow himself to be led by Kai with no actual resistance, but not trying to fight it almost feels like he's letting himself run away from the situation. He can't let himself think, 'Oh, he's stopping me from leaving' when it's really more a matter of 'He's giving me an excuse to avoid this altogether,' and Shinji is taking complete advantage of that escape option.

"They won't be." Of this, he sounds absolutely certain. Things tended to only work out for them in the end if there was some kind of teamwork involved, after all. But, even then... Shinji brings up his free hand to lightly touch at his throat. "I couldn't even - I can't fight him, but if I'm not even there, then..."

That's not how things went, so he can only imagine.

Kai's grateful for the path of least resistance, because god he doesn't know what to do. All he can think to do is keep moving, taking Shinji farther through this building that seems to go on forever. Where have they even ended up?

He kept looking back at Shinji as they went. He needed the reassurance that there was still a boy there, that he hadn't just been holding nothing, even if Shinji seemed to be mentally somewhere else.

A memory, it sounded like. That's what this all was, wasn't it? Something that had already happened. Something that... his gaze lingered on that touch lingering at Shinji's throat, something deeply unsettling taking a seat in Kai's guts.

"Shinji."

There's a second crash from outside, longer and more drawn out, and curiously coming from above this time. There's no accompanying transmission to cut into their conversation this time, but the quake it brings on makes their sudden position atop an incredibly high up catwalk feel just a little precarious.

Shinji pulls his attention more directly to Kai once more, paling as he notices where the path they're on leads them to. Over Kai's shoulder is a familiar sight, a similar figure to the one they're trying to escape from, clad in purple with the hatch to the entry plug invitingly open for him, but otherwise sitting completely motionless.

Ah.

He doesn't say anything to Kai, but he has his undivided attention now.

There was a lot to look at and be baffled by, but Kai didn't dare. He had Shinji's attention, and he didn't want him to look at whatever it was that was making him go so pale. There was an inkling. He'd said he was a pilot. Of what, Kai could live without knowing for the moment.

"You don't have to."

There's an ominous creak of sound somewhere around them, but Kai ignored it. He moved closer, trying to block out the sight. "Whatever happened last time, this time's different. This time you don't have to."

Kai let go of his wrist, reaching up to firmly cover Shinji's ears with his hands.

Shh.

Is that really so...?

He moves his own hands, lightly touching Kai's in a gesture of... surprise, maybe? It's not to pull them away, at any rate, but he's still reluctant enough to not quite give in to that very nice sentiment, so maybe it's just to confirm what's happening. Perhaps.

"What's the point of getting you somewhere safe if I can't even finish the job?"

He asks weakly, hanging his head like the weight of this whole situation is finally breaking him down.

“I wouldn’t ask you to protect me.”

Not because he didn’t think Shinji was incapable of such a thing. It was just absolutely absurd to expect that from anyone, that anyone was putting these kinds of expectations on the teen in the first place. Cause they were, weren’t they? Whomever the hell ‘they’ were.

Kai leaned his head down, gently bonking his forehead against Shinji’s. He didn’t want to let go and let all if that crashing in, but he still wanted Shinji to hear him.

“It’s your call this time, Shinji.”

Bonk.

"Of course I want to protect you," just as he'd want to protect any of his peers, the city, the world... He couldn't stand the thought of not doing that much, if he's able to. 'If he's able to', though, seems to be a tricky thing to actually get the feel for. "But I don't want to go out there again!"

His hold on Kai's hands tightens, his voice straining, tightening, and threatening to break.

"I just... don't know what to do."

"... Me neither."

Because let's be honest about that. Kai had no idea what to do here. What was the right call, what could he even possibly say to any of this? He was extremely out of his depth. Again.

"One thing at a time though. I want you to take a deep breath with me, okay? Real slow. Then hold it. Ok?"

Even if he can't ask Kai for an easy answer out of this, there's a kind of comfort in the solidarity of neither of them having any idea of what to do. Just a couple of clueless kids, trapped in a nightmarescape.

He nods slightly, closing his eyes tightly and letting himself simply focus on this distraction for now. At Kai's cue, he draws in a very shaky breath, one that he can't quite hold on to for more than a beat before exhaling. It was. an attempt.

It was an attempt!

"That's a good start," Kai told him. "Let's try again. This time I'll start counting to three. Breathe in 'till I hit three, hold it 'till three, let it out to three. Easy enough, right?"

Easy does it. Kai gave him a moment, and then he started counting, nice and slow.

"One... two... three... one... two... three..."

One, two three, one two three...

It takes a few more attempts before he manages to catch on to the rhythm, his breathing becoming less and less shaky in the process. He's still awfully uneasy on his feet, and when he speaks up again he still sounds terribly small, but not quite like he's about to burst into tears anymore, either.

"I'm sorry you got caught up in this."

There we go. Little steps. Nice and easy.

The farther they got from the precipice of crying, the easier it was for Kai to breathe too. He didn’t know what he’d do with crying. He barely knew what to do with Not Crying.

Kai shook his head slowly, lightly swishing Shinji’s bangs with the motion. “You’re good, Shinji. S’not anything you did. I’m here when you need me, ok?”

Oh man! He said the thing! That his username is!!

Shinji still doesn't know how to feel about relying so much on someone else for most things, let alone for comfort, but right now, that feels like an awful lot of thinking to be taking into consideration. He's... tired. And stressed out. And thinking too hard on something that isn't going to immediately help them out of this situation sounds like too much to bother with.

So, he offers a small nod instead, his hold on Kai's hands softening to a more gentle and appreciative hold than the panicked grasping from moments ago. This little moment of calm seems to have had some kind of effect on the area around the two of them as well, causing much of the commotion coming from outside to quiet down.

How long will this calm last for...? Maybe just appreciate it for the spot of peace it brings while it lasts.

How about that!!

Kai took this easing as a good sign, but he didn't make a move to pull his hands away just yet. He did lift his head though, just so he could get a better look at Shinji's face to try and gauge how he was doing.

Probably not, you know, the best. All things considered though? Better. Maybe this was going to follow the logic of touching, and the longer they stayed like this the more likely things would just... stop.

Yeah, he still looks pretty rough, but not the pale and desperate kind of rough he had been before Kai decided to go in and block off the noise, so it's a marked improvement in that aspect. He does still have his eyes closed, and is still focusing on taking measured breaths to help calm himself down a little more, which might be why that unsettling phantom figure has decided to take up position behind Shinji - perhaps it hopes that it will have better luck catching Kai's attention first.

Hello there.

Oh.

Fuck off?

Kai made eye (?) contact with it on accident, his breath catching in his throat. He might have accepted the spook's hug earlier, but this was a different level of threatening when someone else was involved. Keeping his gaze steady on that shadow, Kai slowly drew his hands down to take Shinji by the shoulders and ease him behind Kai. "Easy, easy..."

This would have been a whole lot harder on that catwalk, but they... weren't really on a catwalk anymore, were they? Kai had been so intent with getting himself between the two that he hadn't entirely noticed, but now that one one else was moving. Uh.

... Huh! This sure was a lot of Nothing all over again.

Hey.

Don't be rude.

As Kai gingerly swaps their places, it elicits a soft, "huh?" from Shinji, and he looks up and around to find himself staring straight at that spooky figure.

Oh.

Unlike the giant mysterious robot from earlier, and unlike its actions from previous dreams, it mercifully isn't approaching the two of them. Now that it has the attention of both of them, it can follow up startling them by harmlessly pointing off into the darkness.

Darkness? Ah, no, not quite any more. There, in the nothingness, is a sight both Kai and Shinji should be familiar with. The bright, shining walls of Havenwell! That is...? Comforting??

Okay. Well. That's cool, Kai guessed. Even without any spooky approaches, Kai was still going to keep himself firmly planted as Shinji's shield from the horrors of... well, maybe nothing. The phantom was just pointing out their current... home? Their current place of residence. Showing them the way back, maybe?

That would have been a nice thing to do!

If only! It wasn't immediately followed up with that mouth vibrating its way off the phantom's skull as it stretched and contorted and gaped with such a soul-shredding wail.

Oh holy shit

Shinji's blood runs cold and his heart sinks impossibly far at that sound. Even if he wanted to bolt, or do anything in the face of this horrifying turn of events, he finds himself helplessly frozen in place by the sheer force of the being's anguish. The sound fills and shakes the air around them, bouncing only off the bright walls in the distance before they begin to crack, give, and quickly crumble and fall. And then...

He sits bolt upright in bed with a loud gasp.

One horrible nightmarescape escaped.

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